by Tony Corden
“Not Merideath?”
“It’s possible. You need to be calm and get ahead of this. The people I talked with were amazed you had the gumption to take on Dunyanin. They all saw you as a nice sweet girl, someone who was in over her head and likely to be destroyed in the first skirmish. The fact that you are proactive here has already shifted how they see you. You need to do what Stephen said; you need to treat her as irrelevant.”
Leah nodded and then said, “By the way, I think I can prove I didn’t teleport to Malden in the break. I didn’t have that spell then. I didn’t get it until after I left the Pantheon of Heaven.”
Sharon smiled, and the three settled down to discuss strategies. Sharon helped Leah with what she should and shouldn’t say on particular issues, and Stephen cautioned her on the legal ramifications of any statements she made.
At nine thirty Leah and Sharon entered a portal Gèng had arranged for them to the Virtual World Today Studio World. It was dedicated to providing news and commentary on what was happening in the world-wide multiverse. Within the world were several separate daughter worlds, each one coded to give viewers a front row seat to the news, commentary or interview. When a viewer chose to watch a particular show, their avatar was given front row seats in the audience which was made up of all the other viewers around the world. Each person believed they were in the front row and if they turned around, they could see a whole crowd behind then in row after row of viewers.
Those on the stage were able to look out at the crowd and get an indication of the audience size. If they focussed on the centre of the first row, then each person in the audience felt as if they were personally being noticed and valued. The technology was widely used and was able to cope easily with audiences of a hundred million or more.
When Leah and Sharon arrived, they were welcomed by the show’s producer who apologised that the interviewers were unable to meet and greet due to the hurried nature of the show. She said, “It looks like this’ll be one of the largest shows we have hosted this year. News of the interview was released twenty minutes ago, and we already have over four million viewers who’ve set alarms to be present. We expect the number of live viewers to top two hundred million. It is a coup to have this in our studios even though it is likely the greatest number of viewers will come from China. Yuè_Fēi_Lóng’s comments about you in an interview the other day sparked an interest in you that surged when you claimed the dragon.”
Sharon said, “Who else is coming?”
“We have a representative from Dunyanin who was invited although we haven't warned them of the topic. Yuè_Fēi_Lóng was unable to come due to a prior engagement, but Боевой_молот will be here, as will Gottes_Krieger and Merideath. She rarely responds to an interview request without advance warning, and we are thrilled she accepted. Let’s take you through to pre-production, and we’ll help you get ready.”
Leah said, “What do you mean? Get ready?”
“You need to get into your Dunyanin gear. What were you planning to wear?”
“What I have on.”
“Not possible. You can’t just wear slacks and a nice blouse. You aren’t appearing as Atherleah Carroll; here you are Atherleah, the player from Dunyanin. That is who we want to interview.”
Leah turned to Sharon who nodded and said, “Sorry, my bad. I thought you understood. You need to dress the part. You can choose whatever you want from your Dunyanin clothing.”
Leah followed them backstage and then equipped the same clothes she wore at the first press conference. The Producer shook her head and said, “Don’t you have anything else? The people have seen that already. Even your armour would be better than that. The others all look heroic and mighty.”
“Are they wearing the same as before?”
“No! They all have on a different array of armour. The only one the same is the Paladin, but he always wears the same thing.”
Leah thought for a moment and then equipped the Emeraldine gown she had worn to the Elven Court of Göksel-Orman. She added the jewellery and Merdiven. The producer stared for a moment and said, “It isn’t heroic or mighty, but it’s different, and it might set a good contrast. It's a good choice.”
After some last minute advice from Sharon, a member of the production crew came and said, “Please come with me Atherleah. You need to be seated in the next few minutes. The show will begin at 9.55. This gives us fifteen minutes before your feed is due to air.”
Leah followed the man through a door and onto a stage. She looked out over an empty auditorium which in just minutes would be filled with millions of people as they logged on. On the stage were nine chairs arranged in a semicircle so everyone could see the others.
Leah was the last to arrive as Боевой_молот, Gottes_Krieger and Merideath were already seated on large padded armchairs. She was shown to a similar chair positioned next to Боевой_молот (Boyevoy_Molot, Battle Hammer). Across from her were the four interviewers or hosts. Lisa Wilks, Mark Stevens, and two people she didn’t know. Gèng informed her they were 诚实 (Chéng Shí) from the top-rated Chinese show on virtual gaming and Костя Алексеев (Kostya Alekseyev) from the Russian Federation. Lisa Wilks was in the centre chair. At the other end of the half-circle was a man in a suit who Leah recognised as one of the men she had ignored and logged out on earlier in the day. His name, Gèng shared was William Masters.
The clock counted down to zero and Leah could see the show’s introductory graphics showing in a small display Gèng relayed to her vision. She looked up and could see the seats filling faster than she had a chance to count. The number was displayed in her vision and was already over five million. She swallowed and began to breathe carefully, hoping to remain calm.
Gèng interrupted her thoughts and said quietly, “Leah, two things have just happened that you need to know. First, Dunyanin has just released a press statement that your account has been suspended awaiting review for inappropriate use and tampering for financial gain. Second, and more importantly, I just received news that your mother was abducted on her way to church.”