[Deleted]

Liz Evander

Had it not been for the two cups of coffee that she had consecutively ordered and inhaled, Liz would have regretted arriving too early at the meeting place. There she was, sitting alone in the only Californian coffee shop she was fond of, her laptop and various journalistic paraphernalia strewn in what must be the most organized mess in front of her. Eventually the third cup of coffee would be set on the table, and eventually Liz would have to tuck all of the papers back in the bag—no interview was going to happen in front of a messy setup.

He’ll be here soon, she thought to herself, closing her laptop shut and taking out her phone. They had agreed on 7:30 AM and her internal clock was halfway close to its due. She’d done plenty of research in the meantime, learning as much as she could about Dominic Weaver, the brainfather of the Federal Hero Agency.

Brainfather. Heh. Word o’the day.

She’d interviewed countless CEOs in the past, and frankly, most of the interviews weren’t any different. Sometimes there were bodyguards parading behind said CEO, sometimes they came in alone, sometimes they didn’t come at all. Liz had heard plenty of things about the CEO of Ascendant, how he had an infectious charm and how he spreads it like wildfire to the people he comes across with, and that made her wonder if this interview was going to be a unique one-percent.

Cling!

Pushing her glasses to the bridge of her nose, Liz took a sip from her coffee and tucked all her other papers inside her sling bag. Ring went the old-fashioned bell hanging atop the cafe’s door, and Liz could spot a lanky figure in an elegant suit entering the vicinity.

Hrm, must be him.

Dominic Weaver ||

[Dominic Weaver]

Surge The best part of “believe” is the “lie”. + @lizevander

Dominic had already spotted the journalist before he entered the coffee shop, but he made sure not to give away this advanced knowledge as he entered, instead heading straight for the counter. He ordered a coffee, then glanced around the small space, ostensibly searching for the woman he was supposed to be meeting. She matched the picture he'd been given almost perfectly. Dominic was in PR, so like a lawyer, he liked to know all of the dirty little secrets before he agreed to represent someone. As such, he'd sent this name to the person he relied upon for investigating his less salubrious potential clients, and received a fairly hefty file in return. In truth, most of it had been cuttings or print outs of her previous articles, most marked as irrelevant, but included anyway. Dominic was a man that valued thoroughness as a quality. It had also included brief details of how she had lost her previous job, as well as the difficulties she had faced following that sudden change in her circumstances. There was a brief note linking it to a story that didn't have her name on it. LINCOLN SHAY MURDERS WIFE. Dominic remembered that, it had been a few years ago, but it had been all over the news and had been followed by a high profile court case. It looked like she'd lost her job when she stuck to her principles above money. That was the reason, and the only reason Dominic had agreed to meet her. Gregory, his secretary, fielded most of the calls from reporters, and few enough got through to Dominic as it was. That the slender man with the immaculately trimmed beard had thought she was worth his attention more than the others had in itself been intriguing. The thorough background research had made it even more so. That and the Daily Star seemed to be a little ahead of the curve when it came to metahumans and since for Dominic the curve was barely even on the horizon behind him he supposed it was about time one of the news outlets started to catch up, especially one in New York. He carried his coffee, a simple black affair, over to the small table, unbuttoning his suit with one hand before offering it to the reporter. "Miss Evander? I am Dominic Weaver."

© seadra of gs

[Deleted]

Liz Evander

Liz watched as he entered the coffee shop, hand prepared to wave at him should he look at the direction of her table, but he didn't seem to do so. Instead, he walked directly to the counter and ordered a cup of coffee, afterwards seemingly looking around until he caught sight of the reporter. Liz stifled the urge to squint a bit suspiciously--somehow he seemed to have already known where she was seated, but she didn't bring it up as he approached, leaving her mind to wonder why he did it.

At the hand offered, Liz stood up and gave a light but firm handshake. "Mr. Weaver," she greeted with a nod, a smile curving up, "I'm glad you could come. Hopefully the travel from here to wherever-you-came-from was safe and without inconvenience?"

She wanted to add more, like 'I'm surprised you actually came, and without any bodyguards to boot', or 'Why in the world did you seem to be looking for me when you somehow actually know where I am already?'. But her boss, bless his affinity for connections, already reminded her countless times to be as "civil" as possible, aka--control whatever...honesty she had in store.

