The ride from the High School to the Elementary School was quiet. When we arrived there, however, we found what we were in for. There were several vans parked along the street, many with what looked like a small satellite dish mounted on the top of the vehicle. It would likely allow them to send a live feed to their main studios, should they intend to do any live coverage. I didn't know what their intentions were, though, so anything I might consider to be their plan would be a guess on my part.
"What a mess," Officer Barnes commented, "and that secretary things you talking to students will be disruptive."
"Maybe their activities won't be limited to the school," I commented, "Everyone in the district will be voting on who will be the District Superintendent."
"Maybe," Officer Barnes shrugged, "but the schools will be affected by it the most. Therefore, the schools are where the story is."
I could only shrug from the backseat, as I didn't have anything else I could say on the subject. We got up and slowly walked toward the main entry area of the Elementary School. It had been fully repaired from Williams' attack over the summer and now looked as though no one had ever fired a shotgun inside the building. As Officer Barnes and I arrived, we found two sets of cameramen and reporters. There was also at least one guy with what looked like a pole microphone to pick up all things said. I guessed the other camera had some of that sort of technology built in. At first they gave us little attention, but the two reporters then blinked and paid very close attention when they saw me.
Officer Barnes and I, however, didn't interact with them and moved toward the "window" that opened up to the interior of the office area. Waiting there was the new secretary, a young man who looked like he was either just out of high school or in college, but working on an internship. Standing behind him was Mrs. Fitzpatrick.
"Hello, Officer Wayne, Officer Barnes, glad you can make it," Mrs. Fitzpatrick spoke.
"Well... best to share the attention, I guess," I quipped.
"Indeed," Mrs. Fitzpatrick sighed and shook her head, "as I said they are here to interview Mr. Patten, and your wife, Officer Wayne. Likely relating the election and how heated it is."
"November isn't that far away," Officer Barnes pointed out, "Early September now... it's only two months away."
"Not to mention that school board elections are usually non-partisan and non-political," I commented, "Our elections are a bit of an oddball story to them."
Mrs. Fitzpatrick shook her head. It was clear that she wasn't too fond of the attention that her school was getting. I tended to think a lot of people wouldn't like having a bunch of reporters showing up and wanting to interview people. Particularly if the method directly interfered with their work. Police departments did tolerate news cameras, but crime beat reporters if they were able to arrive on a scene were usually kept at a distance. The only ones who were allowed to be close were groups like the men who had filmed Officer Barnes and I for the Frontier Force program or others who commonly went around the country for the show Cops. A lot of that was probably to avoid getting "bad press", as no one liked to screw up and have everyone know it. Hopefully this would generate good press for the district and for the people supporting Tabby's campaign.
"Where do you plan to do these interviews?" Officer Barnes asked.
"We have a conference room back at the end of the office," Mrs. Fitzpatrick answered, "That might be the calmest place to conduct everything."
"And what do you need from us?" I asked.
"Basic security," Mrs. Fitzpatrick replied, "some of the students do know they're here, and I'm sure there are plenty of people outside the school that know they're here too. The last thing we want is an attention seeker."
Officer Barnes and I nodded.
"We'll try to keep you both close to the interview area, though whether or not they have you two in the room is their call," Mrs. Fitzpatrick then nodded.
"We would prefer to have them inside," one of the reporters spoke up and approached the counter, "It would cut down on the look of a "police state" sort of thing... we don't want to be of too much trouble."
"We might also like to talk with the tiger-officer," the other reporter added, "better to have him in there if we have time."
Mrs. Fitzpatrick slowly nodded and moved toward a set of call button switches. She pressed a couple of buttons, and then on singular on.
"Mr. Patten..."
Patten's voice answered, "Yes?"
"Please assign your aide to carry on for you, please," Mrs. Fitzpatrick spoke in tone that sounded like a mixed command and request, "and please come to the office. Thank you."
"I'll be right there," was Patten's reply.
Mrs. Fitzpatrick then nodded and turned to her male secretary.
"Greg, you'll keep an eye on things for awhile, won't you?" she asked.
"Yes, ma'am," the secretary, Greg, answered.
Mrs. Fitzpatrick nodded and then turned and opened the door that gave the reporters and their following crews access to the office area. She then pointed to a small hallway nearby.
"The conference room is at the end of that hall," she pointed, "Mr. Patten and Mrs. Wayne should be with you shortly."
