| From: | "Paul J. Adam" <shadowtk@********.DEMON.CO.UK> |
|---|---|
| Subject: | Trideo Squabble |
| Date: | Tue, 30 Jun 1998 21:16:14 +0100 |
large, with a score so far of eighteen dead, seventeen raped, and
assorted other larcenies. Plus a dozen or so teaser incidents: road
traffic accidents caused by illusions (illusory child runs into road,
driver swerves, crunch bang crash), people hit with illusions to get
them roughed up...
At least one backfired. A big redneck Human walking into Carbando with a
bat, yelling how he hated all Trolls and Orks and was going to
individually pound them to pulp. A couple of Trolls bundled him up and
handed him to the cops, by then sans spell and very scared, upset and
apologetic. No violence, no mayhem.
This ran last night on TNN. Fun to see what people argue about...
+++++begin trideo
D: Don Greenhaigh
L: Dr William Lear, University of Washington
K: Lieutenant Samantha Kelso, Lone Star DPI
S: Amelia Secia, Chairman, Self Protection Against Mages
D: And as the magical crimewave continues unabated, and the vicious
chemical attacks on magicians and magical groups go on, we've gathered
a panel together.
<introduction>
D: First, I'd like to ask, what can be done to cut back on the wave of
magical crime? Lieutenant?
K: Well, Don, every time one of these crimes is committed, the
perpetrator leaves a distinctive sign, a sort of fingerprint, on their
victims. We know that five unregistered magicians are responsible for
these crimes, and they are being hunted as we speak.
S: But they're still at large. Killing, raping, brainwashing at will,
and only granting people the right to defend themselves against magic
will-
K: A major setback to the case was the murder of one of our men, who was
heading the case. He was assassinated in a mall car park, and we have
reason to believe that he was killed not because he was a police #
officer, but because he was a magician.
S: With power comes danger. Perhaps he threatened someone or-
K: He was shot twenty-seven times at point-blank range, over half of
them as he lay on the ground. Isn't that a little beyond 'reasonable
force'? He was shot first in the back of the head. That's murder, not
self-defence.
S: With the power this man wielded he could have levelled the mall.
Don't you understand the fear this causes? Look at what magic has
done!
L: We have magical healing, we have magic allied to technology to help-
S: We've had the Great Ghost Dance! Look at Puyallup and see what magic
did to us! We had waves of magical beings invading our cities!
Hundreds of thousands dead in Chicago thanks to magicians! Even
terrorists like Thunda only managed to kill a few hundred! And can you
deny that his Children carried out some sort of magical ritual to
bring their psychopathic God back from the dead? That this ritual
_succeeded_?
L: Utterly ludicrous, this goes beyond what is-
K: That's the initial impression from the footage, yes, but if you
analyse the spell signatures-
S: Oh, that's right! We mundanes can't be trusted to think for
ourselves! Cattle, isn't that what you call us?
K: I'm merely saying that with so much magic involved, the merely visual
is suspect. You're familiar with illusions: we believe some were
involved here.
L: I'd also like to point out that magic exists. Creatures like those
that destroyed the core of Chicago exist. We cannot bury our heads in
the sand and pretend they don't, we have to continue finding methods
by which to fight them. A great many magicians died fighting the invae
in the Containment Zone and elsewhere.
S: But you can't deny that these creatures have to be summoned, by a
magically powerful individual?
L: That's the commonest theory-
S: So without magic they couldn't come. Right?
L: Assuming the theory's correct, but it may not be-
S: Isn't it "the theory" that magic is safe? What if that theory's wrong
too? What if you and your spells are poisoning us all, slowly and
subtly?
L: There's no evidence for that.
S: Has anyone even looked? Is it a surprise that ordinary people are
defending themselves?
K: With military-grade chemical weapons sprayed indiscriminately into
public buildings?
S: Firstly, those attacks have not been claimed by any group. It might
even be a feud between magical sects for all we know. Secondly, even
if the attacks are aimed at magicians, doesn't it warn you of how much
you're feared, ay, and hated?
L: Hated for what?
S: Look at the ash fields of Puyallup. Created by magic. Why can't it be
repaired by magic? Because, we're told, it's "too hard". But it wasn't
too hard for the magicians to wreak havoc when it suited them, was it?
Look at the teeming thousands of sick and crippled people who could
benefit from magical healing. What do the healers do? Sell their
services to the richest and leave the poor to bleed.
K: You're overgeneralising.
S: If I were dying of a knife wound, where would I find a magician to
heal me?
K: Where would you find a _doctor_ to heal you, even? You're trying to
make magic a scapegoat for all ills.
S: Because we find it behind most of our problems today.
K: Rubbish. When the refuge of Haven was under intense terrorist attack,
only their magical barriers saved them. Mundane protection wouldn't
have sufficed and scores or hundreds would have been murdered. If you
were bleeding and you made it to Haven, you'd be treated. There's an
example for you right now.
S: Oh, yes, Haven, the extraterritorial pit of magic. What really goes
on in there, Lieutenant? Why is nobody allowed to investigate the
dungeons there? How many people enter it and never leave? A magical
"refuge", owned by a megacorporation, run by a convicted criminal, and
this is the best example you can offer? <snort>
K: Do you have a shred of evidence, or are you just spewing malicious
allegations?
S: Prove me wrong.
K: I don't have to. No unsual numbers of missing persons, not a single
confirmed report of three-headed monsters, no hostile background
count. When you have some evidence of wrong-doing, I'll be glad to
check it out, but merely being a magician does _not_ make you guilty
until proved innocent.
G: And we'll be continuing after the break...
+++++end trideo
They went round in circles after that so Greenhaigh wrapped it.]<<<<<
-- Bungle <21:16:42/06-30-59>
