voice; locked to Kaneki, Quatre, Riptide, Jacob, Jadus, and Marr

[cannotrest]

[Space team: As noted below, Ashley was constrained by the filter limit, but I'm happy for people to assume someone above copied this post to them and inbox her.]

It's probably too late for this to stop the protests, or to get approved to speak at the De Chima rally, but between those, and the confusion from other imPorts, and the rumors - I think it's worth at least considering making some kind of public statement about Project Alke. An interview, a press statement, maybe even a press conference, I don't know. Just to try and clarify for everyone what we're doing - what we can give out without tipping off the OTO, or handing them enough info to sabotage us, or making the locals think we're crazy for talking about nuclear missiles and time loops.

I'm not a word person, and I haven't had media training, so I don't think it should be me, but my friend Iris West is a reporter, and when I was venting to her - completely off the record - she offered to pitch articles with whatever we decide she can publish about the mission. It's a hell of an offer: She's a good reporter, and I'm not just saying that because she's my friend. Or we could write something ourselves, or - or put out a vid announcement or something. Who knows, it might turn even a little of that "are you guys crazy" into support.

Also, please copy this to the other people on the team and let us know what they think; it would only let me pick so many people, and even I can only make tech do what it can do. [So in the absence of a chain of command, she went with the people she spoke to at the initial meeting and at training.]

Comments

[Video, open to threadcrashing]

[jadus]

Marr and I may assist, but I cannot speak for the vessel. I have recently received a prophecy, verified by Darth Marr and Luke Skywalker, which foretells greater chaos should we launch: A space battle, fomented resistance against our presence, and the ire of America's rival.

I will be in De Chima, attempting to locate a man the vision revealed to me. He spoke against us. I can provide a description, and the words I heard.

This will not be spoken of publicly. But I must now advocate for an unmanned, unarmed probe.

video

[fource]

[Ahaha, great, this is terrible. Quatre's voice is very carefully controlled when he asks]

You saw the outcome of the battle? A possible future?

[jadus]

I saw debris in the void, felt weapons fire. Then a ship land on Earth, but I do not know who built it.

[fource]

So it's not our ship. [His frown deepens.] No matter what, we can't let them use us as an excuse to attack the people in this world. Have you... received prophecies like this before?

[jadus]

I do not know if it is our ship. I could not discern its form, only action. Visions do not always provide literal sight.

Prophesy is common among the Sith. This was induced and targeted, through dire means. It is unlikely to be inaccurate.

[fource]

[It sounds different than the ZERO system, then; he's used to living out the vision of the future in real time, before the disorienting snap back to reality with the decision still open ahead of him. That difference is enough to take off the worst of his discomfort, even if he still can't help but feel wary where predicting the future is concerned.]

I see. Thank you. I agree; we can't allow this to happen. Even if we still finish the ship, we can't engage in the battle.

video

[marr]

I must also change my position to an unmanned, unarmed probe.

[He knows Jadus knows, but he wants to make his position clear.]

If we choose to fight, whether we win or lose the battle, our situation on Earth will worsen.

voice

[cannotrest]

So that's two votes for a probe.

voice because video doesn't focus right on glowing circuits :c

[cannotrest]

Oh, geeze. [Had this been before she'd arrived here, she'd be skeptical of a prophecy, but this place and its powers...] Yeah, let's not talk in public about doom prophecies, but by all means share what you know about the guy.

If we go for a probe, it'll look like we bowed to the protests, but the priority's keeping people safe, not saving face.

jumps in all over the place, video

[fource]

What's wrong with connecting it to the protests?

[cannotrest]

Looking like we give in to pressure makes us look weak, which might make the OTO or God knows who move forward faster. Plus, if the protests get ugly, they might not be something we want to be associated with.

[fource]

The citizens of this world are protesting the militarization of space. That's the same thing that we're interested in. If supporting that makes us look weak... that sounds like a dangerous way to talk.

[cannotrest]

Did you miss the OTO part right after us looking weak? They might see us backing down and think, "Hey, it'd be way easier than we thought to throw our money around and manipulate the public, or the laws, to make imPorts easier for us to wipe out, especially now that they're not working on engines and weapons they can use in space." And next time there might not be a time loop until we get it right.

[Realizing she's snapping at an ally, she sighs.]

