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To the Victor… Mourning Angel sat on the
uncomfortable wooden bench outside the police captain’s office. As
she sat there, the realization of what she was about to try weighed on
her. Lista was much better suited for this sort of thing.
And why couldn’t she do it? Because of some silly excuse
about too many people here recognizing her. It also felt so wrong
to be out of costume. The feel of spandex had grown on her.
It now felt odd to be in a dress, yet here she sat. Blonde
hair pulled back in a ponytail and a light blue summer dress was really all it
took to make her just one of the crowd. “Sorry about the wait,” the
captain said as he poked his head out of the office door. Mourning told him it was
fine, and followed him into the office, where he closed the door behind
her. Captain Pruitt was a
distinguished man. Not tall, and not as fit as he once was, but he
looked like he could still walk a beat if it came down to it.
His office was decorated on
one wall with official commendations and awards from the police department and
the city. There was even a plaque on the wall which said something
about service to the Freedom Phalanx, though it was too far away to be seen
clearly. The opposite wall was
covered in personal items, such as pictures of the captain in his younger days
with friends and family. The wall which held the door
had only pictures of police officers on it. Each had a small
engraving on the bottom of the frame and a small black ribbon across one
corner. These were the faces that looked at the captain throughout
his day. She of all people could understand why he placed them
there, and it made her feel a little worse for what she was about to
do. She turned her southern
accent up to full and gave a broad smile as she shook his hand.
“Captain, Pruitt. Hai. I’m raylly happy you
were able to find time to mayt with may. My name is Victoria
DuChamp. I’ll try to be just as quick as I can, but I am a
touch nervous.” “Nonsense, my dear.
There’s nothing to be nervous about. I’m glad to be of
help. As I understand it, you need to interview a public official
for a journalism class?” “Yessir, that’s
rayt.” “Well then, before we get
started, why did you choose me?” “Well, Daddy was a deputy
for a spell down by “No, no. I can
spare a bit. What is it you wanted to
discuss?” She fumbled with the tape
recorder until she got it switched on, then set it on the desk.
“ “Good
afternoon.” “There are a lot of
unanswered questions surroundin’ the reports that heroes in Paragon are becomin’
as much of a thrayt to the population as those they’re sworn to fahght.
I was hopin’ to get some of those cleared up.” “I’ll be happy to tell you
what I can.” “Arright. I
guess, first off, have there been any actual arrests or saynctions taken against
any hero or group?” “Not so far,
no.” “And have any of these
heroes or groups been identified?” “That, I’m afraid, I can’t
answer.” “I’m not askin’ for you to
tell me the names, if you have ‘em, I’m just asking if you have
any.” “It’s an ongoing
investigation and I can’t comment on that aspect of it. I’m
sorry.” “I see. Well,
maybe you can tell me this, then. How many of these incidents have
been reported?” “Over 100 as of
yesterday. We get a few more every day, and we’re doing our best
to get the details on each one.” “Have any of them not panned
out? By that I mean, have you come across any that were definitely
fawlse reports?” “Yes.
Several. I didn’t include them in the
total. “So those 100 cases are
confirmed to have actually happened? Or are they the ones that
just cayn’t be shown to be fawlse at this time?” The Captain reached down to
cover the recorder and silently mouthed, “Off the record?” She nodded, and switched off
the recorder. “What are you really
after?” “The
truth.” “Tell me what you really
want, it’ll go faster.” “Okay.
Fine. I’ve looked for victims and witnesses.
I’ve listened to scanners. I’ve hung out in hero
bars. No one. Not one single person I’ve talked to,
or eavesdropped on, has ever seen any of these things happen. What
I want to know, straight up, is do you have any confirmed cases of hero
abuse?” “Confirmed?
