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[Leeravitz]

[SPEC] Reconstructionist secrecy - theories

[Crane]

[META][GENERAL SPEC] Theories? Roles of the Recons? Violet?

[DrPiranha]

Why so sure it is the recons we can't trust? It could well be that, in true movie plot style, the people you think are good guys are in fact the bad guys and the bad guys are the good guys.

[Leeravitz]

Well, I suppose if this *is* all a Recon set - up, then one basic reason that they might wish to 'blacklist' certain indviduals with what I assume to be 'celebrity' status (an up - and - coming artist, a newspaper columnist, a famous rock star etc.) is because these individuals are highly representative of 'secular' Perplexian society. If what the Recons wish to do is show up secular society for the hypocrisy they believe it to be, then it might be advantageous for them to allege that certain individuals of note are actually secret Reconstructionists, even if they aren't. However, that sounds like a plan which would have very short - term consequences - if KT or Aiko were taken in for police questioning, say, on the basis of nothing, then surely, however inconvienient this might be for them, the charges wouldn't stick. It could be that the Recons are simply behaving bloody - mindedly - what they want to see is reputations damaged, as a blow against secular and celebrity society in general - and they think (ironically) that if they can cause the public to mistrust and repudiate these individuals, then they are making some inroads to this end.

Alternatively, the same end could be pursued on the basis that those named *are* actually Reconstructionist supporters of note, who have kept their affiliation secret. By releasing the information, throwing to the wolves a number of those whom they simply consider 'fair weather friends', the Recons are hoping to reveal to Perplexian society as a whole both the fact that Reconstructionism is more powerful a force than they have been imagining, and, simultaneously, that secular protestations can't be trusted - it's as if they would be saying 'look what hypocrites you seculars are! Substantial numbers of your own greatest citizens are secret Reconstructionists! Your society cannot be working! Reconstructionism is the only way forward!'.

This would be playing a highly dangerous, and duplicitous, game, of course, because it could easily backfire - it could simply show up Reconstructionism as a religion so soulless that the Recons are quite prepared to stab their own supporters in the back if it suits, or they feel betrayed. Rest assured, this would be a bit like Stalinist purging and so on - it wouldn't exactly generate much sympathy for the Recon stance. That kind of reaction would probably be even more marked if the Recons. are deliberately setting up people who don't have any connections to the sect, in which case they might get found out, be accused of perjury, and lose whatever standing they possess right now. On the other hand, if they could 'leak' such info without anyone being prepared to identify what the initial source was, they might get away with it. And perhaps they would bank on the fact that Violet could never admit what she'd done (breaking and entering etc.) for fear of condemnation - so, in effect, she couldn't reveal her sources...

Alternatively, of course, it's possible that those who are said to be Recon. supporters actually are, that they remain active in the movement and proselytise for the cause surreptitiously within wider Perplexian society without anyone knowing, and that the message was genuinely an internal memo that was meant to remain secret, and inaccessible.

I rather like the most paranoid of the theories I've expanded above (as you can no doubt tell by now, the more convoluted the plot gets, the better I like it), but I wonder if it's really feasible. The simplest explanation is quite simply that there *are* 'fifth columnists' out there, and we've got to keep an eye on them...

But I guess we never know...

[Is it worth combining my previous spec. on 'fifth columns' with this thread, by now?]

[SalmonOfDoubt]

Masons

[sledgecallier]

Of course, it could just be that the people listed have decided that they want to keep some of their private lives (such as their chosen religion) actually private and not plastered all over the news feeds.

We on Earth seem to be so used to the idea of celebrities private lives being laid bare that perhaps it is hard for us to perceive how someone would want to keep the details of their private lives to themselves?

[Violet]

Re: [META][GENERAL SPEC] Theories? Roles of the Recons? Viol

[MikeyJ[idle]]

Not sure we should be so hard on her

I think that the nature of the puzzles that she can't solve tells us a bit about the nature of the puzzles that they're used to in Perplexcity. The Befunge stack, as far as I understand it, was deliberately designed to be extremely difficult to compile...an perfect example of Earth obtuseness! And the key puzzle was almost over simplistic.

There's a whole load of us tackling (or in my case heckling) each puzzle and many brains makes light work, or a big confused mess.

More interesting to me is that the Recons favour Earth-style puzzles. Why? And how long for? Have they had contact with Earth before? IS there a Recon compound on Earth (bet Madonna would join if there was)?...

*MikeyJ trails off into webwork of conspiracy theories

[tanner]

i dont want to start new SPEC thread here but ive been thinking for ages that the recons are going to do something serious - like a bomb or revolution - on solstice day (21st june) in old town while everyones out gamboling

and futures still hints

tomorrow ill be proved wrong no doubt

[cassandra]

agree with you, tanner. I've waiting for some riot or abduction of Academy personnel during the "Cube hunt" and related activities tomorrow.

and I still think that Abaddon Rule's presentation sounds sinister, given his name and his play....

[tanner]

yeah theres been lots of hints from everywhere and the latest futures made me more sure

Gird your loins, babe, because this is fixing to be the worst Solstice Day ever for you.- and - hottest Solstice Day party in town. - among others

so keep your heads down folks

[Leeravitz]

Now that'd set the cats amongst the pigeons...sounds very, very interesting. But I dunno. If it happens, it would be the single most audacious thing to happen in game since the original theft, I imagine. And, frankly, very little seems to have happened in - game so far of any greatly dynamic magnitude. We thought Violet going 'deep cover' into the Recon compound would be a big deal - it didn't turn out to amount to much. We thought Aiko being arrested was part of a significant backlash against the Recons. - it wouldn't appear to be. So, could be that Solstice Day is a big damp squib, too. It'd be nice to think we'll have something dramatic to get our teeth into, but I really wonder...

All will be revealed (or not, as the case may be) tomorrow...

[Leeravitz]

Well, bang goes that theory ! *sigh*

[tanner]

hey
they will discover tonight that a kidnapping has occured -- so it starts
but you are probbly right -- no big news
a wasted event IMO