Disclaimer: I do not own Ben 10 or its sequels, spin-off and related characters. All is the property of Man of Action and Cartoon Network. I'm just borrowing them for some non-profit entertainment.
Extraterrestrial Registration Act
Chapter Four: Something Like Bureaucracy
"The greatest evil is not now done in those sordid "dens of crime" that Dickens loved to paint. […] But it is conceived and ordered (moved, seconded, carried, and minuted) in clean, carpeted, warmed and well-lighted offices, by quiet men with white collars and cut fingernails and smooth-shaven cheeks who do not need to raise their voices. Hence, naturally enough, my symbol for Hell is something like the bureaucracy of a police state or the office of a thoroughly nasty business concern." -C.S. Lewis
...
With a yawn and a stretch, Ben climbed the steps to Bellwood's City Hall. Flanking him on either side, held at bay by a flimsy faux-velvet rope, were reporters, journalist, news casters, commentators, and photographers. All jostling, pushing, and climbing over each other to get the best shot at the best angle of the famous Ben Tennyson as he climbed the steps to this historic turning point in the country's -and more importantly, the world's- approach to extraterrestrial contact.
Ben, for his part, tried to ignore them as he entered the building -alone. Gwen and Kevin hadn't come. Kevin, he never expected to. But Gwen… Gwen was smart, and a real stickler for rules (usually). He would have thought that she would come around by now. But Gwen hadn't shown up either.
And so Ben was all alone when he passed through the wide double doors of City Hall's main entrance, security fanned out behind him to keep the media at bay, and the doors slammed shut behind him.
And it was alone, without support or advice, that Ben filled out the registration form. Or rather forms, they were many. Beginning with the obvious and mundane. His full name, address, names of his parents, why he was required to register (are you an extraterrestrial, mutant, a sapient autonomies AI/robot/or other construct, etc?), if ET please specify species and planet of origin. Where you born on Earth, or did you immigrate?
All that, Ben expected to have to fill in. Why else have an alien registry?
But then the forms went on to ask for a complete list of the Anodite power-set and that struck Ben as excessive. At the end on this section of the form, it also asked if Ben himself had any of the above listed abilities. Or, if he had any abilities not associated with his species of decent or the human race, to list those as well. Ben put down 'Omnitrix' but did not elaborate.
Then it went on to demand a list of all the weaknesses his alien race of decent might have. Once again, at the end of this section, it asked if Ben himself had any of these weaknesses. But the form didn't end there.
After filling out two pages of powers and weaknesses, the next page requested his line of decent. Starting from his extraterrestrial ancestor and their respective human partner. How many children they had and their full names. Did his Anodite grandmother's other children have any children of their own? Their full names. Basically, even if Gwen didn't register herself, Ben's forms would register her by proxy. Not just her, but Ken and Uncle Frank too. And Ben's own dad, as well. That gave Ben pause.
For the first time since the ETRA was proposed, Ben began to question the virtue of the Register.
But that did not stop him from filling out all the documents presented to him. Filling them out and handing them in, feeling as though he'd just taken one of those standardized state tests they gave him in school and was now waiting for the results. Then he was fingerprinted and his picture taken (as if they didn't have enough stock footage of him already, ha!). After that, he was given a manilla envelope like it was some free gift for filling out a survey, or sitting through a time-share sales pitch.
He was then free to go.
Except he had to make his official press statement.
Someone had taken the opportunity to set up a podium in the time that he was inside filling out the forms. Senator Downes, formerly Sir Cyrus of the Forever Knights, now figurehead of the Forever Party stood at it, wrapping up what sounded like a drawn-out but highly animated speech.
"…and here he is, the first of what we hope will be many volunteers for the Registry program, Ben Tennyson."
Cyrus stepped down, clapping mildly politely because that was the public face his new position required him to present. The crowd, on the other hand, went wild at Ben's introduction. The applause roaring and accompanied by whoops and hollers from members of the crowd not associated with any new station or journalistic publication. Ben was way more popular than any boring old Senator. That fact suddenly reminded Ben of what Gwen had said just last night. That the Forever Party wanted Ben to make the Registration Act look credible. After all, if the great Ben Tennyson supported it, what legitimate reason was there to oppose it?
But this sudden bought of misgiving didn't stop him from climbing the podium (standing on a block behind it because he was just a bit shorter than Senator Downes -Sir Cyrus) and clearing his throat to give himself some more time to think of something to say. Ben never really was one to plan ahead, so he didn't exactly know what to say…
"I, uh, whew, its a bit awkward up here alone." He began, hoping the crowd would interpret his awkwardness as slap-stick, a joke meant to break the ice. "My teammates were supposed to be here, too. But I guess they got the time or place mixed up. Maybe they're over at the Hall City wooden bells exhibit in the next town over."