Liz sat down afterwards, gesturing politely at Dominic to sit down as well. Setting aside her half-empty coffee cup, Liz swiftly put her phone on voice recorder, her thumb hovering over the big red button. "Shall we begin the interview, then?" she asked, looking the CEO in the eye as she prepared to her first question.

Dominic Weaver ||

[Dominic Weaver]

Surge The best part of “believe” is the “lie”. + @lizevander

Shrugging noncommittally Dominic dodged the question, "I've always enjoyed driving, this just needed a little bit more, it didn't take long. And Dominic is fine." It helped that Dominic had a very fast car and only a passing acquaintance with the traffic laws, though he had to be a lot more careful these days. He carefully placed his coffee down on the table, waiting for her to retake her seat before sitting himself. It was old fashioned, but his mother would still tan his hide, successful entrepreneur or no, if she found out that he was rude to a lady. He was glad she didn't sit in on his business meetings, rudeness was rarely called for, but sometimes like only listened to like. Dom made himself comfortable in his chair, sitting back, and leaving the coffee for now, before turning his attention back to the journalist. It was a clear indication that he was ready to start, and should give away that he had more than a little experience of things like this, though usually in more of an advisory role. He would have to watch his words here, though he always did, the Daily Star did not seem to be hostile, but the press was fickle, and it was entirely within a journalist's power to misinterpret quotes if it suited them. Liz did not seem the kind of journalist to do that. It was reassuring, but far from a guarantee. Dominic knew better than most, wars were won with words.

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[Deleted]

Liz Evander

Coffee cup down, back relaxed, no reply. A fair share of people she’d conversed with throughout the years were quite inclined to using silence instead of their mouths, so Liz found it an obligation to know what silence was an affirmation or a refusal. Looking at Mr. Weaver, however, Liz quickly realized it was a yes, so her thumb instinctively pressed down on the phone’s record button as soon as she noticed the cue.

”Alright, Dominic” she said the name with a careful tone—calling people by their first names was something she felt a bit weird with. ”The Federal Hero Agency—your brainchild—why did it start?”

’Why not?’ she almost found herself answering her own question.

She felt it a bit stupid to begin with a ”How?, especially considering the beginnings of the Federal Hero Agency where somewhat public knowledge. From what she had gathered, Dominic Weaver proposed the idea about a year ago, with it eventually coming to fruition nine months later. Frankly, it wasn’t a satisfying amount of intel, but this was the exact reason she conducted an interview with him in the first place.

”It is to combat super-villains, yes, but we’ve got some heroes going for normal crime-fighting more often than usual. Are they some form of substitute to the police, or are they replacements?” she half-explained, half-inquired again, the question coming out a bit later because she didn’t want to be a bombarder or anything. ”Which brings us to the next question: What’s the current relationship between the police force and the Hero Agency? Have you guys got a system of sorts?”

She had already asked her sister about it, who was an officer of the NYPD, but found that it never hurt to inquire further. Having enough confirmation coming from enough sources had helped Liz throughout her career, and it was a fact-finding method that she clearly favored more than anything.

Dominic Weaver ||

[Dominic Weaver]

