Compromised Secrets

At 8 pm the Channel 5 logo flashes on the screen. Instead of the next episode of the classic sitcom, Not MY Hero!, the familiar face of Lori Landry appears. Visible for those who recognize it is a Church of the Reflections pendant, worn prominently. She begins speaking seriously to the camera.

“Good evening. I’m Lori Landry and this is a Channel 5 Special Report. What, exactly, is Sector 10‘s involvement with Century Station’s newest group of heroes, S.A.V.I.O.R.? Our investigation digs into that mystery with surprising results, including government cover-ups and secret allegiances. Stay tuned as we expose the secret truths behind this team’s quick rise to prominence.”

Lori opens up by talking about the heroine, Miss Amazing. The security footage of her robbing a jewelry store is played. Lori then recounts how S.A.V.I.O.R. ‘claimed’ the heroine was under mind control during this time, but questions if this was true. After all, the supposed mastermind responsible was killed during the act of being brought to justice. Other victims of his came forward to the police for a proper debriefing, but not Miss Amazing. Was this a S.A.V.I.O.R. cover-up? It wouldn’t be the first one.

The narrative quickly shifts to the murder of Urien Daniels of US Robotics, with security footage of the robot Caedechron in his office just before the incident shown. The footage then changes to show the robot Caedechron being secured by CSPD recently, after being arrested by a CSPD traffic cop. Lori recounts the manhunt for the murderous machine supposedly controlled by a human mind. A tragic story not dissimilar to Century Station’s own Spartacus, but far less noble. Then Lori links them with the uncovered cover-up by Thanatos.

“Public record shows this ‘Thanatos’ was a member of S.A.V.I.O.R. during that incident, and police reports now show he used his considerable computer skills to dupe investigators into a wild goose chase.” A short interview with Xavier Financial C.E.O. Cassandra Blodgett airs next, in which Cassandra talks about the relief that her company is no longer under investigation. Cassandra recounts how the police were led to believe through e-mails that an identical killing machine was created by her late father, Mason Blodgett.

“My father was no saint,” Cassandra concludes, “but murder that brazen? Even he wasn’t that crooked and evil. Thankfully, the truth came to light. I just hope that man Caedechron finds the help and peace he clearly needs.” She looks straight at the camera as she says this final line. “I hope all of those in S.A.V.I.O.R. who have issues find the help they truly need to overcome them.” Cassandra ends her interview there and declines to comment further on what she meant or who she may have been talking about.

This special report leads from there into a full-on conspiracy theory about Thanatos. The master hacker, an even bigger threat to Century Station than Motherboard because he was sanctioned by the government. What else did he tamper with? Under whose authority did he act? A CSPD clip is played where one of their PR specialists say they will be working to de-tangle Thanatos’ tangled web for some time to come. The narrative returns to Miss Amazing finally, showing scattered clips of her fighting alongside S.A.V.I.O.R., and her exploits alongside The Gryphon.

“Today the checkered past of Black Phantom and his association with The Sector became known. But what we’ve uncovered evidence that he is that he isn’t the only one with ties to The Sector. Miss Amazing herself was granted her abilities from this same shadowy government organization! What debt does she owe them? What debt is she paying off by being an inside agent alongside Black Phantom? How do her allies feel about this?”

A clip plays with a shadowed figure speaking in a disguised voice. Below the caption says this is an Anonymous S.A.V.I.O.R. Inside Source. The figure speaks. “Well let me tell you about this self-appointed feminist warrior that believes she has absolute control over all interactions in S.A.V.I.O.R.” The figure continues to rant about Miss Amazing, eventually revealing that she’s the bed partner of The Gryphon. The figure implies there isn’t much more to her as a person than that, but this is where the clip stops and Lori picks back up.

“Our inside source paints a conflicting picture, and with good reason. With a Sector background, it should be worrying that she’s gotten so close to the hero of Norwood, Garrick ‘Gryphon’ Faulkner. Was the reveal of his identity just another game she was playing with S.A.V.I.O.R.? Look at these videos.” Several clips of S.A.V.I.O.R. showing Black Phantom and Miss Amazing play, and Lori narrates  over each one to illustrate that Black Phantom and Miss Amazing work so hard to remain separate from each other. She heavily insinuates that they are clearly working together and trying too hard not to make it show. The final clip shows Miss Amazing realizing she’s near Black Phantom and she clearly makes an effort to move away and distance herself from the man.

Lori spends the rest of the broadcast spinning the angle that S.A.V.I.O.R. are nothing more than patsy’s being manipulated by the government through Miss Amazing and Black Phantom as their two agents, with Thanatos as the insidious cover-up machine. She ends the broadcast finally with this:

“S.A.V.I.O.R. came seemingly out of nowhere and rose quickly these past months to replace our beloved Centurions as the city’s peacekeepers. Such a meteoric rise doesn’t happen without either a lot of coincidence, or a lot of support. I ask you what seems more believable: That S.A.V.I.O.R. has ridden on the coattails of improbable circumstances which just happened to align in order to place them where they are? Or is their position in the city manufactured through deliberate government action backed by The Sector to place them as the city’s top heroes after the U.S. Government called the Centurions away for a ‘special mission’ from which they’ve never returned?”