It is a time of peril, so while others are doing preventative measures. Others are wandering in the most dangerous sorts, taking 'selfies' and going where they should not, just to see what it's like. -- She Who Knits
Emergency Response Teams are trained to deal with danger. They have to act quickly, lest the emergency turn into a disaster. On stations and ships, even the passengers know to get out of the way or get to safety. Preferably both.
Planetside is an entirely different story.
Planetside is where an emergency can easily become a disaster. You can seal corridors on a ship or a station. Everyone in space has at least minimal training in safety procedures. On the surface of a planet? There's a much higher likelihood of people who just do not understand how much danger there is.
An astronomically higher likelihood of people who think an emergency is a fantastic opportunity for a cool selfie.
People who go out in tornado warnings to capture a shot with the storm behind them. People who wander through firestorms to gawk at the property damage while embers are threatening to catch on their clothing. People who hang around for a tsunami in an attempt to "catch the righteous wave".
In other words, people angling to win themselves a Darwin Award.
This time, the emergency was a building complex on fire. It was "historical" and had less safety features than many would expect. Including egress for the inhabitants, and access for the ERT's. The fire trucks were doing what they could to at least reduce the flames. People were risking their lives to literally carry people out to safety. People were scrambling to save their loved ones and themselves from the flames.
And three people were doing dumb dances for their cameras and getting in everyone else's way. They were literally tripping up the teams attempting to quell or control the flames. They were getting in the way of Mediks tending to the survivors. One had deliberately punctured a fire hose so they could dance in the spraying water.
That was what made ERT Jones snap.
He hefted his axe, made to remove obstacles to safety, and marched to the first cam set-up. He swung at it like he was trying to hit a home run, and knocked the damned device far into the imaginary outfield. He didn't stick around for the howls of outrage, already moving for the next cam.
They were far too pre-occupied with their dancing to even see him. Not until the focus of her self-attention was sailing through a glorious parabola into another suburb.
Next was the water nymph. Jones brought his axe down on that cam. So many times that the little shit actually tried to stop him. Screaming about how he had no right, that she was going to sue.
Jones crooked a finger to the nearest Security Officer and nodded his head. That was all that was needed to get her arrested with the other two.
They were going to learn, fast and hard, that interfering with Emergency Response Teams had hefty penalties, including community service and a complete shutdown of all but the most basic of social networks. The notice of what they'd done and how it was so bloody stupid would go out on their accounts. Just so that when they returned, they'd face immense backlash for what they'd done.
The nymph was going to have Destruction of Community Property added to her offenses.
[Photo by Chris Karidis on Unsplash]
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