001 video;

[chiroptophobic]

[ Here is the otherwise quiet Bruce Wayne, making an unusual appearance to the network as a whole. He has a glass of water with him, which he sips as he brings up the video feed. Bruce looks his typical self, dark hair, sincere eyes, an expensive pressed suit. He could be a politician, but he's not--not this Bruce Wayne, at least. He keeps his nose out of the affairs of state, maybe pulls a few strings behind the curtain, holds a few fundraisers... ]

My name is Bruce Wayne. I--was going to introduce myself, but I've been here for several months, and at this point it seems rather redundant.

I registered when I arrived here. It seemed like the done thing at the time, and I'm certainly in no position to go things alone, but... Well. I actually want to talk about the crisis last week. For those who went to Bulgaria in the interests of preserving life, now you face condemnation at home and abroad, and for what? Had the emergency services responded on their own there would have been far more cost in lives, and what does it say of America that it can have no pity for its fellow man in times of crisis? Traitor. It's...a very harsh word. As recently as the last century traitors could still be put to death, and you have to wonder whether that's the image that's been aspired to here, some kind of ultimate threat.

It's made me rethink another term. One that's been applied to those who don't conform to the government directed scheme of heroism established here. Vigilantism. I come from the city of Gotham, where indeed the topic is close to the heart of every citizen, myself among them. As a rule, I've always come down on the side of the law, in appointing and paying people for their efforts, after all who does a vigilante answer to at the end of the day? I discovered very recently the answer to that. Vigilantes answer to the people. They answer by the consequences of their actions.

Saving lives is hardly a government mandate, anyone should do what they can. Even a man who runs into a burning building to save a child is called a hero, rather than condemned as a criminal. My parents did what they could, and certainly neither of them fought villains with their bare hands, but they none the less died for their good will. I believe that there must always be a cost, whether we sow in goodness or evil.

I'm no politico. I'm not trying to breed discontent or rebellion, but the real question at the end of the day is this: If Bulgaria were attacked again, right now - knowing the discontent and enmity you'd face - would you go back? Would you stay, knowing that people will die that could have been saved? Are you a vigilante, or a hero on a leash, curtailed only to save the lives that the government deems more valuable, and more worthy? I can't help but think that how you would answer that question best answers what kind of person you are, and I can't help but think that all of us face a grim decision in the weeks to come.

I know that I, at least, am beginning to doubt the value of accepting handouts when the exchange rate comes in the form of human lives.

Comments

audio;

[sizetwelve]

[ Mary already got to marvel (ha) over Captain America, but Batman at least earns the right to a reply, right? One of the big two.

There's a lot she could say here, but it's nothing she would say in public. This is how people are. They fight and they kill and there will always be human lives destroyed for any number of reasons. If they stop doing what they do, people won't stop dying, the terror cell will simply win.

Of course, currently, she hates this government. She hates them with a vengeance but still she'll use whatever tools they give her to make her more efficient so that she can continue to appear wide-eyed and normal to the layman. Or Batman.

Most of her comments on the network are encrypted, but she knows she must occasionally say things in a public venue to avoid the appearance of a hermit or, well, spy. ]

I'd go back. I'd always go back in a heartbeat. But I'm a nurse, not a vigilante; I don't expect a thank-you card.

audio;

[chiroptophobic]

[ It's what his scheme is too. Generally speaking Bruce doesn't care to have his face recorded, but he's learned to adapt. When it comes to amicable conversation, Batman can't do it--can't even try. And this maintains his cover. Bruce Wayne may be secretive, but he can also be a socialite. He can be anything Bruce needs him to be. ]

If you were a member of the Red Cross, rather than an imPort, maybe that would be the case. We have limits, it seems we're only now just finding out what they are. Civilian aid, though...

audio;

[sizetwelve]

[ Bruce Wayne you just have no idea, do you? Well Mary's not going to be the one to burst his secret identity bubble. ]

You calling it quits, then? With government hand-outs? I doubt your fortune came with you.

[ Video ]

[onewiththewild]

I'd go. [ toboe smiles softly ] I don't understand much about heroes, vigilantes, and things like that. [ he is just a wolf ] But I like humans, and they were hurting, and I wanted to help them. That's all.

And maybe by helping them again, they'd understand that we just want to help and not hurt them.

