Sato was flying. It was such a beautiful experience. He was on Venus � the Green Planet. The sun just woke up from its night rest and slowly started lifting its happy, round, red face over horizon. Below was the jungle. It looked like an infinite sea of green.

Sato wanted to explore the jungle from a closer distance. He mentally ordered his body to fly downwards. There was a faint whistling sound in the air. Sato ignored it. It probably had something to do with his descent. He could already distinguish individual trees. They were growing bigger. He was getting closer. He could now see the leaves. And soon his feet touched the soft Venusian soil. The whistling sound grew louder.

Sato spotted a large, magnificent flower. It was orange, with thin strips of red. And it was huge; like a bowl. So big that Sato could fit his head in it. He came closer. There were tiny drops of moisture on the flower. Soon they were going to evaporate in the hot sun. The whistle reached its peak.

Sato took the flower in both of his hands and lowered his head to feel its scent. Just then, he noticed an ant sitting on one of the petals. It was a charming little insect. Well, actually, it wasn�t that little. It was one of those tropical ants. The creature was the size of Sato�s little finger. He watched it with fascination. The ant moved its antennas. Its black eyes observed the human intensively. The whistling sound continued.

Sato smiled. He closed his eyes and lowered his head again. He could not feel the flower. Had it no smell? He opened his eyes. The blue Venusian sky was gone, only to be replaced with a dirty ceiling. Instead of green trees and dazzling flowers, there were yellow, stained walls and unattractive furniture.

�Where am I?� Sato asked himself. He was lying on a couch, momentarily confused. It was then that he realized that the only thing that didn�t disappeared was the annoying whistling sound.
�The teapot!� Clarity and understanding flooded into his mind even as he got up and ran to the kitchen. He remembered now. He was in his apartment making himself tea. Waiting for the water to boil, he lied down on the couch and started reading a book of Venusian poetry. He must have felt asleep. All of this flying over Venusian jungle was just a dream � pity. It was so beautiful.
�I must stop watching all those discovery programs,� Sato said to himself.

Deep inside he knew why he watched them and collected books about Venus. The place held great appeal to him. The planet was incredibly beautiful, with its immense jungles, mountains, polar regions, blue oceans and equally blue sky. No other planet could even come close in its richness and beauty. Well, maybe pre-Exodus Earth. But that was many centuries ago. Now, Venus was the undisputed queen of the Solar System.

Sato always wanted to go there. He wanted to see the jungle with his very own eyes, walk on a beach enjoying the hot sun and hot sand and swim in warm water. He planned to ask for reassignment to Venus, but that had to wait until his service here in Fukido was over. Unfortunately, he still had few years to go. And even then, there was no guarantee that he will end up on the Green Planet. Reassignments to other planets were rare. Maybe if he could distinguish himself in action?

He poured the boiling water into a teacup. He was forced to do it with his left hand. The right one didn�t healed yet. He put the teapot back on the stove and carefully lifted the bandage. A smile appeared on his face. His hand was healing nicely.

A week ago he was practicing knife combat with his superior Deathbringer. The Deathbringer criticized Sato for exposing himself too much. Sato didn�t listen. So, the Deathbringer decided to teach him a lesson the hard way. With a move faster than they eye could see, the Deathbringer threw Sato to the ground, disarmed him and nailed his right hand to the floor with his own knife. The lesson was very painful, but also very effective. As Sato was lying back there watching blood pouring out of his wound, he made a mental note to himself to always listen to what his superiors are telling him.

He slowly clenched his fingers into a fist few times. It hurt, but not as much as before. That was not really a problem. He was a Shadow Walker. He was trained from early childhood to accept and tolerate pain. What bothered him was the fact that he had to do everything with his left hand. Unlike most Shadow Walkers, he never managed to train his left hand well enough for it to match the right hand in dexterity. Maybe if he practiced much more all these years ago, he wouldn�t had to suffer so much. It was the inconvenience of using the left hand that bothered him. The pain had no importance whatsoever.

