We're Not About Happy

Participants:

cat_icon.gif helena_icon.gif holly_icon.gif

Scene Title We're Not About Happy
Synopsis The moments after the interview.
Date June 2, 2009

A Safehouse in New Jersey


Holly unfolds her tripod, looking up at Cat and nodding, "So uhh, was that good? I hope I didn't mess up or anything." She works on taking her camera setup apart and placing it neatly in it's bag.

"I think it was pretty good." Helena says, but does note with a grin, "You forgot to ask me what my ability was, though. That's okay. Leaves more mystery." She becomes more serious. "You should know that if you choose to post that, you'll become a target for the government. They may even try to arrest you."

"You did well enough," Cat replies. "I actually expected you might ask about the bridge accusations, though." Her eyes settle on the now self-outed leader, her head dips in a nod, then attention shifts back to Holly. "That's why, I'm sure you already understand, we brought you here and said as little as possible. You can't tell what you don't know."

Holly looks up, but nods softly, then looks dumb, "Oh, I totally forgot the bridge thing..but I didn't want to bring it up anyway, it's not exactly a happy thing to dive into..and you were quite generous giving me the first interview anyone's ever had. My hitcounter's gonna go through the roof when this gets online…"

"We're not about happy." Helena says a bit dubiously. "We're about the truth. "If you want to turn the camera back on and ask me about it, I'll answer, but if not, we can save it for another time, or for when the eventually volley back against this will be issued. There will be fallback, inevitably. And again, you need to understand - when this goes up, HomeSec and the government may decide you yourself are a terrorist, so think really hard about whether you want to put yourself at risk." Helena's voice is quiet and urgent.

Her eyes settle on a briefcase resting near a corner, then shift to Helena, as a question is asked without words by Cat tilting her head in that direction. Should she provide any of the aerial footage taken of the Moab prison to Holly as evidence of their claim about the place existing? She won't say it outright, but she does wish to remind of its presence and the potential it offers.

Holly rubs her head softly, peering down at her camera as she considers this, but shakes her head, "We'll save the bridge for..for next time I guess, assuming you'll let there be a next time. It would be a pain to edit it together in a way that would work right." She then looks up, and states, "I'm..I'm not really afraid. People deserve to know the other side of this and I'm the right kind of person to help bring it to them. If I went missing, people might notice."

"You should be afraid." Helena says flatly. "They're not just going to toss you in a comfy cell, Holly. What goes on behind closed doors is torture, plain and simple. I'm not trying to make you change your mind, but I want you to understand what you're getting into. It's not a game." There's a pause. "We can give you a copy of our aerial footage of Moab's penitentiary, the one I was held in for three months. If you want to use it?"

Holly blinks and then nods softly, but she shakes her head, "I know the danger and all when I got into this - I was safe and cozy in Boston and I came back to the city to help people get the facts the media and the government would try to gloss over." She seems to get into that speech, puffing up her chest in defiance of the government who can't see her anyway, then nods, "That would be helpful, editting in at appropriate spots."

The briefcase is placed on the table and opened, inside it as advertised are aerial photos of a prison facility in the desert with an airstrip at one end, and six towers with armed guards around the building. Two of the towers overlook the empty airstrip, the four other towers focus in on the building itself. The roof has helicopter landing areas marked on it. On the ground there's a fenced in exercise yard with basketball courts and a fence down the middle to separate inmates in some fashion. Other images include shots of the roads which meet near the place, the warning signs about lethal force being authorized, and some difficult to identify features on the ground near the building. Cat sets these on the table for Holly to look at.

There are other photos in the briefcase, stashed in pockets, that Helena knows about. Cat has these hidden away for Helena to decide on sharing or not, as they're the ones which feature faces of persons who were in the exercise yard when she and Fedor made that second pass by the prison. None of them, of course, feature any image of Candace Marie Allard.

Helena studies Holly as the photos were displayed, curious to see how the journalist will react. "We'll make sure you have copies." she says calmly.

Holly furrows her brow as she studies the pictures, nodding slowly as she sifts over the information, humming, "These are good. I mean, they'll work nice to bring home some of the things you said."

"Notably," Cat states, "you've not seen any media reports of a prison break in the Utah desert or photos of people who had been there. It was, and is, a secret prison. They apparently don't intend to acknowledge the place even existing." The photos featuring inmates in the yard remain concealed, with Helena not having chosen to share any.

Helena looks back to Cat. "I'm ready to get going whenever you are." she says. "It was nice to meet you, Holly." She rises to her feet, letting out another nervous breath before muttering to Cat, "I hope this does some good."

Holly gives a polite nod again and beams, "Thank you so much for the interview, again. This ought to get me some exposure, assuming the feds don't knock down my door." She offers a handshake to each woman again, "You know how to get ahold of me if you'd like to have me out again if anything comes up."

She shakes the offered hand once with a grip neither crushing nor weak, and releases. Her skin is smooth and warm, soft save for areas near the fingertips which are callused for whatever reason. "Take care, Miss Parker," Cat offers as she closes up the briefcase and moves toward the door. Her exit is taken, along with Helena, a nod shared between them.


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