001. video; Public Service Announcement

[cargojet]

Guessing everyone's feeling a little closer to compos mentis now. Great, that's gonna make this a whole lot easier.

My name is Nathan Petrelli. I'm Senator for New York, elected representative of the people, and recently made Head of Homeland Security by the President himself. It's my job to do what's in the best interests of the people, and in this case I figure that's gonna be easier said than done.

I don't want any of you to worry. Once I get up to speed on the details of what's going on here, I intend to get to the bottom of how we got here, why we were brought here, and how to go about getting back. And I mean how and why, not the bullshit they've been feeding you about jumping and wormholes and the ship needing a crew. There's a malicious intent here I'm gonna address, and then I'm getting everyone back where we belong.

I realise we're not all Americans here, and maybe you think I have no jurisdiction, but I earned the right to intervene the moment I woke up with a tube shoved down my throat, just like everyone else. I want to speak to people who know the most about this place, or be directed toward them. Captain Kirk: you're on my list for starters, but I'd rather speak to the real Captain, rather than some washed up wannabe.

Oh, and before I wrap this up, there's one other thing. A few of you will have spoken to my brother, Peter; he got here during the 'jump' previous to this one, and as I understand it he's been pretty liberal with his imagination ever since. Some time ago my brother convinced himself that he could fly. He stood on top of a twelve story building one day, called me up and told me he was going to show me he could do it. He jumped, and he fell - fortunately only as far as the fire escape - and a couple days later woke up in the hospital with minor injuries. It wasn't long after my father's death, right in the middle of my run for Congress, and I guess he was desperate for attention.

What I'm trying to say is that he's had brushes with depression before - it runs in the family - and he's not exactly stable right now. All of this doesn't make it any easier. If everyone could please be delicate with him, take what he says with a grain of salt, and inform me if it sounds like he's planning to do something that might hurt himself or others. I appreciate it.

Comments

[coffeeking]

[...He can't even-- Nope. Sorry, Peter. Get out.]

Well. Aren't you feeling self-important today. Tell me, oh great American Senator, what exactly is your expertise? Temporal physics? Or perhaps quantum mechanics? Xenosociology? Being a twat?

[cargojet]

Federal and criminal law, mostly. Temporal physics and quantum mechanics? I'm sorry, should I have gone into bullshitting as a career?

[coffeeking]

No, but you might have considered humility. I'm looking forward to the very large dose of it you're about to choke on. There are people here far more qualified than you who have been here far longer. Perhaps you'd like to pull your head out of your arse and listen to what they've learned, rather than disregard every bit of it and ponce around as if you've any idea what you're doing.

[cargojet]

Humility? The first thing I did is ask for people more experienced with this place to come and talk to me. Don't believe me, try having another listen.

I know what I'm doing, and I am listening. You got a problem with me personally that's fine, I don't give a warm day in hell what you think, but at the very least if you're gonna accuse me of not listening, you should try making sure you're hearing what I gotta say first.

[coffeeking]

Oh, I'm hearing you, Senator. I'm hearing everything.

The first thing you did was condescend to us and claim that everything we know about this place to be "bullshit," with no evidence for that save that you can't comprehend it and don't want to. And let me tell you something, Senator, I know all about people like you, who can look an alien in the face and live through an invasion and insist blindly it was all just a terrorist attack. Back home, all I had to do was suggest it, and people like you would positively cling to that little piece of denial like a life raft and go on with your merrily oblivious lives while I cleaned up the mess and edited the CCTV.

The second thing you did was call Kirk a washed up wannabe. Which is not so much insulting as it is a prime example of your tendency to open your mouth and spew shite because you make assumptions. [His eyes narrow in mirth that is purely at Nathan's expense] Were you thinking Shatner, oh great Senator?

Then you spread lies about your own brother we all know not to be true because we've had him around for months. You didn't even bother to consider that every last person on this ship might actually know a thing or two about him, even if just in passing.

And finally for some bitter icing on the cake, you told everyone in your very public conversations with others -- because the man who will save us all doesn't know how to encrypt a data exchange -- that you'd like to lock up at least half the people on this ship, including your brother, for their own "protection." Until you find a cure for the incurable.