He still had to bare it for a week or two. A Technomancer could heal his hand in an hour or even less, but the Deathbringer decided that Sato should wait until his wound heals naturally, so that he could learn the consequences of his incompetence.

There was a knock on the door. �Yes! I�m coming!� Shit! That wasn�t smart. He just let them know that he was home. Of course, he had no idea who the person, or persons, knocking on his door was. It was very improbable that it was someone who wanted him harm. Still, there were certain rules by which a Shadow Walker living in a city should abide. One of them was that you should under no circumstances inform people knocking on your door that you were home until the identity of those people was revealed.

Oh well. It was now too late to correct his mistake. All Sato could do was to find out who was at the other side of his door. There was an ancient and trusted technique for that.

�Who is it!?�
�It�s me. Katsumi.�
Pure joy filled Sato�s heart. He almost ran to the door.
�Katsumi, I�m so happy to��
Her red cheek was red, and her lower lip was cut. Someone hit her. Sato also noticed by looking at her eyes that she was crying recently � a lot.
�Can I come in?�
Her words brought him back to his senses.
�Eh? Yes. Certainly. Please, come in.�
She quickly entered and stopped in the middle of the guestroom, with her back turned to Sato. He himself remained at the door.
�Katsumi, what�s wrong?�

She didn�t answered at first. The silence lasted only for few seconds, but to Sato it was an eternity. It caused him great pain to see her like this.

�Oh Sato!� She suddenly turned around. �That was terrible. A child was killed. A little boy.�
�A child was killed? I�m afraid I don�t understand.�
�During the mission. He was shot.� She burst into tears. Sato rushed to her and wrapped her arms around her. He gently put her on the couch and held in his arms for few minutes while she was crying. This was shocking to him. Finally, Katsumi calmed down.
�Thank you. I needed that.� She smiled. Her smile was so beautiful. It made Sato feel much better.
�Do you fell better now?�
�Little bit.�
�Look, I was just making tea. Would you like some? It helps to relax. And then you could tell me what happened.�

She silently nodded her head. Sato went to the kitchen and started making tea again. This time, instead of regular tea, he prepared a special herbal tea that had strong relaxing proprieties. Katsumi certainly needed that. And after seeing her break down, so did he.

When he returned, she was still sitting on the couch. He felt relieved to see that she didn�t started crying again in his absence. In fact, she appeared much calmer.

�So? Tell me what happened?�

Katsumi took her cup in both hands and took a slow, long sip staring at something in the distance. Sato didn�t pressed the issue. He understood that she needed to gather enough strength to get it herself.

�It�s quite simple. Last night I took part in a mission. Our target was general Artsubashi. The mission was a success.�
�I heard. They were talking about this on the radio. It happened in a restaurant, right?�
�Yes. But�� She hesitated. He could feel her struggling with her emotions � trying to remain in control. Trying to avoid another breakdown. She took another long sip of tea.
�But people got killed. People who had nothing to do with it. There was a young boy there. Maybe five or six years old. He got shot. And it was� To see that child die by� It was very painful.�
�How can you be sure that he died? Maybe he was just wounded?�
�No. I ran to him and checked. He was dead. That�s why the Deathbringer beat me afterwards.�
�What!? Why?�
�We received the order to pull out, but I disregarded it to check on the boy. He was very angry. He said that I endangered myself needlessly. I told him about the boy, but he didn�t gave shit about him.�
�You are exaggerating.�
�No. That�s what he said. �I don�t give shit about the boy.� These were his exact words.�
�What did he do to you.�
�Not much really. He just punched me few times.�
�This Deathbringer, which one was it?�
�Hokirawa.�

It was the same one who wounded Sato in the hand. He felt great anger rising in him. How could this worthless dog dare to raise his hand on such a beautiful creature as Katsumi? He imagined the giant figure of the Deathbringer beating Katsumi. This image caused any self-restraint Sato still had to vanish. He rose up suddenly.

�I�m going to kill that son of a bitch.�

Katsumi looked at him in surprise. When she saw that he was serious, she became afraid.

�Sato no! Don�t be stupid!� She grabbed his hand.

He looked into her eyes. His anger disappeared immediately after noticing the fear in her eyes.

