#relational database service

[techdirectarchive]

How to create an Amazon Relational Database Service Instance

Amazon Relational Database Service is a fully managed database service in the cloud. It offers capabilities for setting up, operating, and scaling relational databases with ease. In this article, we shall discuss How to create an Amazon Relational Database Service Instance. Please see How to install Amazon RDS using Terraform, how to Migrate Veeam MSSQL Database to a new MSSQL Server, and How to…

[prokopetz]

Just to give you an idea of what archival research looks like these days, in attempting to track down the September 1988 issue of White Dwarf for a recent post, I stumbled across half a dozen DMCA takedowns from Games Workshop, a file-sharing service which no longer exists, multiple archives which inexplicably have every 1988 issue of White Dwarf except September's, and a worrying number of false positives because many periodical databases seem to be unaware that the UK and US editions of White Dwarf are different magazines, and they keep mislabelling scans of the US January 2016 issue as the UK September 1988 issue because they have the same issue number.

You wanna know where I eventually did find a correctly labelled scan of the stupid thing? In a random-ass torrent that wasn't even Games Workshop related – it was, like, a collection of Spanish-language sourcebooks for Vampire: The Masquerade, plus the September 1988 issue of White Dwarf, a Czech translation of H P Lovecraft's The Shadow over Innsmouth, and a pirated copy of Policing America: Challenges and Best Practices (9th Ed.) for some fucking reason.

[codeonedigest]

Amazon Relation Database Service RDS Explained for Cloud Developers

Full Video Link - https://youtube.com/shorts/zBv6Tcw6zrU Hi, a new #video #tutorial on #amazonrds #aws #rds #relationaldatabaseservice is published on #codeonedigest #youtube channel. @java @awscloud @AWSCloudIndia @YouTube #youtube @codeonedig

Amazon Relational Database Service (Amazon RDS) is a collection of managed services that makes it simple to set up, operate, and scale relational databases in the cloud. You can choose from seven popular engines i.e., Amazon Aurora with MySQL & PostgreSQL compatibility, MySQL, MariaDB, PostgreSQL, Oracle, and SQL Server. It provides cost-efficient, resizable capacity for an industry-standard…

[sapphiresoftware]

Which Relational Database Does WordPress Use? | Sapphire

In this article Which Relational Database Does WordPress Use? Also, provide MySQL Connection and alternate database for WordPress.

Read More

[karadin]

While you were sleeping ...

Federal judge puts back funding to USAID

Federal judge demands US put back health related federal websites

Judge Tanya Chutkan investigating Elon Musk's ability to run DOGE

The Department of Energy blocks firings of hundreds of employees who work for a key agency maintaining the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile

Federal judge stops Trump from sending detainees to Cuba

Federal judge stops Trump from shutting down Consumer Protection Agency

DOGE now at CMS which covers Medicare, Medicaid, the Children's Health Insurance Program, and the Health Insurance Marketplace and are allied with Rachel Riley who worked at privatizing healthcare under Trump's first term.

Trump seeks to gut the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and privatize the nation's weather reports and news

Judge blocks DOGE from sensitive Treasury Dept payment system, system being studied and re-programmed after DOGE invasion. expected to finish in August 25.

DOGE database on DOGE site found compromised, anyone can open and edit

Hundreds of federal workers illegally 'fired' from FEMA, DHS, CIS, CPA, the Coast Guard, USCIS, DHS' Science and Technology Directorate, the VA, Education and the US Forestry Service as well as half of the CDC Epidemic Intelligence Service, The Indian (Native American) Health Service. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the National Institutes for Health, HUD and NOAA.

There have been illegal mass firings of 'probationary' federal employees, those who have just taken on jobs up to those who have were hired 2 years ago.

After seven prosecutors quit refusing to give a Trump deal to NYC mayor, prosecutors put into room and all told they would be fired unless a prosecutor signed off on the deal - Eric Adams case has been dropped and as a result, Adams is allowing Trump immigration to invade NYC.

Trump signs order to block funding for schools that mandate Covid vaccines

Trump has already captured funds to house the homeless in NYC that were disbursed by FEMA

Elon Musk has charged the US gov 16 million to hack at government departments so far.

Elon Musk was granted a 400million deal to sell the US gov cybertrucks

Elon Musk is now going after NASA, despite being a contractor for NASA, Trump says Musk will 'police' his own conflicts of interest.

Trump inserts himself into 'negotiations' between Russia and Ukraine, siding with Russia and not guaranteeing that Ukraine will return to pre-war borders.

Apparently at negotiations, US handed President Zelenskyy a note (mafia style) seeking half of Ukraine's mineral rights, which Zelenskyy refused to acknowlege.

at Munich Security Conference VP Vance pushes the right-wing in Europe, shocking and angering NATO allies, changing US policy towards Putin and China. Trump now says there is no US intent to 'beat China'.

FAKE DOGE 'employees' appear in San Francisco city hall demanding access to state systems and data, leaving when confronted.

Trump makes himself head of the Kennedy Center for the Arts many staff resign and many artist pull out of sold-out shows.

[mariacallous]

The so-called Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) is starting to put together a team to migrate the Social Security Administration’s (SSA) computer systems entirely off one of its oldest programming languages in a matter of months, potentially putting the integrity of the system—and the benefits on which tens of millions of Americans rely—at risk.

The project is being organized by Elon Musk lieutenant Steve Davis, multiple sources who were not given permission to talk to the media tell WIRED, and aims to migrate all SSA systems off COBOL, one of the first common business-oriented programming languages, and onto a more modern replacement like Java within a scheduled tight timeframe of a few months.

Under any circumstances, a migration of this size and scale would be a massive undertaking, experts tell WIRED, but the expedited deadline runs the risk of obstructing payments to the more than 65 million people in the US currently receiving Social Security benefits.

“Of course, one of the big risks is not underpayment or overpayment per se; [it’s also] not paying someone at all and not knowing about it. The invisible errors and omissions,” an SSA technologist tells WIRED.

The Social Security Administration did not immediately reply to WIRED’s request for comment.

SSA has been under increasing scrutiny from president Donald Trump’s administration. In February, Musk took aim at SSA, falsely claiming that the agency was rife with fraud. Specifically, Musk pointed to data he allegedly pulled from the system that showed 150-year-olds in the US were receiving benefits, something that isn’t actually happening. Over the last few weeks, following significant cuts to the agency by DOGE, SSA has suffered frequent website crashes and long wait times over the phone, The Washington Post reported this week.

