[UNIONVERSE!] Public Opinion

BODICIA's avatar shifts to that of a small section of ceiling, a hole in the middle with a Corgi's head peering out of it. "i r ceiling corgi. i r evar vigilant, arf arf. i can haz rite 2 watch."

AnnaMk2 listened to the replayed recordings and made her avatar shrug as if the media was proving her point. Even so she still turned her digitised face to Morpheus108.

"I don't condemn heroes for fighting back. I condemn them for acting with brutality. A hero acting as if they have the divine right to torture a prisoner, potentially a prisoner of war if we choose to go with that definition, will do more to undermine public support for heroes than losing this skirmish."

Elise's avatar spoke up.

"Hero, one, the other heroes, if what I can gather, all agreed that he'd gone too far."

She rested her hand on her chin in a pondering fashion.

"Of course how many times has Pious died and come back from the dead anyway...you know nobody really stays dead for long around here...even that hero Britannic has mysterious turned up after his dimensional jumping antics took him out of the limelight for a long period of time, even the villain Dr Mechano disappeared for six months, everyone assumed him dead but he returned, again through means of portal hopping..."

She giggled, "of course the actions of Pious are now out in the public domain...infact I can assure people the Rogue Isle Protector did report this with some glee, along with boastings by a one Commander Krimzon about how this is an example of what happens when you let vigilantes run riot and not the measured control of an officially backed fighting force such as Arachnos...but then an Arbiter would say that wouldn't they..."

"Maybe there hasn't been an investigation into what happened because... well what's to investigate? The Villains attacking us is hardly a new development. The Corporation is on tape as having killed, or at least dealing the injuries that eventually killed, Pious Hunter and hasn't issued any denial to the contrary, hell I bet if anyone can find a statement off them it'll be gloating. In fact there's substantial evidence from threats issued that they also premeditated the whole thing."

The avatar gives a laugh, before pointing declaratively to the sky, "I don't mind a good conspiracy theory. But this is a really, really bad conspiracy theory when I can poke holes this big in it!"

isnt that the point , all con ... oh sorry need to afk dinner time BRB .. <afk>

As MrBinky101 flags himself as AFK, mrthrowback points the banstick at Electric Feel again, watching it extend and strike the avatar with the same popping sound as before. This time, the stick applies the opposite effect, removing the silence barrier around him.

"Remember the rules. Keep it clean and avoid triggering an epic flamewar. If the conversation heats up again like it threatened to earlier, I'll do more than silence. Got it?"

With that, the admin casually drops the stick behind him and continues taking in the conversation.

A female avatar who had been watching in silence finally found her voice. "My name is Stephanie, I live poor on the Rogue Isles. It's not a life I chose to live, circumstances just brought me to reside on the City of Villains. You can imagine how much I have to suffer under the terrorist regime of Arachnos. I can't even drive to work without being harrassed and extortioned by the government that's suppose to serve me. Now picture my relief when I heard on TV that someone had peeled away the fear in his heart and stood up for my justice, my freedom in arresting one soldier of Arachnos for his part in attacking Paragon City.

"I'm not condoning his fist-first methods or failure to restrain, because it *is* unheroic. But we're not all red and blue boyscouts, we're not all demigods like Statesman. This man was human, mortal like the rest of us. He was angry. Angry at the corruption of society, he was upset with the failures of the Justice system, he was desperate to apprehend just this one criminal, probably to proove to himself that even in this sorry world we live in, one man, one man can still make a difference.

"But he was undermined by his friends, misunderstood by his fellows. So called heroes who were more interested in a mock surrender, yes, a mock surrender! Because believe me, that's what it was. The day our "protectors" start trusting the villains of the Rogue Isles is the day we're all condemned to damnation. You, replay your fancy animation, that shady deal those cowardly heroes were trying to cut, involved releasing Holt from arrest. By what authority? In my opinion, my opinion, the Priest did what he thought was best for the free people of his country. He refused to recognise a faked surrender and opted for extreme prejudice, strict justice that would have brought Holt to the Police, or the Longbow services.