Surge The best part of “believe” is the “lie”. + @lizevander

It was a good question, but hardly one he had not been asked before, or one that had not been answered in a variety of ways. He was almost a little disappointed. "The Program was needed. I'm sure you noticed the metahuman crime that began shortly after the event, as well as the vigilantes that followed shortly after. It was unsustainable, and simply putting metahumans into the Police force would have been impractical, we needed a response as quickly as possible, and Heroes provided an eyecatching, inspiring response, they show that metahumans were more of a force, if you'll pardon the cliché, for good than for evil. A simple uniform would not have had the same effect as those costumes do." He shook his head to her second question, "Heroes are not intended as a replacement to the Police, it would simply be impractical for a start. Do you know how many metahumans there are in the United States alone?" He sipped from his coffee, "Neither do I. No one does. What we do know is that they are still a tiny fragment of the population, even if every metahuman in America became a Hero there still wouldn't be a number even close to the combined numbers of our Police Forces. It would simply be unfeasible to attempt to replace them, and they don't need to be replaced." There was more to it than he would be able to explain, but he could give her an acceptable answer anyway, and it was a significant part of the whole. "Heroes join the program because they want to help people, they want to use their powers for good, if we hamstrung them with arguments of jurisdiction we would just generate unnecessary resentment and honestly, I think most of them would try to help anyway. Have you ever met Paladin? That girl couldn't sit by and watch someone get hurt." He leaned forward, "Heroes are intended to preserve life by going into situations that would be unreasonably dangerous for normal humans, metacrime being the foremost example of this. We have Heroes that can put people to sleep with a look, or stop bullets by the simple expedient of being in the way. If those abilities can be used to save lives then we should use them to do so." Of course there were the additional justifications, metahumans were terrifying. Dominic was one, not that it was common knowledge, and he had met several metahumans that terrified him, not least of which had been the Doctor. He did not blame normal humans for being afraid, they were now only the dominant species through numbers, and it was hard finding out that you were second best. Heroes showed that metahumans were willing to serve the public, to protect them. Hopefully it could also tempt potent metahumans away from darker paths. With the kind of power some metas had, there needed to be an opportunity for them to gain wealth and admiration legally. The Hero Program was that opportunity. "As to the relationship between Heroes and the Police, think of them like a specialised SWAT team. When the Police need to deal with a metahuman criminal that is difficult for them to manage, they call a Hero. Every Hero has what we call a liaison, similar to dispatch for the Police force, and they are patched into every emergency service channel. They monitor situations and let the Heroes know where they need to go, give them intel on metahumans involved and so on. There are more than just the Heroes involved in the Hero Program, without that support staff it simply wouldn't function." He took another appreciative sip of the coffee, this journalist had a good taste in coffee shops at least, he could give her that.

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[Deleted]

Liz Evander

"That's understandable, yeah. The Program came to life a few days after the...Shockwave event happened, right? About 300 people died that day, if I'm right. What can you say about the Shockwave event, Mr. Weaver? Metahumans were probably hated more than ever during that time." Probably, because Liz didn't want to make it sound like it was a fact. "Even then, the Hero Program was proposed about a year ago, if I'm correct? If it had not been for the Shockwave Event, would it have been released at a later time?"

Even with the recorder on, Liz still took note of every word Dominic said. No interruptions, no objections, although this was more because she was slowly dawning on how...unnecessary some of the questions were. Anyone would be able to answer that on their own without turning to Brainfather Weaver for an exact response, albeit they would probably be all different and based more on opinions than facts.

She hesitated for a moment before she asked another question. "As for the vigilantes still running about--why do you think are they reluctant to join the Program? Any words you'd like to tell them should you get the chance?"

Still, self-answerable questions were a waste of time

Looking down at the sheet of questions on her table, Liz let out an unnoticeable sigh. Her boss had told her not to get too intrepid--the article was only going to be a puff piece on the Federal Hero Agency, after all. A feature article with no place on the front page. Not that it bothered Liz; it wasn't like metahumans were all the Daily Star cared about. What tickled her inquisitive head was the fact that any questions asked were meant to be general and something the public would want--no, need--to know.

But there were things that Liz wanted to know. Her assigned article be damned--this interview with Dominic Weaver was an opportunity to dig deeper into the world of metahumans. Her curiosity didn't just end with the Federal Hero Agency; Liz had heard a lot from things she'd read, and an even greater deal from word-of-mouth rumors and a healthy sprinkle of inquiries from various people. She'd heard about the MNRU, the Vault, even small snippets about RISE and the Spades.

Was it possible that Dominic Weaver knew more?

Only one way to find out.

"So, Mr. Weaver," she began, setting aside the question sheet and wondering how best to word out the incoming question, "Are you a metahuman yourself?"

It came out so directly and so casually to the point that Liz surprised herself by even managing to ask it. "Just curious, not that I would be surprised if the Program's brainfather was one." It was more than that, with reasons reaching back to the 'worst car accident in American history', and many more questions afterwards, but for now Liz was contented with seeing if one of the survivors was a metahuman as she suspected.

Because if he was, then that was going to be the first stepping stone in many. 

