Champions of Idun - IC

[Salroka]

3:25PM, July 22nd, 762 Y.I., Patroclus District. (Y.I. = Year of Idun)

"We interrupt your regularly scheduled program to bring you important news. There has been a third attack, this time in the Patroclus district. An explosive device was detonated not far from the solar power plant, and suspect it was meant to be much more powerful. First responders located two more devices that had apparently failed to detonate, which were safely disarmed by the Idun Special Tasks Group. Sources say there were multiple injuries, but no casualties. While this comes as a welcome change from previous attacks, the culprits are still at large. The Patroclus Police are investigating alongside those from Jericho and Shanxi districts, and leaders from the Caesar, Victoria, and Harald districts have announced they will assist. We will provide updates on the situation as it develops. For Idun's most reliable news network, I'm Jeanette Bradburton. Stay safe out there, everyone."

It seemed like not even a paradise could satisfy some. This was the third such attack in as many weeks, and people were clearly starting to worry. Even so, life went on within Idun's secure walls.

4:41PM, July 28th, 762 Y.I., Harald District.

Police had cornered a suspect they believed responsible for the recent attacks in Shanxi, Patroclus, and Jericho districts, but the man had taken hostages inside a rations station. His demands were simple. He wanted a microphone and TV Camera, and said if he was allowed to speak to Idun's people, he would end the standoff and free the hostages. With assurances that everyone would be freed, police and media acquiesced to his demands. The man then turned one of the televisions on inside the building to make sure he was actually being given what he wanted. Seeing himself on "Idun' most reliable news network", the man cleared his throat and began to speak.

"People of Idun. You are all being deceived. We are all trapped inside this "paradise" and being bled dry. This mask of lies is projected across everything we take for granted. We are blinded by their promises, fearing a life of pain without them. But no more. Now the time has come for all of us to rise. If we do not, we will be cast aside while this dying city forsakes us. Break the chains of this farce and save your lives. Look to t-" While the man continued to speak, coverage of him was suddenly cut. Needless to say, this went against his demands. As a result, he triggered the explosives he had brought with him. He may not have destroyed the entire rations station as he intended... but he took the lives of twenty-eight people, obliterated the main office area, and damaged one of the delivery depots at the station.

6:15PM, July 31st, 762 Y.I., Jericho District

While the string of attacks was likely at an end due to the death of the "mad" bomber, what little of his speech had been broadcast had raised some suspicions. The sudden cutoff was blamed on the explosion itself, as even "live" news is delayed by a few seconds... and the explosion destroyed the camera the man was using, thus cutting off the last few seconds of his insane speech. Even so, there was a lot of fear that someone else might be "inspired" by the twisted and paranoid message of the bomber. After all, his speech was force-broadcasted to basically every television in the city. If he was crazy enough to attack the very city that kept everyone safe from the dead world outside the walls... who was to say there wasn't someone else in Idun who was just as unstable?

It was a trying time, for sure. As a result, a few celebrities organized an event to show solidarity behind the survivors of the attacks and to support the brave officers who were killed and injured alongside his civilian victims. Among those present would be Jericho District' star Soccer player, Dunkirk Silvas. Joining him would be Jeanette Bradburton, Arthur Elfriede IV of the Harald Police Department, and Lautrec Kingston of the rock band known as Sable Spirits. It was an emotional show so far, with touching speeches delivered by Jeanette and Arthur. Next up was Dunkirk and his team. What sort of tribute did they have in store? All those in attendance watched on with anticipation.

[Kortaga]

Sivil was wearing he traditional clothing. Loosing, able to move and more importantly light. This was due to her already having two bags and a backpack carrying supplies and groceries from the market place to the orphanage. She could feel her arms getting tired and sweat collection in her hair. She made this trip regularly and thus should not be as tired as she normally is, but today was special. She was making a slight detour. There was an event where everyone was meeting up to honor and mourn the dead from the horrific bombing that took place. Twenty-eight lives gone so quickly. How did people even get access to stuff like that?

She waited near where the crowds were gathering. Not close enough to be in deep but not too far away so she could still hear and see. She did not want to be in the crowd at all. Considering all the bad things that were happening this would also be a dangerous spot. Hopefully those crazy people would leave them alone, at least for this. She worried because there were famous people coming and with them always came trouble. She admired from a distance Dunkirk Silvas. He was athletic and good looking, certainly any lady who was still single dreamed of a guy like that.