�You are right. It was a stupid thing for me to say. I am sorry.� He sat again next to her.
�That�s all right. I didn�t mind being punished. In fact, I think that I wasn�t punished enough.�
�W� what? How can you even say that?�
�You see,� her eyes became wet, �it was me who killed that boy.�

Sato was speechless. He had no idea what to say.

�You hear me!? It was me!� She broke down again.
�No, Katsumi, listen to me. It was not your fault. You can�t blame yourself for it.�
�Yes it was. I was the one who shot him. I was firing at one of Artsubashi�s bodyguards. He was running. I finally got him and he fell down, but I kept shooting. The boy was standing behind the bodyguard. When he fell, I kept firing. I was the one who shot the boy. I know. I saw him die from my gun. I�m certain of it. I murdered a child.�

Heavy, terrible silence filled the room. Sato was thinking about the things he could say. Suddenly, a flash of inspiration illuminated his mind.

�Katsumi? Did you wanted to kill that child?�
�How can you even ask me. Of course I didn�t.�
�Then it was not murder but an accident; something beyond your control.�
�Are you trying to tell me that what happened was not serious?�
�Oh no. I�m definitely not saying that. What happened is very tragic, but it was an accident. Nothing more, nothing less. That boy might have as well died hit by a car or under a collapsed building, and it would have been equally tragic.�
�But he didn�t died hit by a car or under a building! He died because of me! I shot him. I am the one who caused the accident. I�m guilty of his death. You can�t change that. No one can.�
�You are guilty. But you must accept to live with that. What happened, happened, and it can�t be undone. We all have a job to do. Sometimes accidents happen and someone innocent dies. That is the way things are.�
�This is not helping. I still feel terrible!�
�That�s good. It means that you have a conscience.�
�My conscience tells me that this is wrong. We have no right to take human life.�
�Let me ask you this question. Do you feel sorry for general Artsubashi?�
�No! He was an awful man. A monster. He ordered execution of three hundred Capitolian POWs. And it was he who was in charge of putting down 1192 Longshore riots where thirteen thousand people have died.�
�You see? And how about his bodyguards? Are you sorry for them?�
�No.�
�And why is that?�
�They were not defenseless. They knew what risk their job involved. And they knew what kind of a man their employer was. And yet, they still chose to serve him and protect his life. Stupid samurai sense of honor. It makes them protect monsters.�
�Do you feel happy that Artsubashi is dead.�
�Absolutely.�
�But how can you be happy if we have no right to kill people? Who are we to decide who should live and die?�
She fell silent. He got here. It appeared that all the long hours spent on discussing philosophy with the Elders paid off.
�You see for yourself that what we do is good and beneficial to humanity. A monster is dead thanks to your efforts and the efforts of our fellow brothers and sisters. We must continue, even if it means that some innocents die in the process.�
She remained silent. She was thinking about what he just said. She was looking for holes in his argument. And she did managed to find one.
�That was a beautiful speech. However, there is a small detail that you omitted.�
�And what is that detail?�
�That we didn�t killed Artsubashi because he was a monster. We did it because someone was willing to pay us for his removal. It�s all about money, and not justice. If it wasn�t for the contract, he would be still alive at this moment. And we would never move against him if we weren�t hired to do so.�
�So? You knew that before going on mission. And yet, it didn�t bothered you. Tell me, despite the fact that it was done for money, are you still happy that he�s dead?�

She didn�t answer.

�I can see in your eyes that you are, even if you are unwilling to admit to it. You can�t deny that there is one monster less in this world. I�m also certain that the families of Artsubashi�s victims are celebrating today. And I�m certain that it matters little to them who killed him and why. The only thing that matters to them is that he no longer walks on this world. I wonder how many prayed for justice. Last night, you helped in avenging the thousands of men and women who Artsubashi killed. No matter your reasons, and no matter whether you like it or not, last night you were an instrument of justice.�
�I�� She was confused. Conflicting emotions were fighting a battle in her tired head. �I need more time to think about it. I also think that I need some sleep.�
�You can stay here if you want.�
She smiled. It was the first time she smiled since the beginning of this discussion. �That is very nice from you, but I need to be alone for some time.�
He walked her to the door and was about to close it when she turned around. �Sato? Do you really believe in all the things you said?�
�Yes.�

She turned her back to him without a word and left. Sato stood by the door until she left the hallway. He was thinking about him and her, but mostly about his last answer. He sounded so sure when she asked the question, and he really was at that moment. But now, doubts started creeping into his mind.