[ Video ]

[chiroptophobic]

[ Bruce smiles. It's naive, but at the same time isn't that what they say: from the mouth of innocence. It's a simple statement. Humans were hurting. They needed help. ]

Maybe they will. In the best of all possible worlds, maybe that would be what happened. You were out there, helping?

[ Video ]

[onewiththewild]

We would only know if we tried.

[ he nods ] I was.

text

[lyingheart]

That's a simplification of the question, isn't it.

text

[chiroptophobic]

It's immensely simplified, you're right. For one thing it barely touches on public opinion regarding spending on imPorts, and the expectation of our cooperation irregardless of it. Choice, too.
Here's a simplification of the question: Choice. What choice do we have?

Permavid

[governorkang]

I don't see any reasonable explanation as to why we should be held accountable for the lives of people in a completely different nation thousands of miles away, especially when many of us are not even from some version of Earth and have been taken from our homes against our will.

[chiroptophobic]

[ It's a reasonable point, even if Bruce is a little taken aback by the video feed. His smile is business like, his eyebrows furrow. ]

Are we not accountable? You're right, we didn't choose to be here. We didn't choose to be born either, and yet we can be held accountable for out impact on the world around us. If this really was a scheme designed to test us, then in some ways that has to be our fault; our responsibility.

[hadtoperishtwice]

I would have gone when it happened. I'd still go now.

My dad always taught us that, if you could, you step in and you help the people that need to be helped.

Getting out from under the government, though? That's going to be more difficult. We have limited funds to cobble together and finding jobs outside of what they've arranged for us can be difficult.

[chiroptophobic]

My father taught me much the same thing, but then he was a doctor; helping the people who needed it was his way of giving back. One of them, anyway. [ A sad smile. ] Should that be the case though? We have these incredible powers. Are they so much without value that we're more use as hairdressers and bank tellers? The idea that our loyalty might be put up for sale has to be frightening someone.

[enigmaestro]

[Bruce Wayne.]

-- And nobody told me?

[Justly deserved, perhaps, when one is Unsettled and avoiding Network activity, lest the government is watching.]

[selfimage]

Is it too late to yell "surprise" in the appropriate fashion?

[ you sound it, Eddie. ]

[chiroptophobic]

[ Sorry Ed. Sucks to be the last to know, right? Bruce is very careful. Probably not careful enough. ]

And spoil the surprise of you finding out like this? Who would do that?

video

[aggressiveapathy]

And the favoritism starts all over again.

[ Gotham. It's always freaking Gotham. ]

video

[chiroptophobic]

[ He cocks his head. ]

Favoritism does seem to be the topic of the day, doesn't it?

text

[kinesia]

[ Vigilantes answer to the people.

That is a cause he could get behind. It would sit more easily, far more easily, than working for the government. ]

do you fight for them ?

did you go to bulgaria ?

text

[chiroptophobic]

I didn't go to either. Unfortunately my abilities would have only lead to me getting in the way. I can predict economic ebb and flow to play the stock market. It's useful, yes, but not heroic.

video

[shutupandgetintheanimus]

If I could have gotten to Bulgaria in the first place, I would have gone in a heartbeat. But I'm only one person. I don't have the power to be in two places at once. Much as I wish I did...

video

[chiroptophobic]

If I'd had a power that wouldn't have just gotten in the way, I think I'd have wanted to do much the same thing. Did you go to Orlando?

voice

[viced]

Take this with a grain of salt, I didn't exactly go to help out, but in the interest of answering a question, sometimes, when it's the right thing to do, you may as well go ahead and fucking do it.

voice

[chiroptophobic]

[ He pauses on his end, thinking of Carmine Falcone, thinking of what the right thing to do could come to mean in some contexts. ]

I didn't go to help either, but we are involved in this, aren't we? In any case, the worst that can happen is you're made to regret it. It's not nearly as bad as having the chance to do the right thing, and letting it slip through your fingers out of fear of the consequences.

It all really depends on your conviction.

AUDIO.

[selfimage]

[ while he's a bit busy, he manages to keep the clamoring of background noise to a minimum. he doesn't sound all that convinced after the broadcast. there's a suffering sigh. ]

Is this where I come in and tell you it was a set-up? Because it was a set-up.

[ there's a pause, and just before Bruce can say anything back, he says: ]

Surprise!

[ you can almost see the jazz hands. ]

AUDIO.

[chiroptophobic]

[ Oh Loki. ]

Did you practice that long suffering sigh? Because I have to tell you, I've heard better in board meetings.