#I see Antonio as the kind to just... appear when his name is uttered

[boisterousfifty]

"... Mm... been a while since I've seen Spain..." he's mostly muttering to himself. A random thought in the pause of his chores. Ah well.

@amantebravo

[laurazepamwrites]

The Chemicals between us ~ Ch.10

The Italian government had taken great steps to preserve the beauty of Venice, tourists now roamed the streets sampling the local Gelato and Pizzerias, taking romantic walks along the many canal sides and enjoying relaxing Gondola rides. If one was to scratch the surface and peer under the sophisticated culture and peaceful environment Venice had to offer they would see the vicious underbelly that lived unnoticed among people and Omnics alike. A decade had not even passed since the infamous Rialto Incident, a covert mission gone wrong that was a turning point for both Overwatch and Talon. For Overwatch the mission had been a disaster and eventually became its downfall, For Talon it created a power vacuum that was quickly filled by Akande Ogundimu the ‘successor’.  It was in the long deceased Antonios office that the formidable terrorist leader now stood behind the rich mahogany desk and watched the unassuming Venice below from the very window Gabriel Reyes had shot the former occupant through. To the right of him, barely visible from the shadows, a living memory of a woman stood, her cold eyes watching Akande's guest from where he stood the other side of the desk. She had smirked when he refused to sit, Men of all kinds liked to play their power games.

‘You promised Akande.’ A metallic voice spoke.

Akande took a moment to reply as he watched an Omnic Gondolier help a young family on to his boat. The child happily took its hand as she climbed aboard, no sense of fear, no mistrust. She was born in happier times. ‘      Ignorant.’ he thought, turning to his guest. ‘I remember exactly what I promised. I hope you do not insult me by thinking Talon will not deliver. I am Talon and I will reward my allies. As long as they are patient and continue to play their part.’

The silence hung heavy in the room and the woman's fingers twitched with impatience. ‘Give me the name.’ She thought.‘Give me the name and he will not leave this room.’  Yet eventually and to her disappointment the light glinted off the metal of the guests body as he nodded his understanding, at that moment a heavy hand knocked on the large double doors of the office.

 ‘That will be our meeting over my friend.’ Said Akande, holding his hand out. Shrike, the leader of Null sector, considered before taking it and shaking once. ‘Enter.’ Akande called and the doors opened slowly revealing Reaper. He and Shrike ignored each other as they passed, Reaper remained silent until he heard the door close behind him.

 ‘Gabriel.’ Akande said ‘If you please?’ He gestured to the empty chair.

 ‘I’m not staying.’ He replied, he heard the woman in the shadows scoff.

 ‘As you wish.’ Replied Akande as he returned his attention back to the view outside. ‘Like my new windows? Double reinforced.’ He smirked as he tapped them with his knuckles. He heard a growl from behind him. ‘A joke to lighten the mood Gabriel, and I have much reason to be unhappy. You have not obtained my prize.’

 ‘Its under more protection than we thought.’

 ‘Ah yes..the Junker. Then dare I ask why have you not brought him?’

 ‘ He’s under more protection than we thought. Somehow Overwatch has got him.’ Reaper growled.

 Akande laughed and walked over to a beautifully carved drinks cabinet and selected a vintage whisky. He glanced at Reaper as he poured two glasses, ‘So that's what happened in Darwin, and now you mean to tell me the last remains of overwatch bested my soldiers and indeed you?’

 ‘They were prepared. Your men were arrogant, that's why they are all dead.’

 Akande placed the glass of whisky in front of him and took a sip of his own. ‘Yet here you still stand.’

 ‘I went for recon, not for battle. I've learned who the target is with.’

 ‘And have you learned where the target and Overwatch are? What was the last watchpoint they used?’

 ‘That watchpoint is long abandoned after I stole the agent files, they would be foolish to remain there. Sombra scans every watchpoint weekly and has come up with nothing.’

 ‘She is on thin ice.’ Akande stated. ‘I feel her allegiance wavers.’

 ‘You would lose your best hacker over feeling than fact Akande? Let her play her games and she delivers, she is your best bet at finding them.’

 ‘Is that trust I hear Gabriel?’

 ‘No more than I have for you.’

 Akande smirked and took another sip. ‘It's quite the vintage’ He said as he studied the amber liquor. ‘A pity you are too ashamed to remove your mask to sample it. I thought O’deorian did a remarkable job.’

 Reaper ignored the slight and looked toward the strange woman who in turn was watching him with curiosity. ‘Why is she here?’

 ‘Bad behaviour.’ Stated Akande. ‘Killed four men whilst she underwent her treatment. She screamed for her husband and drove a pen through one of the scientist's eyes when he told her she herself had murdered him, I admire her creativity.’

 ‘They taunted her.’ Snarled Reaper. ‘Amelie is not a plaything!’

 ‘Is that sympathy for your deceased friend's wife, Gabriel?’

 ‘Realism. She knows too much of our mission to risk her slipping.’

 ‘It is already being dealt with. Our good doctor will take her back into her care soon enough then she can return to work.’

 Amelies eyes widened with fear and she looked desperately to the door, Akande noticed and snapped his fingers at her, the crack in her mask disappearing as quickly as it appeared as her eyes glazed over once again and she cooly returned her gaze to the two men before her.

 ‘Hmm’ Akande grunted ‘Much easier to quell then Siebren..’

 ‘My orders?’ Reaper asked, sounding bored.

 ‘Now that we are certain of Overwatch's return I want you personally in charge of wiping them out for good. Despite their lack of resources and men they have still got in our way and more importantly they have the target, our vision can only go so far without the final piece.’

 ‘If he even has it.’

 ‘One thing I am certain to find out in my mission of goodwill, my friend. Keep in contact, soon Shrike will engage phase two and on my return the council will be summoned.

 Reaper groaned as he made to leave. ‘Just don't sit me next to Moira.’

                    ----------------------------------------------------------

 The briefing room was buzzing with conversation and excited chatter over the success of the latest mission as everyone talked -and shouted- amongst themselves.

‘Reinhardt why does your armour have a huge dent in it?’

‘I earned it from strength and valantry my young squire!’

‘It was a wall.’ Said Zarya.

‘- And their mech had nothing on us right Fareeha?’

‘We were lucky, and actually you were-’

 ‘Pure skill Lucio!’

 ‘-Bring ya back a souvenir next time i'm out Frosty? How’s bout a snow globe.’

 ‘I'll throw it at your head!’

 ‘Reckon she's still pissed with me Hog..’

 ‘Children, behave!’ Ana clapped her hands for attention as she entered with Jack and Winston,

 when they approached the table jack remained standing to address the team. ‘First I want to offer congratulations for our recent mission, as I'm sure everyone now knows it was predominantly a success. The weapons cache was destroyed and We’ve gained valuable information and more avenues to work from. One thing in particular we will certainly be investigating,  Athena? Play the viskar security file.’

 ‘What?!’ Exclaimed Lucio, jumping from his chair and leaning in to stare intently at the holographic footage of the Talon weapons compound welcoming Sanjay Korpal. Athena paused the footage on Sanjay's smiling face.

 ‘This is Sanjay Korpal, he is one of the head officials for the Vishkar corporation, recently he has been seen meeting with Talons accountant Maximillien and very recently he was at the Bryansk weapons compound flown in by Talon aircraft. We have little idea as yet to his reason for visiting but Ii think I can safely say he could be one of the council, with this lead we can-’

 ‘I  KNEW IT!’ Lucio shouted triumphantly, slapping the table for effect, ‘I knew it! This is amazing! We can bring Vishkar down with this! Yeah man up top!’ He high fived Junkrat sitting next to him. ‘Commander Morrison! Sir! You gotta let me in on this, I….i’m gonna sit down and be quiet now sir, my bad, sorry..’ He slunk down in his seat under Jack's unamused eye.

 ‘All done? Good. With this lead we can focus on Vishkar and look for more evidence on their connection with Talon, this could be an isolated incident and Sanjay is working alone or the entire company is involved. Getting to Sanjay will be near impossible but we may be able to infiltrate one of their offices. Winston will talk you through the plan.’ He nodded to Winston as he took his seat and the Great ape cleared his throat as Athena changed the footage to a photo of one of Vishkars many office buildings. ‘Here we have the Viskar corp Offices based in Turkey, conveniently its the closest one to us and Athena has flagged up that vishkars most decorated Architect has recently been stationed there, her name is Satya Vaswani. Interestingly she was last to be seen at the Oasis university where  Dr Moira O’Deorian is minister of genetics.’

 Angela made a distasteful noise and muttered under her breath which was shared by many of her teammates who knew the scientist as once one of their own until her greed for knowledge twisted her and enticed her to join Talon where she was free to do as she pleased regardless of human cost.