This was met with a light chuckle from the crowd.
"I've been looking forward to this Registry for a while now." He continued, finally thinking of some something to say and rolling with it. "I'm sure everyone knows what the Plumbers are by now, but just last year that wasn't the case. The Plumbers were a guarded secret and that sometimes made it hard for my team and I to do our jobs. I cannot tell you the number of times we went looking for help from a state marshal or city sherif and got laughed out of the station! But with the ETRA, not only with that never happen again, but local law enforcement and emergency response groups will be better equipped to deal with extra-natural disasters."
He smiled into the cameras as the gathered reporters all swarmed with questions.
"Aren't you concerned that this Act might be the first step in phasing out the Plumbers on Earth?"
"What of the accusations of this just being legalized discrimination?"
"Aren't you afraid of any backlash from the extra-human community?"
"Tell us a bit about the Registration process? What can people expect?"
That was when Sir Cyrus took back the reigns of the interview. Gently shoving Ben to the side and taking all of their questions in turn. Ben was about to feel insulted about being shoved to the side and having his spotlight so callously stolen, when he saw a familiar face walking up the steps, keeping to the back of the media cloud to avoid being caught up in the digital storm.
"Cooper!" Ben met him half-way down the stairs. "What are you doing here?"
"My mom, being the law abiding citizen that she is, is making me register since its now -apparently- a law." He turned and waved at a car that was idling by the curb, its engine still running. "Personally, I think this is a terrible idea and I'm gonna hack into their server and purge my record from their system the moment I get home. But aside from that, how are you?"
"Uh… Cooper, purging the computer won't get rid of the hard copies." Ben informed him. Cooper was against the ETRA too? Jeez! And Ben used to think he was smart too! Why were all the smart people suddenly acting like paranoid conspiracy theorists? "The forms you fill out are all on paper. You can't scrub those from a hard drive because they're not on a hard drive."
Cooper looked very, very displeased by this news. But instead of taking it out on Ben, who was just the messenger, he changed the subject. "What's in the envelope?"
"Oh this? They gave this to me after I registered." Ben opened the package.
…
There weren't really all that many vantage points to spy on city hall from. At least, not if you were using mundane terrestrial technology. All those close enough to the building for a person to see without binoculars or telescope were already patrolled by security. All those farther away, but still close enough for binoculars or telescope were uncomfortable, from the wrong angle, or in a neighborhood the viewer really wouldn't want to spend to much time in.
But for someone -or several someones- using enhanced alien vision or snooping tech, you could watch the event at City Hall from almost anywhere. So long as it was high enough and their line of sight wasn't obstructed. That was what brought Pierce, Helen, and Manny to the top of Makeout Point that morning. None of them planned to register. But they still wanted to know what would happen if they did.
They took turns with the snoopers, watching as Ben was dropped off at City Hall. How he climbed the stairs and disappeared behind the double doors. And as a podium was wheeled in front of that same door, microphones and sound equipment set up.
Another car pulled up and parked next to them.
They all tensed, their hands going to their faces to make sure their ID-Masks were firmly in place. Then their eyes caught up with their brains and they recognize the green and black muscle car.
"Oh. Its just Kevin." Helen was the first to pull off her mask. Then Manny. Then Pierce.
Kevin hopped out the car, walking around to the trunk. "Hey, guys. Same idea?"
"Yeah, we were just seeing what- Whoa! What the hell!?" Manny gapped open-mouthed when Kevin pulled a Tyrusian sniper rifle out of his trunk. "You plannin' to shoot somebody!?"
"Huh?" The Osmosian blinked in genuinely innocent confusion. "Oh! The gun. No. I'm just using it for the scope. Best long range scope in the galaxy. I know a guy, who knows a guy, who went to school with the Tyrusian oosha." Kevin laid down on the grass, laying out the rifle and looking every bit like a radical terrorist sniper setting up to take out a target. It made the three Helpers just a little nervous -to spite his assurances that he didn't plan on killing anyone. After all, this was Kevin. "It isn't even loaded, ya know. Ammo's expensive."
There was a pregnant pause as they watched him watch City Hall. Laying belly to the ground, body stretched out at the same angle as the rifle. Scope and barrel aimed squarely at the Senator's head as he stood at the podium… The perfect set up for a radical sniper to make an example of an equally radical politician of opposing philosophy. And, this was Kevin Levin they were talking about… Formerly the infamous Kevin 11. Formerly the even more infamous Ultimate Kevin. Really, who wouldn't be just a little bit nervous when he pulls out a giant alien gun and points it at… anything!?
