Steiner seemed surprised by the team's responses. "Well, my message of me not being the monster the media makes me out to be certainly didn't get through."
But before I go further into detail, are any of you familiar with this island? Let me give you the short history. At the start of the century, large past of the island was a protected forest reserve..."
Charlotteville
Not far North of Amazonia lies the island of Tobago, one of the many islands that form the Carribean League. It lies in a region known for its rich mineral reserves and for a long time it was one of the worlds leading gas-based export centres. When these reserves started running low, production was cut back and its government started looking underground instead of underseas, finding large deposits of sedimentary minerals, ore and coal. Saeder-Krupp (and several other companies that eventually would be absorbed by it) showed an interest in the buried riches and used their clout and economical power on the countries politicians to bankrupt many of the local businesses, spreading poverty all over the the island and then bought most of the northern part of the island for a fraction of its worth and started mining. The pollution from the industry was enough to drive out the remainder of the populace still living in Scarborough and made it easy for the companies to buy that land too.
They immediately evicted the few remaining population and started strip mining the island until little more than two decades later there was nothing left to dig for and the island was abandoned, leaving behind a barren and desolate wasteland.
A few years later, two other AAA companies who were at friendly terms at that moment, Wuxing -whose shipping subsidiaries already were invested in the region and were suffering now that the mining industry had died- and Yamatetsu (now Evo) -which had just started their green image and saw a PR chance in "rebuilding a healthy planet"- saw a business opportunity land and bought the land from S-K, who were glad to be rid of it. Having already mined everything of value, they considered the area worthless anyway.
With several documentaries depicting how the local populace had been driven out, the fauna and flora destroyed and the area turned to wasteland by Saeder-Krupp, they scored a PR hit against the golden dragon’s company. And by televising their efforts at rebuilding, replanting and ‘returning the land to the people’ they portrayed themselves as saviors of the region. Of course, the fact that the citizens of the island would all be working for businesses owned by the two AAA’s and would be spending their wages paying rent and buying groceries from the same corporations went unmentioned.
Two decades later, the island and its only remaining (actually, rebuilt) city Charlotteville prospers. The two megacorps did everything to ensure their efforts would prove to be profitable in the future. The local fauna and flora, all planted according to designs of famous landscape architects, effectively turned the entire island into one of the largest parks of the world. The harbour is the only area that has buildings, roads or utilities older than twenty years, giving the city and its surroundings a uniform and ultra-modern look. City planning is strongly regulated and leaves place lot of green, buildings higher than 6 stories aren't allowed so as not to spoil the view of the park on the hills. Tax incentives and other privileges issued by the government and the dominating corporations have drawn companies to the new region. The economic boom and the promise of life in a new, clean environment ensured people flocked in. Newly built dams, dikes and storm barriers protect the city against the ocean and provide the tourists in their brand new hotels and resorts a good view over the artificial beaches, white sand and palm trees.
While Steiner tells you the background, he grows angrier and angrier, almost shouting at the end. "Do you know one of the slogans Evo use to market their project? 'Nature, Improved'.
Nature?! There's nothing real or natural on the entire island, their greed saw to that! And IMPROVED?! An entire ecosystem which took millions of years to grow and evolve, destroyed. But some designer who wouldn't recognize a cactus if it stung him in the ass draws up a park and they plant their trees and flowerbeds so that in the summer when the flowers bloom, a fucking rainbow pattern appears on the hill for the city to look at and they call it an improvement?!"
He's seething mad, his face red and a vain in his neck looks as if it's about to burst, but he ends his tirade and takes a few deep breaths.
He shakes his head and looks at Syra. "Your partner is right. Wiped off, as in I want their billion dollar PR stunt wiped off the face of the earth..."
But I am not a monster... I most certainly do not want the blood of tens of thousands on my hands, even if they are all only sheep and willing slaves to the corporations."
He turns to Boomer. "Yes, I'm aware of your expertise with explosives. But you can hardly blow up every building in the town, no matter how skilled you are. Fortunately, nature itself is our ally and is offering us an opportunity."
"Some of the people who support our cause have a great affinity for nature. So great that they can read the clouds and listen to the whispers of the wind in order to predict the weather sooner and with greater certainty than any of the mathematical models science has come up with. That is how I know that a heavy storm will form above the Atlantic the next week and head towards the Caribbean Sea."
