12362/ACAB... but so are Vigilantes

ACAB... but so are Vigilantes
Date of Scene:	09 August 2022
Location:	GCPD Headquarters - Midtown
Synopsis:	Somebody signs a deal with the Devil, but was it Jim Gordon or Anarky?
Cast of Characters:	Lonnie Machin, Jim Gordon

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Lonnie Machin has posed:
Late nights are part of the Comissioner's job - and after a long night, Commissioner James Gordon finally gets to stop by his office for a bit before he goes home. There's a fresh pack of Reds in his desk drawer that a rainy night tonight would call for.

In the dark office, his chair is turned away, facing the window - which is currently open, rain striking the windowsill.

The entire place is almost preternaturally quiet. Though, after a moment there's the sound of a pack of cigarettes getting lightly smacked into the palm of a hand.

Jim Gordon has posed:
It's been a long day for the Commissioner. A botched drug raid that IA is relatively sure there was a tipoff over. Several murders of a rather macabre nature. Tensions rising amongst some of the local gangs and out of towners like the Maggia trying to make a move to take over turf. Adjusting his glasses, he has a look down at a sealed lead box containing a letter in it from events a day or so ago.
    Stretching out and then going over to head towards a bookshelf to sort through a few different books containing different legal codes for Gotham Central. He just wants to get a last smoke in before having to head out in the rain to the next crisis and if he has the time some coffee. It being quiet..
    He's a cop. He lives in Gotham. It being quiet is always artificial and always sets him on edge.
    The sound of a cigarette pack being 'smacked' has him with his hand moving down to his gun ever so quietly. He wasn't alone.

Lonnie Machin has posed:
    The chair spins - it isn't a bat. This one's all punk, the leather, the patches, the bone-white mask with its flat, faintly mocking expression. There's a voice modulator that gives his voice a distorted hum when he speaks. "Commissioner." He says. "I'm a great proponent of personal freedoms, but one person to another, you should find a healthier vice."
    Anarky tosses the cigarettes onto the desk, and then puts his booted feet up on it. "I started your coffee machine. I figured you might want a cup." The masked anarchist gestures. "Go ahead. I'm not here to make trouble." Though he certainly seems to enjoy the chance to make Gotham's top cop uncomfortable.

Jim Gordon has posed:
The commissioner goes to tense, right before pulling his hand away from his gun as he would evaluate the masked figure. "So what brings you here?" He would ask calmly. "And that's a vice only my daughter's allowed to nag me on."
    The anarchist gets a tired look from the Commissioner. "And yes, I'm paid up in my dues."

Lonnie Machin has posed:
"If I have a failing in some people's eyes it's that I fail to respect artificial boundaries." He gestures. "While I'm generally pro-union, I find that Police Unions are the ones that have *excessive* power and ability to shield their members from consequences." He gestures with one hand. "I don't like cops." He says, "I think you're one of the principal components of a system that's used to oppress and entrap people within its vampiric constraints."

"ACAB. Even the good ones." He takes his feet off the desk, and leans forward on it with his elbows on the desk and his hands folded under his chin. "But as I get older I find age brings perspective. I'm not interested in chaos, only in fighting those who would oppress. Enslave. Terrorize. Right now, I have my eyes turned toward gentrification. Out with the old, in with the new."

"What side of the argument do you fall on? Have a cup of coffee, Commissioner. Let's talk." Always so bizzarely polite, even when he's being rude.

Jim Gordon has posed:
This is what passes for the new normal in Gotham. Gordon goes to take the offered cup of coffee, "So, are you here to debate philosophy with me or are you here to ask my help in a case? If you want to discuss philosophy, I suggest you try the Themysciran Embassy and their forensics program. If you want to talk to me about it.." Gordon goes to take a hand over to light a cigarette.

"I'll give you five minutes if that's what you're here to regale me over." NIcotine and caffeine ready, Gordon goes to lean against the wall. Not sipping the coffee. An old man in Gotham didn't get to be old without being paranoid. The other man had been the one to make it after all.
    "Depending on how you define your system, any form of restraint can be oppressive. Chaos in any field gives in at some point to order. Order is enforced by the strongest in any other vacuum. Whether it be gangs, warlords, or fanatics."