"For the love of crap! I'm not shooting anyone!" Kevin insisted. "You can stop staring at me."
Clearing his throat conspicuously, Pierce raised the snoopers back to his eyes and made a conscious effort to ignore the dude with the over-sized alien sniper rifle at his feet. "Looks like that duche from the Forever Knights is talking."
"What's he saying?" Manny asked, reaching for the snoopers.
Pierce turned around to stare incredulously at him. Kevin also raised his eyes from his sniper scope to stare at him.
Helen placed a hand on the Tetramand's sculpted red shoulder. "Manny, they're alien binoculars, not a magic trick. There's no sound."
"Not unless you can read lips." Kevin went back to his scope. He could not read lips, but there were other ways to figure out the just of what someone was trying to communicate. "He does seem to be doing a lot of shouting and arm waving."
"Let me see." Helen plucked the snoopers out of Manny's hand and held them up to her own eyes just in time to see Sir Cyrus slam his fist down on the podium resolutely. As if to, not only punctuate his sentence, but metaphorically notarize his statement, like he was making a promise to the crowd. And whatever it was that he was promising, Helen had the feeling they would not like it. "Oh… I wish we could hear what he was saying…"
With a groan, Kevin lifted himself from his scope. Climbing to his feet, he stomped back to his car to rummage around through the trunk again. This time he emerged with what looked like a set of perfectly ordinary and unassuming ear-plugs. Except they were attacked to a wire which he plugged into the scope.
"Non-verbal communication software." He explained. "Not easy to get."
"That's great!" Pierce exclaimed. "Now we can know what they're saying!"
Kevin nodded. Then flashed his best salesman smile. "That'll be thirty standard galactic credits. Each." He said. "I also accept payment in the form of precious metals, gems, or American currency. Current values and exchange rates apply."
"Wait. You're gonna charge us to listen to an asshole talk?" Helen glared at him.
"Its a living." The Osmosian shrugged. "But you guys are Plumbers' Helpers, so I'll give you a discount. Twenty-five each."
"Forget it. They'll replay it on the news tonight anyway. Plus, there's always YouTube." Pierce snatched the snoopers from Helen. "Looks like the asshole is gone anyway. Ben's talking now…"
'So they swapped out one asshole for another one.' Kevin commented silently to himself as he laid back down behind his sniper's scope and placed the ear buds in his ears. Ben was at the podium now. Looking awkward and just maybe a little scared. Ha! Good. Serves him right. Kevin indulged in a private smirk at Tennyson's expense. 'That's right, Benji, writhe in front of the camera.'
The non-verbal communication software wasn't perfect. It was a bit of alien tech he picked up on a whim and it wasn't originally configured for terran mannerisms and gestures. Kevin was working on getting the kinks out, but he was really more of a mechanic, not a programmer or a linguist.
"I have been facing a head this List for timing now." Supplied a synthetic voice via the ear buds. Kevin didn't know whether to groan or snort at the terrible 'translation' it provided for him. And it just got more frustratingly hilarious as Ben continued his speech. "Everyone awareness of the Uncloggers of Justice by timing, last solar cycle information not knowing…"
Okay, this crap was useless. He was actually kind glad the Helpers opted not to pay to listen. If there was one thing Kevin hated more than letting customers get away, it was having to deal out refunds. As a general rule, alien technology was more advanced than Earth's. But just being more advance didn't automatically make it better. Transcribing a language out of visual cues alone was an incredibly amazing piece of software. But it still wasn't anywhere as good as just using your own damn eyes.
Ben had started off awkward and unsure, but he found some conference -as he often did while in the spotlight- and finished his (blissfully short) speech on what looked like a confident note. That is until Cyrus pushed him back out of the way and reclaimed the show. Ben was about to make a scene about it and Kevin was about to settle in to watch a good train-wreck but something else caught Ben's attention pulling him down the stairs.
Kevin panned his scope down to see Cooper's blond head trudging up the steps. He watched their short conversation. It was a bit hard to follow since Cooper's back was to him and he only had Ben's face to go off of, but it seemed like they were disagreeing. Good. More people needed to disagree with Ben. Maybe then it would get through his fat head how much of an idiot he was being.
Then Cooper indicated the manilla envelope Ben was carrying and that was something Kevin had been wondering about as well.
He watched Ben open the package and withdraw from it a gray band.