Dominic Weaver ||

[Dominic Weaver]

Surge The best part of “believe” is the “lie”. + @lizevander

"They were, there was, and still is, a lot of anti-metahuman sentiment. A lot of that is tied to the Grand Central attack, understandably. Shockwave gave super villains a figurehead, but no one knows what he looked like. It's a lot easier to hate something you don't recognise." He held up his hands in mock surrender to the rush of questions. He had a good idea of the answer, though he couldn't be entirely truthful. He had been part of the group arguing for the Hero Program to be launched then, but it had been a hard decision for him to make. After such a huge attack there had been a marked rise in violent crime perpetrated against suspected metahumans, the government needed to be proactive. Metahumans needed to be proactive. They needed to show that they could be something other than a threat. If the Program had been delayed then it might have led to an entrenching of anti-meta opinions and views. Even so, many of the Heroes they had put onto the streets had only been partially trained. Even Paladin, the Program's shining star, had not been truly prepared. It was part of the reason the Program had initially recruited metahumans with some sort of enhanced resilience. Most of them were still just as vulnerable as normal humans, and the Program needed to seem unassailable. There had been no fatalities in the Program yet, it was only luck and a particularly gifted metahuman with the ability to heal that had kept them so clean. Of course he couldn't say that many of the Heroes had still been in training when the Program had launched. "Maybe, but people were afraid, and rightfully so. They needed reassurance, that is what the Hero Program was designed for, to remind people that they live in a country with individuals who have sworn to serve and protect." Vigilantes were another interesting topic. Dominic had been one himself after all, for a brief period before and shortly after the Event. He'd given that up when he'd realised he could do more good creating the Program. That said, there were still a handful of vigilantes out there. Most of them had disappeared after the Program arrived. One or two notable ones had joined the Program, to much fanfare. Several had tried to continue with their activities until they were tracked down by the FBI and Heroes and informed in no uncertain terms what would happened if they continued to take the law into their own hands. Some of them were still around. Those too clever to be caught out. "I'd say to them to consider what they're doing. I understand that they can't sit back and watch harm being done, so they should join the Program. Heroes are well trained, they are trained in de-escalation, in assessing a situation, in non-lethal techniques. If there hadn't been a vigilante in the Grand Central attack, if that situation wasn't escalated, things might have ended much better than they did." And the million dollar question. It had been asked before, although not actually directly. Usually people just asked where he had come from, how a working class black boy had ended up working his way into an influential position with the government. It was sort of insulting that so many casually brushed over his actual business, that had existed before the Event. Bribery, extortion, blackmail. So many different theories, when really, he was just the right man at the right time. He'd developed his powers months before the Event, and he'd had plenty of time to plan for what might come next. Inevitably the Hero Program would have come about, in one shape or another. He'd just managed to get himself in on the ground floor. "You know Miss Evander, you are the first journalist to ask me that so directly. It helps that I don't talk to many journalists." It was faintly amusing that she seemed to have surprised herself with her own question, and almost seemed to be apologetic for asking it in the first place. "I am a metahuman." There, it was out in the open now. He could tell that Liz was ambitious, she wanted more, she wanted to reach out and influence people across the country, across the world. She was just like him. "I am what is called an electrokine, that is I can draw and direct electricity. Flashy, but not particularly well suited to Hero work I'm afraid." He raised a hand to wave away the brainfather comment, "And please, don't give me any more credit than I'm due. I went to the government with an idea yes, but a lot of very good people worked very hard to make it work. The Program would have happened with or without me. I just make it look good."

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[Deleted]

Liz Evander

"It's a lot easier to hate something, in general." Liz remarked, although it was more of an offhand comment than being actually relevant. "All it took was one push and the pieces all went crumbling down." She took a good sip from her coffee, her eyes still quietly studying Dominic and how he answered the questions. Listening further, she felt that he thought more than he spoke, withholding a much deeper answer within the words he let out. A smart and careful move for him--spilling enough water so that one wouldn't cause a flood, but him doing so only made Liz's curiosity grow.

"But do you guys have a lead to who Shockwave really is? Or should I say not yet?" This time the question wasn't for the puff piece anymore--not really. Liz had a pre-planned articled stocked in her head, an article that would explore in-depth the Grand Central Station attack. "Or maybe a lead on the unknown vigilante?" She had already interviewed a few survivors, but what Liz was really aiming for was to talk to the unknown vigilante. "I don't suppose Shockwave's orchestrated another attack after his one and only?"

Heck, maybe she could interview Shockwave.

