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...of the Aberrant corebook's "Setting" section, that is)
One of the delays in posting this was the difficulty in finding the motivation to look at Portman's words. They're the very first text piece in the rulebook, and as such, there's a fair amount of as-you-know-Bob; also, the artist who drew the accompanying images of Portman gives him a hebephrenic grin that really gets on my tits.
There was also a lot of sincere Utopia boosterism, meant to sucker the reader on his initial encounter with the book, but annoying as hell on revisitation: Utopia has done nothing but good for the world, only right-wing cranks have any reason to object to Utopia, blah blah blah. Oh, and
He ended with the irony-licious prediction that "the next 10 years will be even better than the last. I really believe that the 21st century will be the dawn of a golden age for mankind."
This is preparatory to what Jeffries may think of as "a simple extraction", warning him that it's no such thing. He warns Jeffries that the blacktech the Nakato (probably) have at their disposal is likely to have military applications, and might even be capable of taking down Geryon. Having already reminded him that "half the zaibatsu in Osaka are likely in their pockets", he points out that the Nakato are popular with Jiro Sixpack as well; the number three manga series in the country is about a yakuza nova who, when not engaged in his employment, can be found "helping out the little guy and tweaking the noses of foreign authorities." (Although it's been made into an anime, it sounds to me less like the original version of Gumi Nova Tragic than like some Nova Age version of One Piece.) And you can bet your node that they've got at least one real nova, "and we have no idea what sort of powers they're packing. That comic shows somebody with superspeed, but" it's not necessarily reliable.
March 23
[Aberrant] The Fireman is interviewed for the N! documentary Reaching the Stars: A Decade of Novas.
One of the delays in posting this was the difficulty in finding the motivation to look at Portman's words. They're the very first text piece in the rulebook, and as such, there's a fair amount of as-you-know-Bob; also, the artist who drew the accompanying images of Portman gives him a hebephrenic grin that really gets on my tits.
There was also a lot of sincere Utopia boosterism, meant to sucker the reader on his initial encounter with the book, but annoying as hell on revisitation: Utopia has done nothing but good for the world, only right-wing cranks have any reason to object to Utopia, blah blah blah. Oh, and
if [Divis Mal] really believes that [novas aren't bound by human laws], and it's not just a publicity stunt or ratings gimmick, then... his mom should have spanked him more often.... [T]he Teragen is... nothing but a gang of thugs, the Manson Family with super-powers.... They are the ones who are putting this smear-campaign crap on the Project.
He ended with the irony-licious prediction that "the next 10 years will be even better than the last. I really believe that the 21st century will be the dawn of a golden age for mankind."
March 24
[Aberrant] A DeVries agency employee named Khalif sends elite Jeffries a briefing letter on the Nakato-gumi.
This is preparatory to what Jeffries may think of as "a simple extraction", warning him that it's no such thing. He warns Jeffries that the blacktech the Nakato (probably) have at their disposal is likely to have military applications, and might even be capable of taking down Geryon. Having already reminded him that "half the zaibatsu in Osaka are likely in their pockets", he points out that the Nakato are popular with Jiro Sixpack as well; the number three manga series in the country is about a yakuza nova who, when not engaged in his employment, can be found "helping out the little guy and tweaking the noses of foreign authorities." (Although it's been made into an anime, it sounds to me less like the original version of Gumi Nova Tragic than like some Nova Age version of One Piece.) And you can bet your node that they've got at least one real nova, "and we have no idea what sort of powers they're packing. That comic shows somebody with superspeed, but" it's not necessarily reliable.
