Raina (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
flowerette) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
maskormenace2018-04-15 05:39 pm
flowerette) wrote in maskormenace2018-04-15 05:39 pm
010 ✿ Video
[ The video begins with Raina sitting in her garden, reading off a sheet of paper: ]
Mary Watson, Loki Laufeyson, Betty Ross, Elsa Brandt, Hemali, Harrison Wells, Gazelle, Harvey Dent, Jeff Winger, Kitty Jones, Dorian Gray, April Ludgate, Will Graham, Sam Merlotte -- [ And she looks up from the list. ]
To many people, these names don't mean a lot. But they are names of people I had known well. Names of people who once graced this world and have since returned to their own. I've been here for three years. Three years to meet people, three years to lose people -- three years to become invested in this universe, only to know at any moment I could return to my own. I could be forced to leave my soulmate, the only happy life I'd ever had and head toward my inescapable death.
[ A saddened smile. ]
For those who don't know me, my name is Raina. I'm a scientist who works in the field of imPort cellular research. You would think working in such a field for so long, I would have more answers about us than I do. But the truth is, as many imPort scientists can attest, we are highly limited in the things we can research. We are not allowed access to nanites or continuum or any top level information. And our funding is not what it should be to make real progress in our fields. I wanted answers. I wanted to find a way to be able to stay within this world. And I made mistakes as a result of it.
[ Gravely: ] I joined the Constellation under Count Dooku's guidance in the hopes I could find a way to control my destiny. In my desperation, I thought I had no other alternative. And so, I headed the science department. I served as the star Maia. I did not involve myself in the group's affairs. The thieving, the data breaches, the killing. But I used their resources, I studied things that were brought to me, and I made great strides in understanding nanites.
But for my breakthroughs, I still served as a part of a criminal organization. I knew what I was doing was wrong. And once the Constellation fell, I turned myself in for my part. I served my time and more than that, I was filled with shame. I was weak and hopeless at the time Count Dooku found me. My biggest regret is falling for his promise -- that I would be able to escape the death that awaits me back home and find some form of happily ever after. Even though it felt like a dream come true to have found Frederick, life is not a fairy tale. I have no control over the ending, and so I can only do my best to do what's right from this point on.
[ There's a pause, a weighted pause before she speaks up again. ]
I ran for Nonah Ambassador roughly two years ago. And I lost to Francis Urquhart, another name that has likely been forgotten. But I've decided to run once again for De Chima -- the city I've worked in for years, the city I've always loved the most. The goal isn't so much to win. It's about reform. Reform not only for myself -- but for the way funding is handled in the scientific and medicinal research fields, for my scientific peers who want answers and find themselves facing roadblocks, for stronger and more trusting relationships between the government and imPorts as well as imPort and natives, for the poor men and women who find themselves pushed to the streets with the influx of technology. De Chima is a strong city -- always growing, always evolving. But in that evolution, some things simply fall to the wayside. It doesn't have to be that way. We're brought here to be heroes. And being a hero doesn't necessarily mean running into a burning building to save a family or fighting a war. Being a hero means doing what's right for the people who need it most.
I'm not a politician. I won't pretend to be. But if there is one thing I do know...it's that it takes the right touch to really see something blossom and bloom.
[ Raina sinks to her knees in the garden, digging well manicured fingers in the dirt. A vine of strawberries flourishes on camera right before their eyes. ]
All of us have powers, and I'm convinced all of us can do something to help people with them if we put our minds to it. And that is what I advocate. Better use of powers. Better use of our time here. A better future for the citizens of this world. A better tomorrow for those of us who will have one.
Mary Watson, Loki Laufeyson, Betty Ross, Elsa Brandt, Hemali, Harrison Wells, Gazelle, Harvey Dent, Jeff Winger, Kitty Jones, Dorian Gray, April Ludgate, Will Graham, Sam Merlotte -- [ And she looks up from the list. ]
To many people, these names don't mean a lot. But they are names of people I had known well. Names of people who once graced this world and have since returned to their own. I've been here for three years. Three years to meet people, three years to lose people -- three years to become invested in this universe, only to know at any moment I could return to my own. I could be forced to leave my soulmate, the only happy life I'd ever had and head toward my inescapable death.
[ A saddened smile. ]
For those who don't know me, my name is Raina. I'm a scientist who works in the field of imPort cellular research. You would think working in such a field for so long, I would have more answers about us than I do. But the truth is, as many imPort scientists can attest, we are highly limited in the things we can research. We are not allowed access to nanites or continuum or any top level information. And our funding is not what it should be to make real progress in our fields. I wanted answers. I wanted to find a way to be able to stay within this world. And I made mistakes as a result of it.
[ Gravely: ] I joined the Constellation under Count Dooku's guidance in the hopes I could find a way to control my destiny. In my desperation, I thought I had no other alternative. And so, I headed the science department. I served as the star Maia. I did not involve myself in the group's affairs. The thieving, the data breaches, the killing. But I used their resources, I studied things that were brought to me, and I made great strides in understanding nanites.
But for my breakthroughs, I still served as a part of a criminal organization. I knew what I was doing was wrong. And once the Constellation fell, I turned myself in for my part. I served my time and more than that, I was filled with shame. I was weak and hopeless at the time Count Dooku found me. My biggest regret is falling for his promise -- that I would be able to escape the death that awaits me back home and find some form of happily ever after. Even though it felt like a dream come true to have found Frederick, life is not a fairy tale. I have no control over the ending, and so I can only do my best to do what's right from this point on.
[ There's a pause, a weighted pause before she speaks up again. ]
I ran for Nonah Ambassador roughly two years ago. And I lost to Francis Urquhart, another name that has likely been forgotten. But I've decided to run once again for De Chima -- the city I've worked in for years, the city I've always loved the most. The goal isn't so much to win. It's about reform. Reform not only for myself -- but for the way funding is handled in the scientific and medicinal research fields, for my scientific peers who want answers and find themselves facing roadblocks, for stronger and more trusting relationships between the government and imPorts as well as imPort and natives, for the poor men and women who find themselves pushed to the streets with the influx of technology. De Chima is a strong city -- always growing, always evolving. But in that evolution, some things simply fall to the wayside. It doesn't have to be that way. We're brought here to be heroes. And being a hero doesn't necessarily mean running into a burning building to save a family or fighting a war. Being a hero means doing what's right for the people who need it most.
I'm not a politician. I won't pretend to be. But if there is one thing I do know...it's that it takes the right touch to really see something blossom and bloom.
[ Raina sinks to her knees in the garden, digging well manicured fingers in the dirt. A vine of strawberries flourishes on camera right before their eyes. ]
All of us have powers, and I'm convinced all of us can do something to help people with them if we put our minds to it. And that is what I advocate. Better use of powers. Better use of our time here. A better future for the citizens of this world. A better tomorrow for those of us who will have one.