�Looks like I could use some time to think as well.� He said to himself.

Justice Shadow Walkers have no written laws. Their laws are little more than unofficial rules and traditions. Still, even if their laws are unofficial, they carry as much weight as our laws. Saying that �it is not written anywhere, so you can�t punish me for it� is not an acceptable form of defense for a Shadow Walker.

The application of Shadow Walker justice depends in large part on whether the crime has been committed in a city or a monastery. Criminals living in cities are treated much more harshly than their monastic counterparts. This is due to the fact that Shadow Walkers living in cities are closer to action and are exposed to many dangers. Severe discipline is necessary. In a way, urban justice can be compared to the military justice, while the monastic justice is more like the civilian justice system.

There are very few crimes committed in the cities. I must tell you that crime is very low when it comes to Shadow Walkers in general, but cities certainly see much less of it than monasteries. This is not so much due to the harsh treatment of criminals, although that too plays a role, but the fact that urban Shadow Walkers live alone. Aside from taking part in missions and rare gatherings, there is little interaction between them. Thus, there is less opportunity for them to commit crimes.

No matter the crime, the accused has the right to defend himself in a fair trial. Of course, sometimes those trials are not that fair, but they are supposed to be in theory. In monasteries, it is the Elder Council that serves as the court. In cities, the commanding Deathbringer quickly assembles a team of lesser Deathbringers, or, if there are not enough Deathbringers, senior, experienced Shadow Walkers and forms with them a military court. Usually, urban courts have somewhere between three to seven judges. The judges, no matter whether they reside in a city or a monastery, take decisions by voting. That�s why their number must be always odd.

There are two ways for a Shadow Walker to find himself before a court. The first one is through accusations coming from another Shadow Walker. Any member of the organization, except recruits, (they can ask an adult Shadow Walker to accuse someone for them, however) has the right to accuse another member, no matter his rank, with committing a crime. When this occurs, both the accuser and accused must appear before the court in a preliminary session. It is at this session that initial evidence is presented and both sides argue in their favor. If the court decides that the evidence is strong enough for the charges to stick, another session is scheduled and a trial begins. During that time it is left for both sides to gather evidence and witnesses that can strengthen their case. There are no lawyers or prosecutors among Shadow Walkers. The defendant and the accuser must organize everything by themselves. They can get other people to help them of course, but they are the only ones who speak before the court.

The exact amount of time both sides get to prepare themselves varies greatly. In general, in monasteries this tends to be somewhere between a week and a month. In cities it rarely takes more than a week.

The other way of ending up before the court is through investigation. If a crime is committed and the culprit(s) is unknown, the authorities organize a special team to investigate it. Such teams work officially and have the right to question other people, collect evidence and use whatever resources the organization can provide them (within reasonable limits) to solve the case. Once they find the guilty person, assuming that they do, the investigators officially accuse her and present the evidence before the court. The rest follows exactly as I previously explained. When the trial starts, one of the investigators must assume the role of the prosecutor. The others can�t speak before the court, except as witnesses.

Trials are closed and public is not allowed to observe them. Except for the accused and the accuser, witnesses and investigators are the only ones allowed inside.

Torture is never used to question the accused. However, if the accused is found guilty, and it is known that other people were involved in the crime, torture might be used to get their names. However, as long as the accused is not found guilty by the court, no one can touch him. Although he can be imprisoned if it is judged necessary.

You will be surprised to hear that there is such a thing as appeal in their justice system. Someone who thinks that he was unjustly sentenced has the right to ask one of the Elders to appeal the court on his behalf. The appealing Elder must come to the court and announce his intention to defend the convict. He is then given a day and a night to go to see all other Elders and ask them to sign a petition in defense of the accused. If at least sixty percent or more of the Elders vote in favor of the accused, the Elder Council will reduce his penalty.

