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Gear Up, Guardian
Feb. 9th, 2017 06:55 pmAlden dreads election years. He despises having to talk to the press. The complexities of his job alone are bad enough without the added pressure of having to answer inane interrogatories about how he feels about this or that policy, over the establishment of which he has absolutely zero influence or control. His number one responsibility, as far as he is concerned, is to enforce the law, and that isn’t going to change, regardless of the current administration. His position isn’t an elected one; he earned the title of Guardian of Chicago, and he’s proud to be the protector of both the magical and non-magical citizens of this city.
Of course, this year’s election was very contentious, and that created more than a few headaches, some not even all that minor. But, at least at the local and state levels, there have been no problems as a consequence of the results. Both the mayor of Chicago and the Governor of Illinois are progressive — all for broadening the rights of magic users. Nationally, though, the newly elected President and the recently overturned Senate and Congress majority are now conservative. And so far, it seems their primary agenda is going to be to put even more restrictions on magic users. Because rounding them all up into heavily guarded, de-militarized “Magic Zones” wasn’t enough??? Some have even discussed deporting them all to Ndakinna, Gallia, or Atlantis.
Things in the US have been getting steadily worse for magic users for some time now. Anti-magic user groups have been gaining in popularity, with the religious right ramping up a burgeoning anti-magic sentiment among the middle class human base, led by a smattering of churches preaching fear, hatred and bigotry against anyone associated with any type of magic, claiming all magic to be the work of the devil. The news playing into the right’s agenda, too — like puppets on a string — with continuous backhanded coverage highlighting crimes in which the perpetrators were alleged magic users, especially hard hitting on any cases in which violence was involved, also did not help any. But fear sells more papers than reassurance; panic drives up more broadcast ratings than a fair and balanced media. And in this environment, the trade of both is becoming entirely too much of hot ticket commodity. During the election cycle, this already volatile situation began heating to a boiling point as the right wingers stirred the pot, railing against the dangers of magic users in or near their communities, relentlessly hammering away at an already divided America, now being whipped into a frenzy.
Shortly after the election, Alden had been mobbed by reporters about the results, to which he had simply replied, as always — repeatedly — with his standard go-to political fallback, “No Comment,” hoping to leave it at that. However, “No Comment” doesn’t adequately convey his genuine reaction. In fact, no mere words could effectively express what he was feeling. He wanted to lash out at the ignorance of the President-elect with both barrels blazing. Alden knew better than that, though. He’s not a politician, and he had already gone on record before the polls closed, making his stance clear that he does not support most of the positions the incoming regime had campaigned on. So of course, the local correspondents wanted to get his reaction to the outcome. As if his feelings had changed? What could they have been expecting? Were they hoping to see him lose his cool and fly off the handle?
No, Alden could not be conned, he would not take the bait. No matter how much he wanted to rant and rave, he knew that would not help him feel any better, nor anyone else, for that matter. Instead, he kept his comments to himself, kept his cool. He knew what he had to do. If he was going to keep magical citizens protected in Chicago, he was going to have to step up his efforts. And, he was going to need to keep officers under him settled down, which he hoped wouldn’t prove to be too tall of an order.
The majority of badges in the psych squad were magic users, psychics, and therianthropes. There were only a handful of humans on the squad — all mostly good guys — but there were a few of them who agreed amongst themselves that mages are too dangerous... some even implying in whispers and hushed tones that they must all be stopped. Alden suspected none of those realized he recognized and understood their secret talks and inside signals, though just as well, he figured, as he was going to have to keep an eye on that group... a job easier done if they weren’t as diligent about keeping a lookout over their own shoulders.
Alden sighed to himself. There was no way of getting around it. This was going to be his new normal for the next few years. He only prayed conditions weren’t really on their way to getting as bad as Vittorio had predicted before he went off to Ndakinna with Chepi and the other agents. He hated to admit the Vampire might be right, but a few extra hundred years on the ground does tend to generate a keen insight for anyone with open eyes and half a brain... and say whatever else you wanted to about the old gangster, even Alden had to give it to that scoundrel — he was certainly no slouch in either department. In his heart, though, Alden knew it, too... as much as he wanted to hold out hope for the future, there was no use pretending anymore... the writing was already on the wall.
It occurred to the Guardian that perhaps this might have been the wrong time to have just sent away an individual with eyes and ears on the ground, ties to certain “dubious” elements, loyalty to magic users, a nearly unmatched power, and centuries of longevity... after all, it pays to know one’s history. Perhaps that set of skills could come in handy, and the one who wields them might be just exactly the type of ally which could prove to be most useful in what may very well turn out to be a long-running, and imminently looming oncoming battle. Perhaps, perhaps...
