teja (teja) wrote in neogenesisrpg, @ 2009-03-16 19:02:00 |
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Entry tags: | elsie strahm, ethan sawyer, teja jansen, vivian yahni |
Who: Vivian Yahni, Teja Jansen, Ethan Sawyer, Elsie Sawyer.
What: Press Conference on the Issue of Contamined Serum
When: Monday, 11 AM.
Where: Seattle Pairing Office
Rating: G
Status: Complete
Vivian traced the crack in the wall with her eyes. She saw it run up the length of the building, past the ceiling and deep into the foundation, splitting brick and cement like a fissure in scorched earth. It calmed her where the people rushing about her were just a distraction. She followed it until she couldn't because someone was blocking her vision. "Dr Jansen." It wasn't a question or a greeting. More like a sign that she remembered her.
"Vivian, you're far too tense." Teja stated as she moved aside for the other woman, hand resting on her expanding stomach. At least fashion had kept up enough to provide business dresses that were tasteful and had a sliming effect. Not out of vanity, but people were less prone to touch her stomach if they didn't think she was far along as she was. Less attention on the baby, the better. "Did the main office provide a statement or are we to wing it?"
"The party line is that the serum was infected by terrorists operating within Seattle." A tight smile. "What else could it be?" She rose from the uncomfortable wooden chair and smoothed down her suit. "Your husband wasn't infected, I hope?"
"He's exempt, for now." Teja replied, her smile coming more easily than Vivian's. She stepped up to the podium and addressed the reporters gathered in front of it. "Thank you for waiting, we will start shortly. Off the record, for those new in the press pool, we will start with the prepared statements and open up the floor for questions. Any first timers? Do not be shy, I will be sure to call on you later."
Vivian followed at a more sedate pace, taking her place beside the other woman. It would be better if she ran the show but she didn't hold all the cards and some of these faces needed to be remembered for the future. Just in case they printed something they shouldn't. Vivian watched the room settle and wished she could remind the doctor that they weren't here to joke. There was a regional crisis going on. Humor was out of place. "Good morning. I will deliver a short statement on behalf of the Pairing Office, after which we will open the floor to questions for both Dr Jansen and myself."
"Golden Rule, Ms Yahni." Teja whispered into the woman's ear. "Make them believe you will answer any question they might ask and they in turn will give a malleable session. Come in too cold, and their soft balls turn into icicles." She smiled and turned back to the series of microphones.
"Like I said, before we start I would like to get to know if there was anyone I have yet to meet in the pool. Show of hands?" Committing the owners of the raised hands to memory, Teja made a note to familiarize herself with those people later. It was easier to work a familiar crowd, knowing their strengths as well as their weaknesses. "Alright, we are on record. Vivian Yahni, Head of Security of the Seattle Pairing Office, is here today to address your concerns about contaminated serum."
Vivian bit the inside of her cheek. If Dr Jansen wanted to play buddy buddy to these people, that was fine, but she was going to have to talk to her about authority. "Thank you, Doctor," she replied, biting back aggravation. "Over the course of the weekend, there have been reports of contaminated serum in Seattle... sadly they are correct. We are working closely with the AAPCC to contain the spread of the tainted vials. That said, it is our belief that this is the work of domestic terrorists attacking the pairing system through innocent casualties."
"Law enforcement in Seattle will be on alert until we have captured the people responsible. In the meantime, we would like to ask that the public keep calm and cooperate. Beginning tomorrow, special forces will be deployed throughout the city. They will be there for your protection and security. If anyone has any information about suspicious activity, please come forward. Thank you."
Teja stepped up to the microphone once more."We will now open the floor for questions."
Elsie was the first in the room to stand up, notebook in hand, with a question. She was never one to trust the government, so her first question came easily enough. "Elsie St--Sawyer, Seattle Times. Ms. Yahni, how does your office know that these tainted vials were the work of terrorists, as opposed to disgruntled employees, or even a mistaken formula or bad batch?"
