Post by morph on Aug 21, 2006 7:40:48 GMT -5
The Press Room of the White House had been intricately prepared. Chairs had been placed properly on the cleaned and scrubbed blue carpet, with reporters now occupying the folding chairs that had been provided. A rumble of voices echoed through the white walled room in anticipation of one man's arrival, with a single podium set up on the stage in front of the reporters.
The rumble suddenly lowered as somebody finally stepped on stage. A foot, covered by a black dress shoe, first stepped out from behind the curtain to the left. Another foot followed. Legs clad in dark blue slacks moved out to follow the shoes. They trailed up to a torso, dressed in a buttoned-up white shirt, with a dark blue dress coat over it. Hands came up to adjust the red necktie that was worn around his neck.
The figure stopped walking as he came in front of the podium. He adjusted the eyeglasses that were worn in front of his brown eyes, and then lightly trailed his hand over the side of his brown hair. The rather attractive causasian then placed his hands on the podium and looked out over the crowd of newsmen.
"Ladies and gentlemen, my name is Doctor Kevin Sidney." Those words would probably wake up the entire Xavier Institute. The inhabitants of the mansion would more than likely be watching it, since nearly all of the channels had switched to the coverage of it. The older members of the mansion would probably be shocked to find that one of their own had ascended to Hank's position.
"As it has been rumored throughout the week, I am the new Secretary of Mutant Affairs. Dr. McCoy opted to resign from his position due to personal reasons. But that won't set up back. I promise you that the relationship between man- and mutantkind is at an all time high. Magneto is no longer a threat and we are making progress against the so-called 'Brotherhood'."
"Before any questions, I would like to take a moment to talk about the NovaTeX incident. This was a blatant attack by the Brotherhood. At the current count, 25 mutant lives were lost, along with 37 human lives, due to the machinations of the Brotherhood. The Cure that NovaTeX produces is a purely optional pharmaceutical application. Nobody is forced to take this cure. The Brotherhood will be caught for their crimes against not only mankind, but also mutantkind."
"With that said, I received word this morning from Director Denti of the FBI that the Most Wanted List has been updated." Lifting his hand, a screen lowered from the ceiling to stand at his side. A single image was shown on it, a photo of a young man. "Ladies and gentlemen, this is John Allerdyce, alias Pyro. According to reports and testimony, he is the new leader of the Brotherhood, and he also orchestrated the attack on NovaTeX. With that said, he is now #1 on the FBI's Most Wanted List. If anybody has seen this man, they are advised to call 911 IMMEDIATELY. Now, are there any questions?"
Instantly, a million hands went into the air. Kevin lifted his hand to point at one of them. "Yes, you?"
She couldn't help but feel smug when she was called on first, although she didn't let it show on her face. "Patricia Tilby, WNBC. The American people have been shown no evidence that John Allerdyce was even at NovaTeX Baltimore. Isn't it damaging to mutant-human relations to incite a state of fear over unsubstantiated claims?"
"I would like to thank you for bringing up that point, Ms. Tilby." With one hand, he grabbed the rim of his glasses and lightly adjusted them. "It is true that we have no footage of John Allerdyce at the scene of NovaTeX." A low rumble of voices went through the room. "But we do have footage." The image of Pyro on the screen faded into a montage of various screen captures from the NovaTeX security systems, which showed various members of the Brotherhood fighting.
"Ladies and gentlemen, what you see before you was taken from what little data that was left from the NovaTeX security systems. These faces should be familiar to you. Some of them were at M-Day on Alcatraz. Some of them have been on various news reports. The thing that all of these people have in common is that they are members of the Brotherhood. This footage, combined with the witness accounts of the survivors, is more than enough evidence to show that the Brotherhood was greatly involved in the incident. It is known that John Allerdyce has been leading the Brotherhood since Erik Lehnsherr's disappearance. Due to these actions, we have no other choice that to put John Allerdyce at the top of the FBI's Most Wanted List, with the other members of the Brotherhood also joining him."
"In the coming days, we will be releasing information on all of the members of the Brotherhood spotted at NovaTeX. In short, the only thing that has damaged mutant-human relations is the fact that there were killer plants, which were controlled by a member of the Brotherhood, eating human beings and mutants alike outside of NovaTex. Next question."
