dualisnet | TEXT: Day after the Festivities

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TEXT: Day after the Festivities

Username: dpdhank@dualislink

My name is Hank Anderson, I'm a patrol officer with Dualis's police. I think I met a few people at the Dualis Days festival, many of them during the unfortunate opening ceremonies.

The police are conducting an official investigation but I want to conduct my own independent investigation. In my experience that usually solves cases a little more quickly. [That's how he and Connor made it as far as they did, superseding what was technically required of them. The end result was also the better result for the world, not the preferred result for the powers that be, too.]

I know some of you were close to the bombing. If you're interested and able to give me some information I'll be in the kitchen on floor six for the rest of the evening.

[Anyone that comes to find him will be lucky. For the moment he'll be listening to some jazz he loaded onto a music player and speaker he found in a thrift shop rather than metal. But you better believe when it's necessary he'll switch to metal if he has to. In the meantime he's also reading an actual paper book, a softcover novel that he was lucky enough to find.]

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I doubt most would find stories of Cadian life appealing.

[Mira's very dry as she takes another bite of her fruit cup. She's got her hometown pride, yes, but she knows damn well Cadia is a great place to be from. If she'd wanted to stay there, she wouldn't have volunteered for the Imperial Guard. Of course, that just gets you an all-expenses-paid tour of the worst war zones in the galaxy, but at least the Chaos Gods aren't breathing down your neck. Most of the time.]

None of our lakes are remarkable enough to mean anything to an offworlder, I'm afraid. The Eye of Terror is an astronomical feature. [Detroit must be in the middle of absolute nowhere if he doesn't know that.]

Same could be said of Detroit. I remember when a picture went viral when some asshole stole a whole porch. We're not quite to visiting astronomical features yet, though.

Hoping things get better.

[It's been a very long while since he had hope. Which is one of the things that sucks about leaving. He can't do anything to contribute to or further that hope.]

We're just now talking space colonization. Still too many home issues to invest much in it. [He's aware this probably makes him medieval to her, but he's doing his best with the bare basics he's got. And a lot of things still translate.]

Are you from the third millennium, too?

[Mira sighs, and for lack of anything better to do, eats more fruit cocktail. She's not fully convinced everyone isn't having her on, but it would be such a ridiculous lie to tell that she thinks they at least must believe it themselves, even if they're mistaken.]

I suppose that would explain why everyone's calling Terra "Earth."

That's probably because Terra is Latin. Earth is English. So English speakers are gonna use some sort of 'Earth' sounding word.

[Hank's not good with chemistry or technology, but he does love to read.]

Probably eventually went back to the dead language that's never gonna change so everybody had the same word.

Betting there's a translator happening or something that make both work. [Voice to text translators aren't too bad in his day, but he knows not too long ago a faulty one might have been telling her that the planet's name is 'Dirt'. He has no idea how these ones might be working if that's the case. Though he makes another note to himself. If you find a suspect, see if you can make him name non-Dualis locations.]

[Mira purses her lips. What kind of uneducated simpleton do you take her for, Hank?]

I know it's High Gothic. [Space Latin--the translation is doing its best.] Outside of poetry and the occasional oath, no one has called the planet Earth since before the Unification Wars.

[To her it's like going around calling England "Albion" in casual conversation.]

[Hey, he doesn't know what people have forgotten in... an indeterminate number of space years? Shit, how do light years even count into that. He's not even going to ask about time dilation.]

Ah, so not that far back then. Or at least not so much people fuckin' forgot it entirely. I'm actually pretty surprised.

[People like to ditch old ideas and old words.]

Does the sorta- well, it's not a language barrier, is it... [He wonders if it bothers her, but it at the very least seems like it makes her feel out of place.] I guess I could call it Terra or something when I'm talkin' to you. At least somebody'd be doin' it. [He's not entirely a dick and he has no horses in this race. It's all the same planet, A shithole by any other name would still stink.]

[Mira snorts softly but doesn't correct Hank's misapprehension about how many years separate the two of them.]

It's not as though I don't understand the word. [That comes out a bit sharp, and she sighs when she catches herself. A kindhearted gesture doesn't deserve that, and she continues more warmly.] I appreciate the thought, but it's not necessary.

[At this rate, only two people haven't talked to him sharply when they've first met since getting here. It's honestly karma for how he treated his partner in the beginning. Guess it's time to eat shit and accept that he deserves it.]

