maskormenace | voice 01

Um...hi.

...No, wait, hold on a second. This is so awkward. Hello, um, imPorts. My name is Olive. Olive Silverlock. ...And I feel like I'm introducing myself as the new kid in front of my whole class, so this is about as much fun for me as it is for you.

[She pauses, what sounds like a breath being taken slightly audible from the recording.]

So! Yeah. New kid in town. In the world. You know I feel like I heard stories about this kind of thing happening, but it only really happened to the "superheroes" from where I live. Honestly it's so weird and I feel a little bit...guilty, I guess.

Not that this place doesn't seem great, but I'm not...interested in this hero stuff. Seems like such a big deal around here and it just weirds me out. [She pauses again, contemplating for a moment what more to say. Then she remembers something.] My friend though - Maps - would be in love with this place. If she was here I mean. If she was then she'd probably be screaming in my ear right now about getting to be a real life superhero, and going on team missions and stuff like that. I bet she'd get powers that would help her...I dunno, raid dungeons or solve puzzles? She plays a lot of roleplaying games like that sort.

[Are dungeons even a thing here? She has no clue. The town she got placed in seems like a rough area in particular, but no more rough than what she's used to seeing in Gotham City.]

...Well, okay, this is a disaster so I'm going to stop talking now and try to be a normal person.

[Hah. Normal. She wishes to be more normal.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

It is a treacherous slope we have slipped down, isn't it? When we must place trusted security within the capabilities of the police. [Quite obviously, Eddie was disdainful. Personal reasons, of course.] But at least you get what you're paying for.

A good many here will disagree with us, even if the minority will agree. They lack our experience with vigilantes.

"Our" experience? [What even...] I don't have experience with them - I just think it's ridiculous to glorify them.

[She's lying, but hopes he won't catch on.]

[His pause exudes skepticism -- a pity that his power is falsehood detection, but even then, the man is prone to a little deduction. It is difficult to come from a world with a vigilante problem and not experience the matter in some way; albeit, not necessarily his way. Direct conflict was more rare, but indirect effect (like property damage) seemed more statistically probable.]

What do you think of those who glorify them?

[A neutral question, and perhaps one intended to cover.]

[It's an obvious avoidance of her question, but she swallows down the urge to call him out on it. He seems like a pretty smart guy, so she may just need to be as smart. Or careful. Same difference.]

I just think they're wrong. Misguided even. We shouldn't be glorifying that kind of thing and make it seem normal.

Misguided. I think that is an accurate assessment. [He pauses -- thinking -- before continuing:] It is often that those who feel helpless will cling to misguided notions. Like with superstitions, when anxiety and fear overwhelm the processes of logic.

Vigilantes are much like that -- superhuman superstitions.

[Superhuman superstitions - that's a good way to put it and isn't that almost what Batman is? Most people talk about him like he isn't even real, like he's just some myth or boogeyman. But he is real, unfortunately so.]

They aren't really superstitions around here though. Lots of people take up the hero route I imagine. And criminals must know about it too. No real mystery about it all, for once.

[She just hopes they're all responsible with it. Even if they probably aren't.]

And yet, there still seems to be crime. Perhaps arguably less crime, true -- if you believe the governmental statistics. It would be so unfair of us, wouldn't it, to underestimate the resolve of the criminally inclined?

[Hard not to be a little self-congratulatory.]

That being said, I appreciate you raising the issue. This is something worth fervent discussion.

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