57 - text;

[islandshore]

PGC filer;

Lightning and Hope are gone, which leaves us without leaders. That also cuts our numbers down to ten.

So, my question for your guys is "what next?" I don't think we should disband; just a quick look at the network will show that goons like Cobra are still at large. Still, we're gonna need some structural changes. New leaders, possibly new squads, and, more importantly, new members.

I guess I just want to know what you think. I don't know every one of you personally, but the PGC is supposed to be a team, so everyone should have a chance at giving feedback. I think if we sort out our strengths and weaknesses, that could help us with restructuring. It might be better to have multiple leaders so that if anyone disappears, there's people to fall back on. Maybe each squad can have one, beats me.

I'm gonna throw up an anonymous message in a sec to see about gathering newbies, though. If you've got friends you'd like to recommend, might as well bring them up now.

[Shortly after the PGC message pops up, a second message appears:]

Anonymous;

What does this world mean to you? Do you think it's something worth protecting, or would you rather sit on the sidelines and watch it burn? This place is more than sunshine and Pokémon battles. If given the choice to make a difference, would you take it?

[He remembers Lightning doing something like this before. He'll just have to keep his fingers crossed that it works.]

Comments

[twinsanity]

I've never cared much for them, myself. Give me a reason to protect the place, and I'll protect it; that's how it's always been, and I see no reason to fix what isn't broken.

What are you even trying to protect it from? The place seems fine enough to me.

[islandshore]

It doesn't stop attacks from occurring. In the past, they've been pretty severe.

Not that I'm trying to win you over. I can tell when somebody's content to stick to their guns.

[twinsanity]

That still doesn't tell me what you're trying to do. Eradicate all crime? Really, if that were at all possible don't you think it would have happened decades ago?

If justice were really stronger than people's will to do idiotic things, this wouldn't be a problem to begin with. However...

[islandshore]

I'm not one for taking a defeatist attitude. Crime obviously won't go anywhere, but there are ways of fighting back.

Call it stubborn persistence if you want.

[twinsanity]

I don't think it's defeatist to acknowledge things that are blatantly true - there's just nothing to be done about conflict like that, it's human nature. Give your average person a gun and it won't be long before it goes off simply because they wanted to know what it feels like to fire it. The primary difference between right and wrong is simply whether they chose to unload it into a board or into a person.

But then, were it not for war and crime I'd be out of a job, so I can't really complain about it too much, either.

[islandshore]

We'll just have to agree to disagree. I just can't take such a cynical outlook when I feel there's a better route.

At the very least, I think it's better to alleviate some of the problem than let it hit a downward spiral.

[twinsanity]

Well, if it weren't for people like you I would still be out of a job. It works both ways, really.

It's the natural order of things. The stronger, more adept things prey on the weaker things, that's all. I suppose you're interested in what separates us from the metaphorical dogs? The drive to protect other people despite the natural order.

[islandshore]

Maybe, but the natural order doesn't always apply, especially in a place like this where anyone can pack a team of destructive monsters.

I'd argue that there's different kinds of strength, anyway. Strength of body, strength of mind, strength of will... it's not as simple as dog eat dog.

[twinsanity]

Isn't it, though? Really, the strong of body are easily overthrown by the strong of mind if they know what they're doing, and vice versa.

Different sorts of strength just lend themselves to different balances of power. Ants can't defeat larger prey on their own, so they swarm. It's not defying the natural order, it's adapting to it.

[islandshore]

Touche. Group work is an adaptation, I guess, but it just goes to show that there are ways to work around it. The weak can find strength in working with others; in theory, a swarm of weaklings could overthrow someone in power.

That whole desire to protect can even act as someone's strength. It provides motivation, a goal... Sometimes when a person's at their lowest, that desire to protect what matters can propel them out of the deepest trench.

[twinsanity]

Oh, now you're preaching to the choir. Just because I don't find this place worth protecting doesn't mean I've never found anything to be; it's a vital part of what I do back home, protecting things.

And it's why I'm so annoyed with this place for taking me away from that, really.

[islandshore]

Right. Because why deal with someone else's problems? It's not an uncommon mindset. Not even a bad one in theory.

People are generally more inclined to care about people they actually know. That's probably what makes it so easy to laugh at total strangers and their screw ups.