<> <> <> <> <> "Kyle! It's good to have you home, even for a little bit." * Kyle grins. "Good to see you too! It's been a while, I've been busy as heck. I haven't really had time to come home." * Kyle walks in and offers a hug. Hugs are normal, right? <> "Yeah, I noticed. I kept pushing for a story on you guys after the Walphin story broke, but broadcast standards said real chainjumpers are too risky to do stories on." <> "Like my brother's flying around in a tin-can with a bunch of guys with prison tats and necklaces made of people's ears." * Kyle laughs. "Please. Heck, I'm even in there with one of my old college profs. It's risky business, though, we've run into some stuff that has tried to kill us. The Walphin stuff was pretty cool, I was surprised we didn't get more over that. But, well, now we got more press than we could ever want, and all of it bad." <> "Hard to miss that, yes. I saw clips go through on the big shindig with the GalReg director - that was a savvy piece of work, but it'll take more to turn opinion around for you guys." * Kyle takes a seat, tapping his fingers on the arm rests. "Public opinion is still in our favor? It's been mostly the opposite from what I've seen. Then again, all I've seen ANYWHERE I go when I'm, well... normal is papparazi. We even sent this information secure to GalReg so it wouldn't blow up like this." "It's still negative, but public opinion's fickle. It wouldn't have been as bad if we hadn't had the corporate brass come down like it did. On ALL the TVNet outlets, not just us." When it rains, it pours. That was probably the idea. What do you think is the reasoning behind all of that?" I mean, it's all theorycraft, but it just doesn't make sense to me. "Between you, me, and the gatepost, Kyle, it was all about the money. I got thirteen memos in two days about 'Preventing a backlash against chainjumping' and 'Ensuring existing assets aren't endangered'." <> "I think they had to paint you as bad guys, or risk looking like tools when everyone gets upset about chainjumping." <> "A lot of people are still pretty worked up after the Brain Flu." Yeah... yeah... Well, if it's about the money, I can totally see it. That's all any of the corps want, and they're the ones running the show. Man, I sound just like the Prof. Anyways, them throwing us under the bus sucks, but what can we do about it? There's GOTTA be something that can be done, right? Fickle goes both ways. <> "Well, your friends Zeke and Tomas made a good start of it, really. Get your side of the story out there as much as you can, be visible as much as possible, and try to keep your team's message straight." <> "Maybe head back to Walphin, make some waves there. Usually celebs do charity work but that'd be a little weird for you guys." Yeah, charity work. That's... not how most of us work. Thinking of Zeke doing charity work just makes me laugh. * Kyle hmms. "Walphin? Would going back there really help things out? I guess we could do some research there." "The goal's to wash out your bad press with new, good press. I mean, you guys are now the number one recognized chainjumping team. I figure, if you can live through the suspension, people'll pay for you just to show their investors they're putting their money where their mouth is. Walphin was safe, that's the draw." Huh, that's true. We are suspended from chainjumping, at least from registering our findings. But going out and just helping others with research at established locations would probably be okay. "And the corps will love it, because any good news that comes in from the frontiers of space means more chainjumping investment money." "Of course, you could always do actual charity work. I'm sure someone from Dr. Cheung's old university would love to go on a field trip, or a busload of sick children." <> "That's kind of scraping the bottom of the barrel, though." * Kyle grins. "Thanks. I've been trying to think of SOME way to get out of this mess, and I'm really not used to bad press. Inquisitive press, yeah, and fans, I've delt with before. So what're you working on now, something to do with the Venus gas farmers? Had some time working with those guys, not a nice place... I think doing some research would be best beneficial to all involved." <> "Yeah, there've been some really bad scams on the farmers lately. Phoney insurance salesmen, people selling devices they claim turn hydrogen into helium... people say 'at least things are getting normal after the Brain Flu', but if this is normal, they can have it." "I hope the research works out for you. Let me know if you need an outlet. And you better believe that when they finally let me do a story, I'm coming for an exclusive." I'll love to give you one. (Anything else?) (Nope!) <>