video;

[goodluckkobra]

[ The video comes on and it's mostly his bright yellow motorcycle helmet, the garish smiling face and GOOD LUCK printed over the visor. ]

--fuckin' hell.

[ He's off balance, but he catches himself and flips up the visor to give a toothy grin. ]

Lookin' to get my hands on some paint or dye or fabric. Bright colors.

[ He looks thoughtful for a moment. ]

Or music. Somethin' loud and fast. Gotta be somethin' worth looking at or listening to on this ship.

Name's Kobra Kid, by the way. Anyone heard of me? Kind of a big deal where I'm from.

Comments

[ryuuzaki]

I've never heard of you.

[It sounds too light and flat to be malicious, but he's not not teasing.]

What's the source of your fame?

[goodluckkobra]

Bein' a freedom fighter.

[ Sort of. Ask the other side and he's a highly dangerous wanted criminal, but he figures that just means that they're doing something right. ]

[ryuuzaki]

Freedom from what?

[goodluckkobra]

Brainwashing. Being drugged into submission and used like a tool.

[ryuuzaki]

[Even after the message starts, there's a beat of silence before his voice comes back, and when it does, it's a little less airy.]

Wanting to be free of that doesn't really sound unreasonable.

Bright colours, however... they aren't conspicuous?

[goodluckkobra]

Kinda the point. Gotta stand out to be heard.

[ The dull colors grays of Battery City make the whole place feel like a graveyard to Kobra and this ship reminds him more than a little of that. ]

[ryuuzaki]

It isn't more effective to keep a low profile?

[goodluckkobra]

Keep a low profile, no one gets the message. You gotta be loud 'n' proud to fight back where I'm from.

[ryuuzaki]

Had you been meeting with much success, so far?

[goodluckkobra]

Wouldn't be Most Wanted if I hadn't earned it.

[ryuuzaki]

Oh, I'm not sure that would be true everywhere. Repressive governments often criminalize ideas that threaten their hold on the populace. Your crime might have been distributing a book.

[Although in this case, it seems vanishingly unlikely to have been a book. Kobra Kid doesn't seem like the intellectual type... on the other hand, surface presentation can be deceptive. Intentionally so.]

[goodluckkobra]

Repressive government does feel threatened by me, but it ain't from burnin' no books.

[ There's so few books left as it is. Why would Kobra burn any of them? ]

[ryuuzaki]

[Fair enough, Kid.]

What do you think the most effective way to fight a repressive government is, if you had to generalize it?

[goodluckkobra]

Love to tell you that you do it with art and words, but sometimes that ain't enough. Had to turn to ray guns and explosives when they blocked us out.

[ryuuzaki]

[... Ray guns?

This is getting weirder and weirder, which makes it more and more interesting.]

That's understandable. What year was it for you there?

[goodluckkobra]

2019. Seems like a lot of people here are from before the wars that changed everything. Sorta remember those times, but I was young.