16655/The Story of Last Night

The Story of Last Night
Date of Scene:	22 December 2023
Location:	Midtown
Synopsis:	April gets the start of a story.
Cast of Characters:	April O'Neil, Olivia Gaudin

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April O'Neil has posed:
The front door to the Theater is closed and nobody answers the phone these days, which has led April O'Neil to hang out near the performer's entrance. She's checking her cellphone, looking for updates that have been posted on the story she's currently following: an attack on a theater performance by anti-mutant terrorists looking to possibly murder a performer on stage. She is at the boring part of her job: sitting somewhere waiting for the person she's hoping to interview to come out the door.

Olivia Gaudin has posed:
    Olivia isn't terribly sneaky. When she tries to be, though, she shows a remarkable ability to come up with plans so convoluted hat they absolutely never work. She has spent five minutes trying to figure out the best way to avoid being bothered about last night. She doesn't like calling attention to the Gershwin Theatre unless that attention is glowingly positive. She's really a fan of her company.

    So in this situation, she created several useless diversions that were so subtle nobody noticed. All were attempts to make it look like she'd be using an alternate exit. This then covers her way out the main entrance she always uses. Crazy! Like a fox.

    And so she steps out, lets out a sigh as she doesn't notice any cameras or trouble, and starts to walk toward the street. All she has to do is make it to the cab and she's home free!

April O'Neil has posed:
The NICE thing about living in an age of tiny spy cameras and massive interconnection is, in a public place, you can keep an eye on EVERY entrance to a building fairly easily. One of the little cameras that April set up in a bush near the main entrance picks up someone leaving. April brings up the video to take a closer look and...shit that's her story walking to the curb. She grabs her bag, and takes off running out of the alley towards where Olivia is standing, waiting to cross, and calls, "Ms. Gaudin! April O'Neil, Truth Seekers Podcast! Do you have any comment you'd like to make after last night's attack on your performance?" It's fast and loud and a bit obnoxious but....her story's walking away and she has to catch the lady's attention SOMEHOW.

Olivia Gaudin has posed:
    At the first call of her name, Olivia moves more quickly away, but then she stops abruptly. There's a stiffening in her spine and she withdraws her hand from the cab. By the time she turns back to face the reporter, a helpful person steals the cab right out from under her. It's New York, after all.

    "You're April from Truth Seekers?!" she blurts out with so much excitement it draws eyes from all directions. "I love your show! Oh my god. I have so many questions. Have you ever met Superman? Or Captain America? What's it like, talking to super heroes?"

    Oh wait, April asked a question. Olivia... kinda talked right through it, though. "I'm sorry, you... oh! Last night.." Her excitement rather quickly fades to nervousness. Olivia gets more guarded. "I am just glad none of our crew or our audience members lost their lives. It was a miracle that so few were hurt in the evacuation."

April O'Neil has posed:
The compliments are nice -- and rare -- in her profession, but she's got a job to do! April smiles a little to Olivia as she gushes about meeting superheroes, and comments, "I hear you're going to the Christmas Party at Xavier's School this evening, I suspect you'll get to meet a few super heroes yourself."

Then, back to business! Her answer gets a nod, and she follows up, "Do you know who the attackers were? How are you feeling today? Do you still feel safe on the stage here at the Gershwin?"

Olivia Gaudin has posed:
    "Oh, I am. Heroes? I was rather hoping to meet children, really. But I suppose there might be some heroes there." She of course has no idea about that. From what she understands, it's a very good boarding school for gift kids. She does much better with kids.

    Then back to the serious questions. Olivia was given a bunch of guidance for dealing with media. But the truth is, she has gone through a lot lately, including two concussions not even related to this current situation. She is understandably a bit hazy on the memories.

    "I don't know who the attackers were. I only know they were horrible people. I'm okay, though. It was terrifying. They shot at me, which was frightening. I am not used to having guns pointed at me. Most people aren't. Oh, and do I feel safe? Of course I do! I'm not letting some anti-mutant lynch mob take me away from my dream, and I'm not letting them influence our decisions. We've made adjustments and will make more. I'd share details, but, well, it hardly does to add security measures and then give away all of them." Truth be told, she can't quite remember everything that was discussed this morning. Certainly advanced metal detectors were involved. Was there something about.. dogs? She can't recall.

    "Would you like to sit down and have a cup of coffee?" she asks suddenly. "I'm a bit footsore."

April O'Neil has posed:
The cellphone that April is recording on lights up for a moment, and a text from an unknown number appears with the message 'I'll be on your podcast sometime'. April glances at it, and swipes it away, before returning to Olivia, "I see. You say that even though one of the perpetrators of the attack was found inside your dressing room?"

Olivia Gaudin has posed:
    Olivia looks at the cellphone curiously, but she can't quite make it all out from her angle. She imagines April get s ton of messages. This of course makes her wonder if that was a super hero sending her a text.

    "Well, that was certainly frightening, but at least it wasn't someone else. I'd rather it be me, you know? It's a shame that one of my friends had to be there, too, getting scared by this idiot. The whole thing was absurd. Where he even got the idea that there's a mutant in our company is beyond me. Even if it were true, what does it matter? I think the whole thing was insane. But... it all worked out about as well as it could in the end."

April O'Neil has posed:
April O'Neil makes a sympathetic face at the confession about how insane everything was. She nods, and then says, "Thank you for your time Ms. Gaudin." She then turns off the recorder on her cellphone, and says, "Unfortunately, I can't get coffee with you right now. It wouldn't look good, but perhaps in the future I can have you on as a guest for my podcast, and we can sit and talk then?"

Olivia Gaudin has posed:
    "Certainly, Ms. O'Neil. I was happy to help." Olivia has to wonder if she really did help. She didn't say too much, after all. The producer will be relieved she didn't spill all the beans on what really happened in her dressing room.

    "A pity about the coffee, but I understand." She pretends to, at least. "I would be happy to join you! I'd need to work it out with my agent, first. I would talk about the person who saved the day. She was incredible!" And terrifying. Not a single living suspect in the end. Truly Flatline was brutally (empthasis on the brutal) efficient in addressing the threat.

April O'Neil has posed:
April O'Neil gives a smile, "Thank you again Ms. Gaudin. I'll reach out to your agent when I have a moment! Have fun at the party!" And then she's bounding up the street to grab the cameras she set up for her little stakeout, and start working on filing her reports.

Olivia Gaudin has posed:
    Olivia watches April go with more than a bit of curiousity. As luck has it, she's even able to get a cab quickly. Quick enough to avoid being pounced by another journalist. She suspects others are nearby.

    The performer hopes that she did well enough. As far as she can tell, she gave nothing dangerous away. She left the more scary part of the story completely off the table! April was pretty gentle with her. Olivia rather doubts she'll get that lucky again, though.