Friday, April 19th, 2075. 9:45 pm
When the group returns to the safehouse, they find it empty. Wind had said that he would stay behind, but now he's nowhere to be seen. The video feed shows him leaving the premises on foot at around 6:30.
News of the runners' exploits are all over the trids. From Hong Kong to Seattle, local news agencies as well as the big corps are reporting on the riot in Aggieland. Funny how with all the unrest around the world there's nothing like some rich kids getting hit with tear gas to raise a collective gasp from the populace. The group gathers around the trid set to see the quad, fully enveloped in large halogen lights, as officials comb through the area in the background. In the foreground, a youngish and attractive Japanese woman faces the camera.
"This is Sue Kubo of EVOnet news. The tranquility of the idyllic town of College Station today was brutally shattered when a group of student radicals accosted a number of Magical Studies pupils on their way from class. The confrontation turned bloody when the group fired on school security and students alike, forcing security to use tear gas and gel rounds to maintain order. In the chaos that followed, two students: Felicity Rhoades and Carla T'nyoll, were caught in the crossfire and are now recuperating in All Saints Hospital.
"College Station, home of Texas A&M is one of the premier schools in the CAS, but even here students have not been immune to the coming plague of a new political movement. Calling themselves Retro-futurists, these extremists oppose all meta-humans and awakened invidividuals, claiming that they are drain on human society. We have been unable to find a Retro-futurist willing to speak on camera, but they have issued a communique claiming that the actions today were caused by magicians using mind control as a way of building sympathy for, I quote, 'the vermin of this world,' a charge that the head of the Magical Studies Department, Leonard Drampe vehemently denies. Mr. Drampe, thank you for joining us. Would you like to comment?"
The camera pans over to Leonard Drampe, looking well-coifed and done up for the camera.
"Yes, and thank you, Ms. Kubo. While we have not ruled out the possibility of magical action outside the scope of our students in this unfortunate affair, the very idea that an awakened individual would use his or her power to force these bigots to fire on a crowd of their own kind is ludicrous at best. What we do know is that these retro-futurists confronted my students, that they did so while armed, and that they were shouting, and pardon my expression here, 'Geek the mage,' prior to the shots ringing out. This is nothing but a group of lost individuals who refuse to take responsibility for their own actions."
"Thank you, Dr. Drampe," the reporter continues as the camera pans back to her. "There is also the question of a drone attack on at the A&M quad during the ordeal. Armed with a high powered rifle, the drone took a single shot at the student dorms prior to what is believed to be a spirit attack, which grounded the vehicle. Students on the scene claim that a yet unknown individual was attempting to hack the rogue drone before it could fire on the students below."
At this point, the feed switches to an earlier interview with an A&M student, which looks as though it was filmed shortly after the attack. He's wearing an Aggie Pride t-shirt, and Hopeless recognizes him instantly from the group of students watching from the window. The picture then changes to a close-up still of the corner of Breeze's head, obviously filmed by one of the students. It's not enough to ID him, by any means, but a bit of his profile is in view, if pixelated due to magnification.
"Ah, man, I saw da whole thing. This drone was training in on one of the student, and then it came up. And then it went back down again, and there was this other kid, sitting up just next ta us, all jacked-in, and at first we thought he was running that thing, but then it fired on him. Chummer, I tell you, if not for that omae things woulda been a whole lot worse today."
Ms. Kubo continues her reporting, "Dubbed the Savior of College Station, not much is known about this young man, but students on campus are universal in their praise of him. Officials examining the drone have confirmed that an unauthorized user interfered with the drone's standing protocols, and may very well have saved a life this evening. This is Sue Kubo reporting."
