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Proudly Presents:
Going Solo
#5: Behind Blue Eyes
Cover: An homage to the cover of the Who album Who's Next, with a trio of garishly costumed men and one similarly attired woman relieving themselves on a concrete slab in the middle of nowhere. Above the logo are the words "High Concept Challenge".
Wired Magazine
May 2011
Behind Blue Eyes
A Revealing Interview with the Founder of Wild Force, the Eco-Warrior Known as Wildfire
by Alessandra Cessarini
When I first got the invitation to meet with the founder of Wild Force, I couldn't believe it. Here was a man who has avoided interviews for the last three years, mostly because he has warrants for his arrest in a dozen countries across the world. No one knows who he really is, as he hides his features behind a full-face helm. The whole time we were talking on the phone setting up the interview, he insisted I use his nom-de-crime, Wildfire.
I met him at a Sleep Inn off I-1 just north of San Diego. Not exactly the classiest place in town, but comfortable and affordable. He let me in the room, and I immediately heard the opening bars of the Who's "Behind Blue Eyes" playing.
No one knows what it's like
To be the bad man,
To be the sad man,
Behind blue eyes.
No one knows what it's like
To be hated,
To be fated,
To telling lonely lies.
But my dreams,
They aren't as empty
As my conscience seems to be.
I have hours
Only lonely
My love is Vengeance
That's never free...
The plaintive crooning of the rock ballad turned into an annoying skip on the vinyl record as it spun on the old record player that looked like it dated back to the days when 8-tracks were new.
"Fate, it seems," he started off, edging the needle slightly to continue the song past the skip, "is not without a sense of irony. Something tells me it chose that exact line to start skipping for a reason. As a reminder."
A reminder for what?
"It's funny, I guess. I've been called many things in my time: hippy, tree-hugger, arsonist, murderer, eco-terrorist, supervillain. The latter two make me laugh out loud. 'Terrorist' and 'supervillain' indeed. I can't help but scoff at the labels. Can't they tell I'm one of the good guys? This world is out of balance; people don't appreciate nature. They live apart from it, confining it to artificial parks in the middle of cities. It's unnatural, not how man was meant to live."
That's interesting. Why don't you introduce yourseslf, so the readers know who you are?
"You're right; I should. The press saddled me with the moniker 'Wildfire'. I'm one of the group known as Wild Force. There are six of us: Earthquake, Frostbite, Hurricane, Tsunami, Venus Flytrap, and myself."
What's your real name?
"I'm not going to tell you that. For now, just call me Baba O'Reilly."
Right.
"I didn't say it was my name. I just said you can call me that. After all, what good is a name? It's just a label, and one name is as good as any other."
Frostbite and Venus were recently arrested for causing a ruckus at the Hayden Planetarium. What are---?
"I've decided to let thim sit and stew in jail for a few days before busting them out. It'd do them some good, I think; maybe next time they'll listen before accepting a job from someone who won't tell them who he is. Sad to say that not everyone in Wild Force is as dedicated to the cause as others; Frostbite in particular is quite the mercenary. I didn't peg Venus as one; she's the closest to a true believer we have, other than myself. Attacking a planetarium was a bad move; it did nothing to further the cause."
What cause is that? You've been called an eco-terrorist, but what's the real cause?
"That's an easy question to ask, but difficult to answer. Maybe I shuld start at the beginning.
"I could say that it was a childhood tragedy that led me to it, or reading too many comic books as a kid, but I won't. The truth, they say, is stranger than fiction. What I'm revealing to you here could have landed me in an insane asylum during a more repressive time.
"I've got Indian blood in me. No, not East Indian; American Indian. Why be politically correct when you can be right? It's not like the term is actually insulting, unlike some words used to describe blacks and hispanics. Many Indians I know use the term themselves. I've got Sioux and Chocktaw in me, I believe, although I can't be sure. Too many generations back to be mistaken for anything other than white, but it's there. I guess that's why I never could follow my family's born-again fundamentalist Christian beliefs. Their God was just too impersonal; an omniscient and omnipresent supreme being who exhibits a surprising case of bipolar mood swings. No wonder the Christians and Muslems are always at war with each other. Spirits, though, are all around us - maybe the spirits and the angels are the same thing. Who knows? I don't really care. I call 'em spirits. They talk to me, in ways that seem arcane to others.
