opnet [OpNet] Getting to Know Novas! Zach Bronstein Interviews Jager

[N News Service]

Zach Bronstein: Well hey! Welcome wonderful readers to the latest edition of Zach Bronstein's (that's me ya doof) latest and greatest edition of N! "s hot interview series “Novas You Don't Know”. Now, I know what you're thinking gentle reader, “Hey Zach, what's up with this "reading' crap? I don't pay ViaSoft their monthly gouging to be reading this stuff.” Now don't worry my many rabid fans, sometimes these novas that have been flying under the radar are just a touch shy, as is this months subject. So, may I introduce you all to the man, the myth, the legend! Jager!!

Jager: Thank you Mr. Bronstein, and my apologies to your "legions' of fans, yes I do prefer to keep my face a little less well known than say, Pursuer's. I hope this is not too much of an inconvenience.

ZB: No, not at all, hey, gives the little screen monkeys a chance to brush up on their literacy skills. Now, it's funny that the first other nova you mention is an Elite. As some of our more attentive fans may remember you were an Elite, worked with DeVryes very early on, then you dropped out of the public eye. Now that's a tough thing for a nova to do. How'd you pull it off?

J: By not drawing attention to myself.

ZB: Bullshit.

J: No, really. I simply chose not to engage in those activities that you in the media found particularly interesting. I didn't overthrow any banana republics, I didn't invent any new medicines, I simply chose a life a little less complicated.

ZB: Oookaaay, so, what are you doing nowadays?

J: Consultation. People often are willing to listen to people who they believe possess knowledge or ability beyond their own. My status as a nova gives me an edge when it comes to what people believe I know. Often, all they really need is a little common sense and a push in the right direction.

ZB: Consultation? Isn't that a little boring? I mean, you are a nova! Even the most minor novas today have access to lifestyles that would make Midas green with envy. You were an Elite! I've seen how women react to Elites, and I am not talking about gutter sluts, groupies, or those novanookies that hang around Starlords like a bunch of Hollywood & Vine Street Trash. High class society broads start snail trackin' whenever an Elite walks in a room.

J: Yes, and the men look on them with a mixture of fear and loathing. Elites are a special breed, I'll admit it, but there is so much baggage with the lifestyle. I really just wasn't interested in living out a life where daily sessions with a therapist were recommended. You know, Elites are one of the major reasons EJ Lilly came up with nova strength psychotropics.

ZB: Okay, that I can accept. Yes, we all know there is a dark side to the life of a nova, but you've disappeared off the public radar for a number of years man! I mean hell, they're hard to find but there are action figures of you out there from your DeVryes days!!

J: (Chuckles) Heh, yeah, they didn't sell too well though. They couldn't advertise them with anything like Pursuer's “Grav Pulse Action” or Infinite Lotus' “ Infinite Justifier attachments”. Just a little too boring for the kids I guess.

ZB: Yeah, well, that touches on something else. I understand you're being pretty hush hush about the why's and wherefore's of your eruptions. Sometimes they're embarrassing and you're not the first nova to try to keep it on the qt. That's good and all, but what the hell can you do?!

J: I make pretty good sushi.

ZB: Very fucking funny, you know what I mean. I've researched you up and down. You're tough, but no one knows how tough. You're fast, but again, how fast is anyone's guess. Do you fly? Don't know, no one's seen you, but that doesn't mean dick. No record of firing hot blasts of nuclear flatulence either.

J: Now you're just being gross.

ZB: Sorry, I am sorry. But a big part of everyone's fascination with novas is with what you can do. I mean, no one would put up with Mephistofoleez if he wasn't capable of , if not prone to, drop kicking police cars through buildings. Infinite Lotus would just be another belly button contemplating little girl if it wasn't for the fact that she can reduce shit to their component atoms with a stern look. So, what is the deal with Jager? What can the man do that makes him so far above us?

J: I really don't consider myself so far above you. But to answer your question I am just going to have to state I am a firm believer in not advertising my strengths, and as a result advertising my weaknesses.

