There's a small sector of society that's been up in arms over the
Korean government's mandatory long-form census since the day it was
introduced, denouncing at least once a week what they purport to be an
attack on "supers' rights". What these so-called activists—most of whom
protest from the comfort of desk chairs half a world away—fail to
understand is that Seoul really does believe the national
archive necessary, and I wholly sympathize with its rationale. After
all, in a country that has seen the deaths of more supers in a year than
most states have reported since 1945, one can't fault the government for
scrabbling after every possible means it can find to aid, however
marginally, our special brethren from shadowy people that one might
almost suspect of hunting the poor souls.
People like me.
Oh, Seoul is perfectly aware of what is happening, even if it
won't publicly admit it. Bodies turn up with clear markers as to how
their lives were ended, and even if it's politically incorrect the state
spooks would be fools not to profile the prime suspect; their
problem is, they find the cadavers in the remotest regions, where
anyone, super or otherwise, has no reason to be. Tracking down
my lair has been the government's secret obsession since the Other was
flung back into the void, and the census is one
bland-but-not-impractical tool to help it divine concrete leads.
Take, for instance, the case of Donald Summers, or as he's known by his
superhero alias, Fallout Boy. A high school science geek, he took after
David Hahn, secretly assembling a breeder reactor in his backyard.
According to his testimony he managed a sustained reaction... then got
so excited that in a classic case of teenage clumsiness he accidentally
blew it up. Rather than do the normal thing and die, he wound up a
literal radioactive boy scout, not unlike Mr. Neytronov but less of a
health hazard to the people around him.
Now, puberty can be a confusing time for anyone, but to be 18 and super?
Don wasn't ready for the fame; at least, that's what he told
himself. He covered it up as best he could, refused to register his
status with the relevant offices in his American homeland, and swore his
friends to secrecy. So, according to official records, Fallout
Boy never existed. But, within about a year, he was bitten by the hero
bug and started down the classic trail of the moonlight vigilante. Built
up a fairly impressive career in it, too. So it wasn't the fame
he was averting, merely the publicity, which, given the average
life of a super, is a fairly wise course of action.
But, as you've probably discerned, his rapid rise was mirrored by an
equally frantic fall. After taking out the Matador crime syndicate more
or less single-handedly, his confidence went to his head and he started
venturing outside his home turf. Oh, he did well in the South Pacific,
if we discount his clandestine activities provoking political disputes
between countries that mistook his wake as rival nuclear programmes...
Then he sought to take on me. He said he knew what he was
getting into, in which case his bravado really was the stuff of legends.
And yet still, knowing full well Korea's body count,
he skirted registration at customs, since if he clocked in as a super
his whole secret history would come to light.
Long story short, he entered Korea with too many presumptions about his
own abilities and without any exit strategy (which, admittedly, few ever
bother to consider). I suppose it didn't help that I have a guilty
pleasure for the dramatic and deliberately lulled him into a false sense
of accomplishment; hell, I even let him penetrate one of the main labs.
But when we at last met face-to-face, him hulking like a Mike Magnum
cosplayer, me leaning nonchalantly against the guardrail, I began to
ponder if the press had overblown his previous exploits or if he'd just
caught a lucky break. He, too, realized that he'd been boxing against
lightweights his whole life. "Hwayeombangsagi," he breathed, clearly
awestruck that I did, in fact, exist.
"Yes, that's my name." To say the truth, I was impressed that
this Yankee could not only navigate my 'full' name, but did so with the
proper accent. As ever, I was ready to kill him on the spot. And from
his posture he was a hair-trigger from launching into a full fight. But
he'd lost the initiative and I opted to spend the next five minutes...
just talking. Sadly for him, it wasn't the villainous spiel, it wasn't
even much of a gloat; oh, I made sure to highlight the gaping maw of the
deathtrap before us, pointed out the gravidic disruptors, laser-guided
auto-turrets, the whole shebang, but as tête-à-tête's go, ours was
uncharacteristically subdued. Looking back, I think I
was the one stalling.
Now, don't get me wrong: I was born outside the 'super era' and I don't
subscribe to its house-rule ethics, but his bid to take me down was so
amateurish that I very nearly let him walk away. By which I
mean, throw him out, because shaken though he was he clearly wouldn't
leave without at least a token show of force. Nothing baffles me more
than superheroes' (and indeed, some supervillains') willingness to
die just to prove a point. And die he did. Whatever pity I felt
for Donald Summers' ill-timed enlightenment, he'd broken further into
this base than even the triple-A grades usually managed (the deathtrap
was actually designed for Typhoon Phil—yep, he was mine too) and I was
not particularly enthused to have to relocate on such short notice.
Besides which, it gave me the opportunity to test the labs' latest
novelty, a radiation-cancelling nine-millimetre charge.
Make no mistake, Hwa-yeom isn't going soft, but for those bleeding-heart
types I will confide that his death was quick and comparatively
painless. Would've been even faster if the damned thing had performed to
proper specs. As with all my opponents, right before shooting him I
asked if he'd registered in the database, so that I might drop off the
body near people that were expecting them; I'm cruel, not sadistic, so
no sense dragging out anxieties. Since he hadn't, we dumped his corpse
off the beach in Gunsan. It wasn't even concealed yet they didn't find
it for two days; it took another week before they figured out he was a
super, and half a month before his home country finally connected the
dots.
So, please, if you are a super, take twenty minutes and
complete the form. Frankly, Seoul needs all the help it can get.
A Public Service Announcement from KaiserIOT by @Thorvald (El Thorvaldo)
Roleplay interlude from KaiserElectric's superhero-themed Imperium Offtopicum spinoff, establishing United Korea's Public Enemy №1. The game is set in the near future, six years after a devastating alien invasion has turned the global political order on its head, although the main point of departure begins circa 1941 with the development of a war-time 'super serum'. As the Cold War marched on and supersoldiers gained ever-greater public profile, mythological creatures, legendary heroes, and spandex-wearing vigilantes crawled out of the woodwork, and a new social order was founded.
There really is nothing more fun to write than a carefree villain, and these candid addresses were to serve as a regular feature. Hwa-yeom's notoriety as a 'super killer' casts an enduring black mark on Korea's international reputation, and the government has partnered with the country's leading high-tech company to keep him from extending his reach beyond the peninsula. Since 'Lec is looking to reboot the game some time in the future I shan't disclose much on this character, other than to say that if WIM-IOT had lasted, this is who'd've led my player country.
Mike Magnum © KaiserElectric; you can see a concept portrait I did here.
Comments & Critiques (0)
Preferred comment/critique type for this content: Any Kind
Leave a Comment
You must be logged in and have an Active account to leave a comment.
Please, login or sign up for an account.