To small to be a headband or belt, but to large to be a wrist band. An arm band, maybe? Slate gray with some sort of patch on it in yellow. Kevin played with the scope's focus until he could see it clearly. A yellow alien face sewn over the gray band. Ben stared at it in confusion for a second before replacing it back in the envelope and instead withdrawing a badge with the same alien-face symbol on it. This he also placed back in the package and finally pulled out a piece of paper -hopefully an explanation for the strange tokens.
Kevin readjusted the focus of his scope back to what it was see Ben's face as he read the paper. He looked confused, but not concerned. With a shrug, Ben reached back into the envelope, pulled out the gray armband and slid it on over his green jacket sleeve. He smiled as Cooper as if to ask, 'How do I look?'
That was when Cooper shook his head, spun around on his heels and stormed away.
Kevin wanted to get a look at that paper.
…
School was technically out for the day. But Gwen had karate practice today, so she lingered on campus.
She was just pulling the books she'd need for the night's homework out of her locker when two boys she did not recognize came up behind her. Flanking her one either side. One of them slammed the locker shut in he face while the other knocked her books out of her hands.
"Excuse me?" She blinked at them. They were wearing the Bellwood Prep school uniform, so they must attend her school. She just couldn't recall ever seeing them before.
"Didn't you hear?" Asked the one who slammed her locker shut. "School lockers are for human use only."
"You know what happens when little alien girls trespass on school equipment, right?" Asked the other.
Suddenly, Gwen understood what was happening here. This wasn't just some random act of bullying. These two were targeting her because her abilities made her different and her fame as a member of Ben's Team made her an easy focus for people who weren't different. These two were probably hoping to make themselves feel more powerful by trying to intimidate her. Unfortunately for them, Gwen had faced down far more intimidating foes and never blinked. So, instead of frightening her, these two boys had the exact opposite effect.
She laughed.
They gaped at her. That was not generally the response bullies got.
"Are you serious? This is actually happening?" She wiped a tear from her eye. "Oh, man! This is priceless! Look, guys, I don't recognize you, so I'm gonna assume you're new here. But, you really don't wanna mess with me. I mean, really! You do know who I am, right? You've got to have a TV! Or a computer. Or a smart phone. Heck! Even a Gameboy or a PSP will stream YouTube. Trust me, guys, you don't wanna do this with me. Be smart and walk away."
But they weren't smart.
Seven minutes later, Kevin's car pulled up in front of Bellwood Prep, just as two thoroughly panicked delinquents came rushing out the gates screaming about a witch and a monster. Or a witch being a monster. Or a monster being a witch. It was a little difficult to tell. They were rather hysterical.
His first thought being that some new enemy had appeared and Gwen would need his back-up, Kevin leaped out of the car, slid across the hood -absorbing the titanium car paint as he did so-, and sprinted onto campus.
He found Gwen at her locker, quietly arranging books in her backpack. Just a little too calm and meticulous.
"Trouble?" He asked, suddenly feeling like he might have overreacted as he was now standing in an empty corridor in full neon-green body armor.
She turned around and flashed him one of her winning smiles. Emerald eyes bright, ginger hair flipping in that way that sent butterflies fluttering in his stomach. It was one of her most beautiful smiles. It was also one of her most fake smiles. "No. No trouble. Why?"
He remembered Emily showing him the note that was taped to her locker yesterday and Kevin wondered if this had anything to do with that. Did her would-be bullies come back to escalate their taunting? If they had, they must have quickly realized they were biting off more than they could chew. That must have been the boys he saw running full bore away from the school when he pulled up. Gwen would never harm anyone who didn't deserve it, he knew. But there was a fine line between 'harm' and 'scare so shitless that they wet their pants and run home crying for their mommies'. Kevin wasn't sure what she'd done exactly to terrify them so much, but whatever it was, he approved.
He dropped his armor, the green tent melting from his skin.
"Aren't you late for ninja-training?" Kevin changed the subject. Usually, he met her outside the gym on the days she had karate practice.
The fact that she didn't instantly correct him that it wasn't 'ninja-training' it was 'karate' was telling of just how much the fact that those idiots had even tried to harass her really bothered her. "I was thinking I'd skip karate today. Lets just go home."
A pause. "Uh… your home or mine?"
She shrugged. "Either one, I suppose. I don't really feel like going out anywhere."
"Do you feel up to tolerating Ben for a little bit?" Kevin asked. "He's got something I wanna look at."