The journalist paused for a bit, a slight and unnoticeable twitch in her eyebrows indicating a furrow. The thought of the Grand Central supervillain--wherever they are now--sprung up a thought in Liz's mind. "If you do manage to capture Shockwave, though--heck, if you do manage to capture a metahuman villain, I'm sure they don't normally fit in a normal prison," she started, quite carefully wording considering it was a question just recently formulated. "Would I be right in saying that you guys have a special prison for these special prisoners, Mr. Weaver?"

And then came the subject of his probable metahumanity. Liz had found it sensible to turn off the recorder the moment she asked the question, in respect of the CEO's right to secrecy. To his first remark, she had laughed lightly, "You not being the interviewee type, I kinda expected. I was actually quite surprised that you agreed to meet with me, Mr. Weaver." she responded in turn, taking another sip from her coffee.

When he did affirm that yes, he was a metahuman, Liz simply found herself nodding. A slow, realization-dawning-down kind of nod, although deep inside it was more than that. It was the physical reaction of having lots of questions shot down (and new ones being brought up) by the affirmation. Just boom.

And then she took a quick sip of her coffee. On the outside, it still looked like the revelation was no biggie at all.

Yessir, that was just a random question, definitely not because I want to ask more about it. Now let's move on to the next one.

"Flashy," she had remarked at almost the same time Dominic did, eliciting a small chuckle from the journalist. It seemed like an appropriate hero alias in a superhero sitcom. "I take it you don't use it that much, then?"

Then there was her third sip of latte--it seemed she was taking it quicker than she should have. Chalk it up to wanting to ask more than she should. "Ah, indeed, the PR business of the Program," Although, if one were to simplify everything, Liz just really liked to use the word 'brainfather'. "Tell me, Mr. Weaver, what other plans has the Program have both for its heroes and for the people they serve?"

And then it was back to the sheet of questions. 

Dominic Weaver ||

[Dominic Weaver]

Surge The best part of “believe” is the “lie”. + @lizevander

Dominic shook his head, "I don't have that kind of position within the Program, I represent Heroes to the public, look after their interests and their image, I'm not privy to investigations. Besides, the Program is about enforcement, not detection, the FBI is the group that is tracking him down, if he's still alive." He shrugged in response to her next question. "Your guess is as good as mine." He raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Me? I feel like you're ascribing rather more power to me than I have Miss Evander. You'd be better off asking someone in Government, or the head of the Program." It was true, he tended to avoid interviews. He only took them when he had something meaningful to talk about, when he had a specific goal in mind. Things were easier that way. Plus, it was better to be hard to get in this world. If you rarely gave interviews people listened to the things you said when you did, and you could pick and choose the journalists that would represent your story the best. "Well you got past Gregory, and that's always a good sign in my book. He's very particular when it comes to letting people talk to me. I can't remember the last time he let a journalist through. It's a rare honour. He must like you." It was a good question, after all, metahumans were becoming more and more a part of life. They might be rare, but they were common enough that most people had at least seen one, if only on TV. "It doesn't have all that many applications, I don't have the kind of fine control that would let me charge my phone for example. It pretty much limits me to being a human sized Taser, and I don't really have much call for that." He carefully finishing of that sentence with these days. After all, his abilities had a great deal more use before the Event, but that was a part of his past now. "Plans? To extend the Program to every major city before expanding out into less developed areas. Right now Heroes are a valuable resource, though some cities might have a few, there are just as many that rely on a Hero in a neighbouring city and a passing teleporter. Everyone deserves to have a Hero able to respond in a matter of minutes. We have a number of new Heroes coming onto the streets, and a new training program launching this summer. Big things are happening for Heroes in the next few months."

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[Deleted]

Liz Evander

Liz quietly nodded, eyes on Dominic and ears on his words as she raised her cup for another sip. Realizing that it had already been drained, the reporter inernally sighed and set it aside, leaving only the sheet of questions on her table. She took one good, decisive look at it, wondering whether she should forge on or if she should break line and sate her own curiosities.

"Looks like I'm asking the wrong questions, then." she remarked with a faint smile, knowing full well that she was the one who contacted Mr. Weaver, and thus she had to be the one whose questions were appropriate to his role. She'd have to take another route, another angle if she wanted to garner as much information as possible--as such, she'd have to discard the sheet of questions, her boss be damned. Frankly, she felt that she had enough for the puff piece itself, either way.

Pausing for a bit, Liz eventually pushed the sheet beside her empty cup and crossed her arms on the table. Maybe she should start slow, start with what was the most expected and ask the more...unknown questions later.