She set her bags down but made sure to keep an eye on them. She wanted to believe that everyone was a good person but times in her past told her that there were people who would steal these from her because it was easy. She had not told anyone she would be stopping by here. She looked back over to Lautrec and thought that she still preferred her soccer star over a music guy.

Jeanette and Arthur made two speeches and they were nice. They did not drag too long and were lovely considering the families seemed to appreciate their words. Sivil knew that words were all that was really going to be given to the families. Times were getting harder and hard. She thought of the orphanage and all the needs they had every day. Ever since that weird dream she had and discovered…well it. She had been tempted to go down a dark path…

She shook her head. Now was the time for her to reflect on the dead not worry about herself. She waited to see what the soccer players were going to do.

[Dawscombine]

Carrie took a deep breath as she snapped a few more pictures. She was getting coverage of the crowd for the website for "Iduns most reliable blah blah blah." She didn't really care about the news. News wasn't truth. This was simply where she made some hacksilver on the side. She often got calls like this from Jeanette. Normally it was in the middle of an investigation or a meeting with a client. The worst possible timing, as if she didn't have a full-time job running a goddamned business. However, she actually had the tact to call on a weekend, for once.

So she snapped pics of the crowd and glamor shots of the stars doing stupid poses for the public. Whatever got her paid. They'd likely cut most of her pictures anyway, but she took them nevertheless. She'd keep some of the ones that didn't make it on the website she was hired to take them for and "distribute" them accordingly. She had the right, of course. Freelance work meant she owned all rights on any pictures the company didn't use. One of the benefits of independence.

After a few shots of the crowd, she headed backstage. She hardly needed to show her backstage pass to the security guy since she'd been back and forth all day, but she did it anyway. Might as well be safe. She looked around for someone with enough free time to get a picture, muttering to herself. She wished she cared about any of these people. It was honestly kind of a buzz kill not knowing who any of these people are... Oh well. She knew the next speaker well enough. Soccer guy. Good looking, but a little... active for her tastes. Still, it was a photogenic face. Made for happy readers. At the end of the day, that was all she was here for...

[Kiro Akira]

Dillon stood at the back of the crowd listening to the motivational speeches and what not. While he wasn't a big fan on the rock band and everything, he enjoyed Soccer. The next one up was the man he wanted to see, he was curious on what his ideas were and what was to be said. A few days prior a video was sent out by the media and the man spoke of how they were trapped. Dillon knew the media was the ones pulling all the strings and assumed it was just one of those videos that they used to get everyone riled up. That and they were using it to throw a stupid campaign like this one.

Giving a soft sigh he clapped along with the crowd before scanning the group of people. There was so many here and he often wondered how many of them believed the video they saw and how many of them were here simply for moral support. But one particular person caught his eye in the crowd. For a moment, the person brought him back to the dream he had a few nights back, before he started feeling weird on the inside. The woman speaking of the horrible events unfolding right under everyone's noses. The guy in the video just before the explosion speaking of the same. Did he have the same dream? Or was he simply like everyone implied as "One of the crazies".

Dillon had zoned out staring directly at the woman who he thought was the one from his dreams, but a quick snatch back to reality brought him to see that she had different features. And as he looked to the stage he could see the Soccer Player prepping for his speech standing before the crowd.

[Cfavano]

Johnny milled about the crowd, listening in. It had been a rough few weeks, fewer people wanting to go out means fewer clients to take on dates. On one hand, it means he has time off, and can avoid being groped by a drunk woman, but it also means he has to ration his money. It sucks, but he's used to it. This is why he is dressed down in a cheaper (but still good looking) suit wit ha vest and a fedora. He opted for the dark-leather quick-draw shoulder holster for his pistol, small, but deadly chromed .22 pistol with a mother of pearl handle. He was also wearing a semi-nice pair of shoes.

To put it lightly, he stood out, with his styled hair, and generally well-dressed attire. Not to mention the fact he was packing heat in such a controlling government. Some would say he was intimidating, others, alluring. None, however, could deny that he was handsome. With his toned physique and dark eyes, he makes many a lady swoon. But looking good is part of the job, and it was one thing he did very well. He even got a few numbers that night, not that he was planning on calling them, but maybe he might. It might be good to go on a date with someone he chose to, rather than someone that hired him.

