SIS B5: Chapter 12: Interview and Forum

A/N: Sorry for the delay. Same ol' same ol'. Lacking motivation and whatnot. Anyway, we're back again for, like, the millionth time. c:

*** 

'More impressive than the studios back home,' Daz thought as he looked around.

Right now he and Madison were sitting patiently on a rather comfortable sofa on the interview set while dozens of people fussed around them getting everything prepared.

'I wonder how this'll go? Will it be in my favour, or will they try to attack me and my character? Not that I really care either way. Honestly, I'd rather they chose to scrutinise me. At least then I can pick apart whatever arguments they've thought up,' Daz considered.

"This, boring... Should, have, hotel. Could, sleep, there..." Madison complained softly.

Daz glanced her way only to be met with Mr Barrier staring back at him despite the furry creature having no eyes. Tilting to look down, he realised his fiancée had pressed her head against his shoulder.

A passing producer stopped in his steps before giving an appreciative nod. "Very nice. That'll win you some sympathy points."

"Can we start?" Daz curtly replied. "What is all of this preparation even for? This isn't pre-apocalypse. Just get the interviewer or interviewers out here and let's start this thing already."

"O-Of course," the producer said with a strained face.

However, despite Daz's pointed words, the show didn't go live for another 23 minutes and 32 seconds by his count. He had little better to do while they waited than to measure the time, after all.

"Going live in three."

"two."

"one."

"You're on!"

The duo of man and woman interviewers adjusted their notes against their desks before they both smiled at the main camera in the fakest way Daz had ever seen in his life.

"Hello and welcome once again to MFI News! Tonight we have a very special set of guests who have agreed to do a personal interview with us. Isn't that right, Angela?" the male presenter asked.

"That's right, Fred. We won't doll this one up for you this evening, ladies and gentlemen. Tonight we're joined by the world's most recently crowned emperor, Daz Crowthorne and his fiancée the daughter of our very own ruler, Madison McArthur!" the female presenter replied as she gestured Daz's way.

A round of applause was followed by the camera smoothly gliding in a way to pan over to him and his sleepy lover.

Daz was wearing a blank stare on his face but he did at least acknowledge the camera with a sharp nod. Madison couldn't have cared less. She was just trying to keep her eyes open.

She'd stayed up all of the prior evening due to nerves. She hadn't met with her family in over a decade and she wasn't exactly looking forward to the trip. Madison's evolution also had no caveats regarding sleep like Daz's did, so her body was finally catching up with her.

Daz felt sorry for her and honestly, he half wanted to do this interview alone. Her state was the reason he'd rejected the second interview. He was also hoping this one would be brief so Madison could collapse in a comfy hotel bed instead of crashing on his shoulder.

Mr Barrier went into action in her place, creating a hand-shaped barrier and he then used it to wave politely.

The screen behind the camera crew that showed Daz and what was being broadcast slowly shifted into a wide shot that included him, Madison, and the two presenters.

"Well! Daz- I can call you that, right? Daz?" the man known as Fred asked with a picture-perfect smile on his handsome face.

"Call me whatever you want," Daz answered. "Daz, Mister Crowthorne, Your Imperial Majesty. Just 'you'. I don't care."

"Daz it is then! We like to keep thing's informal on our interviews. isn't that right, Angela?" Fred asked his co-host.

"That's absolutely right, Fred," Angela replied happily.

Daz nodded. "I'm glad. I'd have felt a bit foolish otherwise. What with me and Maddy in casual clothes and you two looking like you're off to a job interview."

The crowd behind the cameras and crewmen which Daz didn't know were genuine or otherwise laughed at his words.

"Please, I don't think anyone would have batted an eye if you came here wearing a full suit of armour, let alone some trousers and a rather dashing shirt. Madison also looks wonderful. There's a lot of beauty to be found in simplicity," Angela complimented.

