ArchivedLogs:Vignette - A Good Man

Vignette - A Good Man
...And A Madman
Dramatis Personae Micah
In Absentia	1 January 2014 A press released video, sent out in time for the evening news. (Part of Prometheus TP and Infected TP.)
Location <NYC> 303 {Lighthaus} - Village Lofts - East Village
This apartment is cheerful, in its way -- bright and airy, its floor plan open and a plethora of windows providing it with an abundance of light. The tiny entrance hall opens into a living room, small, though its sparse furniture and lack of clutter give it a more open feel. The decor is subdued and minimalist; black and white is the dominant theme, with occasional splashes of deep crimson to offset the monochrome, though of late myriad bright-coloured dragonflies swarm across the living room wall. The couch and armchair are upholstered in black corduroy, the low wide coffee table central is black wood and glass-topped, and a few large pillowy beanbags provide additional seating by the large windows that dominate the back wall. The living room and kitchen both hold a rather inordinate number of lamps in addition to the ceiling lights; standing lamps, small lamps on each counter, large sunlights in the corner. More often than not, they're largely all turned on, too. Towards the back, a couple of doors lead off into bedrooms and bathroom, and to the right, the kitchen's tile is separated from the living room's dark hardwood floors by black countertops. Above the bedroom to one side, there is higher space; a ladder climbs up to a lofted area looking down on the living room. Standing in front of the partition between living and cooking area is a large fish tank: one lone Betta, blood-red, swims regally among several species of black and silver fish. A hallway beyond the kitchen leads further into the apartment. Another bathroom stands just into the hall and the farthest door leads to the apartment's final bedroom, the door usually kept shut to hold in the acrid fumes of turpentine and paints from within. The video looks like it was recorded with a laptop webcam, set up facing a kitchen table with a single occupant in one of its chairs. Micah has his dark auburn hair combed a great deal neater than usual, a jade green button-down shirt decorated with a darker green leaf pattern actually buttoned all the way up with its collar standing properly. His eyes are in what has, of late, been a permanent state of red-rimmed and dark-circled, sadness and worry apparent in them. His face is a little pale, but the small smile he has summoned is warm and genuine. “Evenin', folks. Ah...guess I should introduce m'self.” A faint, pretty little blush dusts pink across his cheeks, finally lending his wan features some colour. “I'm Micah Holland-Zedner. Might be some of y'all already know me from...the news, for bein' Jax's husband. Um. I just wanted t'talk t'everybody. T'set the record straight about the claims that were made in Captain Rogers's video. Since my husband isn't...isn't bein' allowed t'do so for 'imself.” “First, let me express how saddened I am by the events that lead to the Captain's death.” The words come with a profound sincerity. “Captain Rogers was a...deeply troubled and ill man. The saddest part in alla this is that his illness was never addressed 'til it was too late t'help 'im. This is a man whose instability led 'im t'drive a military armoured vehicle through the wall of a beautiful historic church full of civilians. To risk injurin' an' killin' countless people, to cause thousands in property damage, over a deep-seated paranoia regardin' People with Special Abilities. He clearly was no longer in control of 'imself, and the shame of it is that he was kept in a position of power within the military 'stead of bein' given the help he so clearly needed.” “This man's paranoia keyed in on my husband as he became a prominent figure in the media, specifically as a Person with Special Abilities. He became obsessed with Jax an' with our family. He stalked an' threatened Jackson, myself, an' even our children on many occasions datin' back t'this past summer. Captain Rogers nearly killed--” Micah's words falter as a shininess grows in his eyes. He takes a deep breath and pushes on. “He nearly killed my husband on two separate occasions. Once with an entire military force with drones an' automatic weapons an' grenades. He gave the kill order for both Jackson and myself, while we were out visitin' friends. We both...barely escaped with our lives an' Jax was in recovery for weeks...from what it took out of 'im, savin' /my/ life. When we did manage t'flee, the soldiers threatened t'keep comin'. Threatened us both, our friends, our /children/, even our pets.” He shakes his head, continuing, “It's...I can still hear 'im, it was so /ugly/, while Jax was layin' there half-dead, he said, 'We'll find you. We'll kill you. We'll kill your mutie friends, your mutie kids, even your f'in mutie /dog/.'” Micah cringes a little, his expression going sheepish at the 'f'in'. “Apologies...for the language.” “When he almost killed Jackson the second time, it was while Jax was tryin' t'free people from Prometheus facilities like the ones that had held an' tortured /him/ when he was only a teenager.” Micah swallows hard before continuing. “That's the kind of man he is...he couldn't just...leave people t'be imprisoned an' tortured. They tried tellin' the media about these places but no one b'lieved 'em. An' how d'you go for help when the ones who're s'posed t'/help/ you are the police puttin' you in fightin' rings an' beatin' you in the street? When they're the military threatenin' your family an' shootin' you an' throwin' /grenades/? When they're the military superiors signin' off on torture? When the people who are s'posed t'help are the ones doin' the hurtin'? But...I won't be the one t'tell those stories. Those aren't /mine/ t'tell. I urge you t'listen t'the stories that are gonna be comin' out from the people who went through this. Listen an' don't turn it off when you're disgusted an' sickened an' don't think you can listen any more. Just keep listenin'. One after another after another. An' then ask yourself what /you/ would do...to stop it.” “That second time that Captain Rogers almost killed Jax,” Micah resumes after a slow breath, “was in a Prometheus lab as