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Post by Alexander Ludovico on Jul 11, 2012 0:28:48 GMT -5
*I raise an eyebrow* Political activist /and/ soldier? Interesting combination. I was in a civil war reenactment once, but that was as close as I got. Most wars just seemed so pointless to me. Religion or land claims or what have you. It's just swapping one king for another, one set of problems for the next. In that regard, California's not too bad now. You have the killjoys, without any king at all - though quite the load of problems, of course - and you have the city, where anyone's free to pay their way into bliss. It's just the fighting that's tiresome.
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Post by Incendiary Aftermath on Jul 11, 2012 23:01:33 GMT -5
*I snicker* People /still/ think they can buy happiness. *I shake my head and continue on into a chuckle* Human stupidity will never cease to amaze me. If there is one thing I learned in the S.O., it's that this is the climax of a civilization under capitalistic leadership. As long as a business like BLI exists, as long as you people are the ones in charge, we will always end up here. *I extend my arms out, motioning towards the desert, but realize we are inside, and bring my arms back to the table.* Most likely, you will rebuild. You will grow, and you will regain control. Then, like every major civilization, you will crumble, and end up right back here again. It doesn't take a history major to tell you that history will always repeat itself if you make the same mistakes. You can control the populous with drugs and propaganda, but people will always rebel. People will always fight. It's like I said before: War is in our nature.
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Post by Alexander Ludovico on Jul 12, 2012 23:56:51 GMT -5
Sure, they can buy happiness. There might be different definitions of what "true happiness" is, and people are bound to disagree on it, but who are you to tell some simple-minded civilian that his virtual vacation to Hawaii isn't good enough? *I tried one of the virtual vacations myself once and wasn't impressed, but hey, it floats some people's boats and it's cheaper than a flight. And the virtual islands haven't been bombed into oblivion, which is a perk.*
Also, you should really stop referring to me as BLI overall. I already told you, I'm not particularly invested. It's nearly as bad as being called a drac! *To illustrate my point, I hold up my cord - now knotted into the shape of a frowny face with fangs*
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Post by Incendiary Aftermath on Jul 13, 2012 12:14:36 GMT -5
*I snicker at his discontent* I've told you already, Vico, it doesn't matter how "invested" you are. You can excuse it any way you want, in the end, you still take orders from the people up top. Your freedom is limited to what you'll do for your paycheck, and a day is gonna come where you'll have to choose between that money, and your own moral code. That is why I say you can not buy happiness. It will always come at a price higher than you're willing to pay. So go ahead, ride easy for the time being. It'll take you down a road you never wanted to be on. *I smile, and again motion to the area around us.* Out here, I don't take orders, I don't answer to anyone. I may make some pretty bad choices here or there, but they are /my/ choices. I take pride in knowing that.
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Post by Alexander Ludovico on Jul 13, 2012 14:54:51 GMT -5
How do you know I even /have/ a moral code? I could be a cold, empty bastard for all you know. And based on your commentary on BLI, I probably am. But in any case, I'm perfectly happy following orders. I don't feel the need to strike out on my own. Maybe that would be different if the life I was offered didn't suit me, but it does. Good for you, blazing your own trail and all that jazz, but just because that's /your/ chosen form of happiness doesn't mean it's mine. *I pause, remembering the medieval tales I loved so much before the wars, and smile* Why should the free rebel claim a higher happiness than the sellsword?
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Post by Incendiary Aftermath on Jul 13, 2012 16:06:03 GMT -5
Because the free rebel is free. The sellsword knows not of the lifestyle followed by the rebel. He knows nothing of the strife, and the work the rebel must do just to live. The sellsword knows only comfort and spoon feeding, while the rebel knows what it is to truly live. *I lean in once more* Everyone has a moral code, Vico. It's the reason I have not killed you yet, and the reason you have not yet been killed. You can claim happiness, but not without knowing what it is. Most of us pre-war kids have lived the life you lead at least once before, and we like this better. Right here, humans in our natural state. Vico, I know you are not truly happy because you have to defend it. You are trying to convince yourself, not me. Deny it all you wish, but in the end, you are nothing but a pawn of that shining city. Dispensable and replaceable. You will never know importance, and you will never know pride. The sellsword will always only last as long as he is needed. *I begin pointing and my look becomes that of a teacher to his student.* You. Are. A number.
