Convergence - The Last Science #2.2 - Heroes and Villains

B2: Chapter 24 - Two Interviews - III

  The lights weren't as bright as she expected.

  Hailey always assumed they'd be as bad as most stage lights, but they actually weren't all that blinding. She waved to the crowd, which she could actually see, and smiled her way across the stage and into the first chair, right next to the desk.

  As the applause finally died down, Hailey could see the cameras. She wondered if she was supposed to look at the camera, or at Russ. She decided, for the sake of her nerves, to just look Russ and ignore the rest of it. Like they were just talking in front of the crowd, and not one... hundred... fifty... million people.

  Or more, she realized, since that was just the main online stream. It didn't count TV viewers, restreams, other translations, rebroadcasts...

  Oh man. Oh man oh man oh man.

  "Hailey, you with us?" Russ prompted, flashing her a worried smile.

  She blinked a few times, focusing back on his face, ignoring the crowd. Jess was right. Be myself. I got this. "Sorry. I've never been on TV."

  "Well, you're doing just wonderful so far!" Russ glanced around. "We've all seen that clip of you flying out of the building."

  "Which one?" she asked, and got a laugh for it.

  "Ah hah! So the burning building in Tacoma was you?"

  She shrugged, still keeping the smile stuck to her face. It was getting easier over time, like she was just having a nice conversation with a good friend. "Not according to the FBI."

  Russ grinned. "But, of course, I was talking about the video from Friday. Where you—help me out here, Hailey. How did you pull that off?"

  Hailey smiled. "Magic, Russ."

  "...Magic," he repeated skeptically. "Don't hold it against me, but I can't say I've ever believed in magic. I've even had Penn and Teller on my show, and I couldn't tell you the first thing about how they do it, but I'm still pretty sure it isn't magic."

  "Well, it isn't."

  Russ blinked, and a wide grin spread across his handsome face. "...Sorry to break to to you, Vegas, but looks like you'll need a new act." A pause for laughter. "Seriously though. You're saying they're just cheap parlor tricks, but this—this is the real deal, is that what I'm getting?"

  "Absolutely." Hailey shrugged. "This is new. Real magic." She could tell Russ—and the audience—were looking for a bit more than that. She smiled and held up her hand, and out of the corner of her eye she saw the video monitor next to the audience bleachers swap to a wide shot. Perfect.

  A clear plastic water bottle zoomed into view—the same one she'd been drinking from minutes earlier. It came in low, flying across the stage as if it had a tiny rocket attached, until it suddenly swung upward as it reached her chair. Hailey caught it easily, and in one smooth motion took a drink.

  Russ stood up and applauded. "Fantastic, just fantastic. You just did that?"

  Hailey grinned. "And a whole lot more. Don't forget, Russ, I flew here tonight, all on my own."

  "...I don't suppose you can give us a quick demo?"

  Hailey set the bottle on his desk. She looked out at the audience. "Hold onto your hats, people. And I mean literally: grab 'em tight."

  The next eight minutes or so were spent going through a considerable repertoire of Hailey's spells, and a few she'd picked up on the website too. She did a short lap flying over the studio audience while the camera desperately craned to keep up, blowing hair and loose clothing around while she did. Little elemental tricks were a piece of cake, and she even pulled off a bit of water manipulation via telekinesis. It didn't last long, just a sphere of Russ' drink floating out of his mug, but it got another round of applause nonetheless.

  Honestly, this stuff really isn't that impressive... Hailey could tell they were applauding just to applaud. It was a light entertainment show. The audience—both in the studio and online —were there to hear what she had to say, not just see tricks with fire and telekinesis.

  "Now Hailey, before we burn the studio down," Russ said finally, as Hailey had a series of little flames circling her head like a halo. She smiled innocently, and he grinned back. "I gotta say, we've heard a lot about you over the last six months—"

  "Has it been six months?" she asked, more to play up the moment than anything. "Man, time flies."

  Her bad pun got an appreciative laugh, and Russ went on. "—But we haven't heard anything from you. So let's get right down to it: when did this all start? Magic, I mean."

  "About a year and a half ago."

  "Am I right in guessing it's all thanks to that town?"

  She nodded. "Everything started there."

  "Why'd you go to Rallsburg in the first place?"

  Hailey shrugged. "It had a good business program."

  "Come on." He tapped his cue card on the desk a few times pointedly. "You could've gone anywhere with your transcript. Why there? Did you know something?"

  "Nope. I didn't have a clue." She took a deep breath, playing up the moment. "I went there because my boyfriend was going there."

  "Ah... Weston Davis, right?"

  She was genuinely surprised. That detail probably wasn't in Cinza's book. "You know who I was dating back then?"

  Russ shrugged. "Well, it was a pretty public investigation. He made the news a couple times."

  "Oh. How'd he do?"

  "Feeling competitive?" Russ grinned. "I'm guessing you weren't watching the news a lot at the time? This was back in May."

  "Not really... We were all kind of dealing with the..."

  "The 'incident'," Russ supplied helpfully.

  "Yeah."

  He shifted gears immediately, sensing she didn't want to discuss that in detail yet. He's good. Thanks, Russ. "So, Hailey. Did you and Weston ever reconnect?"

  "We did, yeah. We're still friends, but we aren't together anymore."

  "Anyone new in your life?"

  She smiled. "Yes. But he probably wouldn't want me naming him live."

  "Ahhh, a secret boyfriend."

  "For now," Hailey laughed.

  "Does he know about your... talent?" Russ glanced over at the camera. "Well, I'm sure he knows by now."

  "Oh yeah, he knew." Hailey waved him off. "He's awakened too."

  "Awakened, that's the word for it?"

  Well... for better or worse, yeah. "It's what we stuck with. I don't have a clue who came up with it," she added with a shrug. "But yeah, he's awakened, and me, and plenty of other people."

  "So there's a whole group of magical people in the world, that no one knew about?" His eyebrows arched skyward. "Pretty crazy stuff. Well, we'll be digging into that and a whole lot more with Hailey Winscombe and another special guest here live on the Evening Show, right after the break."