1128 Chapter 113- Trinity – Super Natural Appreciation Convention Part 8 (VOLUME 6)
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Trinity
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By the time that Fuller seemed to have run himself dry, or is it better to say run out of hot gas, nearly every other reporter in the gathering were looking at the man like he was a three headed toad that had just entered a beautiful swan contest. Yeah, I know, a convoluted analogy, but it was what made sense to me in the moment, so it was what I thought of.
I saw some of the others that had been borderline or even against us in the beginning of this press release, and they looked to have jumped ship and gone completely to the pro super naturals side of the argument. And that was just with a few minutes of one crazy man showing his true colors.
“Are you finished now, Mr. Fuller?” I made sure that I spoke to him with nothing but respect and kindness. I wouldn’t have someone taking a video of me being a bitch to someone in public. Not unless they invented a new camera that could record the thoughts that ran through someone’s head, then I would be in trouble for sure.
“No, I am far from finished, you mongrel mutt of a monster.” The man narrowed his eyes and started to draw breath for another tirade.
“Yes, you are finished.” A man that was close to Fuller said as he stepped forward. This was a man that had a camera following him and recording the entire interaction. “I have never been a big supporter of the nonhumans, but I will be damned if I will align myself with anyone that behaves as disgustingly rude as you. I would rather support the Werewolf Queen up there because she has only ever been respectful and polite, even in the face of the insults that people like you throw their way.” The man glanced at me and then back toward the angry Fuller.
“You dare to take their side? You are just as bad as they are!”
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“No, I am not. But you, Mr. Fuller, are no better than those clowns that are bombing buildings and targeting people because they happen to be different. News flash, dummy, the entire world is made up of people that are different.”
“I couldn’t have put it better myself, Mr. Lewis.” Another man spoke. “Sorry to interrupt, Queen Trinity, my name is Elijah Dalton, and I couldn’t help but agree with my comrade here.”
“Thank you, Mr. Dalton.” I nodded at him. “And you are Mr. Lewis?” I looked at the man that had spoken up first.
“Yes. My name is Harrington Lewis from channel two. I have never been a big supporter of your group, but I have never thought those things about your community. I think that I was just opposed to the newness and the change of it all. I promise you, Mrs. Gray, no, Queen Trinity, that I will do my best to report nothing but the truth from now on.”
“I appreciate that, Mr. Lewis. If you would like an interview at some time, please, do not hesitate to contact my people. I will speak to you so that you can get the truth as we know it to be.”
“I am sorry? What was that?” Fuller latched onto the words that I had said. “The truth as you know it to be? That sounds like manipulating the information.”
“No, Mr. Fuller, it is just how my people interpret the information that we have. You, and the others that are so vehemently against us will see it in a different light. You will hear us talk about peace and think of only war. You will hear us speak of acceptance and tranquility, and think of only dominance and repression. It is not up to us to make you think a certain way, and it is your right as a person to think what you will, but that doesn’t make what I say any less true.”
“Bullshit!” Fuller snapped at me and I knew that a lot of editors for TV were going to need to bleep that word out before they aired this information later today. “You don’t want to get along with us, you want-.”
“OH, SHUT UP!” Several people yelled the words at the same time.
“Your schtick is getting old, Fuller. Shut up and get out of here before I ask one of those nice officers to arrest you.” Lewis growled at him, quite impressively if I do say so myself.
“I have broken no laws.” Fuller snapped at him and straightened his spine. “I cannot be arrested.”
“Really? There is a difference between freedom of speech and making outright threats and hate speech. Those are not protected under the law, as you should well know. And I am sure that some of those officers would like to know just what your connection to the DOE really is.” I saw the moment that fear flashed through Fuller’s eyes. And I knew that, whether it happened now or later, one of the officers or FBI agents would be questioning him about his ties with the terrorist organization. He was too closely related to them in the ways that he spoke, and I knew that there had to be something linking the two together.
“You can’t do that to me.” He started to protest, but the moment that an officer took a step closer to the reporters, oblivious to the conversation that we were having. “A..a..anyway, I am leaving. I don’t need to get information from that monster.” He glared at me. “I will contact the witnesses directly. They will tell me exactly what those things did to them. The other humans here, the ones that this thing,” he was pointing up at me with a shaking finger, “tried to murder, they will tell me the truth.” He stormed off after his final little tirade. I was glad to see him leave.
“I apologize for all reporters, Queen Trinity.” Harrington Lewis looked so somber as he lowered his head. “I know that there are several in my profession that take things too far. We’re supposed to remain impartial and nonjudgmental, but show me one reporter that doesn’t take a side and I will eat my press badge.” He laughed, especially once he realized that his camera man was still filming him. “We can’t help it, Queen Trinity. We as people form our own opinions. We see the good and the bad in the world, and we think we know better than other people because we’re the first to get the scoop. That doesn’t give us the right to act like he did though. That was inappropriate and I want you to know that we’re not all like him.”