"New heroes, hrm? I've heard of Paladin, Glacia, Tank, Hellhound...plus that immortal man and the girl who could manipulate shadows...I always forget their names," there came out a small chuckle, Liz simply shrugging and moving on. "Anyways, I've been recently covering the less-known ones--underdogs, if you might call them--so what can you say about these new heroes you've got? Any sneak peaks for the public, Mr. Weaver? Conversely, what's this new training program you speak of, and how is it any different from the one you currently have?"

Of course, she was yet to interview the heroes she had just mentioned, but just because Liz focused on the underdogs didn't mean that she forgot about the ones with the most star power--maybe she should discuss that certain topic with Mr. Weaver.

Maybe. 

Dominic Weaver ||

[Dominic Weaver]

Surge The best part of “believe” is the “lie”. + @lizevander

"They're not the wrong questions, you're just asking the wrong person. I have a lot of influence in the Program, but I don't run it, and you wouldn't be the first person to ascribe a lot more power to me than I actually have." He nodded at her next comment, although it was more of a statement than a question, "Nightshade and Onyx, yes. Both good Heroes." He nodded again, calling them underdogs was perhaps a little dramatic. Heroes weren't selected unless they had potent metahuman abilities, there was too much risk otherwise. Not that those Heroes weren't taking on just as many risk because they were more powerful. There were Heroes that had a smaller following though, or less than glowing reviews from the local press. "I know you have, I have read several of your articles. They're good, though I'd love to know how you managed to pin down Hellhound. I think you're the only reporter who has pulled that one off. He doesn't like talking to the press very much." The werewolf shifting Hero didn't spend much time with reporters, tending to get away from them as quickly as he could. Not that it mattered, in his metahuman form his words were so much unintelligible snarls and growls anyway. "There will be announcements in due course, but we have a number of eager new Heroes-in waiting. As to changes in the training program, it's part of a national program that includes the opening of the Evergreen Metahuman Boarding Academy, and changes in the structure of the Program as it develops from that point as well. When we launched the Program was invite only. You may recognise several of the big faces of the Program as having once been Vigilantes. That doesn't change the fact that there are new metahumans appearing every day, metahumans that want to make a difference but haven't been identified for whatever reason. We hope to give those metahumans a chance to step forward and join the Program. There is an extent to which that is already happening, but this next step will solidify these opportunities for individuals to make a difference." He shrugged, "As to those Heroes, they are yet to decide who will represent them publicly. It wouldn't be fair, or professional of me to start talking about them before they have decided on their final image." Leaning forward, he smiled genuinely. "I like that you look to the 'underdogs', people get caught up in the celebrity of Heroes, the ones that get it deserve it of course. I wouldn't change Paladin for the world, but that doesn't mean the ones that people haven't latched onto deserve the recognition any less."

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[Deleted]

Liz Evander

Liz squinted a bit at Dominic's remark about her articles--so he'd done some advanced reading, then. A meticulous man, indeed, and most likely why it was rare for journalists to get through him. "Hellhound? Hrm, I just figured it wouldn't make much sense to talk to him in his werewolf form, so instead I appealed to his human side. Truth be told it was by accident and chance that I even got to catch him as a human." She answered, an honest one at that. She'd been observing Hellhound far earlier than when she managed to talk to him, and his escape patterns made her stay instead of following a fake trail until voila! There he was. "And thank you, I try my best--does this mean you don't read that many newspapers?"

She was kidding, of course--the quip was a simple echo to one of Dominic's earlier statements, and Liz trusted him enough to know that. She usually didn't add in baner such as this, usually keeping things as seriois as possible--was this what people meant by the CEO's infectious charm, then? "And I agree--the world of superheroes is a rare one in that those on top truly deserve to be there, and I hope it stays that way." Or, maybe she was just watching too much One Punch Man and looking too deeply into things. Liz had a bad habit of both. "I actually plan to interview Paladin one day--can’t focus all my resources on one side, or that would be called bias, wouldn't it?"

That seemed the wrong thing to say, now that she thought of it--the Hero Program wasn't divided, and as such there was no such thing as a side. Shaking her head, Liz attempted to correct, "I meant...the underdogs," she explained, reflexively reaching for a nonexistent coffee cup before remembering she had already consumed it. "I am by no means implying that the Hero Program is divided, at least it's only done so in terms of showbusiness."

