The BZ-Metru Story Chapter 28

Television enables you to be entertained in your home by people you wouldn't have in your home.

David Frost

A dark sky rose above General Discussion. There were absolutely no stars in the heavens that night, nor was there any sight of the moon. The streets below, which usually even during the night were bustling, were eerily silent.

Yet despite the unnatural peace which gripped the forum, Snoopy82 simply couldn’t sleep.

Snoopy82 was a young man, aged 25. He lived his simple life alone in an apartment several blocks from the Administrator’s Palace. Every day he would walk to the Palace, where he worked 9-5 as a clerk for the reference desk. He had dreams of being an author, yet to that point in his career his literary works had been pushed to the back of the Library’s shelves.

After tossing and turning in his bed for several hours, he decided not to fight the insomnia and got up. He fixed himself a glass of Dr. Bohrok and sat down on his couch in front of the TV, a book in hand.

When he turned on his TV, a horrifying sight met him. He recognized the scene as being Black Six’s apartment, but it was not in the neat and orderly state that it was usually in. The camera was panning around the room, showing blood stains on the carpeting, an outline of a body, and a smashed bed.

Finally, the camera panned up to show a reporter, Toa of Muffins. He was holding a microphone and wearing a trench coat.

“So there you have it, ladies and gentlemen. The scene of murder. The heart and soul of our city, the Admin’s Palace, becomes a place of death.”

Snoopy82’s eyes widened with shock, his mind racing to several hasty conclusions at once. Had Black Six been… murdered?

On screen, ToM put a finger to his ear, pressing his earpiece in tighter. “I have received word that the BZ-Metru press secretary and administrator, Tufi Piyufi, will be holding a press conference in ten minutes time. We will redirect our feed to our correspondent there at that time. Meanwhile, for those of you just joining us, I will repeat: Black Six is safe, and in good health.”

Snoopy82 let out a breath of relief. But if Six was safe, what had happened?”

ToM answered that question for him. The reporter motioned toward the blood on the carpet next to the blood stained bed. “At approximately 12:01 tonight, an as of yet unknown assailant broke into Black Six’s personal apartment wielding a gun and a knife. He attacked Black Six and jumped onto the bed. The two struggled, but as the attacker was about to deal the fatal blow, the miraculous happened: Valenti, a high ranking official, burst into the room and grabbed the attacker. The stronger Valenti wrestled the knife away and stabbed the would-be murderer.”

Throughout the monologue the camera had moved throughout the apartment, showing the locations of the different events.

ToM was about to continue, but again pushed his earpiece in. “According to our correspondents down in the press conference room, Tufi Piyufi is about to address the media. We take you there now.”

The screen went blank for several seconds, and finally was illuminated again by the image of administrator Tufi Piyufi sitting behind a desk. In front of her were dozens of microphones from different news networks and radio stations. Snoopy82 noticed that her eyes seemed bloodshot and she looked very tired.

“Thank you all for coming here at such short notice,” she said, talking to the various reporters off camera. “Before I take questions I would like to give a brief update on the statuses of both Black Six and Valenti. I just got off the phone with the doctor who is tending to both of them, Dr. Bionicle. He says that aside from a few cuts and bruises to Valenti, he will be fine. Black Six, likewise, suffered from a few cuts, and the recovery from the concussion that he’d previously been recovering from was set back. However, Dr. Bionicle tells me that these injuries are minor and he will be fully recovered in a month or so.”

She paused for a moment to let the assembled media finish scribbling down their notes. A voice off screen, which Snoopy82 recognized as forum mentor TMD, spoke. “Are there any questions for Admin Piyufi?”

After a din of off-screen voices yelling her name, she nodded to her left. The room quieted.

“Yeah, this is Bioran, of the Kanohi-Journal: Can you release any info on who the attacker was?”

Tufi shook her head. “Not at this time, no. We have not received identification yet, but we will release any new information the second it is made known to us. Next question?”

She nodded to her right.

“Mesonak of the Three Virtues Radio: Who will handle the duties of head admin while Black Six recovers?”

“I reviewed the BZ-Metru Staff Procedure book earlier, and in the absence of Six, with Smeagol4 being away from the capital, and with the sudden disappearance of Dimensioneer, I have become the acting head admin.”

“Next question?” said TMD.

“Yes, I represent the BZPowercast,” said an offscreen voice. “Because this seems to have been an inside job, and with tensions running so high between BZ-Metru and the BZR, are you sure you can trust Dr. Bionicle?”

The moment these words left the innocent, unnamed reporter’s mouth, Tufi Piyufi blew it. She slammed her fists down on the table and gave a look that spelled death to the reporter. Snoopy82 could have sworn he saw her eye twitch.

“WHAT DID I JUST TELL YOU?” she said, voice raised. “I NEVER said this was an inside job. I JUST SAID that we have NO leads. STOP ASKING ABOUT IT!”

There was a hushed silence from the reporters, broken only by the awkward and nervous shuffling of notebooks and feet. Tufi took the time to calm herself down- but it was evident she was very embarrassed and still a bit angry.

"Erm... I mean... of course we can trust the Doctor... he was with the staff for quite a while... and has kept in touch with both Six and myself over the years..."

Another awkward silence followed. TMD, quick to realize that no more questions would be asked, dismissed the reporters.

"Thank you all for coming. Remember to check your inboxes for an accompanying press release. Good night and have a safe trip home."

With that, the shot of the press room went black, and was soon replaced by ToM, still in the apartment.

"So there you have it, ladies and gentlemen. No identity of the assailant yet, Black Six and Valenti safe. We will be rebroadcasting both the press conference and my summary of the events tomorrow morning, at midday, and in place of the 9:00 news. Now we turn it over to the studios for the weeks weather report."

As fascinating as the prospect of a week of snowstorms was, Snoopy82 shut off his TV.

Review topic