No. Most of what we get is too vague to be of any
use. I guess that’s to be expected. You ask if there
was anything unusual about the attacker and they tell you he wore gold spandex,
could fly, and shot fire from his bare hands. You’d be surprised
how little that actually helps in this city. “In a few cases, there was a
description that matched a known Hero, but it turns out that that same Hero had
an airtight alibi for the time.” “Could this all be a huge
hoax then?” “I doubt it. I
really do. There are just too many reports. A lot of
them come from pretty reliable sources too.” “Define ‘reliable’,
please.” “When some drugged out guy
comes in to say he’s been beaten up by a hero, but has no evidence, it’s pretty
easy to dismiss it as confusion or hallucinations. When some
celebrity does it, it’s still pretty easy to write it off as attention
seeking. When fifty people from the same house party report it, it
could be a planned hoax. But when 100 different people report it,
from all walks of life, and all get a lot of the same details very similar, but
not exactly the same, you really have to wonder just how far some people will go
for a hoax. We’re talking seventy-five to a hundred people making
the same basic reports. The events change in minor ways, but the
overall theme is the same.” “Have you considered that
it’s a small group of people dressin’ up as heroes to cause
trouble?” “Actually, yes.
We did think of that. That’s still a possibility, but
why?” “Could it be a major villain
settin’ up the city to not trust the Heroes?” “Not likely.
Even if the citizens lost faith in all of the other Heroes, the Freedom
Phalanx would still be around. Any major villain would have his
hands full there.” “I see your
point.” “Besides, we’re hiring more
police officers over the next few years. This should give us more
of a presence on the streets and that will help to put people at ease as far as
the day to day stuff goes.” “How many
more?” “Well, 15 this year.
Then we’ll be bringing on about 20 additional officers each quarter for
the foreseeable future.” “Where did the city find the
money for that?” “Green-Machines.
You know, the eco-friendly cars? The feds got some to test
a few months ago and were so impressed that they plan to replace the entire
fleet with them. That got our bosses to look into them and we’ll
be changing over too.” “I’m not really that
familiar with them.” “I can’t explain how they
work. Something to do with some sort of synthetic chlorophyll or
something. Basically, the cars have a sort of ‘blood’ that carries
electricity in it. As long as the sun shines on the car, it
recharges the fluid. Without a charge, the car will run for about
5 days.” “How’s the
performance?” “Great so far.
No different than a regular car in our tests.” “Does the ‘blood’ need to be
replaced?” “Eventually, yes.
That will be expensive, but it only has to happen every five years or
so. And it still comes out to be less than one year’s worth of
gas. That’s a story you should be
following.” “Oh, dammit!
Oops, sorry about the language. I never did turn the tape
back on.” “It’s probably for the
best. Not much I could really say on the record anyway.”
He smiled a wry smile and stood up to inform her that he was no longer
giving an interview. As she passed though the
doorway, she paused to look at the photos on the wall. Turning to
face him, she asked, “Were they all yours?” The captain stopped, one
hand on the door. “Yes.” He said it in a way that
was either defensive or proud, possibly both. “Where you put them in the
office says a lot about you I think. We’ll talk
again.” She walked out of the office
and listened as she made her way to the elevator. He didn’t call
her back, but it did take quite some time for the door to
close. She returned to the base to
find Tog and HAAL in a very animated conversation. Epim was out
with Ent and a few other people from the group, but Lista was in her
room. Mourning knocked lightly and jumped back when the door
suddenly slid open. “Oh, Hey Lis.
Are you on your way out?” “I was just gonna raid the
fridge. How’d it go? Did you do that stuff I told
you?” She walked back into the room and sat down on the
bed. Mourning joined her. “I can’t flirt, but did spot
a way to get in with him. I played up the ‘daddy was a cop’
angle.” “Good play.
That gets him thinking that you understand what he’s really
like.” “I felt dirty.
I want to go back and come clean with him.” “No! You can’t
do that.” “I know, but still.
I hate doin’ stuff like this. I’m not good at keepin’ my
feelings out of things.” “Hey, speaking of your
feelings, how’s it going with Beau? You guys spent any quality
time together in the back of a burned out van yet?” She said it
with a wink and finished with a shoulder bump to Mourning’s
arm. Mourning blushed a
bit. “I’m not ready for that! No, things are good
with us. We still go out a few times a week. He
loves the dogs. They seem to like him. We’re just
takin’ things slowly.” “And he’s okay with
this? This ‘slowly’ thing? I mean, he’s a
professional gambler.” “Yeah, we’ve talked a lot
about it. He’s experienced, I’m not. I’m
really not.” “Talked about it?