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Post by Alexander Ludovico on Jul 13, 2012 16:26:16 GMT -5
*I tilt my head to one side, eyes still on Aftermath while I start a new knot* Maybe you're right. Maybe I /am/ a number. But a number's life isn't all that bad. A number has strength, and predictability, and the fellowship of all the other millions of numbers walking around as well. A number doesn't have to fight for survival every day, greeting each stranger at gunpoint and encrypting messages home so they're not tracked down. *Leaning forward, I rest my elbows on the table* I would rather have a long content life than a short and bloody one full of pride and your version of happiness. And most of the world's population agrees with me. Sellswords can settle down if they survive the skirmish, regardless of which side won. Rebels only have that luxury fifty percent of the time.
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Post by Incendiary Aftermath on Jul 13, 2012 16:40:56 GMT -5
*I smirk again. BLI doesn't tell the truth to their employees* A majority? Vico, baby, Your lifestyle is a minority of the people on this earth. There are more Killjoys, more rebels, more Vipers than you could ever imagine. Fellowship? Vico, your co-workers would put a bullet in your head if it meant a few more pills in their pocket. You give yourself a false sense of security in the place where you shouldn't have it at all. You realize where you are, correct? There are four well trained, heavily armed "rebels" who would love nothing more than to split you open and look at the pretty colors. Our only problems in life stem from your company. Your problems are much greater and much more numerous. How many Draculoids are killed per week? And how many Killjoys? How many funerals are held for your co-workers? Who mourns for the loss of a Draculoid? *I lean in much closer, lowering my voice, making it deeper.* Who will mourn for you? Who will remember you? Who's gonna visit your tombstone?
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Post by Alexander Ludovico on Jul 13, 2012 17:03:03 GMT -5
Aw, so now I'm "baby!" I knew you'd warm up to me. *I grin, then shake my head* You think you have such a clear view of us. You think you understand what it's like in the city, but that we know nothing about life out here - and you're right, to some extent. But having worked in an office doesn't make you an expert on a life like mine, just like having spent two years on the highway doesn't make me an expert on yours. Even 'numbers' like myself defy blanket statements. Just because we're coworkers doesn't mean we aren't friends. Just because we get paid doesn't mean we won't take risks to save each other. Just because we pop pills doesn't mean we can't mourn. Killjoys see white masks - nameless, faceless, sub-human draculoids. We know the faces underneath. And yes, there are bullies and cutthroats and cowards - hell, I'm a decent coward myself - but the same can be said for the killjoys. You can be as quick to judge as you like, but it doesn't make you right. And for the record, killjoy and draculoid deaths are currently holding even.
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Post by Incendiary Aftermath on Jul 13, 2012 17:21:02 GMT -5
Inflation still happens, I suppose. *I shrug off his statement* Vico, there is something here you are missing entirely. BLI began killing us. BLI began hunting us. We have every right to judge and to generalize. You do nothing to stop it. You do nothing to help. So do not sit here and tell me that the people underneath those masks are even HALF the human us Killjoys are. You, and every Drac like you are exactly the same. Don't sit on your high horse, Vico. You're exactly the same as everyone else in that city. A carbon copy of a carbon copy and no amount of arguing is going to make that change. It's the people like you that have always existed. It's the people like you that destroy cultures and kill children. You tell them they aren't okay the way they are, you make them think they need the pills, or the surgery, or the luxury because if they don't, then they are scum. *I point directly at Vico. Rage flowing from every movement.* I say "you" directly because you support them. You do nothing but take orders and allow this to happen. Every teenage suicide, every young girl puking her guts out, every child cutting themselves just to ease the pain has been because of people like you. *Surprisingly, I stand. I have to use my arms to support myself against the table, I shake, and I wobble, but I stand over Vico, staring him down. Fire burning in my eyes.* So sit there, and defend yourself. Say you aren't like the rest, say that you're different, and you only do it for the luxury. You do nothing to stop the fighting, you do nothing to stop the murder and the death. We fight to survive, but BLI fights us simply because they do not like us. BLI is responsible for the death of everyone out here. Everyone.
