What are the lessons of television? That everything in the universe can be boiled down to two opposing forces, one 'Good' and the other 'Evil'? That all conflicts follow the same pattern, which will be resolved by some action at a specific point in time and afterwards all will become as it was before the disagreement? That the here and now is the only thing that's important, with the past only useful for syndication and re-runs and the future only as significant as the advertising for a new program? Television teaches the viewer to think nothing, to be nothing, to cast away one's individual existence and drift aimlessly through the streams of artificial consciousness. I should know this because right now I am that stream.

The television of SLA Industries is an instrument of war. Not a war of nations or classes, cultures or races, species or even whole planets like in the forgotten Conflict Wars. No, this is a war for the spirits of everyone, and the Company has put itself on the other side. From the lowest of the Downtown tramp and his rusted-out 'tee-vee' to the upper crust of Uptown and his wall-sized televid screens, everyone is the target of the Media's sense-impression assaults. I should know this because I used to work for them and I learned too much.

The Company hates us because it fears us; it fears our survival instincts. What it does to each and every one of us, the conditions it makes us live in, no entity would endure for long. Without our support Slayer and his cadre of thugs would be finished and the Company would collapse. And so they wage war against us, breaking us down and making our spirits subservient to the need to watch television... and you know what? They've almost won. The corporate nobility of Uptown sold out long ago, and their serfs in Suburbia are too tired to care. But they haven't claimed Downtown yet. I should know because I've been there.

Television is the true god of the World of Progress. If Station Analysis shut down and that monstrous empire known as Third Eye went off the air the people would rise up within minutes. The World of Progress would be plunged into chaos. As it stands now riots break out whenever the local television transmissions get cut off. So television is used to anaesthetize the people, to keep them docile and at home every night. The Company never once thought that people would listen too closely to television and learn its lessons. And so the serial killers and mass murderers arose to imitate what they saw on the televids, and the Company was forced to hunt them down. And people believed in the law of television, that action will beat the Bad Guy. So the soft companies and the street gangs formed, and the Company had to deal with them as well. I should know because I listened to television too.

The people of Downtown live in unadulterated hell. Television is their life. The Contract Killer represents the will of the individual hero to them, the one that can rise above all others and win, giving the Downtowner a lost sense of hope. Yet the Operative provides the soul of Downtown. The masses watch the Operative on the televids and they see themselves. Each gunfight televised on the nightly news is an image of their own battle with the darkness and evil surrounding them. Even though the average Downtown citizen despises Operatives in-person, the television version is practically idolized. The Op on TV has the power to influence popular trends, and with it the power of the people. DarkNight recognizes this, and so they create rivals to match the Operatives; the ‘Black Hat’ cowboys versus the ‘White Hat’ cowboys. I should know because I also worked for the Black Hats.

Did you know that a higher percentage of news programs are watched in Downtown than anywhere else? It’s true, it’s true. The masses are paying attention. They listen between the lies and spot the little bits of truth nobody thinks they’d pick up on. They know the language of media better than anyone in the Company and now they want to do the talking. Public television will be the beginning of the end of SLA Industries. They’re screwed: if they pull the plug on Downtown they’ll face an enraged populace, but if they let it go on they’ll be giving the people the freedom of media, and with it free speech. Participation is not what the Company wants out of its subjects. The public has bought totally into Television and they now believe themselves to be the 'Good Guys', and if the Company opposes them then by default the Company is now the 'Bad Guys'. Already you can see the Company gearing up for a media war. I should know because I’m the front line.

By now you probably believe me to be insane. After all, people have been complacent for centuries now so why would they change so soon? I make no predictions about when it will all happen, merely how it’ll come and why. They would have you believe me to be crazy, that I’m some sort of rampaging beast, or worse, an enabler of subversion. The truth is that I am neither. I, like so many since, have learned the lessons of television and taken them to heart. And even if the Company destroys me they won’t win. Not without destroying the media in the process. That’s what they’ll have to do to get me. My survival instincts are too great. And they’ll also have to destroy everyone that’s watched the media. If you’ve read this far they’ll probably start with you. Don’t waste time. Follow the law of television and take action. The Cowboys are on their way.

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