04-09-2023, 04:27 PM
Written with input from Shuell.
A group of “violent terrorists” stood outside the Federal Parliament of Lauchenoiria. They were wearing paper masks depicting the faces of the members of Josephine Alvarez’s cabinet. Next to them were buckets of a black substance designed to look like oil. In truth, it was some vegan stuff mixed together. The exact recipe was unknown by the many onlookers who stopped to watch the “cabinet” throw “oil” at each other while pretending to really enjoy it.
Meanwhile, as the eyes of the Buttercity Police Department were on the chaotic protest-cum-entertainment, the actual violent terrorists were creeping towards the Lauchenoirian office of Monolith Manufacturing, a Shuellian company that wasn’t exactly known for its eco-friendliness. They didn’t intend to blow it up (they were saving their limited quantity of explosives for Xiomera).
Instead, upon reaching the building, they took out something one would never expect to see in the hands of climate activists – gasoline. After that, they moved quickly. A pair of them hammered at the windows until they smashed, after which six of them climbed inside and began to pour out the gasoline into every corner they could reach. While they were doing so, a ninth member of the group was spray-painting onto the road outside. “FOSSIL FUELS DESTROY. SEE ABOVE.”
The alarms were going off, of course, but it was 5am on a Sunday morning and the building was empty. At least, they thought it was. It probably was.
They finished off the pouring and dumped the cans, quickly climbing back out of the building. Those who’d been inside and whose clothes may have contained traces of the liquid quickly made their way back to one of the getaway vans, while one of the window-smashers lit a lighter and chucked it inside, diving behind the brick wall of the next property immediately afterwards.
They weren’t wrong. The fossil fuel they’d poured over the building did help destroy it.
*
“That’s it, everything’s on the table,” Alvarez said at the now apparently daily crisis meeting two hours later. “I want WOE gone. Tell me how to do this.”
“We have five primary options,” Ladislao Arias, the director of LDSS began. “Firstly, we have the database of Watchdogs members obtained by the Federal Cybercrime Investigation Unit. We could bring those marked as active for questioning to try and root out the Warriors among them. Secondly, we have a number of sting operations planned out that may allow us to separate the two groups based on willingness to proceed. Thirdly, we can detain those we currently suspect of being Warriors, with the caveat that we will likely miss some. Fourthly, we can freeze the passports of everyone on the list, but that will only solve the problems abroad. Finally, if we wish to be thorough, we could detain the full list from FCIU.”
“We’re not detaining a couple thousand climate activists to hunt out the fifty terrorists among them,” Alvarez shook her head.
“Actually, ma’am, the total membership list at last count was 25,634.”
“We’re definitely not detaining that many people. Do I look like Calhualyana to you?”
“Forgive me, ma’am, but you did say nothing was off the table.”
This is going to be a long meeting, Alvarez thought. “They lied to us about not taking action during the elections. We can’t trust a word they say, but equally, we cannot betray our principles. They must face justice, not vengeance.”
“As I say, these are the five options we have at present. They can, of course, be amended as required.”
Alvarez was silent for a long time. Eventually, she spoke. “We have no choice but to detain those we are confident are members of Warriors. If enough of them cooperate with questioning, we can discover others that way. And we can put out a message asking people from Watchdogs who have any information about Warriors to come forward. It’s unlikely many will, but you never know. If this is insufficient, we will rethink things.”
Those present nodded, and went off to carry out their orders. Across the country in the coming days, around 40 individuals suspected of being members of Warriors of Our Earth would be taken for questioning. Some would be cooperative; most would not. None of them would be able to afford a lawyer expensive enough to prevent them being remanded in custody. The government of Lauchenoiria had had enough.
A group of “violent terrorists” stood outside the Federal Parliament of Lauchenoiria. They were wearing paper masks depicting the faces of the members of Josephine Alvarez’s cabinet. Next to them were buckets of a black substance designed to look like oil. In truth, it was some vegan stuff mixed together. The exact recipe was unknown by the many onlookers who stopped to watch the “cabinet” throw “oil” at each other while pretending to really enjoy it.
Meanwhile, as the eyes of the Buttercity Police Department were on the chaotic protest-cum-entertainment, the actual violent terrorists were creeping towards the Lauchenoirian office of Monolith Manufacturing, a Shuellian company that wasn’t exactly known for its eco-friendliness. They didn’t intend to blow it up (they were saving their limited quantity of explosives for Xiomera).
Instead, upon reaching the building, they took out something one would never expect to see in the hands of climate activists – gasoline. After that, they moved quickly. A pair of them hammered at the windows until they smashed, after which six of them climbed inside and began to pour out the gasoline into every corner they could reach. While they were doing so, a ninth member of the group was spray-painting onto the road outside. “FOSSIL FUELS DESTROY. SEE ABOVE.”
The alarms were going off, of course, but it was 5am on a Sunday morning and the building was empty. At least, they thought it was. It probably was.
They finished off the pouring and dumped the cans, quickly climbing back out of the building. Those who’d been inside and whose clothes may have contained traces of the liquid quickly made their way back to one of the getaway vans, while one of the window-smashers lit a lighter and chucked it inside, diving behind the brick wall of the next property immediately afterwards.
They weren’t wrong. The fossil fuel they’d poured over the building did help destroy it.
*
“That’s it, everything’s on the table,” Alvarez said at the now apparently daily crisis meeting two hours later. “I want WOE gone. Tell me how to do this.”
“We have five primary options,” Ladislao Arias, the director of LDSS began. “Firstly, we have the database of Watchdogs members obtained by the Federal Cybercrime Investigation Unit. We could bring those marked as active for questioning to try and root out the Warriors among them. Secondly, we have a number of sting operations planned out that may allow us to separate the two groups based on willingness to proceed. Thirdly, we can detain those we currently suspect of being Warriors, with the caveat that we will likely miss some. Fourthly, we can freeze the passports of everyone on the list, but that will only solve the problems abroad. Finally, if we wish to be thorough, we could detain the full list from FCIU.”
“We’re not detaining a couple thousand climate activists to hunt out the fifty terrorists among them,” Alvarez shook her head.
“Actually, ma’am, the total membership list at last count was 25,634.”
“We’re definitely not detaining that many people. Do I look like Calhualyana to you?”
“Forgive me, ma’am, but you did say nothing was off the table.”
This is going to be a long meeting, Alvarez thought. “They lied to us about not taking action during the elections. We can’t trust a word they say, but equally, we cannot betray our principles. They must face justice, not vengeance.”
“As I say, these are the five options we have at present. They can, of course, be amended as required.”
Alvarez was silent for a long time. Eventually, she spoke. “We have no choice but to detain those we are confident are members of Warriors. If enough of them cooperate with questioning, we can discover others that way. And we can put out a message asking people from Watchdogs who have any information about Warriors to come forward. It’s unlikely many will, but you never know. If this is insufficient, we will rethink things.”
Those present nodded, and went off to carry out their orders. Across the country in the coming days, around 40 individuals suspected of being members of Warriors of Our Earth would be taken for questioning. Some would be cooperative; most would not. None of them would be able to afford a lawyer expensive enough to prevent them being remanded in custody. The government of Lauchenoiria had had enough.
LIDUN President 2024 | she/her | Puppets: Kerlile, Glanainn, Yesteria, Zongongia, Zargothrax