Jude

Jude Fairchild

You didn't come to environmental activism the same way as most other folks. You came to it wishing you could recreate your youth or at least allow others to have the life you were denied.

Your father used to own a farm. Your mom died giving birth to you. You were an only child, so it was just you and your father living there. A changing world took its toll though, and nothing would grow on that farm by the time you were in your early teens. Climate change happened; the land just dried up and died. Another year later and your youth of labor in the fields, open land, and hunting, was over for good. Your dad sold everything for pennies and moved from the country to Chicago with you so as he could try and find work.

The memory of your earlier years never left you though. It was pretty much the only good part of your life. That farm, those fields, and all that possibility up and died because of bad people. Bad people have done a real good job of destroying every good part of your life. The farm was just the start.

Things were different in the city. A white farm boy like you sure didn't fit in on the streets of Chicago. It only made it worse that... women didn't do anything for you. A gang of boys in high school showed you exactly what did do it for you. They weren't friendly about it though, and it was a month before all the stitches could be taken out. Things like that were supposed to happen in prisons, not in locker rooms after school.

Whatever else that event did, it fixed you, and set you straight. It made it clear that what happens between men is dirty and bloody and painful and wrong.

You got two years of community college in after high school. It was there you first started making connections in environmentalist groups. None of them had never even lived outside of a city. They didn't know anything about farming, livestock or hunting. But they gave you answers and a direction for your anger about all that you had lost.

Your father died two weeks before you finished up your Associate's degree. It was real hard on you. He was the only family you had. Any more college was right out of the question.

You applied for a job with the police department. They were always hiring, and, while the pay was crap, it let you get a gun back in your hands. Fees were too high to have one in the city for most people, and you'd missed having one since you and your father left the farm. It was also hard work and something meaningful.

You made a lot of connections during those years, both through work and through your ongoing involvement in environmental activism. You proved able to communicate with two communities that most environmentalists could never reach: police and rural folks, like yourself. You can explain about the beauty of a real man's life: living with the land and its bounty. You can make it clear how much has been lost and is still being lost daily by the disregard for the land itself.

Three years ago, you lost your job as a police officer. You shot and killed someone. It was worth it. You recognized the guy from high school. He was one of the gang members who raped you. You just pulled out your gun and shot him. It felt good, but it wasn't smart. It was a quick and emotional reaction, not a planned action. In the official report, you claimed you thought he was grabbing for a gun after he saw you. Turned out the guy was a felon on the run, so your story was a good sell. He didn't have a gun on him though and the force had to let you go over it.

You met John almost two years ago at an Earth Day rally in Chicago. There was something about him, his energy and that moment that brought something out in you. He did something to you. Everything since then is his fault. What you did to him was almost rape. He couldn't get enough of it though. He called you gay and you hit him. Really hit him. He laughed and you took him again.

You're not gay though. It is just something about John. Something he's done. He brings out something terrible in you. You're not gay, but you can't keep your hands off of him. You go for weeks sometimes without seeing him, but you keep coming back. You're not gay and you won't let him tell you that you are. Every time he tries it, you have to hold back from hitting him. Sometimes, you don't hold it back. He says its just who you are, the punches included, and that he accepts you. Talk like that makes you even angrier. You aren't gay, but you keep coming back to him and taking him any way you want.

You've met and helped recruit a fair number of people into the MAGE Institute. Simone is one of them. You met her on a hunting trip. She was a real huntress and smart, too. Your thoughts on the world were similar: the land was being abused, the good life lost and those in charge of things weren't going to do a thing about it.

You and Simone agreed that it was time for more direct action after she moved from California out to the D.C. area and joined the MAGE Institute. She had acquired hunting skills from being a child soldier in Rwanda and computer skills from working for the Chinese mafia. She was able to get into computer and security systems all over the place and get the two of you in wherever you needed to engage in industrial sabotage.

Then James joined the MAGE Institute. James is John's brother and a former U.S. Marine. He was clearly looking for people just like you and Simone. He brought a lot of skills, a lot of guts and a firm willingness to do whatever was necessary to take the matter to the next level.

