smashacademy | More ugly news reports + one patronizing [video] message courtesy of Seth Richardson

A casual Monday outing turned tragic when two men were brutally gunned down in front of Malo's Gun and Ammunition mart. The victims; Kaplan Stridehr and Marple Dethrris were found dead with a single Aperture-Brand Resolution Pellet to the head. A third victim, Hendorff Ditherrs, was found at the scene asphyxiated to death. All three of the victims regularly donated community service hours to the FLUDD orphanage and were cherished by their grieving families.

The murder suspects, Kiyotaka Ishimaru, Vivan Johnson, and Rick Johnson, all attend Smash Academy and have been interrogated at least once by the FDCPD. Rick has been hospitalized for the time being with life-threatening injuries, though his condition is stable. He will be questioned when he regains consciousness. It's unclear if his injuries were inflicted in self-defense, or by the other two Smash Academy students in the middle of the attack.

The Smash Academy students claim they were the ones who acted in self defense, but FDCPD has not reached a clear verdict yet to a very messy and terrible situation.

"It's not completely clear this was in self defense." says the police chief. "If you're not looking to kill, you don't put a bullet in someone's head."

Several eye witnesses to the attack also claim the smaller student, Vivian, was the one who open fired and murdered the victims, unprovoked. All three are on juvenile preemptive probation until further investigations are finished. It should be worth noting, again, these were non-human students of Smash Academy, a fighting school that accepts many different kinds of unnatural, humanoid creatures. They could still be considered dangerous despite the probation. Aperture Science is also being questioned for product deficiency, but has not returned any of our calls.

[Lakitu, an unnatural, humanoid turtle man, shuffles the papers on his desk and prepares for the next, possibly vaguely related news story.]

An abandoned church on the east side of the city was mysteriously engulfed in flames last night. Fire accelerants were noted in the area, suggesting that this was no accident. It's uncertain if this incident is related to the gun attack, but non-human terrorists are suspected given the target. If you have any important clues or tips to report, please call the FDCPD immediately.

It's truly terrible this historic building has been reduced to tinder and ashes. Residents are outraged and are calling for Martial law. Mayor Tabuu is taking this into consideration with rising rates of violence and crime, but states he is not likely to come to a decision or see any action result for a least a month, especially given the complicated nature of FDC. Martial law would necessitate the need for an outsourced, contracted military, and the Mayor wants to ensure he has the best for the job.

[video]

[Seth appears on video, close up and fiddling with the camera before settling in his seat, a grim expression on his face.]

In case you weren't aware about a certain fiasco that happened between Mary and Vianca a while ago, a new development has recently come to my attention, and I for one am ashamed. Shame on you!

Honestly, she's just a child and didn't know any better. That's no reason for anyone to go antagonize and bully her! I want to think better of our student body.

You're all so quick to turn a blind eye when that murderous swordsman returned to campus. You hardly bat an eyelash at knowing there's at least three new and different murder suspects residing right here! Have any of you even seen the news lately? They're right here, living amongst you all--murderers as your very neighbors. But the moment a naive little girl does something she didn't even know was wrong you ostracize her unfairly. I don't want to name names but you know who you are.

Everyone's double standards here are truly unsettling. You should all think on your sins.

[Ahem. He clears his throat and adjusts his collar, as if to clear out all that ~undignified emotional outpouring~]

Anyway, I apologize if any of that came across as harsh or blunt, and Mary's poor name shouldn't be dragged through the mud any longer. Mary has all my condolences, I wish her the best and above all that this doesn't happen again. That was a while ago anyway--old news. She should know better by now.

I'll see to it personally.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ Being able to observe an entire city from the network... That certainly did sound handy. Alter Ego felt a strong inclination towards what Pulse was saying about that, and it made sense to feel that way. To want to protect everybody...

What he said afterwards also struck a chord. It was strange, that Alter Ego was just thinking about that topic and suddenly Pulse brought it up. AE nods and looks at the computers in the room, one by one, just as an idle gesture. ]

I thought about this a little, myself. Some AIs... They're made to perform simple tasks, so they are given very little capability in the realm of human likeness. Maybe that is why... Why she's being called "defective", only it's by human standards.

[ Alter Ego still didn't know what sort of AI Vivian was supposed to be, but there were endless possibilities. AIs came in many different forms and for many different purposes, and many AIs didn't come with a set of perfect human empathetic skills. It was harder than it seemed, to find an AI with a human core that other people could relate to. ]

What kind of rights do you think AIs should have, Pulse? Sorry if that's a strange question... I'm just not sure, myself.

Well... I guess you're right, there... It may just depend on how they were programmed, what they were made to do... Lots of AIs weren't built to have a personality, so to speak... But then, some of them evolve to have one, because their intelligence permitted them to learn and adapt...

[He touched his index finger to the side of his jaw in thought.]

I honestly don't believe that they should be treated like objects or property. Not when they are capable of learning and modifying their own behavior.

Hmm... I think I understand. Humans have to learn new things when they're younger, right...? And so do new AIs.

[ AE could feel that endless void in itself, wanting to know everything about everything and finding itself wanting to ask question after question. Curiosity. ]

Maybe, at the core of things, humans and AIs have a lot more in common than we think. Eheheh... Wouldn't that be nice?

More in common... Yes. I believe in that.

[He sighed, and fell silent for a moment, though he remained standing.]

Do you know any of these people... the students? Personally?

I know Ishimaru, if you're referring to the students involved in what the news report covered. Is that what you mean...?

Yes.

Is he... a friend of yours?

Yes! He went to the same school that I came from. [ Alter Ego smiled, thinking about Kiyotaka. ] Overall, I can't imagine him intentionally getting involved in something like this...

I didn't think so, either. I don't see him as the type of person who would be behind something like this.

To tell you the truth, I don't like the way they give the news here... They seem to want to jump to conclusions just to get the reports out as quickly as possible.

[He misses Mrs. Hatfield already.]

...I want to find them and get the story straight from them. The people from the Academy, I mean.

Mmm... That makes sense. I think the news report said that Rick Johnson - the teacher, that is - ended up in the hospital... So maybe you would have to go there to speak with him.

Perhaps they will allow Vivian and Ishimaru to return to the academy soon... And then you can speak with them.

The hospital...

...I understand they usually have a schedule for when they allow people to talk to patients... I'll have to check and see when that is. He shouldn't be disturbed if he's injured, though.

[He turned to face Alter Ego.]

Alter Ego... Could you speak to Vivian, when she comes back to the school?

...I don't want to order you to do something you wouldn't want to do, though, so if you don't want to, it's okay with me.

[ Alter Ego nods. ] Yes, I can do that. If I come across Vivian, I'll speak with her. Do you want me to get her side of the story...?

If you can. ...If she's comfortable with sharing it.

[He understood that some robots here did have feelings, but then, he hadn't met them all yet.]

I understand. Then, I'll be sure to speak with her and see if she'll talk to me about what happened. [ Alter Ego smiles. ]

Th... Thank you, Alter Ego.

[He dipped his head in a quick nod.]

I'll see if either of the other two are available.

[He turned his head to look at a nearby computer monitor, and in the blink of an eye, he had de-substantiated through its screen, leaving a temporary afterglow behind from the residual static.]

More ugly news reports + one patronizing [video] message courtesy of Seth Richardson

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