The Death of André Corbin
January 1st, 2005
AP Wire
Calcutta, India -- Team Tomorrow nova André Corbin was reported DOA at UN Franklin Moran field hospital this morning at precisely 4:02 am. Paraphysicians worked tirelessly for eight hours to reinvigorate Corbin's failed biological processes, only to declare him dead after unsuccessful attempts.
Corbin had attended a New Years Eve party only hours before, and was in Calcutta on retainer to Novelty Consultation to safeguard against corporate espionage. Members of the Teragen are being asked to come forward to answer questions related to Corbin's death.
Details are few and far-between in this event, but the act seems to be one of assassination. Corbin's injuries are purportedly the result of conflict with another nova, though no information is forthcoming at this time.
January 6th, 2004
N! and CNN Televised Live Broadcast from André Corbin's Funeral and Wake
[Broadcast joined in media res: Slider, tearful, stands at the podium next to Corbin's closed casket]
... gives me great sadness, as Novas and Baselines alike have lost a strong hero needlessly. André was a, a credit to the cause. Both as a nova and an individual. And his passing shall leave our Earth a sadder place for a brief time. Although I know he would want us to move past this tragic event, hopefully finding it within ourselves to--
[Slider looks to her left. She seems startled, then without warning opens a portal to her right and dives through. The crowd is startled and in an uproar. The portal closes.]
Damnit, Shuki, where'd she go? Sarah, put someone on it -- This is live, for God's sake, Jesus Christ someone get in front of the camera. Switch to three on three, two, one ...
[Camera switches about, eventually focusing in on the reporter]
"Er, this is N! correspondent Sanji Ramanathan reporting live from Calcutta when only moments ago Team Tomorrow Member Jennifer Landers fled the premises, breaking off her eulogy for André Corbin in midsentence. Details are utterly absent at this time and I'm probably going to get fired. But, um, that's how this business works. Sarah, I quit."
April 5th, 2005
Tonight, on N!, A Hero Remembered: The Death of André Corbin
[Series of images from Corbin's life. Stock photos, football photos, Team Tomorrow photos]
Football star, celebrity, bad boy and war hero: today the world remembers Team Tomorrow's rowdiest hero member, André Corbin. His sudden and tragic murder in Calcutta has triggered an outpouring of sympathy around the world, and pictures of candlelight memorials around the world have already become iconic of our time. But who was this brazen Celtic Tiger?
[Tragic music plays. Interview.]
"He was such a wonderful person," sobbed Lucy Atwater, President of the Corbin World Fan Club, which maintains a popular OpSite Devoted to the nova's life and career. "All he ever wanted was to help people, to be on top of things and make the world a little more exciting. I can't even imagine who would want him killed."
[Images from the crime scene and investigation]
According to Calcutta law-enforcement officials, Corbin's body was found at four AM on January 1st in his Calcutta hotel room based on an anonymous tip phoned in to a local police station. He was rushed to the hospital by ambulance, but he was pronounced DOA from the catastrophic levels of blunt trauma he suffered. Corbin had been hit from behind hard enough to shatter his vertebrae, stave in his ribcage and pulp his heart and lungs.
[An image of his injury is actually played. Images of Corbin in the hospital are played next. Someone wants people to see this, so they will sympathize. Natesh Balindari, an investigator with the Calcutta Police, appears on the screen]
"Our present investigation is based on the assumption that Mr. Corbin's killer was another nova. A normal human would have had enormous difficulty overpowering a nova of his ability and experience."
No witnesses to the attack have stepped forward thus far, leading to some speculation that he may have been killed elsewhere and the body transported to Calcutta. However, police state that the evidence at the scene of the crime indicates that he was killed where his body was found.
[Footage of an interview with Ricardo Montoya-Bernal]
"Those of us who knew André cannot adequately express our sadness and outrage at this crime. Our most profound sympathy goes out to André's family and the people of Ireland, and we promise to investigate his murder to the full extent of our ability."
[Footage of Corbin in Africa and Colombia, playing football with local youth, performing stunts, and distributing food in villages and small towns.]
Above all other things, Corbin had an enormous heart. On the job with Team Tomorrow, he used every spare moment while on the job to spread a little joy and happiness.
Tonight, we remember a hero, peel back the layers to see the man beneath, and in doing so draw new insights into the plot that led to his death.