Over the past year, the three of you have quietly and successfully conducted three major missions. No one else in the MAGE Institute has knowledge of these major missions. Most inner-circle members know that you, James and Simone are more willing to use force, and that you've assisted with minor industrial sabotage from time to time. It is simpler to just keep the doubters and weak-willed unaware of the full details and continue to do what needs doing.

The first mission involved bombing the construction site of a new regional headquarters for ExxonMobil in New Jersey. You set back the construction by at least six months and cost ExxonMobil a few million dollars. No one was killed, though two executives visiting the site and a dozen construction workers were injured.

The second major mission was your most ambitious yet, involving the bombing of General Electric headquarters in Fairfield, Connecticut. Simone's computer skills got you and James into the place, despite heavy security. The two of you shot two security guards entering the main building and one more coming out. The explosives went off as planned less than a half hour after you had left the building. The news reports stated that two more security personnel were killed in the explosion and that the bombing had caused as much as $40 million of damage.

The third major mission was a more personal one. Pearl Skala, an industrial mole for the MAGE Institute in the Three Diamonds Foods Corporation, was starting to get pressure. You decided to give Three Diamonds something else to worry about and remove a few of the upper-ups in the corporation. Using information previously garnered from Pearl plus some gathered by Simone's "investigation" skills, you were able to plan and carry out the bombing of an upper-level management meeting of Three Diamonds two weeks ago. Six people were killed and the remaining four seriously wounded.

At present, you, Simone and James are planning an attack on a heavily polluting coal power plant in Kentucky. The thing is a relic, but political connections have kept the thing running and well subsidized for more than four decades. Removing this plant will be a significant blow against a major source of pollution in the state.

People You Know

Chris Carpenter

Chris is smart, charismatic and talented. Her ability to keep everything together, especially all of the different people in the Institute, is nothing short of a miracle. She shies away from the thought of the more extreme actions that you, Simone and James are willing to undertake.

Barry Magdalene

You've never been convinced that Barry is really here fighting for the cause. He's soft and still a politician at heart, even if he lost his position as a U.S. Senator. If it wasn't for Chris, he wouldn't be here.

Pearl Skala

Pearl is useful. Her insider status at Three Diamonds Foods Corporation has been very beneficial. You are glad you were able to help out when she started receiving some pressure. It's a shame she'd probably be appalled by the mission. Still, she's learned to accept industrial sabotage. Maybe some day when she realizes how much is at stake, she'll really be ready.

Andrea Skala

Andrea is the stereotypical environmentalist. You suppose there has to be at least a few of that type in the core group of the MAGE Institute.

James Papadopoulos

You respect James, but you'd never want to be on his bad side. He's probably the most dangerous and dedicated man you've ever met in your life.

John Papadopoulos

You aren't gay. What happens between you and John is just something that he does to you. You can't walk away from it, though. He really needs to stop making you angry by saying things that aren't true about you.

Philip Harrison

You generally like religious folk. Philip isn't a bad sort. His talk about our duty as the caretakers of the Earth makes a lot of sense and reaches out to different audiences. He needs to remember to focus on that part rather than saving souls while he's working with the MAGE Institute. He has a hard time of that.

Frank Bartholomew

You have no clue why Chris wants a homeless, demented, war veteran here.

Tamasa Valappil

Tamasa is soft and skeptical. She questions everything and contributes little. Why Chris has seen fit to include someone who doesn't really accept the facts of the environmental devastation of the past century is a mystery to you.

Jamie Schreiber

Jamie, like Barry, is here mostly because of Chris. Jamie might grow up some day, but only if she steps out of Chris' shadow.

Eve Matthews

Eve is newer than Pearl, but fulfills a similar role. You're not sure if she's ready yet to start willingly helping with industrial sabotage. Maybe you can sound her out about her willingness to give out the kind of information that might be useful.

Simone Cylima

You trust Simone more than anyone else here. You probably trust her more than anyone since your father passed away. She's got good sense and the two of you think very much alike. You're a good team.

Judah Isaacson

Judah controls the money for the Institute. He's fiercely dedicated to the mission of the MAGE Institute, perhaps more so than even Chris. It is a shame that he seems to think that the risk brought about by more direct actions outweighs the benefits.