"For his five years of heroism, all he got back was a beating from a Nazi madman. How dare you, after all the good he's done, reduce his sacrifice, his martyrdom, as "taking out a dangerous 'hero' along the way", "a loose cannon", or regard him challenging a known villain, a qualified Soldier of Arachnos, as "terrorist actions". Listen to me, Peacemaker said it all, nobody's been given the full story of events in this war, only the newspapers written by the villains themselves, edited to made our heroes look bad. It's as Morpheus108 said, a man died. He died fighting in this war, for you, for your freedom, the least you can do is let him rest. Stop stabbing at his corpse, stop splashing mud onto his coffin. Stain his legacy no further.

"Look instead to his killer, the one, real criminal in this whole story, the murderer, Ubermensch Khan. Talk of the "outcome of a trial" for him. Talk of the "death penalty on the Isles" for him." I don't know about you, but in my sad and unfortunate life, I have lost alot of people. Friends, colleagues, family. My father, my mother and my son, all killed in cold blood by the criminal element that plagues the City of Villains, the same element that claimed the life of Pious Hunter. So talk not of his wrongdoings, people. Seek justice, seek retribution for his death. Or if not, then at least, stop tarnishing his good name. God, his body must be twisting and turning in the grave. Please just... just let him rest."

At that moment a fairly basic looking female avatar, jsut using the basic default customisation settings walked into the room, the name floating over head reading "Miriage219" the name was missing from the infosection, but the age, the fact she lived in paragon city and her occupation as a member of Longbow were all lsited.

"Oh hey!" She spoke in a rather quick and hyperactive voice, "Bit of a nice room you've got here, interesting topic too, I mean from my point of view, we don't really know if it was a phoney surrender or not, we never got the chance!"

She paused for a second, "But it's a chance we should give them right? I mean the freedom we're fighting for here does mean that we're allowed to give people a chance, that they might realise they signed up for the wrong side? It does happen, we even had that Ciricle of Thorns guy Akarit or somthing surrender and join up with the hero side a while back! There was a Longbow warden on the scene trying to talk to Holt as he was surrrendering and trying to negotate, but before anything could be agreed Mr Pious went and attacked him"

The sound of the girl aking a breath to resume rapid speaking could be heard over the speakers, "It's really sad that anyone in this whole thing has to die, we try really hard not to let anyone die... but we'll bring them to justice one day somehow! It's jsut the justice we'll bring has to be fair and real justice, not trigger happy vengence fueled 'justice' that's jsut a cover word for revenge!"

"And Stephenine, have you heard of the Longbow oureach program in the isles, if things are really being that bad if you contact them we cans ee if we can come and help you! It's what we do after all!"

Another avatar drops into the redside. Female, black leather, black shirt, black mask/bandanna showing the lower half of a chromed face. the userID and user comments proclaim this paragon of chromed virtue to be "The Dread Pirate Roberts." With smaller footnotes going "Day 17. People still expecting me to be male. Hilarity ensues." After a brief pause for log reviewing...

"Of course, anyone who believes the tripe they put in the Rogue Isles Protector isn't even worth the effort of worrying about. We all know about heavy handed tactics, on both sides of the debate.

Point is, there could be any one of half a hundred people responsible for what happened.Point is, you're blowing the whole damn thing waaaay out of proportion. Conspiracies, wars, cats and dogs living together, the end of the world. This isn't a war. it's a couple of skirmishes in contested territory. if the Priest did get offed by someone on the righteous side of things, and believe me, that's just as likely as revenge from the wrong side of the tracks, then I'd imagine it's someone who didn't like his attitude and decided to rid us of one turbulent priest.

Basically, what you have here is what the corpus delicti would have referred to as "an eye for an eye." Whether that's right or wrong, good or bad, I leave to the peanut gallery. As for this grand Conspiracy of Unusual Size? I don't think it exists."

