[ EPU Foyer ] [ Lab and Grill ] [ Bonus Theater!! ] [ Rhetorical Questions ] [ CSRANTronix ] [ GNDN ] [ Subterranean Vault ] [ Discussion Forum ]

Eyrie Productions, Unlimited

Subject: "CoH: Hobson's Choice"     Previous Topic | Next Topic
Printer-friendly copy     Email this topic to a friend    
Conferences City of Heroes Topic #30
Reading Topic #30
trussadmin
Member since Nov-3-04
13 posts
Mar-27-08, 04:14 PM (EDT)
Click to EMail truss Click to send private message to truss Click to view user profileClick to add this user to your buddy list  
"CoH: Hobson's Choice"
 
   LAST EDITED ON Mar-27-08 AT 06:07 PM (EDT)
 
OFFICIAL TRANSCRIPT
PARAGON CITY SUPERIOR COURT
CASE: PEOPLE V. LAUREN HOBSON
TITLE: CONFESSION OF LAUREN HOBSON (AKA "CASCADE FAILURE")
DATE: MARCH 20, 2008
STENOGRAPHER: MELISSA VAN BUREN


You need all of it, right? Everything, from the beginning? Ok.

My name is Lauren Hobson. I'm a convicted criminal and former member of the Arachnos organization. I give this confession of my own free will, without coercion or the influence of mind-control powers. The following statement is a complete account of the events surrounding my case, and is, to the best of my knowledge, true. No relevant details have been omitted.

I'm not going to say this whole mess was all my parents' fault, but it certainly started with them. That part should already be on the public record. My dad was Eliot Hobson, dirty contact extraordinaire. My mom was Alyssa Betancourt, a.k.a. Becquerel, Rad/Rad Defender and alleged "Justice Incarnate". They met back in '82, when mom hit SL20 and started working in Indy Port. Dad took a shine to her right away, and set her up with a couple of plum jobs. After that, she got most of her work from him.

Of course, this was back before everyone knew dad was actually in the Family's pocket. It was a pretty sweet, if sleazy, deal. The Dons would get word to him when they wanted some low- or mid-level troublemaker taken care of, dad would point some eager-to-please hero in their direction, and at the end of the day, everyone was happy. Dad looked great in the eyes of the PPD, 'cause he kept putting Family dudes in jail, and since the city thought they were making progress in their fight against organized crime, it took a lot of heat off of the Dons' other operations.

Well, eventually, dad let mom in on the secret. He kinda had to, since he wanted to propose, and all. She went along with it -- mom was never that hard to sweet-talk into things. I came along shortly after that, and we were one big happy Family-oriented family for a while. That lasted until I turned 13, and started manifesting my Rad Blast powers. Dad was thrilled, let me tell you. He talked the Dons to admitting me to one of the Family's internal "training classes" for kids with superpowers. The day I turned 16, he pushed through my Registered Hero license -- I went by "Daughter Isotope", at my dad's suggestion -- and brought me in on the Family business.

Mom never forgave him for that. She'd been up in arms from my first day in Supers Training, saying that he had no business risking my life at such a young age, and that I should have the right to decide what I wanted to do with my own life. But things got *really* icy once I went out in the field. Probably worse than I realized at the time -- I'm sure there were lots of "conversations" that I *didn't* overhear. If you'd asked me then, I'd have told you mom was overreacting, or being overprotective. I really was a "daddy's girl" at the time, if you can believe it.

We moved away from Paragon City in 1999. You probably know more than I do about that -- I never completely knew what happened. Someone finally blew the whistle on our operation -- dad was sure mom did it, mom claimed it was someone she put in the Zig. Either way, we all had our licenses revoked, and we had to get out of town *fast*. We holed up in Toronto, took on fake names, the whole nine yards. We kept doing work for the Family, but it wasn't really the same -- they didn't dare send mom and I back to Paragon very often, and work outside of the city was harder to find. Dad's standing in the Family started falling, and he was *pissed* about it. At mom, mostly.

