BladeZone's Off World Forums

I was just wondering, is it legal for a civillian to retire a confirmed replicant? I've read or heard about it somewhere before, but I can't remember the exact details. Also, is it legal for a normal cop (not a Runner) to retire a confirmed rep?

Interesting concept. I never thought about that before. I guess for a civilian it might fall under some from of ?citizen?s arrest? jurisdiction.

Well... a rogue rep is still someones property, right...

hmm...

i would say itd be illegal as it is illegal to shoot an animal w/o a license so would it be with a replicant thats why they have blade runner units if any beat cop could air one out or normal person then whats the point of having special units

You have to confirm that you're dealling with a rep - the only sure way of knowing (in the movie) is the VK test (in the book, a bone-marrow DNA test would also confirm it).

You can't allow 'little people' to use 'i thought he was a rep' as a defense against murder, so they probably have to treat the shooting as a murder because the person doing the shooting doesn't know for sure that they are shooting a rep...

...of course it may be confirmed later, but you still can't let the person doing the 'retiring' off the hook 'cos that won't deter other's from chancing it.

Good question.

I know you folks love me for picking fault with your line of enquiry but wasn't the idea put across in the novel that ordinary people should never find out that there were reps amongst them (or was that the movie or one of Jeter's sequels?)
''Enlightenment is the asking of many questions''

Yeah, that is true (I myself have used that argument in other threads).

So there's the answer - civvies don't retire reps 'cos they don't know about them.

Is that in the movie or the book?

By the way, thanks for all your help.

It's from the book - a lot of stuff wasn't explained in the movie...

Okay then.

The game, though - a lot of people seemed to know about replicants there.

Runciter - though he was in the business, with his fake animals and whatnot, so I guess he's not really a 'civillian'.

Bullet Bob Gorsky - though I suppose he'd know about them from fighting off-world...

Gordo Frizz - I never found out whether he was a rep or not, but he seemed to know about them - and he was just a comedian.

And it was on the news too - 'when a Blade Runner shot an alleged replicant in a crowded street'. I wonder what exactly is the game's view of citizens knowledge of replicants? Hmmm.

By the by, my main query has been answered (thanks), but now this new knowledge has got me thinking.

Well, I would say that Westwood decided not to carry all the ideas from the book into the game - there's a lot of differences between the book and the movie. Let's not forget that the movie is 'based on' the book rather than an exact re-telling of the story.

I suppose the game is based on the movie rather than the book, so further liberties have been taken with the ideas in the original story.

This is from the movie, as you all know:

Bryant: They jumped a shuttle Off-world, killed the crew and passengers. They found the shuttle drifting off the coast two weeks ago so we know they're around.

Deckard: Embarrassing.

Bryant: No sir. Not embarrassing, because no one's ever going to find out they're down here. Because you're going to spot them, and you're going to air them out

...

So I guess "little people" is not supossed to know about reps on earth, but, as it happens with a lot of things that are not supposed to be known, it is sure that some people know it.

Also, in the book, the 'little people' had to take a test on a regular basis to assess the affect that the background radiation (left over from World War Terminus) was having on their brains. If the test determined that they were 'chickenheads' then their freedoms were further eroded (I can't remember what exactly happened - haven't read the book for a couple of years, now).

The Blade Runners introduced the VK test as 'routine' so that the suspicions of the 'little people' would not be aroused.

I think, in the movie, Leon mentions that he's already had a test when Holden goes to VK him...

he already had and "IQ" test and what else that tests for is open for debate

I think you could say it is implied in the movie. Since "if your not cop your little people" I certainly doubt that A) civvies would have the information or tools required (mainly the VK test) to detect a rep AND B) have the authority to retire anyone.