Netcast: Zero by Ryk Brown Read Free Book Online Page A

for a client. Wrong time to play investigative reporter. She’s also right about it taking both numbers and rep to make it to the major networks. Part of your rep has to be that you can always be trusted to do your job, even when that job is to interview some stuffed shirt in a fancy office about something you don’t care about. It’s called being professional.”
    Hanna looked at Graham. “But what if I had been right?”
    “Then you’d have your big story, that’s for sure.” Graham turned and started walking toward the escalator to the monorail platform. “Of course, we’d all be dead.”
    * * *
    Message; Arielle: I found it. Hanna took her seat in the middle of the press room. There were more than fifty reporters gathered at the Montreal office of the Global Disease Control Organization for the press conference, where they expected confirmation that the recent outbreak in nearby Sorel was indeed the Klaria virus.
    Hanna looked about the room, spotting severalfamiliar faces. As usual, indies such as herself sat in the back half of the room, while reporters working for the major news networks sat in the front half.
    Reply: Looks like all the usuals are here, even your favorite, Constance Gerard.
    Hanna frowned. Message: I hate that bitch.
    Reply: You hate all of them.
    Hanna straightened her blazer and fluffed her short, black hair, just as she always did before the cameras lit up. Message: Not all of them. Just the ones that have the job I want.
    Reply: That is all of them.
    Hanna looked around, noticing several sets of orbs deployed in the most common fashion. With so many in attendance, a single group of FI camera orbs had to be shared by all. Message: You guys set back there? she wondered .
    Reply: Took Graham about a minute to bring the shared feed and calibrate your POV coordinates. The guy may be an ass, but he is good at what he does, I’ll give him that.
    Message: He doesn’t complain about boring assignments, either, I noticed. He didn’t say a word about doing a press conference with a shared feed.
    Reply: We were lucky to get this gig, Arielle messaged. I guess he wasn’t kidding when he said he was bored. I thought we’d lose him to another gig after the first few days sitting around Boston.
    Hanna sighed. Message: I believe I’ve apologized for that enough now.
    The murmur in the room began to fade as several representatives from the GDCO entered the room. A mixture of epidemiologists and bureaucrats, both male and female took the stage, totaling eight people in all. Hanna’s heart sank a little. If every one of them were going to speak, it was going to be a long press conference. I guess I’m getting what I deserve, she thought.
    A message from Arielle appeared in her personal space.
    From Arielle: Third from the right. Isn’t that Dr. Benarro? Hanna’s spirits fell even further still.
    Hanna’s eyes returned to the stage, spotting Doctor Benarro. Reply: Crap, now I’ll never get picked for a question.
    From; Arielle: Relax, you’re six rows back, and the majors are all present. You’d never have gotten picked anyway. Of course, if you hadn’t alienated Doctor Benarro…
    Reply: Not helping, Hanna thought.
    “Ladies and gentlemen of the press,” the man at the podium called over the loudspeakers, “if you’ll take your seats, we’ll get started momentarily.”
    Message; Arielle: I don’t even know why we’re here, Hanna thought.
    Reply: You know how it works, Hanna, Arielle’s answer read across Hanna’s visual space. An agency has to have a reporter present, or they don’t get to jack into the feed. It’s been that way since the virtual presence reform act of twenty-four thirty.
    Message: I know why , Hanna thought, I’m just saying it’s a stupid rule.
    “Ladies and gentlemen, I’m Doctor Donovan Mesnard, Senior Press Officer for the GDCO here in the Americas.”
    Reply: Stop whining and pay attention.
    Message: Hey, isn’t that the guy that Constance interviewed on