Hell's Gate's Detention

[SnowRider]

I agree with what Scott wrote earlier. The detention facility at Hell's Gate was probably pretty basic, utilitarian, and not a "prison" in the sense we understand the term to mean. It was probably a basic drunk-tank type of operation for temporarily housing people who needed to be excluded from the rest of the community at Hell's Gate for some period of time, perhaps a day or two until they had sobered up/calmed down/whatever.

The closest thing we have on Earth to Hell's Gate is probably the loose collection of bases and research stations the United States and other countries have set up on and around Antarctica, specifically the US South Pole base, McMurdo Station, and some of the other bases on the continent.

These bases are basically completely isolated during the long Antarctic winter (roughly March to September) and there are no resupply trips, mail drops, or anything else of that nature for almost six months of austral winter.

Once you're there, you're there for the duration, until the ships and planes can come back in the spring.

Because everyone there at those bases is there for a reason (either to do science or be support staff) and is getting paid a pretty good salary for being there, nobody rocks the boat or wants to give their national governments (who run and pay for the bases) a reason to kick them off the continent.

No one wants to get in trouble, in other words. Because if they did, they'd be on the first plane back to civilization and because of the long winter, you have to ensure the people there are mentally stable, even-tempered, and not likely to get in or cause trouble in the first place.

So, there are basically no jails, cops, or courts at any of the bases. There is essentially no reason for anything like that, the whole system works on the assumption that the people at the bases want to be there in the first place. They're not just visitors, they are there for a reason.

So, as long as everyone behaves, everything works smoothly.

Now, for all I know, there is a jail cell/facility at McMurdo Base, the larges base in Antarctica and the jumping-off point/home base for almost all of the major research expeditions on Antarctica.

I very highly doubt it, for the reasons I have posted here. At the very most, they might have a "drunk tank" type of room somewhere in an unused warehouse or a room somewhere for that purpose, but even that is extremely unlikely because every square meter of space at McMurdo and the other bases is very, very tightly designed to maximize its utility.

There are almost certainly no "unused rooms" or "extra space" in a warehouse somewhere because like the people there, the buildings and infrastructure there are there for a purpose.

Just in case you're wondering, the people who choose who gets to go to Antarctica are very, very selective about who they choose to go and you have to pass several rigorous psychological tests and screenings before you're anywhere near the final cut of those who get to go.

So, as this applies to Hell's Gate, it is a remote facility, very, very far away from Earth, the rest of humanity, and civilization and the people who get to go there are not tourists or visitors. They are there for a purpose and since it takes a great deal of energy and effort to get them there in the first place, I would guess that very, very few of them would deliberately try to rock the boat and cause trouble.

If you're a troublemaker, you're on the first shuttle home, if they're feeling generous. If not, and depending on the nature of your infraction, they might just fly you out to a remote location very far away from Hell's Gate or any of the mobile research stations, and strand you in the wilderness with nothing but the clothes on your back and your exopack.

That would be a lot cheaper than a prison somewhere in Hell's Gate.

So, for the sake of stability, I am fairly certain that everyone at Hell's Gate behaves, and those that do occasionally cross the line get to spend a night (or two, or three) in the Detention Facility until they sober up/calm down/whatever.

[ScottWashburn]

Well put, Snowrider. I think you have it nailed pretty well. I think a lot of people mistakenly think that Hell's Gate is some sort of high security military base just because there seem to be a lot of soldier-types running around with guns. But it's not. It's a mining colony first, a research base second, and the soldiers are there third to protect the first two.

[SnowRider]

Once again, Scott hits the nail on the head. To clarify something in my earlier post when I said the people who choose who gets to go to Antarctica (i.e., those who do the hiring) are very, very choosy, I was specifically referring to deciding who gets to overwinter on the ice, but they are still very selective about deciding who gets hired to go down there, winter or summer, and unless you have the right skill set, you're not going.

You also of course have to be mentally able to handle the long months of winter isolation if you're overwintering on the ice, and that selection process is much, much more rigorous than the "regular" selection process, which is not an easy process in and of itself to begin with.

[mirija]

The size of the detention center in Hell's Gate has a parallel in the modern military. The brig of an aircraft carrier is quite small and unless someone is in there, totally unmanned. Five thousand people living in very cramped quarters, eating in shifts and working in very stressful situations is the norm on board. The brig is kept clear by the crewmen on board simply not wanting to get into trouble. They won't get shipped home if they get into trouble, they also don't spend a lot of time sitting in the brig. They lose money from their paycheck, sometimes a full three months worth. They lose rank, which equates to a pay cut if/until they can get promoted again. Extra "fatigue" duty on top of their own normal work schedule without pay. Loss of liberty (time off from work).

I would imagine that the workers at Hell's Gate have something similar. Loss of salary rate and bonus' for disciplinary incidents, perhaps a forfeiture of shares. I would imagine they have multi-year contracts for their services and the loss of money would be a considerable sum.

So far as folks carrying weapons around, Trudy says it best: "We're not the only thing that flies, nor the biggest." Should a passing banshee happen by and feel peckish, snatching up a human would be far easier than carrying around a Na'vi. Assuming you weren't killed instantly, a few pokes from a pistol or assault rifle might surprise it enough to drop you somewhere below five thousand feet.