Twenty four hours is all that the appealing Elder has. During that time the convict is locked up in a holding cell. Appealing is possible only in monasteries. No such thing exists in cities � part of harsh urban justice.

Of course, as you might imagine, in a society where social hierarchy is so important, people can get away with crimes only because of their social position. A simple Shadow Walkers shouldn�t even bother accusing an Elder of anything, unless he has rock-solid evidence to back up his charges. On the other hand, an Elder can have a Shadow Walker easily convicted for some crime (sometimes even if the Shadow Walker is completely innocent) based on scant evidence. Certain influential Elders have been known to convince a couple of people to appear before the court as witnesses and provide a false testimony that resulted in innocent people being sentenced to death. Still, an Elder, or anyone else for that matter, who goes too far should not feel surprised if one day he wakes up dead. Shadow Walkers have other means of settling scores aside for the legal, official way.

Before I move on, I want to say few words about Elders and their relationship with the Shadow Walker law. Because they occupy the highest position in Shadow Walker hierarchy, Elders are very rarely punished officially. Their reputation allows the to get away with small crimes. However, even if the crime is serious and the evidence leaves no doubt that the Elder is guilty, the Elder Council will always try to hush the whole matter and avoid a scandal. Only if the Elder�s guilt is common knowledge, or if the accused has many powerful enemies who want to see him publicly destroyed, there will be a trial. The Elders want to show to the other members that no one can commit crimes and get away with it. Freeing an obvious criminal just because he�s an Elder would be very bad for morale. That�s why some Elders find themselves sentenced despite their status. However, if it is possible, the Elder�s crime is kept secret.

Now, just because some Elders can get away with some things in public, that does not mean that they won�t suffer consequences in private. Their reputation is destroyed and whatever influence they had before is lost. Their friends will treat them coldly and if the guilty is a councilor, his fellow councilors will convince him to resign (for health reasons). The Elder might also be assigned new, unpleasant duties and have certain pleasures, like access to library or the private Elder garden, taken away from him. Those who committed serious crimes might one day be attacked and viciously beaten by unknown suspects who are never found. Those who are guilty of the most despicable crimes usually don�t live very long (of course, officially their death is attributed to natural causes of course).

Punishment Let me now say few things about crime and punishment. I think that it will be better if I start with punishment. There are only three possible sentences in the Shadow Walker justice system. These are: symbol of shame, corporal punishment and death.

Symbol of Shame
Symbol of shame is a symbol in the katakana script that represents the word �shame.� It is woven on both sides of a yellow shirt. Those who are condemned to such-and-such amount of time of shame must wear this shirt at all times. As long as the shirt is worn, everyone else is allowed, and even expected, to treat the condemned person very badly. The unfortunate bearer of the symbol of shame can look forward to a constant stream of insults and humiliation. Even his old friends will treat him coldly. But that�s not all. The person is also assigned all sorts of disgusting, debasing tasks, such as cleaning the toilets or washing the floors. As if it was not enough, shame-bearers, as those sentenced to wearing the yellow shirt are called, must survive on a simple diet of bread and water. As I just said, they can and are treated very badly, but it is forbidden to cause them any serious physical harm.

In theory, the rank of the shame-bearer does not matter. A recruit could come up to an Elder shame-bearer, spit him in the face and walk away without suffering any consequences. However, no one wears the yellow shirt forever. Once the punishment is over, the shame-bearer resumes his normal duties. And he will bear a grudge against all those who were the most vicious towards him. Therefore, the higher one stands in hierarchy, the better his treatment is. Still, no one who has to wear the symbol of shame finds it enjoyable. There is always someone out there who is not afraid to make shame-bearer�s life a living hell.

The amount of time that the symbol of shame must be worn depends on the nature of the crime. It can range anywhere from few days up to one year. For obvious reasons, this punishment can�t be used in cities. Therefore, corporal punishment is used in its place.