ZB: Ok, I'll let you off the hook on that one, but mostly because you've touched on something a little more interesting. You don't consider yourself so far above me? I take it then that you are not a supporter of the Teragen? Are you then a fan of Utopia? Or, let me guess, you consider yourself unaffiliated?

J: I have had interactions with members of the Teragen that I would consider positive and mutually beneficial. However, I have also had some disagreements with other members of that organization. Though, to be honest, "organization' might not be the appropriate word. On the other hand, I could describe my interactions with Utopia in a similar fashion, some good, some bad.

ZB: So, unaffiliated it is then? Why am I not surprised?

J: No, I would consider myself very affiliated, just not with either of the organizations you happened to mention. Unaffiliated, to me, means uncaring, and I happen to care very deeply.

ZB: Who are you with then? Some government agency? The Directive perhaps?

J: Now, I would hesitate to insult your legendary research and reporting skills by coming up with a straight answer. Don't you think it will be so much more satisfying for you if you figured it out on your own?

ZB: Quit your grinning you evil, evil man. My journalistic drives are nothing to meddle with. Personally, I think you're an independent and I am not going to waste my time and build up my expectations with trying to find out more. Fine, you're an independent operator, that's fine, don't try to dodge the greater issue. There are a lot of voices out there, all proclaiming a "truth', some with only minor differences, others radically oppositional. Where does your conscience lay?

J: You are right Zach, there seems to be a chorus of voices out there, each singing a different tune. We have Utopia declaring that a perfect society of nova and baseline is just over the horizon and if we all clasp hands and march forward heaven on earth can be ours. Some governments, such as Kenya and China declare novas to be the tools of the state and responsible for total loyalty. The Teragen is not the unified voice that it is sometimes stated to be. We have Count Orziaz courting the good favor of baseline society with harsh honesty cushioned with a pleasant demeanor and a clever quip. Ashnod proclaims "the truth' with the fervor of a true believer, Geryon acts as the brutal fist backing up his belief in the Manifesto, and you have James Meehan delivering acerbic diatribes against those whose intellect he finds wanting. Hardly a group walking arm in arm towards a single goal, don't you think? And these are just a few of the voices that are currently shouting out some opinion or another about novas and their place in the world.

ZB: Eleoquant, but you didn't answer my question. What, are you running for congress or something?

J: I'm not trying to avoid your question, merely I am trying to illustrate that I recognize that there is more than one form of "the truth' out there. I try to keep an open mind. It's less frustrating in the long run.

ZB: So, are you open to the Islamic extremist viewpoint? How about the Church of Micheal Archangel? I can't imagine that your "more-open-than-thou' attitude extends to cover those groups who would like to see you dead?

J: Well, to be honest I am not as unsympathetic as you might think to their views. I have interacted with novas whose behavior is abominable at the least. You'd have a hard time just reading about Hazzard's actions and not have some sense of sympathy for a member of the Church that was harboring some deep seated hatred and fear of novas.

ZB: Whoa! Pretty understanding of you there my man.

J: I try. I guess what I am trying to get across is that I am a firm believer in trying to do what you can to create a better world, but doing so carefully. I would hate to traipse into Hades on a path of good intentions. I care as much as Utopia or the Teragen does, I simply have decided to approach life a little more carefully.

ZB: Pretty heavy words Jager, but I bet a lot of my readers can appreciate seeing a nova treating life as seriously and as carefully as they do. Well, that's pretty much all the time we have today, I hope that you'll let me pop in on you again, assuming you let me know where to find you that is.

J: It's been pleasant Zach, and I'll let you know.

[Jager]

Someone goes through all this effort and gets no response.

Well, I thank you Mr. N News Service person. I liked it and thought it was a good idea. Does anyone else want to step up and feel the heat of the personal interview?

[Avenger]

Jager --

My dear friend. It's been a little while, hasn't it. I see that you're still as genteel as ever, though I'm hurt to see that I didn't make it into your list of Terat examples. Forgotten me so soon? Or just trying to?

I took a little hiatus that isn't quite over yet, but I thought I'd take a quick trip back to land to check in on things back in Cybertopia. Things have been noticeably quiet since my self-induced exile. Connected, perhaps? I suppose we shall see when yet I return. Suffice it to say that I've been making good use of my time away.

