Malcolm didn’t say anything for a couple of seconds.
“Have you met Melt and Greenthumb before?” he asked. “They were the field agents that followed up on the, uh, incident that I was involved in.”
“I’m familiar with them,” said Tapestry.
She didn’t elaborate, which Malcolm found curious.
“They talked to me about the monsters,” he said. “The demons and the sprytes. What it’s like to hunt them down, and why they have to do it.”
“That’s what they do,” said Tapestry.
“And… what do you think of that?” asked Malcolm. “I’m still new to this world. It just seems like they see things like they’re black and white. They hunt monsters. They kill monsters. They don’t ask questions.”
“Malcolm…” Tapestry pulled to a stop at a red light and glanced over at him, frowning a little. “People die when demons and sprytes are allowed to run wild. Your family… I hate to bring this up, but don’t you wish someone had dealt with the monster that killed them before it stumbled into your neighborhood?”
Malcolm winced. The wound of their deaths was still raw, even after so much time.
“Yeah,” he said. “I do.”
“Speaking of which, how about this?” she asked. “You take this interview seriously, and focus on putting on a good face for the cameras. Then, we skip training for the rest of today. I can take you up to headquarters to look in the database for any demons or sprytes matching the description of the one you’re looking for.”
Malcolm forced a smile.
“Sure,” he said. “That sounds great.”
Tapestry reached over. She put her hand on top of his and gave it a small squeeze in an unusual show of affection. Malcolm felt a familiar tingle, and realized that he’d just absorbed her power again.
God dammit. I really need to remember to start wearing gloves, like Rose said.
“I can’t imagine how it must have been for you,” she said. “A family… isn’t something that’s easy to lose so early on in life. I want to help you find vengeance, if you can.”
Malcolm nodded. The light turned green, and Tapestry drove through the intersection.
The VCAX studio was downtown, located in a midsized building. The station’s call letters stood, like a piece of modern art, in front of a large plate glass window on the ground floor. Tapestry parked in the back lot, and they went inside.
“They’re going to ask about the Instagram thing,” said Tapestry, as they waited for the receptionist.
“What?” Malcolm frowned at her. “How is that relevant to what happened at the school?”
“It’s not like they’ll limit the interview to a single topic, Wind Runner,” said Tapestry. “You are the real story here, not the school shooter. Heck, I wouldn’t be surprised if the girl whose home you fell into ended up writing a ‘full detailed’ account for some unscrupulous magazine.”
“Heck?” asked Malcolm. “Seriously?”
Tapestry rolled her eyes.
“I don’t like to swear,” she said.
Malcolm chuckled, and was even more amused by the way she blushed at his reaction. The receptionist finally showed up, and immediately waved for both of them to follow her.
“This is the dressing room,” she said. “Felicity will take care of you. I’m going to have to ask for your companion to wait in the lobby.”
Tapestry frowned slightly, but Malcolm smiled reassuringly.
“It’ll be fine,” he said. “I won’t say anything stupid. I promise.”
“Just… do your best,” said Tapestry, a bit begrudgingly.
Malcolm walked into the dressing room and took a seat in front of a long mirror. A woman with glasses and a ponytail entered after a minute and immediately began applying makeup.
“Oh, wow,” said the girl. “Sorry! I’m kind of nervous! I mean… you’re the Wind Runner.”
Malcolm chuckled.
“You can call me Malcolm,” he said. “Don’t believe the rumors, I’m just a normal guy.”
“Right,” said the girl. “Half the people at the station were combing the internet for any secret gossip they could find about you.”
“The Instagram thing wasn’t enough for them?”
“They want the really juicy secrets.” The girl pushed some type of makeup pad against his cheeks. “Speaking of which, there’s already fanfiction being written about you.”
“Fan… fiction?” Malcolm shook his head slowly.
“Sorry, I’m kind of into that sort of thing,” she said. “Some of it is really out there. You might want to read it. Or maybe not. It’s really out there.”
“Okay…” said Malcolm. The girl made him turn his head from side to side, apparently happy with the job she’d done. She didn’t say anything, instead she just stood there looking at him.
“Do you need anything else?” she asked. “Coffee? Juice?”
“I’m good,” said Malcolm. “Thanks, though.”
The girl sighed, and left the room. Malcolm looked at himself in the mirror, impressed by the job she’d done.
He waited for at least an hour before someone finally came to get him. He was led down a hall and into a dim backstage area.
“Don’t worry, it’s not live,” said one of the techs. “If you get confused by any of the questions, just ask Jennifer to rephrase it for you. We can edit stuff like that out later.”
“Got it,” said Malcolm.
“Alright then,” said the tech. “Head on out and take a seat.”
Malcolm was surprised by how bright the lights were. The set was simple, with two comfortable chairs facing each other in front of a basic backdrop. The space looked smaller from his perspective than it had on TV, and the presence of the cameras and the microphones made it feel less impressive, somehow.
He recognized Jennifer Morgan as she walked out to take the seat across from him. He’d seen her dozens, if not hundreds of times before since she’d been hired by VCAX. She was pretty, but not overly so, with black hair and pale skin. She wore a blue suit jacket with a matching skirt.
“Malcolm Caldwell,” said Jennifer. “It’s great to have you here today.”
“Great to be here, Jennifer.” He smiled, feeling ridiculous at how easy it was to slide into the role of the interviewee.
“Do you prefer that I call you Malcolm, or Mr. Caldwell, or… Wind Runner?”
Malcolm hesitated before answering.
“Wind Runner is fine,” he said.
CHAPTER 20
The first half of the interview was straightforward, even boring, at times. Jennifer asked him about his early life, about growing up in Vanderbrook. Malcolm wondered why anybody would care about who he’d been, and how he’d lived before becoming a champion, but he answered as honestly as he could.
The interview only started to get interesting for him when she finally started asking about the day he’d discovered his powers. He described the scene in the classroom to her in general detail, leaving out any mention of the music he’d been listening to.
It’s probably best if I treat my focus activity a little like I have to treat my weakness.
“And so, you left the school,” said Jennifer. “And you began jumping from roof top to roof top?”
Malcolm fidgeted slightly.
“Uh… that’s correct.” He scratched his head. At the time, he’d only cared about using his powers, and seeing what he could do with them. He hadn’t stopped to consider what the public must have seen as he leapt through town, trespassing on private property, and generally disturbing the peace.
“Mr. Wind Runner, I know this is a sensitive issue to address, but everyone’s talking about it,” said Jennifer. “A woman named Emily Jenkins posted several photos of you on social media on this same morning.”