Alchemy walks out to the streets with a sign and and tacks it to a post for all to see.

From this moment on no robots are to be allowed entry into The NHS.

" You heard that right folks, I am no longer allowing any zombie/ robots to join my family! Now I know some people may say this is strange since they earn a good buck for the family but that is not what I am about. They are mindless and have nothing to learn or teach anyone so good riddance! My family work hard so why should these dead beats continue to take a space of someone who has alot more to give than just money? Vincent is the last one to work for the family he's retirement is due any day now, then I will be proud to say I have 0 of these machines working for me.

For to long now has this place been so much about the money and that saddened me to see that as that's not what brought my bloodline to these shores. Of course money helps but should that be what a family is about? Why would I need these robots if I was doing my job successfully, teaching those who do not know how, inspiring those who have lost there way, encouraging those who need it. I personally will put in the time for my family and they have rewarded me for that, which I thank them for.

8 years ago my family touched down here, there was a sence of pride and achievement in working hard for your family, giving all that you could for the family. I want to re-instal that pride and sence of worth back to the people. I offer up a challenge to those family's who want to accept it, try think outside the box. Let us rid or reduce these great city's of the robots and teach the life of these city's to grow and prosper.

The NHS welcomes all who want to learn, teach and inspire with open arms. You will never be second to a robot in my family I promise that!

Alchemy tips his hat to the city's and gets back to work.

I must say that I am in complete agreement with Alchemy's stance on this and it was something I was intending to do with my own family when our lease runs out on those robots currently in our employ.

I would love to see a time where NPMs are no longer welcome in any organization across America and if I can contribute to the start of that process, I would be foolish not to.

The Barbarian Horde will join The NHS & The Thoroughbreds in closing our doors to NPMs.

~C~

McKnighter grins a bit as he stood among the front rows of the gathering crowd, letting out a sharp whistle in approval followed by a round of applause.

Yeah! Kick out those mindless mobsters! They don't even say hello in the morning, just brushes past me for the coffee maker. Very rude.

Interesting announcement Alchemy.

I have to admit though that is does seem strange to be doing this now. While i understand the concept behind real actual members being better than robots, i struggle to see how you need to close your doors on robots completely at this given time. If you had a near full HQ i would completely understand, i am sure anyone would love to have 50 real members instead of half of their family being machines.

I just don't get why you choose not to utilise these NPM's for the time being. You have a fair amount of space left in your capacity and unless you suddenly find yourself having a fair few members knocking on your door real soon then i am quite dismayed that you're not interested in taking in more NPM's. As you said NPM's are useful for a few reasons, they make good money, they toughen your defence, they help with crimes and after all this they are more than happy to take a bullet to the head! Sounds like a good deal right? It would be quite crazy not to have them!

I suppose it is your prerogative so fair play. I hope it works out for you, just don't really see how it can.

My my my .... my little Underboss had grown up well! I remember the time when we were in Chicago that people are asking me how many members we have, and all I can say is we are breaking the seams and all of them are breathing ...no robots , they ask why??? Simply enough I love to talk with people, and robots do not respond. They do not have their own thoughts except do what they are program to do.

I salute you on your stand on this my friend.

_Thor_ Your question is valid and I thank Jade for helping me answer it. I run a family not a money making factory. My personal opinion is that the foundations of what is a successful family have been blured for to long, helped by these robots. In my time under Jade I remember the HQ busting with life which inspired me to work hard and succeed. A family is about so much more than just money and bodyguards. I intend on filling my spaces with real people from all walks of life, all types of skills, rather than just a bunch of monkeys.

I'd say it's a new way of looking at things but really it's an old way, a charm of this place I loved. I'll echo on something Chuckle spoke of recently, my family won't be filled with high rankers who know nothing. There ranks will be a reflection of who they are and what they have learnt and brought to the family.