This proposed migration isn’t the first time SSA has tried to move away from COBOL: In 2017, SSA announced a plan to receive hundreds of millions in funding to replace its core systems. The agency predicted that it would take around five years to modernize these systems. Because of the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, the agency pivoted away from this work to focus on more public-facing projects.

Like many legacy government IT systems, SSA systems contain code written in COBOL, a programming language created in part in the 1950s by computing pioneer Grace Hopper. The Defense Department essentially pressured private industry to use COBOL soon after its creation, spurring widespread adoption and making it one of the most widely used languages for mainframes, or computer systems that process and store large amounts of data quickly, by the 1970s. (At least one DOD-related website praising Hopper's accomplishments is no longer active, likely following the Trump administration’s DEI purge of military acknowledgements.)

As recently as 2016, SSA’s infrastructure contained more than 60 million lines of code written in COBOL, with millions more written in other legacy coding languages, the agency’s Office of the Inspector General found. In fact, SSA’s core programmatic systems and architecture haven’t been “substantially” updated since the 1980s when the agency developed its own database system called MADAM, or the Master Data Access Method, which was written in COBOL and Assembler, according to SSA’s 2017 modernization plan.

SSA’s core “logic” is also written largely in COBOL. This is the code that issues social security numbers, manages payments, and even calculates the total amount beneficiaries should receive for different services, a former senior SSA technologist who worked in the office of the chief information officer says. Even minor changes could result in cascading failures across programs.

“If you weren't worried about a whole bunch of people not getting benefits or getting the wrong benefits, or getting the wrong entitlements, or having to wait ages, then sure go ahead,” says Dan Hon, principal of Very Little Gravitas, a technology strategy consultancy that helps government modernize services, about completing such a migration in a short timeframe.

It’s unclear when exactly the code migration would start. A recent document circulated amongst SSA staff laying out the agency’s priorities through May does not mention it, instead naming other priorities like terminating “non-essential contracts” and adopting artificial intelligence to “augment” administrative and technical writing.

Earlier this month, WIRED reported that at least 10 DOGE operatives were currently working within SSA, including a number of young and inexperienced engineers like Luke Farritor and Ethan Shaotran. At the time, sources told WIRED that the DOGE operatives would focus on how people identify themselves to access their benefits online.

Sources within SSA expect the project to begin in earnest once DOGE identifies and marks remaining beneficiaries as deceased and connecting disparate agency databases. In a Thursday morning court filing, an affidavit from SSA acting administrator Leland Dudek said that at least two DOGE operatives are currently working on a project formally called the “Are You Alive Project,” targeting what these operatives believe to be improper payments and fraud within the agency’s system by calling individual beneficiaries. The agency is currently battling for sweeping access to SSA’s systems in court to finish this work. (Again, 150-year-olds are not collecting social security benefits. That specific age was likely a quirk of COBOL. It doesn’t include a date type, so dates are often coded to a specific reference point—May 20, 1875, the date of an international standards-setting conference held in Paris, known as the Convention du Mètre.)

In order to migrate all COBOL code into a more modern language within a few months, DOGE would likely need to employ some form of generative artificial intelligence to help translate the millions of lines of code, sources tell WIRED. “DOGE thinks if they can say they got rid of all the COBOL in months, then their way is the right way, and we all just suck for not breaking shit,” says the SSA technologist.

DOGE would also need to develop tests to ensure the new system’s outputs match the previous one. It would be difficult to resolve all of the possible edge cases over the course of several years, let alone months, adds the SSA technologist.

“This is an environment that is held together with bail wire and duct tape,” the former senior SSA technologist working in the office of the chief information officer tells WIRED. “The leaders need to understand that they’re dealing with a house of cards or Jenga. If they start pulling pieces out, which they’ve already stated they’re doing, things can break.”

[probablyasocialecologist]

First, let’s address the fact that hackers recently accessed the personal data of about 14,000 23andMe customers. Because of how 23andMe works—it has a “DNA Relatives” feature that lets users find people they are probably related to—this breach created 6.9 million “other users” who had data stolen in the breach, according to reporting by TechCrunch. This data included people’s names, birth year, relationships, percentage of DNA shared with other 23andMe users, and ancestry reports.

[...]

Getting your DNA or your loved ones’ DNA sequenced means you are potentially putting people who are related to those people at risk in ways that are easily predictable, but also in ways we cannot yet predict because these databases are still relatively new. I am writing this article right now because of the hack, but my stance on this issue has been the same for years, for reasons outside of the hack. In 2016, I moderated a panel at SXSW called “Is Your Biological Data Safe?,” which was broadly about the privacy implications of companies and other entities creating gigantic databases of people’s genetic code. This panel’s experts included a 23andMe executive as well as an FBI field agent. Everyone on the panel and everyone in the industry agrees that genetic information is potentially very sensitive, and the use of DNA to solve crimes is obviously well established.  At the time, many of the possible dangers of providing your genome to a DNA sequencing company were hypothetical. Since then, many of the hypothetical issues we discussed have become a reality in one way or another. For example, on that panel, we discussed the work of an artist who was turning lost strands of hair, wads of chewing gum, and other found DNA into visual genetic “portraits” of people. Last year, the Edmonton Police Service, using a company called Parabon, used a similar process to create 3D images of crime suspects using DNA from the case. The police had no idea if the portrait they generated actually looked like the suspect they wanted, and the practice is incredibly concerning. To its credit, 23andMe itself has steadfastly resisted law enforcement requests for information, but other large databases of genetic information have been used to solve crimes. Both 23andMe and Ancestry are regularly the recipients of law enforcement requests for data, meaning police do see these companies as potentially valuable data mines. 

[botgal]

Update on AB 3080 and AB 1949

AB 3080 (age verification for adult websites and online purchase of products and services not allowed for minors) and AB 1949 (prohibiting data collection on individuals less than 18 years of age) both officially have hearing dates for the California Senate Judiciary Committee.

The hearing date for these bills is scheduled to be Tuesday 07/02/2024. Which means that the deadline to turn in position letters is going to be noon one week before the hearing on 06/25/2024. It's not a lot of time from this moment, but I'm certain we can each turn one in before then

Remember that position letters should be single topic, in strict opposition of what each bill entails. Keep on topic and professional when writing them. Let us all do our best to keep these bills from leaving committee so that we don't have to fight them on the Senate floor. But let's also not stop sending correspondence to our state representatives anyway.