"First, answer me this Miriage219. Because alot of people are still looking at Pious' actions the wrong way. You're Longbow, when a criminal is sighted, warranted for arrest, sure he comes at you looking to surrender and cut a freedom deal, but you're not sure he's telling you the truth. He asks to spend no prison time, complete immunity for the murders he's commited in the past, probably that of my family and other innocent people's families by the way, but like Miranda Wong, you tell him he still needs to come in for questioning, at which point he reconsiders and asks to be let free anyway until further notice, so he can 'probably' meet with you again, secretly, at another time, possibly during the invasion... tell me, not only is such a deal morally unfair, but does it even sound logical? To let a known killer walk away from your handcuffs, solely on his words that he will see you later... well that's exactly what Miranda Wong and Molly 'Execute' Longstaff did that night. And sane within his senses, Pious Hunter, regardless of his bad mood, or aggressive methods, was the only man that night who did the right thing. He pursued that scheming Arachnos soldier right across Siren's Call but without hero support, he was defeated in the chase.

"It seems the Rogue war is over now. And what did we learn? The villains invaded Blood Bay and Siren's Call, they even occupied Warburg and flew into Atlas Park. Longbow already knew they would do that. So what did Holt have for you in the first place? That they would seize said zones, that the Court and the Corp were the major players along with Arachnos? That they would attack on that Saturday? Longbow knew all of that. Pious was the only one thinking right. Holt had nothing new to offer. Zilch. Surrender? Yeah, to trick you all and escape sentence, maybe. And now look, even over Hunter's dead body, you people, with your high paying jobs and your flashy uniforms, you undermine that man's one biggest patriotic act. Instead of being out there on the streets, finding the real bad guys. Finding the real killers, and the murderers, who think its right, in this country, to "rid us of one turbulent priest"... She glances at Pirate Roberts... "And decide, just because they didn't like his attitude, to go kill a man.

"All this hate. All this hate and contempt directed at that poor man, heroes arguing among themselves. Instead of directing that energy into finding the real villains. No wonder he died in that hospital. His healing powers stopped working? Well is it any wonder? With all this negativity, all this blame, crushing him to his death. Maybe Khan injured him, but the real killers is all of you. All of you who held him in such contempt. With such hatred in your hearts. And why? Because he chased away the Arachnos? You should all be ashamed of yourselves. By the way, 'Longbow Officer' Miriage219, my name is Stephanie, not "Stephenine". Okay? If you're on the Isles to 'rescue' us poor helpless people, at least get our names right."

MrBinky101 de-afked ..

" umm carrot cake was great .. sorry dinner took longer than expected ..now where was we .."

Emotes The Thinker ...

"yes ..quote ..>My name is Pious Hunter and I have been appointed as spokesman for this meeting by the Longbow Office. My job here tonight is to liase with as many heroes as I can concerning the Arachnos and Rogue Isles threat but also to answer questions.<

this is how Mr P started the meeting of heroes in Galxay ..so here we can see he was Longbows choice to organise the Heroes..

here is another quote >Rules of Engagement is to ensure your own survival and the welfare of the local citizens of this great city. The invading criminals are to be apprehended alive and turned to Longbow authorities. Reasonable force is paramount. We do not have permission of lethal force. <

and here we can see that the rule of law was , at least said , to be in place ...


so may i ask the question .. why did Mr P flip and go all badcop-beat-them-up rampage ?

he is a hero , a minister of a major US church , and the chossen one of Longbow .. and he just looses the plot , and breaks all the rules ..

Why ?

..and if such a person can what does that tell us about other heroes ?.. how many more are on the edge ?

Another avatar flickered into the 'room'. It was fairly simple, obviously not wanting to draw too much attention, but it was a fairly realistic representation of a young girl with fairly short hair and glasses. Her bio was quite withheld, except that she was, yes, female and, no, she wasn't interested, and that she lived in the Etoile Isles. The name was Geni-v.