And with that, Mrs. Fitzpatrick then left the Office area and went out into the school. Her mission was likely to get Molly and act as a "substitute" until the interview was over. The reporters meanwhile continued on their way and went into the conference room and began to set up their equipment. It wasn't all that much, but it did seem like there was a lot of work to make sure that the cameras were ready.
"So, are you guys all the reporters that showed up?" Officer Barnes asked after a moment.
"No, there are other network guys here too," the first reporter answered, "we're with ABC and CBS, but there are local Fox and NBC reporters here too..."
I glanced to Officer Barnes wondering if there were other reporters in the area.
"They're however pursuing different angles at the moment," the reporter continued, "and they aren't here at the Elementary School."
"Wouldn't that mean they'll eventually come here?" Officer Barnes wondered.
"It could... but we do tend to share footage with other networks... of course, they'd have to pay money for copies of our tape and wouldn't be able to run all of it," the reporter continued, "BUT, if their take on the story is different, and all they need from here are a few clips, sharing them is easier. We'd probably buy some clips from them too... but that doesn't mean they won't decide to do their own interviews here as well."
Officer Barnes then gave a sigh.
"How long do you plan to stay?" I wondered.
"We'll probably be here through election day," the second reporter answered, "I mean... a School Election that is dealing with such divisive issues that it becomes a partisan race? I don't think we've ever had something like that happen in the history of the state of Montana."
And of course, the man was probably right about that. The issue that was largely doing it was the "civil rights" issues surrounding Molly's employment at the school. In the past if such an issue like this came up, it would result in a brief moment of excitement, the firing or automatic dismissal of the person or persons infringing on someone's civil rights and possibly followed by a lawsuit. Of course, in the past, that was dealing with one sentient and sapient species... humans.
The Animatrix Serum was changing that. Now, sentient and sapient Animals were now appearing, be it as victims of Changes scheme, unfamiliar with how the Serum worked, or through a direct request for the serum. And since all Animal-People had to confront and control the animal instincts they gained, some human fears were inevitable. If the Animatrix Serum did erase the human mind... which it didn't do... and left a sapient animal, in my and Molly's case, Bengal Tigers, there would be legitimate fear. Tigers may not prefer human prey, but as predators, their power and ability could never be questioned. The Elk that I had killed at the beginning of the hunting season was bigger then I was. And many people knew of that power that some species possessed and naturally feared the Animal People that became those species.
Molly and I had tried hard to prove that our human minds were still there... still strong... and in fact in control. And for the most part, I think we'd actually succeeded in that. But the primal fear of what a mundane tiger could do was still a clear part of Hireman's campaign. He hoped to channel that fear... along with some of his more despicable actions. And all of this lead to the present heated race between Tabby and Hireman. Hireman essentially claiming we were animals. Tabby essentially saying that humanity was more then just pink skin and a flat face.
After a few moments, the door opened to reveal Mr. Patten and Molly following behind him.
"Officer Wayne," Patten spoke professionally and then glanced to Officer Barnes's name tag that was part of his uniform, "Officer Barnes."
"Good morning," we told him.
Molly's arrival in the room was a little bit less professional.
"Hi, George," she said calmly and gave me a soft nuzzle.
"You two know each other?" one of the cameramen asked.
"Of course," Molly answered, "George is my husband. I am his wife."
"Amazing," the first reporter spoke.
Molly then moved around the table to take a seat beside Patten. She checked the chair and only sat down when she was certain it would hold her muscle mass. After a moment or two, the two reporters began their process of filming while Officer Barnes and I stood guard. They took turns introducing themselves and covered Molly and Patten from different angles so that one reporter would not be visually seen by the other network's camera. Molly and Patten were also urged to look straight ahead. It looked like some game of angles that they were playing.
"Perhaps we would begin with you, Mrs. Wayne, as much of the present race revolves around you," the first reporter began, "perhaps you could tell us a bit about yourself and how you became a tiger-person and your reasoning for doing so."
"Sure..." Molly said slowly, "to start with, I made no decision to take the serum, so unlike those who have ordered it for themselves, I had no reason to take it. I am, actually, the last victim of Eugene Changes' scheme to use the Animatrix Serum to make money. I was grabbed at the Illinois State Fair, then in Peoria while on spring break. After that, I've spent a lot of time adapting to my new instincts and trying to find a place where I could fit into society without having my instincts drive me crazy. And so, I came here to Columbia Falls where there was the rural room for me to legally hunt and where I had the ability to do what I'd went to school for... teach. I love the kids and I want to see them grow up to be intelligent people."
"And what do you think of the present race?" the second reporter asked, "how do you feel being the central issue of that race?"
