Stone Men In Water Street

[Brian]

Lazarus makes eye contact, it appears, with each and every meta-human in the benches before turning to Bart meaningfully.  The TK coughs meaningfully, and steps to one side, while Lazarus edges back, and speaks for the older-looking man.  "So, we've all made it here, out into the wilds.  We've escaped the belly of the beast, and now we're on our own."

   Just about everyone in the audience nods at this.

   "Some of us never knew what we were before we ran into the Workshop.  But we found out, and now we know ... for good or ill, we can't go back.  It's just not that easy."

   A few startled or disappointed noises sound from the scattered seventy or so people you can see from your seats.

   "We're here, now, and we've got choices."  Lazarus looks across the audience meaningfully, as though he were speaking, and Bart was merely a speaker, or an amplifier for the man's thoughts.  Which is likely true, when you stop to consider things.

   "We can hide."

   A few of the people nod uncertainly.

   "We can fight."

   Less nod, but more vigorously.

   "Or we can make a stand."

   Curious glances are exchanged at this.

   "That's right," Bart says, while Lazarus nods emphatically.  "We can make a stand.  We can live here -- where we already know we accept one another for what we are, and what we can do.  We can choose to make this our home, where we will stay, and hold it against all comers.

   "We can make this place a haven for ourselves ... for others like us.  We can build our own future here, without throwing our lives away in a reckless and foolish act."  Bart steals a glance towards Bjorn and Nathan, but quickly resumes speaking.  "Without running, hiding, and seeing how well we can bide our time before we get caught again."

   Bart shrugs, and Lazarus spreads his hands wide, in a helpless gesture.  "The choice is up to you, of course.  Each and every one of you must make your own minds up on what to do.  But I--"  Bart cuts off, and shoots a dark scowl at Lazarus, who tries to hide a smirk.  In words you know are his own, Bart continues, "We are going to take a stand here."  He returns his gaze to the crowd, and smoothes his glare into a challenging stare.  "And any who wish to remain, are welcome to do so."

[Bjorn]

You know, I still don't know if this works or not...  Bjorn turns out his mindboard, and in big, bold letters, he scrawls, Lazarus?  Have you changed your mind about our proposal?

[Brian]

No, he replies thoughtfully.  Bartholomew is not as apt with words as I would have hoped.  Bart flinches slightly at that.

"Some of us," the TK says, clearing his throat, "are going to be fools anyway.  And having a haven ... a home to come back to might make it that much easier."  Lazarus frowns dubiously, and Bartholomew looks flustered.

Christianson, Lazarus sends, perhaps your own speech might be a bit more motivational.  I cannot contact this many minds at once, or else I'd do it myself, and Bartholomew isn't as adept at picking out my meaning as I would always hope.

The TK ducks his head, his face reddening in embarassment.  "I'm uh, sorry," he says more quietly.  "I'm not so great with the word thing."

While they were paying attention before, the crowd is now uncertain.

[Bjorn]

Bjorn rises to his feet, and, without waiting for acknowledgement, says clearly, "Taking a stand is fighting."

He pauses for a second, waiting long enough for most of his audience to focus on him, and then continues, "Both mean that, sooner or later, we will come face-to-face with the people who created the Workshop, or people like them, and we will have to fight for our freedom.  Because hiding is not an option.  They will look for us, they will find us, and if they have our way, they will enslave us again."

He meets the gaze of several of the audience members, the ones who look most receptive, holding it for a second before moving on to the next.  "But there's a difference between taking a stand, and simply fighting.  Taking a stand means that we're fighting for something.  It means we have a home to protect.  It means we have a dream to protect -- a dream where we don't have to fight, where we can take our lives back, where the Workshop cannot and will never again exist.

"Now, I'm one of those 'fools' Bartholomew was talking about."  He grins, self-deprecatingly, but then turns serious again.  "But I don't think I'm being foolish.  I'm taking a stand.  I'm going out to fight, because the Workshop had no right to exist.  I'm risking my life, yes, but only because the price of not fighting is the same, or worse.  I do it because I hope to have a home, one day, that no one can take away from me, where I don't have to hide who or what I am.  A home that you can start building, here and now, if you are willing to fight to protect it."

