-MANHATTAN PUBLIC LIBRARY-
Another lovely spring day. Gloria opened a library window, leaned out a bit, and took a deep whiff of fresh air.
"Ahh. I've missed this weather. What a beautiful day..."
Gloria abruptly turned away from the window.
"...to catch up on my reading."
The summoner girl took a seat on one of the library's couches, cracking open a book on prehistoric animals and consuming its information like her sisters Sarah and Josephine consumed baked goods.
---
Upon finishing her book, Gloria looked away from printed pages for the first time in over 90 minutes to notice a cardboard box on the library's front steps for the first time. Gloria stood up and started walking over. This happened pretty often - people would drop by the library to dump off their unwanted old books. Based on their condition, Gloria would either add them to the library's collection, move them to the basement archives, or offer them up on the Free Books rack by the entrance. Just like the library's perpetual drought of customers, Gloria knew she shouldn't enjoy getting boxes of other people's books so much, but she couldn't help but be a little selfish about it.
She grabbed the box and began to drag it inside, only for something inside the box to pull back, giving her quite a scare.
"Hey! Hands off!"
"GAAGH?!" Gloria backpedaled, tripping over the threshold and landing on her rear. A moment of silence followed as she blinked owlishly at the talking box.
"Ssssss... Honestly, the nerve of some people. You can't just rip someone's clothes off like that!"
"...Clothes?"
"Well, not technically, but this box is like a second skin to me. I feel naked without it."
"...Who ARE you?"
The box stood up.
"World-famous, you say."
"Well, eventually. I only just founded my company last week. But it's an inevitability. I'm pioneering new techniques that no other reporter dares tread."
"And what might those techniques be?"
"Answer me this, first. You're Gloria Encarta, one of the kobbers, right?"
Gloria looked taken aback. "H-how did you-?"
"Sss, sss, sss! Oh please!" Myriam's eyes were bright with laughter. "You walk around in that getup, in the modern age, and think you'll fly under the radar? It's the information superhighway, Gloria! Web 3.0! There are people cosplaying as you! Or... as the generic class from FFT. Or maybe they were going as Yuugi and lacked muscle definition. But my point remains."
"I seem to have lost track of what exactly the point you were making was."
"I'll tell it to you straight, then. You kobbers don't get a lot of mainstream media attention. Most news outlets just think it's all too weird, and sending in investigators is more trouble then it's worth considering all the gunfire and magic missiles getting thrown around. But that's where I come in. I'll do anything for a scoop, not like these nancies that think they'll get anywhere reporting Little League games. The truly great people in any business are the innovators, don't you know." Myriam twirled a pen around in her hand, looking immeasurably pleased with her life choices.
"So... You want to write about the kobbers?"
"More than that. Most of the information about you guys is rumors on the net. I've been trawling forums and imageboards for months to build up a portfolio, but for all I know 90 percent of it's baloney. I'm going to set the record straight with exclusive after exclusive. And then I'll get a book deal, and they'll make it into a movie, and it'll be the biggest documentary sensation since March of the dang Penguins!"
"That's, uh, awfully ambitious."
"I'm an ambitious girl."
"I see. So, did you want to interview me? Is that why you're here?"
"Yeah, I need some questions answered. I've found a LOT of content about your family online, and I need to sort out the fact from the fiction."
"Very well. Let's go inside."
Myriam followed Gloria in, already chattering about rumors of the time Gloria ran someone over with a train.
No comments:
Post a Comment