 McCree uttered a curse and rubbed at his beard, ‘We know where that witch is. Why not go get her? Hell, I’ll happily tie that woman to a stake.’

 ‘Unfortunately she is well protected by her position as a minister as well as her status within Talon.’ Ana answered. ‘Which may also implicate Oasis as having Talon ties but we can't investigate every single place they step foot in, they hide well and cover their tracks.’

 ‘Not unless you are Sanjay.’ Genji chuckled darkly.’Maybe just wait it out and Talon will assassinate him themselves for blowing his cover.’

 ‘I’d prefer him alive but as we have no idea where he currently is following his trip to Bryansk our best bet is his architect, he is personally in charge of Vaswani and she may know something.’ Said Morrison

 ‘Bet she does.’ Lucio interrupted. ‘Someone that cold and ready to destroy good peoples lives can’t be on a moral level.’

 ‘Yes thank you Lucio dear.’ Ana said patiently.

 ‘How do we get into a Viskar building?’ Asked Fareeha. ‘A company that size and with Talon connections must be well guarded.’

 ‘It will be quietly done.’ Answered Morrison who ignored McCree’s chuckle, ‘No teams, no storming the building, one person undercover.’

 Junkrat nodded in apparent understanding, ‘I’m sure Winston will do a great job.’ He grinned at his successful joke as Hana and McCree burst out laughing.

 ‘Very good Jamison, but it shall be myself taking this task.’ Ana smiled, ‘And please don't look at me like that Fareeha. One day you’ll find out there are at least some quirkes to being a woman my age.’

 ‘How do you propose to get in?’ Asked Genji.

 Ana smiled mischievously and tapped her nose, ‘I have my ways children, I have my ways.’

 ‘Let's move on.’ Said Morrison as the holograph disappeared, he paused before continuing and weighed his words. ‘I know there's divided opinion to Omnics within the base but I will ask you all to remain amicable, especially with what I am about to show you. Athena?’ There were murmurings of curiosity as the AI began to play the found footage of the captured Omnics. A range of emotions showed around the table from shock to impassiveness and in Junkrats case, boredom. Soon his mind began to wander and he started to fidget, a glint caught his eye and he found himself studying Mei’s hair pin. He wondered how it kept her hair up, then he thought it would make a good improv weapon then suddenly the thought of her stabbing him with it if he pushed her far enough. Wonder what her hair looks like if she wore it down, how long was it?...Suddenly his stomach growled lightly. He had forgot to eat again. A nudge from roadhog.

 ‘Huh?’

 Roadhog nodded towards Morrison who had apparently been talking the entire time. What was he on about again?

 ‘Why give any thought to some random missing Omnics?’ Asked Zarya. ‘Surely we have bigger issues?’

 ‘I agree.’ Grunted Torbjorn.

 ‘Do we know why they are taking them?’ Questioned Angela. Ana shook her head sadly ‘I’m afraid not, it seems they were just in Bryansk temporarily and moved on quickly to who knows where. Talons' flight movements are heavily encrypted and there is only so much Athena can unearth.’

 ‘We believe Talon had at least three groups of Omnics move through here, some er..remains were found.’ Said Winstons.

 Junkrat scoffed ‘Spare parts’ he muttered under his breath.

 ‘This could well be an isolated incident.’ Said Ana ‘And if so we don't have the resources to find out what became of these Omnics, it is up to the local authorities to follow up the disappearances..unfortunately that is unlikely. However there could be a pattern here, other disappearances, reports maybe. I need a volunteer to research and..yes Mei dear?’

 Mei's hand was eagerly up in the air like a student trying to get her teacher's attention. ‘I’ll do it ma’am!’

 ‘Very good. Thank you Mei we shall await your findings.’ Mei settled back into her seat looking pleased, finally she had a task at hand that held some importance. She smiled shyly to herself as Jack stood up once more to address the room. ‘Hang on a minute Jack.’ Said McCree lazily lifting his arm in the air, ‘I think we’re overlooking a rather important detail here..Just who the hell was that guy that tried to grab the kid?’

 ‘Probably just one of Moiras freaks guarding the place. No doubt the explosion finished him off.’

 Torbjorn said dismissively. Jack and Ana gave each other a dark searching look before Ana eventually nodded. Jack sighed and raised his hands for silence. ‘His name is Reaper.’ He said solemnly, ‘He is an assassin for Talon and the one responsible for attacking this base and stealing agent information. Me and Ana have been tracking him for months now before he kills any more of our own. Some of you here have had dealings with him before and lived to tell the tale. The fact that Fawkes is still here and not dead confirms he’s wanted alive.’

 ‘What's under the mask Jack? Do we know who he is?’ Winston asked.

 Jack thought of his words carefully, ‘I don't know who the man behind that mask is.’ Ana raised her eyebrow at him from behind her steeped fingers yet remained silent. ‘All we know he has orchestrated many Talon attacks including this base, Volskaya and tried to steal the doomfist Gauntlet. Winston and Tracer fought him off but in his failure he then proceeded to free Akande Ogundimu  ‘The Successor’. Lena shuddered in her seat and lightly touched her chronal accelerator, vividly remembering the powerful gauntlet snatching her from the air and crushing her anchor.

 ‘Whoa back up a fucking minute mate!’ Said Junkrat, ‘Youre saying this goth fuck knows we’re here?!’

 It was Winston who answered. ‘Not exactly. I was the only one here when Reaper and his strike team invaded to steal the data. After the fight I immediately sent the recall and with Athena we fortified this place as much as possible. We have beacons set around the base within a mile radius that give off a ‘cloaking effect’. It basically shields us from spy drones and gives the illusion of abandonment.’

 Junkrat nodded his head as he tried to get his head around this new information. ‘Okay..okay..so      You're     the one to blame if he rocks up at the front gates.’

 Winston looked offended, ‘Well in the very rare circumstance that one of the beacons happened to malfunction there may be some responsibility but blame is a strong word and i don't appreciate-’

 ‘We’re protected for now Fawkes. Leave it at that. If you want to leave you know what you need to do.’ Interjected Jack. To Junkrat this seemed to be the perfect time to slouch back into his chair, fold his arms and scowl, Jack chose to ignore him and continued. ‘Now that Doomfist is free he has shaken up the hierarchy of Talon and has become head of the council with Reaper at his side. Me and Ana last saw him in Egypt, from there we lost his trail and got word of Winstons recall.’

 ‘And now we’re all one big happy family again.’ Drawled McCree, ‘Missing a few folks and adding a few of course.’ He drew a cigar from his pocket. ‘Is this meeting done?’

 ‘Oh i fucking hope so.’ Muttered Junkrat.

 ‘All dismissed, return to your duties. Mei? Lets have that report by tomorrow AM.’ Said Jack. Mei smiled and nodded as she got up to leave, Ana remained seated with her fingers still steeped in front of her and a slight frown on her face. When the room had emptied Jack turned to her. ‘Go on then, say your piece Amari.’

 Ana sighed, lowering her hands and looking up at Jack. ‘Why did you not tell them that Gabriel is Reaper?’

 Jack was ready for this, ‘The same reason you didn't. It wasn't the right time.’

 ‘And when is the ‘right’ time?’

 Jack sat down next to her. ‘Honestly? I don't know. I don't know if we should even tell them. Half of the team don't even know who he is.’

 ‘But half of them do Jack. He was their friend, comrade. He played with my child, he was Jesse’s mentor!’

 ‘And how do we explain to them that he has murdered our own?’

 Ana had no answer for him. They both sat in silence for a few moments lost in their own thoughts, eventually Jack spoke again. ‘I know we will have to tell them the truth sooner or later Ana..but not like this. It has to be done delicately.’

 ‘I know..they’ll be angry with us Jack.’

 Jack laughed bitterly, ‘Just blame it on me Ana, God knows i deserve it.’

 Ana tutted ‘You're not responsible for what Gabriel has become.’

 ‘Aren't I?’

 ‘No.’ She stated firmly. ‘He chose this path Jack. You were both in that explosion..did you feel the need to dress up in a costume, become a serial killer and join the same terrorist organisation you tried to bring down?’

 Jack smirked and then a thought occurred to him. ‘Do you think Talon knows who he is?’

 ‘I believe so, he’s a weapon against us in more ways than one and a huge advantage to them.’

 ‘....I’m going to kill him Ana.’

 ‘For revenge or to put him out of his misery?’

 ‘Both I suppose.’

 Ana sighed and stood up to leave. ‘I think Gabriel died in Switzerland Jack, whatever wretch he is now is no longer redeemable...but i don't believe you could ever bring yourself to kill the man who was your dearest friend.’

 ‘I suppose we will find out soon enough.’ Jack replied, her words in his mind. Could he really bring himself to do it?