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Post by Alexander Ludovico on Jul 13, 2012 21:12:20 GMT -5
Again with the blanket statements! *I throw my hands up in the air, feigning exasperation but keeping a keen eye on his movements. Lamed or not, I'm sure his trigger finger is perfectly operational.* You know, most of the patrols are sent out in direct response to attacks by killjoys. Did you hear about the multiple homicides two months ago? A family of civilians ditched by the north city gate with burns on their faces in the shape of killjoy masks. Their oldest son was a draculoid but he wasn't home when the killjoys came raiding, so his family got it instead. A patrol went out like always, and they got the wrong killjoys, like always. It's just kind of hard to tell you all apart. I'm not saying profiling's acceptable, but hey, it happens. And most of the draculoids who take in killjoys other than their targets will say it's preemptive action.
*I can tell I'm not making much of an impression, and lean back in my seat.* I feel like this is rather ineffective. Maybe we should throw a pigskin around. Isn't that what guys do to settle their differences? Assuming said differences are intended to be settled.
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Post by Incendiary Aftermath on Jul 13, 2012 21:17:24 GMT -5
Wait. *I shake my head when he tells me about the murders.* Vico, we may be savage and insane, but blatant murder of civilians is not what Killjoys do. Even you, of all people should know that. We would never harm someone without a Draculoid mask, surely your numbers can tell you that. We are survivors, and we are scavengers, maybe even thieves, but we are not murderers. *My thoughts race, hoping that the possibility I'm playing out isn't the truth.* Are you sure it wasn't a Viper attack? Vico, I know I've been nothing but hostile, but you need to believe me. Killjoys would never harm an innocent person.
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Post by Alexander Ludovico on Jul 13, 2012 22:46:00 GMT -5
*I'm almost taken aback by his reaction, and my smile fades* They were killjoys. There was a letter, and witnesses. I told you, BLI isn't always unprovoked, and not all killjoys are noble survivors. The Zones attract the rebels and the soldiers and the freedom fighters, but it also attracts the sadists and the rapists and the murderers. Not all the dispossessed are people you want in your "family," Aftermath.
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Post by Incendiary Aftermath on Jul 13, 2012 22:55:41 GMT -5
Then they are not Killjoys, Vico. If I put on a Drac mask and started killing people, does that make me a member of BLI? Killjoys have an unspoken code. Killjoys have morals. Killjoys are not murderers, Vico. Killjoys have morals, dammit! *I slam my fists into the table and stumble forward. I regain my footing and sit down.* Vico, I don't know who is doing these killings, but I can assure you it is not a Killjoy. Whether they call themselves a Killjoy or not is irrelevant, they are NOT a part of this group. *I sigh, and look at Vico.* I can't believe I'm saying this... but if I can be of any assistance, let me know. BLI and the Killjoys have worked together before. We can do it again.
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Post by Alexander Ludovico on Jul 13, 2012 23:40:06 GMT -5
*I shrug* Think what you like, if it lets you sleep easier. Just because the pirates had a code doesn't mean they were all honorable men who followed it to a word. You say killjoys don't kill innocents - but who decides who's an innocent? *I sigh as I undo my knot* I don't think you'll have much luck working with the city. Riley - Wilson, I mean - isn't one to grant second chances. But I -
*I stop, thinking. I've made quite a few decisions lately, and I have a feeling not many of them have been wise ones. I smile wryly. Now's not the time to go breaking my streak, I suppose. Might as well jump off the cliff as step off it.* I might be of assistance as well. The case has been closed, but if we poked around a bit we might find something of use. I don't have much of a schedule.
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