Scrap Metal Philosophy 23 (Patreon)

Scrap Metal Philosophy

Chapter 23

-VB-

Taylor

She hated the fact that she had that fight with Silly, even if the gynoid herself didn’t seem to consider it so.

What she hated more…

What she hated more was that the people, not the media, seemed to be on Silly’s side on what happened. PRT and the media weren’t happy with her, and some of the people not from Brockton Bay weren’t happy with her. However, Brockton Bay itself? Too many people here were happy with Silly blinding Oni Lee, asians included.

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Today is April 10, 2011.

■

♦Topic: New independent hero, “Toy Soldier,” blinds Oni Lee

In: Boards ► Cape News ► North America ► East Coast ► Brockton Bay

Bagrat (Original Poster)(Veteran Memeber)(Guy in the Know)
Posted on April 10, 2011:

Brockton Bay never ceases to be … Brockton Bay. Bombastic, cringeworthy, and dramatic.

For those of you not in the know, two new independents debuted lately, Danaia and Toy Soldier (we here at PHO gave her that name and she never corrected anyone, PRT included!), as a duo that patrolled the Docks. Danaia with her arthropod control and Toy Soldier with …

Well, no one really saw her do anything for a very long time.

Until Oni Lee appeared out of nowhere and began dropping bombs on Danaia.

Videos taken of the fight show how outclassed Oni Lee was, for once, and the duo quickly subdued him, blocking his vision with bugs and then Toy Soldier brutally beating him down.

What isn’t shown in any of the videos, because this happened on a rooftop away from anyone else, was that Toy Soldier dug out Oni Lee’s eyes after the fight and did so despite Danaia’s protests, if the audio of the videos pointing to the rooftop was any proof of what the latter felt.

Yes, you all read that right. Toy Soldier, a newbie indie hero, dug out Oni Lee’s eyes. It is also known that Oni Lee uses his sight to teleport; he has never teleported toward a direction that he was not partially facing beforehand.

When PRT officers taking Oni Lee questioned her about the brutal treatment of Oni Lee, her response was “he came at us with the intent to harm and mutilate. He shouldn’t complain if he gets the same treatment.”

Videos Here, Here, and Here. Audio on the last one is Danaia vehemently speaking up against Toy Soldier.

LovesJ.K.

Posted on April 10, 2011:

Lung is gonna kill her. Like, all of us know that.

Xx_Void_Cowboy_xX (Banned)

Posted on April 10, 2011:

Herp derp, I’m Void Cowboy, and I say Toy Soldier is HAWT

Moderator: Banned for impersonation.

XxVoid_CowboyxX

Posted on April 10, 2011:

That’s not me!

Tin_Mother (Moderator):

Posted on April 10, 2011:

We know, Void. You don’t have the same level of humor as your imposter did.

Bagrat (Original Poster)(Veteran Member)(Guy in the Know)

Posted on April 10, 2011:

Bruh, Tin_Mother just burned Void.

HCandy

Posted on April 10, 2011:

Yooo, another villain got their shit kicked in, let’s goooooooo

5a55the5i5ter (Bostonian)

Posted on April 10, 2011:

Is this really a good thing? Wiki says Lung is part of the ABB that Oni Lee is a member of. Lung is the guy that fought Leviathan to a standstill.

BNBTHG (Veteran Memeber)

Posted on April 10, 2011:

Yeah, and you know what happens if a villain decides to go full-crazy. The government kills you.

LovesJ.K

Posted on April 10, 2011:

Wth are you talking about? Since when are villains killed? Hello, the Birdcage is a thang?

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Worse, people just didn’t care.

Silly gouged out someone’s eyes but people just shrugged and moved on. No, they didn’t even move on, they were arguing about how this will develop out like they were arguing over some board game or video game tactics and scenarios. Like politics.

It was … normal.

It wasn’t what she thought people would do.

She sat there, thinking and pondering. Uncomfortable and worried.

‘An independent hero goes and mutilates someone and the people don’t care. Why?’

She thought about it but she didn’t understand. She even looked it up on PHO but there was nothing worthwhile to look at.

Except she did find something in an article totally unrelated to capes.

It wasn’t just cape-related things but all things. She didn’t understand some of the things; they went deeply into socioeconomics, cultures, history, and more. The gist of it was that Oni Lee… wasn’t worth the time for most people.

-VB-

“So you’re here asking me why things are the way they are?”

Taylor nodded.

After thinking about it for a long time, she had no choice but to come and ask Alan. Even if she didn’t agree with everything he and Silly thought about the world, he generally had a reason, philosophy, or at least an explanation that she could … accept.

So she found him in his basement workshop to ask him the question, and like how it was before, she sat next to him while he listened to her and worked on his tinkertech(?) at the same time.

“Yeah. Why are people just … ignoring what Silly did?”

He soldered something together and then set them down to cool. He picked up something else and soldered them, too. She still didn’t quite understand electrical components and tinkering despite having seen him do it a hundred of times by now.

“Because it ultimately doesn’t matter.”

“... What?”

“Think about it this way. Is Silly known?”

“... Yes? She’s a hero-”

“And being a hero ultimately does not matter in the eyes of public court. Do you know why?”

“... No.”

He stopped and turned to her. This was one of the more serious things he does when he tried to get a point across.

“Heroes and villains on Earth Bet are a dime a dozen newsflashes that comes and goes. What’s a pair of eyes compared to what Oni Lee does for a living?” He leaned back. “This isn’t the first time a hero took slightly more drastic action against a much more violent villain. On top of that, the public is unaware of who Silly is, unlike you.”

She froze.

“Wait, how does that -?”

“How can the public be outraged when violent independent heroes are a dime a dozen, just like heroes and villains? Everyone has been desensitized to this world-spanning violence. No one lifts an eyebrow or sheds a tear when they hear news like Oni Lee’s. It’s not like Oni Lee and Silly’s fight and aftermath are that unique. Look around the internet. There are probably a dozen articles from just the East Coast about similar things, if not more.” He reached over and handed over his own smartphone to her. “Go on. Look it up.”

She took the smartphone and binged it.

And he was right. In fact, it was worse.

“Brockton Bay might care, but when they heard things like the Teeth’s lieutenant cape was killed in the latest fight or something like it… a cape losing a pair of eyes doesn’t really sound that important or impressive, does it?”

No, it didn’t.

“But it is important,” she muttered weakly.

“It is. To you. To Silly. Maybe to the few people who were hurt or had someone they cared hurt by him. Maybe ABB. Definitely E88. Maybe the Merchants. Maybe the PRT. Outside of them? That’s still a two hundred thousand plus people here in Brockton Bay who don’t care, Taylor. Who he is and what happened to him is just another news that they’re all going to gloss over. If you want, walk around town and ask the shopkeeps and the like. See what they think.”

She intended to, because the thought that torturing and mutilating people was … not important? It sickened her. That the world would be that cold and indifferent scared her.