video.

[selfequipped]

[There's been a lot building up to this, and she hasn't even been here long enough to claim that. But two plus solid weeks tells her everything she needs to know about Heropa, about this registration, and about what came before. Kate's granted herself the opportunity to hear from every side, and given her past history with this, she knows it's almost her place to say something.

Of course, as much as she's willing to step up, she'd prefer that she didn't have to. But here she is.

When the video switches on, she's in uniform, complete with a pair of dark purple shades and the appearance of her quiver disappearing behind her.][There's a pause, and she draws off her sunglasses and sets them down, relaxing.]

I thought it might be an okay idea to drop the dramatics a little. Sunglasses are dramatic, aren't they? [She smiles easily.] Here we go.

The other day, a man named Nelson suggested that we stand together no matter what. And I've got to say—I agree with the sentiment. I wouldn't put it the same way as him. I doubt most of us would. But you've got to give him points for trying, and again, the sentiment wasn't a bad one. It got me thinking about what happened back home for me ... and for my friends.

I've mentioned this here and there. Hints and ideas and everything. All those little points of foreshadowing for this intentional reveal. [It's a bad joke, but she smiles briefly at the idea that she set up some narrative. Kate isn't that into big dramatics; that's more other people's thing to do. But hell, she can't help but think Loki would approve of it.

Actually, that's not a good thing. But she doesn't focus on the thought, she's here for a reason.] This is in my file. But it's just a brief note. I fought against a registration like this before. I was on the losing side, until it turned out that it was more complicated than that ... [She waves her hand in the air. Talking about the skrull invasion isn't her idea of "things people need to hear right this second."] But I've been arrested for it before. I saw the people desperate to keep this going do some terrible things. It started a series of events. One thing after another. I even had to fight on the opposite side of my best friend. Heroes hiding in private. Heroes couldn't be heroes because someone would swoop in and arrest them.

What I'm trying to say is ... it'd be good to avoid that. But they've already got a leg up on us. These tattoos don't go away. We come in prepped and ready to register. To get on with our lives. We're called outsiders, so we've got to fall into line. And anyone who goes against it might just be tainting things. [Okay, so that's a subtle snipe at Tony Stark. Less subtle for him, she imagines.] And someone might argue that I feel like I'm entitled to freedom, but I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop. What is this government's trump card? [Their cyborg Thor. Their band of "former" supervillains. After all, Norman Osborn has just as much of a right to register, doesn't he?]

I know it wasn't easy for some of you guys before. The world you came from wasn't great. I've seen suspicions. I've seen what happens when the public reacts badly to people in costumes, but that doesn't mean the opposite is better.

The big thing I'm asking for after telling you is this: let's not fight. We can do better than that. And I think it'd be better if we were in a situation where we don't have to register our right to help people. I'm willing to fight for that. I don't want to take it to arms right away, so I've been asking around. I think none of us want Civil War here, so I'm getting ahead of myself to ensure that doesn't happen.

I do think those of us who don't like this could take a stand, but I—well, I understand if you don't want to take that risk. I can't say I blame you. We've got ... there are wifi transmitters in our arms. But I'd still like to talk to anyone about this.

Okay. [She grabs her sunglasses.] Hawkeye out.

Comments

AUDIO.

[selfimage]

[Kate, this is definitely some clapping. not even golf clapping, either! like impressed clapping! totally impressed clapping. again, is that really a good thing.]

I liked the flare at the end. I could hear the "whoosh."

AUDIO.

[selfequipped]

Somehow, I knew I'd have your approval.

[She's still not sure that's a terribly good thing.]

[video]

[glassinine]

[Edgeworth has a faint frown as he speaks.]

And what form, exactly, do you want resistance to take?

[video]

[selfequipped]

Honestly, right now? Passive resistance might be all we need.

[glowsferatu]

[ kanaya's not sure what to say to this. the crux of it seems a little silly, why would they be fighting anyone over whether they registered or not? that seems like a waste of time, even if she thinks they're a bit daft.

but there's one thing she an certainly say. ]

Well. At least you've gotten a better uniform.

[selfequipped]

I came up with the old one in the spur of the moment. You have to admit, it hadn't been that bad. I was fond of it.

[There's a beat.]

But you're also right. I needed an upgrade.

video;

[youbastard]

[Ellie wants to say a lot to this, but she's not completely comfortable saying much at all.]

Do you really think it's a good idea to talk about things like this in such a public place?

video;

[selfequipped]

[Kate considers her words for a moment.]

I don't want to say that I want the target I just painted on myself, but ... I am welcoming it. If there's a target to be had. [There's a beat.] But just talking is harmless. I'll take it in private or public.

Private being somewhere off these. Still ... the tattoos bring into question how much privacy we really have.

video

[yourpiecenow]

So, when's the drum circle?

video

[selfequipped]

We're a little far away from Union Square, unfortunately.

voice;

[reptiledysfunction]

All this is great, but I hope that you understand why people would choose to register.

voice;

[selfequipped]

A lot of people have livelihoods that they can't live without. Some things need registration to be practiced, so I understand those.

I admit I've got the freedom to do this. Being a "hero" is about the only proper work experience I do have.

video.