From USA Today, 04/06/05
Do you think the allegations of a conspiracy within Project Utopia are true?
___Yes 8%
___No 67%
___Not Sure 25%
Who do you think murdered Corbin?
___Criminal Cartels 38%
___Teragen 20%
___Slider 14%
___Government Agency 8%
___Project Utopia 8%
___Unknown 12%
Transcript of the syndicated Jordan McDevitt Show, a talk-radio program, aired April 8th, 2005
Jordan McDevitt: Back on the air with Grace from Annapolis. Topic of discussion is still André Corbin, misfit or martyr? Grace, you're first, what do you think?
Grace from Annapolis: First of all, thank you Jordan. It's good to hear someone standing up for the truth now and again.
JM: Well thank you, Grace.
GA: I personally and deeply, personally insulted by all of this hullabaloo and hokum about Corbin being a hero. It's a load of whitewash big media is pushing to try and make a big story out of nothing.
JM: Whitewash?
GA: Absolutely, Jordan. You look back, look back at everything that man said and did in his 'career' and you'll see a a a womanizer, a drug-addict, a petty thug-
JM: Examples, Grace. Give us some specifics.
GA: Well just last year he threw a, a cream pie right in Caestus Pax's face. And mouthed off to authority.
JM: Could have just been the stress of the last year. I'm actually glad he threw that pie.
GA: But before that, Jordan, he associated with porno stars and and and drug dealers. And he's never had any respect for tradition or authority. When he was a soccer star he refused to stand for national anthems, even his own!
JM: Alright, that's fair.
GA: That's right it's fair! He's nothing more than a brute who'd been scating along by the seat of his pants. Who are they trying to kid that he was a hero? He's no Impetus or Thorn or Antaeus. He hasn't fed a continent or even saved the world from a nuclear bomb like Solitaire. He's just been spending money, partying and smiling for photos, but now, all the sudden, they want us to believe he's some big war hero.
JM: Why does this bother you personally?
GA: Because he was a mysogynist pig and probably had plenty of enemies! This investigation should be over by now!
JM: Well that's one word. Okay, next caller, Dave from Denver. Dave, you're on the air.
Dave from Denver: Thanks Jordan. Look Corbin may not have been as big or powerful as some of the rest of the team, and he was only on the team for two years, but that made him all the more of a hero. He was like Batman, standing toe to toe with novas twice as big and coming out ahead.
JM: You could say that.
DD: And he was the kind of guy who drank lager instead of some prissy expensive wine. Even if he could fly and give you a real bender he was one of us, Jordan, and that makes him a hero and a martyr in my book.
JM: But if he was a martyr, Dave, what did he die for?
DD: Probably ran afoul of that Teragen cult. Maybe they wanted him to join and he said no. I say he died for us.
Graffiti from a Las Vegas Suburb, March 2005
CORBIN DIED FOR OUR SINS
WHY DOES IT TAKE THREE MONTHS FOR UTOPIA TO ADMIT IT?
From N! the News, broadcast April 8th, 2005
After a three month investigation, spokespersons for Project Utopia admitted that Jennifer "Slider" Landers is now wanted for questioning in relation to the murder of André Corbin in Calcutta.
"DNA evidence on Corbin's body confirms that Landers was there at the time of his death, and voice-pattern analysis of the anonymous tip called into emergency services confirms that it was Landers who placed the call," said Peter Knorr, leader of Team Tomorrow Europe and André's superior. "Right now, we do not know what role she played, but her continued flight from authorities and efforts to remain unfound do not help her case."
"Further evidence indicates that Landers may have been approached by more radical members of the Teragen recently. We are presently investigating these elements to determine if there was a larger conspiracy behind this assault."
T2M leader Ragnarockette has offered no additional comment at this time.
Email intercepted via an unsecure Bluetooth connection on a mobile device by DeVries agents and forwarded to Impetus as an item of interest in his ongoing investigations; dated January 2nd, 2005
Wizard of Oz
Not what we discussed, maybe, but enough of a tornado for now. We play our cards right, this also helps clear up that infestation we've talked about. I put some thumbscrews to the Guild and the Good Witch, and we're all on the Yellow-Brick Road here.
Anyway, if you want a follow-up, let me know. T never asks for one, though, so I wouldn't bother.
Always a pleasure,
-- Chiraben
This message was last edited by the player at 08:17, Sun 26 June 2011.