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[color=5d8aa8][b]"My fellow Americans. I wish I could say that today isn't one of the darkest chapters of our recent history, that what millions of you saw on the news just hours ago was staged or forged in any way. I honestly wish I could say that."[/b][/color]

[COLOR=gray]The look on President Maxwell Lord's face from behind the podium was uncharacteristically somber. The flash of cameras adorning the gallery of the Press Briefing Room gave his stare a more ominous appearance than intended, but the optics of the situation weren't exactly a concern on anyone's mind, much less the leader of the free world's. Having been in a strategic meeting at the time, preferring not to dwell on the incoming loss of the Iron Patriot program after his office had been sent the briefest memo by Stark's team, Lord had only barely been given the rundown of a live broadcast that had unexpectedly been cut short, not to mention cliffnotes of the immediate aftermath from official channels. Someone else in this situation might've been flustered, tripping over themselves to try and assuage the panic of a nation worried that the first of a series of terrorist attacks was coming. That this was some sort of larger coordinated effort, as the Joint Chiefs of Staff had exclaimed in their bid to try and keep Lord in an off-site bunker. 

To hell with that. Upon reviewing the footage, the President knew exactly what this had been. All of his fears, his genuine anxieties about what was to come since his election had been confirmed in one of the worst ways - but that didn't mean that he was about to run from the apparent danger. He knew that this was a war that had started the minute that the Reach had placed it on humanity's doorstep. You didn't run from that and still dare to live with yourself.[/COLOR]

[color=5d8aa8][b]"While details are still scarce, even to me, I can confirm a few key details. Both Homeland Security and the FBI have reason to believe that the attack at Stark Industries was a solitary effort. Identification of the extremist who executed it is still ongoing, as unfortunately, the individual's face was never captured on camera. And all eyewitness testimony is, frankly, impossible."[/b][/color]

[COLOR=gray]Lord opened his mouth to speak. Then stopped, paused in thought. Silent for a deafening few seconds. By the time he regained his composure, whispers could be heard emanating from the crowd in waves.[/COLOR]

[color=5d8aa8][b]"I can also confirm that, while the number of casualties is still unknown at this time, one of them... was Anthony Stark."[/b][/color]

[COLOR=gray]The flash of the cameras went from periodic to frenzied. The whispers turned into genuine gasps. Some members of the press were yelling over eachother, others were stunned into silence. Tony Stark had been a fixture of the press for nearly two decades, ever since the late Howard and Maria had famously announced the latter's pregnancy during a press release from the Bahamas. The billionaire had left behind quite the complicated legacy, certainly. And even more questions would be asked for years to come about the manner of his death, not to mention the motives behind the announcement made just moments before the incident. But President Lord firmly raised his hand in a powerful show of strength. Those who weren't heeding the call from White House staff to quiet down were suddenly compelled to allow the President to continue.[/COLOR]

[color=5d8aa8][b]"I can't claim to have known Mr. Stark very well, at least not personally. He was more acquainted with my predecessor, as many are aware. Under President Ellis, Mr. Stark and his War Machines were considered something of a revolutionary new measure in global defense. They were also incredibly controversial, and my former opponent spent many hours defending their use in the field in this very room. But on the subject of the need for Stark's inventiveness, for his ingenuity in keeping this nation safe, President Ellis and I never disagreed. I daresay that Tony Stark was a vital piece of America."[/b][/color]

[COLOR=gray]Lord closed his eyes.[/COLOR] [color=5d8aa8][b]"And that piece has been ripped away from us."[/b][/color]

[COLOR=gray]With a sigh, the President opened his eyes again, a visible renewal of something within them.[/COLOR]

[color=5d8aa8][b]"Not by human terrorists. Not by someone with a gun or a bomb strapped to them, no sniper's bullet aimed from a faraway nest. No, that would be the sort of monstrousness that until a decade ago, we would be able to understand. Not tolerate, never tolerate, but at least be able to understand. Because humanity as we all know it is very cruel and violent, and has been since the dawn of man. But we eventually evolved, becoming better as a people, living together with a general sense of decency and understanding. As a species, we were on the path."[/b][/color]

[COLOR=gray]The President could barely contain the venom in his voice as he continued. It was a tone that he had used multiple times on the campaign trail, and evoked plenty of criticism. But there had been just as many who saw it as a tone of righteousness, an honest voice in a sea of deceit that the world of politics had continually wielded like a weapon against the voting public. In some ways, it was a tone that had won him the White House.[/COLOR]

[color=5d8aa8][b]"But these [i]metahumans[/i]. They aren't something any of us can understand. We don't know what motivates them as individuals, much less as a whole, and how could we? They've been given power that most of us could barely conceive of. Imagine being able to do what the man who murdered Tony Stark could. And imagine that you were similarly fuelled by such a warped ideology, believing in the myth of some mutant haven so much that you would kill in it's name? Would you have been able to stop yourself from thinking you could play God? Would you even bother trying?"[/b][/color]

[COLOR=gray]Clasping both hands on either side of the podium, Lord leaned forward.[/COLOR]

