The Grey Area

In a marshy place, a Thread over a chasm enticing.

Over coffee around the campfire, sausages on sticks, apples on sticks, sticks on the fire.

So, began the Blue Knight, lifting the Scales of Justice, heavy as sin, out of their custom casing and hanging them high in a convenient, So, it is how that these contraption might bring about fair play, the spirit of the law and not just the loopholes?

Well, said Sheba, still sitting by the fire and scanning through the user’s manual to find a believable language. Stopping deep into the tome she read it, It says here that the Scales of Justice are used to weigh the evidence when making decisions. Especially of Innocent or Guilty.

How much does the evidence weigh? Asked the Blue K

No, no, just wait a moment. It says that the evidence for and against should be placed in the correct pans to left and right. The pans will jostle for position, up and down, obviously. At the conclusion or verdict, one pan or the other will be lower than the other, there you have it, seems simple enough.

What if the pans are still level at the end? Asked the Blue K, Just playing devil’s avocado you understand.

Sheba went back and then she read from the pamphlet, Never make a reading until all the evidence, pros and cons, are distributed into the correct pans. Decisions made on faulty loading of the pans cannot be guaranteed by the manufacturers. If the pans remain equal, you have entered the Grey Area and should return to the evidence trough for more items, baskets will be provided.

Great, said the Knight, I’ll put on some more coffee.

In the advice section, Sheba continued to read out loud so that the Blue Knight might hear in the kitchen, Try to load the scales in an even fashion, so as not to stress the apparatus. It may help to support the pans whilst loading is taking place. Items that may be of interest to those judges who purchased this product are pictured below on our website and include, designated pan supports, scale oil, pan shine, chain mail and all manner of hooks and brackets to cover all eventualities.

Please keep the Scales out of the rain and never submerse in caustic soda or beer. Never sit or jump on the scales during use or swing them round and around while other people are in the room. Never, under any circumstances make a decision without weighing the evidence.

It is more of a judgement by comparison than a weighing, muttered Sheba, then more loudly, Anyways, is the coffee ready?

Just at that moment the rain began to pour down and the fire was out. They positioned the Scales in its waterproofing case and hunkered under a nearby with steaming mugs.

How shall we prove its efficacy and go forwards?

We shall discover a decision in need of making, follow the instructions. I can read and you can follow.

Shall we follow the Thread until the correct decision is found?

Let’s.

They journeyed on the path, the Thread leading and following, until they came to a chasm over which a rope was tightly slung.

The horses will never, said the BK, they cannot wave their arms.

They don’t have arms.

Exactly.

The Thread crossed downstream by a handy fjord.

When we find the decision, do you suppose that it will all be in Black and White?

Mostly, said Sheba, Apart from the Grey Area.

The Thread took them to the whereabouts of a man who had made a cruel war on another country for no particular reason, other than he didn’t like them and it made him look like the big dog.

Sheba and the Blue Knight gathered up all the evidence which lay in plain sight. Someone had obviously tried to cover the evidence by obfuscatory pronouncements and midnight outbursts. But team Thread Quest saw through the screen of lies and was able to gather the hard evidence without hindrances. They left the soft evidence, circumstance and previous convictions etc. lying about with the intention of revisiting, if the Grey Area was entered.

Shall we weigh the evidence? said the Blue Knight, this seems a pretty open and closed case. The evidence was stacked in a huge pile.

Which pan on the scales is evidence FOR and which AGAINST? Asked the Blue Knight, I can’t see any markings. Should we stick on some labels to be sure? I wouldn’t want to put some evidence in the wrong folder.

Good idea, said Sheba, and she made two labels one saying FOR (Innocent) and one AGAINST(Guilty) and stuck them onto the pans. She always kept a supply of stick-on labels about her person as she spent many, searching the underbrush for medicinal.

Let’s use this as a test run, said Sheba hanging the scales in a tree, Once we’ve got the hang of it, we can roll out justice across the great divide.

Call the first witness and place their evidence and testimony in the appropriate pan.

Call the first witness, shouted the Blue Knight.