"Dr. Sidney. I was wondering if you could enlighten the American people about the involvement of the X-Men at Baltimore. Eyewitness reports have told us that while they appeared to be fighting the Brotherhood, several members may in fact have attacked the government's newly unveiled Sentinels. Can you confirm this?"
"As you may know, Ms. Tilby, the United States government does not confirm nor deny the existence of these so-called 'X-Men'. I can, however, confirm that there were other mutants in the area that were fighting the Brotherhood. With how many mutants were in line to receive the Cure, this isn't surprising." Then she asked him about the Sentnels.
"The Sentinel program was designed to help. I would like to assure all of you of that." He could feel his stomach churning. "They are there to fight and detain those mutants who break the law, such as the Brotherhood. As this was their first run, there was bound to be some malfunctions. With all of the chaos that was happening at NovaTeX, it was hard to tell friend from foe, and when these mutants saw the Sentinels attempting to apprehend them, they did what any person, mutant or human, would do: they fought back." He was going to be throwing up after this. Of course, he'd have to make some vomit TO throw up.
"Next question."
"If the Sentinel program was untested, bound to have malfunctions as you said, why was it launched? Isn't that a gross compromise of the safety of the American people?"
"Now you're putting words into my mouth, Ms. Tilby. I never said that the Sentinel program was untested. We have gone through numerous trial runs with hundreds of hours spent over the course of several years in constructing the suits. However, on the first public run, there were bound to be kinks in an actual application on a real battlefield."
"In perspective, let's put them into terms of what I'm a doctor of. In 1998, when Bill Gates had the first public showing on Windows 98, there was a blue screen error because there were still bugs. This was our blue screen error, due to the unforeseen attack by more mutants than just the Brotherhood. Secretary Trask of the Department of Homeland Security assured me this morning that following the incident, the Sentinel armor and the soldiers operating them are under research and advisement."
A random person walked out on stage just as he was reaching the end of that speech. Without turning to look at the person, Kevin found them whispering in his ear. Slowly he nodded, still facing the crowd, before the person walked back offstage. "Ladies and gentlemen, that concludes this conference. Thank you and good day." As he walked off stage, there was a variety of clicks, clacks, and flashing lights, with a loud rumble of voices synchronizing with the cameras. The reporters immediately stood up, shouting things, trying to get more information.
The rumble suddenly lowered as somebody finally stepped on stage. A foot, covered by a black dress shoe, first stepped out from behind the curtain to the left. Another foot followed. Legs clad in dark blue slacks moved out to follow the shoes. They trailed up to a torso, dressed in a buttoned-up white shirt, with a dark blue dress coat over it. Hands came up to adjust the red necktie that was worn around his neck.
The figure stopped walking as he came in front of the podium. He adjusted the eyeglasses that were worn in front of his brown eyes, and then lightly trailed his hand over the side of his brown hair. The rather attractive causasian then placed his hands on the podium and looked out over the crowd of newsmen.
"Ladies and gentlemen, my name is Doctor Kevin Sidney." Those words would probably wake up the entire Xavier Institute. The inhabitants of the mansion would more than likely be watching it, since nearly all of the channels had switched to the coverage of it. The older members of the mansion would probably be shocked to find that one of their own had ascended to Hank's position.
"As it has been rumored throughout the week, I am the new Secretary of Mutant Affairs. Dr. McCoy opted to resign from his position due to personal reasons. But that won't set up back. I promise you that the relationship between man- and mutantkind is at an all time high. Magneto is no longer a threat and we are making progress against the so-called 'Brotherhood'."
"Before any questions, I would like to take a moment to talk about the NovaTeX incident. This was a blatant attack by the Brotherhood. At the current count, 25 mutant lives were lost, along with 37 human lives, due to the machinations of the Brotherhood. The Cure that NovaTeX produces is a purely optional pharmaceutical application. Nobody is forced to take this cure. The Brotherhood will be caught for their crimes against not only mankind, but also mutantkind."
"With that said, I received word this morning from Director Denti of the FBI that the Most Wanted List has been updated." Lifting his hand, a screen lowered from the ceiling to stand at his side. A single image was shown on it, a photo of a young man. "Ladies and gentlemen, this is John Allerdyce, alias Pyro. According to reports and testimony, he is the new leader of the Brotherhood, and he also orchestrated the attack on NovaTeX. With that said, he is now #1 on the FBI's Most Wanted List. If anybody has seen this man, they are advised to call 911 IMMEDIATELY. Now, are there any questions?"