Look. I'm not saying "ship or bust, let's militarize the hell out of space no matter what people think". I do still want to keep thinking about the probe and discuss it with the rest of the team. I'm just trying to think of the other angles, since the protests are an angle we didn't see coming.

[fource]

[Quatre frowns. He knows a little bit about getting blindsided by public opinion-- the sting of the people you're trying to protect turning against you and seeing you as the enemy. He knows a lot about the wrong way to respond to those feelings. He glances away from the camera for a moment, though it's more sad than chastised.]

We're doing this on behalf of the people of this world. They're the ones who are caught in the middle of this. If their hearts are set against us... we'll figure out how to adapt. But if it's the OTO manipulating their feelings, then they get what they want if we move forward as planned. If that prophecy is true, [and he takes it as a given that it is, as someone else who's received visions from a nebulous force in outer space] we're giving them an excuse to attack us either way.

[jadus]

[A description is sent (one that Spider doesn't have yet), along with the two fragments of the man's remarks that he heard: "We need to feel safe, secure," and "ImPorts have proven, time and time again, they aren’t interested in our safety."]

Ceding ground is only weakness if it is done without sufficient cause. Our plans remain, but their form must change. These new threats must be taken into account as we reevaluate our strategy.

[cannotrest]

Thanks. I'll keep an eye out for the guy.

I'm not saying we shouldn't send a probe, I'm just trying to think of how things will come across, since the... unrest at the moment is more about people's idea of what we're doing.

[jadus]

At this stage, the harm of appearing to capitulate is less profound than staying the course. If politics must be played, present it as a democratic decision by the imPort community, to emphasize a general desire for exploration and advancement of an adopted homeworld. That fear drove the initial response, but greater opportunity has now been revealed.

A commitment to publicly sharing data collected by the probe would bolster the message, regardless of whether it is entirely true.

[He loathes politics. Even his seclusion from the Empire had not fully freed him of it, a disappointment he had felt acutely. But a hateful weapon is still a weapon, and he has decades of practice in its use.]

[cannotrest]

Say we're probing for science?

[Beat.]

I... like it.

[jadus]

The Porter is just as great a mystery to us as to the natives. Sending a probe beyond the planet's orbit will permit a better understanding of how it affects local space. The primary mission may be reconnaissance, but it still affords us with a legitimate opportunity to gather data on these mysteries.

While we cannot be on board, I can provide a small technoorganic construct to monitor the journey's effects on foreign matter.

Re: [Video, open to threadcrashing]

[knaval]

Are we going to start a war?

[that's all he wants to know. so he can bounce.]

[jadus]

I did not see enough to be certain. It is possible, if the ship launches. The Russian response was martial in tone.

But we have time to avoid this, and the means to do so. Prophecy is not destiny. I sought to know only what we would experience if we launched with our current designs. Change those, and our future changes with them.

[knaval]

Is that how Earth politics work? Why can't they help us?

[jadus]

America and Russia are in a state of Cold War. We are tacitly aligned with America by our presence and acceptance of their registration system. Launching an armed ship may be taken as an escalation of hostilities.

[knaval]

Ugh, I forgot about that. Maybe that's something that should be dealt with? You'd think a force from outside the planet that has the firepower OTO has would be enough to make them work together...

[he doesn't see it as a real war, having been living in america and not even noticing it. to riptide, war is war when everything is destroyed. the hypocrisy and idiocy of this view are lost on him.]

[jadus]

A cold war is a pointless exercise of fear and hubris in martial powers. That is why they do not help each other.

If they detected the missile attack on Heropa, America may suspect Russia, and Russia may see no reason to respond when their enemy is attacked.

[knaval]

Tch. We were so concerned with stopping it we didn't think to make sure we had proof of it actually happening. Think they anticipated that? They obviously know about the Porter.

[jadus]

It is reasonable to assume that OTO does. The Porter was targeted directly. They may not have known how it would respond, but temporal distortion was within the realm of possibility.

[knaval]

I wouldn't be surprised if they'd anticipated it. This really does lend to some paranoia, doesn't it?

[jadus]

It should stoke fear, but not paranoia. Fear can be a gift. Fear can teach. It can strengthen. Paranoia cannot.

[knaval]

Yeah, and it's pretty obvious which one people tend to go with. The easier one. The one that's just one-way street.

video

[fource]

I think a statement is a good idea. No matter what we say, the OTO will assume that we're coming after them, but the natives of this world deserve some sort of explanation for why it looks like we're trying to weaponize outer space.

