maskormenace | 001 VIDEO; hi friends :B

Alright, kids, gather round. [ says the man in an expensive suit with Flawless Hair (it's a legitmate power now, he loves it), as he eases back into a leather office chair in what looks like a government building. if anyone's been inside the imPort public relations office, you might notice the wallpaper behind his head looks familiar. ] Seeing as our hosts have assigned me a post in the imPort Public Relations department, it seemed natural I should get to know the people I'm to be relating to.

So.

Show of hands: How many of you would've sold your nanny to get a vacation like this back home? Or something slightly less hyperbolic if you'd rather - you get the idea. [ a hand is waved dismissively, giving a flash of a watch that could probably pay for a new car, and like three rings on a single hand because son has an obsession ok. however, pricey taste aside, his voice is perfectly amiable and good-natured. casual, even, like he's chatting up friends, no hint of arrogance or pomp to it. ]

I'm not demanding life stories, so don't start hanging me for prying; just what you're willing to share. I'm only trying to get a general picture of our community. [ a pause, jack slouching some as he shrugs, nonchalant. ] Can be for anything - the powers, the second lease on life with a clean slate, or just getting away from whatever tragedy your day-to-day had turned to.

Or, maybe, the contrary. Who would sell old Nana for a chance to get out? Important chores to get to, love affairs put on hold, disagreements with the restless natives? Again, details are yours to disclose, or not, in your judgment. [ but he does want to hear the details. because he's nosey, because he's bored, because he likes knowing more about other people than they know about him. ]

By the way, manners - I'm Jack Benjamin, and a preemptive 'lovely to meet you' to all. Retraction of sentiment pending on how actually pleasant you may or may not be as an individual.

[ a beat passes, and Jack flops back some, a lopsided, boyish sort of smile pulling across his lips. if there's anything disingenious to it, it's impossible to spot. ]

But it seems like a benefit-of-the-doubt kind of day.

[[ ooc; PS, Jack's powers include Charm Speak, which he isn't using at the moment and won't be over the network, but if I could get you guys to check out his permissions page for that, that'd be badass. also, if you'd rather have your dude run into jack in person, there's an open log as well /o/ Thanks! ]]

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[ Well, there's a familiar face. This is all very polite and Gansey would generally comment publicly, but -

Well. Jack had left something rather obvious out of that little speech. ]

That's a lovely office they've given you.

Should I take it you want to avoid your title becoming public knowledge? I obviously don't mind, but I thought it was best to check if you'd prefer that didn't slip.

[ aw, hey, it's this kid. the one with the important father. jack chuckles, and shrugs one shoulder. ]

I don't mind people knowing, no. It just tends to come off a little pompous to claim royalty at first meetings, you know?

[ said with a little squint in one eye, and a half-smile. just trying to be congenial, buddy. ]

But thanks for asking. I do appreciate that. Gansey, wasn't it?

[ Hey, Gansey understands. He's not on full-name terms with anyone here. ]

Yes.

At least you'll know what you're doing, I suppose. There's elected import ambassadors here; are you working with one of them, or are you separate?

Good to see you again.

[ he seems like a bright kid, if perhaps a bit too sweet for the kind of world jack came from. but this one is softer. more forgiving. here's hoping jack won't ever had a need for him, because the softer part of jack died a long time ago. ]

Only in the sense that I stopped panicking in front of crowds somewhere around age nine. [ a joke, light. but also very true. ] My post back home was in the ministry of information, but really, this hasn't seemed too taxing thus far.

As for the ambassadors, I'm not sure. No word on that yet, but I'd like to see how they work. It's... different. [ this democracy thing. ]

Edited (typos........) 2015-10-09 02:45 (UTC)

I thought it would be.

It's still all politics, though. Relations between imports and natives aren't completely rosy. There's been several high profile attacks by imports on the local population, and on each other, which has drawn the local population in.

This country also has continually worsening international relations with Russia, and they'd be keen to have imports on side for that. They've stopped short of conscription, but they flooded our last Swear-In with the kind of obvious spin that I thought I'd never see outside of a history book. It's not subtle, and people are rightfully nervous.