What had drawn him out tonight was boredom, being cooped up in his apartment was not conducive to his continuing physical and mental health, after all. He had the physical side covered, however one can only lift so much before it is bad for you. So here he is, in this massive crowd of people, hearing the words of celebrities, people above trying to console the ones in the pit. It was silly, he thought. He was a realist, Idun was in trouble, and words alone will not help anyone. That bomber had got him thinking. No delay was that sudden, he had been cut off intentionally he had to be. But why, why had the government allowed those people to die to silence some madman. He steeled his gaze, for he only could come up with one solution. Maybe it was true, what he said.

[Dunwich]

"People of Idun. You are all being deceived. We are all trapped inside this "paradise" and being bled dry. This mask of lies is projected across everything we take for granted. We are blinded by their promises, fearing a life of pain without them. But no more. Now the time has come for all of us to rise. If we do not, we will be cast aside while this dying city forsakes us. Break the chains of this farce and save your lives. Look to t-"

"Cut off? Typical."

The response was beyond obvious. Keep the man content for a moment while the demolition team figures out how to bring the situation to it's explosive conclusion. Naturally the broadcast continued on private channels. Interception wasn't the difficult part. The signal passed through node 104, discreetly capturing it in it's entirety before the man's untimely death. It was wirelessly transmitted through nodes 94, 22, 86, and finally 3 before arriving in a folder on Allison's hard drive labeled "Suspicious Traffic." Then Allison returned home.

She slammed and locked the door behind her, leaping over one of the piles of parts blanketing her floor, right onto the bean bag chair in front of her rig. The screen flashed to life as the webcam caught a glimpse of her face, and the keyboard lit up with neon orange as she scooped it off the floor. A clattering of key strokes filled the room as she started the process of decrypting the uncensored live feed. "Let's start out with a dictionary attack. Maybe I'll get lucky..." She said to no one in particular.

That begun, she figured she might as well run a facial scan in the meantime. It was one of her favorite creations. Made from a gutted version of the program that logged her onto her pc, a little creative coding told it to search social media for a facial match. A face that Idun's most reliable news network had given her in the uncensored broadcast of the bomber's message. It would take a bit to search through the terabytes of food pics and crappy selfies, but with any luck it would beat whichever task force was in charge of wiping the rest of this poor bastard from the face of the earth. She really hoped it wasn't the Caesar division's cleanup crew. They worked too damn fast.

She took a deep pull from her electric cigarette and sighed the vapor across her keyboard. This was the part of the job she hated the most. The hurry up and wait. Nothing else to do as her processor kicked into overdrive throwing every password her algorithms could conceive of at her stolen video files. Might take an hour. Might take a month. She could of course be spending her time trying to think of a smarter way to crack open her new found treasure chest, but work had been absolutely horrid. Two hours wasted soldering together some moron's smashed tv. Just in time for the bomber's broadcast, come to think of it.

No, all that Allison wanted to do right now was unwind.

Funny cat videos?

Funny cat videos.

[IsaacGaming]

As the crowd gathered to listen to these big-shot celebrities about the recent bombing, Ardan couldn’t help but join in. Originally, he had come here to comfort the families who had lost loved ones on the bombing, as well as give them his God’s blessing. However, as he watched all the famous people doing their thing on stage, he thought that it might be best to wait until after. After all, what’s a blessing if the people you bless aren’t even paying attention?

As he sat there and listened to the speeches, he quickly found himself toning out the ramblings of the people on stage, contemplating on the events of the past few days. At first, his thoughts were more immediate, such as the service for the next day or the fact he had worn his preacher’s robes to this. However, his mind soon began to thing further back and stumbled upon something suspicious. The broadcast, while extremely saddening in terms of its end, had quite a few interesting points to it.

For one, is it true that the city was deceiving its denizens? He had heard of many false religions doing such a thing, but never of an entire city. For that matter, what about the ending. The report had been that the bomb had gone off during it, but why would he set if off during the middle of his sentence? Perhaps the bomb had malfunctioned? Or maybe the city was hiding something? Either way, Ardan finally snapped back into reality, deciding to talk to some of those who sat outside of the crowd and introduce them to the glory of Aldrich.

[Iwazuma]

The eyes of Idun were upon the team captain of the Jericho Gatekeepers as Dunkirk took the podium. Why the team had elected him the speaker as opposed to Coach Bojewski, the true heart and leader of the team. Dunkirk honestly stunk at speeches; he was better at wowing the crowd with his plays, with his on-field charisma. Wordsmithing was better left to the coach. But he supposed the photogenic face made for something people might listen more to, and made for better headlines. Shrewd play on Bradburton's part for certain to increase ratings.

