Zoom stood over the pile of recently deceased bodies from Seattle as he tried to calm his breathing. Waking up to hear the news of a deceased associate was something Zoom didn't appreciate - thankfully it didn't take long to find the culprit. Clearing his throat Zoom stepped up onto a mailbox and began making loud sounds that eerily imitated a dying cat. After a few moments it seemed like he had enough people's attention.

"Does it really matter what I say here? Half of you are going to say it isn't enough and the other half probably will claim that it's bullshit, as if I have anyone to impress or lie for. Heh. Here goes anyway. I woke up this morning and noticed that one of Seattle's Left Hand Men had dropped out of their family and started causing chaos in the form of going rogue before they decided to take their own life. That he dropped from his family first means nothing to me, judgement had already been passed on those who trusted him." 

Zoom paused, taking a sip from the jug of water he brought with him.

"I don't take lightly to people fucking with my business affairs. One of yours hurts one of mine and it's gloves off - "pay-for-auth" city or not. With one Waterfront Family having had someone go rogue and the other family briefly flaunting a rogue promoter as their Right Hand - I decided that the entire district needed to burn, that it needed a fresh start. With a brief ring to some of the proper people the task was soon completed flawlessly. What does this mean for the future of Seattle? Nothing except perhaps a few fresh face - as Waterfront is of course still open for business under the terms set forth by Godfather ConstanceBonacieux which can be found on a street corner over there."

Zoom pointed in the general direction of where ConstanceBonacieux had made the speech. Zoom suspected it would take a few days for the city to settle down fully and he shrugged, knowing that the blood that was spilled today had been the end of it. Stifling a yawn, Zoom gracefully slid from the mailbox and leaned up against it as he lit a cigar. 

So basically you are saying you don't care if there are rules in place or not. You are going to do whatever it is that you want to do?

Just asking for clarification sake.

Perhaps you should make yourself aware of the terms that surround Seattle currently before you continue to sound as ignorant as you do.

I am talking off the words that you spoke yourself. I am not going to dig around like Rover. So in your own words you stated that you couldn't care less about rules. I am asking for clarification on that alone.

Please quote me word for word where I said that? Oh...that's right, you can't. The gloves off comment was  an allude to the fact that their district was burned wholly instead of the semi-traditional "uppers only". Again, please keep yourself informed - the inhabitants of Seattle are well aware that just because they're in a pay-for-auth city it doesn't give them the excuse to act in a manner that would elsewhere be unacceptable. 

Zoom, I think you should probably calm down. You seem to be getting quite upset over a conversation regarding your actions.

In regards to this situation though I would like to point out that Constance technically was the one that brought forth the Seattle city affairs and should she not have been the one to decide when it was time to remove any of it?

You would truly think by now that people would see things for what they are. Philadelphia and LA are tighter than a pickle jar that's been sat on a shelf too long. The current stipulations for Seattle were set forth by Constance and myself - just because she was the public face of it doesn't mean that it should be on her to handle things solo. Furthermore if you'll note back to the brief ring I had mentioned it isn't too hard to extrapolate that Constance had been on the other end of that call. You're smarter than this, Spring, stop trying to stir up shit. 

As per my announcement regarding Seattle which can be found HERE, if a city that feels there is a SUBSTANTIATED threat by a district in Seattle they have the right to remove them as per rule 9. In fact, I'll quote it for you below:

9) If there is a dispute between one district and another no other city will step in unless they feel that they are at risk. If another city has a substantiated reason to believe that any or all of the districts of Seattle pose a risk they may intervene in the leadership of that district.

There was a risk from Waterfront as proven by the murder of members from Los Angeles and Philly prior to their removal. Zoom is also a part of the operations of Seattle, he is my partner in the venture. This is something that many know, but you apparently do not. He is fully entitled to make the decision to remove a crew or a district there, especially since someone from his city was killed by a member of Seattle. I appreciate his dedication to our safety as he had things handled before I even arrived on the scene. 