He didn't know how he expected her to react to this request. Maybe relief that he was ready to stop being mad a Ben? The guy was her cousin after all and they did spend a lot of time together before Kevin came along. Or maybe irritation if she was still mad at him. Sometimes, Gwen could stay mad for days -Kevin had experienced this many times himself. But instead, she just looked tired. Like she didn't wanna have to deal with this crap anymore.
"Yeah. Sure." She shrugged, pulling her backpack up on to her shoulders. "Registration was this morning. Can I assume its something to do with that?"
"Yeah." He wanted to get a look at the paper that went along with the armband Ben was now wearing -oh so awkwardly- over his jacket.
...
Having not shown up at all that morning for the Registration, Ben didn't expect to see either Gwen or Kevin that day. So, it came as a shock to him when he was sitting at their usual table at Mr. Smoothy and saw Kevin's car pull into the parking lot. Gwen was with him, no surprise there, and they marched directly up to his table without even bothering with the pretense of detouring to the line to order drinks for themselves.
Clearly, they were here to see him.
Ben crossed his arms over his chest in defiance. He offered them the chance to stand with him at the Registration ceremony that morning and they refused. So, unless there was some new great and terrible intergalactic crisis that required the intervention of the Hero of the Universe, Ben did not want to hear what they had to say. (Although, he would enjoy watching them grovel.) "What do you want?"
"What the hell is that!?" Gwen exclaimed, pointing at his arm band the moment she was close enough to see it. Her face was open-mouthed and horror struck.
Honestly, Ben didn't get what the big problem was. It was just something to show that he had registered as an extra-human and what kind of extra-human he was. There was no reason to freak out. But then again, Gwen seemed to have a short fuse these days. She had been loosing her temper a lot since the ETRA was first proposed by the Forever Party. Ben was actually kinda surprised she didn't just outright explode last night when he told her it passed.
Kevin did not look so shocked by the arm band. He held out a bottle of what looked like ordinary terrestrial windshield wiper fluid. "Here. Since I know you haven't refilled it since you got your car. I thought you could use this."
Ben took the bottle. "What is this? Your idea of a peace offering?"
"If you don't want it, I'll take it back and put it in my own Ride!" Kevin snapped. As a general rule, he didn't like giving things away for free anyway. He was just hoping to loosen Ben up so he could be plied for information on the Registration and Ben usually responded well to gifts.
"I'll use it." Ben hugged the bottle closer to him, as if it were a precious, limited release Sumo Slammers game. But that was Ben for you. It didn't matter what it was, if something was given to him -even if it was something he didn't really want- he guarded it jealously. Like a two-year-old who had just learned the meaning of the word 'mine!'.
Kevin took that as the closest thing to a peace accord they were gonna get and sat down opposite Ben. He flicked the arm band. "So, tell us a bit about this."
"Oh, this." Ben shrugged. "Its to show that I'm a registered extra-human."
"Why are you wearing it?" Gwen demanded.
Ben shrugged again. "Why not? You're being very judgmental and intolerant of this whole thing, Gwen. I'm surprised at you!"
"I'm being intolerant!" Gwen exclaimed.
Kevin placed a hand over hers. It wasn't that she didn't have very valid reasons for being distraught over the arm badge, but he was trying to ply Be for information and her outbursts were counter productive to that goal.
Ben groaned with exasperation. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. A bit folded and crumpled now, but it looked like the same paper Kevin saw through his scope earlier that morning. Ben passed it to them. "Look, they gave this to me after I registered. This explains it better than I can."
They took the offered paper, unfolding it and smoothing it out over the table. The first line was thanking them -or rather Ben- for volunteering to register and adding in some propaganda about the service they were doing for themselves, their country, and the planet. Then followed a brief explanation on the arm band and badge.
Either the arm band or the badge must be worn whenever the registered extra-human leaves his or her residence. The symbol on the arm band or badge must be clearly visible at all times, it could not be covered by a jacket, scarf, tie, etc. If the badge or arm band is lost, damaged, or otherwise rendered unwearable, it is to be reported as soon as convenient so that a replacement can be issued. Failure to follow these guidelines will result in penalties. But the paper did not specify what these penalties would be.
Then under that expositional paragraph was a small chart explaining the different symbols on the badges and what types of extra-humans they identified. A yellow alien face meant an extraterrestrial, or a person of extraterrestrial decent. A blue cog-wheel identified a non-biological, autonomous, or self-aware construct -such as an AI, or a sentient robot, etc. And a green DNA helix represented a person of terrestrial human decent who carried a mutation that gave them extra-human powers or abilities. It was actually a very well thought out and organized system. The perfect way to sort and file people.
But sort and file them for what?
...