Waiting in the ready room shouldn't have made Asami as nervous as it did. She had fought the Colossus for crying out loud! But as the final preparations for the interview were being made, she couldn't help but feel worried.

Her staff, after looking over the outline of her plan to turn Future Industries around, immediately concluded that the best thing they could do with the radio appearance would be a guest spot on a major news show. The idea would be simple, greet Republic City and the world, dispel the rumors about what she wanted, and show that the company did matter in the rebuilding process. From there, a formal ad campaign would be launched to get the message out, and hopefully they would either secure a government contract or have a hit product in the civilian sector, something that would allow for long term growth and keep the creditors from pulling the plug permanently.

The others had all been supportive as anything, confident that she would get through the live interview and show the world the real Asami Sato. The philanthropist, the engineer, the CEO…

The girl that dumped me for my ex.

MAKO!

Kidding. You'll be fine. Just relax, OK? Asami 'Take no prisoners' Sato is going to run through this interview like a hot knife through butter.

"Miss Sato?"

Looking up, she saw a young man in a black suit with his black hair neatly trimmed back and gelled, extending his hand.

"Hideki Masaru. I'm the host of Before the Nations. It's nice to finally meet you in person."

"Oh, I'm sorry, I was just getting ready."

"I wouldn't worry too much," Hideki answered. "We're going live, and filming the episode to put in front of mover screens, but for the most part, just think of it as a conversation."

The pair soon moved into the studio, a replica of a study complete with leather chairs, bookshelves filled with cardboard blocks designed to resemble books, and old pictures adorning the wall, one representing each of the four nations. The lighting in the room itself was very dim, but not so badly that it was impossible to see. Asami relaxed in the chair as she looked on at Hideki, who pointed at the camera in front of them.

"Now the radio transmission is going to be live, while the video will be played for later. You don't need to look at the camera; it'll zoom in on us. Just act normally and answer the questions like you would in a conversation, but make sure you're loud enough that the mic picks it up."

"Anything else?"

"We're timed for a ten minute window, with one minute for an intro, one minute for an outro, and eight minutes of talking. That's about it."

The lights in the studio dimmed as a stagehand walked by the camera. "OK, raise lights, we are live in 3, 2, 1…"

A brief musical tone began to play in the background as the lights began to brighten, with the host looking on at the camera.

"Good evening, and welcome to another edition of Before the Nations. Our subject tonight, the rebuilding of Republic City less than a month after Kuvira's attack, and the various opinions on what to do. How do we move forward as a city and as a nation? Joining me at this is CEO of Future Industries and the Avatar's alleged lover, Asami Sato.

Asami appeared dumbfounded by the intro. Nowhere in the scripts or the initial discussions was the phrase 'Avatar's lover' used.

"What?"

"Miss Sato, what is your relationship with Avatar Korra?"

All the rehearsals Asami had done in her brain did not involve questions about Korra; at least not as the leadoff question. Breathing deeply, she attempted to get her bearings.

"I don't see what that has to do with the rebuilding of Republic City."

"Did you or did you not go on a vacation with Avatar Korra to the Spirit World after the battle with Kuvira?"

"You mean after the battle to sa…"

"The city was devastated! Why go on a vacation? Is it because you don't care about Republic City!"

"Nonsense!" Asami shouted. "I was part of the de…"

"You abandoned a destroyed city to go on a vacation with your girlfriend. Tell us, what were you doing there?"

Any formalness or politeness in the man's voice was replaced with a stern, accusatory tone. Asami however, was through being frazzled by it. If the man wanted to play hardball, she was game.

"I was enjoying myself with a close, personal friend after we had saved the city from Kuvira's giant war machine together, and after my father had died. We were both…"

"Next question," interrupted Hideki, cutting Asami off before she could even begin to explain the toll that the battle with Kuvira and the Colossus had taken on her. "How long have you been involved with Avatar Korra?"

Asami, fed up with the interruptions and clear direction of the interview, finally shot back, asking, "Are we going to talk about anything but Korra?"

"Well, it's great having you here Miss Sato, but we are out of time! Join us again next week for an interview with Minister Shuu…"

"It's been three minutes!" Asami yelled. "We had eight, you said! I wanted to talk about fixing the city! About giving back to the city my father loved so…"

"Yeah, that's nice," Hideki answered, even as the studio lights dimmed. The stagehand went "And…cut!" as the equipment was shut off, Hideki standing up and extending her hand.

"I'm sorry we had to cut the interview short, but something has come up. Still, this is going to be great for ratings. What do you think Miss Sato?

WHACK!

Asami walked out in a huff, not even bothering to look at Hideki collapsing onto the floor, the wind knocked out of him.

"Ugh…"

Asami and the others had gone to the newly built mover theater in order to see the results of the interview, which was now being played before featured films. The whole time, the Future Industries CEO had her head buried in her hands, unwilling to look at the screen as she got grilled on nothing but questions about her relationship with Korra.

"It's not so bad," Bolin reassured Asami as he ate a handful of popcorn. "You look professional."

"And your hair was really nice," Korra added.

"You'll be fine," Opal concluded, having some of Bolin's popcorn from the tub he had on his lap. "Everyone sees that he's just harassing you."

"What a clown!" shouted a heckler at the screen during the interview. "Who trusts someone like that?"

"OH SHUT UP!"