Remember, the jurisdiction of the Senate Judiciary Committee is as follows.

"Bills amending the Civil Code, Code of Civil Procedure, Evidence Code, Family Code, and Probate Code. Bills relating to courts, judges, and court personnel. Bills relating to liens, claims, and unclaimed property. Bills relating to privacy and consumer protection."

Best of luck everyone. And thank you for your efforts to fight this so far.

Below is linked the latest versions of the bills.

Below are the links to the Committee's homepage which gives further information about the Judiciary Committee, and the page explaining further in depth their letter policy.

Edit: Was requested to add in information such as why these bills are bad and what sites could potentially be affected by these bills. So here's the explanation I gave in asks.

Why are these bills bad?

Both bills are essentially age verification requirement laws. AB 3080 explicitly, and AB 1949 implicitly.

AB 3080 strictly is calling for dangerous age verification requirements for both adult websites and any website which sells products or services which it is illegal for minors to access in California. While this may sound like a good idea on paper, it's important to keep in mind that any information that's put online is at risk of being extracted and used by bad actors like hackers. Even if there are additional requirements by the law that data be deleted after its used for its intended purpose and that it not be used to trace what websites people access. The former of which provides very little protection from people who could access the databases of identification that are used for verification, and the latter which is frankly impossible to completely enforce and could at any time reasonably be used by the government or any surveying entity to see what private citizens have been looking at since their ID would be linked to the access and not anonymized.

AB 1949 is nominally to protect children from having their data collected and sold without permission on websites. However by restricting this with an age limit it opens up similar issues wherein it could cause default requirements for age verification for any website so that they can avoid liability by users and the state.

What websites could they affect?

AB 3080, according to the bill's text, would affect websites which sells the types of items listed below

"

(b) Products or services that are illegal to sell to a minor under state law that are subject to subdivision (a) include all of the following:

(1) An aerosol container of paint that is capable of defacing property, as referenced in Section 594.1 of the Penal Code.

(2) Etching cream that is capable of defacing property, as referenced in Section 594.1 of the Penal Code.

(3) Dangerous fireworks, as referenced in Sections 12505 and 12689 of the Health and Safety Code.

(4) Tanning in an ultraviolet tanning device, as referenced in Sections 22702 and 22706 of the Business and Professions Code.

(5) Dietary supplement products containing ephedrine group alkaloids, as referenced in Section 110423.2 of the Health and Safety Code.

(6) Body branding, as referenced in Sections 119301 and 119302 of the Health and Safety Code.

(c) Products or services that are illegal to sell to a minor under state law that are subject to subdivision (a) include all of the following:

(1) Firearms or handguns, as referenced in Sections 16520, 16640, and 27505 of the Penal Code.

(2) A BB device, as referenced in Sections 16250 and 19910 of the Penal Code.

(3) Ammunition or reloaded ammunition, as referenced in Sections 16150 and 30300 of the Penal Code.

(4) Any tobacco, cigarette, cigarette papers, blunt wraps, any other preparation of tobacco, any other instrument or paraphernalia that is designed for the smoking or ingestion of tobacco, products prepared from tobacco, or any controlled substance, as referenced in Division 8.5 (commencing with Section 22950) of the Business and Professions Code, and Sections 308, 308.1, 308.2, and 308.3 of the Penal Code.

(5) Electronic cigarettes, as referenced in Section 119406 of the Health and Safety Code.

(6) A less lethal weapon, as referenced in Sections 16780 and 19405 of the Penal Code."

This is stated explicitly to include "internet website on which the owner of the internet website, for commercial gain, knowingly publishes sexually explicit content that, on an annual basis, exceeds one-third of the contents published on the internet website". Wherein "sexually explicit content" is defined as "visual imagery of an individual or individuals engaging in an act of masturbation, sexual intercourse, oral copulation, or other overtly sexual conduct that, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value."

This would likely not include websites like AO3 or any website which displays NSFW content not in excess of 1/3 of the content on the site. Possibly not inclusive of writing because of the "visual imagery", but don't know at this time. In any case we don't want to set a precedent off of which it could springboard into non-commercial websites or any and all places with NSFW content.

AB 1949 is a lot more broad because it's about general data collection by any and all websites in which they might sell personal data collected by the website to third parties, especially if aimed specifically at minors or has a high chance of minors commonly accesses the site. But with how broad the language is I can't say there would be ANY limits to this one. So both are equally bad and would require equal attention in my opinion.

[thatskynews]

Happy timezones Sky kids!

We have an update on the bug that was causing players to repeat the Daily Light refresh animation and not be able to forge candles. As I’ve stated in previous, less formal messages to you all in Discord, “This was a tricky one.”

What happened?

Without getting into too many technical details, the root condition for the bug was database-related. Specifically, there was an inability of our backend services to write to certain player fields—namely, the ones that record when the Light a player has collected is forged to a corresponding number of Candles.

What we ultimately found was a bug in the configuration of our provider’s database infrastructure, something outside of our control. Our team confirmed this by meticulously analyzing data related to the issue and worked with our provider, who was able to pinpoint a workaround on their end earlier this week as they continue to work towards a permanent fix.

What does this mean for players?

Players should be able to forge candles without any further problems. If you’re still running into this issue, please send us a bug report in the ⁠"report-a-live-bug" channel on the Official Discord.

What about making it right for players?

We are still in the process of analyzing data to verify the extent of this bug’s impact so that we can determine how to best offset the effects for players who were afflicted by it. Once we’ve figured that out, we will notify those players accordingly!

We know that this has been frustrating for the players who were experiencing this bug, and we want to send you all another thank you for bearing with us during this time!

[gatheredfates]

SEA'S COMMUNITY COMPENDIUM UPDATE

We have a massive one today! Huge thanks to a close friend of mine who sent me every single bookmark of xiv resources she had. 💖

Additionally, a good handful of these resources were sourced from a list originally created by @rinhkitty, which you can find here. I have tried to include the more recent/active of the lot, so it's not a one-for-one. Thank them for a lot of the large scale resources you'll find below! ✨

As of 04/12, I have added the following resources (in no particular order) to Sea's Community Compendium for FFXIV Creatives:

LARGE SCALE

GARLAND TOOLS — Contains XIV resources such as Garland Data, everything database, crafting lists and equipment calculators; Garland Bell, gathering timers, collectable resources and hunt windows; and FFXIV Fisher, daily fishing windows, bait paths and catch checklist. Maintained by Clorifex Ezalor of Zalera.

