[UNIONVERSE!] Public Opinion

"Wasn't the point of that letter to be condemning Pious for that very approach?" says Fanservice, rubbing the side of her head "That's a pretty big left at the traffic lights to get to her wanting to murder him to hide illicit weapon deals that no one's got any proof actually occurred. I don't mind a good discussion, but you can't just blurt out random unfounded accusations, we'll never get to anything good!"

Smoothing back her hair she laughs "I've never really known Molly to take a step wrong, she's a really responsible girl. To jump from that to murder just sounds crazy, especially without any real proof."

"She heads a company that makes weapons, the same weapons used to kill other human beings. She's already provide the tools to murder others, it seems as long as her hands remain clean, then it doesn't bother her. Hence having Pious murdered, and not doing it with her own hands."

"She doesn't sell weapons to murderers, that'd be all kinds of illegal! It's possible to own a weapon and not be some kind of serial killer, millions of people manage it in America every day. Not to mention armed forces are far better at providing security when they're actually, y'know, armed."

Giving a little huff, she crosses her arms "That logic is just so tortured and makes way too big a jump to be credible. There's no evidence at all of Molly's guilt in this, if this is really the best you can do then we should probably move on to something that isn't just navel gazing."

"To kill anyone is murder, but hey your friend Molly is perfectly innocent right, as long as the blood isn't on her hands right? I mean she just made the guns, and the ammo and sold them."

mrthrowback eventually draws his banstick from behind him and points it at the mess of shadows that is Electric Feel. Almost instantaneously, the stick extends to violently prod the player in whatever passes for its head with an audible pop not unlike that from opening a tub of Pringles. This is soon followed by a small blue field surrounding the avatar with the text "SILENCE!" in a big bold red font orbiting along its midpoint.

"Ladies and gentlemen, I think it's safe to say we can leave -that- particular subject alone for a short while. Once we've all cooled down a little, we can -maybe- return to it, okay?"

Coughing Fans bites back a retort "Apologies, I think this whole things just got people grasping at straws for a culprit within easy reach. There may not even be one, he could have just died of his injuries. They were fairly extensive and we all know exactly who delivered those, so you could say the most obvious candidate for the blame here isn't that hard to pick out."

An avatar in the form of an elderly man with tanned skin, wearing a tailored suit, enters the room. The name "Morpheus108" hovers above his head. He looks around the room before speaking with an Italian accent.

"Sorry, I hope I'm not too late. Is it possible for me to see a log of what's been said, so I don't start repeating it all?"

((Morpheus108's personal data is mostly empty, stating only that he is male and resides in Paragon City.))

"Oh, sure." mrthrowback gladly answers as he pushes his glasses back up his nose. "Check your PM, Morpheus!"

The PM, which Morpheus will have been notified of with a gentle jingle on his end, includes what some would consider a quick and dirty guide on how to review a room's logs, available from the first message posted right up to now. Despite the sloppy writing, presumably on throwback's part, it still remains fairly easy to follow.

"And yes, I am aware that some serious editing is in order, thank you. I will get round to it as soon as I can."

Peacmaker stands the wrong way, as if the user is not paying too much attention to the graphical interface.

"So what do we talk about? I was just wondering if there had been any response from the Rogue Isles? I mean, how bad is the censorship over htere?"

The figure runs, hits a wall and keeps running.

"I guess we can all talk abot the heros but wer not getting the full pciture are we?"

"Sorry, keyboard.. "

"It seems to me like more unwarranted Rogue Island aggression that's finally hitting the public concious. The thugs of the Islands have always been desperate for attention and maybe they thought trying to start a war might finally make them more than second stringers?"

MrBinky101 , raised a hand to indicate he wish to comment ..

..if this action is now being called a war ..where was the US goverment in all this ..or have the Heroes taken over ? .

.this incident seem more like the continuation of the private brawling between Isle based gangs and US based gangs of superpowered persons ..both sides seemed to know where to meet and when to start the fighting , both sides seem to have been prepared ..

Why has our goverment issued no statement on the events ..are they being kept silent ..we all are aware of the power the big companies have in politics ..who is pulling who's strings here ..

Now , to be clear , i am not a ban the gun freak , but when a major weapon supplier is directly involvled in a armed conflict ..is it not fair to air some concernes .. disclosure and openness is needed to reassure the tax paying public that things are the way they should be ..

Clearly we have a advocate of this Molly Londstaff here with us , can they made a statement clearing up some of these blurred issues ?

