he'd been hoping to get back to his apartment without a hitch, but he can tell that won't be the case. not tonight.
shouto wishes he could catch a break. his body is heavy, weighed down by stress and exhaustion and confusion. he hates the confusion the most.
he's sure that if he hadn't had the help he does from the very beginning, he'd have lost a long time ago.
"It's not up to me." (It's up to you.)
— cas \U0001f338 (@dekuthepastry) January 19, 2021
he'd been hoping to get back to his apartment without a hitch, but he can tell that won't be the case. not tonight.
he continues walking for a beat, stepping out of view of his agency. he reaches a fire escape stairwell against the side of another building and climbs to the top, quiet as he can.
shouto could use his ice to get up,
he settles on the edge of the building, legs relishing in the pull of gravity for but a moment.
"shadow," shouto says aloud then, unsurprised.
everything about him, however, is tense.
"maybe i should develop more stealth tactics," the man quips. shouto knows it's just an attempt to keep the air light.
"i like to think i know you by now. anything new?"
"ah, straight to the chase with you," shadow hums, shifting on his feet. shifting like he wants to bolt. he doesn't, instead dropping down into a crouch.
"so what," shouto scoffs, "you can't finish it off from the inside like you've been doing?"
shadow smiles at him, but nothing about it is kind. it's grim. "that's not up to me."
"i've done my part, shouto," shadow says, voice tight. his viridian eyes glint in a way that sends another message.
/it's up to you./
'like me.' a quirkless vigilante, uncatchable and morally gray to the unsuspecting eye. someone who was never given the light of day, not like shouto was from the very beginning of his life.
shadow deserves so much more than the life he's led.
"you're better than any hero i've met before, shadow."
the man blinks, taken aback. "...what?"
shouto turns his head to face shadow head on then. "that's better than all the heroes who've fueled the hpsc for decades."
shouto knows that shadow knows he means it.
when shadow finally looks away, he lets out a chuckle, a short, wet thing like he doesn't quite want to believe it.
"well," shouto sighs, curious how far back this man's heroic streak goes, when and why it started. "i think that's who you've always been.
shadow's lip quivers, a small movement that shouto would have missed if he hasn't been paying such close attention to the vigilante in front of him. shadow snags it with his teeth to stop its shaking.
the man smiles then, genuine and soft and kind,
More from For later read
There is some valuable analysis in this report, but on the defense front this report is deeply flawed. There are other sections of value in report but, candidly, I don't think it helps us think through critical question of Taiwan defense issues in clear & well-grounded way. 1/
Normally as it might seem churlish to be so critical, but @cfr is so high-profile & the co-authors so distinguished I think it’s key to be clear. If not, people - including in Beijing - could get the wrong idea & this report could do real harm if influential on defense issues. 2/
BLUF: The defense discussion in this report does not engage at the depth needed to add to this critical debate. Accordingly conclusions in report are ill-founded - & in key parts harmful/misleading, esp that US shldnt be prepared defend Taiwan directly (alongside own efforts). 3/
The root of the problem is that report doesn't engage w the real debate on TWN defense issues or, frankly, the facts as knowable in public. Perhaps the most direct proof of this: The citations. There is nothing in the citations to @DeptofDefense China Military Power Report...4/
Nor to vast majority of leading informed sources on this like Ochmanek, the @RANDCorporation Scorecard, @CNAS, etc. This is esp salient b/c co-authors by their own admission have v little insight into contemporary military issues. & both last served in govt in Bush 43. 5/
This is an excellent report, and I'm glad to have joined the study group. The central focus on avoiding war is understandable--a US-China war would be catastrophic and should be avoided. But protecting Taiwan's security and prosperity requires doing more. 1/x https://t.co/P0Sg4LJcpV
— Bonnie Glaser / \u845b\u4f86\u5100 (@BonnieGlaser) February 12, 2021
