[Dominic Weaver]

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

Dominic allowed himself to visibly relax a little more, the comment had offended him a little, but it was true. The show business was as much a part of the Program as anything else, but it was important in a way that he did not want to reveal to the public. Most metahumans were negligible in power, but some were very powerful, and as a result, very dangerous. The thought of someone on a level with Paladin trying to knock over a bank was scary, so the Program offered another way for those individuals to gain recognition, fame, and for those that were successful, fortune. It didn't always work, and it never would, but hopefully it would turn just a few away from the wrong paths. Of course, to say all that to a reporter at this juncture in the Program's development would prompt the question of just how worried they were about potential metahumans turning to crime. "Show business suggests there isn't a reason for it. But you only need to look at popular media two years ago to see how important superheroes are in the public psyche. The only difference is now when you buy a bag with a Hero's face on it, that Hero exists somewhere other than the pages of a comic book or a TV screen. Heroes give us someone to look up to, someone to rely on, and someone to keep us safe. And most of those Heroes do charity events in their spare time. They're not on the clock when they do that. They do it because they want to help, and a popular Hero showing up for a fundraiser does make a difference." He shrugged and smiled, "For an interview about the Program, you are asking an awful lot of personal questions." He waved a hand dismissively, "It's difficult to describe to someone who hasn't gone through it. And I had a very different experience to that new metahumans will undergo. Powers were not a thing before the Event, our universe had rules, and it stuck to them. Then suddenly, those rules, or some of them no longer applied to you. It's a strange feeling. Terrifying? Definitely. Confusing? Beyond that. Amazing? I would say I was amazed." He smiled again, that irresistibly charming smile that had won him so many clients and contracts. "I'm not a negative person by nature, I'm a forward thinker, a dreamer you could say. When I realised what it was that was happening, I didn't start thinking about what could go wrong straight away, I started thinking about what could go right. About how the world could be changed for the better by these amazing abilities." Another shrug showed his dismissal of his own words. "It's different now, they might be new, but metahumans are very much a part of life now. People are born into a world with abilities. And when they develop their own, it is just as scary and confusing, but they aren't as alone as we were in the Event."

© seadra of gs

[Deleted]

Liz Evander

"I hope you don't mind if my journalistic tendencies shine through more than they should," Liz answered to the CEO's remark, a small smile curving up her face. "It won't be excessive, mind you. Just...I grab the opportunity to learn more about metahumans when I could. Both because my job demands such and because I want to, both for me and the public's sake."

Of course, she knew that some things were not for the public's sake. Liz had learned the hard way that some truths were better off unsaid, because media was a powerful thing that could sway minds just with the flick of a finger. Then again, that hadn't been her resolve five years ago--a younger Liz Evander would have told everyone the truth either way, overlooking the fact that it would cause panic and conflict. Now, she knew better--the information was for the public's sake, but sometimes the information was not for the public to know.

"I couldn't possibly imagine, indeed. I didn't even know that 'the Event' was happening during that time, just like most people." she remarked with a chuckle, tilting her head curiously as a thought crossed her mind. "Come to think of it, they said that the Event was a biochemical attack of sorts. Some say that it was the product of terrorism, even, but is that truly the cause of the Event? Do you perhaps have any idea where it came from, Mr. Weaver?"

Her hands were folded across the table again, gaze unrelenting. "It's a question I ask mostly everyone, but all the answers are quite...unsure. Just trying to accumulate possibilities, is all. What do you think, Mr. Weaver?" It was true--it seemed no one had an exact answer as to how the Event truly happened. Half of it was chalked up to conspiracy theories, half of it didn't make sense, and the only official answers weren't actually answers but speculations.

But Dominic did say that he was only one man, and not the whole Program.

Dominic Weaver ||

[Dominic Weaver]

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

There was a glint in Dominic's eye as he replied, "I think it just depends on which journalistic tendencies you're talking about, there are definitely some that I'd rather not have anything to do with." He shrugged, "I'm sure that lots of people would grab that same opportunity, not least the scientists among us. Metahumans are definitely amongst the most fascinating things in the world today, they've changed how we think about everything." He'd read her old articles, and he knew that Liz had lost her job because she had wanted to publish something that others want kept quiet. The question was, whether she believed there were somethings the public still shouldn't know. Or if she was like Will, a man who had been so determined to expose everything that had been hidden for years that he had become a man obsessed. And then the dangerous question, the Event. There were millions, even billions of people that wanted an explanation for the Event, and to Dominic's knowledge, maybe a dozen who actually knew exactly what had happened. Dominic was one of those few. He'd been there when the Doctor, the metahuman responsible for all of this, had set the Event in motion. And he'd been unable to stop it. He'd still been excited and heady with power, and she had shown him just how little power he truly had in the world of metahumans. It had truly reminded him of his mortality. "I don't know Miss Evander, but I don't think it was terrorism. We've been introduced to a world of people with extraordinary abilities, it has brought us some fantastic opportunities as a species. Whoever did it, I don't know if they got what they wanted, but I don't believe, won't believe, they did it to harm people."