                           ----------------------------------------------------

 Finally feeling encouraged and a task at hand, Mei had headed straight to one of the smaller computer labs and began the search for any news of Omnic disappearances. Much of the team would think it was a waste of time but Commander Morrison was right, If Talon was involved it couldn't be good. Besides, she was a firm believer in Omnic rights and doing what was right and good, and this was certainly the right thing to do to help these omnics and possibly give closure to the families of the missing. A sudden intrusive thought entered her mind of her teammates' families, desperate for closure when they discovered the Cryostasis had malfunctioned. ‘They hate me.’ She thought. ‘They hate me for surviving instead of their loved ones.’ Her droid, sensing her sadness snuggled against her. Mei took a deep breath to compose herself and gratefully petted her little friend. ‘Thank you Snowball. Don't you worry about me, I'm fine. Honest.’ Snowball made a sceptical emotive at her but Mei had already turned back to the screen and was typing away eagerly. Ten minutes had passed with no results, had no one made any reports at all? Maybe Bryansk was too much of a hot zone for Omnics for anyone to care, maybe their families felt it no use to report the disappearances. Maybe she was just wasting her time here..the thought made her miserable. ‘Hey Snowball? Happen to know of any missing Omnics outside of Russia?’ She asked glumly. The little droid shook side to side and a message of ‘sorry.’ flashed on its screen. Mei sighed, ‘Guess you're just as out of the loop as I am..’ She turnt to the sound of the door sliding open behind her. ‘Oh great..’ She thought.

 ‘Aw why so sad Frosty?’ Junkrat asked as he sauntered in and sat down heavily on a spare seat and draped both his legs over the armrest, he gave Snowball a suspicious glare. Mei ignored his question and typed away more fervently, ‘What do you want?’ She asked.

 ‘I’m on free time Frosty, I’d say I earned it. With my successful mission and what not.’

 ‘Yes I heard how you oh so bravely destroyed a building.’ She replied sarcastically.

 ‘Now now no need to get all snippy cos you're jealous, I'm sure you're getting your fill on your silly little quest here. How's that going by the way?’

 Mei shot him a glare, ‘You're not in here because you care.’

 ‘Too right I don't, think you're wasting your time personally. No one cares bout some missing bots.’

 ‘Of course they do! I do!’

 ‘Yeah? Having much luck finding missing Bots from a place currently at war with them?’

 ‘Just get to the point.’ Moaned Mei, rubbing her eyes behind her glasses.

 ‘No one said those Bots n bolts even came from that place, fuck they might not even be from Russia. Those Ruskies have the right idea about bots, far as I know hardly any of em live there.’

 ‘Look if your just here to spew your hate then you can-’

 ‘Whats that stupid city called in Africa? Numble something or fucking other?’

 ‘Numbani. You're thinking of Numbani’

 Junkrat waved her off. ‘Whatever, point is they live with Omnics there right? Like.. peacefully..? I calls it bullshit but anyways, If Omnics are going missing or being taken by Talon then  maybe they know more about it? If not then it's probably just a random thing and you can forget about wasting your time here with your shitty little icemaker.’

Snowball flashed red and a tirade of insults crossed its screen making Mei smirk, but he had given her food for thought. Maybe she was missing the bigger picture. She turned back to her computer and searched for omnic disappearances on a Numbani journalist website, She felt Junkrat scoot closer on his chair to better see. Headlines flashed up of Omnics being attacked and businesses vandalised but nothing struck out about Omnics missing or kidnappings. Mei groaned in frustration. ‘Fine. Just say it! Im wasting my time!’

 ‘Just fucking hang on a minute and stop moaning.’ He retorted, half standing and leaning over her.

‘You smell like bonfire.’ She wrinkled her nose.

‘That would be from the bonfire I started.’

‘What?! Where-?’

‘Relax, I left Hog to put it out.’ He replied lazily as he typed.

‘What are you doing?’

‘Helping.’

 Mei snorted, ‘Oh that's what you call it.’

 He ignored her as he typed away, Mei felt annoyed and scowled unbeknownst at him for invading her personal space but she made no attempt to move back herself. ‘At Least he had a shirt on today.. ‘ His arms are rather muscular..What?! Why did I notice that? Just..Just keep scowling.’  

 ‘You're not going to find anything I wouldn't have done.’ She snapped.

 Junkrat grinned, sat back down and finger gunned at the screen. ‘Eat those words Frosty!’

 Mei looked at the computer, a recent article loaded about ‘Liberte’ the revolutionary Omnic artist famous for his political street art.

     ‘You need only to travel the Quartier Omnic to see the incredible  

     Art of Omnic artist Liberte. His thought provoking pierces strike a cord  

      of Omnic and humans alike with his distinctive technique…’  

 Mei stopped reading. ‘I don't get it? So you found some Artist, never would guess you would appreciate anything like that.’

 ‘Harsh. Look just read the article woman. It's gone AWOL.

 ‘But that could mean anything.’ Mei argued, ‘Maybe he’s…’

 ‘What? Under the weather? Come down with something? Been fucking nicked?’

 ‘It's really not likely you just so happened to pick a missing omnic out a haystack.’

 ‘No but I reckon no ones gonna give a shit if some random Bots go missing, but It raises a few eyebrows if a kinda famous one goes off radar. If you bothered to read the rest you’ll see he’s missed his last three events. The last rally was even cancelled because some Null sector bots got caught nearby.’

 ‘Wait what? Really?’

 ‘Oooh now she's interested!’

 ‘Sssh!’ Mei scanned the article quickly, sure enough Three rallies were cancelled, two due to ‘personal reasons’ but the other because Null sector, the extremist Omnic group was found not two towns over. It was certainly suspicious. Mei quickly searched the social media and news outlets of the town in question, Calais. Her breath caught in her throat,  there were three social media posts looking for information on Omnics not seen for 48hours, four days, Over a week. Mei let out a squeal and clapped her hands in excitement as Snowball did a flip in the air.

 ‘Aww, I’m happy when Omnics go missing too..’

 ‘No its-! Shut up I found something! I can work on this!’

 ‘ I found something.’

 ‘Ok fine you helped.’

 She began printing out pages of what she found and couldn't help but smile, Commander Morrison will definitely be interested If Null sector was involved in any way.

 ‘Oi can I look at your pin?’

 The question came at a surprise and shocked her out of her thoughts. ‘Excuse me?’

 ‘Pointy thing in your hair.’

 ‘Erm..?’ She lightly touched it, the smooth shiny red bauble on the end to the pointed metal snowflake. ‘Why?’

 ‘Dunno, looks nice i guess..like..I dunno. Just asking.’

 ‘I..erm..’ Mei looked uncomfortable and had visions of him dropping it as soon as she handed it to him. ‘I’m not sure..My dad gave it to me.’

 ‘Alright, Fair do’s say no more.’

 ‘Sorry, it's just..It's      really     precious to me.’

 ‘S’alright I'm not gonna break it, I'm surprisingly delicate.’ He giggled. ‘Kinda have to be with what I do.’

 ‘I meant no offense.’

 ‘None taken. If i had something like that id let no fucker touch it.’

 She looked at him for a second, a question on the tip of her tongue..’Don’t you have..?’ She shook her head, she didn't want to be insensitive and she had heard Jamison could be defensive. ‘Nevermind.’ She stood up and collected her printed pages. ‘I'm going to take these to compile a report for the commander..and erm..thanks?’

 Junkrat folded his arms behind his head, ‘Ya know..you should tell him you’re gonna go to that town to investigate.’

 ‘I ..I did think..should I?’ Mei looked unconvinced.

 ‘Why the fuck not? You wanted the task to get more info, you did all the legwork. Why stay here at the last hurdle?

 Why      should    she remain here? She did have all the information to devise a mission plan. Junkrat was right though it pained her to think it.

 ‘You know what..Im going to tell the commander im going to Calais!’ She said feeling encouraged.

 ‘Atta girl, stick it to the man!’

 ‘I will!’

 ‘Hope it does turn out to be a waste of time.’

 ‘I...wow! You just had to ruin it didn't you?’ She snapped.

 Junkrat laughed, ‘Go on, fuck off to the Old man.’

 ‘Fine I will.’

 ‘Good.’

 ‘Good!’

 ‘Good!’ He said mocking her voice

 ‘Ugh!’ Mei tried hard to slam the sliding door but it refused, closing painstakingly slowly and making her feel like she had truly lost that round as she turned on the spot trying to save the last of her dignity. ‘Act your damn age Mei Ling!’ She told herself.

[thesportssoundoff]

DWCS Episode 3 Primer

Joey

July 8th

Thus far the 3rd season of the Contenders Season has given us four fighters; 1 HW (Yorgan de Castro), 1 MW (Punahele Soriano), 1 BW (Miles Johns), 1 WW (Miguel Baeza). What’s episode three got for us?