Well... I guess it doesn't matter too much here anyway. Not even sure where exactly this place is and I've never heard it clearly defined as 'Earth' or 'Terra' and all I can tell is that it's got kind of temperate weather so far.

And I'm not great with stars. So I couldn't tell you from the sky.

There are millions of habitable planets. [Mira shakes her head. Trying to identify a world by its sky is hopeless without a cogitator bank to churn through star maps for you.] This one isn't inside the Imperium, I can tell you that much.

There's usually has a default set of constellations, at least for the northern hemisphere. [Unfortunately a case has never given him a reason to learn them. He can remember basic middle school "Titan is a moon" but he wouldn't be able to point out Scorpius in the sky. There are some obvious things, though, like the presence of a big pole star.]

Eh, I guess maybe someone will figure it out. I got this finding these assholes to chip away at. You've given me some ideas I can use.

What if "these assholes" are right?

[Mira sets her mostly-empty fruit cup on the table, fork resting on the lip.]

We've no reason to trust the powers that brought us here against our will.

I've been considering that, too. That's part of why I wanna find 'em first. I want to hear what they have to say. I mean, I wouldn't excuse them for blowing up a fuckin' stage in front of families. But there's something we need to know, and we might not find out if the iterations get to them first.

[He shoves the book aside, finally, and gets up to get a soda out of the fridge. He really, really wishes he had some whiskey. That'll be his next purchase, a good bottle that he can make stretch.]

Before I came here, I was on a case, finding androids that had developed a 'malfunction'. It was emotions, sentience. My partner was an android made specifically to hunt them down, but I saw him showing more and more empathy. And eventually we came up against this one guy. Everyone was calling him a terrorist but he didn't kill anyone, or injure them. His people didn't either. He was an activist, not a terrorist.

[He settles back down again, close to the speakers and nearer to her.]

My partner eventually turned, got that same glitch. I was with him when he passed it on, grabbing the first guy's arm. He told them to 'Wake Up'. Then they all touched each other, and said 'Wake Up'. Even their leader, he had the same call to arms. You know how he talked to the public? Took over a fucking TV station. Seems pretty familiar.

There's definitely something we need to know. I worry we won't find out if we let them handle it all or if we don't work together a little.

[Mira grows more and more unsettled as Hank tells the story, wide-eyed and leaning back in her chair. He predates the revolt of the Men of Iron and the Emperor's decree about AI, so none of it makes him a heretic, she's pretty sure, but she can't hide how uncomfortable she is.

But she's trying to follow his point, she really is. She's a Guard officer. She can't afford to be squeamish.]

Are you certain the parallels aren't coincidental? "Wake up" isn't an unusual thing to say if you think someone is being obtuse, and a broadcast is by far the simplest way to contact an entire city.

[He sees the unsettled look. He would agree, honestly, just a few weeks ago. He literally begged Fowler not to put him on the case, shocked because of his horrible history with androids. He still blamed them for his son's death then.]

[He can't argue with it, so he won't. Connor was an exemplary case. He saw a lot of abused androids manhandled by trash examples of humanity. Sometimes you have to be a part of something to be affected by it. Or, you know, get caught at a point in your life when you desperately need someone and some skinny plastic fuck promises to be that someone.]

They're probably coincidental, but it's similar enough that still makes me think there's something we don't know. There's no real political comedians on the air, ever notice that? No conspiracy sites. Not even the ones that are really obviously nutjobs.

It also makes me think that they probably had one guy at the site of the explosion, no more than two, and they probably had to have some sort of team to get to that server and take over a broadcast and cut the cameras. Maybe even several people to collect explosive components.

Shit, I'd be shocked if it was only three or so people.

Edited 2019-06-23 05:28 (UTC)

Political comedians? Public conspiracies? Why would there be?

[Those are oxymorons as far as she's concerned. Mira thinks "free speech" is a lecture you don't have to pay to attend.]

Well there's always somebody that likes to hear their head rattle within the limits of censorship, whether it's making fun of someone important or whether it's just rambling about their hairbrained theories. Depends on the limits of censorship.

Could just be someone bitching about their freedom of speech in the fucking stupidest way possible.

[He drags his book over and makes another note to himself. 'Look for underground live comedians or musicians. May have possible subjects in their regular audience.']

Freedom of speech? [She's not familiar with the term, but it seems bad.] That sounds like the sort of thing the planetary government would want to clamp down on.

Trust me, some of the best music and novels happen when you have freedom of speech.

