MagNews Broadcast — PSA

Good Morning.

This is MagNews and we are broadcasting live from the studio to all of Lukyr to cover an emergent crisis. It is 9:30, my name is Victor Brimo, welcome.

30 minutes ago, all citizens of Lukyr Prime and The Free Cities received a formal Public Service Announcement on all of their network-enabled devices. It details that while there is no immediate threat to lives, there is a serious threat which the text only describes as one of a “digital nature”. There’s much we don’t know, but I’ll hand off to Davyn Perind, who is live from the government district, to break down what the people are thinking.

Davyn: Thank you, Victor. Here on Palace Avenue, many of the politicians and officials have come out of their offices to discuss and prepare. From what I’ve been able to pick up, none of them know more than we do, either. Many even seem frightened. Some have expressed distrust towards Aaron Carnick’s description of the situation, who has been criticized for his lack of transparency in the past.

I’m now speaking to Olex Namia, a local politician who I’ve been observing telling people around here that what the government is doing is wrong. Would you care to tell our viewers more about that?

Olex: Don’t get me wrong, I appreciate that they are acting quickly and decisively, especially in the face of what seems to be a significant threat. But I don’t think this is the way to go about it. Total surveillance like this just kicks privacy in the face, and the checkpoints are super inconvenient at best, and a major rights violation at worst.

Davyn: The Emergency Protocols were written to allow the government to handle emergencies with strong responses that the law otherwise wouldn’t permit. Do you not think it should make use of those protocols?

Olex: The guys up there have self-imposed limits on their limitless power and then given themselves the power to remove those limits on a whim. Surely we can all see that it’s all just a big joke?

Davyn: Interesting perspective. Indeed, some-

Olex: “Interesting perspective”. Screw you, man.

Davyn: Indeed, some have pointed out that the comprehensive monitoring and mandatory search checkpoints mentioned in the announcement are a major overreach by the government. Others seem to be willing to put up with these temporary measures in exchange for their protection. Which side ends up being the majority remains to be seen. That’s all from me. Back to you in the studio, Victor.

Thank you, Davyn. Let us discuss some key takeaways with our panel of experts. I have with me in the studio, Cybersecurity expert Jace Windes and human rights lawyer Zachary Palacio. Thank you both for coming here on such short notice. Mr. Windes, what can you tell us about the likely nature of the threat?

Jace: It is unfortunate that the Announcement really doesn’t tell us much. However, based on the severity of the measures, I would suspect some kind of self-propagating program. Why this would be so difficult to solve, I cannot tell you.

Thank you, Mr. Windes. Mr. Palacio, what are your thoughts on today’s news?

Zachary: The commander choosing to invoke both protocol I-856 as well as the emergency clauses of the Independence Act troubles me. It is unprecedented, and while it is perfectly within established law, it is a very daring play by Carnick and the rest of the Administration under Emperor Qyvin, which was already not very popular before, and I doubt this is going to help.

Thank you both. We’ll continue to wait for updates on the situation, which the Brigade has promised shortly. While we do that, we have scheduled several followup panels with these same and some other experts for in-depth discussion. If you’d like to watch those, just keep this channel open. We’ll bring any updates to you, our viewers, and of course bring in more experts then as well to discuss the details.

In the meantime, we urge everyone to follow the instructions laid out in the announcement and to report any suspicious activity.

Stay tuned for further updates. This has been Victor Brimo with MagNews. Good night, and stay safe out there.