What did you say?” “Basically the truth.
That I was so scared of being such a disappointment to him in that
aspect, that it would probably sour what we have.” “He offered to ‘coach’ you
then, didn’t he?” “No! He’s not
like that.” “He is. He may
not show it, but he is. All men are pigs, some are just better
trained.” “Oh, that’s
profound.” “Look, Angela.
Here’s the thing. I know you. I care for you
deeply. Seriously. I don’t know if I ever had a
sister, but I’ve got you and that’s close enough. I know you’re, I
guess ‘sheltered’ is as good a word as any for it. I don’t want
you to fall for some scam he’s running and get hurt by him. That’s
all. Some guys will string you along for months to get what they
want. For some, it’s like it makes it better somehow.
Just keep your guard up. I may give you crap from time to
time, but I’ll always be there if you need me. You know
that? Right?” “Yeah. I
do. You’re just so damn hard to take
sometimes.” “Pffft. If you
ask around a bit, I think you’ll find that I can be ‘taken’ pretty easily, if
you know what I mean.” ~~~~~ Tog was passing by Lista’s
room as the torrent of laughter poured out into the hall.
“Girls…,” he thought. He entered his room, closed
the door, and switched on the music player. As the sounds of Bill
Haley filled the room, he closed his eyes and gave serious thought about where
“Tog, you have a message
from Epim,” said Athena. “I will transfer the call here for
you.” “Thanks, Athena.”
There was a click as he picked up the handset. “Tog
here.” “Tog, this is Epim.
I think we have a problem here. We’re in
“Be there in a
bit.” Epim saw Tog approaching and
said, “Here he comes.” Ent and Kym turned in time
to see him enter the little plaza. “Okay, what happened?” asked
Tog. Epim began.
“Kym, Ent and I had to check out an office over there. When
we came out, “And the
press?” “They were just setting up
for another hack job about heroes going to far. As soon as it
happened, I heard them yelling about actually getting it on
tape.” “Great,” said Tog with a
sigh. Ent. Hold on to my dignity for a few.
I won’t be needing it for this.” As Tog walked over to the
reporters, Ent turned to Epim and expressed a good deal of confusion.
Epim was still explaining it when Tog reached the
reporters. “Hello. My
name is Tog, and I was hoping to speak with you a moment.
Privately.” “Not a chance, big
guy. Anything you have to say to me is on the record and in front
of witnesses.” “Fair enough.
You’re Justine Almage, is that correct?” “It
is.” “And you’ve been doing a
number of stories on heroes taking their authority too
far.” “I have.” Her
smile broadened. “I was wondering then, just
why there have been no stories about the hero community policing its own.
Also, I think I would be correct in assuming that this is the first, and
only bit of really evidence that any of this has actually happened, is that
right?” He cursed himself for slipping again.
Finesse dammit. “Well, we are not aware of
any heroes looking into the matter. And it would be fair to say
that that footage we just shot would be the best bit of evidence, not the
only bit.” “I was wondering if I might
get a look at it.” She burst out
laughing. “Right, we’ll just hand it over to you!
Are you serious?” “I don’t want to handle
it. I want to see it.” “Why?” “Because there are many of
us in the hero community who would like to get to the bottom of this.
If he really did what those people say he did, then there will be
consequences. By the way, if you would return your calls, you
would find that many of us have been seeking answers for months. I
tried to speak to you about it back in May.” “Okay. Tom,
hook up a monitor. Let’s show this guy what we’ve
got.” Tog hunched over the video
monitor to see the events unfold exactly as Epim had described. He
knew her account was accurate, but it was important to see just exactly what the
news crew had filmed. They got it all. Tog stood up slowly, thanked
the news crew, and turned to face his friends. This would be a
long night. ~~~~~ Epim arrived back at base
quite late. She had stayed to talk with the news crew in a futile
effort to get any further information. She entered the small
common room to find Sliss sitting alone in the dark watching some space
movie. “Hi Sliss.
