Treecat Jobs

Now that the treecats are out in the public eye as intelligent life, I suspect they have plenty of reasons to want jobs.

The clans effectively 'own' their territories where they live now. The Queen long ago saw to it that it was all preserve lands, and she's not going to evict them. But if treecats want to expand to other planets, not everyone is going to have a Harrington Steading to go to. They may wish to purchase land. Communication devices, send mail, hire lawyers to negotiate legally binding contracts. Any number of things which require credits.

First and foremost, they won't think like we do. They may well be happy with their hunter/gatherer life.


As for law enforcement positions, I'd be careful. Treecats aren't known for their restraint. As has been said in the books, "Enemies come in two categories. Those who've been suitably dealt with. And those who are still alive."

Not exactly what you want in a police officer who's supposed to show restraint and honor due process.

swalke813 wrote:As for law enforcement positions, I'd be careful. Treecats aren't known for their restraint. As has been said in the books, "Enemies come in two categories. Those who've been suitably dealt with. And those who are still alive."

Not exactly what you want in a police officer who's supposed to show restraint and honor due process.

As far back as the adoption of Princess Adrienne by Seeker of Dreams, treecats bonded to the Rangers of the SFS realized that humans lived and acted upon different standards when it came to criminal activity. They demonstrated the restraint to capture rather than kill the young man who attempted to assassinate her. As a group they acted in concert with the SFS and the Twin Forks PD as well as Palace Security to capture the man who triggered the incident. While they don't always show restraint "in the wild", they are mature enough to do so when it comes to human laws in human situations.

KNick wrote:

swalke813 wrote:As for law enforcement positions, I'd be careful. Treecats aren't known for their restraint. As has been said in the books, "Enemies come in two categories. Those who've been suitably dealt with. And those who are still alive."

Not exactly what you want in a police officer who's supposed to show restraint and honor due process.

As far back as the adoption of Princess Adrienne by Seeker of Dreams, treecats bonded to the Rangers of the SFS realized that humans lived and acted upon different standards when it came to criminal activity. They demonstrated the restraint to capture rather than kill the young man who attempted to assassinate her. As a group they acted in concert with the SFS and the Twin Forks PD as well as Palace Security to capture the man who triggered the incident. While they don't always show restraint "in the wild", they are mature enough to do so when it comes to human laws in human situations.

Exactly look at Genghis when he took down that mesan spy in ToF he hit him in the legs and tripped him. Or Nimitz during the Macabeus coup attempt, IIRC he only killed the first assassin and blinded the rest which let Planetary Security patch them up and interrogate them, which led them eventually to Jared Mayhew. While Honor only left one alive out of the ones she took down.

pokermind wrote:The biggest problem is communication, 'cats can understand human speech, but few humans can read 'cat sign. Unless some machine to translate 'cat sign into human speech is introduced the 'cats will be limited in human society as as the deaf and mutes needing a translator to interact with the general public.

Poker

That's easily corrected over time, through education. I wouldn't be surprised that TSL is being taught as an elective course in sphinxan schools and eventually it will be a required course for kids to learn.

I would imagine one of the first places it would be taught as a required course is the Landing Police Academy. After all, outside of Palace Security, they will be the ones most affected by the influx of 'cats to Landing. Whether it is unattached 'cats from a colony on the Palace grounds or the ones attached to diplomatic personnel, they are the ones most likely to interact with the 'cats on an on-going basis.

I just can't see a 'cat out on the town with his protectee ignoring someone committing a crime. Especially since most of the protectees are military or high ranking government individuals with a tradition of service to the people. In such a case, someone on the police force will need to be able to interrogate and translate for the 'cats involved.

KNick wrote:I would imagine one of the first places it would be taught as a required course is the Landing Police Academy. After all, outside of Palace Security, they will be the ones most affected by the influx of 'cats to Landing. Whether it is unattached 'cats from a colony on the Palace grounds or the ones attached to diplomatic personnel, they are the ones most likely to interact with the 'cats on an on-going basis.

I'm looking forward to a series of buddy-cop stories (not unlike Elijah Baley and R. Daneel Olivaw) that make use not only of the treecat's empathic abilities, but on a different way of thinking about things leading him to make connections that the human doesn't.

But in the meantime, the 'cats that are going out to be bodyguards might as well provide some additional service. Protector Benjamin might even find out if there are any other Burdettes or Muellers in the Keys.

TheMonster wrote:I'm looking forward to a series of buddy-cop stories (not unlike Elijah Baley and R. Daneel Olivaw) that make use not only of the treecat's empathic abilities, but on a different way of thinking about things leading him to make connections that the human doesn't.

omg I want this so much

But in the meantime, the 'cats that are going out to be bodyguards might as well provide some additional service. Protector Benjamin might even find out if there are any other Burdettes or Muellers in the Keys.

I don't really think so. 'cats can only read emotions, and "disliking a policy the government is going for" is pretty nebulous as far as those go. It is after all possible to disagree with the government without being a traitor or planning to commit atrocities.

The E wrote:

TheMonster wrote:But in the meantime, the 'cats that are going out to be bodyguards might as well provide some additional service. Protector Benjamin might even find out if there are any other Burdettes or Muellers in the Keys.

I don't really think so. 'cats can only read emotions, and "disliking a policy the government is going for" is pretty nebulous as far as those go. It is after all possible to disagree with the government without being a traitor or planning to commit atrocities.

Yes, but if Benjamin gives a speech in the Keys and mentions how Mueller "sat in this very chamber while plotting my assassination and that of our greatest ally" and indicates that the Keys must be on guard against such schemes, his 'cat could read how each Steadholder reacts, and quickly identify those who might be receptive to, say, a MAlign agent. He can then have his security people watch them.

TheMonster wrote:Yes, but if Benjamin gives a speech in the Keys and mentions how Mueller "sat in this very chamber while plotting my assassination and that of our greatest ally" and indicates that the Keys must be on guard against such schemes, his 'cat could read how each Steadholder reacts, and quickly identify those who might be receptive to, say, a MAlign agent. He can then have his security people watch them.

Yes, but the emotional reaction alone tells you very little. Suppose Benjamin does do this. Now, how would someone who still feels a bunch of rage at the thought that fellow Steadholders could plan such an atrocity look like to a 'cat? How would someone who is deeply satisfied at the resolution of that crisis look like?

What I mean to say is, emotional response alone is rather useless in such an environment. Only when coupled with an experienced interrogator who can act on those prompts does it become a useful tool (As Mike Henke demonstrated); and consider the outrage if a Steadholder discovers that he's under surveillance just because a 'cat somewhere didn't like how his emotions tasted.