closed to free cities

[unwings]

Hello. My name is Castiel.

I overheard a pair of soldiers discussing Prime Minister Marlo’s declaration of martial law, and indefinitely postponed elections. They implied she has a history of election bribery, and mentioned the disappearance of someone named 'Latimer'.

Does 'Latimer' sound familiar to anyone? What else have the rest of you heard?

This message goes to the Summoned of the Free Cities only. For obvious reasons, let’s keep the suspect nature of our leader to ourselves for now.

Comments

[nadine_he_loves]

She's a politician and in a position of power, there's probably a lot of shady stuff in her career. That's just politicians. Most of them lie and buy their way into power.

I'm not saying that's fine, just that it's not at all surprising.

Authorities are usually shady people.

[unwings]

I have no doubt. Though I believe typical political corruption and autocracy are quite different. As are bribery and murder.

We currently enjoy a choice for our level of involvement with this war. I worry what a dictator would change in that.

[nadine_he_loves]

Do we actually know if any murder happened? Someone disappearing could mean a lot of things. Not that a lot of the other options are GOOD...

I'm pretty sure a dictator's a dictator, even when there isn't martial law.

[unwings]

No, we do not, you’re right. Though I wouldn’t be surprised by a murder, it’d be more fortunate for all of us if it were simple disappearance. At least we’d be able to question them.

A dictator is a dictator so long as their power is absolute. Martial law is the tool with which she’s able to become a dictator.

[nadine_he_loves]

Maybe it would be a good idea to try and figure that out, before calling a rally against somebody. It's just there's a really big difference between having someone murdered and paying off all their debts so they'll go away or something.

Look, I don't disagree that the government here is questionable. Martial law isn't great. But I think it's a little much to jump to we're all under the threatening thumb of a dangerous tyrant.

[unwings]

Am I calling a rally? Reporting information and requesting others’ notes was the aim. When I asked if anyone’s heard more, I assumed that made it clear I intend to “try and figure that out,” anything beyond that hypothetical. I assume a rally requires an impassioned call to action, or a middle aged Caucasian man doing an arrhythmic dance on a patriotically decorated stage. Possibly, “monster” trucks.

I never said tyrant. Or threatening, dangerous, or thumb. I said ‘worry’ and ‘dictator’, as the definition is a ruler with absolute power, such as one suspending elections to remain the uncontested head of state. Some sovereign states function stably under dictatorships, but that does not change the definition.

I’m not suggesting she be deposed. [ yet, but that’s a concern for a potential future he’d like to be privately prepared for, if needs must. Cas will never be convinced brainstorming contingency plans for the worst possible outcome isn’t worth doing, after so many worst possible outcomes have come to pass for them. Not with everyone he loves here, not with Dean, not with a son. But still, he’s not making a call for revolutionary action, just requests for investigation. ] My single personal concern is about the possibility it opens to a compulsory draft of the Summoned into the war effort for Free Cities. It’s an issue I’d like to see coming from far enough away that mitigation - protecting my family - is still possible.

[nadine_he_loves]

I'm sorry if I made any wrong assumptions. It's just throwing out suspicion of murder and the word 'dictator' give an impression. It doesn't take much to get from that to torches and pitchforks. Especially if people are nervous and worried already.

This is the kind of talk that comes right before revolutions, you can see how I got to worst scenario.

[unwings]

My apologies, perhaps I'm too accustomed to death being as reasonable an outcome as anything else. I do believe it's important to recognize the situation for what it is, regardless of corruption and plays at unchallenged power being commonplace. But, even if we were to find evidence of murder, I'd be more interested in information and leverage than a frenzied civilian mob.

Choas doesn't do us any favors. This country wouldn't survive a war on two fronts, nor would we, if Thorne took advantage. I intend to keep this between the Summoned of Free Cities only. If word reaches the people, it won't be from me.

[righteously]

Great
That's exactly we need on top of everything else, a shiny new dictatorship
Awesome

[unwings]

You've seen more about the recent political climate. How likely is it Marlo might change the voluntary service policy for Summoned to conscription?

[righteously]

If you want the god's honest truth, I got no idea. Nine months ago I'd have said they'd have to know it wouldn't go over well for them, but after that whole Nocwich bug situation...

