raisetheearth

[The video begins, showing a woman sitting in an office with her back to a window. The sky-line of Gateway City can be seen behind her, facing the west. She stares forward for a few moments before pausing, and adjusting her glasses. For all intents and purposes, this is a new face on the Network.]

Ah, hello everyone. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Sonia Clarke, and I'm Benjamin Factor's personal assistant. As I'm sure you are all aware, both Mr. Factor and his company have been supporting the Numbered heavily in this past year. It was therefore decided that there needed to be a direct liaison between all of you and the company.

[She pauses, before adjusting her glasses and continuing.]

Furthermore, we'd also like to personally thank those Numbered who assisted in the recent... incident here in Gateway City. The animals that caused such damage are being cared for, but as you might understand, there are certain struggles in doing so for such bizarre creatures. However, Mr. Factor would like for me to assure you that they have not been mistreated or experimented upon. This has created some friction with the military, but we anticipate that will be resolved before long. Any damages to personal or public property are also being taken care of, as well.

[Sonia pauses for another brief moment, before her eyes widen slightly, and she sighs.]

I suppose I should also address the elephant in the room. Seeing as how I can communicate with you like this, it should go without saying that I'm a Numbered, just like all of you. I want you all to know that you can trust me, and that I do not intend to betray anything I learn here. Mr. Factor and I imagine that this is an area where you've potentially been used or manipulated, and it's for that reason that we intend to be as transparent as possible. We are committed to supporting all of you as much as possible, as we have in this past year.

[She offers a tiny smile, before speaking again.] Now, I would be happy to take any questions. I cannot promise an answer for every single one, but I will make an effort to be clear and concise for the ones in which I can.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I've been the girl with the bat wing ever since a giant serpentine representation of all my childhood fears tore its way through Locke City. Cameras on streetcorners seem so trivial at that point.

... Were they really not our fights, though? It felt like we had a personal stake in most of them.

I suppose that's fair. You learn to ignore the paparazzi, at some point, but that's further along.

One or two people may have had a personal stake, I agree. Your entire... Precure team, it's called? All the pilots? The other dozen people seen at half the incidents? There's no way all those people were tied to every little thing. Even beyond that, there are one or two none of you were tied to, until something made it personal. The incident in the far north comes to mind.

... You're right, I guess.

But I still feel like this is my- our responsibility. With great power and all that.

Anyway, thanks for doing all this.

Those are wise words, and I'm glad some among the Numbered still feel they're relevant. There isn't much I can do personally, but you'll have my support, to the extent I can give it. Please, be careful, whatever you choose to do. That's thanks enough for me. It reflects poorly on the company if we agree to help and catastrophe comes.

Hey, I'm always careful.

My sister and Winter would kill me if I weren't. But yeah, we'll make sure we're level headed about this.

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