TEAMCRAFT — Create crafting lists and collaborate with others, set gathering alarms, simulate crafting rotations, and more!

CAT BECAME HUNGRY - FFXIV ANGLER — Contains everything and anything to know about fishing including specific fish guides, location, baits, aquarium fish and more!

FFXIV - CRAFTING AS A SERVICE — Crafting information and planning for FFXIV!

FFXIV GARDENING — The FFXIV Gardening Database is a collection of everything related to gardening in Final Fantasy XIV: A Realm Reborn. It was created to organize and visualize the results obtained from crossbreeding.

SIGHTSEEING LOG HELPER — This tool will help those trying to complete their pesky Sightseeing Log by letting them know upcoming weather patterns for each zone!

EUREKA TRACKER — For everything and anything to do with Eureka mobs, tracking and weather patterns.

FFLOGOS — for tracking of items/actions related to Eureka.

FFXIVSQUADRON — A comprehensive tool that helps you assess the success rate of various squadron missions.

FFXIV CHOCOBO COLOUR CALCULATOR — Will calculate what chocobo feed you will need to get from your current colour to your desired colour. *rng not included.

FFXIV HOUSING — A site specialising in the documentation of all housing items available in game.

HOUSING SNAP — A compilation of player-made housing designs. Can be used for inspiration or places to visit!

MISC

NPC CHAT BUBBLES — Would you like more NPC chat bubbles for edits? Say no more! Created by @alexoisxiv.

OLD TUMBLR LAYOUT BY PIXIEL — While not XIV specific I know a lot of people aren't fans of the new Tumblr layout, so this is a fix that will revert it to an as close as possible approximation of the new one. I won't tag the creator as I don't think they're in the xiv community, but it's run by @/pixiel!

HOW TO CURSE LIKE AN ISHGARDIAN — Do you want to make the church blush? Do you want to incur the wrath of Halone? @stars-and-clouds has compiled a list of appropriate curses/swear words for you!

FINAL FANTASY XIV SIDEQUEST GUIDE - HEAVENSWARD EDITION — maintained by @chatty-moogle, this guide explores interesting sidequests in Heavensward that will give you more information about the lore, titbits about locals and other interesting information!

TRUST BANNERS FOR XIV — If you have ever wondered how people mimic the Trust banners used in XIV, look no further! @locke-rinannis has a template for you.

MAKING USE OF RECOMMENDATIONS — created by @autumnslance, this guide will help you make your recommendations tab useful rather than annoying.

BOTANICA EORZEA — A guide to the flora of Eitherys and her reflections, including fungi and seedkin. For reference in writing and roleplaying. Maintained by @tinolqa.

GPOSE TIPS — A tutorial on how to achieve clarity and detail in your XIV screenshots! Created by @aryalaenkha.

UI MACRO MENUS — A guide on how to use macros to create small UI menus for XIV. Written by @diskwrite-ffxiv.

TYPHON GATE RESEARCH — Created by @mcstronghuge, these are the statistically best places for your character to stand for the Typhon Gate!

CHANGELOG

HYDAELYN HEALTH HAVEN has been removed at the request of the owner.

Moved THE BALANCE higher on the list to reflect alphabetical sorting, excluding names that start with The.

Misc formatting as needed.

Added some additional clarification around large-scale discords/spaces; in particular: Large-scale community discords such as the XIV Reddit Discord, Hunts, GPOSE promotions and broad-space roleplay servers that harbour a large number of people and are publicly available to all. These may not have an RP focus but will assist in other aspects of the game. Also includes well-known tools/resources that are utilised by large groups of people and assist in gameplay elements.

Added a quick-jump menu to the bottom of each of the table of contents menus to assist in navigation.

Want to submit? You can either fill out the google form here, send me an ask with the relevant information contained on the Compendium, or join my Discord at SEAFLOOR (21+ only)!

I am sure there's probably a couple of things I have missed or links/formatting that might be broken. Please don't hesitate to let me know if anything is out of place. I'm going to take a break now. I'm pretty sure that's the biggest edit that's ever going to occur on this document!

[604to647]

Code name: Hephaestus

3.2K / Marcus Pike x fem!reader

Summary: Marcus requests a change to his FBI Agent code name.

Warnings: None! Mention of cheating (obviously not Marcus! By Teresa Lisbon, that rat 😒).

A/N: This is written for Round 2 of beskarandblasters's Pedro Pantheon challenge - I sort of misinterpreted the challenge, and instead of making Marcus an actual god, I envisioned a more allegorical story? I hope it still works! I've always found the myth of Hephaestus to be rather tragic, but learned recently (to my delight) that in some renditions he goes on to have a happy second marriage with Kharis (sometimes called Aglaea), so that's how this story was born. The parallels I draw aren't terribly subtle (in fact, you could accuse me of sort of hitting you over the head with them 😅) but in our story, Lisbon is the bare equivalent of Aphrodite (just go with it 😂) and Jane is Ares; takes place in a Mentalist AU where Marcus doesn't go to DC. This is my first time writing Marcus so please be gentle (I'm nervous about this one!); endless thanks to @morallyinept for her character files which helped me get a better handle on our dear Agent Pike (I think!) Thank you for reading!

Dividers by @saradika-graphics / please see @clawdee's pinned post for the other Pedro Pantheon works.

Today is the day.  The day Marcus Pike’s approved request to change his FBI Agent code name goes live.  You’re exceptionally proud of him.

It’s incredibly rare for agents to ask for, never mind actually change their sanctioned code names; the amount of paperwork and pain in the ass database updates required were enough to have most requests denied, never mind that most agents had sentimental attachments to their top-secret monikers.  If anything, it only ever happened if circumstance necessitated – say a higher-ranking officer transferred in and used the same code name in their previous office.  No one ever asks to change just because.  Especially not to a name that had been whispered around the office for the better part of three years and made said agent the butt of a cruel joke.

Hephaestus.

Whispered in the hallways and meeting rooms of the Austin FBI building whenever his back was turned, Marcus good-humouredly admitted that there was some cleverness to it.  And though there was no real malice behind the nickname, it was inescapably insulting.

You had hated it enough for the both you. 

