"I believe that it is to discuss what has happened," put in another voice.
Raising a brow, Nabiki turned to look at the speaker, who had to be Cologne, and saw a blue haired woman with pointy ears. "Cologne?!"
"Yes, child," said the woman, though if this was Cologne even the voice was different. Gone was the raspy quality, and now she had a softer voice. "Have you been listening to the news?"
"No, should I?" asked Nabiki.
Cologne turned the television up.
"- sudden appearances of these so-called elves, members of the Diet have vowed quick and decisive action to deal with the menace."So far the greatest preponderance of these aliens is in metropolitan Tokyo, with Nerima ward having the highest concentration.
"The American terrorist group E.L.F. has stated their lack of involvement, but typically outspoken Diet Representitive Nobuhito Morai has called on the United States to take responsibility for this."
"'This is clearly some sort of terrorist activity, and the fact that the US Legal System is an international joke merely encourages such behavior. I call upon the United States to clean up their act and to deal with this problem caused by their own tendency to -'"
"WHAT?!" asked Nabiki as Cologne turned the sound back down.
"The mainstream media makes its money through sales of its product," explained Cologne as if to a small child. "If they can induce panic or make a situation worse, they will - as then the demand for information regarding the problem increases and so does their sales. If it follows the trend of such things, you'll soon see scientists offering theories based loosely on facts supporting the worst case scenarios - because there will be an increased chance of funding the worse the 'disaster' is. They may be slightly ahead of various celebrities expounding on the problem - mainly to get their names out in the public if they're between jobs or because they feel they are a celebrity and therefore their opinion is correct and should be held by their worshippers."
"What?!" repeated Nabiki.
Cologne shrugged and turned back to making tea. "Human nature rarely changes. After a few centuries you get tired of all the nonsense constantly being repeated with different names and titles attached. There's always some crisis somewhere, and if one doesn't exist there are those quite capable of manufacturing one. What is important now is how this snowballs. Saner heads may prevail and hold out against the mob of reactions calling for quarantine or death of the afflicted, or this may be the start of a mass slaughter starting here in Nerima."
"They couldn't do that and get away with it," said Nabiki, trying to convince herself.
"Depends mainly on the numbers," said Cologne, setting the tea set out. "The higher the number of those afflicted by this change, the better chance of the truth getting out and the lower the chances of some populist movement ending with us dead. The lower the numbers, the more chance we'll be seen as some new threat and quietly eliminated. Then forgotten about as the news turns to the next crisis."
"A bit cynical, aren't you?" asked Nabiki.
"Cynicism is a right of the elderly," Cologne assured Nabiki. "Tea?"
"Uhm, yeah," agreed Nabiki. "Why did you close anyway?"
"We can be out of the country in a half-hour," said Cologne. "We can return to the village inside a day. Shall we reserve a seat for you if it becomes necessary?"
"I'll get back to you on that," said Nabiki, looking towards the television. "Hey, there's something new."
Cologne turned the television volume back up.
"- in Taiwan where perhaps two dozen of these fae folk have been placed in protective custody following a young elf being ripped literally apart by a mob. This started when a family insisted their daughter had been replaced by a winged monster and hauled her into the streets."Outbreaks have also been reported in Hawaii, in Hong Kong, and in... Tahiti? The situation is changing from moment to moment so stay tuned!"
"'- she can read about a train crash with a gleam in her eye,'" quoted Cologne. "Now we'll see how it develops."
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(Posted Mon, 11 Apr 2005 09:58)
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らんま1/2 © Rumiko Takahashi
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