[sleuthy]

Took the words right out of my mouth and spun them a hell of a lot more eloquently. [ and she means that. way to be, kate. ]

Seriously, you can put Veronica Mars on the resistance mailing list.

[ you don't need a superhero name when your actual name is Veronica Mars. ]

video.

[selfequipped]

I tried. [She puffs up a little proudly, but this is about what Kate does regularly, albeit with a little less ... speaking for the masses back home who've gone through this. This is a new weight, but she'll carry it.]

It's nice to meet you.

audio;

[abadidea]

[Forgive Isaac. He's a little confused.]

A stand against what, exactly? I get something like this caused a lot of...not good in your world, you got that point across, but who's to say it's the same here?

audio;

[selfequipped]

It's hard to outline it in specifics, but it's all ... similar. The details, the way of tracking people, telling people that they don't have rights otherwise ...

Little things that are dangled out there. [There's a pause.] And one more: these tattoos are a part of us. Developed not by the machine, but this world. The machine is largely out of their control. The tattoos are not. They're the big sign (for me) that something's not right.

voice;

[slightlyoffchilt]

Rather. [Beat.] Interesting presentation.

voice;

[selfequipped]

I can't honestly tell if that's good or bad.

VIDEO.

[retropolis]

[ Nelson has mixed feelings about this. Not that she isn't being reasonable or anything, but he's trying not to be blinded by the agreement (as she put it) so he can understand the rest of her speech. Because it isn't really agreement, is it?

He's dressed down a little, not in uniform or a suit but a pale blue button down without even a tie, his hair combed immaculately as ever. ]

You agree with the sentiment enough that you recommend the opposite, I don't think that's any way to bring us all toward a consensus. Of course it's better that the public shouldn't react poorly to us, we need all the support we can receive.

VIDEO.

[selfequipped]

This time, I'm talking not just about public sentiment, but the widespread governmental response. The potential tasks force. The fact that the registrees might be made up of it.

[That's what she's saying.]

Why do you think I fought my best friend? She registered. I didn't. Not exactly an illustrious moment of my life, especially ... considering a lot.

[attractedtodarkness]

Pretty sure if they can give us powers, they can take it away too.

[She wants to fight but she won't admit that she's scared too, really.]

[selfequipped]

They can't, actually.

[She grants her a fairly easy smile.]

That's the trick. The registration is their bona fide attempt at keeping us in line, and taking control of a situation that would be otherwise out of control. Aside from a brief encounter with the machine and it interacting with a place a number of people have been to before—[she doesn't go into it, assuming that this woman has heard of this already]—they aren't that tapped into its framework.

Thus: no power stripping.

Video

[liverletdie]

That's pretty grown up of you.

[ He almost sounds impressed, except she wouldn't say something like this to him. ]

Video

[selfequipped]

What, you don't think I'm tainting anything with this, Mr. Stark?

[One: she wouldn't normally call him Mr. Stark.

Two: She is pretty clearly still mad at him.

Oh, well.]

video;

[pyms]

There won't be a Civil War. Open topics like this is a good step in ensuring that. That said, this is a different situation and a different time. A different world entirely. And having people with experience from both sides are valuable to making sure that our history won't repeat here.

We'll do something about these tattoos once we have a better understanding of it.

video;

[selfequipped]

[Ah, Hank Pym. She debates over what to say, because some part of her knows this can't be the easiest situation to step in to after what happened back home; he never experienced it. Not really. But in some way, Kate can imagine that makes it worse]

Yeah, this is the very definition of getting ahead of myself, but I think it's with good reason.

[She wants to make sure no one's encouraged to do exactly what she's describing here, at any rate.]

And it's not like I mind a wifi hot spot whenever I need it, but can't that just be the devices they give us?

[She knows the tattoos do more than that, but being able to communicate at all times because of a tattoo is unsettling.

She'll do without. No one needs to be on top of things that often.]

voice.

[nitidus]

A very inspiring speech.

voice.

[selfequipped]

Well ... [She trails off for a moment, partly for dramatic effect.]

I tried.

So thank you.

private; audio

[notdaredevil]

[ Matt hadn't started to give too much thought, yet, to who might all be opposed to this. Himself, certainly; he'd made that abundantly clear to Tony Stark. Frank Castle, for certain. Spider-Man, though he'd been caught in a hole. Partially this is because it's also become abundantly clear to him that so many people are so behind, and know nothing about the disaster that all became. The Skrulls. He doesn't want to fight his friends, but this time- he's not going to sit this one out.

It's nice to know there's at least one person who's been through it before equally opposed to what they might all be in for. ]

Ms. Bishop? My name is Matt Murdock. I think we should talk.

[ It's impossible that she wouldn't know why, if she's Hawkeye. If they're even from the same place, period. The whole world knows who Matt Murdock is. ]

private; audio

[selfequipped]

[Matt Murdock. Vehemently proven to not be Daredevil, though the fact that he's contacting her in light of her message tells her differently.

After all, wouldn't that make sense? She knows what side Daredevil was on during the war. It was the same one as her.

She considers what to say for a moment, what to ask, and then considers the means through which they're about to communicate.]

Not here. Where do you want to meet, Mr. Murdock?