12 Double Dipping is a Big No-No (1/2)
Sera Lyn was currently on the run. She wasn't quite sure what was going on, but it seemed like someone was coming after her. For the past several days, an ominous presence kept following her, as if watching for her to make a slip up.
Sure, she had her enemies, but she was the famous journalist Sera Lyn, who went around reporting the hottest topics of the moment. She got special access to events and restricted places purely due to her renowned face and press badge. It was necessary for those arranges to be made, if people wanted to know exactly what was going on in the world. It was her duty to reveal everything to those who wanted to know it. Of course, that would make her some enemies.
She looked around the corner carefully. There were only a few blocks until she reached the news station, where she worked normally. Everything would be fine once she got there. The backing of a large news organization would ensure her safety, especially when it came to covering polarized topics.
A horn honked at her, making her jump. Turning around, she freaked out before dashing away. It was THAT truck! She had to get away!
Judging by the decorations on the side, that truck likely belonged to the new progressive party for the election that was coming up. They were the rising stars in the political world, competitors challenging the conservative party that had dominated in the past.
Because of that, there was no way that she wouldn't be interested in covering stories about them. She would do her normal arrangements to get her scoop – infiltrate and pretend to be supportive of their efforts, curry favor among its members, and make her way to interview the leaders of the party.
Direct statements from their own mouths were powerful tools that determined the party's intentions, and often, they would drive the fate of the party. Gaining access to them was what Sera did best. She had her renown built up over the years to smooth the path towards that.
Likely, her role and objectives had been leaked to them, which was why someone was driving around stalking her. Every time she saw the truck, it was a reminder of what she had done to them. How she had wronged them.
She reached the door to the station and bolted inside. She marched through the lobby and through the offices, before reaching her own. Sitting down and breathing a sigh of relief, she checked her computer for any new messages.
She had told her boss about the strange stalking that was occurring, but he had asked her what she did to piss them off.
”Nothing. I just reported the news as normal! The camera crew was there! They can vouch for me!”
”Okay…I'll look into it.”
Of course, she couldn't tell him what she had been doing on the side. Other than the standard on-air time where she had interviewed the progressive candidates, she had asked more 'targeted' questions to them off camera. They were questions tailored to induce edgy responses and served to pry their inner characters more. These responses were more interesting and held more weight, especially to others.
In the case of new, inexperienced candidates who lacked a certain eloquence to their words, they could be easily misinterpreted, especially when cherry-picked and manipulated in the right hands.
In truth, she had a higher loyalty to something else than her reporting job.
Sera clicked on a message that was marked 'unread' from someone that she was expecting.
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Salutations,
Thanks to you, we've got plenty of ammunition to tear down those nasty progressives. They and their wannabe party are going to get a rude awakening soon. Poison, in the form of their own words. Hahaha.
The funds have been wired. You'll get more when we get the next set.
P.O. Doomkoff
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Secretly, Sera had been using her connections to gather slander for the conservative party to use. It was a simple matter – record the conversations based on those raw responses from the progressive leaders, do some careful editing, and then send it off to the conservatives.
With some careful rearrangement of their answers and a little adjustment to the context, one could make it seem like the progressive party was a bunch of quacks that supported all the wrong things. Since it was their own words, they would be hard pressed to explain themselves afterwards. First impressions truly stuck out in people's minds. Some would likely hear the initial news bomb and forgo anything else the candidate had to say.
It would certainly shift the tide in the conservatives' favor. Both she knew it, and so did the conservatives, which was why she had been 'requested' to do such a thing. No one would suspect a famous person to use her connections to support them in secret.
Sera could care less about the conservative party. She just wanted the money. She was perfectly happy playing nice to whoever to get it.
”HONK!”
Sera's attention snapped back to reality when she heard a strange bird outside her window. Looking in that direction, her eyes widened when she saw a goose outside the window jangle something in its mouth.
”What?! My keys? When did it-?” She felt her pockets, and sure enough, they were gone.
She raced outside, nearly tripping over herself on the stairs. Quickly correcting herself, she moved to the side when she heard something above her.
CRASH! A heavy potted plant had fallen where she last stood, creating a mess of dirt and pottery on the sidewalk.
Her time as a journalist in dangerous situations had given her an ability to sense impending danger. It had saved her time and time again. However, there was something strange about this. The recent 'accidents' appeared to be too frequent, and she always seemed to hear a goose nearby. Was it a coincidence?
Sera shook her head. There were more important things to worry about. Namely, the possible leak about her contributing to false propaganda.
A truck beeped at her.
”Not again! Go away! I did nothing!” Sera turned around angrily.