Two weeks after the world was introduced to Superman.
It was afternoon. The downtown Metropolis was buzzing, not with the lively chatter of people going on about their work as per usual but with the rough, scraping sound of machinery hitting the rough asphalt. Immediately after the long-winded battle that flattened a good chunk of the city, all the gold-hearted politicians, the businessmen, those who had the resources to do something, they went into motion like the gears of an old clock. Charities were set up, investments were made, losses recouped, yet they still had a long way to go if they desired to return a sense of normalcy to the place. Though who were they kidding - even if the buildings were put back together, the feeling of dread and uselessness would still permeate the air around the city. The photos of the dead, their screams, their pleas, their prayers which were so callously ignored by their respective Gods. They would haunt the city for generations.
On the other hand, there were also those who were powerless. Those who heard the distorted, booming noise made by the World Engine and who lived to tell the tale. Most of them resided within their houses, provided their residences weren't caught in the crossfire. It was no telling how they coped with having witnessed such a terrible event take place right before their doorstep, as each and every one of them had a slightly different experience, but at that moment, at 18:30 p.m, it was safe to assume that they were in front of their TVs waiting for The Seltzer Factor to start.
"..now, we here at The Seltzer Factor, we owe it to the audience to keep them up to date with the latest, hottest news that are ravaging the globe. And for the first time in history, we don't have to travel to a god-forsaken country to do that." Cue Janine Seltzer, a middle-aged black woman, the sole hostess of The Seltzer Factor. She sat behind the desk, addressing her viewership in a monotonous tone to communicate how she's unbiased while making sure to convey sympathy here and there. She was aware that one verbal slip up would result in a lot of ruffled feathers and most likely cost her job.
"As you know..", she sighed a little as her posture faltered. Her eyes moved down at her desk, at the number of stacked papers placed at chest level, before she threw her gaze back at the camera. "..a tragic, deadly event occurred in Metropolis around two weeks ago. One with potentially global implications. The answer to the question 'are we alone in this universe' has been finally answered, and in the worst way possible. We stood in the brink of extinction and survived. But now there's another question that's been brought up - who should we thank for that?" she paused for a little allowing the studio to be clad in a melodramatic blanket of silence. "Logically speaking, we should owe our existence to the man, the Superman, who took it upon himself to banish this army of highly advanced aliens and consequently save us from them. But what if it was exactly that man who brought the invaders in our land in the first place?" She visibly gulped before throwing another look at the papers on her desk. A less-experienced host might have lost some big audience points by losing concentration like that, but Janine knew what she was doing.
She shuffled on her seat for a bit, changing sides to face the other camera as they switched angles.
"To answer those aforementioned questions, our first guest in the studio will be Pulitzer winning journalist who works for Metropolis' own Daily Planet and who has kept a close watch on the events transpiring before and during the alien clash. I'd like to welcome Lois Lane. Ms. Lane, first and foremost, how are you?" Suddenly, the camera panned out to a wide shot to show Lois sitting on the desk, opposite of Janine.
"All things considered, I'd say I'm good. Oh, and please call me Lois." she responded.
"Glad to hear you're okay, Lois. Now, before we move on with this interview, our audience expects you to answer a couple of questions and hopefully shed light on some other aspects that we are not aware of. Considering your personal involvement with the incident, the questions prepared might sniff into your intimate life. We've discussed this beforehand, but I still want to make sure that you're up for it."
Lois paused for a second before speaking.
"Janine, there's not much of a big difference between my job and yours. They're both built around scrutiny, so I knew the professional hazards when I stepped into this studio. I also know how many lives the incident has affected for worse, so I feel like I owe the people an insight on what truly transpired. That said, I'm answering your questions as someone who was present in the fray and not as a journalist, so my views might be prejudiced."
"Very well, then. I know you're on a time limit so let's begin with our first question.", Janine shuffled through all her prep work, having masterfully brushed off Lois' somewhat stingy albeit true remark about scrutiny.
"Snippets of footage and photographs that have surfaced on the internet show you are particularly close with the alien, this so-called Superman. What exactly is your relationship with him?" Her starting question put a smirk on Lois' mouth, although not one that communicated joy.
"You went for the jugular right away, didn't you.." Both women shared a laugh but lacked any enthusiasm or reason behind it. Lois uncomfortably shuffled in her seat before answering.
