Zeitgeist
Part Four
Black Canary
The recording booth felt like an island during commercial breaks. Dinah sat in the comfortable armchair behind the suspended microphone with the padded headphones muffling the world. Each steady breath sounded like waves rushing to meet the shore, and she could believe she was alone in a world without problems for just a few moments. While the airwaves played traffic updates for the Metropolis area and words from sponsors, she enjoyed the moment of tranquility.
The producers and technicians ensconced behind soundproof glass had learned early on to not bother their talk show host during weather reports and traffic updates. A moment of respite kept Dinah on her game and verbally pummeling the irrationally irate liberal callers. That, in turn, kept ratings high and advertisers happy. Ratings had been hard to maintain since Gordon Godfrey went from small-time rants to worldwide diatribes.
Safely isolated in her recording booth, with two-and-a-half minutes to go before she was back on the air, Dinah tapped the screen on her phone. A series of e-mails had come streaming in from the Justice League since the VRA had passed. She had refrained from responding yet. They already knew what she thought of the government tossing out a slew of civil rights along with a chunk of the Constitution, and preaching to the choir wouldn't solve a more pressing matter.
What did she say about the VRA on air?
It was a Catch-22. Criticizing the VRA meant risking her secret identity, which had come to feel more like her real identity since meeting the Justice League. But supporting the VRA undermined everything she believed in and fought for. Until the Darkness came, crime fighting had been straightforward, whether in a police uniform or superhero costume. But the world had turned on its head.
A message marked with a tiny red exclamation mark from Lois carried a subject line in caps lock: OPEN NOW! The e-mail contained a brief line and a link.
Apparentely, the Pony Express lost the memo telling Uncle Sam that outlaw gangs went out of style with Billy the Kid. –Lois
After allowing herself a brief smile at Lois's expense, Dinah followed the link to the Daily Planet website. The upturned corners of her mouth fell instantly. She stared at the image emblazoned on the small screen – at the sketch of her own face under the headline declaring her "Most Wanted."
"We're back on in five … four …"
Dinah sucked in a deep, reinforcing breath and pushed aside her phone. When the sound technician pointed at her through the soundproof glass, she leaned forward and spoke into the microphone with a steady voice.
"Welcome back, listeners. This is Dinah Lance speaking to you from Metropolis, where the VRA has just released their list of Most Wanted on the front page of the Daily Planet. I'm sure there are certain bleeding hearts out there stunned at how the government is trampling on the Bill of Rights. But conservatives in this country have always known this day was coming. My friends, we should not be surprised."
Her eyes slid over to the silenced phone when the screen lit up. Text messages came in one after the other from Oliver, Clark, and AC and a grin spread over Dinah's mouth. The bleeding hearts in the Justice League had heard her and knew they were the friends she addressed.