"I agree!" Fred added. "So, Daz, I have to ask. It's likely on everyone's mind. What on Earth is that incredibly cute creature atop Madison's head? I've never seen anything quite like it before. Is it from the system? Oh! perhaps it's from a mythical city?"

'Well... this is going okay for now. Still unsure of the direction they want to bring this though,' Daz thought.

So far, everything the two had said was the truth as they believed it to be. Then again, they hadn't said much past a fluffy introduction.

"I'm honestly not that sure what he is. It is a he, by the way. His name is 'Mr Barrier'. Madison won him during the grand system auction. You're free to identify him if you'd like," Daz answered. "As far as I'm aware, he's a being too powerful for the system to control much like the creator of Embers is. If you don't know what Embers are, I sadly can't expound upon them due to system restrictions. Essentially though, he is on equal footing with the system or just too troublesome to assimilate like its trying to do to our planet."

"Ah! I see," Fred replied, marking his first lie of the interview. "What can he do? The name seems obvious, I know, but it wouldn't surprise me if he actually had nothing to do with barriers at all."

"That would be an unearned surprise, Fred," Angela teased. "It made a waving hand out of a barrier just moments ago."

"Ah, right you are!" The crowd laughed, Daz did not.

"It can make a barrier that is unbreakable. It's as simple as that," he said plainly.

"How wondrous! And Madison controls it- I mean, him?" Fred asked.

Madison slowly shook her head which was still laying on Daz's shoulder. "Request, only. Yet, to, say, no. But, can't, force, barrier. Friend."

Mr Barrier purred oddly as he always did when he was pleased. He then did something Daz had never seen him do before. He spoke.

Not audibly, no. Instead, he created words in the air with his semi-transparent barrier, forming a sentence.

"Madison is pure. I protect the pure. Daz is pure too, in his own twisted way. Thus, I protect him too."

"How ingenious," Fred applauded. "Would you like to 'say' anything else? Perhaps you'd like to be a part of the interview since Madison is clearly pretty jetlagged from the trip across the pond, haha!"

The blue blob of fur shifted to 'face' Daz who was silently staring at it.

"... No."

"Ah, it even does ellipses!" Angela cooed. "How adorable. Anyway, since he clearly doesn't want to talk more, shy little fellow, let's move on, shall we?"

Daz stared at Mr Barrier for a moment longer with his brow furrowed. After a good few seconds, he sighed as he shifted to look at the hosts. "Sure, let's."

***

The rest of the interview after the revelation that Mr Barrier could talk was nothing but the word tame. Clearly, these people didn't want to hang Daz out to dry.

They had broached the subject of the cracks and the deaths that followed, but not in an accusatory manner.

A few light-hearted jokes here about Madison's weariness, a compliment on Daz's power there, and the odd but very specific questions related to Daz's plans here in what was once England of the United Kingdom.

He answered plainly or factually to everything, not really caring about his appearance or about maintaining a facade of any kind.

Daz wasn't rude or anything, but he didn't put any of his new emotions into the interview. The presenters had more than enough of that for the entire room on their own.

"Rose said this was simple," Daz complained as he lay in bed next to the sleeping Madison.

He was caressing her hair with one hand while his other was trying to access the local version of the internet to gauge the reactions of the public to his interview.

He glanced over at Mr Barrier briefly while he tried once again to connect to the hotel's wifi. "We are going to have a discussion at some point. Probably not tonight but likely tomorrow or the day after. Understood? You may be a super powerful being from outer space, but I can choose to never die. You'll explain why you've pretended to only be able to communicate through jiggles, purrs, and shakes, up until now."

The furry blue ball deflated somewhat but did perform a motion that was similar to a nod.

Daz nodded back then looked at his phone again. "Fucking finally. Seventh time's the try. I knew the first password I put in wasn't wrong. Must have been the connection. Rose's internet network is way better than the one here, huh? This is one of the reasons I don't like using tech. It's such a waste of time when it doesn't need to be."

