American Horror Story, Starting from Falls Town

Chapter 346 Breaking News
In a dimly lit conference room somewhere in America, 13 black projections are surrounding a red-haired middle-aged man.

"Next, we will begin a formal assessment of Mr. Reid's (R) negligence!"

The projection of the person speaking in the center position carries a scrutinizing tone in their voice.

"Reid, do you admit to a major blunder at the Crystal Lake base in May, resulting in the organization losing a research facility worth tens of billions of dollars?"

Mr. R answered with a straight face.

"Yes, Chairman."

"Reed, do you admit that a month ago in Washington state, you once again caused the organization to lose a valuable containment artifact and hundreds of mercenaries?"

Mr. R still did not deny it.
"Yes, Chairman."

"Reed, are you going to defend yourself?"

"Yes, Chairman, I do need to defend myself. Please see the video footage I obtained at the risk of my life."

Mr. R opened his laptop and uploaded a video file online so that all 13 board members could see it.

The video was unedited and fully recorded Roy's actions, from using the Fear Field to defeat the mercenaries at the beginning to sending Leviathan away with the Light of Heaven at the end.

All the council members watched very attentively, and no one spoke for a long time.

After a long pause, the chairman spoke.

"Reed, is this video real?"

"Yes, Chairman. This video is unedited and has no special effects; it's a direct shot from the scene. Fellow directors, the man in the video, Roy Black, is the key figure who led me to make two major mistakes. I personally believe that losses are unavoidable when facing such an enemy."

The 13 board members began to discuss the matter privately without their microphones being heard by Mr. R.

After half an hour of discussion, the chairman spoke to Mr. R again via microphone.

"Reid, based on the video footage you provided, the Council believes that you do not bear primary responsibility for these two major errors. However, even without primary responsibility, you will still bear secondary responsibility. The Council has ultimately decided to downgrade your authority to Level B and strip you of your current position."

Mr. R's face remained expressionless.

"I accept the decision made by the council."

"I hope you can reflect on your behavior and not make similar mistakes again."

At this point, the assessment meeting, which had lasted for several hours, came to an end. All the projections around disappeared, and Mr. R left the meeting room under the control of the guards.

Back in his room, Mr. R's expression turned very gloomy.

"Damn it! These idiots! How can you blame me for running into enemies like this? What could I do? I've sacrificed so much for this cabin—who's knocking at the door!"

Mr. R was venting his emotions when he heard a rapid knocking on the door.

The room is very well soundproofed, so Mr. R isn't worried about others hearing him swearing.

The door opened, and standing outside was the blonde beauty secretary, Emera, whose face no longer held its former obsequiousness.

"R, you're already a B-level staff member. We've been notified that you must move out of this room."

It's true what they say, people change their attitude quickly. Mr. R was only demoted a few minutes ago, and Amelia's attitude has already changed.

However, Mr. R was very good at hiding his emotions, and no change could be seen on his face.

"I'm packing my bags and will be moving out soon."

"That would be best; the new A-level managers will be moving in soon."

It's obvious that Amelia is about to become the secretary of the new manager, which is why she's so eager to get Mr. R to come.

Mr. R's eyes darkened, but his expression remained largely unchanged.

"It will only take half an hour."

"Hmph, I'll come back to check again in half an hour!"

Amella swayed away, leaving Mr. R with an expression of utter resentment.

"Just you wait, I'll show you what happens when you betray me!"

Burbank, Los Angeles County, ABC headquarters.

The television station was bustling with activity early in the morning. As one of America's three major broadcasting companies, the competition here is fierce.

Almost all the employees were running, and everyone was extremely busy.

At that moment, a blonde beauty strode into the office. Her tall figure and beautiful face attracted the attention of almost all the men, while also garnering a lot of envious glances from the women.

But the blonde beauty didn't care; she was already used to that kind of gaze.

In the eyes of the blonde beauty, those who envy her are a bunch of losers.

"Marianne, the manager wants to see you!"

At that moment, a middle-aged man greeted the blonde beauty. This middle-aged man was one of the few who was not attracted by Marianne's graceful figure.

Upon hearing this, the blonde beauty, Marian, frowned deeply.

That's right, this Marian is the beautiful anchorwoman who was rescued by Roy during the Cosmic Demon incident when the helicopter crashed.

Almost half a year has passed since the Cosmic Demon incident, and the three TV station staff members who were involved in the crash, including Marian, have all recovered and returned to work.