"People only ever seem to get one side," she interjected, the avatar staying slightly to the back of the group. "People always think it's all good adn bad.."
"*and"

"Arachnos are mostly...not bery nice.
*very.
but they aren't all bad. Most, but not all."

"We used to live in Mercy. And, if youre going to believe anything then, yes, Mercy *is* a dump. It's real rough. I only had a laptop 'cos dad took one when he got fired by his boss for reporting him to *his* boss for being...nasty."

Geni trailed off for a moment, before continuing.
"There was one time, the house got broken into. By snakes. The ones on Mercy, ones with arms and weapons. Dad managed to lock one of the doors on them, but they started breaking it dwn.
*down.
"Mum had panicked and rung the cops, then simply started screaming out the window. I didnt know who it was at first, but someone shouted back. Sounded like someone coming in downstairs. Thats when the snakes broke through. Literlly broke the door into chunks. Dad kept trying to keep them back, got a plank and started laying onto them.
*into

"He actually killed one. I heard it's, y'know, neck snap..."
The avatar paused, and emoted a shiver.
"But the next one, one of the big ones with the neck frills, it just bit the plank out of his hand. I thought we were all going to die. But we didnt...cos of the Spiders."

The girls avatar looked around, as if afraid someone would laugh at her.
"The big one (Think they call them Cobras?) went out like a light. There was three gunshots, and three more snakes died. Then that was it. And we were alive. They *saved* us. It was a Spider squad. They came in and stopped the snakes."

Geni paused, and her avatar folded its arms.
"They didnt look like the others, thought.
*though
Normal Spider have all black armour. These ones had red shoulder plates and gloves and stuff. And the symbol, there was a little sword in the middle of the Arachnos symbol. The man in charge, the one with the mace who hit the Cobra, he just turned to Dad and said "Well done." I mean...I *know* the other Spiders dont say things like that. They arent nice. But the man just said "Sergeant Doc, Krimzon Guard. Everything ok, sir?" We were all kind of stunned anyway, so Dad just nodded. The Sergeant said something to the others and they all wandered out, but he gave dad a little card. Said if there was anythign else, we were to call.
*anything

Geni's avatar looked around at the others, slightly defiantly.
"He works there, now. Got a job as a technician. And we live in Cap Au, now. No more Mercy, no more snakes. Thanks to them. So...I don't think their boss, that Arbiter...I don't think he's a liar. Dad says all the troops in that uniform are all...well, like soldiers. Not like the RIPS, not like the other spiders. They just do their jobs..."

She trailed off with a foot shuffle emote.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zwillinger GG, I would tell you that "I am killing you with my mind", but I couldn't find an emoticon to properly express my sentiment.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Captain_Photon NOTE: The Incarnate System is basically farming for IOs on a larger scale, and with more obtrusive lore.

Morpheus108's avatar glanced at MrBinky101's. "Can we please talk about one thing at a time? I think we're going to need to focus if we're going to make any progress.

"Stephanie, all I can say is... very well said. And thank you for the additional detail you've provided on these events. It surprises me that the others here - including those with full audio-visual records of what took place - didn't think any of that was worth mentioning."

The Avatar's digitized voice slurs, speaking slowly at first, but then gaining speed, until once more it's at a normal pace.

"The Villains invaded Warburg, sorry but that is part of the Etoile Isles, they can't invade what they already own."

"As for why Longbow didn't inform the citizens living in these places, of the upcoming attack, assuming that they did indeed know all about them..."

"Well why would they? You must remember for all its humanitarian efforts, Longbow was born as a teenage rebellion, to show up the parents of a rebellious demi-god. People in peril, means that they get to rescue them, and look good in the media."

"In fact their very presence in the Rogue Isles, is nothing more than a childish grudge Ms. Liberty bares towards her uncle."

