Omake: A Roundabout Way
Taylor was spending time participating in her newest hobby since being drafted into the Wards. No not running around being vigilante out of spite, but instead the far more dangerous one in the PRT's opinion deciphering the byzantine ordinance of the Wards charter. And tonight well tonight Taylor may have just found the answer to all her troubles as she reread the passage she had just stumbled across.
Taking out her pen Taylor circled the brief paragraph and took a picture on her phone which she then promptly sent to Jim along with a request for a meeting tomorrow. Hopefully if she was right then Jim would help her with the next step of what to do.
Bookmarking the page and closing the book Taylor smiled as she went to sleep feeling hopeful for the first time since getting out of the hospital.
***Two Days Later***
Kamil Armstrong walked into the PRT office steaming cup off coffee in hand feeling relatively good about his week so far. Reports of incidents have been down, Accord was still quiet, Blasto still recovering from his latest endeavor, and the Butcher was still out of town. Overall barring the continued pressure from above about Phase he was looking forward to closing out his week on a high note.
Speaking of Phase there she was waiting outside his office next to the local Youth Guard representative. If the smile on Jim's face was anything to go by Armstrong certainly wasn't going to enjoy whatever legalese the two of them have dug up this time. He is still getting complaints from Piggot about their last report about her department.
Sighing to himself Kamil decided to get whatever this latest issue was done with. If he was lucky then whatever it was they wanted to discuss wouldn't turn what was a good week into a bad one.
"Ah Phase and Jim what do I owe the pleasure today. But before that please come in." Armstrong said ushering the two of them into his office where the three of them took a seat.
"Thank you Director but as for why we are here well we would like to discuss the department's failure to fulfill their full duties as Phase's legal guardians." Jim said a smug smile spreading across his face.
"Failing to fulfill our duties in what way?" Armstrong asked. "As you can clearly see she has both been cared and provided for to the best of our abilities."
"Yes but we are not arguing about your department's ability to feed or house Ms. Phase but rather the complete and utter neglect of your duties to represent her legally. As per article 15-C in the full and unabridged Ward's rules and regulations all Wards are entitled to full legal support and counsel, and according to amendment 3-B that includes the filing of civil suits against those considered responsible for the Ward's trigger event."
Kamil winced, he was vaguely familiar with the rule but in all his experience it was only ever used when some gang member attempted to sue a Ward for being too rough in their arrest. Never before had he heard of it being used regarding the events of a Ward's trigger event. But it was understandable that most triggers were probably resolved through criminal charges when they could rather than civil suits.
Armstrong wracked his brain for answers about what to do in this situation. Saying no clearly wasn't an option, not only would the Youth Guard jump down his throat for denying a Ward one of their privileges but it would also be the final nail in the coffin for any hope of Phase actually becoming a full Ward. Unfortunately he also couldn't say yes no matter how much Kamil wanted to do so to just be done with the issue.
Fuck it when in doubt talk like a politician.
"There is an issue with what you are suggesting." Armstrong said doing his best to come off as helpful and supportive.
"And what is that?" Jim asked still smiling his smug smile.
"There would be a considerable conflict of interest for the PRT or the Youth Guard to take up this case against another department. And considering the issue with the identities of several Wards being involved transferring it to a third party law firm would also be impossible according to the Youth Guard's own charter. As unfortunate as it may be it seems that my hands are tied here."
"Oh but whoever said anything about suing the ENE? No these charges are against Winslow Highschool who facilitated the environment that caused Phase's trigger event. We have written records of Ms. Phase's complaints, documentation of the school's inaction from their own records regarding the bullying, as well as hospital records from the incident. Therefore my colleagues and I as well as Phase herself consider the school itself to be partially responsible. The fact that they haven't been charged until now is rather baffling in my opinion." Jim finished with a grin.
Forget smug this man is downright gleeful like a dog given a turkey leg all to themself. To make matters worse Armstrong couldn't even fault the man on his logic after having gone over Phase's file himself. The only reason why Winslow hadn't been taken to task on what happened already was most likely due to whatever stooge in Brockton's legal department wanted to keep the whole thing as quiet as possible. But unfortunately it seems them distancing themselves from Winslow has left a vulnerability a vulnerability that Phase and the Youth Guard are now exploiting. They couldn't even block the attempt because if they did then they would have to inform the Youth Guard and the judge as to why they are blocking the lawsuit which will bring the whole house of cards Brockton has built crashing down.
Armstrong grimaced. "I understand I will let legal know and I trust you to transfer over any relevant evidence you may have. Now will that be all?"
"Only that none of what is going to happen would have if you had just done your job from the start." Phase said speaking up for the first time in the meeting before getting up and leaving.
"Well she said it better than I could and yes that would be all, and don't worry we will be sending over copies of the evidence very shortly." Jim said before getting up to follow Phase. "Oh and one more thing Director make sure you stress to the legal the department the importance of this case. The Youth Guard has already taken a great interest in it and will be watching it very closely. Now then have a good day."
With that Armstrong was left alone in his office with a lukewarm cup of coffee.
He sighed to himself he better call up Piggot and let her know the shit storm that was about to hit her.
Or he could not do that he thought. After all the lawsuit wasn't against the ENE and technically didn't involve any of its members so their wasn't a reason to inform her of it. Besides she started this mess by tossing the frag grenade that was Phase into his department before slaming the door behind her. Call it vengeance or karma Kamil honestly didn't care at this point. Either way he just hoped that this would finally put an end to the mess with Phase that should not have happened to begin with.
Reaching under his desk Kamil pulled out the bottle he had been saving for whenever the Butcher came back to Boston and poured a healthy amount into his coffee mug before taking swig.
Yep definitly a bad week.
A.N: Anyways another omake that is slightly based on the discussion from a few weeks ago about whether or not the PRT is required to represent Taylor legally. Also please note that I have zero knowledge on lawsuits or anything law related so please attribute any inconsistencies to timeline divergences between Earth and Bet. Also don't forget to let me know what you think about the omake in general.
FirstSelector got another omake.