When you took up the job as the Austin office’s head of Public Relations, Marcus had been one of the first agents to welcome you and make you feel like your contributions and hard work were appreciated.  From your previous time in the private sector, you know that a lot of people in public service think of PR as window dressing, just frivolous adornment, but Marcus told you that he found your job to be terribly important.

“How can we protect the public if the public doesn’t trust us?  You make our jobs look inspiring and glorify our hard work so that we can do it another day.”  You’d never heard of your job being spoken about so poetically.  You would come to learn that you weren’t the only one who marveled at Marcus’ ability to look at things from an unique, often beautiful, perspective.

His valued role in the FBI’s Art Squad was never up for debate – no one else could unravel intricate mysteries and solve cases that required expertise and appreciation for the artistry of old and new creative masters the way Marcus did.  His analytical mind and problem-solving prowess when it came to art crimes were second to none in the Austin office, and some might say the whole of the FBI.  No, respect wasn’t an issue for Agent Pike.

However, as you would learn from one of your colleagues over a casual cup of coffee in the breakroom, even if they respected the hell out of him, the parallels between Marcus and his unofficial handle were too apparent for even the most high-browed FBI agents to ignore.

“I see you’ve met Hephaestus.  One of our best.”

“Hephaestus?” you muse out loud.  The God of Fire and Volcanoes?  That didn’t seem to make sense to you… but hang on, if you recalled your Greek mythology correctly, Hephaestus was also the patron god of artisans, craftsman, metallurgy, sculpture.  In your estimation, that aligned a bit more with the handsome Art Squad agent.  Your co-worker nods at your assessment but encourages you with a knowing expression for you to keep going.

An unbelievable thought crosses your mind, “Omigod, it’s not because of the limp, is it?”

The circumstances were well known around the office, but it had been Marcus himself who told you about the injury he sustained while on a case that effectively removed him from active fieldwork two and a half years ago.  He had given an overzealous art thief chase, and when the perp had been caught, they made one last ditch attempt to waylay the famous Agent Pike… with a bullet.  Though otherwise well recovered, the injury had left Marcus with a limp which permanently assigned him to desk duty.  When Marcus told you the story, it had been without any bitterness, but with an air of graceful acceptance, acknowledging his injury as a “risk that comes with the work.”

You couldn’t help but admire his steadfast commitment to the job and even-keeled approach to obstacles most people might deem to be insurmountable.

And besides, as you understood it, being taken out of active fieldwork has done nothing to slow down Marcus’ career.  He took his reprieve from field work and used it as an opportunity to emulate some of the great artists he had spend his life admiring by becoming something of a creator and maker himself.  Seeing a need for technology to become better integrated into the Art Squad’s investigative methods, Marcus began working closely with the FBI’s Tech division to develop new and innovative technological tools to fight art crimes; he became the architect behind celebrated programs and gadgets that aided in the detection of high-quality forgeries, and sophisticated applications that simplified the digital forensics in smuggling schemes.  He was something of an in-house hero – you had seen some of these tools at work, and the details in these designs were sometimes as beautiful as the traditional art hung in museums.

The trajectory of Agent Marcus Pike’s career was undoubtedly on the rise.  But even though no one, not even Marcus, viewed his limp as an impediment, you still thought the comparison to what the Greeks had considered Hephaestus’ deformity to be in bad taste.

But it was worse than you thought.  It wasn’t just because of the limp. 

Your eyes widen in horror and your heart clenches painfully for Marcus when your co-worker tells you about Lisbon and Jane. 

Most of what you knew about Marcus’ marriage to Agent Teresa Lisbon you learned from your friends at the office.  That he had given up his promotion to the D.C. office and stayed in Austin at her request (or as you saw it, a condition) before agreeing to marry him three years ago.  Teresa was partnered with a civilian consultant, Patrick Jane, with whom she previously had a close working relationship in California.  It was the Austin office’s worst kept secret that their "working relationship" had evolved into a romantic and sexual one… even as she remained Marcus’ wife.  The affair has been going on for the better part of two years, with everyone, including Marcus, privy to the fact that his wife and the mentalist were more than just partners in the field.

You’re incensed and indignant on your friend’s behalf.

As a rule, you don’t judge what goes on in other people’s relationships – it’s none of your business and you know from experience that no one ever truly knows what goes on between two people behind closed doors.  But this isn’t behind closed doors.  It’s at work.

It’s one thing to have an affair.  But it’s really another to flaunt your boyfriend in your husband’s face.  And it’s an entirely separate matter to do it at the work place you and your paramour share with your spouse.  You find yourself grinding your teeth and tapping violently at your keyboard whenever you draw up notices about the cases that Lisbon and Jane work.  You might very well even have refused to do it, except that in most cases, their success could be partially credited to Marcus. 

Because while Teresa did not find her husband worthy of being loyal to, she did deem his superior intellect worthy of helping her when she couldn’t quite puzzle out her own casework, or she found it advantageous to have an in with the new golden boy of the Tech division.  You couldn’t minimize Lisbon and Jane’s work without minimizing Marcus’ contributions as well.  Besides, it would be unprofessional to let your personal feelings bias your work, no matter how justified you felt it might be.

Even if you didn’t find her treatment of her husband to be reprehensible, you had a hard time connecting with Teresa.  While you do consider her to be a good agent, she was vain, smug and in your opinion, entirely too caught up in the appearance and perceived clout of being partners with the celebrity “Mentalist” consultant: Patrick Jane.  Jane, you couldn’t stand at all – quite frankly, his impulsive and unpredictable behaviour and frequently caviller attitude towards proper police procedure made him a risky asset.  You didn’t think it did the FBI any favours to glorify his exploits and for your part, you try not to do so.

While you quietly seethed on his behalf, Marcus remained unflappable, professional and generous when it came to all the reasons he had been bestowed his not-so-secret nickname.  It struck you as slightly odd that a man as kind-hearted and considerate as Marcus could let such insult and cruelty roll off his own back when he most certainly would not be tolerant of it being inflicted on others.  That’s one thing you learn about Marcus during the time you spend with him, be it in the Tech basement learning about all the new innovations you might have to announce, or the lunches and breaks you share – he is giving.  Benevolent even.  Bestowing on others the kindness that he’s not always shown.  He puts the good of others, the whole, ahead of himself.  It’s the whole reason he went into law enforcement. 

Not without some effort, you forbid yourself from developing and nursing a crush on your married friend.  His honour wouldn’t allow it, you’re sure, and in truth, neither does your own dignity; instead you nurture a friendship that you come to value highly with a man whose company you enjoy very much.