We might not be able to convince the world about the missile threat, but can we explain the satellites to them? How much does the public know about it?

voice

[cannotrest]

[Ashley chuckles.]

Oh, there are emoji and phone cases with my, Jacob, and Shinigami's faces on them because I saved corporate satellites when the OTO's were attacking. I'm pretty sure they know a bit about the satellites.

So that's a great call, we could definitely lean on that as an explanation.

[fource]

Are there really? [For just a second, Quatre's eyes light up in delight before he controls it. He knows what he's purchasing as soon as the important business is taken care of.] This world really is very strange, isn't it?

In any case, that makes it a lot easier. Do you and Jacob mind having the project associated with your names? It may be easier to convince people that we have good intentions if we can bring you two up as spearheading the project.

[Quatre already knows that Duo won't be going on the trip; between the two of them, they decided that Duo should keep an eye on the situation on Earth in case the OTO takes advantage of their absence.]

[cannotrest]

[Dryly:] This world's phone companies especially.

[More seriously:] Normally I wouldn't mind, but with the current tensions, I wonder if we might be better off with someone who... doesn't look as obviously imPorted.

[That is, doesn't have circuitry in their skin!]

sorry for the delay, I was out of town!

[fource]

[Quatre frowns minutely before he remembers-- ah, right. The circuitry. He can't help but nod, though it's slow and considering. The Mars mission is... really a group of weirdos, huh.]

You might be right. I know Riptide is very popular, but... [How many people are going to forget that he's an alien and his native form is like a mini mobile suit?] Maybe Kaneki? He suggested it in the first place. [But he doesn't exactly look like a normal human either, especially given that he isn't one.]

video

[knaval]

[riptide is in his natural cybertronian form for this. enjoy two yellow optics peering back at you.]

They'll find the fact they don't remember far too convenient. Yet if this is going to end badly like that weird guy [jadus] said, then we're gonna be the ones they blame.

[sigh]

A probe isn't a bad idea, but it's always best to have people around. I don't know. It's a rough situation and starting a war - between natives and imPorts or OTO and imPorts - will probably only result in the widescale destruction of this planet. I've seen it happen hundreds of times before.

voice

[cannotrest]

[Familiar voice despite unfamiliar face. Talk of turning into a human. Text thread with the same network handle about being inorganic. The penny drops!]

Yeah, that's why I don't want to bring up the missile, and I think it's pretty safe to say that none of us want to see Earth destroyed.

Re: voice

[knaval]

[he would assume she already knows-- riptide just assumes everyone can put stuff together far easier than he can. plus she seemed pretty smart, so.]

Uh huh. [he sighs, rubbing his chin. it doesn't sound as bad as you might expect metal on metal to.] Maybe... maybe they're right about the probe. We could always make sure we follow it if it's met with more of their stupid meme destruction bullshit.

Voice

[darkpants_warmfeeling]

Good thinking, Ashley. I've seen this kind of shit before: the bad guys take control of the story, turn people against us. It doesn't matter how hard we work or what we get done if they convince everyone we're the bad guys.

How much influence do you think Iris has? Does she work for a big channel, or a major paper?

voice

[cannotrest]

I suddenly feel very lucky that the interviews our embedded reporter on the Normandy did with Shepard pretty much just boosted morale.

Iris is with the Heropa Daily, which despite the name has nationwide subscribers, and she's pretty big on Bwitter, so she's definitely got reach at least.

voice

[darkpants_warmfeeling]

Wait, wait, hold on- Shepard let a reporter embed on the Normandy? The Shepard who once punched a reporter? How did that happen?

[ghoulking]

You are correct, we should definitively start speaking up.



And I know I was against it, at first. But I think we should bring the government into this.

[cannotrest]

[Thoughtful:] They did support us on the satellite mission - they're not strangers to handing us guns and shipping us off to space.

[ghoulking]

I don't trust them completely [ he never will ] but they have been of great help before. And right now, I actually think they are the best allies we have, even if they don't believe OTO is a real threat.

[cannotrest]

How long even is this list of allies?

[From where Ashley's standing, it's a short list.]

Are you thinking bring them in just as a PR, community trust thing, or would you want their help on other parts too?

[ghoulking]

Not long enough.

PR, certainly, but I know they will try to get into this deep. It's new tech we are providing, they'll try to get their hands on it. Which is what always worried me in first place.