Corporal Punishment
So here we are, at corporal punishment. Corporal punishment involves public torture and mutilation. It is always public and performed in front of as many people as possible. This punishment, like all Shadow Walker punishments, is customized to fit the crime. It can range from breaking of fingers to a slow, long session of cutting, burning and crushing. No matter how severe the punishment is, it is performed in such a manner as to not endanger the convict�s life. Of course, accidents can happen, but death is extremely rare. There is always a team of Technomancers present and ready to step in and save convict�s life.

Before the punishment is administrated, the same Technomancers inject the victim with drugs that will prevent him from passing out from pain. Some people (especially Deathbringers) ask not to be injected and then endure the punishment without even the faintest sound of pain escaping their mouth. Such endurance is greatly admired. If the convict has Bio-Technological implants that allow him to ignore pain or regenerate wounds, Technomancers will disable them before the torture session begins.

Once the torture is over, and if the victim is in severe condition, he is provided with medical assistance, but just enough to keep him alive. His wounds must heal naturally so that he learns the consequences of his actions. Should the wounds cause permanent disability, Technomancers will take care of it and repair all damage. The organization does not have enough members to waste their lives meaninglessly. A Shadow Walker who is handicapped is a useless Shadow Walker. He can�t be employed in the field and because of that his upkeep wastes organization�s resources. Killing him might be a solution, but why go so far if a Technomancer can return the unfortunate man (or woman) back into full health in just few hours?

Obviously, what is considered to be a disability depends on the occupation of the disabled person. Having your legs paralyzed might be bad for a Shadow Walker since it means no more missions for him, but it is not so for a Technomancer.

In monasteries, it is customary to combine corporal punishment with wearing of the symbol of shame. The convict is often forced to suffer shame-bearing for some time after his corporal punishment.

Death Penalty
I don�t think that it is necessary for me to explain what death penalty is. It would be better for me to describe how it looks like among Shadow Walkers. When one of them is sentenced to death, he can select the way he wants to die. There are two options � ritual suicide and stoning.

Ritual suicide involves opening your belly with a sword and slowly making your way towards the heart. It is identical to ritual suicide committed by the samurais, except that Shadow Walkers don�t waste their time on composing death poems. They find it pointless and ridiculous. Just like with corporal punishment, any pain reducing and regenerating Bio-Technology implants are disabled before the execution.

The second option is much more interesting. The second form of execution is stoning. It looks like this; the convict is brought before a large crowd of people. There is a box there filled with white and black balls. Everyone walks up to the box and pulls out one ball, without being able to see what color the ball is until it is taken outside. There are as many balls as participants. However, only a dozen or so are black. The rest is white. Each person who pulled a black ball is given a stone. Once the box is emptied, the people who were given stones jump on the condemned criminal and beat him until he dies. The rest watches.

Apology
Apology is not really a punishment. In fact, it can lessen or even avoid punishment. Apology is exactly what the name suggests � an apology.

When someone is found guilty of a crime, the court informs him about his sentence and, if it is not death, asks him if he would like to apologize. If the answer is yes, and it is always the convict�s decision, then the criminal is taken before a gathering of fellow Shadow Walkers. There, he puts on the yellow shirt with the symbol of shame and starts apologizing. The apology takes the form of the convict screaming as hard as he can that he is sorry for what he has done. This goes on until foam appears on his lips and his throat hurts so much that screaming, and even talking, becomes impossible.

Apologizing lessens the punishment. For example, someone sentenced to having both of his legs broken might have only one leg broken. Someone ordered to wear the symbol of shame for three months can have this time reduced to a month. In case of petty crimes an apology might be sufficient punishment all by itself.

The only thing that the apology can�t do is to save man�s life. Those who are sentenced to death must die.

Crime I talked about punishment, so now it is time to talk about crime. Obviously, it is impossible for me to talk about every conceivable crime there is. Therefore, I will limit myself only to the ones that are most common and/or interesting.