Once, you told Marcus that you thought he had the soul of an artist.  He had scoffed adorably at this, but listened appreciatively as you explained your assessment.  Yes, Marcus has a great appreciation for beautiful things and fine art, but he seemed to see beyond the piece itself – feeling the conviction and emotion behind every brush stroke, chiseling tap of stone, hammering of soften metal and listened to what they had to say rather than what his eyes told him.  He appreciated art for the artist, and you thought only another artist could be capable of that.

And what of his new passion for his work in Tech?  Sure, Marcus wasn’t literally chasing down bad guys in the streets anymore, but he was still pursuing them with vigor, now to the dark corners of the internet.  What was an artist but someone who reworked and shaped what was familiar in order to shine a new light on them?  Didn’t artists breathe new life and purpose into what others might see as irrelevant once its obvious usage was no longer?

And his vibrant outlook went beyond his work.  You talk animatedly over your shared lunch takeout, the one that Marcus picked up from a local Moroccan restaurant that he’s always wanted to try but had no one to try with.  “Take this food, for example,” you say. “It’s something new and maybe you won’t like it, but you’ll try!  And when you do, it won’t just be for the flavour on your tongue, but you’ll taste the culture and history behind these dishes.  You’re going to enjoy the culinary experience no matter what; even if you’re not guaranteed to like everything.”

And you know he’ll do it again!  Try another cuisine or restaurant he hasn’t before, or see a play or movie he’s never heard of!  Because artists take risks!  Even ones with low stakes because that’s what life is for.  You tell Marcus that the friend you see before you is dynamic and has the gift of seeing the potential in things (and people) where others don’t.  He takes leaps of faith and reveres life.

Marcus tells you that you might actually be the poet that you usually accuse him of being.  And though he thinks you make him out to be grander than he is (you are in PR after all!), he still thinks about your words a lot.  He supposes that perhaps he's always been an artist of sorts.

An artist creates, builds, molds – and Marcus has always firmly believed in making the best of what one is given; to see and encourage as much beauty in something as possible.  It was an artist’s gift to translate the mundane into the extraordinary, and even if he wasn’t necessarily successful, the artist wasn’t supposed to want more than or try and change what fate has handed him.  Or so Marcus had thought.

Before he met you.

Something about you and your friendship made Marcus think perhaps he didn’t have to make beautiful the cards that he had been dealt.  That it was okay to admit if something wasn’t right and not try to mold or craft it into something just this side of tolerable.  It was okay to want better, to strive for something that was actually good.  Lovely. 

Little by little over the past year, Marcus has been taking his life, his pride back.  And it fueled his desire to reclaim this name he had been mockingly bestowed and reclaim its godlike power as his own.

Yes, he’s ready to proclaim loud and proud: Marcus Pike is Hephaestus.

Marcus Pike is a lover of the arts.  An admirer of those of his fellow man who choose to create and construct, artisans and craftsmen who spin and cast stories and convey moments of deep and relatable emotion using earthly materials, metal, stone, clay, canvas, and accordingly, live on far beyond their own years.

Whose brilliant mind combines the industrious and the creative, leading the advancement of innovative technology and its implementation within the ever-evolving discipline of crime fighting.

He might never be fit for active field work the way he once was, but a renewed commitment to physio has made him stronger and leaner than he’s ever been.  He wields weights in the gym like a blacksmith might a hammer, forging muscle and strength on the anvil of his own flesh.  Far from caring about physical appearances, he sculpts his body into something hard and powerful for the calm it brings his mind, but there is no doubt about it: Marcus Pike is a physical specimen to behold.  Limp or no limp. 

And yes, Marcus Pike married a woman who did not love him and who did not deserve him.  She cheated on him with someone she thought was her equal, all the while overlooking and dismissing the quiet power and steadfast devotion of her husband.  And Marcus accepted this insult for a long time, because he thought he had to make something beautiful that wasn’t, that he could love her enough for the both of them.  But he’s come to realize that he did it mainly because she made him feel like that was all he was worthy of.  But no more.  The ink on the divorce papers has been dried for many months and now he positively basks in the love and grace of a woman who sees his true worth.

You.

The code name change is for you too, he likes to think.  Marcus doesn’t want you to feel pity for him or the parts of his life that lent connotation to this name, not that you ever did.  But he wants you to know that he feels every bit the man you’ve always treated him as: confident, virtuous, strong.

Your Agent Hephaestus.

Some time after he started divorce proceedings, Marcus had reflected a little more on your and his friendship.  It was easy and joyful.  You respected one another.  That you were objectively beautiful was neither here nor there; Marcus was a loyal partner to the core and truthfully didn’t even consider the attractiveness of other people while he was in a committed relationship… but now that he was no longer, he had to admit that he was very attracted to you.  And not just your pretty face and alluring figure, but all of you. 

You’re kind-hearted and smart, generous and compassionate.  You care.  He sees it in the way you conduct yourself at work – putting your all into making his fellow agents and analysts shine, making sure that no one was overlooked and that others feel seen and valued.  It’s certainly how you’ve always made him feel.  You’re sweet and funny – the friends that you make at the office, himself included, would attest that you were sometimes the best part of their work day.

And you’re open and joyful; up for trying and learning new things – never conceited or self-important, you wear your appreciation for the wonders of life and what it has to offer on your sleeve.  Your job is about making others look good, but you yourself rarely cared about clout or public accolades - your hard work and confident demeanor speak for themselves and unironically, you come off looking fantastic and everyone liked you, just cause.  One thing you never were was cruel or heartless – you give everyone a chance and extend grace to others even under stressful or difficult conditions.  The only thing you’re intolerant of is when others exhibited those self-serving attributes.  Once in a departmental meeting, some dinosaur had tried to cover up his own mistakes by throwing a young analyst under the bus – you had put a stop to it before the old man could finish his fib with a cutting and deliberate comment about the importance of integrity at the FBI.  Marcus had discreetly chuckled to himself and thanked whatever deity looking out for him that you seemed to always be on his side. 

Yes, Marcus admires you exceedingly.