Just before Christmas 2000, mom got offered a job in Paragon, and jumped at it. It was drudge work -- hang out in the shadows of this one Family cargo ship, as emergency muscle in case anyone came calling -- but mom really missed Paragon City, and preferred a crap job there to interesting work anywhere else. Dad knew it, too, which is probably why he set it all up that way.

You have to know one thing about my dad -- even before he got mixed up with the Family, he was all about loyalty. He drilled his code of ethics into my head from the day I was born, and most of it became my code -- even during my time in the Isles, I tried to live by it. You could look it up, if you could hack into Arachnos's records.

"In business and in life, your word is the only commodity that matters," he told me. "Lies of omission are sometimes necessary, and any right-thinking person should realize that. Alliances are, by their very nature, temporary, but you should never be the one to break them. If you make a promise, *keep it*. If someone does right by you, don't screw them over. If loyalties conflict, if an ally *must* become a target, your final responsibility to them is to make it a fair fight -- if you are forced to stab a friend, do it in the chest, not the back."

"The rest of the world thinks I'm immoral, but my conscience is clean."

Bullshit.

The official story was that mom's ship got assaulted by Council troops, and mom was killed in the crossfire. But I was better at hacking than my dad was at covering things up. I found the hush-hush memos, and the "holiday bonus" monetary transfers before and after the job. Mom had been angling for a divorce, and dad decided to end things on his own terms. The "Council attack" had been an elite Family hit squad, armed with stolen Council weaponry to make it look good. The crew had crossed the Dons, dad wanted mom gone... it was a two-fer. Rocks fall, everyone dies. At least the crew's Underboss had some idea what he was in for -- mom just got stabbed in the back.

I ran. I didn't even know where I was running *to*, really, but I'd made some friends of my own over the years, outside of dad's inner circle -- one of those was a high-ranking lieutenant of "Mooch" Verandi, and he owed me a favor. A few calls later, and I was on my way to the Rogue Isles. On my way there, I tried to figure out what I was going to do with my life... and I'll admit, "going straight" never really crossed my mind. My top priority was revenge, and by the time I got to the Etoiles, I'd figured out how to get it.

The whole Marcone/Verandi mess hadn't exploded by then -- Manuel Marcone was still alive -- but the seeds of it were there. There were cracks in the "unified" Family facade if you knew where to look, and my Verandi pal had no particular love for my dad and his best pals. So it didn't cost too much to set a trap for the bastard -- which is good, 'cause I didn't have much.

In retrospect, it would have been a lot easier just to pay for a hit. I'd have been safely in the Isles, and dad would still have gotten what he deserved. But this was personal, and I wanted to be the one to do the deed. It also made it cheaper, since I just had to pay for setup, not execution. It was an old warehouse in Kings Row. He thought he was there to finalize a business deal that would let him set up shop in Paragon City again -- turnabout of the highest order, really.

I sat in the rafters, watching him approach. Dad never had any powers or any gear, so one good Proton Volley would have finished him off, but I gave him the fair chance mom never got. His handlers backed away and left him to me. I even gave him a tommy gun, to make it sporting. I had pretty crappy armor back then, so it might have done him some good.

The son of a bitch *ran*. Never even said a word, just bolted for the door.

He didn't last long. Truth be told, after all that trouble... it wasn't even that satisfying. There's probably a lesson in there somewhere, but, whatever. It was over and done with. Unfortunately, the Family -- all of it -- had decided they were done with *us*, too, and next thing I know I'm surrounded by Longbow, and on my way to the Zig.

(For the record, I don't hold any particular grudge against the Family for that. I'd make it crystal clear to my Verandi contact that I wasn't interested in a continuing relationship, that this was not an alliance, it was a one-time gig. He was cool with that, and told me he couldn't make any promises about what came next. He held up his end of the deal -- he got dad there, and he gave me my shot at him. I can respect that.)

