@bobsmyuncle: There is a former US 4 star general and CIA Director whose career was destroyed because government personnel read messages from his private email account (not a work or government account) during an investigation and decided to leak their contents, especially the fact that he was cheating on his wife, forcing him to resign in disgrace. So I’d argue that emails can be just as personal as memories. The emails in that example were a hell of a lot more personal than the memory taken from our character by BM in this case. And as FairyGodfeather has pointed out, you got a far more personal memory of BM’s in return.
In addition, a headache does not equal an attack in my book. People give me headaches all the time, and I deal with those headaches the best I can as they come.
There is no way that our character’s parents would have been convicted in the real world. The jury would have looked at how many lives were saved by their action, recognized that it was justifiable self-defense, and acquitted them. So the whole legal system is a bit screwed up, and clearly seems to afford powered heroes less rights while holding them to a higher standard than regular people. Mayor Victon’s successful political platform also shows that there is a lot of anti-powered sentiment, people who look at powereds the way a lot of humans do dangerous predatory animals, and that doesn’t help matters any. So I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised if a trusted powered law-enforcement official like BM had full authority to ream a powered suspect’s mind if she believed it warranted as part of an investigation into a powered crime to which that character may have been a party. And even if she didn’t have the authority, it’s the MC’s word against hers, and she still wins, and she knows it. Most importantly the memory swap testifies to the fact that the MC is a good guy, and enables her to trust him/her far beyond simply taking a questionable unknown like the MC at his or her word would entail.
Oh, I personally abhor the human battery setup as well. What makes it morally grey instead of downright evil is that her draining of their life force is presented as not doing them any real harm. Maybe she’s lying, but there is no evidence of real harm. These comatose/vegetable-like people were left for dead by their family members who didn’t want to pay for their care, and she is seeing to their care. Had she not stepped-in and taken custody, their lives would be worse off. Yes, she’s taking advantage of them to a degree, but is she harming them? That’s the question. And if she doesn’t appear to be, it’s possible for a young hero who worships the ground she walks on to give her the benefit of the doubt.
Now me myself, I wouldn’t touch her with a ten foot pole romantically speaking, but I’m not role-playing myself, I’m role-playing a young and impressionable young hero who has been dreaming about her for a long time and as a result has put her up on a pedestal. If it’s at all possible for him to give her the benefit of the doubt he will. It’s kind of like how a lot people who love and are kind-hearted towards all animals can still eat meat. As long as you aren’t forced to watch the poor animal who will become your steak or prime rib butchered in front of you, that ugly little facet of the meat production process is out of sight and thus out of mind. Not that my character knows she’s harming any one; If she is, he isn’t aware of it. He does however see the great good she does with her power firsthand.
@FairyGodfeather I agree that the discovery scene could have been set up a lot better. There are a lot of things in the first episode of the game that could have been done better. I’ve bashed the game badly in the past, but I also see great potential in it as well.