A year ago, he had asked you out, nervous that you may not see him the way he now sees you, terrified of ruining your friendship.  You had been hesitant, but not for that reason – of course you’re attracted to Marcus, he’s one of the finest men you've ever known, but you worried that his heart might not be ready after what Lisbon had put him through.  You should have known better than to doubt Marcus’ capacity for love.  Taking a leap of faith in much the same way you admired him for always doing, you’re now happier than you could have ever dreamed.  Marcus dotes on you and makes you feel cherished like a goddess.  Sharing a life with him makes everything better: food tastes better, sunsets are more colourful, music sounds more harmonious; all because the man next to you makes everything good even better with his kindness and his care.  And he worships at the altar of your body like no one ever has, and you doubt ever could; Marcus loves on you with such devotion and wickedness that you regularly see the heavens themselves.

Marcus is an artist reborn – having taken something already amazing and precious, and transforming it into something even more beautiful.  Something that makes his life complete.

Marcus doesn’t tell you, but he also put in for a code name for you as well.  It’s not needed for the Public Relations department, and you’re not an agent in the traditional sense of the title, so you’ve never asked to be assigned one, but the paperwork for your code name has been submitted and approved.  Currently on standby, if and when you ever choose to accept it, it will be ready to go live.

Perhaps someday in the future, should both of you wish it, you’ll agree to become Agent Kharis in both name and in life.  Marcus cannot think of a code name more fitting for you than the name of one of the three Graces of the ancient Greek myths, goddess of Splendor, Glory and Adornment, and the beauty who saved Hephaestus from a life without love.

[randomthefox]

People don't understand Rouge the bat, they treat her like she's a villain turned hero. When Rouge was never a villain, at any point, literally ever. Let's look at the story of Sonic Adventure 2 from Rouge's POV.

Rouge is a secret service agent working for the president who moonlights as a jewel thief (or perhaps it's the other way around lol). At some point before the game began she got a mission from the President, which probably went something like this: "hey Rouge, Eggman just fucking busted ass through GUN's top secret military base and stole something called 'Project Shadow' and nobody is telling me what the hell that even is. Go do some sleuthing and figure out what this project Shadow shit is and what Eggman's doing with it." She either got this mission assignment while stealing the Master Emerald from Angel Island, or shortly before deciding to go steal the Master Emerald as a day trip or something.

Either way, she's confronted by Knuckles over the Master Emerald and that is when she sees Eggman for the first time.

After snagging some pieces of the master emerald along the way, she follows Eggman back to his secret pyramid base. It is notable that GUN themselves are already aware of the general location of this base and are trying to raid it, but are unable to actually get inside. Rouge manages to successfully infiltrate it.

This is the first time the audience is clued into Rouge's true motivations. It is her mission to find out what Eggman is up to. Thus she takes the transporter to the ARK to get to the bottom of his schemes.

This is when she meets Eggman and Shadow and ingratiates herself in with them. At this point Team Dark is formed, but Rouge is operating as a double agent. Everything she does under Eggman's orders and interests is to get in his good graces so she can fulfill her true mission. She is NOT acting as a villain, she's being an undercover cop. After the demonstration with the Eclipse Canon blowing up the moon and Eggmans threats falling on deaf ears due to Sonic's interruption, Rouge gives Eggman the info about Tails having the final Chaos Emerald. Then she gives a status report to the President.

This is why I said Rouge's initial mission assignment was "find out what the fuck Project Shadow is, because apparently that's what Eggman yoinked from GUN's military island and nobody will tell me what it is."

Rouge's mission during this game is to find out what Project Shadow is, if Shadow the Hedgehog being the ultimate life form is related to whatever Project Shadow is, and what Eggman's intentions involving Project Shadow are. And if Shadow is a threat. The evolving situation and her expanded understanding of Shadow means she's playing speed chess with how she handles things, since she IS operating as a double agent following Eggman's orders. She also can't quite sus out what Shadow's deal is. He certainly CLAIMS to be the ultimate life form. Is that what Project Shadow is? Is HE project Shadow?

Her efforts of playing the part as Eggman's lackey pay off and he gives her the password to access the ARK's database and find the information she's been looking for.

And the information she finds it about the prototype, the research project that Gerald documented in the ARK, and not the true scope of his final results with Shadow the Hedgehog's creation which were relegated entirely to his secret personal diary.

Rouge is shooketh, and confronts Shadow with her findings. Shadow claims to the be ultimate life form. But she just found out about what Project Shadow "truly" is, the Biolizard. If Project Shadow was meant to create the ultimate life form, and Project Shadow was this Biolizard, then who or what is Shadow? After all it is her mission to get to the bottom of this project Shadow business. And she wants to find out the truth about the nature of Shadow's character as well, since he did save her life and all. So she knows there's more to him than meets the eye. Her mission and motivation is to uncover the truth.

But Shadow takes her questions as existential, and just reaffirms his sense of identity. Rouge is left with nothing but the documents about the Biolizard she got from the ARK computer, and cannot make a definitive declaration about what Shadow the Hedgehog has to do with the Ultimate Lifeform.

In the end, the Colony Drop program is initiated. And Rouge receives a call from the President which probably went something like "ROUGE HOLY FUCK THE ARK IS ON A COLLISION COURSE FOR EARTH AND WE'RE ALL GONNA DIE WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON UP THERE!?!?!?!?!?"

Due to the situation being pretty FUBAR, Eggman shares Gerald's diary with Rouge and the others. Revealing the truth about Shadow the Hedgehog as the true Ultimate Lifeform, the result of Project Shadow, all along. And the instrument of Gerald's final revenge.

Rouge's mission is a success. She has finally learned why Eggman blew his way through GUN's base and sprung Project Shadow, and learned definitively what Project Shadow is. She knows the truth about what Project Shadow is, and who Shadow the Hedgehog the ultimate life form is. Once this whole ARK collision business is resolved, she can make a full report to the President.

Although. Personally. I think Rouge's final scene talking to Sonic about Shadow changed her priorities.

"Do you really think that the professor created him, Shadow, to carry out the revenge on all those who live here on earth?"

"He was what he was. A brave and heroic hedgehog. Who gave his life to save this planet. Shadow the Hedgehog."

".... I guess you're right."

That's Sonic's "what you see is what you get" view of the world. And I believe it rang true for Rouge. I believe Rouge was inspired by Sonic in this short interaction. I like to think, perhaps, that when Rouge gave her report to the President, that is what she said. "Shadow was a brave and heroic hedgehog who gave his life to save this planet." But that's just me. The President DOES seem to hold a pretty favorable opinion of Shadow though, despite never meeting him. So that's what I like to think.

Anyway Rouge was a good guy the whole time play the games they are very good.