Joseph Solecki (7-2, 25 years old, Pro since 2016) vs James Wallace (9-2, 26 years old, Pro since 2015) Lightweights

Joseph Solecki Where He Fight At? ROC and CFFC! Solecki has fought primarily in CFFC. Who’d He Ever Beat? Not anybody necessarily that I'd be familiar with for sure. Record Of Opposition At The Time Of Their Fight? 37-23-1! That's not awful but definitely not exactly the sexiest of records. His two losses are a combined 10-2 (2-0 Cesar Balmaceda, 8-2 TUF Brazil fighter Nikolas Motta). His last fight out, Solecki beat 7-6 Jacob Bohn by decision. Why Is He Here? Eh, I mean Solecki isn't a bad idea on paper. He's a guy who has hung out on the regional circuit and he's a young lightweight. Watching him fight, you can kinda see some upside as a crazy grappling guy. He is quick, has exciting fights and tends to finish them when he gets the chance. He's a fun guy to keep an eye on even if the records presented here are pretty gross.

James Wallace Where He Fight At? Wallace is one of those dudes who has been pretty much everywhere. Bellator, LFA, V3 Fights and Summit FC; four promotions of various qualities who have at least been holding shows for a good long minute. Who’d He Ever Beat? Kinda nobody of note but kinda sorta some intriguing names? His early career was complete and utter fluff but in his last five fights, Wallace has beaten 6-2 Sean Holden, 3-0 Kaleb Harris and 3-0 Stash Kuyukendall. Maybe not the creme de la creme of MMA but those are at least spiffy records on paper. Record Of Opposition At The Time Of Their Fight? 32-29. Little bit of a yuck city here. Hard to get excited about 32-29 with some serious fluff on here like 8-16 Jimmy Van Horn and 0-4 Henry. His two losses were a combined 4-1. Why Is He Here? Solecki vs Wallace feels like one of those fights where both guys are so close, dare we say virtually identical, that it makes sense they'd be matched up together. Watching Wallace's few fights out there on youtube land, I got a pretty good comp for him I feel; Mickey Gall. He's kind of an uncoordinated striker who has some natural pop that needs refining. He's a BJJ ace first and foremost so he prefers working on the mat and even most of the times off his back. He's squirrelly and athletic but maybe without much purpose behind what he does. This is the sort of guy this show tends to gravitate towards.

Kenneth Bergh (6-0, 30 years old, Pro since 2013) vs Antonio Tricoli (11-3, 28 years old, Pro since 2013) Light Heavyweights

Kenneth Bergh Where He Fight At? There are two places you'd recognize Bergh from. The first is Cage Warriors where he last fought at and the other? TUF! He was a TUF 23 contestant (the same season that gave us Khalil Rountree, Eric Spicely and Andrew Sanchez) although he lost in the "Get in the house" round to Eric Spicely. Who’d He Ever Beat? How's about our old pal Norman Paraisy?! Two time TUF try out and Cage Warriors veteran Norman Paraisay was the last opponent of Bergh; a 2nd round rear naked choke win for the Norweigan. Record Of Opposition At The Time Of Their Fight? 23-11-2. That's probably what you should expect from a big dude who has six pro fights officially. That said if you remove Norman Paraiasy from the mix and his 15-4-2 record, you're left with a not too pretty 8-7 for his combined other five opponents. Why Is He Here? He's a light heavyweight! It's really that simple on paper. Dig a bit deeper and there's cause to be made that Bergh is pretty much what this show is about; he's a fight finisher with all six of his wins coming by submission, he had his failed stint on TUF and then rebounded to beat two pretty tough guys in Brett McDermott and Norman Paraisy by submission and he's still somewhat on the right side of 30 given that he JUST turned 30 this month. The UFC knows who he is based off of TUF as well. The problem I have is that Kenneth Bergh has not fought since June of 2017, ergo he's technically coming into this fight on a two year inactivity streak. Vomitando.

Antonio Tricoli Where He Fight At? Tricoli has a ridiculous amount of fights in promotions you'd know of. Brazilian fans probably know of Imperium MMA and Jungle Fight and American fans should still have found memories of Legacy FC. Tricoli has been at this for a good long minute. Who’d He Ever Beat? His BEST win is actually pretty solid regional MMA wise. Tricoli beat Wendell Oliveira who you may remember from TUF Brazil Season Two and an 0-2 stint inside the UFC (with losses to legitimate top 10 WWs like Darren Till and Santiago Ponzinibbio). Tricoli's three losses are all very solid as you have Dhiego Lima (still in the UFC), Jacob Volkmann (had a long stint in the org) and Brazilian fight circuit veteran Marcelo Barbosa who was 11-3. All good comp. Record Of Opposition At The Time Of Their Fight? 91-46! Tricoli has been around, man! His best win is the aforementioned Wendell Oliveira at 24-9 while his losses were to 18-6 Jacob Volkmann and Dhiego Lima at 10-4. Even Wendell Barbosa is 7-3. Rodrigo Carlos by the way at 20-13 is also one of his wins and Carlos is sort of the universal "Fight everybody" guy in Brazil. Why Is He Here? The natural instinct in me is to look at a dude like Tricoli and assume he's here to test Kenneth Bergh. He's the more shopworn of the two despite being younger, he's fought the better competition but more often than not lost to them, he's quit on his stool in the past against smaller fighters and he's on a decision streak. This feels like a chance to test whether Bergh can get into the UFC. At the same time, male Brazilian MMA is really in a lull in the UFC and Tricoli may be here because the UFC thinks that his 3-0 record at 205 lbs is more a sign of a guy evolving into his best form.

Jacob Rosales (11-4, 23 years old, Pro since 2015) vs Jonathan Pearce (8-3, 27 years old, Pro since 2014) Lightweights

Jacob Rosales Where He Fight At? For being just 23 years old, Rosales is a well traveled dude. He's fought for LFA, RFA, Bellator and Combates. He also fought for Shamrock FC which is sort of a gateway into Bellator as well. Maybe he has tremendous representation but it sure seems like a lot of organizations who know a thing or two about a thing or two like him. His last fight was in FCOC which seems like a nondescript bit of business until you learn they have a CATCHWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP (apparently at 165 lbs). Who’d He Ever Beat? Rosales has packed fifteen pro fights into four years. That probably requires a fair bit of barnacle scrubbing. As such it shouldn't be much of a surprise that Rosales' best win is probably regional veteran Joshua Jones (7-4) or Ivan Castillo (16-10). Record Of Opposition At The Time Of Their Fight? 74-65-1! In fifteen fights, Rosales has packed in some pretty good numbers. His last four opponents alone are 46-35 and the number is somewhat skewered by his last opponent, 15-25 Quinton McConnell. His four losses are a combined 15-10-1 including what looks like a borderline inexcusable loss to 4-7-1 Derion Chapman in 2017. Why Is He Here? On paper I feel like there's a lot of good to be looked at. Rosales is a really young guy who is still fresh in his fighting career, he's on a four fight winning streak vs top competition and big name organizations have brought him in. His third ever pro fight was on an RFA card which again suggests that he's got some followers. Watching the bevy of footage out there (including the loss to Chapman), Rosales seems like the sort of dude Dana White would absolutely fall in love with. He's a hyperactive scrapper by trade who throws with reckless abandon, is more chin than defense with length on the feet and an aggressive ground game. This is the sort of guy Dana White likes. It's not that big of a surprise that he's here. I just don't know how high the upside is if he's letting dudes who are 4-7-1 rock him consistently.

Jonathan Pearce Where He Fight At? Pearce is another guy who has been everywhere so to speak. Valor Fights and Shogun Fights are pretty well known regional orgs in the Northeast and it seems like Pearce has done most of his work in places like Tennessee and North Carolina. He does have two Bellator appearances on his resume as well. Who’d He Ever Beat? Pearce's win/loss record? Not so hot I guess. Jonathan Pearce's opposition is not too great BUT he does have 6-1 Omar Johnson on it. Johnson's record is equally fluffy but he did fight and lose to WSOF/Bellator/LFA veteran Jaleel Willis. That's something. Record Of Opposition At The Time Of Their Fight? 45-20 would be the record of opposition at the time they fought which isn't too bad. To his credit of his eleven fights, only one of his opponents had a losing record. The best fighter is Omar Johnson. Why Is He Here? Pearce is a pretty interesting guy; remove a three fight skid which includes a loss to DWTCS alum Peter Petties and Pearce is 8-0 with wins over some reputable regional competition. He's on the right side of 30, coming into this fight on a four fight finishing streak with some of those wins happening in Bellator. Fighters like him are of value and at the very least wind up on the short notice list when the UFC needs a guy. He also trains with the MMALab and they seem to have an in on DWTCS since a lot of their guys wind up filling spots on it. They're the even further West version of Fortis MMA.