A painfully slow search, three refreshes to the browser, two attempts at a captcha, and he was into the most popular forum site in the country according to Rose.

Ignoring the obnoxious ad that took up half of his screen promoting some sort of weapon enchantment powered that would add 50 sharpness for five minutes to whatever it was applied to, he took a look at the highlighted forum posts.

The five threads on the website's homepage that were the most 'hot', as the site put it, were; 'Emperor Daz is kind of an asshole but I kinda dig it?', 'Who knew High Queen McArthur's daughter was so cute?!', 'Using my hybrid cooking/butchering class, I made food that will send you to heaven', 'Mr Barrier plushies when?', and lastly, 'Thoughts on if the UK is the next Korea?'.

Daz opened the first one. He was in no rush and could get to them all minus that cooking one as it didn't interest him and seemed irrelevant.

Emperor Daz is kind of an asshole but I kinda dig it?

So, like I get that he's younger than me and is probably full of himself. Who wouldn't be, right? Guy's 21 but has a gorgeous girlfriend and is the ruler of, like, the entire U.S.A. Still, I was kinda surprised he was such a dick on live television. He didn't swear or belittle anyone or anything, but I dunno. he was super curt and seemed really uninterested in being there.

Like, that's so what I would do if I was him so I can't blame him, and like the title says, I'm kinda into it. 10/10, would simp again. Almost makes you forget he murdered 5,000,000 people when he's acting so cool, y'know?

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User: Serendipitous_Snek
Posted: 27th November 2020 19:32
Last edited: 27th November 2020 19:39

325783: Saying murdered is a bit of a stretch. He hardly put a gun to their heads and blasted each one of them.

Friendly_Phantom: Above, why is your name only six digits? I am deeply concerned.

DingusBoBingus: Totally agree with OP. Guy's got the whole 'brooding hot guy who stalks you but you're okay with it because he's a brooding hot guy' vibe on lock.

Reality_Realtor: Something about his halo just makes me think 'sus'. I mean, it's grey. Maybe he did cause the cracks on purpose seeing it as a worthwhile cost to get rid of the Truthians? Shame only he can detect lies, or so he claims. I wonder if anyone else out there has that power?

FuckleChuckle32: @Realty_Realter, were you born retarded or did you grow into it? That fuckhead of an emperor has more money than Bezos ever did. Even if his species doesn't give him lie detection, his money sure could. A 5 second search on the system shop would tell you that much, fucking idiot.

Maddy_Army_Member_73: Who cares about Daz? Can we please talk about Godqueen Maddy instead? My heart nearly popped when she wriggled further into his shoulder and just wanted to snooze! Too cute!

Concerned_Creton: @Maddy_Army_Member_73 you're in the wrong thread. do you want a link to the Catfish Collective thread? i think i can dig that up for you if needed

SarahIngleigh: Y'all be memeing but this is a pretty serious topic. I'm worried why they're even here. As far as I knew, Madison was basically disowned by the McArthurs and it's no secret Daz wants to rule the world. 2+2 does, in fact, equal 4.

FuckleChuckle32: @SarahIngleigh really?! It's 4?! Fuck! My teachers in school did me dirty, and I mean more than just the molesting. I was sure it was a window... By the way, feet pics to prove you're a girl or I'm reporting you for a misleading username.

DrCannibal: Can we please get a mod in here for this guy? Needs straight-up banned. Fucking weirdo.

Daz closed his eyes and rubbed his forehead with his thumb and forefinger. "What the actual fuck? How did that derail so fast? There are another 200 or so pages of replies... Are all of the threads like this?"

He didn't want to find out, but he didn't need sleep and he did want to know how the public saw him in general. Daz figured he'd just have to sift past what was mostly nonsense to try to find the genuine posts.

"I've got all night. Or at least until Maddy wakes up," Daz sighed as he returned to scrolling through the thread.