"There was a risk from Waterfront"

Seeing as the rogues were long gone before the districts removal, can you clarify what risk was being posed that was any different to any of the other cities that rogues have spawned from over the past few months and have been left to thrive?

Your own included of course. 

Angela pokes her head up from the crowd

Young Roronoa, I think we can all agree Rogues happen and there isn't much we can do about it. However, giving the LHM title to a soldier by the name of RogueDesk isn't necessarily a good judgement call. Combine that judgement call with the hand selection of the now dead rogue NathanJones, and it certainly leaves the world wondering what exactly was happening. 

VuZe Listens to all that's been said

Yes, that was a bad judgment call on my behalf, I had been talking with F4F and I believed his knowledge of the game would have helped my family and I would like to apologize for my actions in doing so.

Angela, are you suggesting that two entire familes were wiped out because they misplaced their trust in manipulative liars after they had been neutralised? 

A rogue killed two innocent people and in retaliation the powers that be killed 9 more. Great logic.

I am sorry RoronoaZoro. Have you never heard of 1041? People seem to forget, this is the MAFIA. When has the mafia EVER been logical when it comes to everyday type thinking? 

Please, take the salt factory to a different location. 

 Dwight listened as a few people ranted about the actions taken by The Powers that be and chucked a bit. He casually approached RoronoaZoro placing his hand on his shoulder before speaking to the young Mafioso. "I understand you might be upset about recent events but ultimately what happened happened because people above our pay grade made a business decision. If you agree with it or not is a totally different matter but it's like the man Zoom himself said..."  Dwight trailed off as he recalled his Godfather's words. He promptly quoted word for word what Zoom had just said earlier.

"Does it really matter what I say here? Half of you are going to say it isn't enough and the other half probably will claim that it's bullshit, as if I have anyone to impress or lie for."

"I'm assuming you're probably the latter half of that statement thinking this is all bullshit but in the end those with power call the shots and Victors write the history books.".  Dwight nodded at Zoro again before taking his leave.

​​​​

Rain stopped to listen to the Godfather - Chairman Zoom speaks about the recent take-down of Waterfront.   Out of respect for the speaker and the fact her opinions are so debatable; she always opted to listen instead of speaking.   She listens because even though the events don’t affect her family personally,  it reflex life in this thing of ours.    

She listen to a few people speak then she heard who she assumed was the son a man she knew.  She thought she was right so she approached  VuZe,  she walked over to him, got his attention and in a voice loud enough for others to hear she told him.

I applaud you for what you said.  It took courage to come out here today. I knew your father.  We did jobs and played poker together.  Hindsight is a bitch. I am sorry for your lost if I am speaking of the right man. I wish you the best.

She turns to  hear the others speak.

Angela, are you suggesting that two entire familes were wiped out because they misplaced their trust in manipulative liars after they had been neutralised? 

Misplaced their trust in manipulative liars? Did they lie and say their name and manifesto was not indicative of a person who was clearly trying to teach the general populace how to defy the fragile rules in which we live by? Assuming they did, did the crewleader in question simply take them at their word?

Does this sound as ridiculous to you as it does to me?

Their entire forward facing personality was a threat. Period- and being given the opportunity to be a head in this thing of ours with that foundation is irresponsible and insulting.

There is an absolute ass-ton of awesome activity occurring in Seattle. I speak to some of the leadership over there on a regular basis. I'm proud of what has come of the "pay city" that had as many detractors as proponents when it was initially put into place. This entire fiasco was an insult to the overwhelming positive outcome of Seattle in general.

Threat seen. Threat neutralized. The only people who are mad are those still with their tongue in their cheek wishing they had been more covert in their disdain.

VuZe smiles at rain and in an emotional tone

Its nice to meet you rain my father was not a perfect person but he always tried to do the right thing and I am glad I am not the only one to think that he had nice words to say about you and I heard you actually beat him in a poker game,

VuZe continues listening to the crowd or people still around 

<sup>After listening for a while Shady looked unperturbed. Finishing his own cigar he looked at Zoom and Jerry then gave them an appreciative and respectful Nod before walking onto what seemed like a mountain of dried salt. Going thru his pockets  he takes out a few pictures, turns to the restless crowd and starts speaking.