"Well, if you're gonna use this question to segue into the emerging rumors about a possible romantic link between the two of us, they're all false.", the red-haired woman lied through her teeth. "I have no connection to Superman outside of a professional one. There is really nothing to add that has not been clarified in the official story. I was the first to uncover his existence, the Daily Planet didn't want to publish my story out of fear of political fallout so I used an alternative way. Apparently, I did something right to get Superman's seal of approval so I also temporarily acted as a mediator between him and the military. The rest is history."
"You endangered his secret identity yet he still trusted you?!"
"When you put it that way, it does sound ridiculous. But what you have to know about Kal is that he was in need of a supporter at the time. He spent his entire life trying to accept himself, and once he passed over that hurdle, he had an even bigger one coming his way - to make the entire world accept him. He needed someone who believed him and I just happened to stroll by." Lane answered the woman's inquiries efficiently, solidifying her standing as a hardass journalist.
"So, now after all that's happened, what's your opinion on those who oppose Superman? As you may know, there are already 12 million and 786,457 thousand people who have signed a petition to exile him from the planet since the petition's creation five days days ago. From a political standpoint, the petition is a dud but it does highlight the planet's displeasure with Superman's presence. We also got some very prominent figures from around here like rising business conglomerate Alexander Luthor and philanthropist Bruce Wayne who have publicly opposed and are running an anti-Superman campaign, deeming him a threat to the world as a whole. I don't know how familiar you are with the-" Janine was about to finish, until Lois, slightly flustered but still composed, interrupted her.
"I'm familiar with their work.", her tone rose slightly higher than before as she clasped her hands and moved forward. "The former has been under investigation for having ties to the underworld, while the latter's company has government contracts that extend up to 2018. Both opportunists, men who made a profit from the 'endangered world' that they're trying to 'fix'. We all know the entire reason for their campaign is because their business ventures got trashed in the ensuing battle. I don't see them as the type of people who care about civilian safety."
Lois' last remark tensed up the situation as Seltzer attempted to hold her back..
"Ms. Lane-I mean Lois, that's a very bold statement to make.."
Lois prevented herself from saying anything rash, her tone becoming calmer gradually.
"I did warn you I was gonna be prejudiced. I apologize.", she declared easing the tensions and allowing for Janine to jumble through her papers and continue the interview.
"What about Superman's efforts to help in rebuilding Metropolis and clean up the mess left behind from the clash?"
"What about them?" Lois inquired back, unsure what the question was.
"Critics call it a blatant PR stunt."
"So, how is that a bad thing?" Lois retorted. "He is an indestructible alien entity who is looking for our support. Does he need it? No. Yet he still wants to..", she paused at a loss of words. "..integrate, in a sense. It shows that we can't control him, but he's not here to control us either."
"What about his origins? There have been many speculations regarding his planet of origin but so far nothing official has come up."
"I apologize, I have nothing on that. He has kept that under wraps.", Lois pursed her lips as she tossed yet another shameless lie, one that was met by an assenting nod by Janine.
"Final question, Lois. Does the world need a Superman?"
Silence overtook the studio, the type of silence in which you can even hear teeth clattering, tensing up in response to the level of agitation it brought forth. You could almost see Lois' gears grinding in her head as she maintained firm eye contact with the hostess. What was the correct answer to that question?
After a prolonged silence, the red-haired journalist finally spoke. "It does. I believe he is a beacon of hope. And I know that it's hard to the families of the victims of that catastrophic disaster and I don't expect anyone to change their opinion of him overnight - after all, that is not why I'm here - but I do wish there comes a day where people look up to the sky and see what I see. Not a God, not a monster, but someone who's trying to do right by us."
"Ms. Lane, thank you for being here with us." Janine spoke, effectively concluding the interview.
"Thank you for having me." Lois spoke back.
The camera switched from the wide shot to one that was focused on Seltzer as Lois disappeared out of the frame. Just like in the beginning, she addressed her audience and kept them informed on the show's schedule as was customary of political talk shows.
"We will be back after a brief intermission with a live broadcast from the Indian Ocean where there's a military operation taking place related to the safe removal and transportation of one of the World Engines which crashed there two weeks ago. Reports say that Superman MAY make an appearance. Don't go anywhere."