SHOWDOWN !

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EP: 57:62 : “Tertius/Quickfire”

ERIA QUINT: Welcome back to Showdown! I’d like to thank Dr. Erin Tertius for stopping by. Again, her new book is available now through all major systems and the new season of Dangerous Exploring starts in September SET. Now it’s time for Quickfire, where we do a rapid exchange about the events currently capturing the Empire’s attention. I’d like to welcome a couple of our favorite duelists, Jared Ross from the Terra Gazette and Liam Hollister from Political Action First.

JARED ROSS: Hi, Eria.

LIAM HOLLISTER: We’re duelists now. That’s exciting.

JARED ROSS: Definltely. I hope my job title gets adjusted appropriately.

ERIA QUINT: Topic one. Fujin City in Centauri. The Pol family left the Xi’An Empire two months ago with the hopes of starting a new life in the UEE, only to find themselves the victims of increasingly vicious xenophobic hate-messages.

JARED ROSS: It’s pretty awful.

ERIA QUINT: Local authorities have been unable to find the culprits. Should the Advocacy get involved?

JARED ROSS: Yes. Absolutely.

LIAM HOLLISTER: I disagree. It’s sad and shameful, but we should trust local authorities to resolve the issue. From what I understand, it’s been mostly defacement and damage to their personal hover. It seems like a bunch of narrow-minded idiots, nothing that would justify getting the Advocacy involved.

JARED ROSS: Sure, the crimes don’t classically fall under the Advocacy’s jurisdiction, but this is bigger than that.

LIAM HOLLISTER: If the point is sending a message, I think the community’s reaction has been a much more powerful one. The remarkable turnout for anti-hate rallies shows the Pols that they are indeed welcome.

ERIA QUINT: Topic two. Senator Rachel Lester has been heading a subcommittee to look into the Senate’s outsourcing policy to private vendors, and it seems they’ve caught their first suspect in their dragnet. Trent Sebastian, a junior associate for Senator Octavia Beate of Ferron, was implicated in a payoff scheme to favorably position vendors for Senate contracts. Senator Beate immediately decried her former employee’s actions.

JARED ROSS: Of course she did.

LIAM HOLLISTER: Well, to be fair, the evidence didn’t implicate her.

JARED ROSS: You’re talking about a woman who has been tangentially related to various corruption and bribery schemes for years. The evidence always seems to implicate one of her aides or employees and never her. So, either I’m right and she’s not an idiot or you are and she has the worst luck hiring employees in the entire government.

LIAM HOLLISTER: I’m not saying she’s innocent, just that our system requires a burden of proof.

JARED ROSS: I understand, but it just seems like everyone has a tremendously short memory.

ERIA QUINT: Last topic. The Association of Cultural Arts announced their nominees this week …

LIAM HOLLISTER: Ah, moving on to the real news, I see.

ERIA QUINT: “Requiem Past” was completely shut out of award consideration due to a loophole regarding the release structure. The controversial vid about the First Tevarin War and its aftermath has been fiercely debated in the media for its bleak depiction of Humanity’s intentions and actions.

LIAM HOLLISTER: I’m glad the ACA took a stand. The last thing we need is for armchair historians to be presenting flagrantly inaccurate depictions of our history as fact. I think it’s irresponsible at best and incendiary at worst. Why validate it further than this debate already has?

JARED ROSS: I think they’re wrong. Technically, it’s incredibly well-made and I think that it’s calling into question our understanding of that era only highlights that maybe we aren’t as secure or confident in our moral standing as we thought. And I say that as someone who didn’t necessarily agree or enjoy the film.

ERIA QUINT: That will do it for this round of Quickfire. I’d like to thank both of our guests, Jared Ross and Liam Hollister. That’s our show for this week. Join us next time, our guests will discuss the volatile situation on Charon III and what, if anything, the UEE should do about it. My name is Eria Quint. This is Showdown!