Miles was surprised at the large crowd of Animalians that had gathered at the Brown family barn, which had gotten a lot of coverage in some way or other. The Brown family had sat at the heart of Animalia for years and that was a part of what had shaped a lot of Animalia's politics and structure. While the Browns didn't lead the scientific research that lead to the Animalia Virus, they were connected to it and provided a fair number of the animals that were being used in the research. They'd also cared for the animals quite well, and that was enough to get them to respect the Brown family in a way that few did elsewhere in the country. It also made Abigail Brown, the first Human converted into being an Animalian a lot of coverage and attention. That had been a big part of why Animalia Ambassadoria had started with Abby and her friends and then expanded to include their bond-mates/boyfriends and would later expand again to include Human members.
It was something that had inspired Miles as a way to get into journalism that he wouldn't get in New York, and why he'd come to the barn. He would participate in the auditions to try out for one of the seats that would open up when Sarah, Travis, Malice, Abby, Samson, Pauline, JC, Jessica, Roger, Sophie, and Roland went off to college. He wanted to bring in something new and something that would attract more positive attention and credibility to Animalia Ambassadoria, and ad his own style as Animalia Ambassadoria moved forward. And given the crowd of people, both Humans and Animalians, he realized that there were probably a fair number of people that had the same dream he did. Some might have had ideas on boyfriends or the money, as supposedly Animalia actually paid Animalia Ambassadoria, which had been enough for their members to pay for a fair amount of their college expenses upfront. But Miles was determined to make an impression.
"Just because you're a rabbit doesn't mean you're going to win the audition," a young Lion Animalian commented as he noticed Miles's smile, "these guys are pretty tough and not just anyone gets in."
"Technically, I'm a Jackrabbit and more closely related to hares than rabbits," Miles corrected, "but I'm not him to impress Jessica. She already has a bond-mate... boyfriend... after all. And besides, any connection is to give other viewers some consistency... you know, "as things change the more they stay the same." People have seen the Animalian members for four years with the show. It might do well to have something that could be at least a visual reminder... similar, yet different."
The Lion Animalian gave a dismissive wave, "what they need something more exciting... more action... showing some sporting prowess as part of the show rather than something they point to during the IAC."
"But until there are more Animalians nation wide... most sports programs won't accept Animalians, unless they form their own league for that sport," Miles pointed out, "like the one race where they showed how it took an Olympic Class athlete to really even compete well against most Animalians, and even he lost to Abby... who as a Horse Animalian is built to run."
"True... there is an issue of fairness," the Lion Animalian nodded, "I'd feel sorry for the Human that had to face me in a wrestling match."
Miles watched as the Lion Animalian gave a few poses, and he did admit that the young Lion Animalian was certainly well built. It got Miles somewhat wondering if any Human girls in Lyre might take interest in him, but that was something else and he put that aside for the moment.
"I'm Miles," Miles introduced himself, "my parents work for one of the rich families that moved to Animalia over the summer. You?"
"Harvey," the Lion Animalian answered, "My parents converted shortly after it became legal to convert... and I ended up getting one dose before the vaccine for the Animalia Virus came about to complete our family pride."
"Freshman?" Miles wondered.
"Yeah," Harvey answered, "and only single dosed..."
"That can always change later, Jessica, Sophie, Roland, and Roger are all only got single doses," Miles pointed out, "and besides... the news shouldn't be about whether one is single dosed or double dosed. It's all in the delivery..."
Harvey nodded and they waited through the line and mingled with some of the others that were there. Some were fans of the original group and wanted to take over Animalia Ambassadoria to be where the group that they had idolized for four years had sat and reported. Some, Miles found were there for romantic chances and some simply because they saw the job that Animalia Ambassadoria did as something fun, particularly when much of the web show was more a running gag of jokes rather than actual news reporting. Miles did have to admit there were some issues there, and he felt he could bring something more serious to the show and something that would help them more in conveying their message to adults and policy leaders who didn't follow "millennial memes" for news information or gags. Though there were a few that seemed to be a bit more intelligent on that sort of thing, and they were the ones that Miles most had worry over.
Eventually the various Animalia Ambassadoria members did come out from the barn and discussed things with the group which was mostly a rely of the assignments and what the auditions would be. Many of which were very similar to how Animalia Ambassadoria ran its auditions for the balancing Human cast members after Sophie and Roland's conversions. The one thing that was different was in that the Human members took off the various Humans that were auditioning while Miles stood with the various Animalians of all kinds while getting the assignments. And they were pretty straight forward as they would be sent to cover some "story" that was to be presented. The story was of course fake, and not real, but it was to be there as something of a test for all those auditioning practice and run again. Miles' assignment was to conduct an interview with Lyre's Mayor on how his city and Animalia were cooperating after four years, and he was rather eager at that...
