CAPTAIN HOLIDAY ⥛ contact

[mmnpcs]

❝ Holiday here. Leave a message with your name and what you need. I'll get back to you. ❞

[ As of October 15th, calling this line will deliver this message instead: ]

❝ THE LINE YOU ARE TRYING TO REACH HAS BEEN DISCONNECTED. ❞

Comments

[mmnpcs]

You done there?

[ There's a pause and a flick as he lights a cigarette. ]

What the hell are you trying to accomplish right here? I told y'all upfront we're at war, and unfortunately a byproduct of that is that imPorts and government functions become targets for our enemies. Why d'you think you folks have powers? Why d'you think we want y'all trained to be heroes and how to use 'em? In case this kind of situation happens.

War ain't pretty. Fact of the matter is there's a damn reason we need heroes around this place -- because shit like this goes down, and it's not just been goin' down since y'all got here.

[earnedmystripes]

Are you kidding me? That's the approach you guys're taking, "oh we'll let the heroes handle it"? The heroes from other dimensions who you don't really have reason to trust any more than we've got reason to trust you? You're willing to just leave it all in our hands? This is your government, your people, your responsibility!

And a lot of us care about protecting people, and we have been and will keep doing it, but that's not even the point. In Nonah, why didn't someone check the area around the tracks before the monorail ride? Someone planted those explosives there, that would've taken time. It was planned in advance--it's not like some psycho came and bombed it at the last second like Lucifer setting fire to the Civil War Museum.

And right after that, no one thought to heighten security for the next event? Knowing you guys have enemies?? Why the hell would you make it on a public beach where literally anyone can go? Why not put it in a building and have imPorts guarding the area, both inside and out?

I get that shit happens--hell, you guys have my damn file, you know I've been a Hero for eleven years. But it's getting ridiculous. People are gonna stop going to your damn events if they don't start getting some sign that you care at all about keeping them safe.

[mmnpcs]

You're gonna want to change your tone if you expect this conversation to continue. I'm a busy man and I got more shit to clean up and patch over than I got time to sit here and take your shit, kid.

Ever occur to you that even with security, shit happens? Think we didn't check these things? The damage was done during the event by a group of people who were obviously timing themselves to strike as soon as they could get a couple uninterrupted minutes with their toys. Four minutes, that's all it'd take. Thing is with a group of super-powered refugees like yourselves, folks that'd be out to get us are gonna know to keep the stakes high, and the thing is, there's a reason for that. We ain't equipped to handle threats designed particularly for imPorts, and I don't know where the hell you get off implying we're the ones at fault for not forseein' every single act of foreign terrorism. Why don't you just take it up with the history books while you're at it and give yourself a reality check.

i'm so sorry for the delay!!

[earnedmystripes]

[It's hard for him to take a step back and breathe, but he doesn't want Holiday to hang up on him either, so he does take a minute. Puts the communicator down, counts to ten in his head. He doesn't really feel calm afterward, but he's not as explosive with his anger either.]

All of that would make more sense if you didn't admit yourself you're at war. You admit that imPort events are big targets. Fine, nobody would expect a giant-ass bird attacking a cruise ship, that much is easy to accept. With Nonah, it all seems too intricate to have happened that fast, but hell, I don't know enough about technology to say. I can believe you tried your best.

What I can't accept is the seminar. It hadn't even been a week since the bombing, those people who did it were still out there, and you knew that a heavily advertised imPort event like that could be targeted. So why would you do it on a beach, of all places? There are so many places you could've done it that'd be easy to keep secure. Anyone could have come to that beach at any time. It wasn't even closed off for the weekend. There's no reason you couldn't have done it in a building with guards and metal detectors and bag checks, and I just don't understand how you didn't expect something could happen so soon after something did.

[He takes a deep breath, briefly closing his eyes.]

I know you care about your citizens. I wouldn't even be talking to you if I didn't think you did--that's why this pisses me off so damn much! [Breathe. Breathe.] I just. I don't get this. I wanna know why you chose such a risky place for the seminar. I wanna know what you're gonna do to make the next event safer. Because...why should anyone come to these things if they think their lives will be in danger just for being there? What reason does anyone have to ever involve themselves in anything the government publicizes, knowing this pattern?

[mmnpcs]

ImPorts would be targets no matter where the hell they were, kid. They can be targets at a beach or right where you're sittin' right now. You think being at war means people should be expecting bombings at each and every affair henceforth? That don't make no sense, and it ain't like we're advertising in Mother Russia. Ain't like we can foresee what kind of lunatic technology they're gonna slap together and dump in the water, neither. We take measures accordin' to what we got the resources for and what we've handled in the past. You think we should be able to see the future, then I don't know what to tell you.

This is a cold war, besides. But this sorta direct involvement defies that point.

So, hot shot, if you're gonna tear my ear off about it, you got a suggestion for a location that ain't risky? I'm all ears.

[earnedmystripes]

[Kotetsu really isn't sure why Holiday keeps dodging the question of "why was an open-air beach chosen", but at this point he's guessing it's either that they didn't think of the possibility that something could happen, or that they thought of it and dismissed it--neither of which makes any sense to him. He's frustrated, but his temper does hold.]

They do when you've got a streak going like this. Whether or not we'd be in danger just by being here isn't the point, because the only attacks have been at the big, government-sponsored events. And sure you haven't gone and advertised in Russia, but the internet exists--news gets around. Plus, the last attack was a week ago.

Anyway, as for locations, what about your military bases, like the one in Cape Canaveral? Security's gotta be tight in those places, and they'd have experience keeping 'em safe.

[parcour]

There's a reason we don't hold any affairs at the bases, Cape Canaveral's especially. So no, that ain't no good. That's the problem. Ain't no place safe enough; the events we're holding should barely be blips on any foreign radar. They aren't big by any normal military standards.

[ He pauses, then exhales sharply. ]

Hell, I shouldn't be talking about this.