Chris Ocon (4-0, 23 years old, pro since 2017) vs Hunter Azure (5-0, 27 years old, pro since 2017) Bantamweights

Chris Ocon Where He Fight At? With just 4 fights and 2 in the same locale, Ocon has spent most of his time in Tennessee. He's another Valor Fights guy. Who’d He Ever Beat? Nobody really. He's had four fights and they're all against guys you'd never hear of. Record Of Opposition At The Time Of Their Fight? 7-3 combined record for his four opponents. Ocon is SUPER green obviously with just two years into his career and under five pro fights. His best win is actually his pro debut against then 2-1 Dre Miley. Miley has gone on to go 6-2 and I think he might be a bit of a legitimate prospect except he's got an eye issue which IMO would have him far off their radar. Why Is He Here? Chris Ocon is in a weird spot here and it almost feels like one of those cases where even IF he wins, the UFC will be telling him that he's still not ready yet. He's four fights into his career, looks moderately impressive in glimpses and has the tools that would normally get them excited. He's just too raw and in a division like 135 lbs where even the bottom half of the division is quality capable dudes.

Hunter Azure Where He Fight At? After starting most of his career in small regional orgs, Azure has had his last three pro fights at LFA. Who’d He Ever Beat? Nobody really good I suppose. Azure has faced some reputable fighters for a young prospect but nothing that you'd hang your hat on. Record Of Opposition At The Time Of Their Fight?  Azure's five combined opponents are 17-14. To his credit, he fought just one guy with a sub .500 record so at least he wasn't barnacle scrubbing. His best win is probably Jaime Hernandez who was 3-1 at the time with sole loss being to DWCS alum Rico Disculio. Why Is He Here? Hunter Azure is a more polished version of Chris Ocon which makes me wonder if Azure is the guy they expect to find a home for quickly. Azure has been groomed in LFA where he could develop his skills as main card filler. Watching his fights, you can see that he's got a serious lack of  developed tools but a lot of intriguing assets to his game that could in the future lead to him developing into something. He's also yet another MMA lab guy.

Maki Pitolo (11-4, 28 years old, Pro since 2013) vs Justin Sumter (7-2, 29 years old, Pro since 2016) Middleweights

Maki Pitolo Where He Fight At? Maki's been everywhere I suppose. He started his career fighting in Hawaiian orgs and moved his way over to the mid west where he cut his teeth in Victory FC. He's fought in CFFC and Bellator as well. Who’d He Ever Beat? Some good solid regional competition. How do names like Andrews Nakahara (TUF contestant, PFL/WSOF guy) and Justin Guthrie (Bellator and Titan FCvet) sound? Record Of Opposition At The Time Of Their Fight? Maki's been around for a long time and had a lot of fights. His record of opposition at the time of is a really solid 121-56! Not bad at all. Chris Cisnersos and Kassius Kayne appear twice and both guys are reputable; Kayne at the time was 9-2 and then 9-3 when they fought. Maki actually fought Cisneros in his 2nd pro fight when Cisneros was 13-7. They met up again when Maki was 10-4 and Cisneros was 17-9. You also have 28-12 Dakota Cochrane on the same resume as well as 4-2 Andrews Nakahara and 18-8 Justin Guthrie. Why Is He Here? The Maii Pitolo story has been kind of interesting to me at least. So when the UFC started to do work with regional orgs for Fight Pass, they'd fly in a few dudes here or there to be at some events just to promote the synergy. One of those guys was always Maki Pitolo (the other was Jose Torres). It made sense! Maki was a young guy, fighting out of Hawaii, he was the Victory FC welterweight champion and he had a reputation of being your prototypical exciting Hawaiian scrapper. It fell apart from there for some reason. Maki was KO'd in a rematch vs Kassius Kayne and dropped his Victory FC belt. Then he dropped a fight to Dakota Cochrane and he fell off the Victory FC radar. He had a few prelim showings for CFFC and Bellator in 2017 and 2018 plus they tried to get him on the Contender's Series last year. Pitolo on paper is probably an easy sell for Dana and the Contender's Series has been TRYING desperately for like three years now to find one Hawaiian guy. This could be it.

Justin Sumter Where He Fight At? Sumter is a DWTCS alum! He fought last year, taking on Ian Heinisch who is tearing it up in the UFC currently. He's fought for CES and Bellator. Who’d He Ever Beat? No wins you'd be impressed by. His wins aren't too hot but his losses are superb with Tim Caron (DWCS and Bellator vet) and Ian Heinisch (LFA MW champ and current UFC top 15 MW) on there. Record Of Opposition At The Time Of Their Fight? 59-37! That would be the records owned by the opponents of Justin Sumter. Most of that work comes from the likes of 4-0 Tim Caron, 17-16 Roger Carroll and 10-1 Ian Heinisch. Why Is He Here? The general sneaky rule of thumb is if you're a DWCS guy who fights twice and you win on your second go around, you're probably going to get a deal. We've seen Ryan Spann get wiped out in his first fight, come back and win the second one and then get a snazzy new contract  (which he's now 2-0 on). Sumter is a fine fighter and a good guy to give a second chance to.

Likelihood of a contract with a win:

1- Joseph Solecki 2-James Wallace 3- Jacob Rosales 4- Maki Pitolo 5- Justin Sumter 6- Jonathan Pearce 7-Justin Azure 8- Chris Ocon

[multiverseanimecrossover]

The next day; Barnaby was at the orphan visiting a boy and the boy helped out Barnaby. During all this, the boy walked down carefully but then he almost tripped when Doug caught him, “You all right kid?” He asked. Barnaby was stunned to see him. “Thank you mister, you helped me out.” The boy said. “No problem, I was just passing through. Hello Barnaby.” Doug greeted. Later when the boy was gone; Barnaby approached Doug. “What are you doing here?” demanded Barnaby. “What? I was just passing through.” Doug quipped with a shrug. “Are you following me?” asked Barnaby. “I told you, I’m an investigator.” Doug said. Barnaby looked irked, “Hmph…so anything on that Bamboo Man?” He asked in a low voice. “Nothing, sorry.” Doug muttered back. “Well, there’s nothing on our end. I hope you’re not going to intervene.” Barnaby warned. “Don’t worry; Double Decker’s got your back.” Doug said. “And pray tell, what is Double Decker?” Barnaby asked. “Double Decker is about a detective work where we have nicknames.” Doug explained. “Ah, I see.” Barnaby said. “You may think it’s strange but it’s like you heroes with your hero names.” Doug said. Barnaby’s lips upturn a bit, “Let me notified you with one thing…I don’t have a hero name.” He clarified. Doug smirked back, “Is that so? What about ‘Bunny’?” He reminded. Barnaby glares at him, “Only Kotetsu calls me that.” He reminded. “You mean the Old Man.” Doug replied. “I don’t call him that anymore.” Barnaby said. “All right, but don’t think we’re different than you heroes of HeroTV. We’re not that different, we’re all fighting on the same front lines.” Doug said. Barnaby considered it, “Maybe, but there’s another difference…us heroes have superpowers…You don’t.” He verified. “Hmm, harsh but it’s the truth.” Doug said. Barnaby sneered, he turns but held his hand up. “See you around…Veteran.” He called. In the meantime; Kaede pulls her dad to the artwork. “Can I open my eyes sweetie?” Kotetsu asked, covering his eyes. “Almost…and….ta-da!” Kaede said, presenting. Kotetsu drops his hand and looked amazed. “Oh honey, it looks nice.” He praised. “Thanks, I practiced in those classes I took.” Kaede said. She looks to the side, “Dad, someone’s waving at you.” She said. Kotetsu was distracted, “Hmm, maybe it’s just someone else.” He replied. “That looks nice.” A voice said. Kotetsu froze, “Aw no, is that…?” He thought. He turned to see Kirill standing there. Kaede blushed, “Ohh…hi~!” She said nervously. “What is this clown doing here?” Kotetsu thought. “You made this?” Kirill asked. “Sure did, heh. Oh, dad! He’s so nice, he was waving at you…do you know him?” Kaede said. “I don’t think so, he must be confusing me for someone else—Scuse us for a moment!” Kotetsu said brightly, pulling Kirill away. Kaede was confused but she realized, “Hmm….I have a feeling he knows him.” She mumbled. Once alone; Kotetsu glares at Kirill, “What are you doing here?! How did you know where I was?!” He demanded. Kirill was smug, “I did some sleuthing, not to worry I’m not blackmailing you. That would seem so wrong of me in my general character.” Kirill teased. Kotetsu narrowed his eyes, “What are you up to?” He asked. “Come on, it’s my job as a constable.” Kirill replied. “You’re a CONSTABLE?!” Kotetsu exclaimed. Kirill shushed him, “Will you keep it down?” He rasped. “Hmm?” Kotetsu looks over to see a few people giving him weird looks. “You need to take your voice down for a couple of volumes, no need to bring attention here all right?” Kirill whispered. “Fine, sorry.” Kotetsu mumbled. “Just remember, Double Decker’s got your back Tiger.” Kirill said with a smile. “Double Decker?” Kotetsu inquired. “Double Decker is about a detective work where we have nicknames.” Kirill explained. “Weird corporation.” Kotetsu noted. “Says you.” Kirill uttered. That’s when his phone rang and he answered: “Yeah…Uh huh. All right, I’ll be right there.” He hung up and smirked. “Be seeing ya.” Kirill said, he turns and walks off. He stops and smirks, “One more thing! Tell your daughter I said, ‘keep up the good work’.” With that, he turned and sprinted off. Kotetsu was irked, “Son of a…Kaede! Gotta get back to her!” He said, he turned and went back to his daughter.