I don't know. They manipulated all of us. That's just diet conscription for sneaky cowards.

[unwings]

Diet conscription doesn't sound any more pleasant, ethical, or calorie free.

If she intended to make us weapons of war, I won't be part of it, Dean. This conflict is absurd.

[righteously]

Hey, don't worry, you're preaching to the choir here pal. I can guaran damn tee you they're gonna have a real bad time if they try and pull that crap on us.

[unwings]

Investigating... alternative leadership may be called for. Escaping to any other nation may not be any better, but perhaps it's time this conflict be taken out of the hands of local extremists.

[ implant a summoned prime minister? maaaybe. ]

[righteously]

I get being wigged out about this whole thing but

I don't know, man. Politics?

That might be biting off a little more than we can chew. Especially considering the crap we're already dealing with.

[unwings]

Certainly not our area of expertise.

You're right, there's more pressing matters at the moment. We'll have to cross that bridge if and when we come to it.

[rinwell]

Were they Free Cities soldiers, or those belonging to one of the other nations?

[unwings]

Free Cities soldiers. This was internal.

[rinwell]

And you're sure of their identities, because?

I don't trust the leadership here. But it also wouldn't be the first time that an enemy side dressed up as their foes to plant false information.

[unwings]

If the question is if I’ve memorized faces of ever soldier in the Free Cities armed forces, no.

But their heart rates and vitals weren’t consistent with lying.

Regardless, the information shouldn’t be wholesale dismissed on the suspected chance it was planted propaganda.

[rinwell]

No, I wasn't asking about faces. Though that said, now that you have seen them, do you think you'd recognise them again in future?

I wasn't dismissing it! If anything, you shouldn't be dismissing the dangers that planted propaganda can bring! We just

[ a pause, one that stretches on as a moment is taken to collect herself. And pet her owl. then: ]

We can't be too careful, given our situation. And I don't know you. So, I'd rather ask for as much information as you have, if it's available.

[unwings]

That's a fair point. Without evidence to confirm or deny, we must consider all possibilities. I do believe I would recognize them again, my memory is excellent.

Unfortunately, what I've presented here is all the information I currently have. I'd been hoping others may have uncovered more, but clearly more investigation is needed. Any help you'd be willing to offer on that front would be greatly appreciated.

[cointosser]

It is disappointing to hear, but it does not surprise me. However, in my dalliances with Marlo and Quilleth, I have not heard the name before. It is likely that any evidence of this person existing is being kept from the public -- or they were never known to begin with. Was there any indication who this Latimer might be?

[unwings]

I doubt the current national leader would allow public record of an opponent they'd disposed of. No indication no, but it seems all the more reason to investigate.

There may come a time the Summoned are at odds with the Free Cities leadership, if she's intent on pursuing absolute power. I'd rather we're prepared with information.

[cointosser]

Hah! I think you would be surprise. Human arrogance is surprisingly... arrogant. Perhaps a portrait of Latimer sinisterly awaits us, hidden among some decayed side-channel in the annals of the barracks.

[If only things were that easy.]

I will keep an ear out, but I am grateful for any further information. Marlo does have a habit, I think, of taking credit for the work of others, so I do not even know if she would be directly involved in such matters.

[unwings]

It is true, humanity never ceases to surprise and alarm. We can hope Marlo leans more arrogant than cautious.

I'll be certain to keep you updated. Do you have any thoughts on where we might begin the search for mention of Latimer? Do you know of any public records, an address book, or even library card system?

[cointosser]

[He has no idea what a library card system is supposed to be, but that is not the important part here.]

As far as I understand, and further likely with what you overheard, Marlo puts quite a bit of effort into curating her records. I doubt you will find such a thing. I can attempt to ask for access to similar records, but all I have ever seen myself are some city plans and various blueprints for construction. Unless Latimer is an expired architect, it seems unlikely.

[assembles]

I heard something similar when I was exploring the island, from some hushed conversations between a couple of soldiers. I don't know who this Latimer person is either, but it sounds like Marlo's disappearing people who are too loose-tongued with her secrets.

[unwings]

It’s intriguing, doubtlessly. Unfortunately, there don’t seem to be many leads to follow up on this “Latimer” person. If their information or actions were threatening enough to need removal, that’s worth learning about. Do you plan to investigate?