You say that it's crazy to not have them in the family, then call me nuts for wanting a real hard working with self respect. I'd sooner have 25 real genuine people who work hard and respect me and them selfs, than 50 people who don't.

At last.

I know there has been one or two leaders the past few days who have led from the front foot about being pro-active in implementing policies. Especially on the stance regarding these so called NPMs

Undoubtly these robots are a good cash cow to have around, without any management needed and offering our society little if anything in return. They have been over-used and over realied upon for far too long to supplement the hunger and the money pit needed to maintain the necessity of bodyguard training

People may ask why now, you've got the space in your HQ why not utilize it, and that you're possibly cutting your nose of to spite your face. . I ask why not now?

I believe the principle and morals behind this decision are not money driven, thats clear to see. Its about the betterment of our world, about instilling a bit of pride back into the meaning of family

It's good to see a leader who is thinking beyond the dollar bills.

I wish the NHS well

Jax

Maximum Kudos

This I believe, is what good old Chuckle has been speaking about for some time now. A leader coming out, making a stand, and changing policy. This is the change that was looked for by the masses. Most people will fall in line with this movement, but some will not. The pure finacial benifits are hard to argue against, but not every CL is desprate for cash. I applaud you in this stance you have taken, its refreshing to see a break from the norm around here.

Very impressed with this announcement, as others have previously said it is good to see a leader displaying some initiative and doing something differently. 

I personally have never understood the place that these 'robots' have within our society. For some reason they have never seemed to fit in. I understand there various benefits for each leader to employ them but i dont believe they benefit society as a whole. 

Bravo Alchemy

The only people who will not back this is those leaders who are unable to attract enough members through there own reputation and hard work. They rely on NPMs to fill there crews. Before the war, the world had an average of 12 true members per family. We couldve halved the families yet still had enough beds for everyone!

Poor leaders with no street presence hide behind NPMs. I would like to see more leaders follow this. At the end of the day, an NPM can't defend you. They cannot represent you.

It is time for the leaders/recruiters to work for to get there members through speaking to people, and not simply by earning money and buying robots.

Checking through my family journals I can see that my kin have always been against the use of robots or zombies in families. I can understand the previous need for them with the amount of crews there were but at the same time I think that they were totally unnecessary and it was what led to their being so many crews under godfathers as opposed to families. From what I can tell from reading back the robot's were part of the problem of their being so many crews, people who were clearly not capable of being actual family heads, got the chance to wear bold suits so as they could be nothing more than cash cows for the godfathers.

My great great grandfather was a crew leader in Chicago before the Roman Empire and before these abominations were introduced. His family was small but he knew that his family were family. They talked with each other nearly everyday as much as they could and if he had have still been alive the only way he would have allowed them to reside within his halls was if he was forced by his godfather.

A family is about so much more than just money and bodyguards

That is actually very refreshing to hear. Bravo.

Just to be picky...:P

I'd sooner have 25 real genuine people who work hard and respect me and them selfs, than 50 people who don't.

How about 25 genuine people, then some NPM's on top to provide the money which goes towards those genuine members? Would you rather have a smaller HQ with only genuine members or a more filled HQ with a few NPM's? The latter can only benefit you...

I would also like to point out that i am not disagreeing with what you're doing here, it is just the timing and the current size of your family. Chuckle i can understand, his HQ is full or thereabouts so he has the luxury of selecting real members and shunning NPM's, whereas you do not at this moment in time. I suppose with time you will fill your HQ and i wish you the best of luck with that, you show initiative which is good to see. I'd love nothing more than a world without robots, never liked the idea of them in the first place. I am fed up of seeing crews that are almost at full capacity yet 75% of their members are NPM's. You fill a HQ with NPM's then that city must set up another crew leader. Needless authing goes on purely because a crew is full with robots and cities, like Chicago did under Roman, they have a ridiculous amount of crews that are stuffed purely with robots.