Meanwhile; Kirill researches on Kotetsu AKA Wild Tiger: Kotetsu has a very traditional view of being a hero, concerning himself primarily with protecting civilians and making sure justice is served. In short he represents the pure ideology of heroism from real world comics. As a result he often charges off and does his own thing, regardless of Agnes's instructions to boost ratings and much to Barnaby's exasperation as it either costs them points or gets them in trouble. This also tends to cause a lot of property damage, much to the dismay of his sponsors and company. He dislikes doing things like photo shoots and interviews when he could be out in the field, and is shown to adore former hero 'Mr Legend', often watching recordings of him when he's feeling down. Mr. Legend inspired Kotetsu to become a hero, telling him that NEXT powers can be used to protect those they care about; Kotetsu lived by those words ever since, often telling others the same. Despite believing that heroes should worry about the people first and shouldn't be recognized, he dislikes it when people disregard him and dislikes not getting some points though people's lives still come first. He can be stubborn and at times a little slow, though there are times when he can think analytically and will sacrifice himself if it is for the better good. Though Kotetsu often acts bumbling, goofy and playful and is shown to be a klutz, he is actually deeply troubled by his personal circumstances and often tries to drink his sorrows away. He can be clueless of the feelings of others and a little rude at times, but means well. He can also be irresponsible, often breaking promises with Kaede due to his superhero business. Despite this, he is generally proactive and positive thinking, if not a little naive at times. Though Kotetsu takes great pride in his career as a hero, he gets very little respect from both his co-workers and the public and is often overlooked or flat-out ignored. Nonetheless, Kotetsu acts as a self-proclaimed senior to the rest of the heroes and shows an almost fatherly concern for the younger ones in particular. Kotetsu does often have genuine wisdom and advice to offer, and always tries to do whats best for the group. He is a kind person who thinks about the wellbeing of others before himself. He keeps his true feelings bottled up in order to avoid troubling others and is always there to help a friend and provide them support. This earns him the respect of his co workers, most notably Barnaby, as the series progresses. As stated by Barnaby, once he commits, he will never let a person down. Though Barnaby appears to be more intelligent than Kotetsu, Barnaby relies on intellect while Kotetsu relies on instinct, Kotetsu can be quite perceptive. When a bomb threat was issued against Fortress Tower, Kotetsu was able to quickly deduce the location of the bomb based solely on the strange behavior of the elevator maintenance man. He was also the first one to figure out Jake Martinez's second power which is to hear the thoughts of others. Kotetsu realized this after Jake called him by his civilian name even though he never revealed it to him. Because of his superhero duties and his dedication to them, he is often forced to spend time away from his daughter, who resents him in the beginning of the story as he never visits her or keeps his promises to her. Despite this, she loves him and grows to respect him once she finds out the truth, even encouraging him to follow his heart the way his late wife did. He dearly loved his wife who in fact was the inspiration for him being a hero, as she encouraged him to help others. He still loves her and thinks of her fondly. “Hmm, that’s sweet.” Commented Kirill. He proceeds his research: Wild Tiger became a super hero at the age of 10, he was present during an attempted bank robbery which was foiled by the veteran hero Mr. Legend. One of the criminals took Kotetsu hostage and the latter activated his NEXT powers out of stress and fear, sending his captor flying across the room with a punch. Kotetsu believed that anyone near him while his power was active would be hurt, but Mr. Legend convinced him otherwise and told him that his power was meant to save people. This encounter with Mr. Legend inspired young Kotetsu to later become a hero himself. During his high school years, Kotetsu became known for never having lost a fight, which drew the attention of Antonio, a then-gang leader from the next town over. Though Antonio repeatedly called Kotetsu out to fight him, it wasn't until the members of his gang kidnapped Kotetsu's classmate Tomoe to use as bait. Kotetsu was surprised to discover upon arriving at the gang's location that Antonio was a NEXT, but the two fought regardless. After a while, having reached a standstill, it was revealed that Antonio hadn't known of Tomoe's kidnapping and both boys demanded to know where she was being kept. The warehouse pointed out by the gang members suddenly burst into flames, and Kotetsu used his powers to rescue Tomoe. When Antonio asked why Kotetsu hadn't used his powers during their fight, Kotetsu stated that he had decided only to use his powers to save people, like a true hero. The encounter led Antonio to choose a similar path - deciding only to use his powers to protect people - and the two met repeatedly after that, still trying to determine who was stronger while also becoming fast friends. Tomoe would later go on to become Kotetsu's wife, and they had a daughter named Kaede years later. However, Tomoe passed away five years prior to an illness, leaving Kotetsu lonely.

[jackcliu]

On tokens, markets, and a path to a real-time economy

Two years ago on March 1, 2019, I posted a Letter to my future self to the Bitcoin blockchain. This is the story of that letter, one where I didn’t write a word, and how two years later, the dream is still alive. There is an actual path with tokens and markets to make utopia a reality, and my case for what that might look like. 



About a month prior to March 1, 2019, I had privately begun telling my close friends, colleagues, and family that I was going to be making a significant career and life change and dedicate the next chapter of my career towards building exclusively for the Bitcoin SV blockchain. You can guess the confused looks and concerns people had about what it was I was doing. Did I lose my mind? To be fair, I still get those messages today. I knew what I had envisioned when I first read the white paper back in 2013 and somewhere along that journey, the crypto industry had taken a path that veered dramatically from the one I had imagined. With Bitcoin having course corrected twice already via hard forks, I wanted and needed a guiding compass - a North Star. That’s when I had the idea to write a letter to my future self.

I confided in one of my best friends, Jackie to help me write it. It was a busy month for me, my mind was all over the place and I needed help. Over two afternoons, I shared with Jackie what I wanted to say, what was the possible world that I imagined. To her I must have been repeating myself since she and many of my friends had heard this for a decade. The future would bring Proof of Work from a term to describe a computer science thing to one that would describe the workings of the entire global economy and drive a seismic shift in how value was created and how we humans would interact and cooperate with one another. I wanted her to include a thank you to some people who helped me along the way - titans of the industry whom I was fortunate to cross paths and work with. Jesse Powell, gave me my first job at Kraken. CZ hired me to OKCoin in 2014. Star believed in me and gave me so many growth opportunities. At Circle, I worked with my long time friend Dan, who would go on to create CMS. A few days later, Jackie sent me a draft. I was pretty shocked at first, thinking hey this doesn’t even say Bitcoin in it. Where are all the names I wanted to include. Then I read it another time and when she asked if I wanted any changes or if the approach was right, I said, “Let’s not change a single word”. It was different, it was exceptional, to me it was perfect. I sent the letter internally as part of my Circle resignation email, flew off to San Antonio with my parents to watch the retirement ceremony of my favourite basketball player Manu Ginobili, and then a month later on April Fools Day, RelayX was launched.

Having this Letter out there has served me well. Nobody could have expected the course of events of the past two years both within BitCoin, and the world at large. Politics, COVID-19, money-printing, delistings, court cases, you name it. Without it as an anchor, I might have lost sight of the bigger picture. If you would have asked me then what BitCoin would look like today, I would have predicted a 100x rosier picture than the current situation. Despite most of the boom in the cryptocurrency industry having not occurred on the Bitcoin SV blockchain, the rapid adoption of blockchain and digital currencies from NFTs to DeFi, to institutions putting BTC on the balance sheet shows the underlying movement is in full force. Just this week, I watched sharpshooter JJ Redick utter the words “non fungible token, and blockchain technology” on his podcast talking about NBA Topshot. That’s incredible.

In the letter are the words - “Your world will be frictionless and marked by truth, freedom and fairness. Your world will truly be one that is defined by human imagination and honest work.”