[justinspoliticalcorner]

Sebastian Murdock at HuffPost:

National security adviser Mike Waltz reportedly used his personal Gmail account for government communications, adding to a growing list of digital security failures in President Donald Trump’s administration. Waltz, along with at least one senior aide to Waltz, used the commercial service instead of their government-issued email, The Washington Post reported Tuesday. Interviews with several anonymous U.S. officials, along with documents reviewed by The Post, revealed that Waltz used his Gmail account to send his schedule and other work documents. Officials added that Waltz would also copy and paste from his schedule into the messaging app Signal to coordinate meetings. More alarming, a senior aide to Waltz reportedly also used Gmail to send more sensitive information. More from the Post:

[A senior Waltz aide used the commercial email service for highly technical conversations with colleagues at other government agencies involving sensitive military positions and powerful weapons systems relating to an ongoing conflict, according to emails reviewed by The Post. While the NSC official used his Gmail account, his interagency colleagues used government-issued accounts, headers from the email correspondence show.]

The potential security breach is yet another self-inflicted wound from the Trump administration. Waltz is already under intense scrutiny after he added a journalist to a Signal group with other high-level officials to discuss war plans. And last week, German news outlet Der Spiegel reported it was able to find phone numbers, email addresses and even passwords for accounts belonging to Waltz, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard from commercial databases and password leaks available online. Waltz’s Venmo account was also discovered by Wired and was publicly available until the publication informed Waltz’s team about its report.

Michael Waltz is in even more deep doo-doo, as he got busted for using GMail for Government work.

[darkmaga-returns]

A STUDY of millions of citizens shows that covid vaccination ‘significantly increased’ the risks for depression, anxiety, various stress disorders and sleep problems. The same study showed the vaccinations ‘significantly decreased’ the risk for developing bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.

Two South Korean universities randomly selected from the Korean National Health Insurance Service (KNHIS) claims database more than two million (2,154,189) Seoul citizens aged 20 and older who had received two doses of covid vaccines, and 350,983 unvaccinated subjects. Researchers excluded any with a history of schizophrenia, depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety, dissociative, stress related, somatoform (SSD) or psychosomatic disorders (these are mental health conditions where people experience physical symptoms in response to psychological distress), sleep, eating and sexual disorders. This meant excluding almost half a million in the vaccinated group (435,390) and 42,629 in the unvaccinated group. The final number was 1,718,999 vaccinated subjects and 308,354 non-vaccinated subjects.

Post covid infection mental health issues had been studied extensively but not post covid vaccination mental adverse events. This study redressed the balance, and the researchers concluded: ‘Our population-based cohort study provides robust evidence for psychiatric adverse events (AEs) after covid-19 vaccinations. Furthermore, our study provided risks of psychiatric AEs according to vaccine type, revealing that the psychiatric disorders (depression, anxiety, dissociative, stress-related, and somatoform disorders, and sleep disorders) with increased risks due to covid-19 vaccination showed the highest risk in the case of heterogeneous vaccination.’ Heterogenous vaccination means a combination of vaccine types, for example Pfizer combined with AstraZeneca.

[mariacallous]

When she was five years old, Kitty Saks’ home in Vienna was commandeered by the Nazis, leading her family to flee to Brussels, where she was hidden in a convent until the Allies liberated Belgium. Twenty-seven members of her family were killed in the Holocaust.

Until a few weeks ago, that story could be read on the website of a U.S. Air Force unit, one of the many ways the government commemorated the Holocaust.

But now it is gone, one of many Holocaust remembrance articles taken down as part of the Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s effort to rid Pentagon platforms of anything related to DEI.

In a February 26 memo titled “digital content refresh”, Pentagon leadership was directed to “remove all DoD news and feature articles, photos, and videos that promote Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI).” More than 24,000 articles could potentially be removed, according to a database obtained by CNN.

Also caught in the net of the anti-DEI purge are articles focused on race, gender and LGBTQ experiences, as well as others on topics such as cancer awareness, suicide prevention and sexual assault. An article on Jackie Robinson, who served in the military and is widely admired for breaking baseball’s color line, was removed and has been reinstated.

Also removed was an article on Bea Arthur, the Jewish “Golden Girls” star who served in the Marines during World War II.

Beyond Saks’ story, at least two more pages documenting Holocaust remembrance were also removed. One page, titled “A Cadet’s Perspective: Holocaust Days of Remembrance,” described a cadet’s experience visiting concentration camps a decade ago and the ways they informed his experience in the U.S. Air Force Academy.

Another page stripped from the Pentagon’s platforms commemorated Holocaust Remembrance Week and told readers to not forget the importance of religious diversity:

“The first place we must look is within ourselves. Do we allow stereotypes to determine how we think of another based on their religion? Do we diminish another’s beliefs because they are different from our own? It is in examining ourselves and the inner thoughts that we allow to foster, we will be able to create change,” the article read.

In a statement, Pentagon Press Secretary John Ullyot — who referred to DEI initiatives as “Woke cultural Marxism” — said pages that had inadvertently been removed would be reinstated but did not detail if or when the Holocaust-related articles would go back up.

“We are pleased by the rapid compliance across the Department with the directive removing DEI content from all platforms,” his statement said. “In the rare cases that content is removed — either deliberately or by mistake — that is out of the clearly outlined scope of the directive, we instruct the components and they correct the content so it recognizes our heroes for their dedicated service alongside their fellow Americans, period.”

Saks died in 2021 at the age of 88. In the article about her experience, which can still be viewed on the Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine, she was quoted saying, “I think the Holocaust should never be forgotten and it should be taught in schools, but not just a few lines.”

[skepticbehindthescreen]

Skeptic, you are a man of remarkable intellect and strategic prowess, someone who operates in the shadows yet leaves an undeniable impact. What led you down this particular path, aligning yourself with the Liberation Army and later the Paranormal Liberation Front? Was it purely ideological, a calculated decision, or something more personal? What drives you to act—not just as a manipulator of information, but as a believer in the cause?

It’s simple. Hero society is destined to collapse.

Destro’s manifesto is a call to action. To question the status quo. You civilians accept society as it is, content to parrot back rules without question.

It’s humorous.

My alignment with the MLA itself, was out of opportunity. Hacking into Detnerat’s database revealed an archive of personal files relating to the Meta-Liberation Army. Dekia City’s origins. Re-Destro’s ancestor. I could go on, yet I won’t.

From there, I merely made my services available.