Mirrornet; voice

[bindsthedead]

I was one of the people who experienced... I'm not sure what to call it. A hallucination? A vision? [Sabriel's voice is a little unsure what it was- she just knows that it wasn't pure fantasy.]

What I saw seemed to be the past. I don't know the exact date, but I think it was at some point before the previous group of imPorts worked to reform the government.

I wanted to know if what I saw had any basis in what had actually happened, so I did some research. What I found suggests that even if we didn't actually visit the past, what we saw certainly had some truth to it. I couldn't find much about that period of time- apparently, 1984 is fiction, not a history book, and was actually written decades before the title suggests. But this is what I did find.

[And there's a file attached, with photos of all the documents described here.]

Obviously, this doesn't answer all of our questions- I couldn't find Clauses A or F of the Peaceful Compliance act, even though it's mentioned in the articles, and I haven't found more about the Uncendiaries- I think that might have been the name for the faction within the government that worked for reform with the imPorts before us, but so much about that decade seems to have been erased. I'm not sure why the reformers didn't drag all of it into the light, but perhaps some of the information was destroyed or hidden before they could reach it.

Someone needs to talk to Holiday or Holt, and see what they know about that time- If we can't get in touch with the those two- [Sabriel hesitates] The woman in the mugshot is Idina Morello. She was at the protest, but she died in 1989- after imPorts had arrived and the reforms had started, but before they were completely successful. I'll try speaking with her if necessary [And despite the fact that she just said she was dead, Sabriel seems to think this is a viable option, if a somewhat distasteful one.]

I'd like to know more about the flashing lights- they were on poles, on the officer's badges, and on the darts that were fired at the protesters- all flashing in the same sequence. I can't help but suspect it's connected to the video some of us watched at that center.

Comments

video;

[brushoff]

This 'Resolution 32' in Clause E sounds interesting. It's undoubtedly a form of punishment. The question now is what? Stockades, imprisonment, hell, maybe it's Room 101 to continue with our Orwell theme.

[ Dorian's just so glib and nonchalant as he talks. ]

Did you find out any information about that part of the Clause in your lovely little flashback?

video;

[bindsthedead]

No. But I can't help but wonder if it was what justified the center we were sent to. The one with the videos they made us watch.

video;

[brushoff]

Wait, what videos?

[ short bus over here TOTALLY skipped over Shep's post about the brainwashing facilities ]

video;

[bindsthedead]

Many of us found ourselves in a facility where we were strapped down, and forced to watch videos about how wonderful the government was, and how we should do as we were told. There were flashing lights in the background of the videos... and we were drugged- or we hallucinated that we were. They made it hard to move quickly.

video;

[brushoff]

Wow. You'd think that the government would be a bit faster to start up the damage control now that this information's out.

video;

[bindsthedead]

I think whatever happened was from before imPorts helped reform the government- the people responsible are no longer in power.

video;

[brushoff]

That still doesn't change that it's the government. For example, my UK was a colonialist piece of trash with regards to natives, but at least modern politicians acknowledge the fact that it was a colonialist piece of trash. [ pause, frown ]

Most of the time, at least.

video;

[bindsthedead]

I've attended history classes here. They admit that things were bad then- that it wasn't democratic, that it was a police state... but they never went into any details. And when I started researching, I couldn't find much at all.

voice

[khajidont]

I'm positive the flashing lights must've been connected to that whole brainwashing deal. Did you see the graffiti on the street too? How people didn't want to be told how to think anymore?

voice

[bindsthedead]

'We will not let ourselves be silent. We will speak and we will think and we will not ask permission.' [Sabriel recites the words quietly, but precisely.]

I think you're right about the lights- and I wonder if Resolution 32 was what they used to justify it.

voice

[khajidont]

Good memory.

[Jaime hadn't remembered the exact words; he had been overwhelmed, confused. Once Sabriel recites them, though, they ring true.]

It sounds like it must have been. It was definitely a legal thing, and not cooperating meant something as small as not obeying curfew. It was actually a police state.

voice

[bindsthedead]

Well, that explains why everyone was so keen on imPorts at first. If that was what things were like before the first group arrived...

Well, we'd better do what we can to make sure history doesn't repeat itself.

voice

[khajidont]

Yeah... whatever we can do. Not that I want it to happen in the first place, but I wonder if there's any way of fighting back against that kind of brainwashing.

voice

[bindsthedead]

I was able to reverse what the Hornets did. And we have telepaths here, don't we?

But I'm sure if anyone tries it, they'll be using something more advanced than televisions to do it.

voice

[khajidont]

That's true. But this isn't the first time that our minds have been targeted. Remember when people got memories from the Hornets? So long as there's so many of us with big powers, that's going to be a risk.

[He exhales just briefly, through his teeth.]

I agree, though, we definitely need a little more information than what we've got. Did you look around the facility much?

voice

[bindsthedead]

I do- Hime and I were the ones who fixed then when they didn't fade on their own.

video; private; encrypted

[cartesianspidertank]

[ All this investigation stuff sounded boring. ]

Wait, what visions?

video; private; encrypted

[bindsthedead]

People have been... seeing things. Two possible futures, one where imPorts prosper- and another where we're effectively the governments property.

And then there are visions of the past- of how things were before the imPorts that predated us started reforming things.

[cartesianspidertank]

[ Tachikoma does some quick searching. ]

Hmmm.. do we know what caused it??? It seems to be a rather widespread phenomenon!

[bindsthedead]

I have no idea. We didn't physically travel through time, and only imPorts were affected, so it's possible it involves the Porter, or our nanites.

[cartesianspidertank]

Or it was specifically targeted through some other means!!

There are probably imPorts with like MIND CONTROL right??

[bindsthedead]

I don't know of any, but I suppose it's possible. Although I'm not sure why someone would do such a thing deliberately- and it would be strange for something so coherent- and with accurate references to this worlds past- to be done unintentionally.

[cartesianspidertank]

What kind of things did you learn from your vision??

[ private ]

[enucleation]

You may make this information avaliable if you wish, I don't want the research related to me, though.

I decided to have a look at the imPort who brought attention to the obsessive surveillance from the 80's government. The one who was silenced and in consequence caused the other imPorts to join together.

His name was Hernan Soñé, aka Nova Man; he is considered gone missing, presumed dead. He worked at a youth community center right in Heropa, in particular working with at risk youth given his own juvenile hall history. He was noted to have a bit of a temper, but was very tight-lipped about his own personal history beyond his juvenile one and he did not like to discuss politics at length, saying he no longer wanted to dwell on the past but move forward as all should aspire to do.

Information on Soñé was difficult to find. Most records focus on his work at the youth center and various charities he was a part of to raise awareness and money for at risk youth, or trivial information such as his favorite foods, his fondness for pugs and a cameo he made in a box office bomb movie.

There appears to be no further information on Soñé's past related to that incident, but I found an old tabloid paper where it stated that Soñé and two other imPort heroes -- Eric Strauss/Sidewinder and Song Ki-duk/Sunwing -- were the adult heroes among the group that were sent on the Death Island mission and disappeared following that incident. The article strongly implied they were killed, but their caskets in Washington are all empty.

I assumed this is how the government of the time silenced them.

[ private ]

[bindsthedead]

Well, despite all the leaks, in THEORY our histories in our own world are kept secret. So Soñé not talking about his past isn't that surprising.

But Death Island happened long after the 1980s. The reforms that helped drive that government out of power had been in effect for almost two decades by the time Soñé and the others went on that mission. If they wanted to silence him, they waited a long time.