Instantly, a million hands went into the air. Kevin lifted his hand to point at one of them. "Yes, you?"
She couldn't help but feel smug when she was called on first, although she didn't let it show on her face. "Patricia Tilby, WNBC. The American people have been shown no evidence that John Allerdyce was even at NovaTeX Baltimore. Isn't it damaging to mutant-human relations to incite a state of fear over unsubstantiated claims?"
"I would like to thank you for bringing up that point, Ms. Tilby." With one hand, he grabbed the rim of his glasses and lightly adjusted them. "It is true that we have no footage of John Allerdyce at the scene of NovaTeX." A low rumble of voices went through the room. "But we do have footage." The image of Pyro on the screen faded into a montage of various screen captures from the NovaTeX security systems, which showed various members of the Brotherhood fighting.
"Ladies and gentlemen, what you see before you was taken from what little data that was left from the NovaTeX security systems. These faces should be familiar to you. Some of them were at M-Day on Alcatraz. Some of them have been on various news reports. The thing that all of these people have in common is that they are members of the Brotherhood. This footage, combined with the witness accounts of the survivors, is more than enough evidence to show that the Brotherhood was greatly involved in the incident. It is known that John Allerdyce has been leading the Brotherhood since Erik Lehnsherr's disappearance. Due to these actions, we have no other choice that to put John Allerdyce at the top of the FBI's Most Wanted List, with the other members of the Brotherhood also joining him."
"In the coming days, we will be releasing information on all of the members of the Brotherhood spotted at NovaTeX. In short, the only thing that has damaged mutant-human relations is the fact that there were killer plants, which were controlled by a member of the Brotherhood, eating human beings and mutants alike outside of NovaTex. Next question."
"Dr. Sidney. I was wondering if you could enlighten the American people about the involvement of the X-Men at Baltimore. Eyewitness reports have told us that while they appeared to be fighting the Brotherhood, several members may in fact have attacked the government's newly unveiled Sentinels. Can you confirm this?"
"As you may know, Ms. Tilby, the United States government does not confirm nor deny the existence of these so-called 'X-Men'. I can, however, confirm that there were other mutants in the area that were fighting the Brotherhood. With how many mutants were in line to receive the Cure, this isn't surprising." Then she asked him about the Sentnels.
"The Sentinel program was designed to help. I would like to assure all of you of that." He could feel his stomach churning. "They are there to fight and detain those mutants who break the law, such as the Brotherhood. As this was their first run, there was bound to be some malfunctions. With all of the chaos that was happening at NovaTeX, it was hard to tell friend from foe, and when these mutants saw the Sentinels attempting to apprehend them, they did what any person, mutant or human, would do: they fought back." He was going to be throwing up after this. Of course, he'd have to make some vomit TO throw up.
"Next question."
"If the Sentinel program was untested, bound to have malfunctions as you said, why was it launched? Isn't that a gross compromise of the safety of the American people?"
"Now you're putting words into my mouth, Ms. Tilby. I never said that the Sentinel program was untested. We have gone through numerous trial runs with hundreds of hours spent over the course of several years in constructing the suits. However, on the first public run, there were bound to be kinks in an actual application on a real battlefield."
"In perspective, let's put them into terms of what I'm a doctor of. In 1998, when Bill Gates had the first public showing on Windows 98, there was a blue screen error because there were still bugs. This was our blue screen error, due to the unforeseen attack by more mutants than just the Brotherhood. Secretary Trask of the Department of Homeland Security assured me this morning that following the incident, the Sentinel armor and the soldiers operating them are under research and advisement."
A random person walked out on stage just as he was reaching the end of that speech. Without turning to look at the person, Kevin found them whispering in his ear. Slowly he nodded, still facing the crowd, before the person walked back offstage. "Ladies and gentlemen, that concludes this conference. Thank you and good day." As he walked off stage, there was a variety of clicks, clacks, and flashing lights, with a loud rumble of voices synchronizing with the cameras. The reporters immediately stood up, shouting things, trying to get more information.