I would love to see NPM's phased out, taken away altogether. That however will need all cities to do exactly what you're doing here. I read journals of my ancestors and how there used to be only 1, maybe 2, crewleaders in any one city and how some crews even had over 100 members! I wish we could go back to them days. I much prefer to see a couple large HQ's then several smaller ones. People say that smaller crews work better, my fucking arse do they. Granted they are easier to manage, but that just shows you are lazy. When we see too many bolds and slanties it kind of takes away the whole honor and respect aspect of our world. It starts to get a bit like how some Made + promotions are nowadays, they get handed out in cereal packets.

I really hope that eventually the other leaders in our world follow in your footsteps and these robots can be scrapped altogether.

BM overhears the news of removing robots from a criminal organization and is in instant approval.

I can't believe you were actually the first to do this. I simply envy this idea and think this should be a worldwide movement towards the removal of the non human infiltrators. But at this time, I even envy any city that doesn't have many at all. A simple 2-3 robots is kudos even. The fact that 10 is even available in this "thing of ours" shocks the hell out of me. Back in the ole' country, this wouldn't have happened. Back in those days...

Chuckle i can understand, his HQ is full or thereabouts so he has the luxury of selecting real members and shunning NPM's, whereas you do not at this moment in time.

_Thor_ my friend I have 1 robot which will retire soon, my HQ is the right size if I chose the next one down I'd have to boot out 6 people. I will progress further filling the remaining slots with thought out and respectful recruiting in time.

I never grew up thinking I want to be a crewleader just for the money, that's not what me or my family are about. I grew up with dreams and ideas to pass on to those who I get the privilege of working with. This has never been about what I can gain from people who work from me, that is not a leader.

I have learnt alot over the years, one of the key things being you can have all the money and bodyguards you like, but if your family isn't behind you and respect you then you are nothing, you loose your power. The recent war should have taught us all that.

These robots have nothing I can teach them, so I do not want them in my family taking up a space of someone who wants to learn and achieve.

Our bloodlines grew up together so i am happy to hear what you have just stated. Hopefully you have started something here that will soon sweep through all cities, so that machines can be destroyed an there will no longer be a ridiculous amount of crews kicking around.

Kudos.

I totally reapect this decision, and say well done!  I appreciate the efforts of (now several) families to deny access to famlies by these robots. 

I have read through journals from my family too, and see the disappointment there was in employing these robotic money makers.  But I do see why it was necessary in that time.  There were a lot of families, and the competition was fierce. 

This removal of the robots is easier said than done so I applaud you all for making this decision.  Bt it is easier to do when you have over 30 'real' members and ae t least obscenely well protected.  For those brand new crewleaders starting with their first members and with very little protection - such a move would probably not be very smart.  Especally back in the day and age (are we outof tis ag yet?) where member whoring was so prevalent. 

I look forward to the day when all families are able to take such a bold step. 

Sigh.

And I apologize for the way I'm speaking today.  If you don't understand what I'm trying to say, please see me and I will try to translate.  The horror!

Anyway - the point - I respect the decision and hope we get to that point where all families can do this.

Some translation:

are we outof tis ag yet? = are we out of this age yet?

ae t least obscenely well protected = are at least...

Nice to see other crews taking a stand point on this as well. As far as NYC is concerned, we already have a " No Bot Employment Slogan". From the very first day Don Stallion was authed, he had this stance that no matter what, he will not going to employ a bot to just earn for him.

If crew members willing to work hard, still a lot of cash can be made.

Just as a random point, we as a community are a business. We refer to our work as being just business and we always claim that blood is bad for business... With that in mind, the sole interest of a business is to make money. So if I were to continue on that train of thought then that would show that all this is achieving is limiting the productivity and success of your business. Fair play to you if that's how you want to run things, but I know if I was running a business then I'd want to maximise profit. Empty spots in the family that could be filled with money making machines seems like a very unproductive way to run a business.

I could emphasise this point some more, but I have a suspicion that it will fall on deaf ears.