"You did know that Ms. Liberty is related to Recluse didn't you? It seems setting up private para-military groups runs in the family."

"As for saving the citizens of the Etoile Isles, well..... Unless Longbow are having one of their fun fire fights outside the citizens house, they are actually safer in the 'Rogue' Islands than in Paragon City."

"Simply put, even the so called 'Destined' ones are only allowed to get away with so much. Once they start killing and maiming, the citizens of the Rogue Islands, they are swiftly killed or destroyed by Arachnos Assassins."

"No final plea bargaining, no last minute jail breaks. Just a few blasts, and your remains in a lab."

"The question is, why do heroes think they can ignore US law, nay even international law?"

"A man surrendered to him, yet Pious decided he would ignore the Geneva convention (Though not applicable because as a private militia, Longbow are unable to declare war on the Etoile Islands.), and a half dozen US laws on the treatment of prisoners and rough the guy up."

"Of course this would be bad press, if the link between Longstaff and Pious was ever made public."

*Emote Cough* "R.A.P.I.E.R" *Emote Cough*

"Convenient that he was killed, by a rather well known, mercenary figure right?"

Phasing into the forum is a plain avatar, dressed in a black suit with plain and rather bland features, aesthetic choices seeming to be a backburner for the creation of this avatar.

Named "CorpRep" it emotes a cough before moving forwards.

" If I may interject, the company I am representing has sent this through legal channels to send this message, as this forum and its discussion is now becoming high profile in the media for its discussion we have deemed necassary to step in and clear a few points "

The avatar stands with its arms folded behind its back in a stoic stance

" First of all, my client - the company known as the corporation - wishes to clear any misinterpretation regarding any connection with the paragon citizen known as Molly Longstaff. "

" My client never has and never will have dealings with the aforementioned vigilante and any suggestion that my client would have taken a contract from said person is in breach with any agreement made between my client and other third parties. "

" Now I will not divulge the names of any agents in my clients employ as to protect their identity - however one of the managers has given me clearance to state that his actions against the rogue longbow agent known as the Priest were his own as a retaliation to the unprovoked attack on one of the corporations other agents. "

" Also as an addendum that the ensuing altercation was met with equal force by The Priest who entered the meeting willingly and reacted by bringing other agents in to make a false arrest on the grounds of Warburg, which as many know is not on U.S soil and thus other than an extradition order being agreed would make any arrrest invalid "

The avatar clears his throat and nods to all

" I thank you for your time in this, as we speak this statement is also being issued to other media parties in the hope of quelling these unsubstantiated rumours, my client has no reason now or ever to involve itself in the petty goings on between registered heroes on U.S soil "

The avatar smiles politely and fades out.

"well.. " huffed MrBinky101's avatar .."at least one faction has the comman decency to come forward and make a public statement ... shame they did not stay to take questions .."

" and to Morpheus108's , may i say we are talking about one thing , the actions of Mr P .."


" it seem clear that he did beat up a prisoner ..let us now ask ,can we see why he took this out of character action ? "

"Pardon me, but I was under the impression you wanted to discuss other heroes who might be 'on the edge', as you put it. Of course, it's up to our host's discretion to decide whether we're on topic. However, if you consider anything about that statement we just heard to be 'decent'..." Morpheus018's avatar shook its head. "What kind of lawyer has the gall to accuse others of being 'rogues' and 'vigilantes' while admitting that one of his own clients carried out an illegal and ultimately fatal act of retaliation for a past conflict?"

"I'm actually unsure what we are discussing any more. The 'evidence' we have been presented with suggests Pious stuck his nose in the wrong place and people with bigger guns shot it off. While I'd have to consider that evidence to be... dubious, it's the only actual evidence we have been given which is not pure speculation.

"One 'hero' going bad is not exactly the most uncommon thing in the world, or are you suggesting he was influenced? Even then, there seems little connection between his behaviour and his demise."

Geni's avatar gave Morpheus018 an almost pitying look.

