[kiosk - holy tl;drs]
Hey... Sentience. [Tired, she leans up against the kiosk.]
I've got a request for you. It’s about Cross Marian’s collar. I came to ask if you’d remove it.
You’re aware of yesterday and what happened to him. [She pauses, thinking it over.] Nobody could put their hands on him to get him down because of that collar. Trying to stop the bleeding, to get him safely to the hospital... it was all hindered in a way it didn't have to be. And because of that, he really could've died.
Even now while hospitalized he would definitely benefit from physical contact. Touch or contact is just part of human nature. [She takes a breath, gesturing with both hands. Yes, she's got the points she wants to make scribbled in ink on one palm.] It’s healing, it’s habitual and it’s what we do every day. We interact with people, we shake hands, we use contact as a method for connecting. You’ve lived alongside us in the prison for a while; you’ve gotta have noticed this.
Touch has a way of helping facilitate physical and psychological functioning, to relieve stress, lower anxiety and it’s therapeutic for alleviating pain. To isolate someone from something that is instinctual is… horrible. It’s just beyond cruel. As AI—you, and your predecessor, aren’t able to experience the emotional responses to contact, but I think you might be able to understand the importance of these responses regardless. I hope so.
I’m not going to go into the sex ban’s rules and punishments right now, since you’ve said you’re looking over the current policy. Instead I’m just going to make this plea for Cross to have his punishment revoked, or altered in some way that doesn’t inflict on his ability to interact with other people in basic... every day interactions.
In the state he’s in he going to need help dressing, sitting up, bathing and maybe even eating. Someone, were they able to provide physical support, could help him walk around and build back his strength. Get him to and from the washroom, the little things that build a person back up and empower them.