“And now we’re in the final section of this Edition of the Peoples Talk.” Clarence Fishborne announced with the end of the commercial break. “And now with all the guests in attendance, they will now ask each other questions to which they will all provide answers which will then be cross-examined by myself and the others.”
Taking one moment to scan the guests, confirming to himself that they were ready, he began. “So who wishes to ask the first question?”
Karl was about to ask one, had Nate not beaten him. “I have one, Sharon? Do you believe, that Werewolves should have remained hidden?”
“That’s something of a redundant question, considering the fact that today, and for the past several months, our existence has been public knowledge.” Sharon answered after some thought. “But to answer the question, given the inescapable inevitability that it would happen one day, I would have to say no.”
“Do you have any other particular reasons for holding that view?” Karl probed carefully.
“A few. For one, while our existence was hidden, for the most part, while it kept the number who hunted us down like animals low, those few were able to do so in relative secrecy, hence enabling them to hunt us with little in the way of consequences.” Sharon needed a moment to collect herself before continuing. “But now, while those who are hunting, murdering us has risen dramatically, the opposition to them has risen greater still, and they can’t do it without running into repercussions, perhaps more so later on.”
“You speak of the efforts to include werewolves into the protections offered by the Civil Rights Act?” Clarence asked this question, a safe neutral one.
“That is the primary goal, yes. For that would mean that under the Law, we would be treated as human, with the same Rights and Responsibilities.”
“But you’re not human, you’re wolves.” Walter Moxie cut in. “So what makes you think you can claim to have such rights granted to you at all?”
“I’ll tell you why…” Sharon retorted with an icy glare. “You view humans, humanity on a purely genetic level. I see it as more than just a sequence of letters. I see it as a way of thinking, the ability to think, and make conscious decisions. And let me remind you that many are still in work, doing their jobs, paying their taxes, living their own lives their own way.”
“And what of the hunts you partake in? With claws and teeth? Hardly a clean way of doing it.” Walter seemingly adjusted his tack, perhaps trying to find something definitive to nail her with.
“The same could be said of you, with your guns and only at a distance.” Sharon countered. “And in spite of practically every State banning it under the pretext that it’s wanting killing, it won’t have any significant impact on the deer, cattle, and bison numbers…”
“…Because you’ll just break it, and that’s only if you’re not already.” Walter jumped into her sentence, clearly thinking he’d got a hold of something.
“No. Because the number humans hunt is that much greater.” Nate fired back on Sharon’s behalf. “And mostly just for Sport, not Food.”
“And how many species are facing extinction? How many are already extinct? Thanks to humans hunting them for Sport?” Sharon added.
“A lot.” Karl finally spoke up after his extended silence. “Too many to count, and too late to reverse the damage done.”
“But we are acting to rectify that, the National Parks being one such example.” Walter appeared to be on the backfoot. “What can you say against that?”
“Simply that over-hunting hasn’t been a problem. In part due to the packs being quite small, usually not more than the immediate family, and in a far larger part the simple knowledge that if you hunt the prey to extinction, what are you left with?” Sharon stated with confidence.
“And for all your talk about being on the same level as humans, your talk of packs and hunting tell me the opposite.” Walter continued on. “Hardly sounds like being advanced to me.”
“That is a matter of perspective.” Nate replied to this. “In some ways it looks less, ‘advance’, as you put it. But in others, it’s just a simpler way of life, one that puts lees strain on the available resources.”
“And you’re not even wearing clothes.” Walter was looking rather rattled now, with his running out of points. “How do you expect to be taken seriously, if you can’t even be bothered to be decent?”
“I’m six-foot-eleven.” Sharon returned the fire. “You know how hard it is to find something that’ll fit in my size? And besides, we’re indoor, in a studio, with high-power lighting and heating, and at seventy degrees in here, if I put a suit on I’m going to be cooked in it.”
With no cards left to play, at least at this time, Walter Moxie was left with no choice but to silence himself, fuming to himself as Clarence tried to break the tension.
“Mr Hurtz. You’ve been rather quiet for this segment, don’t you have anything to say?”
Karl sighed deeply, steeling himself to ask the question he needed to ask her, but was afraid of asking. “Sharon? You know that I helped to reveal your existence to the World, not by intent but that didn’t stop it from happening. Do you? Can you?” His voice cracked as he struggled to finish the question, though it was clear to Sharon, and everyone else, what he was trying to say.