◘ video ◘ 05

[technophantom]

[the camera feed cuts in on a room half in shadow, lit by a bare bulb hanging from the ceiling. On the wall behind Ghost are newspaper clippings, a lost dog poster, several missing kids posters, and numerous sticky notes on papers, penned with brief messages like "WHERE DID THEY COME FROM?" and "GLOBAL FINANCIAL INSTABILITY" and "1.2 MILLIGRAMS PER

Comments

[Comment Not Here]

[thenicehulk]

[But Teddy is frowning so much about those Kree body parts.]

[Comment Not Here]

[technophantom]

[;______; it's probably not true...]

[shotyoudeadbang]

Unless we start shootin' 'em.

[technophantom]

Punishing the poor for being poor has often resulted in bloody uprisings.

[shotyoudeadbang]

I've worked for this government. It could use a bloody uprising.

[technophantom]

You have?

What happened?

permavideo

[manlytear]

[Hey, that eccentric wall-collage looks familiar. Though it is lacking in Nazis.

Erik considers the post a long time before replying.]

Did a particular incident inspire this post?

[technophantom]

[dnfjkg artistic revenge buddies!] Someone I had a - passing acquaintance with - was murdered. Neither I, nor another imPort with appropriate abilities, could find an iota of evidence.

In the short term, it is frustrating, Mr. Lehnsherr.

private; encrypted

[manlytear]

[He remains thoughtful, and switches the video to private, just in case.

The encryption is probably nowhere near as sophisticated as what Ghost is capable of, but it's pretty impressive for someone who was in the 1960s only two months ago.]

The attack on the Institute, imPorts caught up in an attempted terrorist attack on a chemical plant, and now this slew of murders.

The timing is suspicious.

private; encrypted

[technophantom]

[guessing at the general timeframes and appropriately impressed by Erik's growing mastery of the 'puter, though he says nothing about it

what is praise, baby don't hurt me]

You believe they were all connected by some greater force?

I warn you that you, reasonably, could be a suspect in at least two of these cases. You have the ability to kill a man without entering the building he's in, with a knife, and leave the general area without witnesses.

[technophantom]

All good points. [the argument above abates for a while, and he looks down at the floor, organizing his thoughts] The power players, the ones with the most influence, who treat individuals like expendable commodities. Those ones have to be stopped. Their sickness and reach is far greater and more wicked than the lawlessness of the poverty stricken.

c:! Same

[technophantom]

Did you? [sounding totes interested--and then almost happy, this is somebody who gets him!]

Yes, they are well protected. That's why I exist. No security can keep me out.

Tell me more about yourself?

video;

[cagesong]

It runs deeper than that though, doesn't it?

video;

[technophantom]

Most things do. What specifically?

video;

[cagesong]

Freedom.

video;

[technophantom]

What is deeper than freedom?