"The spirits are the ones that first showed me how out of touch people are with nature. It's the curse of civilization. The world needs a good apocalypse, but it doesn't look like one's going to happen any time soon. That's why I organized Wild Force, to return humanity to a purer, simpler life - by destroying the imposed lie that is civilization."
Wait a moment. You want to destroy civilization as we know it? Isn't that a bit nihilistic?
"It would certainly seem that way, to someone dependent on civilization. It wasn't an easy choice to make. I suppose the need to remove the shell of civilization is what led me to being pegged as a hippy and treehugger."
What about technology? It seems that someone who wants to return to nature would be against technology as well.
"I'm no retro. I don't dislike technology. It has its uses; always has. It's what kept man alive in prehistoric times, giving us the edge we needed. But civilization is living apart from nature, not a part of it. Make sure you get that right: 'apart from' and 'a part of', not the other way around. I've met many journalists who would reverse them on me.
"I know my views don't make me popular, except with the counterculture who are, ironically, as much a part of the civilization they claim to be on the fringes of. That's what makes that song ironic. To further the cause of removing the trap of civilization, I have to accept that civilization will see me as the bad guy. Until we're successful - if we ever are - we'll be hated by the very people we're attempting to free. We can't win this by playing by the rules; the rules are in place to maintain the status quo, to keep those who are in power over civilization where they are. We have to appear ruthless and callous, eliminating key personnel and sometimes entire neighborhoods, in the way a fire clears away dense underbrush without concern for animals in its path.
"This world needs an apocalypse to bring it to its senses."
That seems an extreme point of view. Wouldn't an apocalypse destroy not only humanity, but all life as we know it?
"Depends on the type of apocalypse, I suppose. This planet survived an asteroid hit sixty five million years ago, and life went on, despite what happened to the dinosaurs. Way I see it, people will survive any apocalypse; there will just be a lot less of them. There are too many monkeys with guns running around. Nature can only support so many people. A cleansing fire is necessary. The key is to remember that the ground after a fire can be quite fertile. Wild Force is that cleansing fire. I guess that's why I designed my suit with a fire motif."
Yet more irony.
"We're big on irony in Wild Force."
I took a look at the Wild Force roster and what's known about all of you before coming over. You don't seem to have the power to pull off anything apocalyptic.
He laughs. "You're right, we don't, especially individually. Together, however, we might just have a chance. Earthquake and Tsunami are both getting more powerful every day. That scare you?"
I'd be a fool not to be. You know people will try and stop you.
"I know. I guess you could say, we're counting on it."
So can you give us a hint as to what your next move is going to be? I mean, after you... You did say that you're going to try and spring your teammates, right?
"You heard me correctly on that. Yes, I'm going to spring my teammates. Or just maybe, I'll let them sit and replace them, although it could be a long, hard search for replacements. Then, well, I suppose I should leave it a surprise, so I'll just hint at it. We're going to destroy both a symbol of man's so-called 'triumph' over nature and a source of power to three of America's larger cities, in one strike. By the time this sees print, we might even have pulled it off."
One thing I don't understand. Why ask for an interview now, and why ask for me?
"It's because I know you. I'm not talking personally, of course, but you're the only journalist I've come to respect. I've seen many of your interview pieces, and while you often interview folks you don't agree with, you don't go out of your way to ridicule them. You're impartial, which is rare."
Thank you.
"You're welcome. As for why now, that's something to think about. Part of it is, I wanted to hear me defend myself in the court of public opinion, to let people know that I'm not just some raving lunatic in a fancy-looking suit. I've got an agenda, and I've given my reasons for it. I'm sure there are those out there who agree with me - in principle, if not in practice."
I left the hotel room not long after that. My impression of Wildfire was that he was a charming, intelligent, and driven man, who was assured of the righteousness of his cause. The combination makes him especially dangerous. I hid it well, but I came close to swooning a few times as he talked, and I haven't swooned in years.
I want to say that I maintained my reporter's ethics by not becoming involved in the story, but I did not. After leaving the Sleep Inn, I immediately drove to the San Diego FBI office, where I played my digital recorder back for them. They agreed with me that his threat was against Hoover Dam, and agreed to inform the Las Vegas and Phoenix offices about it, as well as their superiors in Washington.
Wildfire had already checked out of the Sleep Inn by the time the cops and Feds converged on it to arrest him. Chances are, he left mere minutes after I did. It is only a matter of time before he acts. . . .
Wild Force will be appearing shortly over in Silver Arrow.
Alessandra Cessarini is named after an old high school classmate of mine, and is Free For Use in any StarFall title.