Luckily for him, the Spirits were the last show to go on, meaning he would be heard by a crowd who cared, as opposed to a crowd placated by the sounds of rock. At least he knew people might give a damn. Eyes were on him as he delayed no longer, hands gently gripping the sides of the podium as he looked out at the crowd. He'd had to drastically loosen his grip ever since that fateful day...if he clenched too hard, he might accidentally tear straight through the wood holding it together...and wouldn't that be a news story.

"People of Idun." He began slowly, his gaze casting out towards each attendee in turn. "As my fellow speakers have already shown you, great tragedy has struck our city time and again in recent weeks. These radical terrorists stand for everything Idun does not, seeking to throw your trust in Idun into disarray. They see these lives as nothing more but something to grab your attention and force you to listen to their misguided beliefs. And those beliefs have been extremely costly. We have lost friends. Family." Even Dunkirk himself was not immune to this statement; an old friend in Eric Guillen had been lost to the most recent attack. It was partly in reverence to their friendship that Dunkirk had agreed to this event.

"But we cannot lose our will and allow these individuals command our thoughts. We are not simply single people. We ARE Idun." Dunkirk closed his eyes for a moment, gathering his thoughts. He'd made it this far without any hiccups. "Perhaps, indeed, we should rise up as they suggested, but not against the city that has kept us strong and secure for these many years. No, we must rise against their ludicrous statements and actions. Together, we must show these terrible human beings that their actions will not sway us. We are Idun strong. If they choose to threaten our security, we will show them they are wrong!"

A round of applause as Dunkirk's stoic expression remained unchanged. A safe, media-friendly speech. That was what Jeanette wanted, what Idun needed right now. He'd been in the limelight enough to know he couldn't let his own thoughts interfere with what was necessary. Why had the most recent terrorist made those claims? A corrupt political system, a dying Idun? What led to those accusations? Even though the actions he and the others of what he called the 'splinter cell' were beyond inexcusable, there was always a 'why' behind acts of terror. And only just now was the 'why' coming to light. But as an experienced celebrity, he always had his game face on, his thoughts unreadable by the public. To all the world, his speech was naught but his beliefs.

When the applause died down, Dunkirk continued. "To help support the families who have lost the most of all, the Jericho Gatekeepers and I have organized a small charity event, taking place at the Erdrich Convention Center this Saturday, starting at 9 AM. I and the team will be there signing autographs and running a small soccer camp for all the young athletes in Idun, as well as organizing a silent auction for all kinds of Gatekeeper apparel, including both a team signed ball and jersey. All proceeds go towards the families of the victims of the attacks of recent weeks." Another round of applause, and Dunkirk nodded his head before putting on a bright smile.

"But hey, I've taken up enough of your time. Today is both a day of reflection and mourning, but one of celebration as well. Celebration of our incredible city and its strength in its unity. We are together! We are strong! We are Idun!" One final, larger, round of applause as Dunkirk walked away from the podium, the cameraman signaling to the star forward that they had cut to commercial in preparation for the final act of the day, the Sable Spirits concert that was the main event. He heaved a sigh of relief; he had done what he needed to, and could spend the rest of the day relaxing with his fans and enjoying the event with everyone else.

[Salroka]

The crowd cheered for Dunkirk and the Gatekeepers. To some, they were the rock that kept the Jericho District strong. To most others, they were simply popular athletes. To a few, they were jerks who needed to win less. But regardless of what a person thought of them, currently they were offering nothing but help to the people of Idun... and that was something. Surely other teams would follow their example. With such a huge rush of support for the communities within Idun, many had no doubt that things would be back to normal soon. Some still had doubts, but were happy to see everyone rallying together all the same. Even if things didn't go back to how they were before, those skeptics couldn't deny that everyone helping each other was not a bad thing.

Lautrec walked out on stage and gave handshakes and high fives to the Gatekeepers as they headed backstage, then took a microphone out of its stand and addressed the crowd.

"Good evening, Idun. Normally I would come out here, spew a bunch of bravado, and then we would thrash the stage until we were about to pass out. Well... I mean... the Sable Spirits are still going to do that last part, but you know what I mean. Anyway. Yeah. So to really show our support, we stayed up for like thirty-six hours writing a song just for today. Just for you. Just for the city we love... for Idun. We thought long and hard about what to call it, and we settled on it only a few minutes ago. The Sable Spirits are proud to bring you... Spears of Idun. But first, some of our classics! Let's lead off with... hmm... Gilded City!"

