STRANGE, WHERE WERE YOU WHEN WE STARTED THIS GIG?

[maskormods]

WHO: All diplomatic imPorts that have signed up HERE.
WHERE: The capitals of Mexico, South Korea, and France. UN-attending imPorts will be placed in Davos, Switzerland.
WHEN: January 26th.
WHAT: Democracy in motion as imPorts attempt to use their skills of persuasion to convince each government or organization to lend the imPorts - and America - their help. Players may also use this log to play out the long flight over, planning, and other associated activities.
WARNINGS: None anticipated; let us know if we should change this!



Depending on their assignment, all imPort diplomats will find themselves either in Seoul, South Korea; Mexico City, Mexico; Paris, France; or for UN attending imPorts, Davos in the Swiss Alps. They will be housed in the American Embassies and regardless of their Registration status, will be treated as American citizens. UN-attending imPorts will be housed in a hotel close by. Their accommodations will be that of an extremely luxurious hotel, and they will be provided with anything that they should require, be it books on the art of rhetoric, access to state of the art computers and laptops, food or drink. They will also be provided with boardrooms in which the teams may convene to assemble a strategy. Don't be distracted by the free drinks; this is a task that will require clear minds!

After one night of preparation, on January 26th, each team of imPorts will meet with either the government of their assigned nation or the UN. They will be placed at a podium in front of a room full of politicians and diplomats, and will be expected to state their argument. They will be allowed to have an opening speech before each assembly asks each group three questions.

When either the opening speech has been concluded OR the question has been answered to each player's satisfaction, please put QUESTION NEEDED in the subject title of your comment, and we will deliver the next question.

Just remember: an invasion is coming! Even if acquiring the alliance of these governments and organizations do not help with the imPorts' immediate predicament, it will impact the future of the game at large!

Get ready, our silver-tongued imPorts, and good luck!

Comments

[rathercommon]

Our mission.

[ Finally, she looks back at him. ]

Meaning this situation?

[vorbarra]

Right. I was shocked that they actually think us being from other planets-- sorry, dimensions-- is some sort of argument against involvement. It's antithetical to me.

[rathercommon]

[ A little shrug. She's engaging a little more fully. ]

Well. It's not hard to conceive of us as...unattached. Temporary. Why would we have a stake in this world when we'll leave it sooner rather than later - all that.

[vorbarra]

That's short-sighted. Obviously we as a problem are here to stay, if not us as individuals. We're not even the first batch of imPorts. They need to deal with us from a legal perspective eventually-- they're letting all kinds of loopholes through by refusing to give us a specific legal status.

[rathercommon]

Maybe they like loopholes.

[vorbarra]

They won't if the Soviets turn us into brainwashed assassins.

[ Whoops, Gregor might have a dark bent to him when he unleashes his sarcasm. ]

[rathercommon]

[ And Kitty fixes her eyes on his. ]

Of course they will. It'll let them take us back, treat us like non-people, and brainwash us in return.

[ Kitty, in turn, might have a dark bent to her - well. Always. ]

[vorbarra]

That gets messy, you know. It doesn't actually work very well the second time. The person tends to, hmm, get less selective about their targets.

[ Someone really should not have been allowed unrestricted access to historical records from an early age. ]

[rathercommon]

[ A small shrug. ]

I'll take your word for that. Still, the fact remains that not establishing firm legal status for us largely works in their favor. If we don't have rights, things get easier.

[vorbarra]

[ Gregor taps one finger silently on the table, thinking. ]

It's the bystander effect, is what it is. They're all standing there staring at us, and everyone wants someone else to do it. We have to ask them individually.

[rathercommon]

[ A lift of her eyebrows. ]

I don't know that that's what it is. I feel lately more that it's simply that the predators are circling, only kept at bay by the worry that they might meet something fiercer than they are over the corpse of their prey.

[vorbarra]

Mischaracterizing us as prey is the mistake they're making, though.

[rathercommon]

Mm. Rather too true.

[ Her lips twist bitterly. ]

Three titans, struggling with each other. Not caring what gets crushed underfoot as we fight.

[vorbarra]

I care.

Which is the point I will be attempting to make.

[rathercommon]

I care, too.

[ She rubs slightly at her cheek. ]

Most days I wonder how common that is. How many of us do care. How many in the government, too.

[vorbarra]

If you mean caring about all parties involved, not just the ones that are easy to sympathize with... I have no illusions about it being commonplace.

[rathercommon]

Yeah.

[ She kicks at the carpet. ]

Some days, you rather want to give up on humanity, don't you.

[vorbarra]

Oh, yes. Just slip security and run off and live in the woods. No one'd arrest me for loitering without a job there.

[rathercommon]

Engage in some subsistence farming?

[vorbarra]

I'd be terrible at it. It sounds lovely.

[rathercommon]

[ With a laugh - ]

Till you're starving, I suppose.

[vorbarra]

I'd end up trading unskilled labor for food from some poor hillsman that took pity on me, probably.

I'm positively predisposed toward hillsmen. They sheltered me for a while when I was very young.

[rathercommon]

Really.

[ Her smile turns curious. ]

And here you don't even swear well. Or drink well. What were they sheltering you from?

[vorbarra]

I was four, Kitty. They didn't swear or drink around me. [ Plus they'd known he was the emperor. ]

It was the War of Vordarian's Pretendership to the throne. I'm distantly related to the Imperial family, so my foster-mother took me into hiding. They were kind to me.

[rathercommon]

[ Good lord. ]

The War of...What's that, someone trying to take over the government?