Prologue – Interviews: The New United States Government
Interview with Malcolm Peters, Former United States Secretary of State: [Interviewee is wearing a navy blue suit with a white shirt and a red and black striped tie. He is sitting behind a desk in an office, with the back wall decorated with various framed achievements belonging to the individual. He is white, 53 years of age, weighing 172lbs, 181cm, with chestnut brown hair and green eyes.]
[In a slow, mid-toned American accent] ″No one knows exactly when they became a dominating force, it just happened. They all came in droves, you know, so many at one time. And when they came, they decided it was time, really, for them to have their say. For them to rule.″
Interview with Shirley Travis, Former Director of the FBI: [Interviewee is wearing a red blazer jacket with a cream top, and a white pearl necklace. She has auburn hair tied up tightly, and has blue eyes. She is wearing bright red lipstick on her lips. She is white, weighs 159lbs, and is 163cm tall. She too is in an office, with a bookshelf behind her.]
[In a quick, medium-pitched American accent] ″They deposed - well, they didn’t depose by force, but we felt they sort of overthrew the government. They said that they could do a better job than humans, so they took over. They claimed that humans had had enough time to try and sort out the worlds’ problems, but that we failed. So they decided that they would try and do a better job.″
Interview with Alex Romaine, Former Police Chief of the New York Police Department: [Interviewee is in his office, which has the back wall decorated with various framed achievements belonging to him. He is wearing a black suit with a light pink shirt and black tie. He is African-American, bald and wearing glasses on his face. He weighs 192lbs, and is 177cm in height.]
[In a low-toned New York accent] ″It wasn’t like we knew it was coming.[Shaking his head] We didn’t. It was all very sudden. A bunch of super people announcing on T.V. that they would become the new leaders of America. But this wasn’t just going to happen here. It was going to happen everywhere in the world. We would be the first.″
ST: ″So they said that they would impose certain laws everywhere. It wasn’t going to be how it was before. Each state had the power to impose their own laws. But this...this would be nationwide. And this certain law...it caused public outcry. They got rid of weapons. All weapons. Guns, nuclear bombs. The whole lot. It took a long time, because they had to deal with those who hid their weapons, but they got rid of all traces of anything that could harm another person.″
MP: ″Um, Icarus, the leader of this...‘League of Guardians’...um, he took all these weapons and disposed of them safely. Nuclear waste was disposed of safely. All weapons known to man, even swords and knives, were gotten rid of. Which I believe...was a bit extreme. But, you know, they were the government now. And they are powerful. We can’t mess with them.″
ST: ″Well you can imagine...what we were thinking. There was immediate rioting and protesting. It was for the greater good, yes, but this divided the nation. Half of the population was happy all forms of weaponry were gone. But the other half...were rightfully angry.″
AR: ″The police were the most upset. Government forces always use firearms for the protection of people, and for dealing with crime. I for one was quite upset with what this new...bureaucracy decided to do without our consent or input. It seemed very irrational. And it cost a lot of people their jobs and their livelihoods. They put the police, the army - everyone out of work.″
ST:″It didn’t mean that people would stop committing crimes. People would still make sharp objects, create their own knives. They could use other means. There was an issue of what people, law-abiding people, were to do for when they wanted to use a knife for other pursuits.″
MP: ″The brain-box of this League of Guardians – Pulse - he developed a type of laser device that could cut things safely without harm to people, so people could use it for food preparation and other things. Then there was a dramatic drop in crime altogether when this was introduced, and the League put most criminals away.″
ST: ″And so people began to respect the heroes some more, and began to put their trust in them. Some felt that it was a good thing that they came into power. You know, there’s not a dictatorship system; it’s a bureaucratic one albeit not an oppressive one, and I believe people have become thankful that superheroes are now ruling around the world.″
AR: ″Well, I still have my reservations about them, but they have said that the police force would be reformed and could still work along with the public to put an end to crime altogether. There’s still a lot of work that needs to be done, but with this government...it will get done.″
MP: ″Are they here to stay for the next 20 or 30 years? Who knows? I wouldn’t mind if they carried on ruling for ever, but...I’m not sure what the future holds.″