[Sounds like this Imperium sounds exactly like you would expect something with the name Imperium would sound like.]

Ever want to stay awake at work on a long day? Fuckin' listen to metal. And this? [He points to the speakers, which are playing Jazz. But it's just your average song about being ridiculously lonely.] Jazz. For when you're wanting to wind down. [Or cover up some of your conversation, but that goes for either type of music.]

Like if it was up to me, I'd find some Billie Holiday, but I haven't been able to find anything like her here. I've always been shit about standing up for causes. Too jaded. But a good musician not only makes you interested in it, they put you in an emotion you didn't even know you could feel. That's the good in freedom of speech. The unrest isn't, but the creativity is.

[The Imperium is a glorious testament to the greatness of mankind and certainly not a totalitarian hellhole that's spent ten thousand years doing everything in its power to turn the galaxy into a fascist nightmare of a skull-bedecked boot stomping on a human face forever.

Hank might as well be speaking a language the translation can't handle for all he seems to be getting through to Mira, who listens with an expression of well-mannered skepticism.]

It hardly seems worth the risk of disorder, or heresy.

Normally it is. But, like I mentioned, they went about this in absolutely the stupidest way possible. Neither absolute freedom or absolute safety should happen. It's gotta be a balance. People shouldn't get away with everything like fuckin' hurting other people. But they should be able to speak up if they have some administration actively fuckin' destroying whole populations or the environment or just holding back every new idea for some sorta idea of 'peace' that really isn't.

Best place is a middle ground. Don't care what sorta government finds it. But progress has to exist so it's not boring and stagnant, and people being held accountable for their self-absorbed shit has to exist. Or else it's not a place worth defending. Say you got a bad leader trying to convince people that there's not a food shortage and hiding any mention of that. In the process fuckin' silencing up any random civilians that might be coming up with great solutions to that shortage.

Hoping that maybe... in the middle of this, I can see if there are people out there that believe in a middle ground. The guys that did this bombing? Not exactly the type I want throwing their weight around.

[Maybe some people need outspoken violence. But there were people out there that wanted nothing more than an easy day out, kids that didn't even understand, getting scared and hurt. And that, unfortunately, fucks over any good points he wants to make.]

[Mira is...well, not thinking it over, because as far as she's concerned it's arrant nonsense, but considering how not to burn bridges. Hank has some ridiculous ideas, but she can't expect him to recognize the truth of the Imperial Creed if he's from a time before humanity had even finished colonizing the Sol system. He has no frame of reference for it, no idea of the threats waiting among the stars. There's a reason the Emperor didn't reveal Himself until the Age of Strife, after all.

So, she ignores the philosophy of government parts, which is really about the best Hank can hope for on that front.]

No middle ground is possible in war. The closest you'll get is detente in the face of a greater threat to both sides.

What's your war over?

[Now there's always a possibility that she's going to give him some sort of brainwashed propoganda. Or she'll give him something genuine. Honestly? He knows he's not going to know the truth from a hole in the ground.]

[He wonders if she's jaded by the whole thing.]

I wasn't talking about the Imperium's wars. [That would be a long and (for Hank) disheartening conversation.] I meant here. Regardless of how well or poorly the government might have been relating to the populace in the past, this ceased to be a purely civic matter when the bomb went off. It's now an insurgency.

[Mira's not upset about it. In fact, she hardly seems to give a damn. One small explosion in one small city is regrettable, certainly, but to get worked up over that it would be like panicking over a kitchen grease flareup when her job is to parachute into out-of-control wildfires. It's not jadedness--she cares passionately about protecting the human race. It's merely the soul-searing enormity of the Imperium's endless, total war making this look unremarkable by comparison.]

Pretty strange that they didn't really talk about it after it happened other than let us know that the mayor was alright. If someone was looking for a war, the authorities aren't really wanting to rally civilians to their side.

Back home the government woulda eaten this up as an opportunity for some politician to show off. Maybe play victim and wring a few extra dollars out of people.

[He remembers Connor being concerned about a nation about to break into civil war. That never really happened. The appeal had been successful. Though these people are being more idiotic about it.]

[Mira shakes her head. What do they teach Arbiters where he's from?]

At this stage, the government must not appear to be out of control. Publicity strengthens the insurgents, and even if they're defeated quickly, plants the seeds for future rebellion.

[The Head or whoever's calling the shots is using tactics right out of the Imperium's playbook--if you want a good read on what a totalitarian government will do in any given situation, ask Mira.]

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