Spreading his hands wide, he continues, "So, then, the question that you have to answer today is: do you want to run and hide, and hope that somehow things will all work out?  Or are you willing to take a stand, and spit in the eyes of those who would put you back in the Workshop?"

[Brian]

Code Select Expand

3d6 for Oratory check:
<Chibi-Suu> Them bones was tossed for Bjorn ... : 3d6 --> {8}

There's a series of low murmurs, as for a moment you completely lose the crowd, and they begin to converse and argue quietly among themselves.  But it's only a moment, as the arguments and conversations reach a quick conclusion.

Sharing decisive nods, and with grim certainty, each of the Workshop refugees there raise their hands, and yell out their decision.  It takes a moment of yelling from Bartholomew, and hand-waving from Lazarus to calm them down, but the end decision is:

They will work with you.

[Bjorn]

Bjorn sinks back down into his seat, and rests his forehead on his hands.  "Christ, I hate speaking," Bjorn mutters to no-one in particular.

[Brian]

Seeming charged, and now knowing that this run-down falling apart community is going to be their new home, the refugees begin to scatter across the town, stopping occasionally to check with Lazarus and Bart before scurrying off to manage some task or another.

You see that Bart is pretty good at dealing with smaller numbers of people, at least.

[Bjorn]

Watching all the bustle for a minute, Bjorn says to Rez, "You should talk to Bart, talk about what it'll take to get a permanent connection to Relm set up here.  In the meantime, if you'll pardon me, I need to go talk to Lazarus for a second."

Without waiting for a response, Bjorn heads away from the table towards Lazarus.

[Brian]

Lazarus looks up as you approach, and smiles when he sees you.  Things appear to be in order, then, he sends.  How shall we begin?

[Bjorn]

The first step is setting this place up, Bjorn replies.  Specifically, we have to make sure that you can contact the Oracle, and vice versa.  Nathan is going to talk to Bartholomew about starting that.  After that's done, Nathan and I will head for Gibraltar.

Before we do that, though, I'd like to repeat some of the experiments we did with my power, before.  Apparently, some part of them did come from my bracelet, and that power is basically gone.  I'd like to sort out exactly what's changed, if you don't mind.

[Rezantis]

Rez nods - which Bjorn doesn't see - and weaves his way through the people over towards Bart.

"So you guys are going to need an internet connection?  Don't suppose you have a generator, so we'll need to figure out power first?"

[Brian]

Lazarus looks thoughtful, and nods.  Something about you did seem different, he agrees.

"We've got a handfull of cars," Bart says doubtfully.  "No generators, electricity, or running watter.  There's a pump-house behind one of the buildings we've been using to pull up water by hand."

[Rezantis]

"Hmm. OK. We'll go have a chat to the Oracle in a sec . . . hm, got any mechanics or anyone who's good with computers?"

[Bjorn]

The first, obvious questions is: can you feel any sort of resistance when you try to contact me?  Upon writing that on his mindboard, Bjorn immediately turns it in and "hardens" it as much as he can.

[Brian]

After a cautious second, Lazarus sends, No ... but it's like ... it is ... hmm.  Have you attempted to reach the minds of others?  And how did you lose your bracelet?  I can still see it on your wrist.  Or ... did something else happen?

Bart nods at Rez, and says, "Any help getting this kind of stuff set up would be appreciated.  So ... yeah, one of the women here -- her name is Sally -- can actually fix mechanical stuff really well.  She says she's not so great at building new things, but fixing broken stuff.  She can ... weld without heat, for metal.

"As far as using computers really well, I bet some people can use them decently, but all of us in the workshop weren't given a chance to use them much, so ... that's going to be iffy.  For what it's worth, I think we can find someone who we can train to be pretty good at it easily."