The avatar of the user known only as 'AnnaMk2' is dressed in a red and white suit and has the appearance of a shy looking woman peering out from a mess of red hair. Although coy and meek in appearance, her user profile contains very little other than stating that she is a Paragon City resident and works in the medical profession. The only comment on her profile reads "Not for you!!!"

"I have to concur," she states. "An arms trader would clearly have a conflict of interests in this incursion. One can imagine them attempting to sell weaponry to the losing side, citing their poor defences as adequate reasons for purchasing new armaments."

She then fell silent, expecting to be talked down to.

A slightly transparent book appears out of then air with OED on the cover, several pages flick over rapidly. "'Advocate' and 'representative' appear to be quite far apart in the dictionary. And the owner of a company need not be acting in such a role all the time. Take Bill Gates' charitable works, they have nothing to do with Microsoft. As for the continued conspiracy theories... I'm afraid that's all they are. You'll be telling us next that the CIA planned the 9-11 attacks."

MrBinky101, emoted a frown

But Bill Gates' charitable works, and his Microsoft activities are very closely watched by many goverment and public bodies , to compare Molly Longstaffs activites is to mislead ..Billy boy would not be allowed to take charge of a major public computer , say taxes , network , will being the CEO of MS .

all i am asking for is openness and accountability ..why do you seem opposed to this ..

If these hero people are going to use these powers in public areas , thus , there being a chance of harm or even death to a bystander , not to mention damage to property ..do we not have a right to be assured that all is proper and above board ?

is it not still a US goverment tenant that no one is above the law ..?

..and yes i am aware of how the dictionary lists words , but what does that have to do with this debate ..honesty and hero may be close together in that book ..but sadly it is no indicator of such a state in real life ... i mean criminal and congressman are very close , as is President and penguin ..do you wish to base you reasoning on the spelling of words ?

let us not loose sight of the issue here ..the bad guys won , while the hero faction seems to have been the victim of infighting , and murky dealings ..should we not all be calling for an investigation at all levels ..?

(( all OOC here , .... did we not once , at GG i think , agree that there was no in game 9/11 as such , due to there being no US iraq , afganistan et al involment due to the Rikti wars ? , just want to make sure we all agree before using thiose referances ..))

(( Putting aside heavy political argument... I didn't get the memo. Pick your favourite flake conspiracy theory and substitute. ))

"Who says I'm opposing anything? I want you to make a case that does not involve pure supposition and paranoid, reationary theory."

The mask smiles. "I can make those up as well. You want greater accountability of 'heroes.' You want them to bound up in even more rules and laws than they already are. This would result in two things: fewer criminals in the Zig and more heroes turning vigilante, thus bringing disrepute to the entire 'hero' concept. Since your actions are clearly designed to reduce the effectiveness of the law enforcement of the US, you must be a villain or a terrorist.

"Pure supposition, absolute speculation, but based on more actual facts than you've put on the table."

((The Rikti Invasion happened May 22nd 2002. 9/11 happened, surprisingly, on 9/11/2001. Thus there's no reason why the Rikti would have meant no 9/11. Seeing as the Cold War happened, the Afghani rebels were still armed and trained in an attempt to prevent the Russians taking Afghanistan. Plus perhaps only one Tower was taken down, like in Ex Machina? The first attack was successful, but heroes were able to prevent the second one.))

BODICIA's status blinked from AFK to Online. "I would hardly call attempts to reign in a dangerous loose cannon 'infighting'. The Priest, supposedly a man of God, does not seem to practice what he should be preaching, considering he attacked a man who surrendered while saying, one moment:"

Her avatar flickered and shifted in parts to that of a representation of Pious Hunter. "Let me think about this deal a second. One, I know for sure anything you tell us is horsetripe. Two, anything you can tell us we can find out anyway, and three... when I break your face on this asphalt, tell me how it tastes!"

Switching her avatar back, BODICIA continued. "If this 'War' is anything more than just sensationalist journalistic reporting, then any surrendering prisoners are to be dealt with under the power that holds them, not the unit that captures. If you consider the power to be the Federal Bureau of Superpowered Affairs, an arm of the United States Govermnent, and The Priest to be a unit of such, then by attacking and beating this prisoner he was in direct violation of articles two, three and four of the Geneva Convention. In any case, war or not, this is poor showing. I commend any who would stand up against such an attitude."

Raising a finger, BODI turned her chair around. "And in the case of proper power usage, this is what the FBSA is there for, the federal agency for accounting for super powered beings, or metahumans as some call them. There are laws in place to hold heroes accountable for their actions, from the earliest inception of the Citizen's Crime Fighting Act of 1937."