[color=5d8aa8][b]"These are the exact dangers that my administration has been warning you about since the beginning of my campaign. The curse that The Reach have inflicted upon the Earth, creating both the metahuman threat and emboldening mutantkind. The uncertainty that any of us, even the rich and powerful, are susceptible to these kinds of attacks at random. Individuals walking around with the ability to set themselves off and kill a room full of journalists living among us. Stark Industries just learned the hard reality of that fact in the worst way imaginable. I grieve for a time when that wasn't the case, but we're going to continue to live in unprecedented times for the foreseeable future. Make no mistake, my friends. This exact sort of attack can happen again. And if we don't act soon, it [i]will[/i]."[/b][/color]

[COLOR=gray]Then, in a moment that nobody saw coming, the President stood upright and spoke words that no one expected him to. Words pertaining to something that the White House had spent weeks attempting to deny through a continued lack of comment. Lord had been in consultation with Vice President Waller about how to move forward from an apparent scandal on that scale, but until they could properly strategize, he had been advised to give no indication of it's validity. But as the former CEO of Roxxon, the President knew an opportunity when he saw one.[/COLOR]

[color=5d8aa8][b]"That is exactly why I approved the drafting of Project Daedelus."[/b][/color]

[COLOR=gray]Eyes widened from the crowd. Multiple people turned to look at eachother, unable to comprehend what had just happened. Had the President of the United States just openly admitted to enacting metahuman concentration camps? Had he gone insane? Even members of Lord's cabinet who were in attendance seemed highly uncomfortable with such a public revelation. But Lord remained steadfast.[/COLOR]

[color=5d8aa8][b]"I know that the public has been demanding answers. Answers about what kind of man, much less what kind of leader could possibly consider such extreme methods. I'm fully aware of how it looks from the outset, and truth be told, my staff and I were unsure of the legalities in approaching the issue. Those files were highly classified, and the method used to illegally obtain them is still under active investigation. But I think that in the interest of transparency, and in light of this shocking crime, the American people deserve to know the truth."[/b][/color]

[COLOR=gray]Clasping his hands together and resting them on the podium, the President made direct eye contact with the primary camera feed. If Lord was lying as he spoke, even his most veracious critics would be hard pressed to say that he wasn't at least damn good at it.[/COLOR]

[color=5d8aa8][b]"And the truth is that we are still at war. I know that most of us have considered The Reach's leave of Earth to be the end of the single largest conflict that the world has ever seen, but I can't sugarcoat it. We traded peace and security for a swift end to an enemy that is still determined to kill us. And in the aftermath, we were left with the blight of metahumans. Ordinary people rendered a threat to every one of us. It's an ugly truth, but it's one that we have to embrace. And in doing so, I'll admit it here. The American government was forced to explore every possible avenue to regain that security. Project Daedelus was the direct result of that exploration."[/b][/color]

[COLOR=gray]And so it had finally come out. The headlines were already brewing, with articles being visibly typed up on phones and notepads just beyond Lord's field of vision. But he seemed eerily calm, even refraining from the hostility that had crept into his voice the minute that he'd started talking about his administration's oft-covered hot button issue.[/COLOR]

[color=5d8aa8][b]"But the project was only ever theoretical. An exercise that considered the worst-case scenario. That was the job I've taken on as leader of this nation. I've seen the words 'internment camp' bandied about in the press, but I reject that sentiment wholeheartedly. Exterminating metahumans? Killing mutants? There is nothing to be gained by making martyrs of these individuals. I ran for office on the promise of making America, making the world [i]itself[/i] safe from this threat. What possible justification would I have to give them a reason to fight back? To let innocents be caught in the crossfire, like those poor individuals at Stark Industries?"[/b][/color]

[COLOR=gray]The President's tone briefly softened - and gradually hardened again.[/COLOR]

[color=5d8aa8][b]"No. There's a better way. A more peaceful alternative that can restore the balance. But before we can reach that point, security must be considered above all else. And that is why, in the face of this unimaginable tragedy, I am announcing both swift and decisive action on behalf of the United States government. Tomorrow morning, I will be signing an Executive Order granting law enforcement, at state and federal levels, access to The Agency provided caches of non-lethal power-dampening ordinance to aid in the arrest of probable metahuman and mutant citizens. I urge the governments of the world to consider the same, and offer the full co-operation of Vice President Waller."[/b][/color]

[COLOR=gray]The camera flashes were, at this point, blinding. But Lord seemed wholly undeterred.[/COLOR]

[color=5d8aa8][b]"From there, each arrest will result in relocation to a facility that will hold them. And I emphasize [i]hold[/i] them, because that is precisely what the compound was designed to do. Overseen by the brilliant scientific engineers Professor Anthony Ivo and Dr. Abraham Cornelius, we have built a prison specially designed to detain powered individuals. They've taken to calling it [i]The Raft[/i], and it's exact location will be unveiled later in the week."[/b][/color]

[COLOR=gray]As calls for questions slowly began to emerge from the crowd, Lord ignored them, again staring directly into the camera.[/COLOR]

[color=5d8aa8][b]"My friends, I realize that there are difficult days ahead. That you may be frightened of the implications that these announcements may generate. But I assure you, everything I've done and everything this administration will be doing is in the interest of keeping all of you safe. You have my word as an American, and more importantly, a [i]human being[/i]."[/b][/color]

[COLOR=gray]The calls for answers grew louder, nearly drowning out the President's words.

But the message couldn't be any clearer.[/COLOR]

[color=5d8aa8][b]"God bless Anthony Stark. And God bless America."[/b][/color]