I am making the case for tokens as the critical solution to a real-time economy. I want to break the spell of the narrow definition of tokens that has bounded the Bitcoin SV ecosystem. For much of the past two years, there appears to be two camps in BSV when it comes to tokens. The dominant one being we want only regulated tokens, security tokens, tokens backed by real assets, with real utility, that real businesses and enterprises can use to make their businesses more efficient. The other, perhaps out of jealousy for what’s going on in other blockchains being let’s just port those Ethereum ERC20’s over and let it run wild for it might pump the BSV price! Funny thing is neither has happened as developers are busy debating whether tokens should be on layer 0 or layer 1 or layer 100 but that’s a topic for another day. Both views are myopic. 



Tokens are going to be a much bigger deal on BitCoin than anyone might imagine. 

How many websites are there on the internet? I looked it up recently and the answer is 1.7Bn. How many token contracts are there on the Ethereum chain? The answer is 350,000. 



Websites are kind of hard to set up - you have to purchase a domain name, at least use a website template creator, and there isn’t that much use for getting one for the average person. Not when you can have an Instagram page, a Facebook account, a Twitter handle, a Medium blog without having your own site. Yet there are 1.7Bn of them! Ethereum tokens are prohibitively expensive mining fee wise to generate. Out of interest, I asked one of the devs who minted the original USDC contract during my days at Circle to find the transaction. It cost 0.44 ETH. At today’s prices that’s well over $500 to create a token. Yet there are 350,000 contracts!



I would wager there will be over 100Bn unique tokens on BitCoin and I’d guess higher but I don’t want to be outside the bounds of the very Overton window I’m creating.

It takes a few seconds to issue a token on BitCoin and at current mining fees, less than a tenth of a cent to issue. If I’m a store owner, I might issue a different gift card a week for the various deals I have going on. If I’m an artist, a different NFT for each piece of artwork. Neither the store owner nor the artist needs more than one website and you start to see the math.

If reading this, you still think tokens are going to be contained to some narrow definition of ‘security’ tokens, or NASDAQ like tokens, or fiat currency tokens, realise it’s like saying the internet will only have The New York Times or CNN or some licensed officially approved site. It’s ok if not every account on Instagram is world class photography. Not every Twitter account is going to be insightful (that’s clear) and that’s ok. In a world of 100Bn unique tokens, You bet there’s going to be a great deal of useless ones and a pretty large number of scams. Just like there are websites that are phishing for your passwords, websites with illegal content, and websites with viruses in them. Over time, services emerged to protect you by blocking, or warning you about potentially dangerous websites.

What’s the bigger picture and what do tokens have to do with a real-time economy? I’ve made the case for there being a ton of tokens. Does that mean it’s just going to be a Coinmarketcap with a lot more pages? An exchange with a lot more trading pairs? No, a lot more exciting than that.

A world with 100Bn tokens means every single asset, service, good, company, project, video, post and many more abstract things than one can imagine is going to have a dynamic, live price. It’s not about the tokens, it’s about the markets. Today, you visit a restaurant and you check Yelp to see if has a good review. BSV entrepreneurs are making some new review site but with reviews posted on the blockchain thinking this is the problem that needs solving. “Immutable reviews”. Much more valuable than a review or immutable review however is if this particular restaurant’s loyalty token is trading at a premium to the other one next door. There’s actually money on the line. Then after eating, instead of being a foodie with a blog and an Instagram to hype up such restaurant, if you’ve got that talent for knowing what’s going to be the next hot restaurant, you can just buy on the open market more of the restaurant’s tokens. Yes, a local foodie just became an crypto trader. Now you profit when you promote the restaurant on your blog. The chef who started that restaurant instead of using Groupon to attract an initial set of customers who have no loyalty to you, can instead issue 10,000 tokens, where each dish costs 100 tokens. Pretty soon if your food is delicious, those token prices are going to jump. Think Global, Live Local is not just going to do good, it’s going to now make you rich. 



I grew up in a lower middle class first generation immigrant family. I remember being a teenager in those years where oil prices were very volatile as the world approached the idea of “Peak Oil”. We would sometimes drive by a gas station one day where prices were a few cents cheaper than the day before, and even though the tank was half full, we filled up. Other days, the warning light would be on, but we held off for another day to fill up the tank in hopes prices would come down. Is this speculation on oil prices bad? Another fun memory I had was going grocery shopping with my folks and my favourite cookies were the Chip Ahoy Crunchy chocolate. Eating those with milk is probably half the reason for my height. Once in a while they would be on sale but next to them were the No-Name brand versions of the same cookies. Chip Ahoys were definitely better but were they $2/100grams better? No. We would calculate every time to decide which we would buy. Is this speculation on cookie price bad? How come other goods and services in the economy didn’t fluctuate in price? That’s what’s always fascinated me. I knew they would if they could. With Bitcoin, it was possible.

Tokens on Bitcoin with the perpetual scaling design of Bitcoin where it isn’t the holder that’s rewarded (Proof of Stake) but rather those contributing to scaling the network (Proof of Work) will lead to the formation of markets where markets were too inefficient to exist - unlocking trillions of value in the process. 



A fully tokenised economy makes everything efficient, fair, honest, and real-time. I don’t mean efficient like fast transactions or cheap mining fees. It’s the economy that will be efficient. You won’t need to be a big grocery chain or a big oil company or big tech company with financial analysts, and big data and machine learning folks in order to know what to set the price of a Chips Ahoy or a Gallon of oil or surge pricing on a taxi ride. It’ll be orders of magnitudes better than that and for every person on earth because it’s all going to be open, issuable, transferable, tradeable. You won’t be checking page 978,950 of Coinmarketcap. You won’t be scrolling to AHOY/USDT on an exchange. I predict all of this will happen without you realising that it did and all our lives will improve as a result.

For those who immediately think of the regulatory ramifications of this, I’ve thought the same. In 2015, while leading OKCoin, I led our initiative to become the first international benefactors of Coin Center - the industry body working with regulators and governments. I am a minority seed round investor in Chainalysis which looks for criminal activity onchain. I look forward to working with all those who would like to embrace innovation while having an eye on ensuring an orderly, legal transition to this future.

I could not be more excited to support the emerging token projects on BitCoin, through building products, investment, advice, or even in spirit. 

Bitcoin is plumbing - just plumbing where billions of trades and speculation down to the satoshi will be happening every second.












[surly01]

A Bloody Week In Doom March 17, 2019

Prayers for the victims in Christchurch attacks.

“The old world is dying and the new world struggles to be born. Now is the time of monsters.”

 ― Antonio Gramsci  

The latest monster came to call in Christchurch, New Zealand in a story that dwarfed all others this week. I had some other ideas for what might fill this space this week, then the news from Christchurch, New Zealand, followed by the one-two punch of a Twitler emission rendered all moot. Brenton Tarrant strapped on a helmet camera, loaded a car with weapons, drove to a mosque in Christchurch and began shooting at anyone who came across his line of vision. His helmet-cam helped broadcast the act of mass terror live for the world to watch on social media. As of Sunday, the death toll had reached 50.

Tarrant thus joined the roll call of monsters alongside Stephen Paddock (Las Vegas), Anders Breivik (Norway), Robert Gregory Bowers (Tree of Life Synagogue, Pittsburgh), Omar Mateen (Pulse, Orlando), Adam Lanza (Sandy Hook), Nikolas Cruz (Marjorie Stoneman Douglas high school), Devin Patrick Kelley (Sutherland Springs church in Texas), James Holmes (Aurora), Dylann Roof (Charleston, SC), and, of course, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, who kicked off the 21st century with the Columbine massacre.

In ancient Rome, an interregnum was a period between stable governments when anything might happen, and the "the blood-dimmed tide" might be loosed:  civil unrest, competition between warlords, power vacuums, wars of succession. In 1929, in such an interregnum found Italian Marxist philosopher and politician Antonio Gramsci languishing in a fascist prison, writing about the forces tearing Europe  apart. He anticipated civil unrest, war between nations and changing political fault lines.

Interestingly, it was Gramsci who gave us the term "hegemony" now in use. Hegemony is a three dollar word representing a simple idea: the coercion of smaller fish by bigger fish. When the powerful use their influence to convince the less powerful their best interest lies in doing what is actually in the best interest of the powerful, that's hegemony. When we consider the above list of overwhelmingly white terrorists with a nationalist/supremacist bent, we can see terror is one way the powerful preserve their hegemony when they feel their power begin to wane when frightened by demographic changes posed by immigration.