"Regarding murky dealings, I have seen little to suggest this as fact other than A: Molly Longstaff of Longstaff WarTech took a stance against Hero Brutality, and B: the fact that Longstaff WarTech makes weapons. If the Priest had been drinking Pepsi and Molly Longstaff CocaCola, would we think the next round of the Cola Wars had started too?"

MrBinky101, emoted a wide smile

no , no dont get me wrong ..i fully agree that currently there is a vast amount of speculation .. which is the whole reason i put forward that we need investigation , not by me or you , but by goverment appointed people , independant of the heroes and thier companies , to find , for us , the facts so that we can clearly see what was actually happening..

this here and now is no courtroom , all i am trying to do is ask for the facts to be made public , not that Molly Longstaff says happened , not what CCN say happened ..

let the truth be told , ..then any flim-flan conspiracy theories ..by either side ..or being premoted by any third party can be quashed ..

As you say any one can speculate , for example one could ask why you seem to be opposed to open investigation of heroes ? , or why you wear that mask , every one has an agenda ..

mine currently is to know the facts ..for example ..i am know there was a mass meeting of heroes in Galaxy Girl Park nearly a week before the fighting started ..

should we not be asking the question s

why did this take place ?

who was in charge ?

was the goverment informed ?

what was the outcome of this meeting ?

why was the public not for warned of the attackes IF ,. and i say IF , the heroes knew at the time of the meeting ...

and if the Heroes knew , why did they not act to prevent the attackes taking place ?


All i ask is to be able to ask such questions and to be answered ..with the truth

Unclips the mask and holds it up, there's nothing under the helmet. The mask continues to lipsync as she speaks, however.

"This is an avatar, the 'mask' is it's face. We can make them look like anything, why make it look like me?

"Now, you've already said you believe the government is being kept quiet, what makes you think any investigation would result in real findings? I'd point out that this 'war' could hardly have gone unnoticed. We live in a surveillance society, there are Longbow on every street corner. Do you think we do anything they don't know about, sanction, or arrange?"

AnnaMk2 popped a 'giggle' emote.

"Please, this is the internet. There's no such thing as truth here, only opinon. The legalities of this conflict are a side issue I'm sure. The fact remains that our city was attacked but the invaders repelled, taking out a dangerous 'hero' along the way. It seems like a win/win situation to me."

"A man died, and we're calling that a win?" Morpheus108 cut in. "Ladies and gentlemen, I think we need a sense of perspective here. There may be no official state of war between the United States and the Etoile Isles, but surely we can all see that a war is being fought.

"Have you ever taken a walk down to the south end of New Overbrook, or, if you have clearance, visited Siren's Call? I have, and I have seen Arachnos troops occupying US soil. Condemn the heroes of the city for fighting back if you must, but ask yourself: if they did not, who would?

"I'm not going to condone beating a helpless prisoner who has surrendered willingly. But I also don't think we've heard the whole story yet. To what 'deal' was the Reverend referring in that recording?"

"The deal was regarding a plea bargain involving protection, a new identity and immunity from prosecution in exchange for information on the invasions. A member of Longbow was on the scene to try and draw a reasonable deal out and follow correct channels. The Priest however... one moment. Here is but a small selection of quotes."

One by one, avatar files were downloaded into the room around BODICIA's chair, each stating something different.

"That's it. I'm getting tired of this. If this pawn doesn't talk, I'm blasting."

"Yeah well certain things I can get away with out of the red and white. Like breaking your head so hard against my fist you spend the rest of your miserable life drooling on feaces in a mental home!"

"Come on, let me break this guy. Nothing he can tell us that we need anyway. We'll learn everything in due time, namely when we win the war!"

BODICIA dismisses the avatars. "I can provide audio-visual data from a security feed over the Siren's Call area during the fight, and there is an incident when Pious hits the villain who had surrendered, stating that it made him 'feel better' and attempting to intimidate others into taking his side of 'nothing happened' when Molly Longstaff and the Longbow Agent Miranda Wong stood up for the man's rights to fair treatment by the system. Plus saying he would undermine any investigation into his activities, which Molly Longstaff also sided with Agent Wong on."

An Avatar slipped into the room, a tall female made up entirely of lines, resembling stylized figure from the vector games of a bygone age.

Her info merely refered to her as Elise, her age was 23 and that she came from the Eotile Isles.

She stood merely watching for a while.