Crossing her arms on the table, Liz tilted her head curiously. "The Evergreen Metahuman Boarding Academy...catering to metahuman kids, I gather?" the name sent a new wave of curiosity and a lot more questions piled up in Liz's head. "Interesting...and these children--I'm guessing they have a one-way ticket to joining the Hero Program, or is it just gonna be like any other school sans the fact that it's for metahumans?"

Dominic Weaver ||

[Dominic Weaver]

Surge The best part of “believe” is the “lie”. + @lizevander

He smiled, "No, it wouldn't, I do wonder why all those reporters bother." He didn't wonder of course, there were still groups that didn't like the idea of metahumans, or Heroes, and would do anything to discredit them and the Program. Someone like Hellhound would be perfect to slap on the face of something like that. He was big, and animalistic, and in truth, terrifying. To most anyway. Dominic had met metahumans who were truly mind-bogglingly powerful and the terror they could inspire was on a whole other level, but part of his job was making sure the public didn't get caught up in that very terror. Her questioned amused him, after all, his business revolved around the public opinion. He shook his head. Newspapers might not be the all powerful publishing titans they once were, but they still had a huge effect on the opinions of their readers. "I think the correct response there would be no, I read an awful lot of newspapers, I have to make sure I keep up to date." Of course, he also had an office full of people combing through publications across the nation looking for stories and articles related to the Program and metahumans alike. He was only one man, he simply couldn't read everything. "I hope it does as well, that is part of the reason for the Program's existence, to ensure that those powers are not abused." Dominic knew full well that Paladin would hate being interviewed. She hadn't taken particularly well to the idea of being the face of the Program, but in truth he couldn't now imagine it being anyone else. She was too passionate, too genuinely good to ever be anything other than a role model. Even he couldn't help but get caught up in her simple desire to make things better with her ability. Her simple belief that everyone could be just that good. She hated the publicity though. He cocked an eyebrow, "I'm sure you didn't mean to imply such a thing, especially as there is no bias within the Program. At least no bias as a result of the system itself. And calling it show business is unfair. Every time those Heroes go into the field they are going somewhere we wouldn't send normal Police Officers. They risk their lives." He hadn't been entirely happy with her question, and he had intentionally let a little affront into his response. The Program benefitted from the show business, but that was not the reason for it's existence. "It caters to young metahumans from all walks of life, giving them a place to learn their abilities amongst others that are going through the same struggles that they are. It's a hard thing to deal with, waking up with superhuman abilities." He shrugged, "But ultimately it is a school. It is not a secret government training facility for the Program. The students there will receive additional training in controlling their abilities, but they will not be expected to join the Program, though no doubt the option will be presented for the most able students. I'm not entirely privy to the curriculum they intend to follow however. You'd have to ask the Principal."

© seadra of gs

[Deleted]

Liz Evander

Liz shook her head, an apologetic look crossing her face at Dominic's reply. There it was again, her directness striking the wrong cord in people. "My apologies, of course I didn't mean to say that the Program revolves around showbusiness. However one can't deny that it does exist within the Program, doesn't it? Not the Hollywood way, of course, but more like a way for people to look up to the heroes. A beacon of light amidst darkness, and as you've mentioned a while ago, an inspiring response."

Eventually she eased on the backrest of her chair, fiddling a bit with the sheet of paper she had set aside. "Of course, I'm not overlooking the fact that they risk their lives everyday, Mr. Weaver. I'd seen my fair share of heroes doings their jobs--heck, I've been in the middle of it for more than once--and I know it's no easy feat." she clarified. "As a writer I should've looked for another word for showbusiness--I see now that it's not exactly the right word to describe the Program's connection to the public--but ironically I can't think up of one."

She wasn't sure if she'd explained it fully, seeing as there was a lot more she wanted to say inside her head, but as usual she locked the motormouth before it began. The conversation didn't need any more wrong cords struck, didn't it? So instead, Liz diverted towards Dominic's next response. "I cannot possibly imagine that, seeing as I don't have superpowers myself." she began, thinking for a bit what to say next--there was an opportunity in her head and she was trying to see how she could word it. "But you can, Mr. Weaver. Might I ask, how did it feel the first time you discovered you had powers?"

Dominic Weaver ||