In the meantime, however, I'll have a little free time to spare between studies. I should think (or hope, rather) that all you folks nesting in the urban squalor might still have a few questions for who's now being recognized by Interpol and Guiness Book of World Records as "Most Successful Serial Killer of All Time". Being a fan of the press and student of Journalism (a seeming lifetime ago), I'll gladly grant an interview to Zach Bronstein, crass little Howler Monkey that he is, if he so desires. I am sure that he'll find my decisiveness more to his liking.

Good luck changing the world, Jager. When this is all over, I'll be glad to offer you any assisstance you require.

-- Avenger

[Ashnod]

Alright Jager,

Since you complained no one responded, I will. By this interview, you don't draw attention to yourself, all you do is give the common folk a gentle push in the right direction, you're not interested in an extravagant life, your quantum abilities are so singular that even revealing one of them would also reveal a fatal weakness, you've had mutually beneficial and mutally detrimental relationships with every major Nova faction, you're a deeply caring individual, you're open and understanding to almost any viewpoint, and you have good goals but approach them carefully...

Maybe it's just me, but you successfully managed to say absolutely nothing about yourself and in the process made yourself about to be some kind of White Knight or saint. Overall, I'd say that this was a fully unenlightening experience, and that anyone who didn't know who you were before hand certainly doesn't know anything more about you now than they did before. Those of us who do know you learned nothing of worth.

Feel the heat of a personal interview? The only heat in your interview was the slightly derogatory views of the Teragen and a few of the members within. Wouldn't it have been easier just to decline the interview than to be this evasive?

Be careful what you ask for.

[Jager]

No problem guys. I just answered the questions (withing the guidelines provided i.e. no political, social or self-aggrandizing rants) that Zach possed to me. No prep, just straight talk.

No, Avenger, you are not forgotten. I just thought you would like to ly low for a bit longer, that's all. Your still a "hot" commodity, ya know.

Ashnod, I didn't go into the shit-storm of problems that Utopia has caused me due to their excellent and highly-paid legal department. Hell, I just made it off the "To be avoided" List, again.

[Guest]

Your really found nothing of interest in that interview Ashnod? I found it quite illuminating myself. I also know for a fact that it has peaked the interest of several individuals who refuse to take anything at face value.

That interview revealed more about Jager than I think even he realizes. As you should well know by now, it is often not what you say, but what you do not say that is the most important statement. Jager did not say much, and in that silence, volumes were communicated.

I am just curious why you felt the need to go public Jager, is there not enough excitement in your life?

[Vile Bill]

Hell son, there ain't no shame in being on Utopias "piss off" list! I been there for a dog's age and I'm just fine and dandy with that.

Buncha stuck up, holier than thou, do gooder types who wouldn't know a good time if it fell in their pants and started to wiggle. As far as I am concerned if you ain't on the Tope's list of undesirables you must be some sort of lilly livered panty waist yourself.

Hell, we're NOVAS people. We work hard and we party harder!! It ain't a life for the saintly.

But what you been talking with that jerk Bronstein for my man? I always thought those N!tertainment guys were a little, well, you know, different. I didn't think you buttered your bread like that.

[Ashnod]

Quote:

Originally posted by Atwight:
Your really found nothing of interest in that interview Ashnod? I found it quite illuminating myself. I also know for a fact that it has peaked the interest of several individuals who refuse to take anything at face value.

Atwight...did you honestly think I was commenting only upon the face value of Jager's words?

[ 01-26-2002: Message edited by: Ashnod ]

[Guest]

To be honest Ashnod, I try not to take things for granted. I did not mean to say that you are unobservant or unintelligent dear lady, but sometimes I cannot help slipping into my old role of teacher.

[Jager]

Atwight, I didn't feel the need to go public, but the man did go through a great deal of effort to locate me, so I granted his interview. After all, I may need his help at some future date. As for what I didn't say...

Bill, it isn't for my personal well-being that I avoid pissing off PU, but several of my friends get the 'stormtrooper' treatment if they work there and hang out with undesirables such as ourselves. For their sakes, I try to keep on the up-and-up.