Vivian recalled the name and felt it interesting that a previously absent journalist was taking such an interest in the pairing process. The more things changed, the more dangerous it was. "That is a tendentious question, Ms Sawyer. We would ask that you not contribute to panic by parading misleading information to the public. Our staff, both here and in Washington dedicate themselves to the production en masse of the serum. And I refuse to make a scapegoat out of them. Next question."
Ethan raised a brow slightly as he stood up from the chair beside Elsie. "Ethan Sawyer, also from the Seattle times." he stated. "Have any groups taken credit for this happening?" he asked. "And if not, are their any suspects?"
Sawyer and Sawyer. Interesting. Vivian kept an impassive expression. "There have been no claims by any extremist group so far. I cannot comment on the suspects as it might interfere with the ongoing investigation."
Elsie raised an eyebrow at her husband when he sat back down. While she didn't want their little family to dominate the press conference, as yet there were no other takers. She stood up again. "Can you tell us more about these special forces we'll be seeing? Are they military, paramilitary, or specially trained police...?"
"They will be paramilitary. We did not want to take law enforcement personnel away from their duties," Vivian replied, reminding herself to do this differently next time. There should have been a clear sense of who asked what and when.
A woman stood from her chair. "Terry Walker, Associated Press. Aside from the paramilitary measures, do you believe that the group responsible to the leaked fliers that have circulated around Washington to this attack or are the timing of these events merely coincidental?"
We do believe there is a connection, but I cannot say if they are attacks by the same group or not because we do not know yet." Vivian licked her lips. "I would venture to note that all these events are related and what we are seeing here in Seattle is the manifestation of a state enemy. Hackings, sabotage. It is important we take these attacks seriously and respond in kind."
Ethan raised a brow at that and waited as a few more questions were asked before standing again. "Ms. Yahni, if it's discovered that this is all connected and the minds behind the attacks are found, what is planned to be done?" he asked.
What a strange question, Vivian thought and directed her attention back to Mr Sawyer. "What must be done will be done. DHS will take every measure necessary to ensure the security of the American people."
"Mara de Cote, Seattle Weekly. Any response on the leaked fliers for that matter? Our office has researched and have located General Hall and related trips to the region in Africa stated in the email addressed to you."
"The leaked fliers, as you call them, are pure fabrication. While it is true our systems have been broken into twice, the information released is false. Of course, like every good lie it makes use of some truth to back up its claims. If you would like to know more about the African situation, you are welcome to submit your queries to me via email. This is not the forum."
Elsie stood up once more. "So then, the 'un-officials in the North' mentioned in the fliers would not be considered as suspects for this attack? And is it possible that the House of Spades have now changed their modus operandi?"
Vivian allowed herself a smile, but it was cold and unfriendly. "There are no un-officials in the North. As for the House of Spades, yes it is entirely possible that they are responsible here. It is also possible this is the work of some other group. We have no means of ascertaining that as of yet."
Ethan stood once Elsie sat down. "If you have no means of proving that it's the House of Spades, how can you prove that there aren't an 'un-officials in the North'?"
Vivian blinked. "I don't know how to answer that question. I'm afraid I don't understand what you mean. Could you rephrase?"
"You said you have no way of proving who did or didn't do this. But then you say that the 'unofficials of the north' don't exist. How can you be so sure?" he asked. "Are you positive that those people don't exist?"
"They don't exist in the context of the fliers in question. They don't exist as far as the government or myself is aware. For all we know there could be martians in orbit for the Earth as we speak, Mr Sawyer... Would you like me to speculate on their existence, too?"
Ethan fought back the urge to be annoyed. "No, ma'am." he muttered, mostly under his breath as he sat back down.
Elsie stood up, irritated herself at the tone the woman had used. "Why not? Maybe aliens are the terrorists," she said, nearly growling. "Next question, to either Ms. Yahni or Mrs. Jansen: In light of the contaminated batches, is there currently a hold being placed on the administration of new injections? And are new batches being tested for contamination?"
