Life is too short to hide inside
Behind the dark water one could start to see long, metallic forms and mounds of bodies littering the ocean.
Four Events Before Greatness moved around the train. She was not accustomated to seeing that many people at once, and the noise was overwhelming. The regular sound of the train, of course, but also all theses people, indifferent to her and each other. It was also so packed, she had to zig zag all the time, push peoples and bag around, while trying to find that nosy journalist somewhere on the train, her view obstructed by people easily twice her height. She was actually rather distinctful, with her blue hair and nose piercing and baggy clothes at least. And Four Events Before Greatness had just the time to change into some random clothes she found in the dressers, to at least be able to put up plausible deniability if she’s noticed by Églantine. That black T-shirt with some kind of screaming skeletion guitar man was pretty sick, actually.
Églantine was organizing her notes and preparing her next few days. She only noticed she were on the wrong direction when at the end of the line ! But that was not all that bad, it let her found a seat on the other direction train and start to think about that fascinating interview. Claire clearly was hiding a lot of things ; she carefully avoided or brushed off the topic of that family blazon on her home, and obviously seemed to put herself in a good light, but when she recouped informations a lot was true or at least credible. She pointed out a lot of independantly verifiable things that was showing theses super heroes were just well informed, well equipped individuals mostly captured by the establishment. Which indeed was a bit of a bummer to her.
But the other side of the coin is, they clearly use technology that could be used better. That mysterious mosellan company that do litteral portable cold fusion reactors clearly needed to feel the burn of the spotlight. Why aren’t they selling it to the public ? If the supply is so restricted, shouldn’t it power desalinization plants in Africa rather than rich, well meaning billionaires for flying around ? Also, just how much are they paid that they don’t feel the need to make public auctions of that ? It’s made even more absurd by how there’s no recorded use of that kind of thing by the military, despite the several conflict ongoing. It’s reassuring, but very surprising, that nobody tried to open a strait or break a blockade with that kind of thing. As a journalist, she had a mission to learn more, and the next step was a train ticket to Metz.
She then noticed a minuscule blond girl in punk clothes passing by her, visibly seeking for someone. Then in a flash, she was gone. She looked too determinated to be a child, and she didn’t look like a dwarf either.
Four Events Before Greatness was overwhelmed by how many and how diverse people were. She mostly knew the world through the internet, and that slice of population seemed unbelieveably diverse compared to what news host seem to say, as well as how so many people blurred the categories. That one had a cute dress and a headscarve. This one is a white man with a tank top. That one had embroidered pants with a raven on it. Theses two were laughing together and were the spitting image of a couple of retired people under a tree, except asian and in a train. Then she noticed she just passed by her charge without even noticing ! She did not lose her cool and decided to wait in front of the door for when Églantine will get out of the train, doing her best to keep a side eye on her. Which would be so much easier if everybody was not SO TALL compared to her.
Églantine passed by a gathering of activists, with placards claiming “no one is illegal” and “A home, not a cell”. There was also a donation box, and she approached it to give some money and chat with the pretty green-haired lady next to it. It was a protest against a police operation to get these homeless outside of Paris and possibly send some to other countries, a sadly all-too-common occurence now that the newspapers and far right politicians were pushing the lie that they are the root of all evil. A simple solution that doesn’t work, but too many people prefer that to a complex solution that works.
A bit farther, two cops behind their riot shields were talking with another activist. The rest of the company was behind them had visibly decided to evacuate theses peoples one way or another, one of them on his cellphone and the rest being ready to rumble. The tone was rather heated and the air was filled with a tension that Églantine was entirely oblivious to.
Églantine started discussing and noting stuff for a potential article in her notebook. They talked a bit about the brazenness of fascists, the seeming collusion between them and the police, how superheroes seemed more interested in flashy, media-centered big evil storylines and not really about this kind of activism. Églantine shared her hypothesis that the french ones are probably all either working for the government or at least needed to stay on their good side, and the activist agreed.
Then she heard the sounds of a clash. She turned to see one cop and the activist who was talking with them on the ground, and the other cops were approaching in shield wall with their batons raised. A tear gas grenade was lobbed in the middle of the group, and Églantine instantly felt her eye and throat burn while she gasped for an unfortunately acrid air. Some activists were as unprepared as Églantine and struggling, other put glasses and scarves with limited success, a couple actually had gas masks and were now brandishing baseball bats. Meanwhile the police started to beat up and arrest the ones that were on the floor gasping for air, and Églantine was trying to find her pepper spray while seeing two cop approach her.
Seeing that, Four Events Before Greatness sprung into action and sprinted toward one of the policemen. She grabbed the bottom of the shield with both hand ; the cop tried to ram his shield into the ground, but did not expect her strength, which gave her the opportunity to kick as hard as she could into his tibia. Accustomated to play fight with her sister, she did not expect the softness of flesh, and she heard the sound of bone cracking and the cop’s cry of pain.
The cop fell to the ground, screaming in pain. Four Events Before Greatness was slightly shocked, but quickly snapped back, grabbed the shield, gave furious blows with it into the two nearer cops, then grabbed Églantine’s hand and fled, helping Églantine who was still struggling to breath. I may have gone overboard she wondered but it’s too late for apologies, let’s just hope they can’t identify us.