Why keep slaves?

[nikvoodoo]

Thay keep slaves cause that's what brute degenerate humans do- they rape, murder, bully, enslave, band together into gangs, and hold petty grudges against anyone who fights back. And once again I'm glad "We're Alive" doesn't sugar-coat the monstrous barbarity that'll become routine once law and police are gone and no one's left to restrain the sociopaths....

Unless I'm mistaken, Durai is black; so a black man owns slaves...in America.... either way, I no longer see him or Scratch as a character; they're subhuman things that ought to be killed slowly (just like the slave-owners in the Colony) This isn't what desperate people resort to for survival- this evil mentality is out there right now in the real world, all over the place, barely held in check....Not everyone of course, but more than you'd think.

If I had to choose between a zombie and Durai (or Scratch) I'd use my last bullet on the Maller.

Many Great Civilizations in history had slaves or built their Great Society on the backs of slave labor. Greek, Roman, Egyptian, British, French, Hungarian, Prussian, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, Norse, Americans and more held slaves. You can argue the enlightenment of some or all of these societies as you want, but it's the human animal that asserts dominance over the weak and forces them to do their bidding through force, manipulation, coercion, intimidation, and other tactics.

It's a pretty universal thing in the animal kingdom every social species defers to the Alpha of the pack, but since we are more advanced than animals, we assert dominance in more brutal and creative ways (other than simply running off competing males). I think it's very shortsighted to think of the Mallers simply as "subhuman" and does a disservice to the story by thinking of them simply in one dimension.

[usmcludwig]

Well my personal opinion is based on my close examination of the Enlgish used:

KC wouldn't use the word "slave" if it didn't somehow connect to manual labor or some sort. There are plenty of other words that could have been used to suggest their true purpose, but the point slave is used truly suggest that they indeed have a strong physical purpose (especially since the Mallers numbers were cut what seemed significantly due to the 1st failed siege on the Tower).

Tho I do not fully agree with the perception of prisoners being these harsh, cold-blooded people as a whole- I think a part of what KC has tried to explain threw the story is that the Mallers are a bit more prepared than what we could even consider. After all- being in jail is a lot of waiting around, thinking deeply, plotting even.

This Durai character is a grand example of how people we consider "dumb hardened criminal" are underestimated and thought of as LESS when in actuality may in fact be superior to us, especially in terms of organizational skills and survival (sounding like Durai was serving a very long sentence, as well as Scratch, giving them the power of being known and often with that, respect threw fear).

But ya- I guess I almost missed my point and theory:

I do believe that a few Mallers (not Durai's group) were already in the Colony, maybe even having a part in the attempted (and presumably successful) coupe- which means yes, I think possibly the Gatekeeper may indeed be a Maller (based on his seemingly avoidance of using his real name, his brutality (since in the W.A. world, the criminals are indeed that) and his cunning) and has been setting up things to play into the coming of the Mallers- most notably the manual labor of the slaves (which already openly exist). With that- I think that maybe the Mallers are offering the slaves a place where there is safety, shelter, food and most importantly- some relative freedom (as when The Tower peeps were at the colony, tho not allowed to leave, had their own place to stay and all). This could explain why the slaves have not had any noticeable escape attempts and have been tolerant to the suspected harsh conditions that they currently endure.

[cleeprevo]

The Slavers from fallout 3 came to mind once I heard that the Mallers have slaves. So now when ever I think of the Mallers I kinda imagine them being like the Slavers. They probably use the slaves for tests. Kinda like what they do ate the tower, trying to discover new things, but the Mallers get live action on how the zombies interact with humans by sending the slaves out to do something. Then they just send them out on their free time to do suicide missions like going to the tower. Those are probably what i'd do if I was a Maller.

[zorakid]

I don't know if the story itself will ever touch upon there being sex slaves, because it may just be implied and not describe due to its discomforting nature. But in any realistic situation, of course there will be sex slaves. It would only be logical for Durai to provide sexual entertainment to his men to keep them happy.

[zedhead]

Good points but in a world of limited resources I think you'd need more motivation than sex and entertainment. I doubt a slave would be trusted to forage but it would explain the runaways.

think of it this way, they've been in prison so long that sex or entertainment might be the only motivation they will ever need again @_@

[Hesser]

In the tower they used sweat, the colony used cologne, and the mallers use slaves. All ways to attract or deter zombies. But all 3 could be used so the person using them could get away.

[Cabbage Patch]

In 29-3 we learned that Durai, Scratch and Angel were part of some shadowy group called "the Families". All day the discussion on the Forums has been that this was a reference to the Mafia. But what if it wasn't? What if "the Families" refers to them belonging to some sort of society of unconventional vampires? Not conventional Nosfaratu, but more like Twilight, walk around in daylight vampires.

Then the Mallers would be keeping slaves as a food source. And Angel could either be fighting his blood-sucking proclivities, or else maybe he was covertly feeding on the other Tower residents. I imagine a process through which he took just enough to survive in a process that clouded the victim's memory and caused them to go into a super deep sleep. There have certainly been plenty of cases of that at the Tower, beginning with Jack, Tanya and most recently Riley.

[Osiris]

Better question is: why not?





amirite?

[sailorangel59]

Meat Shields, literally

[nikvoodoo]

Who here likes back breaking, painful, dangerous work that will result in your potential death in a gruesome manner at the hands of a zombie...raise your hand!

..........

That's why you keep slaves