[assembles]

I can't pretend I didn't hear it. If they were murdered just for knowing too much, that's something that the public deserves to know about. If they were just paid a large sum of money and told to make themselves scarce and keep their mouths shut, that still isn't great, but it sounds more like the typical behavior of a politician trying to keep their nose clean.

[unwings]

Informing the public may not be wise, considering the conflict with Thorne. It's a dangerous time for civil unrest. Regardless, we can't know without more information.

Questioning the soldiers more may be illuminating, but I don't imagine it'd go unnoticed by the Prime Minister.

[assembles]

Yeah, I wouldn't coming out with anything until we knew the details and decided it was worth the risk. Still, it rubs me the wrong way to think she believes she can just get away with this kind of thing.

There's another Summoned who's joined up with the military. He might be able to ask around and not be quite as suspicious.

[theidlemaiden]

𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘢 𝘓𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘳, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦'𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘶𝘥𝘨𝘦𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥.

𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺'𝘭𝘭 𝘨𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘭𝘢𝘸, 𝘥𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶?

[unwings]

Grudges? Could you expand on that?

While I hope not, we are at war. I don’t see anything stopping it.

[theidlemaiden]

𝘈𝘭𝘦𝘬𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘒𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘭 𝘮𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘍𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘯 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘴𝘩 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘺𝘦. 𝘈𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘧𝘧 𝘰𝘯 𝘣𝘰𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬. 𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘳 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘦, 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯'𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘭𝘦𝘦𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘬 𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘺 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦.

𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘴 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘶𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩.

[unwings]

From my short interact with Klingel, I don't find that surprising in the least. The man is dangerously experimental. Though it's worrisome such animosity exists between the core leadership of the nation.

They brought us here involuntarily to aid in their conflict over the Singularlity. Removing our choice over active participation wouldn't be a much more extreme step than the initial summoning.

[theidlemaiden]

𝘜𝘯𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺, 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘴𝘰 𝘶𝘯𝘶𝘴𝘶𝘢𝘭. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘶𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦. 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘪𝘵’𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘴𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘴 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘷𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘪𝘯. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺’𝘳𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘺𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘳𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦.

𝘐 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶’𝘳𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘐’𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘶𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵. 𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘶𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘯’𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘶𝘱 𝘢 𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘱𝘰𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘴𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯𝘦.

[falcony]

I WISH I WAS SURPRISED
BUT THERE'S BEEN SOMETHING OFF ABOUT THAT WOMAN SINCE WE GOT HERE
THOUGH I WONDER HOW LONG THAT'S GOING TO LAST
IF THE SOLDIERS ARE STARTING TO TALK, THAT COULD HELP US
SEEING AS THAT'S WHERE ALL HER POWER COMES FROM

[unwings]

I personally found Aleksander an extremely uncomfortable individual.
But yes, there is something disquieting about Prime Minister Reiner.
Losing favor with the military could rapidly become dangerous in a time of war.
All peoples within the Free Cities would suffer if Thorne noticed and took advantage of the lapse in confidence.

And yet, they're currently our best source of information. How likely do you imagine any soldiers would be willing to talk to one of us about what they know?

[falcony]

HE'S DEFINITELY AN ACQUIRED TASTE, YEAH
BETWEEN YOU AND ME, I'VE HAD A BAD GUT FEELING ABOUT REINER SINCE WE FIRST GOT HERE
SHE JUST DOESN'T SEEM AS FOCUSED ON THE THINGS SHE SHOULD BE FOCUSED ON
THERE'S SOMETHING GOING ON THERE FOR SURE

THE LAST THING WE NEED IS A POWER VACUUM
BUT I DON'T THINK REINER LOSING SOME POWER IS A BAD THING

IT'S POSSIBLE THEY MIGHT, BUT IT WOULD TAKE SOME WORK TO BUILD UP THEIR TRUST
THEY'RE LOYAL, AND THEY'RE NOT GOING TO SAY ANYTHING AGAINST REINER DIRECTLY
ESPECIALLY NOT IN THE CITY WHERE IT'LL BE EASIER FOR THEM TO BE FOUND OUT

[shadowthief]

I haven't heard anything, but I'll keep an ear out for the name.

Can you meet me to talk about something else?

-Inej

[unwings]

I appreciate it.
Of course, Inej. Where would you like to meet?