The Sable Spirits then burst into action. Once they got to Spears of Idun, however... the heavy guitar riffs and slamming drum beats they were known for were noticeably absent. This was more akin to a power ballad... except not about loving a woman or anything like that. The lyrics were about a person who had sworn their allegiance to Idun and would defend the city even when given only a moments notice. Against any and all threats, the person stood at the ready, defending Idun from any who might harm it. Even outnumbered, the Spear would stand tall and do their duty. It was a stark departure from the type of music usually played by the Sable Spirits, but it had a lot of heart and soul. It was obvious that they had put a lot of work into the song, if nothing else.

As the song ended, Lautrec turned away from the microphone and leaned against the drums behind him. A minute or two passed before he went back and addressed the crowd. "Sorry about that. Had to compose myself. That concludes our show, folks. Be good, love each other, and as always... stand together. Have a good night." It was obvious he was very emotional, but he did well to continue despite that. Still, the speeches and music show had now concluded. There were still a few vendors around and some of the celebs took time to hold meet and greets, but the main attraction was done and over with. Now the atendees mainly started to either shuffle out and head back to their homes, or converse with each other about the speeches and the current events of Idun. Some even took the chance to give little speeches of their own.

Even though the show was over, there was still a lot to do.

Elsewhere in Idun, the city never slept... this was most evident in the district police departments. A few officers in the cyber crimes unit were hard at work trying to figure out who the bomber was by using anything that could be found on social media or other online sources. It was through this that they stumbled on someone doing the same thing. Captain Arthur Elfriede IV suddenly received a call despite telling his officers that he would be busy at the post-bombing event. I told you guys I... oh? Well do you think it is connected? Then yes. Did you track it? Try and get a better handle on it. Yes, definitely. Yes, I will head there now. Good job, Carlos. Lunch is on me tomorrow." With that, Arthur took his leave and headed out. His destination was Jericho Police HQ. If this was connected to the bomber, he needed to make sure they acted fast before another attack could be planned.

[Kortaga]

Sivil had been waiting for everything to end so she could hear the soccer star's speech. Until then she had been more aware of the crowd than anything else. She noticed there were a few reporters and whenever it looked like she might be in a picture she wanted to turn, face it, and smile. That way if she was actually used in it she could show the kids at the orphanage. Sure it might have been a silly thing to do but she also knew that anything that could calm or raise the spirits of the little ones mattered most.

It was as she looked around for cameras and things she did noticed one particularly interesting person. A man in a suit had been walking through the crowd and despite the crowd, well she felt like he drew attention. She wondered if he had been someone from the government. She giggled to herself. Maybe this was a super spy who was to keep everyone safe during the event. She had no real idea he was probably just a man who handled himself well. Her eyes lingered on him for only a moment more before moving her attention elsewhere. It was really impolite to stare.

With this the star of the show was ready to come out. The soccer star himself came forward and the crowd was really thrilled to see him. She felt a little overwhelmed. As he spoke he kept himself very emotionless…or maybe not emotionless but flat. He was reading something he put time into and thought about. For her it had really come as a surprise but more so a reality. They wanted him to speak to give the people hope. It made sense and while she thought the speech was lovely for what it was…but she wondered if that was what he was really thinking?

He walked off stage and that was it. She figured this is what it would be but now she could safely tell the children a story tonight before they slept. About how nice of a person he was and what the kids should hope to be in the future.

A band was what the event ended on and to be honest…she had not really cared for everything but the final song. The last one had been well political but it was well made. She appreciated seeing the depth of his work and as such she thought she might give the band another chance. It showed real talent to do what they did. She could respect someone like that even if she did not care for their music.

As everyone started to break away she began to gather her food for the nights cooking. She thought about maybe trying to meet the star soccer player but then thought about what a hassle and chore that would be. As she was walking she noticed a preacher or at least someone dressed as such.

She walked over and quickly said, “Umm…hello sir. I was wondering if you were with the Church?”

She did what little of a curtsy she could while holding the bags and said, “I work at an orphanage and I wanted to make an outing to show them religion. I was curious if you knew who I could speak to about such things and what times might be good, since I am certain they will have questions and I do not want to upset the other patrons.”

She knew that religion was not necessarily her cup of tea but she figured that any sort of hope was good for those who were young and without a traditional family.