© seadra of gs

[Deleted]

Liz Evander

"Is it safe to say that they're the next biggest thing since the Internet?" Liz nodded in agreement, having always been in awe of metahumans even before they surfaced. She was--or always had been--a fan of superheroes, a geek underneath the skin of a time-deficient workaholic. Her exposure to the genre had helped in her job, of course, but even then she was still always a bit mind blown whenever she enountered a metahuman--they always had their own unique surprises.

Not that normal humans didn't have their own surprises.

The CEO's answer regarding the Event's cause impressed Liz--he'd said it with a strong conviction, almost like he knew. Did he? If he did, then he certainly wasn't telling, and Liz certainly wasn't asking anymore. It was always possible that he didn't know, too, and probably just had as strong an intuition as Liz had.

"Interesting answer, Mr. Weaver," she nodded in emphasis, a small crease forming between her eyebrows indicating her piqued wondering. "True, they may not have done it to harm people, but then there are metahumans all around the world now with the intent to hurt." she remarked, rather bluntly at that, which the reporter quickly amended. "However, I do like the fact that it seems to have brought out the best in people as well. We have the Hero Program and it's heroes, and a chance to let the metahumans use their abilities for good. It's all in good balance, I suppose." Liz added with a small smile, although she wondered how long this 'good balance' will last. She had a gut feeling--in this case she wasn't quite fond of it--that one piece of the pillars holding all of the world together was going to topple off one day. A Murphy's Law, except taken up to the hundredth level. It sucked.

Checking the cafe clock, Liz realized the interview had gone longer than expected--which seemed certainly like a good thing, except she didn't know if it was the same for Dominic. "A last question before we finish off this interview, Mr. Weaver? It seems time has passed by quite quickly and I get the feeling you have more important things to do," By this point, Liz was already piling up the sheet of questions that she had set aside. The last item on the paper was a handwritten question she'd never asked yet, but planned to: "All the legends, all the sightings and conspiracies and mythologies--now that something akin to them has come to light, is it possible that they are real too?"

Dominic Weaver || Exit afterwards?

[Dominic Weaver]

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

He shrugged, ”I’m not really qualified to say whether they are or not, but metahumans have changed the ways we view the world and our understanding of science. Whether that’s bigger than the internet. I don’t know…” He smiled that winning, charismatic smile once more, ”Well I do always try to be interesting. Miss Evander. It seems to serve me well in my line of work.” He frowned, it was true that metahuman crime had become almost an epidemic before the launch of the Hero Program, the news showed that such trends were still a serious problem in some countries, although others seemed to have the issue under control. ”There will always be people who try to profit from huge events, it’s just a little more flashy this time around. And you’re right, there are metahumans that want to use their abilities for good, that want to help people. I still believe that we have benefitted more from the Event than we have suffered, even with the terrible events that have occurred.” Dominic had often wondered what the Doctor had truly intended. She had died before seeing the completion of her work, would she have enforced the law herself? She had granted himself and the other survivors abilities, could she take them away? In truth he had never seen, nor heard of a more terrifying metahuman, he still wasn’t entirely sure what her ability was, but he knew that Will’s hadn’t worked on her, and that she had been able to bring all six of them back from the dead. Perhaps there would be new metahumans with an ability that dwarfed hers, but he had yet to witness it. He smiled, ”Trust me Miss Evander, I always have something important to do, taking thirty minutes for an interview won’t make things any harder or easier for me. I’ve learned to let things lie. It’s unlikely that there will be a disaster that requires my immediate attention during this meeting. And if there was, my secretary would have called.” He raised an eyebrow, it was a good question, and he had heard of various similar conspiracy theories roaming the internet. It made sense, it was hard to believe that metahumans were an entirely brand-new phenomenon, and of course he knew better. Metahumans had been around for centuries, it wasn’t hard to believe that they had set themselves up as gods or saints in the past. ”I don’t know, humans have told stories of magic and fairies for as long as we’ve been able to imagine such things. Maybe that means all of those stories are about metahumans, maybe that’s just wishful thinking on our part. I don’t know if we’ll ever know the answer to that.”

© seadra of gs

[Deleted]

Liz Evander

Liz smiled, an inkling of fascination still evident in her eyes as she contemplated the answer. She personally thought that metahumans existed way longer than before the Event, just with different names and with lesser exposure. "Indeed, we'll never know," she answered such, however, because Dominic was right--every theory about that topic was just that: a theory. "But ah, you did say to look forward to the future instead of backwards to the past. Now's better than then, aye."

An easy smile graced her lips as she tucked in the papers inside her sling-bag, beginning to stand up. "One last word for the public, Mr. Weaver?" she suggested as a handshake is slowly offered, a few minutes of pause coming over before Liz continued. "I guess this is the end of our interview, then. Truth be told it was quite an informative one!." she remarked with a chuckle--truthfully, it was indeed an informative interview, albeit not in the way Liz had wanted it to be. But informative, nonetheless. "Greatest thanks from me and the Daily Star, Mr. Weaver--and maybe the public, by extension. A tad bit of new information about the superheroes--the metahumans--is always a nice thing."

There she was again, speaking with the smallest hint of exaggeration.

And with that, the reporter gave a smile of gratitude and a nod of salutation as she started heading for the cafe door.

Dominic Weaver