Normally as it might seem churlish to be so critical, but @cfr is so high-profile & the co-authors so distinguished I think it’s key to be clear. If not, people - including in Beijing - could get the wrong idea & this report could do real harm if influential on defense issues. 2/
BLUF: The defense discussion in this report does not engage at the depth needed to add to this critical debate. Accordingly conclusions in report are ill-founded - & in key parts harmful/misleading, esp that US shldnt be prepared defend Taiwan directly (alongside own efforts). 3/
The root of the problem is that report doesn't engage w the real debate on TWN defense issues or, frankly, the facts as knowable in public. Perhaps the most direct proof of this: The citations. There is nothing in the citations to @DeptofDefense China Military Power Report...4/
Nor to vast majority of leading informed sources on this like Ochmanek, the @RANDCorporation Scorecard, @CNAS, etc. This is esp salient b/c co-authors by their own admission have v little insight into contemporary military issues. & both last served in govt in Bush 43. 5/
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Symptomatic people are tested for one and only one respiratory virus. This means that other acute respiratory infections are reclassified as
2/12
It is tested exquisitely with a hypersensitive non-specific RT-PCR test / Ct >35 (>30 is nonsense, >35 is madness), without considering Ct and clinical context. This means that more acute respiratory infections are reclassified as
3/12
The Drosten RT-PCR test is fabricated in a way that each country and laboratory perform it differently at too high Ct and that the high rate of false positives increases massively due to cross-reaction with other (corona) viruses in the "flu
4/12
Even asymptomatic, previously called healthy, people are tested (en masse) in this way, although there is no epidemiologically relevant asymptomatic transmission. This means that even healthy people are declared as COVID
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RT-PCR corona (test) scam
Symptomatic people are tested for one and only one respiratory virus. This means that other acute respiratory infections are reclassified as
4/10
— Dr. Thomas Binder, MD (@Thomas_Binder) October 22, 2020
...indication, first of all that testing for a (single) respiratory virus is done outside of surveillance systems or need for specific therapy, but even so the lack of consideration of Ct, symptoms and clinical findings when interpreting its result. https://t.co/gHH6kwRdZG
2/12
It is tested exquisitely with a hypersensitive non-specific RT-PCR test / Ct >35 (>30 is nonsense, >35 is madness), without considering Ct and clinical context. This means that more acute respiratory infections are reclassified as
6/10
— Dr. Thomas Binder, MD (@Thomas_Binder) October 22, 2020
The neither validated nor standardised hypersensitive RT-PCR test / Ct 35-45 for SARS-CoV-2 is abused to mislabel (also) other diseases, especially influenza, as COVID-19.https://t.co/AkFIfTCTkS
3/12
The Drosten RT-PCR test is fabricated in a way that each country and laboratory perform it differently at too high Ct and that the high rate of false positives increases massively due to cross-reaction with other (corona) viruses in the "flu
External peer review of the RTPCR test to detect SARS-CoV-2 reveals 10 major scientific flaws at the molecular and methodological level: consequences for false positive results.https://t.co/mbNY8bdw1p pic.twitter.com/OQBD4grMth
— Dr. Thomas Binder, MD (@Thomas_Binder) November 29, 2020
4/12
Even asymptomatic, previously called healthy, people are tested (en masse) in this way, although there is no epidemiologically relevant asymptomatic transmission. This means that even healthy people are declared as COVID
Thread web\u2b06\ufe0f\u2b07\ufe0f
— Dr. Thomas Binder, MD (@Thomas_Binder) December 16, 2020
The fabrication of the "asymptomatic (super) spreader" is the coronation of the total nons(ci)ense in the belief system of #CoronasWitnesses.
Asymptomatic transmission 0.7%; 95% CI 0%-4.9% - could well be 0%!https://t.co/VeZTzxXfvT
5/12
Deaths within 28 days after a positive RT-PCR test from whatever cause are designated as deaths WITH COVID. This means that other causes of death are reclassified as
8/8
— Dr. Thomas Binder, MD (@Thomas_Binder) March 24, 2020
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This is not only medical malpractice, this is utterly insane!https://t.co/FFsTx4L2mw
