Other Factions

Occupy Malfeas

Those in control certainly wish to keep it that way, but many fed up with the status quo seek change. Late in 2011, this growing disaffection gave rise to the Occupy movement. The movement protests against everything that Pentex represents: corporate influence of govern­ ment and democracy coming in second to capitalism. The smallest minority holds the greatest influence and power over the majority, stepping on the heads and backs of the poor to lift themselves higher. Characterized by their slogan “We are the 99%,” the Occupy movement is determined to wrest power back from the privileged few and end financial corruption in government.

True to their name, the Occupy movement stages rallies in public places lasting days or weeks at a time, camping in city parks or amassing outside city halls. The protesters keep themselves organized through social media like Twitter and Facebook, email, large-scale internet conference calls using programs like Skype and websites to spread the message. Ironically, they use some of Pen­ tex’s very own technologies against the corporation, as Occupy movements coordinate and conduct much of their business through smartphones and tablets.

Unfortunately for protesters, the Wyrm’s tendrils reach even into these movements. Corrupt police forces are all too happy to harass protesters, confiscating drugs and weapons that never see the evidence room. If rallies get a little too antsy, police are quick to employ tear gas and pepper spray unnecessarily. Brutality is commonplace on both sides. If the protesters respond with force, vio­ lence quickly consumes the entire rally, and even those innocent of any wrongdoing are scattered along with the lawbreakers. Just as some city councils give their support to the Occupy movement, others pass laws restricting the times or natures of protests held on public ground. Many agents attempt to destroy such movements from within. These provocateurs join with the sole purpose of fomenting dissent, butting heads with leaders and injecting incompatible ideas into debates. Most do not serve the Wyrm directly, instead serving the interests of ultra-conservative groups or third parties connected to corporate benefactors. Every meeting disrupted, every idea perverted, every bribe accepted serves the Wyrm’s

ends. It is after all, the slow decay of the human world working against Gaian forces every day, and it is not a problem solved by Rage.