“Thank you for the apology, Mr. Lewis, but I know that you’re not all the same. I have met more like you than Mr. Fuller, and that gives me hope. Now, if it is OK with the rest of you, I would like to get on with this press release. It went a little off kilter there for a little while, but we are all adults, so I am sure that we can move past this.” I tried to smile, but at that moment, the baby chose to kick really hard, so I was sure that my face was a little more of a grimace.
“Are you alright, Queen Trinity?” Lara asked as she took a step forward.
“I am fine, Lara, thank you for asking. It is just the joys of being so close to my due date. However, we are not here to talk about the baby, maybe another time. For now, let us talk about what happened today, and the brave men and women that made sure that no one was harmed in this senseless attack.”
With the willing participation from the reporters, I told them about what had happened. I fed them more of the story about us just wanting to protect the humans, we didn’t tell them that we were tipped off about the attack, just that we had been worried about the safety of people that so openly supported us.
There were questions that were asked about the bombs, the people that had been apprehended, and the victims of the day. Because the only injury was to a nonhuman, the day was considered a success. Because there were no other bombs located in the building, and the one that the missing DOE member had been carrying was located outside the bus stop in the city, we felt a little safer, and more confident. No one was going to get hurt today. No one was going to die, contrary to the plans that the DOE had set for the day. Everything was going just fine. And I was more than happy to settle this with a simple broadcast.
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Carter
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I had been waiting all day with bated breath. I was worried that there was going to be news that the bombs had successfully been detonated and thousands of people were injured. I had been driving myself nuts all day with those worries as we all waited for the news to come on.
We had sent fifteen people to the convention center. Or rather, the Colonel had sent them. I had nothing to do with these people, not really. I was undercover, that was all. However, the only way to truly succeed in undercover work, was to appear as if you had assimilated completely. And that was why when people talked to me about the DOE, I always used the term ‘we’. I needed to include myself in their way of thinking, whether I liked it or not.
The Colonel was not expecting a report from any of the DOE grunts that he had selected for the mission. They were all disposable in his mind, and they were all people that he had intended to kill anyway. He didn’t want these men to be a part of the army when it marched. And march it would, soon.
“The news should be covering it already.” The Colonel’s usually calm voice was showing just how angry he was at the moment. Normally, he had a voice that commanded authority, but was devoid of emotion. He always had an in control vibe to it that was not pleasant to an Alpha like me. I had hated this man from the minute I met him, but I was hiding it well.
I watched the Colonel then, pacing the room from side to side. His posture, normally so straight that it looked like someone had shoved a pole up his ass, was a little crooked. Huh, it was good to know that even he was capable of being a little less than perfect.
His eyes weren’t perfect either, and that was unsettling. His usually emotionless, and very ordinary human brown eyes, were now filled with a degree of insanity that made my skin crawl. I felt like there were actual bugs that were coming off of him, microscopic bugs, that were crawling all over my body. And looking at him, I could see that he had been running his hand through his sandy blond hair in agitation, because it was no longer perfectly slicked back. It had several loose pieces that were swaying as he walked rapidly in his path.
“Perhaps the story will break on the evening news.” Mr. Doe told him. “There is no need to wor-.” At that moment there was a news bulletin that came over the station that the TV was on.
“Finally!” The Colonel said as he stepped closer to the large screen that was mounted on the wall. “How many were killed? How successful were those idiots?”
We all watched in various stages of curiosity. I was standing there with my breath held in dread. A bulletin meant that it was bad, right? Or maybe not.
As we listened on, I learned that only one bomb had gone off, and only one super natural was injured. No humans had received a single injury during the attack. The attack had been thwarted by good Samaritan nonhumans that had wanted to guard the humans at the event.
The Colonel was not happy about that news. He started to destroy everything that was in his office. The computer, stacks of papers, everything that he could get his hands on were thrown around the room. Nothing was safe, but as of yet, he hadn’t attacked a single person.
The anger and tantrum went on for hours. The Colonel had gone to almost everyone, except for the women, and screamed at them about how this failure was their fault. The people that had failed were dead to him, and other things like that.
About three hours after the news came on the air, there was a commotion from near one of the entrances. A man came running into the room, saw the Colonel, and made a beeline for him.
“Sir! Those monsters knew we would be there. They were waiting for us.”
“YOU IDIOT!” The Colonel screamed at him as he charged toward him. “You insignificant little pissant! How dare you fail me like that.”
“B..b..but Colonel, it was a -.” Whatever the man was about to say was a mystery. Just as he started to stutter out the words, the Colonel drew his gun in a quick fluid motion and shot the man in the head.
“Do you all see that?” The Colonel turned in a slow circle eyeing almost every awestruck face in the room. “If anyone defies me, if anyone fails me, that is what will happen to you. I expect perfection from all of you, and I will have it. Is that understood?!” There was not a word spoken in response, but every head in the room nodded in agreement, even I nodded just to fit in with the crowd.
This was not a good turn of events. That man was losing touch with his sanity by the second. He might even step up his plans to attack the palace and head there much sooner rather than later. I had to warn Trinity, but I had to make sure that no one saw me staring off into space. I had to wait until I was alone to send the message. They had to know that the danger was getting closer.