Which leaves the question of who's going to lock you up, Senator? I'd be glad to, if you feel you're such a danger. After all, I dare say I'm more baseline human than you are. Aren't I? [He didn't miss that "us" up there, Petrelli.]

[cargojet]

You know, I might even say you were smart, except for all this. You wanna try assumptions? Try assuming that everyone who lands up here is gonna be perfectly comfortable sticking their fingers in their ears and pretending they don't have a problem coexisting with fictional characters. That makes me an asshole, just cause I'm trying to be realistic, or better yet desperately clinging to the last vestige of an idea that I've not gone prancing off to cuckoo la-la land overnight? Maybe it's something your experiences make easy for you to swallow, but it sure as hell isn't in my repertoire, and I'd appreciate it if you backed off a little and acknowledged that some of us just aren't gonna roll over and accept it as fast as others.

As for you knowing 'people like me' who hurry to cover shit up? That's what politicians do. We try and keep the calm, stop people from panicking, and I'm sorry if that offends you. It's what I'm trying to do right now.

And you're putting words in my mouth. I never said I'd like to lock up the people on this ship. What the hell would be the point? We gotta pull together to get home. You don't want to pull with me? Then that's your problem, not mine.

[coffeeking]

Now who's not listening, Senator? I'm the one who covers things up, because people like you can't deal with it when the unexpected comes calling. On this ship, I don't bother, because we're in space. Only the most bullheaded people can deny what they see and experience here. Some of them take some time to come to terms with it, sure, but most of them are wise enough to do some homework before addressing the network with any delusion of authority. "I don't want any of you to worry," that's a lark. For a politician, you're rather bollocks at watching your footing.

We've long since pulled together here, Senator. You're the only one out of step.

[cargojet]

I don't have any delusion of authority, and people addressing the network before they've figured out this isn't all a dream? You think that's really so weird?

[ He tilted his head slightly. ]

I wouldn't be the first person, would I? The only difference is I'm not demanding to be sent home, I'm not as selfish as that. I wouldn't dream of leaving other people imprisoned here. So I spoke my mind, the way everyone else speaks their mind when they arrive here.

I'm sure I'll settle right in, but hell, I wouldn't want to step on your feet, now, would I?

[coffeeking]

[He's just going to pinch the bridge of his nose. God, you are so full of yourself, Nathan.]

Yes, you are the only one to ever concern himself with the ultimate welfare of the others on this ship. Do you listen to yourself? Have you been a politician so long you've forgotten what it means to be sincere? Everything you say is a line. You twist words to suit yourself. And you think that makes you qualified to step in and rescue us all. Your ego must be pressing on the reasoning center of your brain.

[cargojet]

Tell me something, then. What's the first thing you asked the ship when you got here? Was it something about yourself, or something about the ship's company at large? What have you achieved since?

Give me an example, prove it to me. I'm more'n willing to back down, but I'm not gonna roll over like some licked puppy either.

[coffeeking]

I didn't ask anything. I observed. I helped other people who were waking up for the first time. If I asked questions, I only asked those people if they had any more information than I did, and when they didn't, I didn't make any grand proclomations. Since then, we've been fixing the shuttles, solving problems that have cropped up, and keeping each other sane as we go about it.

So what exactly are you looking for me to prove to you? You're the one telling everyone not to worry. You're going to single-handedly figure out how we got here and how to get back, right? Everyone else who's tried is clearly just a knob. So prove it to me, Senator who knows nothing about space or time travel. Prove to me your hard-on for yourself has any basis in reality.

[cargojet]

You've clearly misunderstood me if you think I have any intention of doing everything myself, or using other people in the process. Nor am I so arrogant as to imagine I'm in any position to assume command, or anything like it. Listen to my other conversations--you can do that right?

I served in the military, I know how to be a part of a machine. Anything else, and frankly I'm gonna suggest you're reading too much into it under some kind of desperate need to dislike me. We gonna keep having this problem?