[ Gansey is not a politician, and has no wish to be. He can absolutely talk like one, though. No matter how much he tries not to be, he's still very much a Gansey, still the product of his upbringing. Right now, he sounds a lot like his father.

He would be very disquieted to realise that. ]

We need someone to be our advocate in all of that. Whether or not we want to go home is irrelevant when there's no way to do so. We need someone to stand up for our rights while we're here, for however long that we're here. Is that fair?

I heard something about that - 'mayhem and murder', was the catchy term, I believe. I'm still trying to catch up on news archives, but what do you think the motivation was there? Why attack the populace, or each other?

[ it takes a lot to go from 'just upset with things' or 'active violence', so what the hell? hearing about russia, jack nods along, a hand moving to a keyboard nearby him to type things in - russia, the war, etc. a particular part has his brows draw together, and jack's eyes drift back to the phone from the computer, actually honest in the hardness and determined sentiment behind them for the moment. ]

No one's going to be conscripted.

[ he didn't come here to be turned into a war slave, thank you very fucking much. well, he didn't come here on purpose to begin with, but either way. he's lost too many years of his life and too much of his sanity to one stupid war already. over his dead body is he going into that again. ]

It's more than fair. If something owned by this government brought us here, and they lack the ability to control their machinery well enough to return us, we're refugees made by their nation's ignorance and failures. Exploiting that not only makes them look like idiots, but savages on top of it. [ of course, that doesn't mean they won't do it. the part jack doesn't mention is 'and we all have powers that could crush these morons like ants, so they'd be deeply stupid to try to force us into anything'. shifting, jack's lips press together, tense, concerned, but he makes a show to look like he's easing. (he isn't) ] All I am here is an assistant to a much larger department. But I'll do what I can.

[ Gansey hadn't been here when it happened. All he can do is speculate, but his impression of people who are willing to do harm to others is not good. ]

You could ask the same question about any terrorist in any world. People with that mentality aren't going to start behaving just because they're given a handout. They're still themselves, before they're imports, and the Porter doesn't seem to discriminate against people with bad intentions.

I'm just warning you that they're out there.

[ Because they could seek Jack's help as much as anyone else. It will pay to be discerning. But then, Jack is used to politics. No doubt, he already knows that. ]

I'm glad you disapprove. [ Of conscription, he means. Gansey has no intention of fighting a war for anyone. ]

So far it's only propagnda. The thing is, we are not all soldiers. Many of us are anything but, and we didn't ask for what's been done to us here. For the powers we've been given. I would give it all back, if it would send me home.

So it was just criminal acts, not due to unrest. Good to know.

[ it does still concern him that Chilton spoke about imPorts being more prone to psychological complications than natives. but he imagines the same - being pulled from their universe, being pumped full of power, some of those even prior to coming here. it makes sense. ]

I've been to war. I wouldn't wish it on anyone. [ that is genuine. war is a nightmare. something that never leaves you. maybe his country and his father wouldn't approve of him thinking that, but he isn't there now. he doesn't have to be a war hero here. ] Least of all non-natives pulled into a nation against their will. That's more slavery than it is conscription.

Of course. Not if they're pulling people in at random, and not if there's children. Even if you were all soldiers or some how equipped for it, the ethics of it are still broken.

The ethics are broken anyway. They’re living in a Cold War mentality, and in my world at least, that was not a time in history when individual freedoms were well respected.

[ That’s the problem with the propaganda, too. It so intensively reminds Gansey of what he’s seen in the history classroom – and notably, a good chunk of his education had taken place outside America, in scattered institutions across Europe and South America. He’s seen an outside perspective. Thanks to his politically ambitious mother, he’s also seen the inside perspective, and he knows where they clash. He has such distaste for politics and its meandering ways, but he’s far from uninformed. ]

Import rights are a tricky thing. The Registered are treated like citizens, but those who don’t sign are more vulnerable. I would like the answers to this to be easier than they are, but I know that they’re not. Ultimately, I want to go home, and bring my friends with me. In the interim, I’d settle for knowing they’ll stay safe, but neither one of those wishes seems possible right now.

001 VIDEO; hi friends :B

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