I understand that some of you have lost fathers and mothers, I understand that you are hurting, you feel angry at the world. It's never easy when the police knocks on your door at 3 o'clock in the morning and shares what is probably the most devastating news ever.... or worse... you stumble upon their bodies yourself.

I need YOU to understand that all is not lost, all is just a little bit different. I know... like you do now... change is hard... it's new it's scary and it's frightening... but once the dust settles we can sea the ocean again and boy is it Beautiful.

Shady shows the pictures of his fallen Kin to the crowd.

See these people, they have been where you are know and worse they ended the same way. Was it their fault ? No it was not ! Was is their Crew Leaders Fault... unfortunately yes. Crew Leaders carry a huge responsibility... as do their Hands. So I was also shocked.

When I heard about these events I asked myself a few questions...
How can a hand just drop from a crew?
Did the CL not know....were there no earlier discussions 
Was he taken advantage of ? Was he too uninformed ?
The reality is they were all dead the moment shots were fired at LA and PHI colleagues killing.. no murdering 2 innocent young mobsters. Where are the tears for them ? I haven't even seen these complainers mention them. Why would they... right.

The CL made a huge investment to setup in Seattle... so I can not for one moment think that he didn't read all the rules and understood the responsibility. I Read the rule myself and can testify that it was applied properly. Imagine there was no consequences for raising rogues in your city. Without rules, structure and integrity ... we are but animals.

So where does this leave us...</sup>

<sup>Recruitment has to be better, not everyone deserves a top job and clearly you need to know who is working for... and with you.

Since it hasn't been said... I would like to thank Zoom for defending us with extreme prejudice. Quickly identifying the threats and eliminating it before more loss of life occurred.. IF my Father and Grandfathers were blessed with such a caring GodFather.... they might still be around today just like these damned rogues.

Shady looks at his pocket watch.

I wish that all of you have a great day, I'm sure you all also have business to do.

Cheers

Shady walks of to his waiting associates.</sup>

Jerry, I agree that basic logic and common sense doesn’t tend to play a part with the majority of the decisions made here by the leadership and whilst I don’t expect blunt instruments like them to be capable of such things, for someone like you to accuse me of being salty after merely asking for clarification of certain points during a discussion is just insulting to your own intelligence. Especially when you consider that there are actual salty comments above such as

“Does it really matter what I say here? Half of you are going to say it isn't enough and the other half probably will claim that it's bullshit, as if I have anyone to impress or lie for.”

And

“I don't take lightly to people fucking with my business affairs. One of yours hurts one of mine and it's gloves off - "pay-for-auth" city or not.”

I guess salt tastes different depending on whose’ lips you’re licking it off of.

VuZe, you made a naive mistake that you rectified within a reasonable amount of time, when you consider the mistakes that current ‘spared’ crew leaders and members have made in recent times you may begin to realise that you own them no apologises.

Dwight, don’t make the mistake of thinking that just because I may or may not agree with certain points being made that I’m instantly upset, death is a way of life here and I’ve no issue in accepting it for whatever reason it happens. I’m merely taking part in a discussion in a place where we are meant to have discussions and have no qualms about calling people out on obvious bullshit.

Transistor – or the tit – as you’ve become fondly known. What VuZe did was ridiculously naïve, with that I can agree with you BUT it was dealt with, the mistake was rectified and no harm was done, that is, no harm was done right up till the point it was decided that a rogue would be used as the perfect scapegoat to be blamed for the massacre of two innocent families for reasons unknown although I can imagine that the size of certain peoples dicks was a factor.

And as for this threat seen, threat neutralized crap it’s more like mistake made, threat seen, threat dealt with, threat neutralized, innocents killed.

So much for diplomacy.