Trump has the sensibility of a spoiled child tearing the wings off of flies. When asked whether white nationalism has anything to do with the tragedy in Christchurch, he replied in the negative. Echoes of “good people on both sides,” a la Charlottesville. The prime minister of New Zealand indicated late Friday coming changes to New Zealand's gun laws. A striking contrast that makes one wonder how many will have to die, again and again and again, until our own politicians, beholden to the NRA and their sea of laundered rubles, are moved to similarly act.

You'll recall that when it was his time to serve in Vietnam, the self proclaimed White House tough guy came up missing like Dick Cheney and his five deferments. Chickenhawks like Cheney always find "other priorities" to service, but are eager to send the disposable sons and daughters of the poor into harm's way, because what else are they for but cannon-fodder? Real military men who have seen battle are loath to commit their fellow citizens to needless battle; but chickenhawks, untroubled by loss or nightmares, send their non-relatives readily into the Valley of Death. 

The mob-boss stylings of Citrus Caligula make a tough sound, especially when talking to the far right media like Breitbart.

Trump said: "I can tell you I have the support of the police, the support of the military, the support of the Bikers for Trump – I have the tough people, but they don’t play it tough — until they go to a certain point, and then it would be very bad, very bad. But the left plays it cuter and tougher. Like with all the nonsense that they do in Congress … with all this investigations]—that’s all they want to do is –you know, they do things that are nasty. Republicans never played this.”

When you can't bully a majority of the people and the House of Representatives into accepting your will as fiat, that is apparently vicious tactics. Especially on the part of Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who Trump refers to as "Nancy."

"So here’s the thing—it’s so terrible what’s happening,” Trump said before discussing his supporters. “You know, the left plays a tougher game, it’s very funny. I actually think that the people on the right are tougher, but they don’t play it tougher. Okay?"

Uh, not OK. This is Trump engaging in stochastic terrorism, or

the public demonization of a person or group resulting in the incitement of a violent act, which is statistically probable but whose specifics cannot��be predicted.

Trump is actively encouraging people taking the law into their own hands, in the same way Putin has his Night Riders (see below), as Mussolini had his black shirts, and Hitler his brown shirts. The purpose is unmistakable: to be bullyboys who operate outside of the law and through violent intimidation. For the last two years we've had a president who fundamentally does not believe in democracy, and whose recent utterances show no loyalty to either the Constitution or the traditions of American governance. This IS a time of monsters. And now this: 

Trump’s Breitbart Biker Threat Came From the Putin Playbook—Then Tweet Deleted After Mosque Massacre

Trump told Breitbart there could be biker violence against leftists. It sounded even worse after Brenton Tarrant's mosque massacre manifesto called Trump "a symbol of renewed white identity." It does not get much clearer than that.

The Daily Beast Explains the Putinesque origins of Twitler's latest veiled threat: 

"They call themselves The Night Wolves, “a new kind of motorcycle club,” or, sometimes, “Putin’s Angels.” And just as much as the Orthodox Church or the military, the Wolves have become a symbol of Vladimir Putin’s Russia. But the idea that they might be used as his extra-legal enforcers in times of trouble is usually implicit—embedded in their flag-waving Putinized patriotism—never really spelled out....Trump is not so subtle, however, especially when he takes his cues from the Kremlin. Leave it to him to put the potential for violent defense of his interests by a motorcycle gang front and center in the public view."

On Friday morning, as news broke of the massacre, the murderer's manifesto called Trump “a symbol of renewed white identity and common purpose,” the Breitbart tough-guy tweet came down. Note a wider pattern of American racists and white supremacists looking to Russia for both moral and tactical support.

The New Zealand Massacre Was Made to Go Viral

Outside a mosque in Christchurch on Friday. Mark Baker/Associated Press

Charlie Warzel noted that the attack marks a grim new age of social media-fueled terrorism.

A 17-minute video of a portion of the attack, which leapt across the internet faster than social media censors could remove it, is one of the most disturbing, high-definition records of a mass casualty attack of the digital age — a grotesque first-person-shooter-like documentation of man’s capacity for inhumanity.

Videos of attacks are designed to amplify the terror, of course. But what makes this atrocity “an extraordinary and unprecedented act of violence,” as Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern described it, is both the methodical nature in which the massacre was conducted and how it was apparently engineered for maximum virality.

Even though Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube scrambled to take down the recording, they were no match for the speed of their users or for their algorithms which make connections for people consuming such content. In minutes, the video was downloaded and mirrored onto additional platforms, and ricocheted around the globe.

Warzel notes,

Internet users dredged up the alleged shooter’s digital history, preserving and sharing images of weapons and body armor. The gunman’s apparent digital footprint — from the rantings of a White Nationalist manifesto to his 8chan message board postings before the murders — was unearthed and, for a time, distributed into far-flung corners of the web.

The killer wanted the world’s attention, and by committing an act of mass terror, he was able to get it.

It was not the first act of violence to be broadcast in real-time. Yet this one was different because ofd the perpetrator's apparent familiarity with the darkest corners of the internet. The recording contains numerous references to online and meme culture, including name-checking a prominent YouTube personality. Tarrant knew his audience.

Tarrent's digital trail depicts a white supremacist motivation for the attack. His 87-page manifesto, for instance, is filled with layers of  commentary apparently written to specifically enrage the communities that appear to have helped radicalize the gunman in the first place. It seems he understands both the platform dynamics that allow misinformation and divisive content to spread but also the way to sow discord.

I recently came across an article by Ezra Klein who identifies an ecosphere of YouTube prophets and avatars who populate the "intellectual dark web:" The rise of YouTube’s reactionary right: How demographic change and YouTube’s algorithms are building a new right. Many right wing publishers benefit from YouTube’s algorithms to build the new right. 

YouTube’s recommendation engine follows the digital footsteps we all make. And it sees connections, not context. It knows when audiences repeatedly come together, but does not grasp why. And it predicts what they’re likely to view next. Thus are the "mainstreams" of conservative thought brought into proximity to the far right fringe.

As Klein has it,

"Many of these YouTubers are less defined by any single ideology than they are by a “reactionary” position: a general opposition to feminism, social justice, or left-wing politics."

On YouTube, tomorrow’s politics are emerging today. Tarrant noted this and made the online community work in the gunman’s favor. Our brown shirts are now digital: not only has their conspiratorial hate spread from the internet to real life, it’s also weaponized to go viral. 

Proof That White Supremacy Is an International Terrorist Threat

It stretches from Christchurch to Pittsburgh and extends out in every direction.

The always-dependable Charlie Pierce noted that Anders Breivik, the murderous white-supremacist who killed 72 people in Norway in 2011, has become one of the most significant figures in international terrorism by providing a template for the modern white-supremacist mass murderer.

From Ted Kaczynski, he borrowed the idea of publishing a manifesto. From the Columbine killers, he borrowed the idea of using both bombs and guns. And from the international white-supremacist networks, he borrowed the murderous rage and bloodthirsty rhetoric necessary to carry out acts of mass murder, and to justify his crimes through an elaborate bullshit ideological exoskeleton that he wore like body armor. He put all of this together and created the modern mode of mass political murder, one that was carried out again Thursday in Christchurch, New Zealand.

Pierce notes that Tarrant's latest manifesto

reads like a vicious form of grandiose trolling. But there seems to be little doubt that the crimes themselves speak loudly of the basic truth that this was a right-wing act of war against a target population. And, because of that, we should take the following passage very seriously. The alleged shooter called the President* of the United States "a symbol of renewed white identity and common purpose." 

When asked if the rise of white natonalism or white supremacy posed a rising threat around the world, Trump replied, 

“I don’t, really. I think it’s a small group of people that have very, very serious problems, I guess.  If you look at what happened in New Zealand, perhaps that’s the case. I don’t know enough about it yet. But it’s certainly a terrible thing.”

On Sunday, Mick Mulvaney and other staffers made the rounds and insisted that Trump was "Not a White Supremacist." Which speaks volumes.

White supremacy now poses an international terrorist threat stretching from Norway to Pittsburgh, from Christchurch to Las Vegas, sharing objectives with the Night Riders or the Bikers for Trump, but better armed and more purposeful. Brownshirts used to intimidate; the new generation attacks to sow terror in targeted groups. This poses an existential threat to the very notion of liberal democracy. Today the target is Muslims; Tomorrow's target will be...?

For our purposes this week, Charlie Pierce gets the last word:

From [white supremacist terrorism] runs on a parallel track with the rise of a xenophobic rightwing nationalist politics that is conspicuously successful in a number of putatively democratic nations. Liberal democracy is under attack and, like any revolution, this one has both a respectable political front and a violent auxiliary that operates on its own imperatives. That one of those auxiliaries cites both a Norwegian mass murderer and the President* of the United States as inspiration for killing 49 people is not only evidence of the width of the threat, but also the depth of its commitment to the cause. This is the everyday al Qaeda of the angry white soul, and it's growing.

Now is the time of monsters.