Assault
Assault is rare, but not as much as theft. Generally, if two Shadow Walkers have a problem, they fight. However, they don�t just jump on each other and punch it out. They fight a duel instead. Dueling is forbidden, but it is a common practice for two Shadow Walkers who have a problem to go to a dojo and �practice� martial arts together. Usually, both candidates �practice� until one is too weak to stand on his feet. Death is rare and almost always accidental. Friends of both opponents watch the fight and stop it if it looks like the life of one of the fighters is in danger. Death, if it ever occurs, is never investigated. The whole matter is classified as an unfortunate accident. Still, if the victim had friends and powerful patrons, the killer can expect revenge. Otherwise, the outcome of the duel is respected, unless one of the opponents cheated. If the two rivals continue their little war and cause trouble, their superiors will send one of them away.

Despite this tradition of unofficial dueling, assaults still take place. Sometimes a conflict erupts between two people who can�t for practical reasons fight each other. Imagine for example if a Technomancer gets himself into a debate with a Deathbringer and the Deathbringer looses his patience and starts calling him names. What is going the Technomancer do? Challenge the Deathbringer to a fight?

If dueling has no sense because the outcome is obvious right from beginning, it is not unheard of for the weaker party to organize a gang with his friends and together attack the other stronger person.

Also, sometimes arguments can get so badly out of hand that the two sides don�t wait to go to a dojo and �practice� together, but assault each other on the spot. If their friends are around, there is always a risk of them joining the fight and before anyone notices, a simple arguments degenerates into a small battle.

The punishment for assault depends on who was assaulted and why. Fights that start over arguments are generally punished with a month or two of shame (that�s for all those were involved). More serious assaults call for moderate or severe corporal punishment. In cities, assaults always call for severe corporal punishment. There even have been of people being sentenced to death for it, although going that far is considered a little bit too extreme.

Disobedience on a Mission
Disobeying orders during a mission is a very grave offence. The commanding officer has right to kill any Shadow Walker who does not follow his orders. This even applies to lesser Deathbringers. This is the only time when a Shadow Walker can be sentenced to death without the right to defend himself in a fair trial. Yet, if the culprit is not punished during the mission for some reason, he has to face justice afterwards.

The typical penalty for misconduct on a mission is moderate or severe corporal punishment. If the defendant�s actions caused the mission to fail, or if other Shadow Walkers died because of him, then he is sentenced to death.

Disrespect
The crime of disrespect applies to cases when someone failed to show appropriate respect to someone else. This can range from something as frivolous as not addressing one�s superior in a proper way, up to serious offences such as refusing to follow orders. In general, only the most serious cases end up before the court.

The punishment depends on the severity of disrespect. Simple things like insulting someone else usually end in a public apology or few weeks of shame. Disobeying orders can be punished with either few months of shame or light corporal punishment. In case of cities, disrespect always calls for light corporal punishment, but can go as high as severe corporal punishment if the case is really serious.

Helping a criminal
Helping a criminal can take many forms. From participating in the crime itself to not revealing criminal�s identity to authorities. As a rule, those who help criminals are convicted and punished as if they had committed the same crime that the criminal did.

Murder
What to say? Murder, unless in self-defense or in order to stop another Shadow Walker from committing a serious crime, is always punished with death.

Outside Crime
Shadow Walkers are not allowed to commit crimes on outsiders, unless the mission demands it. The reasons for this are both moral and practical.

From the moral point of view, criminal activity conducted for selfish reasons is unacceptable. And it doesn�t matter whether the crime targets other Shadow Walkers or outsiders. I know that this might sound strange taking into account that Shadow Walkers are assassins and most people consider them to be utterly evil. As it is with all organizations, they do not think of themselves as evil. They have their twisted code of conduct, and according to it, harming the common people is wrong, unless it is necessary.

Morality aside, outside crime leads to trouble for the entire organization. The criminal risks attracting attention to himself from local authorities. While this normally is not a problem, sometimes this attention comes from organization�s enemies. The criminal must be provided with new identity, or, if the city is just too dangerous for him, sent away to another city or a monastery. And there is also the fact that crime is bad for discipline. Shadow Walkers are expected to behave like model citizens while in a city. If they don�t, that means that they have no respect for the organization and their superiors. If they go unpunished, it will lower the moral and affect the discipline among others.