"I prefer, Dr. Jansen, Mrs. Sawyer." Teja said, smiling faintly. "Personally I would love for the terrorists to be aliens but I'm sure there is a 89 percent chance that they would have little interest in North American politics. As for the batches that are suspect to contamination, they have already been removed from circulation and are being processed for evidence. People are advised to continue to receive their monthly injections."
"Sandra Pierce, CNN. There was a second flier circulated through university campuses in Seattle. Could either your o Doctor Jansen comment on the veracity of a relocation program? Who is Subject Five?"
Vivian shook her head, glancing off the stage to one of the aides who had done less than his job in regimenting these jungle creatures. "I'm afraid not. I'm being told that's all we have time for today. Thank you, all." She didn't give Dr Jansen a chance to speak, unsure, for a fraction of a second, if the other woman wouldn't just come out and confess.
Teja lowered herself into a chair placed behind the podium, slipping her feet out of her heels to let her ankles breathe. "I do have a filter you know, I could've handled subject five or the relocation project response just fine."
Vivian turned her back to the journalists and approached the other woman. "If you're lucky, that subject will be buried and stay buried under all the news about serum, un-officials and aliens," she replied somewhat testily. "Let me make one thing clear, Doctor. The media is not our friend. They are vultures and they eat whatever carrion we feed them. If you show our weaknesses to them, it's us they'll be having for lunch. Interfere with me again and we'll have a problem."
Teja smiled. "Who said anything about showing weaknesses? If anything, the media has shown more of their own. Personal slights aside, my observations do have merit, yes?"
Vivian squared her jaw, determined to disagree even as she recognized that there was some truth to the Doctor's advice. "If I were interested in dealing with a malleable crowd, yes. Why isn't there anyone to field questions here? The press have free reign. It's unacceptable."
"It's unacceptable, but effective. The problem with having someone field questions is they will withhold questions that they are assured will not get through. By allowing them to ask what they want, you learn what they know more than what they don't. Look at the brightside, Ms Yahni, your Macguffin is well into play."
Another good point. Maybe Vivian had underestimated the good Doctor. "I can't say I know what you mean," she replied, this time allowing herself a smile. "At least officially. But it is fortunate that out of two possible choices, they would all pick the box with thin air in it."
"Ever heard of the Kansas City Shuffle? It's a jazz song by Bennie Moten." Teja rambled on, waving to a reporter as they walked by them, speaking the lyrics as if part of the conversation. "Whereas you look left and they fall right into the Kansas City Shuffle. It's a 'they-think you-think you don't know' type of Kansas City hustle where you take your time, wait your turn, and hang them up, and out to dry..."
Vivian wasn't sure she caught all of it but what she did made her rethink her opinion of the Doctor. Not absent-minded and obtuse. Something else. Something quite different. Glancing at the reporters passing, she gave a slight nod to the other woman. "We should go. I have paramilitary force to set up."
"Jasper listens to a lot of jazz." She returned the nod and kept her eyes on the reporters pool as they gathered their belongings and their notes and retreated from the safety net of the press room. "You can go on ahead, I want to rest my feet a little longer."
Vivian glanced between her and the exit, sighing. "Have a care who you talk to about... jazz." It wasn't a threat or a warning, she didn't think Dr Jansen needed either. Nor that she would respond to anything she didn't want to respond to. "There will be a team in today to switch your system to a parallel network. You know what to do." Namely, keep them both updated - one with reliable information, the other not so much. Because while it was true you could catch more flies with honey, you still had to lay a few traps.
"That will be no problem at all, Ms. Yahni. I'm sure I can think of other genres you might like to hear about, later."
Vivian smiled - "I look forward to it." - and made her way down from the podium, past security guards. Damage control done, she could worry about practicalities now.