he was rescuin' people an' /children/ from torture. That was also when we learned that Captain Rogers, who was already unstable an' in desperate need of psychiatric help, was usin' 'imself in dangerous experimental procedures t'/steal/ the abilities from People with Special Abilities an' use 'em to augment individuals that do not possess the X-gene. /That/ is the primary purpose behind Project Prometheus.” His head shakes, his tone briefly bitter. “/Prometheus/...stealin' fire t'give it t'humanity. He had taken the ability from...a dear friend, killin' her in the process...an' used 'em t'fight Jackson, t'injure 'im badly. It seemed t'only make Captain Rogers more unstable; he was...mad. He shot Jax in the face before he could get away, he was...missin' most of...” Micah's hand covers much of the lower portion of one side of his face, a shuddery breath replacing the remainder of the words intended for the sentence. “We barely got 'im back. If not for...others' special abilities. Helpin' 'im. He would've been dead even then.” “After that, it was just more madness from Captain Rogers. He stalked our boys an' threatened 'em. Told 'em that he'd kill their pa if they didn't talk 'im into movin' away t'the country an' never bein' heard from again. Told 'em that he'd never stop...comin' 'til he killed Jax /because he was a good man/. An' he couldn't stand...for there t'be a Public Image of a Person with Special Abilities who was also a Good Man. Had /our sons/ comin' home...more'n once in tears 'cause...there wasn't anythin' anybody could /do/.” Micah's teeth come down on his lip before moving on once more. “Captain Rogers, just days before his death, had followed Jax home from work an' isolated 'im in an alley. Told Jax that it would've been better for 'im to've died savin' my life the /first/ time he tried t'kill us. Told Jax...as long as he lived that everyone around 'im—his friends, his family, his /children/--would continue t'suffer, would be tortured. An' then practically /begged/ Jax t'kill 'im. He was...suicidal by that point. I can only speculate that his mental illness an' the stress of usin' 'imself in experiments with Special Abilities had drawn 'im t'that point. But Jax refused. Because he would never kill not /one person/. That's what that end of that video meant. When he said 'You had your chance.' He meant that Jax had the chance t'kill 'im before he made that...video full of mad rantin's an' /lies/.” Micah's fingers rake through his hair as he pauses for breath, slightly tousling that carefully-set hair back into a more typical arrangement for him. “That video is evidence. Nothin' more than evidence of a very disturbed mind an' how much Captain Rogers was /failed/ by the government that should have extended him psychiatric help an' /never/ put 'im in a position t'abuse power so horribly as he did. It is /not/ evidence of terrorist acts, but the rantings of a very sick man. Already, the /truth/ of the lies has started t'come out. Jax was never even charged with Captain Rogers's murder, because no murder was found, all /real/ evidence indicating a tragic accidental death. Had Captain Rogers died of an aneurysm or choked on a peanut or tripped down the stairs or been hit by a car or died of cancer /this video still would have gone out/. That only gives proof to...Captain Rogers's paranoia and the lack of truth in this supposed testimony.” “Vector,” Micah says simply, pausing for a breath. “Vector was just another man who was being imprisoned an' tortured an' /used/ t'hurt others. Vector himself reported that Prometheus was purposely exposin' 'im to diseases in order to create designer bioweapons t'be used against specific targets. He wanted nothin' more than t'just live a normal life. Vector wanted /nothing/ t'do with hurtin' anyone. Jax wants /nothing/ t'do with hurtin' anyone. The disease that was released was the result of testin' in Prometheus facilities, followed by Captain Rogers an' his men chasin' Vector down an' /shootin'/ at 'im. The release of the pathogen was entirely an accidental response t'the threat of bodily harm, torture, imprisonment, an' death, that Vector faced. If there is any blame to place for the cause of this disease, it lies quite firmly with Prometheus. It lies with Captain Rogers and the people that allowed this disturbed man t'continue t'be in a position of military power despite ample evidence of his instability.” “The accusation that Jackson wants to...kill /all/ non-X-gene bearing humans is preposterous. To do such a thing would eliminate 99% of the world's population, the kind of catastrophe that no one remainin' would /survive/. Even a true mass-murderin' /supervillain/ wouldn't follow through with such a plan out of simple /self-interest/.” Micah's expression is still somewhat /puzzled/ as he goes over this, as if believing the idea is purely ludicrous. “For those who don't already know, I should prob'ly disclose that /I/ am not a person who is possessed of Special Abilities. I neither carry nor express the X-gene. To say that Jax was set t'kill all people without an X-gene is t'say that he wanted t'kill /me/, his /husband/. T'kill his many friends an' family members who don't carry the X-gene. T'kill all of /our/ family an' friends who don't. Such a proposal is absurd even in the abstract. But if y'knew 'im. If y'knew this sweet, good man who wouldn't eat a /cookie/ when he was near t'starvin' 'cause it was made with animal products an' the conditions the /animals/ were kept in were too cruel... The man who /walked away/ from an invitation t'kill Captain Rogers when the alternative was promised torture an' death for everyone he holds dear. The...most purely /good/ person I've ever met. Then you wouldn't just be confounded by the charges an' how anyone could believe 'em. You'd be outraged. Outraged that he's bein' held because of this mad rant of a video. That he's bein' denied the right t'see any evidence offered against 'im, t'have any access t'due process. That he's bein' held on obviously baseless charges as punishment for bein' a /good man/.” “Please, if you've listened this far. Watch the videos an' listen t'the stories of the people who Jax has helped. Of the people who've been tortured by their own government. An' tell them that /this/ will not be tolerated any more.”