[voice]

[ryuuzaki]

[Ryuuzaki's low voice is accented in a way that people from places other than the U.K. might think of as "generically English," and when the message begins, his tones are pleasant and measured without being effusive.]

Hello, everyone.

The Ingress has brought us to the Moira from any number of places. When I meet someone, I can't say whether our similarities will outweigh our differences, or vice-versa... when you're this far from home, even small commonalities can seem important. It's led me to be curious about the broad strokes of everyone's backgrounds.

[A pause, as he approaches his real question.]

What can you tell me about the government in the place you came from before this? Both the form of government and, if possible, specific names of leaders.

If it wasn't your original home, I'd be interested in hearing about that, too, even down to what year it was for you.

If you'd prefer to answer privately, that's all right with me. I can promise you my discretion.

Thank you.

Comments

[ryuuzaki]

[That gets a soft sound, a mirthless dry chuckle. It's not really hard to imagine how the world could come to scenarios like that.]

Somehow I'm not completely surprised that a noodle stand might be a viable concern, under the circumstances.

What about the worse places?

[ersatzeverything]

Wow, the list of worse places is so long I hardly know where to begin. There's the oh-so-ironically named Libertalia, a raider nest of impressive proportions, where this season's big home decorating fad is cages and severed body parts. Then there's Quincy, the site of the now-famous Quincy Massacre of a few months back. University Point was nice, until the Institute wiped it off the map two years ago.

[ryuuzaki]

The Institute?

[The rest is almost self-explanatory.]

[ersatzeverything]

Otherwise known as "those evil bastards." A cadre of mad scientists with an army of synth slaves, get their kicks out of terrorizing the populace...

The Commonwealth is a fun and exciting place to live.

[ryuuzaki]

For certain values of fun and exciting.

Isn't there any other scientifically inclined group, to balance that?

[ersatzeverything]

There's the Brotherhood of Steel, but I can't say they really balance out the Institute. Their mortal enemies, sure, but it's like Mothra versus Godzilla. Like, there's not actually a good guy to side with there.

[ryuuzaki]

So... really more of the same, and you can only hope that they remove each other from the equation.

Is there any particular group whose success you'd favor?

[ersatzeverything]

There is one group I kinda like. I mean, they're shadowy and secretive so I don't know everything about them and I totally reserve the right to change my mind if they turn out to be crazy cultists or something but from what I've heard about them I like the cut of their jib.

Man, that's a weird phrase. "Cut of their jib." I wonder what a "jib" even is.

Anyway, they're called the Railroad. And they're basically the only organized group that's really standing up to the Institute without stepping on other people's necks to do it like the Brotherhood of Steel is. I'd seriously consider joining up, but like I said, shadowy and secretive. They've gotta make sure the Institute can't find them but the side effect of that is that nobody can find them. For gathering recruits they're, like, the epitome of "don't call us, we'll call you." Sucks.

[Says the man who is the Railroad's main intel and operational security guy.]

There was another group that had been showing promise, called the Minutemen. The idea sounded nice--normal folks banding together and promising to help each other and anyone else in need. But like a lot of nice ideas, it didn't work. There was corruption, betrayal, massacres, nasty stuff. That raider nest I mentioned? Libertalia? Yeah, half of those raiders used to be Minutemen.

[ryuuzaki]

How can you be sure that's how The Railroad recruits?

[It could be rumor, it could be a friend who was recruited, but there's still an implication of... something, there.

On one hand, L is willing to reevaluate his impression of anything he hears in any of the responses to his query if more information comes in at a later date that contradicts what he's been told. On the other, he's inclined to believe responses to a greater extent than he would in, say, an interrogation, simply because there's little incentive for anyone to spin an entirely false story from the ground up, and if they do, it's unlikely to matter much to him anyway. It's a cover story that's probably been created for someone else's benefit, and he's prone to similar self-preserving impulses.

Which is to say that while he's skeptical of Deacon in the way he might be of anyone, he doesn't leap to the conclusion that Deacon is a major figure in the Railroad. It's a possibility that Deacon is involved in it, but it's also a possibility that Deacon was involved in the Institute or the Minutemen or some other group he's not mentioning. It's also a possibility that he's making these groups up as he goes along. Still, L's conversation with Cassandra makes him think it's unlikely that Deacon has never been involved with any group if he's telling the truth about his home environment, but that's as far as it goes for now.]

And what happens if they go the way of the Minutemen?

[ersatzeverything]

[Deacon shrugs.]

They've got to get new blood in from somewhere and I don't see any posters or booths or pep rallies encouraging people to sign up for honor and glory and a king's shilling or whatever, so I figure they must be making the first move.

If they go the way of the Minutemen...I don't know. I guess I always assumed that if they went kaput it'd be because the Institute slaughtered them all, not because of petty corruption.