"Is civil institution perfect? Far from it. Is control of any sort a good or a bad thing? If I might badly paraphrase Sir Winston Churchill, 'Democracy is the worst form of government, except for all the others that have been tried.' And I'm on the side that means to try and get it right. I fail more times than I succeed."

Lonnie Machin has posed:
"I don't poison people." Anarky says, rolling his eyes. "Not my style." Then he waves a hand. "Be that as it may, *this* order is enforced by the police, as a boot on the necks of the people at the behest of the powerful. I'm not a fan of Churchill, either. But just consider me one of those experimenters who'd like to see if maybe we can't figure out a better form of government yet. I'm specifically talking about gentrification of places like Park Row. People talk about the updating and repurposing of old buildings and the removal of whole neighborhoods."

"Except... people live there. Where are they going to go? Where are they going to live? Senior citizens. Children. Families. People who have *no place to go*. The machine grinds on and their voices get ignored by the powerful."

Anarky slaps his hand down on the desk. "But not by me!"

Jim Gordon has posed:
As Anarky goes to make his statement, Jim Gordo goes to take a whiff of his cigarette. He looks sad. "Gentrification's hit every city taht's existed, as far as I'm aware. There's no effective set of circumstances that can block it. And I /know/ people live there. That feel that they're forgotten, ignored, and that they're stomped on." His voice is calm and rational as the hand would slap the desk, leaving another dent among the already countless ones laid upon it.

"There are grants to help people get access to housing and rent, low income places.. If they're being preyed upon and targeted or the properties are being bought up and people are being forced out I'll start an investigation as soon as you're out of my office."

Lonnie Machin has posed:
"Grants. Shelters." Anarky waves a hand, and then begins to get up. "People don't know how to apply for grants. Shelters are overcrowded as it is. That's just it. I don't have the evidence -- yet. But I'm working on getting it. *Despite* your prominent position in an oppressive institution, I have it on good authority that you're an essentially moral man. So what I would *ask* you to do is slow the machine. You control where the energy of the GCPD is directed, and without the force of the police being brought to bear, a lot of forced evictions in Park Row won't happen. I'm aware it's a political risk, for you. Give me a little time, and I'll get you what you need to do something about this through the mechanisms of the law - you'll get a philosophical victory against me, and innocent people won't wind up on the street."

"I can live with that. For the moment."

Jim Gordon has posed:
Jim Gordon would take a moment to look at Anarky, "I'll see what I can do. I'll have to look into what exactly the circumstances are first. I have some favors with people in the city's social welfare agencies. I'll call some of them in to try and make sure they pay a little more attention to the area. And I'll make sure that any eviction requests put in get an extra layer of review procedurally." He'll do what he can to slow and gum up the works.

Jim Gordon holds himself to the ideal that man working together can do good things. But he also understands that things fall through the cracks and there are things that break down the institution.

That's why the GCPD Headquarters has a giant signal atop it.

Lonnie Machin has posed:
Anarky turns and puts his hand on the windowframe. "...Thank you." He says. "I don't envy you your job, you know. If you were crooked, it would be much, much easier. Just buy me time, sir. That's all I need. By the way. I left a packet of GCPD officers who've been soliciting prostitutes using the "cop discount" while on-duty taped under your desk. There are photos. Call it a truce. For the moment. I despise the current social order. But maybe I can subvert it to do a little good, while I try to fix it."

Jim Gordon has posed:
Jim Gordon would sigh, "Thank you. I'll make sure that makes it to Internal Affairs. And get me the information if -anyone- is pushing evictions or paying off anyone under the table. If you find out any cops are being used in it, on or off duty.." It will be their badges and as far as the Commissioner is concerned, hell to pay.

Lonnie Machin has posed:
Anarky goes out the window without saying anything, leaving the Commissioner to his cigarettes and midnight coffee and the rain outside.

Outside of the office, Harvey Bullock shouts, "Ay, I had donuts in dis fridge. WHO REPLACED MY DONUTS WIT RYE BAGELS!?"