Rebellion coordination! (psychic bridge II, Beastfolk --> humans, with a special guest)

[leftbehindagain]

Team space station, I have a special guest with me this time. If we want any chance of doing something halfway effective, we need to be as coordinated as possible as soon as we can. [This is not Naoki's first rebellion, after all.]

Acantha? We have about 20 minutes, this time - to get more people on the line I have to cut into the time I can keep these channels open. If you'd like to stay on the network after I have to drop the space station and talk to the rest of us, you're welcome to for the rest of the time I have on that.

(OOC: Up to thirteen Beastfolk-side investigators can join in this time, since Acantha's taking up one of the slots!)

Comments

[insidegalra]

If they're even tentatively considering a kill-switch event, they need a lot of new... prisoners.

[His voice twists, having trouble coming up with a word that really fits the situation and not liking the lack of accuracy.]

Willing prisoners are easier to lead into their cells.

[Still unsatisfactory, but it'll have to do. A note of sadness creeps into his voice.]

Not well; I was... fast tracked, as it were. So he's disappeared suddenly?

[razorblade_empress]

Briefly. He's back now... partially transformed and helping sell the crowd on the joys of becoming a Mythic. Which I'm highly suspicious of given that last week he was telling me about the downsides and slipped me a memory card with a map of the station on it. I'm guessing he knew his days were numbered when he did that.

[insidegalra]

He's been unwilling for a long time... [there's a pause and a pained note] and faced the consequences. I'm glad he found his way to help others, even if he couldn't help himself. I'll get word to my allies, and see if they can rescue him while the producers are busy dealing with Home. It might not be possible, but there's a small chance.

Everyone's days are numbered, once they get picked for an actor. Some just fight it more, or fight it for longer. It takes bravery to stand up to all that. If you get a chance to do it secretly, tell him to hold onto hope a little longer.

[razorblade_empress]

I'll see what I can do.

One thing I did notice on the map was a set of unlabeled apartments and studios. I haven't poked around there too much because I'm probably being watched too now, but do you know what those are?

[insidegalra]

If it's the map your friend just mentioned... let me look.

[There's no response for a minute, while he gets the map in question from Claudia.]

Those are actors' apartments. The unwilling are housed in what amounts to cells, while some of the willing are given luxurious accommodations to keep them distracted. The studios are for training, both for actors, and for new Mythics. Foundlings know mostly how to walk and move because they're forced to learn it until it becomes muscle memory.

Having the location of those might help us free a few, or provide more evidence of Orwell's treatment of people in general.

[Acantha doesn't sound pleased by that. Grim resignation at best.]

[razorblade_empress]

[Yeah, she notices that tone.]

I'm guessing they're watched all the time.

[insidegalra]

Recorded, and often forced to watch it played back, along with critique. Those are kept away from the main network, but it's nearly impossible to keep things entirely separate in a place like the stations.

[He spits critique out like a curse, although his tone goes a little apologetic the moment after.]

[razorblade_empress]

So they get the trauma of being changed plus the trauma of having to watch their changed selves. To say nothing of the trauma from all the abuse they've gotten, and are still getting.

[She has the beginnings of an idea, if one she finds deeply repellent.]

[insidegalra]

And then it gets denied and erased.

[There's a silence.] In an ideal world, it would be the choice of the victim's whether or not it became known, but this world isn't. If revealing the truth stops further abuse...

[He hates it. But at the same time, it could save lives.]

[razorblade_empress]

Yeah.

[She's quiet for a long moment.]

I can probably hack into the feeds relatively easily.

[Her Spark overlay had very good at that sort of thing.]

[insidegalra]

It can be something we hold in reserve. I'd like not to have to do it, but having it ready just in case we need it is thorough planning.

[He'd like to avoid it so much, and knowing it probably will be necessary doesn't mean he can't try to hope.]

I will find a way to contact you somehow. I don't know if it will be agreed with, but I think a message from Home to the audience might sway them in our favor. If it happens, coinciding, or following it directly by definitive proof of Orwell's crimes might be necessary.

[razorblade_empress]

I've got copies of some documentation, but a lot of it's been buried or scrubbed. And I could see Orwell claiming it's all faked somehow.

Hopefully a message from Home won't be taken as part of the show.

[insidegalra]

They're likely to try that, but I'm afraid there isn't much we can do about their claims. Others in power may see an opening and back up the claims.

There are ways to make that less likely, especially if a different broadcast is overridden, or the message from Home uses the frequency for stationwide announcements.

[razorblade_empress]

Well, their security is frankly not all that great, so overriding one or more broadcasts shouldn't be that hard.

[Seriously, how had they not accounted for the possibility that someone might actually try the 'Drop Table' trick on their precious survey data?]

[insidegalra]

It's easy to become lax when most of the population only knows the most basics of user-end operation of technology.

[There's... well, it's not a sneer if only because it's too nice to be one, but there's a little bit of judgement in his tone.]

Can you lay some groundwork beforehand in order to be able to do an override short notice?

[razorblade_empress]

I can do that, yeah.

[She... may have done that already, actually.]

[insidegalra]

I'll find a way to contact you again when I have a better idea of a timetable.

If I don't, assume the worst and expose as much of Orwell's abuses as you can.

[razorblade_empress]

Okay.

[Hopefully it won't come to that, but...]