"You've never lived in the Isles, then? That's the way things are. If anyone wants anything done that *isn't*, technically anyway, illegal, they need to take it up with the UN. 'Cos, far as they're concerned, the Etoile Government is all legal. They might frown at it sometimes, but it counts as legal. Believe me, I've read up on it a lot," she added.

"Basically, it's not nice what happened...but it's also not illegal. Warburg is, technically, Etoile Isles ground. Contested, yeah, but by rebels. Not by anyone official. The Priest went into a combat zone, and sustained life threatening injries.
*injuries.
Not nice...but the truth."

There is the sound of tapping keys for a moment.

"And, from all anyone knows, the Corporation look like a company. Legal. Etoile Isles standards, maybe, but still legal. Again, it's not nice, but..." Geni's Avatar adjusted it's glasses. "That's just the way things are sometimes..."

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zwillinger GG, I would tell you that "I am killing you with my mind", but I couldn't find an emoticon to properly express my sentiment.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Captain_Photon NOTE: The Incarnate System is basically farming for IOs on a larger scale, and with more obtrusive lore.

Morpheus108's avatar smiled. "I wish that was news to me, miss, but I have been to the Isles. It doesn't surprise me in the slightest that the 'Corporation' has free reign there to get away with whatever it likes. I just wanted to comment on how ridiculous their statement on the matter was. If I were them, I'd fire that representative. Though, they might use a cannon.

"If we're in doubt as to what we're supposed to be discussing, perhaps our host could enlighten us. And if we're in doubt as to the accuracy of any of the accounts we're heard, I'm sure BODICIA can set the record straight with her recordings of the events."

"Id ujust like to say something."

"I wwas a victim of crime a year ago. In Galaxy City. If it werent for the hero community then I might not be hrere now to tell the tale."

The avatar stops running into a wall and is turned around by the user. It steps onto the blue side of the room and is turned to face Geni-v.

"Im sorry to hear your story but the Rogue Isles is corrupt. No matter what your dad says, it is. Lord Recluse has tried many times to destroy Paragon City and has been rebuffed by Statesman and the 'Phalanx every time. He tried to depower the super humans in Paragon once - AND it worked. Anyone remember that? He's not a terrorist, he is your garden variety insane tyrant! Terrorists have a cause - Lord Recluse doesn't."

"While I don't agree with what happened with Pious, I don't trust reports from the Rogue Isles either. You don't even have a free press! Well, maybe *you* do because of your dad, but the majority don't."

Geni's avatar emoted a frown, crossing its arms.
"I'm not saying...'He' is nice. But he's not insane. Ive seen insane people, like the guys with the glowing green eyes, and some of the villains...The cops dont do much good, I know, but some of the Spiders do. You cant just go around killing people, not civilians anyway. I've seen them hunt people down for that before..."

Geni trailed off, the person behind the screen obviously pausing to think.
"Besides, Longbow aren't much better. In fact, I'd say thats worse. Arachnos can be bad at times, but they *are* government. Not nice, yeah, but then governments can be like that. Africa or Middle East anyone?"
The avatar raised an eyebrow.
"But Longbow are just like a really, really big gang. With military equipment. I know its almost semantics, but Ive seen some of them over here...and they can be just as bad as the Spiders. I'm sure they don't show you that over in the Big City, just like they don't promote the nasty types in Arachnos. I mean, do you guys even know that the bows use flamethrowers? I saw a massive fight once, back in Mercy, and at leas three of them were...well...cooking people."

The avatar pulled a face, trailing off as it's owner obviously had a queasy moment.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Zwillinger GG, I would tell you that "I am killing you with my mind", but I couldn't find an emoticon to properly express my sentiment.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Captain_Photon NOTE: The Incarnate System is basically farming for IOs on a larger scale, and with more obtrusive lore.

Peacmaker hesitated which, in the chat room, translated as a speech bubble popping up above its generic male head then disappearing without any 'chat'.