16) The Interview

The Rank 5 gave me a nod. “Emma told me what you got planned, and this is how we are going to play it.” He held out his hand in a stop motion. “Now let me finish, before you start to argue, I’m going to deny it.”

I tried not to react, even in relief since a refusal meant it was done and over with, with no need for me to do anything else. But he continued, "Then you're going to sue me over it and I'll lose in court.”

“Everyone who hates the idea will have no leg to stand on when I give up opposing it after losing in court and then it’s just a matter of regulating recognition of nonhuman intelligence. We might even push this to include the synthetics as well.”

He looked off in the distance. “Although they always say they want the same responsibilities along with the rights, I think we'll have to make it so nonhuman people have to ask for human rights. Not force it on them.”

After that, it was just a matter of him suggesting a good lawyer and advising me not to mention he had recommended them since they hated his guts. And telling Pal, the Palace intelligence to send me the contact information.

Then he and Bravada started to tell stories about Shimmer back when she was a kid which made her suddenly claim we had a team meeting to get to.

To my surprise, we did in fact have a meeting, but it wasn’t with the entire team, just one of the support members which was a surprise since I hadn’t been aware of us having any. Which I mentioned. “I wasn't aware we had support members?”

Shimmer grinned and nodded her head. “Up until she got a hold of me last night, we didn’t.”

We ended up at an almost entirely open and empty floor of part of the Palace complex set aside for Team Royal, with a single glass walled office standing in one corner with all white or glass furniture.

Once inside it, Shimmer held her hands toward the sharply dressed woman who looked barely older than the eighteen year old Shimmer. "This is Teresa Tian, she's going to handle all of our social media and public relations." Then she swept her hands towards me. "He's all yours Teresa."

Then she walked over to the far end of the small all glass office and sat down on the white sofa while our new team member held her hand out to the chairs on the opposite side of the clear glass table.

She stood out in the white office with a cream short sleeved pullover shirt under a black and yellow checkered skirt with an overall like bib. She held out her hand. “It’s nice to meet you Orpheus. Shimmer had informed me you prefer to keep out of the spotlight. But I’m afraid the cat is out of the bag.”

She began tapping the table as lights shown on her yellow framed glasses that matched the images and silent videos appearing on the table showing the parents of the little girl, Kelly, whose life I had saved on the night Dr Talon had raided central holding below the Rome precinct house.

Teresa pointed at images. "No one told the Housers to keep quiet so your ability to raise the dead, if not exactly how you do it, is going viral and people want to know why you aren't doing more of it. Some headline hounds are trying to turn it into an issue, while the god botherers are claiming all sorts of things.”

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

She turned her chair to face me directly as she set her hands flat on top of the table. “We need to get ahead of this Sir. And the best way to do this is with an interview.”

I sighed. “Alright, but not in person.”

The Lane Report.

By Lavern Shenney.

So I was given the chance for an exclusive interview with the elusive Orpheus, a possible Healer Rank 5 with the ability to raise the dead.

I guess I lucked out having been one of the college roommates of the Royals' new media and public relations person. Teresa Tian.

At least I thought so until I found out the interview would be in a morgue. Teresa refused to explain why since she claimed it would ruin the surprise.

So that’s how I found myself in a small unused office with a dead woman on a gurney with a white sheet pulled up over her head. Her body even had a toe tag with the name and personal information which I agreed not to share with my readers.

Miss Tain explained. "She donated her body to science, but we don't want anyone stealing her remains or otherwise disrespecting them just because it's confirmed that Orpheus rode it." She held up her hand. "Ask him, he might even explain."

Then she made a call on her phone. “We’re all ready. Please don’t say brains, or slowly sit up with the sheet still over your head. Yes, Shimmer warned me.” Then Miss Tian folded the sheet down revealing the pale face of the dead woman

The corpse’s eyes opened then its chest rose as it took a deep breath.

And began coughing. Deep rapid cough as it covered its mouth with a jerky motion of its arm.

It spoke. "Ack. I hate smokers." Its voice was harsh and sounded like it was coming from far further away than the inside of the tiny woman's corpse.

The body sat up revealing that it was wearing a hospital gown under the sheet as it gave Miss Tain a hard stare. “It’s not a big issue, but there wasn’t a male body around?”

Miss Tian shrugged. "I thought a small woman would be less scary."

The corpse turned its dry eyes to me, its eyelids stretching with them as the skin stuck to the dry surface of its eyes. "Well, is it?"

I shook my head no. Honestly, it was all I could do not to run out of the room. I had seen clips of Orpheus all dressed up in black military gear with his white harp symbol spray painted on it.

But in this room, dressed only in a hospital gown and looking at me with dead eyes. This was terrifying.

“You had questions?”

I stammered a bit as I asked it, him, about his ability to raise the dead.

It held up a hand, "Let me be clear, I have the ability to regenerate the body I'm in. If the body has only been dead a few moments, I can heal it back to life. But it's no more than a good trauma team or even a paramedic could do to someone who only just died."

Even with the hollow raspy voice, I could pick a sense that Orpheus himself felt disappointed about that.

"If the body is damaged enough, by the time I got it fixed up enough to function, it's like… whoever should be taking over the controls just isn't there anymore. I don't want to imply it's something spiritual. I think it's more like they believe how Trigger events work. The people have to have the drive to live badly enough to push past their own deaths."

It shrugged. “Or maybe I’m not trying hard enough.”

I never thought I would see a depressed corpse, so I changed the subject quick. “Were you aware Miss Kelly Houser triggered due to your resurrection of her?”

The copse seemed to perk up. "Good for her, I thought I felt something like she was taking over her own healing before I jumped out. What did she get?”

I grinned. “She was producing new material while she replaced a severed finger at the hospital, so she's at least a Rank 4 healer and by the speed, she healed up from a blood draw, also a Regenerator of Rank 2 or higher.”

The Corpse winced. “That’s great, but also a lot of responsibility for a little girl or anyone. She's going to get a lot of pressure to be a Cape and go out and fight bad guys since she can heal and survive getting hit."

I leaned forward. “Does everyone you bring back from death Trigger?”

The corpse narrowed its eyes at me. "No. Absolutely not. Most people panic when they come back to life and push me out. I can't stay inside someone else's body against their will, and then they die because I wasn't able to finish healing them."

“And I don’t appreciate you suggesting something that will make me even more of a target for those who come after people like me. This interview is over.”

The corpse settled itself back down on the table as I tried to apologize and then it went still as whatever, whoever had animated it left it.

Let me take this opportunity to apologize to Orpheus. I didn’t think my question would upset you so much, if at all. I hope I get another opportunity to apologize in person and continue our interview, maybe with a pre-approved list of questions this time?