Where is everyone? “Hi. There is
a big meeting in the conference room. They let me watch this
movie. They said I’d be bored in there.” “They’re probably
right.” “What is
cry-oh-genetics? Is that like the genes that make you
cry?” “No. You know
how you slow down when you get cold? It’s sort of like that, only
if it’s done right, everything slows down, but the person is still alive when
they warm up. Supposedly, you could sleep
forever.” “Oh, okay. I
thought it was weird that no one was crying.” Epim smiled at him and got
back in the lift. She arrived at the
conference room too late. Things had just ended. She
saw Mourning coming out and approached her. “What was that all
about?” “State of the Supergroup
address. Where we are. Where we’re goin’.
That sort of thing. I heard what happened
today.” “Yeah. Tog is
pretty mad about it.” “ Feedback
She cautiously opened the
door to see Tog leaning forward on the table, using both hands for support, and
Without moving even so much
as his head, Tog said, “Get him out of here.
NOW!” Epim grabbed the smaller man
and pulled him to the entryway; he teleported out without a sound.
She returned to find Tog hadn’t moved. “He’s gone,” she
said. “Are you okay?” His whole body relaxed at
once and he collapsed into the former chair. “The Other Guy just
saved me. Again.” “From
“No. Not
Loop. Me. Doc, I was gonna kill that guy.
Seriously. That smug son of a bitch just doesn’t get
it. Any of it. It’s all a game to him.
He’s been selling his services to other teams. He’s been
shaking down citizens in some sort of extortion scheme. He called
it panhandling for components, but basically, he was implying that they needed
to pay him to keep his stuff working order so he could protect them.
Then he started in on the personal attacks on the people here.
I was just about to hit him with bits of that chair when I found my self
in the corner of the room. The Other Guy kicked me out of my head
again. Only this time, he refused to do
anything.” “He’s still keeping you
safe. I bet he tried to get through to you but you wouldn’t
listen. He had to push you out to stop you from doing something we
all know you’ll regret.” “Maybe
so.” “Do you recall what it was
that set you off?” “The whole thing.
That attitude like he was above the rules, better than everyone
else. He mentioned more than once that the world owed him.
He didn’t get into MIT like he wanted. He didn’t get the
right color of car for his birthday. His hair doesn’t layer
right. He just—Gah! I can’t think about this
now. I’m going to head to Dark Astoria for a bit.
The Other Guy and I need to work some stuff out.” She sat in silence as he
stormed out of the room and into the lift. Moments later, Sliss came in
and sat down beside her. “Can I ask you
something?” “Is it important?” she
snapped, then felt horrible about it. “I’m sorry.
I’m just worried about Doug. What is your
question?” “In that movie I was
watching, one of the people killed himself so the others wouldn’t try to save
him from something. Later, another guy had to kill his friend
because he couldn’t save him. Why would they do
that?” She gave a small
sigh. This would be hard to explain. “Okay, I know
you understand about self sacrifice. I’ve seen you put yourself at
risk for your team-mates quite a bit, even if it meant bad things for
you. That is called self sacrifice. You care about
another person so much that you do something you know will be bad for you so
that other person will be okay. In the first case from the movie,
the guy killed himself to protect the rest. If they would have
come after him, they might have been killed too. He knew he
couldn’t be saved and didn’t want them to risk it, so he stopped them the only
way he could.” “Then why would the other
guy kill his friend?” “Sort of the same
thing. If the hurt guy was so bad off that there was no way to
save him, he might die a really slow, painful death. His friend
killed him to end his suffering, because that was the only thing he could do to
help.” “Can that ever happen in
real life?” “Sadly, it
can.” ~~~~~ Tog returned very late from his trip to Dark Astoria to find Purrlina curled up on a couch in the day room. He checked his messages and found only one. Danforth had seen the news and pulled his support for the school. Tog deleted the message and walked slowly to the lift, then into his room. Maybe tomorrow would be better. |