But Alden shook himself out of that daydream. He doesn’t have time to think about that now. There’s work to be done, and he’d best get to it.
Of course, this year’s election was very contentious, and that created more than a few headaches, some not even all that minor. But, at least at the local and state levels, there have been no problems as a consequence of the results. Both the mayor of Chicago and the Governor of Illinois are progressive — all for broadening the rights of magic users. Nationally, though, the newly elected President and the recently overturned Senate and Congress majority are now conservative. And so far, it seems their primary agenda is going to be to put even more restrictions on magic users. Because rounding them all up into heavily guarded, de-militarized “Magic Zones” wasn’t enough??? Some have even discussed deporting them all to Ndakinna, Gallia, or Atlantis.
Things in the US have been getting steadily worse for magic users for some time now. Anti-magic user groups have been gaining in popularity, with the religious right ramping up a burgeoning anti-magic sentiment among the middle class human base, led by a smattering of churches preaching fear, hatred and bigotry against anyone associated with any type of magic, claiming all magic to be the work of the devil. The news playing into the right’s agenda, too — like puppets on a string — with continuous backhanded coverage highlighting crimes in which the perpetrators were alleged magic users, especially hard hitting on any cases in which violence was involved, also did not help any. But fear sells more papers than reassurance; panic drives up more broadcast ratings than a fair and balanced media. And in this environment, the trade of both is becoming entirely too much of hot ticket commodity. During the election cycle, this already volatile situation began heating to a boiling point as the right wingers stirred the pot, railing against the dangers of magic users in or near their communities, relentlessly hammering away at an already divided America, now being whipped into a frenzy.
Shortly after the election, Alden had been mobbed by reporters about the results, to which he had simply replied, as always — repeatedly — with his standard go-to political fallback, “No Comment,” hoping to leave it at that. However, “No Comment” doesn’t adequately convey his genuine reaction. In fact, no mere words could effectively express what he was feeling. He wanted to lash out at the ignorance of the President-elect with both barrels blazing. Alden knew better than that, though. He’s not a politician, and he had already gone on record before the polls closed, making his stance clear that he does not support most of the positions the incoming regime had campaigned on. So of course, the local correspondents wanted to get his reaction to the outcome. As if his feelings had changed? What could they have been expecting? Were they hoping to see him lose his cool and fly off the handle?
No, Alden could not be conned, he would not take the bait. No matter how much he wanted to rant and rave, he knew that would not help him feel any better, nor anyone else, for that matter. Instead, he kept his comments to himself, kept his cool. He knew what he had to do. If he was going to keep magical citizens protected in Chicago, he was going to have to step up his efforts. And, he was going to need to keep officers under him settled down, which he hoped wouldn’t prove to be too tall of an order.
The majority of badges in the psych squad were magic users, psychics, and therianthropes. There were only a handful of humans on the squad — all mostly good guys — but there were a few of them who agreed amongst themselves that mages are too dangerous... some even implying in whispers and hushed tones that they must all be stopped. Alden suspected none of those realized he recognized and understood their secret talks and inside signals, though just as well, he figured, as he was going to have to keep an eye on that group... a job easier done if they weren’t as diligent about keeping a lookout over their own shoulders.
Alden sighed to himself. There was no way of getting around it. This was going to be his new normal for the next few years. He only prayed conditions weren’t really on their way to getting as bad as Vittorio had predicted before he went off to Ndakinna with Chepi and the other agents. He hated to admit the Vampire might be right, but a few extra hundred years on the ground does tend to generate a keen insight for anyone with open eyes and half a brain... and say whatever else you wanted to about the old gangster, even Alden had to give it to that scoundrel — he was certainly no slouch in either department. In his heart, though, Alden knew it, too... as much as he wanted to hold out hope for the future, there was no use pretending anymore... the writing was already on the wall.
It occurred to the Guardian that perhaps this might have been the wrong time to have just sent away an individual with eyes and ears on the ground, ties to certain “dubious” elements, loyalty to magic users, a nearly unmatched power, and centuries of longevity... after all, it pays to know one’s history. Perhaps that set of skills could come in handy, and the one who wields them might be just exactly the type of ally which could prove to be most useful in what may very well turn out to be a long-running, and imminently looming oncoming battle. Perhaps, perhaps...
But Alden shook himself out of that daydream. He doesn’t have time to think about that now. There’s work to be done, and he’d best get to it.
