maskormenace | 1. Video

[He's sitting at his desk in his currently rather barren bedroom, wearing a fleece blanket around his shoulders like a cape.]

Did I do this right? Okay. Yeah.

Okay.

Hi. [A small, brisk wave at the camera.] I'm Austin and I wanna ask this for anyone who knows the answer. Swearing in. What's the catch?

So, like, I know we do assignments and we do work, I'm gonna train be some kind of shrink which is fucking hilarious-- but anyway, it completely does not add up. I have a radioactive tattoo on my wrist and you're telling me nobody's keeping any kind of tabs on me? I get free housing, free healthcare, a guaranteed job that I'm guaranteed to be shit at, and all they want is some elementary school pledge of allegiance and a few man-hours? No. Nuh-uh. I want the dirt.

[A pause as he picks up his e-cigarette and takes a drag.]

Tell me how you've been mistreated. Tell me if there've been experiments. Tell me what they're really after. Meet me in person if you're uncomfortable telling me over the network. I need to know.

[Another brief pause.]

Okay. That's it.

[He turns off the camera.]

((OOC: Hi! New kid on the block! This is Austin, this is his character info, and this is his permissions post.))

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I think if the US or Russia wanted to do it already, they would have.

But they won't; it's mutually assured destruction.

Sure, I guess it's heartening that they even thought to bring people like us in. But if conflict starts, I can only see it escalating. If you could have the upper hand in a given situation, wouldn't you choose to?

...Come to think of it, you're right. I hope the war never starts.

Politics are not exactly my thing. I care about people and the environment.

Yeah, I used to say that too. Then I realized politics is the pile of shit standing in the way of all those noble goals.

There are plenty with noble intentions, but all I know is a lot of legal red tape makes it difficult to get things done.

[ Been there, done that. Never want to go back to it. ]

Anyway, the point is it's fine to stay alert. Don't register if it makes you uncomfortable.

But don't live in paranoia either.

I don't intend to. I'm actually leaning toward registration since the risks don't seem significant. Just wanna be informed. Alert, like you said.

You call it paranoia, I call it preparedness.

Edited (forgot this was audio) 2014-08-07 05:34 (UTC)

Wait, really? After everything you've said and how skeptical you are?

[ That's surprising. ]

Well yeah. It's not like the tattoo's leaving me either way. Plus from what I've heard, nobody mysteriously disappears from these free homes. So it sounds like if I've made it this far, this might be my best chance of remaining safe. Might as well enjoy the perks.

Even more than that, I'm living at the center of things. I had to stay far away from government buildings most of the time back home. It was a huge pain. There's a lot to say for being trusted, you know? [Mainly, you can conduct investigations.]

Edited 2014-08-07 14:29 (UTC)

The homes are cozy and it's nice not to have to pay rent, but, personally, I like my independence.

[ She'll be moving out when she's saved up more. ]

Yeah, that's understandable. Guess I'm kinda used to living with people all the time, personally. And I left all my money in another universe. But peace and quiet kinda would be nice.

Family or friends?

Friends, and a bunch of other assholes. Used to live in a big underground complex that housed most everybody the government considered their property.

What exactly did your government do with these people?

Some of us got to be heroes, some of us were just considered too dangerous or valuable to be walking the earth unsupervised.

Is it like this place?

It's like a nightmare version of this place.

I dunno how supers evolved in this universe, but back home they used to call us witches and put us on trial. And then over the years we got stronger and more numerous, but a lot of the hate's still there, so they say, hey-- we won't kill you, we'll just persecute the shit out of you instead.

[ That is exactly what she fears. ]

That sounds backwards as hell. Witches? Really?

Back in the old days, yeah. Things got a little better after they started writing comic books about us. Or rather, they manufactured one of us and then wrote comic books about him, then you suddenly have everybody lining up to be a hero because wow, everyone accepts us!

As a meat shield.

[Nope, not bitter at all over here.]

Manufactured? You mean they train metas and shape them into superheroes?

Exactly. Of course some people decided to do the whole vigilante thing instead, and villains did their thing, but that's how the whole gaudy-suit business got started. Military propaganda.

What happens if you oppose them?

Well, it depends. Are you a law-abiding normal? [His universe's word for non-metas.] Or are you a valuable asset if you comply but a menace to society if you don't?

They'll let you organize a peaceful protest. Sort of. But at the end of the day they know they've got control.

So, to answer your question, I dunno if I'd have made it out alive if I didn't have the power to block people from reading my mind.

That doesn't sound like the way to live.

[He smiles wryly.]

Tell me about it.

It does contextualize things, though.

[ Now she can understand where his paranoia is coming from. ]

Is this place a step up or down from your world?

(no subject)

psychicpsycho - 2014-09-01 15:53 (UTC) - Expand

boobwindow - 2014-09-02 07:13 (UTC) - Expand

psychicpsycho - 2014-09-02 15:20 (UTC) - Expand

boobwindow - 2014-09-03 09:04 (UTC) - Expand

psychicpsycho - 2014-09-12 14:30 (UTC) - Expand

boobwindow - 2014-09-13 09:28 (UTC) - Expand