The next bit, you know about. I got lucky, I guess, in that I was still 17 when they hauled me in -- I ended up getting tried as a minor, probably because someone in power hated dad as much as I did. I celebrated my 18th birthday in the juvie wing, and a week after that, the Rikti invaded. As long as I'm confessing things, here, let me confess that I was *scared shitless*, to the point where I offered up my services as a repair tech for the defense forces. Giving me access to high-tech equipment made the wardens *hella* nervous, but the offer was genuine, and eventually they realized that. I spent every day during that time convinced I wasn't gonna live to see the next one, and if helping out my captors would change that... well, you do what you gotta.

I guess it got me some brownie points, though, because after Hero 1's crew did its thing, they moved me to a nicer cell block. The guards would even chat with me -- it wasn't an *entirely* unpleasant way to spend the next couple of years. I mean, hey, I did the crime, I never denied that, so I was OK with doing the time.

Then along came the spiders. That night was an absolute, total ZOMGWTF blur. I'm still not sure what made them tag me as "destined". Probably the tech work I did during the invasion caught the eye of one of their guys in my wing. I'd like to say I hesitated, that they dragged me away kicking and screaming, that I wanted to serve out my sentence rather than go with them -- the irony is, I'd have gotten out about two months ago -- but, well, I'm under oath, and I'm a sucky liar. I'm not a patient person, I saw a shot at freedom *right then*, not in a few more years, and I took it.

Anyway, the whole "destined" thing didn't work out so well for them -- I blew it off pretty much from day one. Any organization that makes backstabbing for advancement a *central tenet* of the culture doesn't get a bit of respect from me. The Family and I were splitsville, and no one else in the Isles had anything I wanted, so I went freelance. I made a decent living, if I do say so myself, out of doing odd jobs for and against the scum of the earth. I did my share of jobs against Longbow, Wyvern, the Circle of Fluffy Bunnies and the like, too -- which comes back to bite me now, I guess -- and I offer no legal or moral defense against that. I was a mercenary, I went where the money took me. Mostly.

The beginning of the end, I suppose, was when I met Jen -- Jen Rossum, a.k.a. "Gen. Rossum", robotics mastermind. The first time I saw her, a tiny thing surrounded by her Big Scary Robots and her oh-so-imposing-no-really-I-mean-it all-black getup, I just about broke down laughing. "This was not a girl that had any chance of surviving a *week* in the Isles," I thought to myself.

Well, it's not the first time I've been dead wrong.

The first time I called her "The General", it was meant mockingly. That lasted all of one mission. I don't know if you've ever seen her with her bots, before she lost them -- get her in a fight with those bad boys, and she is *totally* in her element. I had to kick myself into action a couple of times, to fight the urge to just sit there and *watch* her command her troops. She was a natural at combat tactics, and at least as good with a sonic screwdriver as I've ever been. I started seeking her out when I picked up jobs I couldn't handle on my own. If I had a friend in the Isles, it was her.

I knew, pretty early on, that she wanted to get out. She told me part of her story, and I managed to dig up most of the rest of it on my own. If I'd had the contacts to pull it off, I'd have smuggled her back to Paragon City myself -- I don't know if she'd have trusted me to do it, but I would have been willing. She tried a few different times to put an escape plan together, but nothing came of it, and she was getting pretty down about the whole thing.

Then, a few months ago, she vanished without a trace. I thought maybe she'd left without saying good-bye, but none of our mutual contacts could confirm anything for me. This one brain-in-a-jar guy -- one of her contacts that wouldn't give me the time of day -- finally admitted to me that she'd been working on some big hush-hush technological project, but wouldn't let on what it was about. That worried me a little. Arachnos takes a *great* interest in "big technological projects", and the people who work on them without approval and oversight. I know that much from personal experience.

So I dug, and I dug, and I dug some more. I eventually caught wind of an incident near one of Jen's old hideouts. Arachnos had sent a *bunch* of troops out to stop whatever it was that she was doing, and there was a confrontation, and an Arbiter was killed, and then... the rest was classified. Very, very, very classified -- locked up in systems that were way past my ability to hack into.