"I don't like being the central issue," Molly answered, "the only reason I AM the central issue is because the present superintendent has a lot of pent up hatred of Animal People and can not grasp the fact that I am still everything I was before I was grabbed by Changes. To put things simply..."
The first reporter then turned to Patten.
"We also have Joseph Patten, the man who has become essentially Tabitha Choir's campaign adviser in this election, Mr. Patten, would you care to explain why you've taken on this role?" the first reporter asked, "for the most part... the race doesn't directly involve you."
"In a way, it actually does," Patten said with a sigh, "the Superintendent is a skilled politician and has approached this race in a very political way. His first major blow was to use words I had used, based off of an incomplete set of facts as way to make it seem like Molly Rhoer-Wayne is a deliberate threat to the students of this school."
"So you're saying that he twists the facts to suit his purposes," the first reporter commented.
"Yes," Patten nodded, "and in doing so, he threatens the students here. Threatens to infect them with the same non-thinking racism that he is using to try and win this race. And that would be threatening to everyone, not just Mrs. Wayne. It would embarrass us. I mean... do we really need to relive the petty racism that ran rampant in this country between the end of the Civil War and the Civil Rights Act? Would that really be good? My answer is no. It would make us worse and hurt the students. The very people I've given my life to protect."
"What about the legitimate fears that exist over an Animal Person's instincts?" the second reporter asked, trying to be neutral.
"How many incidents have been reported of someone taking the serum and going nuts because of it?" Patten asked back, "most of the cases in which a criminal was apprehended that was an Animal Person, they had either taken the Serum AFTER they had committed the crime they were arrested for, or when questioned, they gave the same reasons that any human might give for committing a similar crime. They gain new instincts, yes, but they control them easily... and in some cases they've proved beneficial. Last year, a Mountain Lion attacked one of the students. A MUNDANE Mountain Lion. And if it weren't for Mrs. Wayne's maternal instincts... the student would have been killed."
"You have children?" the first Reporter asked to Molly.
"No," Molly answered, "I want to have children, but my husband and I have not had the opportunity to conceive cubs yet... but the "maternal" instinct is still there. It's like my instincts see my students as my children and every fiber of my being urges me to protect them. When the Mountain Lion attacked the student last year, it felt like it was attacking my own child."
"And what did you do?"
"I killed the Mountain Lion," Molly admitted, "giving my husband and his partner, the girl's adoptive father, the opportunity to save her life."
"And it all shows that they aren't something to be mindlessly feared," Patten added, "this country's Animal People deserve the same rights as the rest of us. Wayne Hireman has done good things for this district, but what he's doing now is not. He is ignoring the facts, and twisting things. A victory for him will be bad news for the students. And that is why I've taken on the role of Tabitha Choir's campaign adviser."
The interview continued on for a few moments more with questions about Molly's career in Columbia Falls, Patten's viewpoints on justice and the events of the campaign. There were a couple of questions that could be aimed at getting at things involved with Hireman's latest charge. But, Patten managed to get around it without stepping in any major land-mines. Toward the end, the second reporter motioned for me to move toward where Molly was seated. He kept his hand low to make sure it wasn't caught on any of the cameras. I tried to gulp as silently as I could and moved carefully.
"We are now joined by Officer George Wayne of the Columbia Falls Police Department, and Molly Wayne's husband," the second reporter announced, "Officer Wayne, would you mind explaining how you became an Animal-Person? Was this a choice... or was it sexually related?"
"My transformation was sexually related," I sighed, "the act itself was completely consensual... but at the time, Molly and I didn't know just how potentially infectious the Animatrix Serum could be."
"And this hasn't truly inhibited your ability to serve?" the second reporter asked.
"Mentally no," I answered, "Physically... it has produced some difficulties, mostly as a lot of things would need to be resized to fit my size... which would not be cost effective at this time. But I manage to do my job well."
"And as Mrs. Wayne's husband, how do you feel about the School District Superintendent's attacks on your wife?" he asked.
"I hate it," I said simply, "and you could say I hate him for it. My wife is the most important person in my life and has had to put up with a lot of people deciding that because she's covered in orange and black fur, she's not deserving of any "rights". And that isn't right. What frustrates me the most is that all that can be done is vote him out of office."
"Nothing more then that?" the first reporter asked.
"Nothing more... unless he commits a crime and there is evidence that he's committed it," I answered, "So far, that isn't the case. And the people of Columbia Falls will have to rely on the ballot to insure that what is right is victorious."