[work email to M Main]
[Sent late in the afternoon, the day after this]
Main-
Attached you'll find a rough of that article you're so keen on reading. Apparently we're supposed to have some kind of circle jerk before our constipated gargoyle of a boss will let me submit it, so go ahead and fact-check until you're weak-kneed and sore. Let me know if it all checks out to your specs.
-JA
I have seen the savior, and he is us.
I'm sure ole Walt will forgive me for murdering his words, but in this instance it's justified. Those watching our backs, lurking in the shadows and ensuring Davey and Jane don't end up on the ten o'clock news, are just like us. They walk amongst us, these caped protectors, you may even have seen them on the ride to work, sat beside them at the dinner table, and never knew it.
"Not surprising!" you may shout, believing yourselves quite clever. "Of course they're just like us! They're only people underneath, after all!" But I challenge all of you to sit back at the breakfast table, or the brand new La-z-boy as you stuff your face with lard-flavored sawdust, and use that grey squishy mass between your ears for once in your miserable lives.
Who are they, really? You assume they're people underneath, but I doubt a single one of you has ever actually considered what that means. You assume they're people like you and me because there is no third option, not because you truly believe it. In your heart of hearts I guarantee you that a majority think they're something more, something higher. Something greater. They must be, to take things into their hands such as they do. No normal man would take to the rooftops, would swing from ropes or leap extreme heights in the pursuit of a man armed with a gun or a knife. No normal man is that foolish, or that brave.
But I disagree. And instead I present to you incontrovertible proof as to why.
Consider this. Exhibit A, if you will.
A man. A man who calls himself the Bat, who lurks on the mean streets of Seattle, just one of the many who parade around in latex and fight the crime the police cannot, enacting their own brand of vigilante justice for better or worse. Little is known about him, of either the costume or the man behind it, but what we do know is this. He is well-funded, he must be in order to carry the kind of equipment he does. Boomerangs in the shape of bats, body armor of the same caliber as the military, if not better. Clearly this is someone with serious money behind him. Military himself, you may say. Funded by a military group, or the government itself, just more proof of Big Brother sticking his far-reaching fingers where his other organizations can't reach. Not a bad theory, and Washington has certainly done its share to support it; with CIFA and TALON in full-force, it's not much of a reach to believe the government's resorted to sending agents out to deal with the threats directly. But the scale's too small, the potatoes too insignificant to be their work.
Which leads to Exhibit B. If not the government, who?
A few names come to mind, people with enough money and access to the kind of technology we're talking about. Thomas Brandon III of Thomas, Inc. and Orrin Monarch of Monarch Industries rank at the top of the list. Both head legitimate corporations that give them access to the latest military developments, opportunity to research and develop further advancements above and beyond, and quite frankly disgusting amounts of cash to throw at these pet projects. Either one could be capable of wearing the cowl, and while Monarch is in the spotlight almost daily for one bad decision or another played out in public forum, Brandon is more reserved, more given to disappearing from the public eye for weeks at a time. Look no further than the Bat's recent extended absence from the city; if you dig, I wouldn't be surprised to find that Brandon was similarly unreachable at the time.
Brandon himself neglected to comment on the subject when reached, but that in itself speaks volumes. As does the concerns he raised for having his name associated with the Bat; concerns for his family and friends should those with less than fuzzy feelings towards the caped crusader wish to act out on a more tangible target. Not unjustified, I will give him that; the Bat has many enemies, many who undoubtedly would monopolize on the knowledge. But I would argue that so do the boys in blue. So do lawyers, and the President, and humble reporters that spread the truth to the unwashed masses. And yet THEY still do their jobs, parade their faces and loved ones where the world can see rather than hiding them all behind a mask and keeping them under lock and key to protect them from a world that is often cruel but at least is so equally. If that's his rationale for keeping silent, for not wanting to give a name and a face to thank for the thousands who have reason to, then should we trust him with our safety after all? If he wants us to put our collective faith in him, and others like him, should he not have the faith to trust us in turn?