[2.5e] Freedom City Adventures - IC

[badpenny]

City Hall

@Power Core: AEGIS indicates pretty much what the mayor said: Marko is known for his hate speech, and little else directly attributable to him. His "Worthy" have gotten into various degrees of physical violence at rallies, but little else to warrant more than putting him on a watch list. A former college professor who seemingly abandoned his profession after a car accident. A news article indicates that the accident "put things into perspective for him."

@Zephyr: The mayor nodded, "I understand, but I have to disagree with you about it being a 'waste of your talents.' You're exactly what I'm looking for. The FCPD will be there, of course, but high profile supers--like yourselves--set the tone, if you understand. The man has garnered quite the number of followers, and if I might add, they are scary in their devotion to him. If the FCPD were to be present in militarized form, which they would have to be if you decline...I fear that the rally would start off on the wrong foot and go rapidly down hill from there."

The mayor was understanding at the objections, and he indicated to Joe that he appreciated BradleyTech's contributions to Freedom City and understood if corporate considerations required indirect involvement. The mayor continued to nod as he listened to Punchline. In the end, he hoped that Joe and Punchline would nevertheless "lend a hand."

[ZenGypsy]

Power Core
Hero Points: One. Improvisation: Two.
Condition: Normal.

Alek considered his companions, predictable reaction to being requested to safe guard a man such as Professor Worth, he looked to the Mayor, "I appreciate your honesty in approaching us with this request. I tend to agree that a Police Unit assigned to protect Mr. Worth could possibly escalate both his supporters and his detractors, I do have a question."

He paused, and as he did so a quote ran through his head, 'I do not agree with what you have to say, but I'll defend to death your right to say it,' Voltaire he thought. He'd have to look it up after the meeting. "Has the Professor requested security for his march? Will our presence be welcomed by the Professor, or will he use it as a talking point in an attempt to rationalize his views? And to what extent are we being empowered by your office to prevent a situation or confrontation from arising?"

[FuzzyBoots]

Palooka Joe
HP: 1
Status: Normal

Joe's headset crackled.
"Do — I repeat — do not directly support this guy. But if you want to watch from afar. Your telescopic lenses should suffice."
"Got it, Control. Will do. Thanks." He tapped the connection closed and walked back.

"Right. Word from Corporate, I'm going to monitor from the rooftops, using my Visor. Space age technology, I've basically got some high-powered binoculars in this thing as well as a copy of other tricks up my sleeve."

[Doctor Malsyn]

PunchLine!
HP: 1
Condition: Normal

"Well... I suppose we could do it Joe's way, couldn't we? Hang back a ways to keep an eye on things but not really associate with the guy?" He was somewhat torn about this overall. He wanted to do the gig, put on a good show and get some nice press. It'd probably encourage the mayor to get in touch with him more regularly to. But Worth sounded completely awful, someone that you didn't want to be mentioned in the same sentence of. Palooka had a good suggestion though, perhaps it could fulfill both his wishes.

[badpenny]

City Hall

"Has the Professor requested security for his march? Will our presence be welcomed by the Professor, or will he use it as a talking point in an attempt to rationalize his views? And to what extent are we being empowered by your office to prevent a situation or confrontation from arising?"

"No," Mayor O'Connor began, "he has not requested anything from us beyond a permit for the march. I couldn't begin to tell you how he might respond, but it certainly won't be nuanced, fair-minded, or inclusive." The mayor's distaste for Worth was clear. He glanced at his wristwatch. "Both the city and I appreciate this. The march is supposed to start around 10 AM tomorrow morning. If it’s possible, try and be here before it starts. Again, I appreciate your help.”

O’Connor’s phone then rings and he politely excuses himself, letting the heroes find their way out.

Y'all can do whatcha gotta do before then.

[Doctor Malsyn]

PunchLine!
HP: 1
Condition: Normal

He watches the mayor go, then spends the next few seconds of silence looking over the other three heros. "Well, seems we'll be seeing eachother again then huh? Too early to consider us an actual team, but maybe after a few more rounds in the cage we'll have the makings of something."

[CaptainChaos]

Zephyr HP: 1

"A team? I hadn't considered that possibility. I suppose we would need a team name and a headquarters. As much as I am loathe to protect the Professor, I have sworn to protect the innocent from harm and in this country, people are presumed innocent until proven guilty. While his speeches seem to inflame people and provoke people to violence, I have not seen any evidence that he has broken any laws."

As she prepares to leave, she pauses.

"So what now? Do we set up a time and place to meet tomorrow to discuss a plan?"

[ZenGypsy]

Power Core
Hero Points: One. Improvisation: Two.
Condition: Normal.

Alek smiled at his companions, Joe seemed a little too concerned over issues of corporate sponsorship, however he, himself, was having his own misgivings about being associated with the Professor. Punchline was enthusiastic, and that could present an issue considering the wiry man's prodigious strength, while Zephyr seemed calm, and taking it all in stride.

Interesting.

"I would advise that we obtain a copy of the route from the Mayor's office, and familiarize ourselves with it. Sadly, our role will be to prevent the Professor from being harassed by those sensible enough to dispute his rhetoric. However, he does have access to those who blindly follow his rather biased perspective, and they may be planted in the crowd in an attempt to provoke a confrontation." He paused, considered their options, "However, our duty is to ensure that the people of Freedom City are not harmed by the Professor's demonstration, and to ensure that any discourse is, at the least, non violent."

[badpenny]

City Hall

You arrive at City Hall the following morning in time to see a short, portly man in a power suit exit a limousine. He looks at you through his glasses and smirks a bit before walking up the steps of the building. Behind the limo is a pair of stretched vans filled with people. On the side of the van it says, "Are You Worthy?" in red lettering. Surrounding City Hall are several protesters with a variety of signs that include messages like "He's Not Worth It!" and "This is Freedom City, not Hate City!"

Along with the protesters are contingents of Freedom City's finest, attempting to calm and contain the growing crowd. A police officer approaches you and introduces himself as Lieutenant Hal Taylor. He explains that he's the officer assigned to the march's escort and is glad you're there as back up.

[Doctor Malsyn]

PunchLine!
HP: 1
Condition: Normal

Being completely immature and rather displeased with his situation, he made sure Mr. Worth knew just what he thought of him with a rather rude gesture. He turns toward one of the heroes beside him to comment on the man as he walked off, "Lookit Mr. Worthless over there strutting around in his fancy suit, you'd think he was compensating for something with a getup like that."

[CaptainChaos]

Zephyr hp: 1

Zephyr kept an eye on the gathered crowd. The potential for trouble was clearly evident.

"Remember we are here to protect the citizens from harm, even if we have to protect them from themselves." she told her new teammates.

"Well officer, we are here for backup and to ensure violence is not used against any citizen."