raisetheearth

On the morning of September 16th, 2016 in America, news reports break, covering a statement made by Thunder Corp about the snake appearances in Locke City. The footage shows their spokesperson, wearing a pleasant practiced looking smile on their face, addressing a group of reporters.

"Our company, which has continued to guide the restoration and rejuvenation of our city, would like the public to rest easy in the knowledge that the stone serpents that menaced our city have been ferreted out and destroyed. Locke City is once again a safe place. Our hazard containment teams have successfully discovered the source, and determined that their existence predates the invasion of last year. They were found in a cave outside the city, and much like the serpents we rounded up, match reports of several other sightings in January of 2014. There is no danger or evidence of renewed phenomena in Locke, and we are confident that there will not be a large scale incident like the invasion, or the rampage of the serpentine beast that nearly destroyed Locke in March 14.

"Unfortunately, this also delivers a sobering reminder for us all," they continue, suddenly sounding more sobered. "That even now, there's much of what we don't know about what led to the devastation that menaced our world. The serpents remained under our noses, even as we rebuilt Locke from the ground up. While Thunder Corp feels responsible for the oversight, we wonder, perhaps, if this could have been avoided if the so-called 'reincarnates' had not abandoned our city in the wake of the invasion. There is still much that's unknown about their presence in Locke City, as well as the time before they were revealed to the public, and we hope that there are reincarnates, or "Numbered", that will eventually come forward and work with us. Both to answer questions about their role in Locke City's various disasters, as well as use their talents to help guide and improve this world they've, for good or ill, helped to create."

The press conference ends, with no questions being taken. In the wake of this announcement, everyone begins talking. Some don't believe Thunder Corp, while others speculate on whether or not there was a connection to the prehistoric creatures in Gateway. Still others focus on what was said about reincarnates.

The more outlandish theories warn of a second invasion, while others bring up Thunder Corp's sketchy history prior to the hostile takeover that led to their new president taking power and begin question how trustworthy the corporation is. And yet, there are a great many voices use this as an opportunity to begin demanding the Numbered "share their secrets", however nebulous that may be, and do more to work with Thunder Corp to keep more things like this from happening.

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