Well, at that point, I got... ok, I got scared. Killing an Arbiter is pretty much the only thing that Lord Recluse and his cronies will *really* go out of their way to fuck you over for. And if Jen had done that... I didn't know exactly what they'd do to her, but I knew it wouldn't be pretty. Some people say that Recluse, or even the Arbiters themselves, will go back in time and prevent you from being born. That didn't seem to be true here -- there was still some record of her -- but people believe it *could* happen, which gives you some idea what I was expecting to find.

I'd already hacked in awfully deep -- deep enough that I probably wasn't in *big* trouble, but enough so that the spiders would be keeping a close eye on me and my movement for pretty much forever. But I'd done pretty much all I could. I only really had two options -- give up and walk away, or run blindly towards the danger, and not stop until I found what I was looking for.

I guess I still believe what I was taught by my otherwise-useless father about loyalty. Jen had been a friend -- in my eyes, at least, if not hers -- and didn't deserve whatever she'd gotten. So I kept going. I hit up every contact, burned through every favor anyone had ever owed me, followed every lead, and accepted every risk. Because it was worth it, to save a friend, to get to the end of the story.

The story, as it turned out, ended with me surrounded by Scirocco, three Arbiters, a dozen Mu Guardians, and more spiderbots than I cared to count. I didn't really learn much more, except that the incident at Jen's hideout involved *extremely* advanced technology now in the possession of Arachnos itself, and that one or more Patrons were somehow involved. And the look in Scirocco's eye told me that I wasn't likely to live long enough to ask many more questions. But I didn't go down quietly -- I took out three Guardians before I blacked out.

I came to in a cell, chained to the wall, with Ghost Widow... standing? hovering?... nearby. I asked her what the hell she wanted. She raised an eyebrow, and said she was going to ask me the same thing. I told her that she already knew, since I hadn't exactly been subtle about my intentions. Then she got all inscrutable on me.

"I know *what* you were after. What I want to know is *why*."

For a second, I tried to figure out the answer that was least likely to get me killed... then I thought, "screw it, I'm dead anyway" and just laid it out for her. All of it, pretty much as I've said it here. Except I probably said "fuck" a little more often. When I was done, she just... looked at me. Didn't say a word, and I don't *think* she was using any kind of mind-probing powers though I suppose I wouldn't know... just stared at me for the longest time, before she finally responded.

"I respect you for your loyalty, and for your commitment to your cause. Out of respect, I will tell you this, and only this: Jen is safe, and unharmed."

I think I let out a slightly deranged chuckle. "*Now* you tell me."

"The situation need not be as bad as it seems. I believe I could work with you. If you pledge fealty to me, I can make these problems go away."

I told her thanks, but I wasn't really interested in working for Arachnos in any way, shape or form. That bridge had been burned beyond the capacity for reconstruction.

"Very well," she replied, and I thought we were finished. Or, well, that *I* was finished. But she did the staring thing again.

"I will make another offer to you, one that you may find more palatable. I will arrange for your release. You will be set free, and allowed to seek your own path. I will ask nothing further of you."

There has to be a catch, I said. There's always a catch with Arachnos.

"Only this -- the charges against you will not be cleared. You will be considered a fugitive by Arachnos, and I assure you that the bounty on your head is quite large. Your equipment will not be returned to you. From what you have told me, you have tapped out your network of contacts."

She had listened to what I'd said, all right. It was my Verandi bargain, all over again.

"And as a final courtesy, I will inform you that that any superhuman powers you possessed have been eliminated -- permanently."

A lot of people assume that I got my powers from my gear -- and they're half right. All the buff/debuff stuff and the zipping and bouncing around? Gear. All the radiation blasts? A genetic gift from mother to daughter. And now, I was being told that it had been taken away, for good. I don't know how Ghost Widow did it -- or even if *she* did it, it could have been Scirocco, or Recluse, or Aeon, or anyone who had access to me while I was unconscious -- and I wasn't exactly in a position to inquire.

Anyway, long story short... I took the deal. I'm still not quite sure why she let me go in the first place -- the whole "respect" thing sounds fishy, but lacking any other explanation, I have to take it at face value. Unless she figured that without powers, I was no threat -- but I think GW is smarter than that. They gave me my old Zig jumpsuit -- nice touch, that -- and turned me loose on the streets of Grandville. I guess she decided a 15-minute "head start" was sporting, because I'm pretty sure I heard the APB go out over the PA just as I found my hiding spot on the ferry. It took me six weeks of hiding, groveling, and dealing, but I found a way out. It's amazing what you can accomplish with nothing but a sense of utter desperation and a lack of other options.

