𝕍𝕀𝔻𝔼𝕆

[viced]

[ The camera seems to artfully be placed on the edge of a desk. Behind the guy on screen is both an American flag, and the Virginia state flag. On the desk, at an extreme angle is the words S. 2549 ]

I know it's a little behind -- it's been a long couple of weeks since the blackout, and I meant to address everyone earlier than this, but... you know how the Senate can be, particularly at the beginning of a new session. [ A half-grin. He knows it's bullshit, but... ]

Anyway, I wanted to ask most of you who were affected the most by the blackout -- what kind of government response would you have found the most useful?

Or to any crisis, really. This isn't the first, and it won't be the last, and I want to make sure we have a plan in place to properly utilize the resources we have to make sure we all get out of this safely. Even if it's something small, it'll help.

[ A pause, and then a slight gesture. ] Obviously, I'm working on a bill, so it would help me to field the people who seem the most impacted by these sorts of things, you know?

[ He reaches to shut it off, before -- ] Oh, and for those of you who are new, welcome to your new reality. If you need anything, you can always reach out. Just because I'm a Senator for Virginia doesn't mean I'm not available for imports as a whole. I'm the only voice we have in the Federal Government, you know?

Comments

[thevictoriandetective]

Piss off.

[viced]

Jesus --

There a reason for the hostility?

[thevictoriandetective]

Several, actually.

[quemar]

[AHA. Someone actually with the government this time!]

How many convicts are still at large?

[Robbie should probably actually answer the questions Mitch asked. But, nah.]

[viced]

Right, I'd... have to check with the law-enforcement reports, actually.

[ A beat. ]

I'm expecting this will eventually lead to an answer for the question I asked, right?

[quemar]

[PLAYING HARDBALL EH? Well. Well.]

... Yeah I guess

[bindsthedead]

Well, I'd like for RISE to have the authority to investigate the incident. Beyond that... we were able to coordinate with the local authorities fairly easily. The biggest problem was the lack of easy communication because all the technology stopped working.

[viced]

Which... isn't exactly an all-encompassing problem. Was it just RISE that was able to coordinate? How about the people not affiliated with RISE?

I can't exactly favor one organization in a bill. It's national policy.

[bindsthedead]

The local authorities were generally helpful to all imPorts- they've been through enough of these sorts of incidents to know that infighting isn't helpful.

And RISE is supposed to be the organization that acts as a connection between law enforcement and imPorts at large.

Voice

[outofthepast]

What's this about a blackout, Senator? Mind filling me in?

Voice

[viced]

Oh, last month... some organization cut out... everything electronic. No power, no communication, no nothing. It wasn't just in the porter cities, either. It was everywhere, but they also let out a shitload of convicts at the same time, and let them run loose.

A lot of people got hurt, too. It was pretty fucked up.

( anon text )

[classification]

Any response would have been and will continue to be useful. I suppose it's comforting to know the government plays games no matter the world.

permavid

[viced]

Well, I'd like to see a hell of a lot less of the game playing, and a lot more usefulness, you know? Maybe something like an actual, planned response, yeah?

video;

[helpline]

Actually, I've no idea what the Senate's like in the beginning of a new session in the first place. The last time I dealt with American government was when I popped in to give Nixon a visit.

video;

[viced]

Yikes. Shitty time to be in American politics, if you ask me.

[ A pause. ] It's... a lot of pomp, a lot of talking, a lot of trying to get parties together to come up with what we're going to do for the new year -- or if you're in the minority, what you're going to push back against. Then it's a lot of bills. Hundreds of bills. I had to fight to get a priority spot for this one.

video;

[baetiful]

Truth be told, I believe the government responded well enough. They provided supplies to Maurtia Falls as best as they could given the blockages at the roadways. And when they did come through eventually, we were able to ensure everyone was taken care of.

My only wish is that we had a better way to communicate. I was able to utilize messenger birds throughout the city, but such methods are not quick and it goes without saying -- but they're so very old-fashioned. The first forty-eight hours, we were left in confusion as to whether this was simply someone causing mischief or if this was an actual attack. I wasn't certain whether to tell my people to remain safely in their homes or prepare to fight. Surely, they could come up with a way to broadcast the threat level -- even without electricity, couldn't they? You know your way around this technology far better than I.

video;

[viced]

I agree. It would be nice to use our imports who can communicate, if at all possible.

I was useless, with the technology down, but I'd like to see if maybe our psychic imports could set up an emergency projection network, or something.

[acclimatized]

We had a shortage of medical staff to meet demands. The blackout caused car accidents, there were opportunists going around committing crime and getting injured, we had old people freezing in their homes and there simply weren't enough of us to go around. On top of that, the state the generators are in less than ideal and they were constantly going down despite attempts to get them up and back running.

If this happens again, it would be nice to have some proper army intervention. The supplies the government sent to the cities were good and all but we could have benefited from their assistance. What they provided was little, but it wasn't enough.

[ he pauses for breath. ]

Sorry about him.

[viced]

[A pause.]

It's okay.

Anyway, I agree. Maybe we should work on bringing people into the city in times of crisis, mobilizing the national guard quicker, and upping the methods of communication.

Hopefully the emergency services will start working on their backup generators, as well. We might be able to authorize a grant for that, what do you think?

[socialactivillain]

I've already left messages at the office of Florida's Senator, since I'm mostly speaking to the experience in Heropa here, but having more help with transportation would've been a start.

While the Porters being out was addressed quickly enough, inner-city public transit was a mess with all the car accidents, and a lot of people, homeless and otherwise, were left stranded. And that's not even addressing the matter of those of us who were trying to get enough supplies to all of the established and emergency pop-up shelters.

[viced]

Transportation. Kind of hard when all the electronics were killed, huh? Got any suggestions? I mean, short of bringing out the horses, we're going to have to figure out how to work around the loss of cars if it happens again, don't you think?

[ But... ] I agree with the rest, actually. It was pretty hard on some sensitive populations.

[slightlyoffchilt]

There isn't much grassroots motion here, you know.

[viced]

Not yet, anyway. We can always change that. Or try to, at least.

voice;

[shifting]

The roads not bein' clear were one of the bigger issues my people ran into, even if I'm not sure how much more could be done there without keepin' way more people on standby than the city's probably got room for on payroll. Still, since you're askin'.

voice;

[viced]

It's something to consider... Or maybe we should be working with public works to come up with a solution. You aren't the first person to say it, so there's some merit to finding a work-around -- even if it's a super-strength based one.

I mean, there are people out there who want to help, import or otherwise. We need to start thinking creatively.