savetheearth | 6. Video. Laptop.

[Hello Network! Guess who's face pops up after like a month of being MIA? Yup, it's good old Mr Locke, now wearing spiffy new glasses. Behind him, a bit of his fancypants living room can be seen. He stares at the screen momentarily, clearly hesitating, before finally opening his mouth. Boy does he have a lot to say.]

As of Monday this week, my memories of the Network and everything associated with it returned. Nearly a month of unawareness has made me realize how necessary it is to divulge certain information. Not only do you all deserve to hear it, but certain details may prevent unnecessary problems on the chance my memory fails again in the future.

[He takes a breath. Okay, time to do this.]

First of all, in regards to myself: Richard Locke is an alias I go by. My real name is Karl Aurion. I am a Deputy Superintendent on the Locke City PD and have been on the force for 18 years with an additional 3 years served in Boston. To affirm that this information is not another practical joke, here is my badge [said badge gets whipped out and held up for a good while before being set aside] and several individuals here can confirm this information, as well. For those unfamiliar with police hierarchy, my rank is the 6th highest position on the force. I will state for the record that my position does not gain me special favor with Sherman, Edwards or anyone else.

[This is a nice segue into topic two. The seriousness falters briefly before he continues.]

Which leads to the second matter: Miki Kaoru and his death. Unlike the media and the police department claim, Miki was not a victim of gang violence and obviously not of terrorists. The culprit behind his death had been another police officer. That officer had given Miki chase for reasons unknown to myself. Upon noticing the chase, I followed. When I arrived on the scene, Miki was cornered and the officer had his gun raised. I attempted to interfere but to no avail. The officer incapacitated me before killing Miki. [a sigh] I apologize for my own elusiveness on both this matter and everything associated with the drug bust on the high school.

In regards to the bust itself, I admit to being the one behind it. I had been stationed at the high school since last year to help bring this bust to fruition, among other less noble reasons; however any Network arrests were done without my knowledge. I had not assumed my investigation would be used to bring in suspected individuals and I take full responsibility for this oversight. Though it may be difficult to believe, I did not provide my superiors with any information pertaining to the Network or those associated with it, nor do I intend to do so long as I can help it. I, unfortunately, could not help it during the past several weeks and was more than willing to take note of suspicious behavior. This is why I ask for caution when approaching me in person as I can potentially end up endangering lives should this occur again.

[He actually looks apologetic at this. Any seriousness, however, is interrupted by a teeny kitten suddenly popping up on screen, jumping up on Karl's head and plopping itself down for a nap in its new favorite bed. A brief, if somewhat exasperated glance gets spared up at it before the seriousness returns full force at the laptop]

Finally, during the last month, I managed to speak with both Edwards and Sherman, gaining the latter's trust enough to be given details of his investigation and offered modification. [a heavy pause] I accepted this offer a week after my memory of the Network was lost.

The modification process as I experienced it went as follows. It was done at a farmhouse outside of town. A robot greeted me and informed me to lay down on some sort of an operating table. Then, by use of an [insert a very unsure pause] old fashioned, pink perfume bottle, it rendered me unconscious. By the time I awoke, the procedure had been completed. I was handed a pamphlet and a... mint before being sent on my way. Here is the pamphlet in question.

[The front and back of this flower sticker monstrosity get held up to the screen for a few moments before being set back down.]

I have not experienced any significant side effects and can provide further details on the modification if asked. Should there be any other questions about any of this, they will be responded to... honestly.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

But the reason is unlike anything you expected.

[Though he may not really look it, he sounds honestly apologetic.]

[She's hesitant to turn on video just yet.]

Were you assigned specifically to watch us, even before you became aware? Are there others? And what kind of modifications?

No, I was only told to keep an eye out for suspicious behavior once the order was issued to all officers and reminded of this order following the modification.

Whether there are other modified officers on the Network, I cannot say. [Vague wording is vague on purpose.]

As for the modifications, it amounts to introducing animal genes to my own, the animal in this case being an owl. This process grants the individual abilities beyond what normal humans are capable of.

I see.

[She won't ask who else on the network has been modified, for their own safety.]

I don't imagine you won't say what those abilities are.

Night vision and being able to put someone to sleep by staring at them, with an additional ability to not need to blink as frequently making the latter easier to do.

Interesting. Do you feel noticeably different afterward?

No, not particularly. I don't... feel entirely myself, but nothing extreme like personality changes or feeling as though someone is controlling my movements.

Or the feeling that someone is able to see through your eyes? Or watching you?

[She's had theories going of how their enemy(ies?) have been able to stay one step ahead of them, and having means to watch the Network through other people without their knowledge is extremely high on her list.]

No, nothing of the sort. Aside from now possessing animal genes, there's no other difference.

[Yup, just your regular, non-mind controlled birdman.]

That's good, at least.

I can't imagine the kind of grief you're getting for telling us all of this, but I'm glad you did. I... can't say I wasn't worried that there was something else going on, but I trusted you anyway. I know you did what you had to, but knowing not everything was your doing makes me feel a bit better. I might be weird that way, but I understand that sometimes you have to do things that you don't agree with in order to keep up appearances, or to keep others safe.

You're kind, kinder than I deserve. My reasoning behind the secrecy had been to protect you all, yes, but the same could have been accomplished with honesty. I just never realized that alternative existed or that my method could be labeled selfish.

[It's not really an excuse so much as the honest truth. He never realized he had a choice about what to do.]

You wouldn't be the first to tell me that, and probably not the last, either.

We all have our methods; that was yours. You told us, and that's what matters to me.

The fact that it took endangering your lives to do so not mattering?

6. Video. Laptop.

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