Look for the Other Reason
By
British_Beetle,
Posted on: 2007-07-14 11:06 in Multi-Media Fan Creations
Look for the other reason
14th July 2007
An interview with Dr Lionel A Goodman on recent anomalies across the Europe and US affecting the world's strongest fighting forces - Hero and Villain's alike.
By Ms.Reporter
Reports continued to roll out over communication waves today into the 2nd week of abnormal occurrences inflicting scores and thousands of Heroes across Paragon. Dimensional shifts causing transportation of people up to 5 meters away from original locations, coloured spectral anomalies blurring all and part of vision for large lengths of time and even temporal bubbles which are considerably slowing the trigger of powers are just some of the reported symptoms. The instances varied in their intensity, but in the worse afflicted cases many heroes have been taken out of action directly as a result of this. With frustrations and tempers running high many people pointed to the criminal organisations as the underlying source of the disturbances, but this reporter is able to relay reliable intelligence from those in Rogue Isles that similar incidents have inflicted multitudes of Villains from going about their illegal business.
Official statements from City Hall have been limited with efforts from New Corps, an independent support organisation for heroes, focusing in on those able to assist in capturing evidence either in scientific or magical methods to analyse the problem. In the last release from the diagnostic department at NC, the situation is said to be improving gradually and many heroes are only relieved to be finally hitting the streets again with whatever protective measures have been deployed.
However, there are voices outside official channels which are less than satisfied with this simple line. Dr Lionel A Goodman, a scientist and researcher respected in the environmental disturbances specialism for over 15 years has recently fallen outside of the scientific community's favour with his elaborate and detailed articles circulated on so called conspiracy theories. Meeting with the Doctor at a nondescript bar yesterday evening, you could be forgiven on first glance for agreeing with his sceptics. A tall bookish looking man, Goodman looks older than he should, streaks of grey already running through his dishevelled hair matching the lack of care he clearly shows to the rest of his appearance. Without his white lab coat he could have be mistaken for any of the drunken wanderers filling the corners of the room, but as he approached to shake my hand and introduce himself, his face betrays a certain intensity and earnestness that conveys to you a sense of urgency. And there is no mistaking the determination in his eyes, which holds an assured confidence in them despite what his peers have publicly said of him.
After ordering a beer, we settle into a corner of the bar and I begin by asking him why he has left his job at the department to pursue what others have described as a waste of an otherwise glittering career.
"Simple really," he answers curtly taking a large swill of beer, "I didn't see I had a choice. Once I knew I was right and those morons at the corporation weren't going to fund my research or release my papers. I had to go to someone that would"
When I press him for the details of this source of new support, he is plainly cagey and steers the conversation back to his real passion, the subject of his controversial papers.
"For months I'd been telling them this wasn't some one off happenings. The rifts in the optical spectrum. The slowing in reactionary times of so many heroes. They kept looking into it one at a time, one at a time, all these random reports they were putting down to latent power developments in one mutant, a gadget reading malfunction in another, but no one connected the dots. No one still is" No one except you I imply and surprisingly he doesn't smile at this obvious move at flattery, instead his face turns stern as he continues.
"They don't see the big picture. God they never do! 5 years ago it was the same, all the little signals, disturbances we didn't put together. Until it was too late, until they were ready. Like waiting around in some cosmic lunch queue when we're the ones being served up" They? I probe.
"THEY! The Rikti of course. The biggest dimensional gate crashers of all time, setting up in our back yard 5 years ago way before that night in May and setting up for weeks, may be months right now." I point out that the reports from the invasion have always stated all activities were undetectable to us prior to May 23rd, that it was only afterwards that the extent of the alien prior infiltration was discovered.
"Sh*t! are you an investigative reporter or what! That's just a line for Joe Hero, it isn't the truth, they knew what was coming. Maybe not the whole thing, but there were signs, you just need to look for them. They're not going to write it on the friggen wall for you. You think the Rikti would miscalculate again like they did last time. The sons of [censored] know who we are now, they know about the Statesmen and the heroes and even the [censored] Arachnos. Think about it. If you wanted to put as many of your enemies out of action ahead of a full out invasion how would you do it. Would you stamp your armour platted footprint all over it, or would you slide in with some sneaky guerrilla tactics, nip at everyone, build it up gradual and even so it looks random, until everybody's so busy looking inwards that they don't see you coming"
Beer is spilled all over Goodman's arm and the table from his outburst, his arm bandying around elaborately as he stresses each point. People from around the room glance across at us nervously and clearly think him a madman, but he seems oblivious to this and presses on pulling out a wad of folder papers from his pocket spreading them on top of the sticky table in front of me.
"Here, look! Readouts from my Pulse IoN Generator tests. Look at the graphs; 183ms, 301ms, 1351ms, 3530ms. The numbers have been steadily building everywhere. I've taken figures from my own experiments as well as other reports. I put them altogether and it matches the readings from Dr Sciences records in 2002." I interrupt him momentarily to ask him how he has access to such records, but he waves this question away irritably.
"My dad worked with him, one of the team who helped locate the portal. Not that it did him much good, died in a Rikti street fight 2 days before they put the plan into action." I offer him my condolences, but his eyes turn hard at this. A renewed anger returning to his face. "Look at the numbers! Don't give me sorry's when the whole worlds about to make its biggest mistake all over again. We weren't ready then! And we aren't ready now. I just hope to god we haven't left it too late and we get our act together soon."
We? I ask him. And he stuffs the papers into his pocket taking the last small swill of beer left at bottom of his glass. "Yeah, I'll be out there fighting when it happens. And I've got a few surprises hatched up for those bastards when they decide to pop their heads out above ground" And at this his anger seems to subside hardening inside him into something more solid and deadlier that makes edge slightly away from him.
"I'll keep warning all you [censored] heroes and anyone who will listen to get their sh*t in order and quick time, cause they are coming and when they do if you're not ready, then you're just fodder for cannons."
I press him to elaborate more on this statement, but I see the interview is over as he gets up from his chair to leave. He takes a half step, but then turns around suddenly and comes back to me, a torn look across his face, he presses the half damp papers into my hands. "Publish it, take it all and let people know whats happening. Maybe they'll listen to you." And with that he walks out of the bar bumping unceremoniously into a few people who are trying to come in through the doorway at same time.
They shout at him and look at his retreating back as he completely ignores them, striding purposely on his way.
"Crazy dude" one of them says to his companions as they move aside and I think to myself, I hope you're right mate I really do. But, looking down at the papers in my lap the streams of data and scribblings flowing over pages and pages of precise graphs and calculations, a date is scribbled in the corner in red angry pen, I don't feel sure of that, not so sure at all.
It's the Rikti!!! They're lagging us up so they can take over more easily!
I enjoyed it! Whats especially good about it was that I found it both interesting and easily imagineable from the descriptions.
He will honor his words; he will definitely carry out his actions. What he promises he will fulfill. He does not care about his bodily self, putting his life and death aside to come forward for another's troubled besiegement. He does not boast about his ability, or shamelessly extol his own virtues. - Sima Qian.
((Yes the lag issues are bad and yes many a good hero has been taken out of action because of it, but the thought that crossed my mind after seeing the nth person having to log because they just couldn't get through a mission was how do you explain, I mean really explain it
hope you enjoy this article as a small distraction to anyone not being able to play currently because of their problems))