Chapter 198: Interview under fire ( 7.5 )
Play his messages System.
| Of course |
" Day 1 Log.
Hi-! I am Mercury, I uh... yeah, anyways I am currently trying to track down this player called Cobalt, it is... very hard.
My first guess was to ask Edo and Tungston, the people running the war scenario he was involved in, but... it didn't go as planned.
Though, with help from his friend Arch I managed to trace him to Morin... and that's normally where the end of the story would be, Morin is... not friendly to players. Not at all really...
Makes sense, Cobalt doesn't seem to as well from Origin's reports but as a reporter myself I must get both sides of the story-!
They... are ruthless in their slander. Though, there is evidence towards it. Murder of countless players and NPCs alike... he even disabled weapons for all players, though Origin seems to have fault in that too.
Either way... I gotta find and interview him.
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Day 3 Log.
Mercury here-!
Turns out he is on a Draking Ship, it's been about two days since he has taken off... luckily I have my chariot with me-! Equipped with a few flying mounts, this baby will catch up in no time-!
The only problem is, the ship is the white ravens, a ruthless draking ship that actually has quite the history behind it... in fact, I believe it was one of the first to use Mana-Sails, though... mana sails... aren't exactly... good.
Especially compared to the hearts that such ships hold. Anyways... I won't log until I find Cobalt. "
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Enough, System.
- " Alright, Mercury was it? "
" S-Sir Y-Yes sir! "
- " You are a reporter, correct? "
" Sir yes Sir! "
- " Enough, calm down. Why were you on an enemy Draking Ship. "
" I was captured in-flight! "
- " It doesn't seem you were held captive though, so... "
" I swear-! They held me in a large metal cage, they killed my mounts and broke my chariot! I only just managed to break out when the ship was being destroyed-! "
- " Alright Alright. Give me one second, I need to figure out what to do with you. "
Sigh... damnit, a fucking reporter.
Doesn't that Undead I have control the media? 60% of it right?
| Sorry... those logs are... outdated. |
What is it looking like now System?
| The Undead is... Dead. It's influence captured by Origin, they have control over vast portions of it. |
Shit.
Alright then, so this guy is freelance?
Sucks for him, even if he gets an interview nothing is going to happen... Origin will likely be able to cover it up or contort it... then for the reporter, Suicide by stabbing himself in the back.
Though... he has no where else to go... I could potentially just give him the interview... ugh, but that is so much work... I don't even have defining principles for myself, how am I supposed to relay my emotions in such a small amount of words?
Hopefully it will be easy stuff, but... with reporters like this... ugh.
Oh and uh, by the way... there is still fighting going on outside. Only one ship is supposedly remaining though, they managed to dock... and before we could do anything, they invoked the rite of honorable combat which is tradition in Morin.
Basically they want an arena, one of our ship's members fights one of theirs untill one side gives up or is killed, then it repeats over and over until a winner is declared.
This method sucks... it draws it out so much, and all the while we could just kill them but the Captain said we gotta respect the rules. Even though I was pulled outside to witness it or even participate should it be necessary I elect to return to my room with the captured reporter.
I guess we will do the interview...
What do I have to lose?
Time, probably. I could work on my gun instead, but... I'd kinda feel bad sending him away empty handed after all of this.
- " Alright, Mercury. We'll do the interview, I can spare... maybe an hour or two. If I am needed elsewhere though I will obviously drop it. The only condition I have is you do not ask or talk about my methods for crafting items nor about my class and jobs. "
Mercury - " Thank you Sir! I promise it will be over swiftly-! "
- " Yeah-yeah, I understand!"
I lead the eager reporter to my room for the interview, he actually looks a lot like Arch but... blonde and with a larger amount of hair that spiked straight upwards, his clothes were rather similar to roman clothing, however loose parts were buckled down to make it overall more form fitting. I can only assume based on his name he uses a speed build.
When we arrived, he started setting up cameras and note pads pulled from his inventory. So, he is a Player. Great. The cameras began rolling, with two propped up microphones we began the interview.
