video | a finer world, part 2

[solarcharged]

[ Does this guy ever broadcast to the network from ground level?? APPARENTLY NOT because here's Apollo with yet another video message from somewhere dizzyingly high, this time sat on top of a brightly lit neon encrusted building in the heart of Jeopardy. Over his shoulder the sun sets over the desert in a picture perfect background landscape of bright pinks and oranges, but Apollo looks pensive despite the dreamy setting. He's been keeping an eye out for the so-called ghosts, you see, and maybe remembering a few ghosts of his own in the process. ]

An old friend once told me that saving the world is no good if we leave it the way we found it. She said 'saving the day shouldn't be the same as preserving the status quo'. Because what's the point in saving the world if you make no effort to change it? To make it better than it was?

That's why I joined her team, back home. I wanted to save the world and change it for the better. None of us could have done it alone but as a group... [ He trails off, turning a little wistful. ] As a group we were formidable.

But I know most of the teams currently operating here - [ you know who you are ] - are all pretty much Registered-only affairs. And that's fine if you're the Registering type...

[ Apollo's expression turns grim. Or as grim as you can look when surrounded by neon pink signage. ]

Personally? I've got no intention of swearing my loyalty to the government just because they want tame superheroes. But I still want to make a difference and if being a so-called vigilante is what it takes, then... I guess we'll see what happens next.

So consider this an open call. Is there anyone else out there who's Unsettled and wants to do their bit to save the world?

[ And yeah, maybe change it a little bit too. He hopes you're happy, Jenny Sparks. ]

Comments

[solarcharged]

That's good to hear. Really, it is.

[ Because if it were otherwise then this wouldn't be an open call. It would be a call to arms. ]

But what you said about having more freedom to help... that's the thing, isn't it? You've got to wonder why a government would make it harder for imPorts to help if they're not Registered. If they really wanted us to help out, why brand Unsettled heroes 'vigilantes'? Why not just let everyone help as they were needed, Registered and Unsettled alike?

[kanyounot]

Have you thought about what it must be like for the people who are native to this world? None of them have anything like the powers and abilities we have. We're strangers to them, brought here completely outside of their control, and they have no reason to trust us.

In fact, anyone who's been here a while can probably tell you about multiple instances when ImPorts have caused a lot of destruction, to property and life.

We already effectively live above the law in this world - there's very little the natives can do to keep us in check. Registration is mostly just a symbolic thing - a way to reassure them that you're not a threat.

[solarcharged]

[ Firmly: ] I know what you're trying to say, Kanan, but this isn't a question of me opposing Registration. People can Register if they want, I'm not going to stop anyone from doing that if that's what they believe is right. That's not the point I was trying to make with this message.

I'm just saying that just because we choose not to Register, doesn't mean that we don't want to help. Just that we're being forced to help in different ways. So-called vigilantism.

Look, Registering has worked for you. Fine. Great. But I'm going to choose another way of helping, one that doesn't involve swearing my allegiance to a government we don't know - [ or trust ] - and who doesn't know us.

[kanyounot]

Fair enough, and I wish you luck. I just wanted you to be aware of why the locals are understandably leery of us - even those of us who choose to register. I agree that not registering doesn't make anyone bad, or more worthy of suspicion. I'm sure you'll prove yourself trustworthy, regardless of how you choose to help.

[solarcharged]

I am aware. But thank you.

[ He knows this only comes from a place of concern. ]

What was it that made you want to take that jump in the end? To Register?

[kanyounot]

[ Concern, yes. Apollo will quickly learn that Kanan's priority is nearly always the safety of the native population, regardless of how he or anyone else feels about the government, or any other organizations. ]

In the end, I believe that everyone deserves a chance to prove their trustworthiness. And if I expect this world to give me that chance, I should do the same for them.

Besides, where I come from, we wouldn't even be having this conversation, because criticizing the Empire is subject to arrest, imprisonment, and worse.

[ So, by comparison, this place is a paradise of democracy. ]

[solarcharged]

With a home government like that, it must have been hard to trust this one when you first arrived.

[ Because anti-democractic Empires always start somewhere. ]

[kanyounot]

It was. And if I'm being honest, I don't fully trust it. Certainly I don't plan to become complacent about it. The thing I've learned is that governments are no better or worse than the people that are involved in them. So we've always gotta be vigilant.