//ooc: This one's a doozy! Sorry about the length, I might've gotten a bit too much into this creative writing project.
I'm sure we've all seen our courageous heroes galavanting around town to assist us in all of our problems, whether that be the earthquake that decimated old Mrs. Schneider's family home, or running a ridiculously long coffee order for Mr. Vanderstank's girlfriend during a city-wide crisis.
So many of us have been wondering just how we'd be able to help these heroes back through our own abilities or systems, though we may not have powers ourselves. My findings were disappointing to say the least.
Our flying heroes, currently attempting to better and reform themselves, have been spotted numerous times plummeting from the sky and onto nearby buildings' roofs. Those on the ground can barely even merge into the correct lane, much less make their way to the scene of a call that may or may not lead to numerous casualties.
While our dear friends over at @tchnursesstation have been leading the charge to get our contracted heroes better policies and care over at SDN, along with @sdn-hr-official, our current bills and policies only seem to be hindering our heroes instead of helping them save others with burnout, injuries, animosity from the very people they strive to save, and long enough shifts to push them into dangerously low blood sugar levels.
My name is Adrien Yong, and I’m reporting on Torrence’s own heroes in an attempt to raise more awareness towards their issues so they may be inspired to seek help or so we civilians can make small changes to help them help us.
Just earlier this week, our reforming heroes were encouraged to join various social media platforms to help boost their image and allow them to interact with us civilians outside of an interview-esque setting. But, much to my and many others’ disappointment, one in particular faced near-immediate hostility and animosity from someone who chose to remain unnamed, even though I doubt any of us put our homes or direct coordinates on this hellsite. (location pending). This hero was our very own @golem-sdn, a construct and, or so I’ve heard from rumor on the street, a recent single father. If this person felt confident enough to affront this hero on a public site where their words will be forever kept, I can only shudder to think of what may be said when no one is recording or nearby to hear.
Now, you may be wondering: how can we help our heroes? What plagues their bodies that we can assist with? What can we fix about our city and people so it makes it easier to do their jobs? Those are the exact questions I posed to a few of our very own heroes- current and former- to gather their input!
The first reply I received is from our resident hero-turned-villain, Shroud! Because the South Bay Signal wouldn't let me write this paper if I only had sources from SDN! When asked, "How do you suggest we improve our current systems and infrastructure to help support those who help us?", he gave a surprisingly coherent answer! "As for better support or infrastructure… well, it all starts with people admitting what’s wrong. Maybe even showing a bit of gratitude." If we do not listen to our heroes when they tell us something is wrong, we will not be able to help them help us.
Such is the case with one Pheonix Program participant, Prism. When posed the question, "How can we change and fix our home's infrastructure to better assist you in your work?" She replied, very enthusiastically, if I may add: "What you must do is simple, add. Mirrors. Lots. Of. Mirrors." And of course, she would ask this of us! Her light manipulation abilities would greatly increase her effectiveness in the field.
Of course, effectiveness is not the only thing that matters. Such was the case with the late Sickle, an immigrant hero who sadly passed away in the field of battle. He died because our medical professionals were unable to reach him in time due to inadequate equipment, personnel, and the protests of the observing civilians and other heroes. Sickle left behind an ex-partner and child, the latter of whom had supposedly inherited some semblance of his abilities but none of the training necessary to control them with their father gone.
And, as has been reported to me, major hero corporations refuse to implement policies that would help prevent deaths like Sickle's amongst their own ranks. Many times, heroes have been known to fall from the sky and crash atop residential buildings from a plethora of issues including injuries, ignored health issues, and blood sugar of all things. We cannot allow this to stand. If our contracted hero corporations refuse to allow their heroes to take care of themselves at the necessary levels- which, as studies have shown, are much different than your average non-powered civilians- then what's stopping more unnecessary deaths from occurring?
If we do not regulate powered occupancies by health restrictions like we do non-powered occupancies, more unnecessary deaths will occur.
I don't know if you can allow that to weigh on your mind, but I certainly know that I can't.