M - " Alright, would you please state your name/names for the camera? "
- " I am Avery Hall. Also known as Cobalt. "
M - " Great, you also have elections towards the name Crimson yes? "
- " I don't talk about it much, but yes. I am Crimson as well. "
M - " Though, you said your memories were messed with correct? What do you recall about your life as Crimson? "
- " Not enough. Most things I know were passed down from others or from notes I left myself when I was Crimson. "
M - " Ah, Notes. We know you have a habit of taking notes and writing things down, those manuals you have... some you leave behind for others, correct? "
- " Yes, I have a few hundred or so ' Crimson Notes ' that have left my possession. The notes I take as Cobalt only number around 200~ish. I have most of them with me, though sometimes I give the important ones as gifts to others. "
M - " Alright. So you confirm that there are manuals out there that contain some of your knowledge? "
- " Absolutely. "
M - " That is good to hear, see, there was a rumor that the manuals were fake. Anyways, we should continue on. What is your continued journey currently for? "
- " I am... searching for someone. I will not elaborate further on that. "
M - " Of course, it must be something secret. Now, do you have any impressions on the current debate of Demon and Daemon refugees in certain player owned cities and kingdoms? "
- " None. "
M - " I see. What about Origin? "
- " I hate Origin. "
M - " I see, any reason why? "
- " They fucked with my mind. "
M - " Ah, like mind control? "
- " I don't know much about it. "
M - " Of course... why would they tell you huh? Do you know who might be responsible for that? "
- " The only ones I know for certain aren't under that influence is Ruby and Quartz. So, they likely could be among whoever is carrying out the operation. "
M - " Great, I'll note that down. "
With a small scratch pad, he wrote in big black bold leaders what I just relayed to him.
M - " Do you have any long term goals in StarDuster? "
- " ... Uh... No, I guess not. I don't really want to be part of this... world. You know? "
M - " Could you elaborate? "
- " Well... I just want to... relax. "
M - " So, you aren't interested in StarDuster? "
- " That's not exactly it, but... I guess you could say I didn't have the best experience with it so far. "
M - " Ah, I see. Do you have any connections to this world in general? Ones you wouldn't be willing to break? "
- " Very few. "
M - " I assume most of them include your companions correct? They are some of the most well known NPC companions in the history of the game, do you like them? "
- " Yes. Very much so, they are probably the only reason I haven't left. "
M - " What's your current relation with them, if you don't mind me asking? "
- " I think this might be swaying a little off topic... "
M - " Oh, nonono... See, it's quite imperative to hear about this sort of thing. It will show your humane side to the rest of us. "
- " ... Fine. I guess I'll... ugh. I don't really like talking about this sort of thing but... it is what it is. Dice, Anise, Jotun, Syn, Scarab, and finally me. We are all a group, we all live, fight, eat, and enjoy the bounties of our lives together. "
M - " From our intel, we know three of them are female... with 20 years of spending time together, have you ever though of entering a relationship with one of them? "
- " It crossed my mind a few times, not often anymore though. I was much younger when I first logged in as cobalt, only barely reaching my 20s. With the Addition of my memories as Crimson adding an additional 20 years, and the time I spent dead... I am nearing 60 years old now. I am not suited for a relationship anymore in my opinion. "
M - " Have you ever been approached by one of them in that manner? "
- " They sometimes request to lay next to me in bed while I sleep, sometimes it is of necessity... but mostly, I don't think they see it as anything more. "
M - " Have you ever... actually slept with someone? "
- " N-no... no, I haven't... I think. "
M - " Oh, but there are rumors... about Jotun specifically, they believe her to be your daughter? "
- " Yes, that is true. "
M - " Adopted ? "
- " I... Yeah. She is. "
M - " Alright, I'll move away from that for now... how about Syn, or Scarab? They are rarely seen... in fact, this is my first time hearing of Scarab! What are they like? "
- " Syn is a ' Tough-As-Steel ' no nonsense behemoth of Steel and Smarts, though he does lack emotional capabilities as expected... though he seems more developed in that department everyday... Scarab is... the opposite, a small yet quick machine meant specifically to do the things Syn and I cannot accomplish on our own. "
M - " Alright, thanks for all this knowledge... I will bring this to my boss, and we can maybe get it on air in... a week maybe? I'm sorry for asking so many personal questions, but for your first interview it is a necessity for the audience to know and sympathize with you... currently Origin sorta has... "
- " A bounty on me right? "
M - " Yeah... that and they are also demonizing you in many ways. "
- " I see... what is the bounty? "
M - " To be your replacement. "
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