I am Pale Umber.
Alizarin Crimson is a Gecko with an especially expressive face. It is a bonus for the powers that be that her face strikes most warm middle class viewers as being intelligent and feminine. They are happy to have an Rept asset that doesn't come across as either twitchy or wooden. She emotes smoothly and people believe the words that come out of her mouth; for at least as long as she is talking. She possesses the unique combination of being a wonderful host and interviewer without being a very strong debater.
But most importantly to her bosses at Fast News, Ms. Crimson reads aloud the words on the teleprompter like they were the words of God appearing before her and no one else.
"Thank you, Connie." she begins as the red light on camera 3 blinks. She turns to face it as it stays steadily lit. This is her close-up camera. She is especially fond of it at this moment in time. She lets the camera see that, as well as how serious she is. "Since the shooting of an Unarmed Bearded Dragen Youth named Pale Umber earlier this month, there's been a lot of versions of the events that led to the confrontation of the young reptile. The earliest versions, from the Forrestville Police, had Pale Umber armed and drugged, fleeing from a crime scene. We have since learned that the Forrestville Police had confused two separate incidents and two entirely different suspect descriptions neither of whom could have been mistaken for a young, light brown Bearded Dragon. Yet, Officer Handy claims that this is exactly what happened. The closest thing to a weapon found near the crime scene was a basketball wrapped with durawrap to help prevent claw punctures."
CUT TO Photograph selfie of Pale Umber in a heated hooded. He is in a restroom and spinning the basketball on a stubby clawtip with the hand not holding the camera. His face is a cross between joy and concentration; others in the press have called it a snarl.
Crimson VO: "Apologists for Officer Tad Handy suggest that the mere size of Pale Umber may have been enough to menace the ten year veteran to fear for his own life by the young man's very presence. And there is no denying that Pale Umber was not just big for his age, but unusually large for a Bearded Dragon. But neither Handy nor the Forrestville Police Chief have responded to this speculation officially. Except to say, the incident is still under investigation."
Back to Camera 3, Alizarin Crimson blinks her concerned, sincere eyes at the viewing audience. "Tensions in the town of Forestville seem to be mounting; but a judge has ordered the autopsy results released to the family of Pale Umber, as well as any and all recordings that might have been made at the scene of the shooting. It is hoped that once the family has these, they will have a better understanding of what happened. As well as some needed closure."