"I can do this," Miles thought to himself.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
It turned out the Lyre Mayor was ready for the visit and was even in on it when Miles arrived at Lyre's City Hall and was lead into a small room that was used for Lyre's normal press conferences. There weren't many, as prior to Animalia, the small northern Nevada town really didn't see much action go on and thus there wasn't much that had to be done at city hall. With Animalia's growth and the fact that a good number of Lyre's residents became Animalians as part of the original Animalia outbreak, various other things happened, and normally, Lyre benefited from the tourist trade of people coming to see Animalia just as much as Animalia itself did. The room had some natural lighting to it that came in from windows along the south side of the room, and Miles noted this as he set the camera stand he'd been given up.
Miles checked things while Lyre's mayor stood by calmly with a small smile on his face as Miles checked on things like glare and lighting. Eventually satisfied that the shot was clear, Miles tapped the red button on the back of the camera that turned on the record feature and then stepped around to come in front of the camera so that he was facing Lyre's Mayor. He turned his head slightly to the camera as he did so.
"Hello, this is Miles Vappour with the city of Lyre's mayor to discuss on the effect Animalia has had on this small Nevada city over the past four years and what is plans are for maintaining the relationship that is there or seeing it grow as well," Miles spoke to the camera and then turned back to the mayor, "Now, Mr. Mayor... you were not involved in the founding of Animalia, correct?"
"That is correct," Lyre's mayor answered, "we allowed Horizon to build its main headquarters here and they have provided good jobs, both for residents of Lyre but Nevada as a whole. Thus when they bought the land where their main facilities are now... there was worry or threat over that... and some good jobs did come."
"Given some criticism from the present administration and many of his supporters... where do you stand on the opinion that you should have done more to prevent the accident that lead to the Animalia Outbreak in the first place?" Miles asked, "after all... most of the first conversions were not deliberate were rather accidental. Thus those transformed didn't get the choice of whether or not they would be an Animalian?"
"Well... many of those issues have some degree of truth to them, but the present administration and his supporters have largely ignored a great many things that relate to Animalia in order to try and score political points rather than take the truth in context," Lyre's mayor answered, "What happened that lead to spilling of the Animalia Virus into the streams that fed the Brown farm and our city's drinking water presented troubles... but they also were from factors that could not be controlled. Horizon is not owned by the city of Lyre, and while we may be able to let the Fire Department make sure their building won't burn down... we aren't quite responsible for regulating what their scientific activities are. And at the same time, Horizon did follow the safety guidelines at the time, as they were written. Maybe some of those requirements could have been tougher, but at the same time no one could have expected that Animalia would have ever been born."
Miles nodded.
"And while, yes, some Animalians lost their Humanity without their choice being there... some of the first Animalians did get a choice in whether or not they would turn," Lyre's mayor then continued, "Some of the first Animalians did get a chose. Sarah Wesley was offered a choice to be sisters with her former pet, Mary Alice Wesley... or Malice, as most know her, and her parents also requested to become Animalians. So it isn't as though every Human lost a choice, and at the same time... many of those who were caught by surprise and never got to make that choice... have also adjusted well enough that they wouldn't go back if they could..."
"Which is good, but is something different," Miles reminded him.
"Granted," Lyre's mayor admitted, "but's the best we had without having some kind of prophet that could see the future," Lyre's mayor answered, "and thus we play the hand we've been dealt."
"And do you think you've played YOUR hand in helping Animalia?" Miles asked.
"The biggest thing was to welcome them and urge the previous administration to grant the uplifted Animalians citizenship," the Lyre mayor spoke, "and after all, we've all gotten the benefit from welcoming them. Animalians have felt at home in Lyre every bit as much as they do in Animalia and we aren't degrading them for being different from the rest of Lyre or the rest of the state. And that, I think was a big part of our success here in Lyre. There was no "oh my God they're not Human, fight" reaction. And that let us learn from them. And that would be something I think everybody could stand to learn."
"Good words to live by," Miles nodded, "and that's helped Lyre prosper?"
"In many ways," Lyre's mayor nodded, "granted a lot of it has been tourist dollars cut short by the pandemic... but that is something outside the norm. And prior to this... the city was doing rather well... and even Horizon has done well as well, which has enabled them to expand and sponsor efforts that would medical and health opportunities as well. Which helps move things forward, and that has helped Lyre greatly. And continued partnership with Animalia and my counterpart there will keep those trends moving forward."
"Do you think this could ultimately seeing Lyre and Animalia growing into something bigger?" Miles wondered.
"Probably more Animalia... but, yes, I'd see both cities growing in the future," Lyre's mayor answered, "and that would be worth the work that goes into it."
Miles nodded and turned back to the camera, "Thank you mayor for your time and your answers. This is Miles Vappour hopping off."
From there, Miles moved to turn off the camera and found the mayor looking to him again with a small smirk.
"Hopping off?" the Lyre mayor asked.
"Some great reporters have always done well with their own tag lines," Miles answered, "I felt that might be a bit of a help to have something that would technically fit."