I landed in Indy Port -- full circle, gotta love it -- and took a few quick stabs at finding Jen, since I still had no idea if she'd made it back to Paragon or not. No luck. I spent a day running through my mental rolodex -- heroes I'd fought that seemed trustworthy, old contacts of dad's that weren't even *remotely* trustworthy, heroes that Jen had mentioned back in the Isles but that I'd never met -- trying to decide who to get in touch with next. None of the options seemed like good ones. So, what the hell, I decided. Take the biggest risk, go for broke.

I took the tram to Brickstown, marched to the front gate of the Zig, and turned myself in.

Even if my pardon isn't granted, even if States doesn't sign off on Silver Spectre's "community service" proposal, even if I end up rotting in the maximum security wing for the rest of my days, I think it'll have been worth it for the look on those guards' faces. I take my victories where I can find them, now.

And, hey, Jen's safe. That's all I need to know.

So that's it. That's my story, that's my confession. I am guilty of escaping from Ziggursky Prison prior to the completion of my sentence. I am guilty of criminal acts, including but not limited to grand theft, assault, and attempted manslaughter, against Paragon City personnel while residing in the Rogue Isles. I place myself at the mercy of the court, and willingly accept whatever sentence it sees fit to issue.

In closing, I will only say that I've never tried to be a hero -- though I will do my best to be one now, if that is what this city asks of me -- but I've never tried to be a *villain*, either. I hope that my final heroic failure during my time in the Isles demonstrates that I *have* tried to be a good person. But if the rest of the world thinks I'm immoral... I accept the possibility that they may be right.

I guess it's up to you guys, now.


  Alert | IP Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
Steveo
Member since Apr-16-04
28 posts
Mar-28-08, 01:52 AM (EDT)
Click to EMail Steveo Click to send private message to Steveo Click to view user profileClick to add this user to your buddy list  
1. "RE: CoH: Hobson's Choice"
In response to message #0
 
   In a word: awesome.

You know, these type of stories make me wish for a game with a true dynamic plot--one that follows the player's choices. 'Course that'd be the virtual GM that all (computer) RPG makers are after...

Great story. I thought the grey-ness of the character really came through. Of course, the cynic in me thinks she'd be locked up forever.

Thanks for the excellent read.

---
Christopher Stevenson
Programmer/Soldier


  Alert | IP Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
Matrix Dragon
Charter Member
1085 posts
Mar-28-08, 11:56 PM (EDT)
Click to EMail Matrix%20Dragon Click to send private message to Matrix%20Dragon Click to view user profileClick to add this user to your buddy list  
2. "RE: CoH: Hobson's Choice"
In response to message #0
 
   Nice one Truss. I especially like that she's not really a supervillain, more a mercenary. I get the feeling she'd treat being a hero as more of a career then a 'duty' - do the job, save the world, get a paycheck.

Matrix Dragon, J. Random Nutter


  Alert | IP Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top
WengFook
Charter Member
852 posts
Mar-31-08, 05:56 AM (EDT)
Click to EMail WengFook Click to send private message to WengFook Click to view user profileClick to add this user to your buddy list Click to send message via ICQ  
3. "RE: CoH: Hobson's Choice"
In response to message #0
 
   An excellent read :) Will there be more?

_____________________________________________
"Walls are meant to be broken." - makes sense both figuratively and literally.


  Alert | IP Printer-friendly page | Edit | Reply | Reply With Quote | Top

Conferences | Topics | Previous Topic | Next Topic

[ YUM ] [ BIG ] [ ??!? ] [ RANT ] [ GNDN ] [ STORE ] [ FORUM ] [ VAULT ]

version 3.3 © 2001
Eyrie Productions, Unlimited
Benjamin D. Hutchins
E P U (Colour)