What? You don�t believe me? You don�t think that this is concern for Shadow Walkers? Ok, let me tell you a story. Two hundred years ago there was this Shadow Walker who really enjoyed wealth and luxury. Unfortunately, he needed money to maintain his lavish lifestyle, but the organization didn�t give him enough. So, he started stealing valuable objects of art and selling them for hundreds of thousands of crowns. Because of his excellent combat training, he became an excellent thief. He was able to sneak even in the most guarded places and steal anything. His reputation spread and when the stories of a thief using certain Ki powers that only Shadow Walkers have reached the Demon Hunters, they took an interest in the case. Using their contacts in the Triads, they managed to find the Shadow Walker thief. But they didn�t moved against him. They watched him for few months and by doing so managed to discover other Shadow Walkers. Then, one night, they made their move, and by the sunrise forty-two Shadow Walkers were dead. The entire network was wiped out and it took the organization seven years to restore operations in that city to normal.

See? This is the example that is given to every Shadow Walker when talking about committing crimes on the outside. This particular episode is one of the bloodiest, but not the only one. As you can see for yourself, committing crimes on the outside is a very serious threat to the entire organization. It must be treated seriously and harshly.

In general, the criminal is judged as if had committed the crime on another Shadow Walker. Therefore, penalties depend on the seriousness of offence.

Rape
Rape? Rape is unheard of. To my knowledge, there were only a hundred or so cases since the organization was founded. Shadow Walkers consider sex as something dirty. For them it is part of animal heritage and sexual lust is an enemy to reason. Anyone who is weak enough to allow lust to guide his actions and inflict harm on another human being just to satisfy his sexual urges is a creature deserving nothing but contempt. There is also the fact that female Shadow Walkers are not some young girls that can be easily overcome and violated. They are in excellent physical shape, trained in combat and often enhanced with Bio-Technology. Anyone stupid enough to attack them hoping for an easy target will be disappointed. Besides, monasteries (where all the rapes that ever happened in Shadow Walker history took place) are small communities. Everyone knows everyone there and it is almost impossible to get away with a rape.

Rape is considered to be a truly disgusting crime. Rapists are subjugated to severe corporal punishment and few months of shame. Their genitals are burned off with red-hot iron and never repaired. The common view is that someone castrated won�t be able to rape someone again. In cities, rape is punishable by death.

Theft
Theft is rare. In monasteries, people receive all they need based on their needs and status. Money are not used and there is no trade. There could be no trade anyway since all property belongs to the organization and is only lent to individuals. You can�t trade something that does not belong to you.

Everyone has everything he needs and there is no need to steal. Also, Shadow Walkers strongly believe that people should obtain only as much material wealth as it is necessary to live comfortably.

In the cities, Shadow Walkers live alone, so there is very little opportunity for them to steal from each other. They also receive monthly allowance that is quite large, at least comparing to what commoners make.

Theft, if it occurs, is considered a very serious offence � much more serious than in our society. It is seen as a very bad for someone who has everything he needs to live a good life to steal. Moreover, the thief is actually stealing something that belongs to the organization, and by doing so, he harms the organization and consequently all of his brothers and sister. The standard punishment for theft is few months of shame. In the cities theft calls for either light or moderate corporal punishment.

Treason
Treason is the highest crime possible. There are various acts that can be classified as treason. The most obvious ones are: secretly working for an outside group, revealing information about the organization to outsiders (even telling someone that you are a Shadow Walker counts as treason), trying to leave the organization, undertaking actions that threaten the organization, etc.

There is only one punishment possible for treason. And I�m sure that a person as smart as you can guess what it is.

Repeat Offenders
All of this applies to the first offence. Shadow Walker justice system assumes the philosophy that repeated offences should be punished more and more seriously. This means that someone who is stupid enough to commit crime after crime, will find himself punished more harshly each time. At some point, he will be sentenced to death. The organization does not have time to waste with misbehaving members. They have some mercy and understanding, but it runs out very fast.