(Marianne Megan, played by Charlize Theron)
"Mike, what's that old lecher up to now?"

Upon hearing the word "old lecher," Mike almost lost his composure.

"Pfft! Don't be so loud! If someone hears you, they'll tell on you!"

"Hmph! I'm stating the facts! Who at the TV station doesn't know? Fine, I'll go find him now."

Marian rolled her eyes and walked toward the manager's office.

Boom boom boom!
"Come in!"

Inside the manager's office, the old lecher that Marian had mentioned was watching a video.

Upon seeing Marian enter, the manager quickly fixed his gaze on her alluring figure.

Marian frowned slightly, but said nothing.

"Manager, I heard you wanted to see me?"

"Oh, yes! There is indeed a very important task right now, and I'm considering whether to entrust it to you."

The manager emphasized the words "important" and "you," as if hinting at something.

Marianne's brows furrowed even deeper. She had dealt with this manager quite a bit, and he had always coveted her beauty, constantly hinting in various ways that he wanted to sleep with her.

However, Marianne is not the kind of person who would sell her body to climb the social ladder; she prefers to rise through her own abilities.

Moreover, this manager is too ugly; Marian, who is very particular about appearance, cannot accept such a person.

So Marian pretended not to have caught the manager's hint and gave him a direct answer.

"Manager, no matter how important the task is, I can complete it!"

The manager kept winking at Marian, making the implication even clearer.

"No, no, no, Marian, you don't understand what I mean! It's not up to you to decide who gets this task, it's up to me! Whoever I say has the ability, has the ability, and vice versa! Do you understand what I mean?" As he spoke, the manager walked up to Marian and tentatively reached out his hand.

Mary couldn't continue installing the mask now. If that groping hand touched her body, she would feel nauseous for days and wouldn't dare to eat meat for half a year.

"Excuse me, manager! I don't like fatty meat. Could you please stay away from me?"

The manager's expression immediately changed, and he looked at Marian with a face full of regret.

“That’s such a shame! I was planning to have you interview the newly crowned Olympic champion, Roy Black, but since you can’t accept that, I’ll have to give that task to Gretchen.”

Gretchen's name sounds very similar to Jean Grey/Phoenix, but she is actually another news anchor at the television station, a direct competitor of Marian, and the two can be described as mortal enemies.

(Gretchen, played by Nicole Kidman)
However, the person who knows you best is always your enemy.

Marianne knew Gretchen very well and knew that she wasn't the type to submit to a manager for work. This manager was probably just trying to provoke her through Gretchen.

Perhaps the manager had already contacted Gretchen before, and only came to him after being rejected.

After thinking it through, Marian didn't want to give the manager a friendly look at all.

"Alright, then go find Gretchen!"

After saying that, Marian turned and left the manager's office, then slammed the door shut.

Not long after leaving the manager's office, Marianne ran into her personal photographer, Franklin, the young black man.

Franklin was one of the few people who didn't have any special feelings for Marianne. His aesthetic sense was very Black, and in his eyes, Marianne was too thin.

"Hey, Marian, the manager just called you over. Is there some work he wants to assign you?"

Marian crossed her arms, her face full of disdain.

"That old lecher tried to take advantage of me, but I refused!"

Franklin scratched his head. Although Marian said she had refused the mission, he was still curious about what kind of mission it was.

"Marianne, what exactly is the mission?"

"He wants me to interview that Olympic boxing champion, Roy Black!"

Upon hearing this, Franklin's eyes widened, and his reaction was extremely strong.

"It's him!"

Marian found Franklin's reaction rather odd; she didn't enjoy watching violent boxing matches and had no idea who Roy Black was.

“Marianne, have you forgotten? The man we photographed before the crash in March, that’s Roy Black!”

Marian was stunned, her thoughts instantly returning to March when she thought she was broadcasting a major news story live, only to find out that the broadcast had been cut off a long time ago.

Furthermore, an agency called the Federal Emergency Management Agency signed a confidentiality agreement with Marian and her team, prohibiting the three of them from disclosing the events of that day in any way.

Oh, and Marianne also witnessed Roy transforming into an angel and secretly filmed it.

Unfortunately, before Marian could release this explosive news, she was forced to sign a confidentiality agreement and had to seal the video away.

Thinking about this, Marian suddenly had a good idea.

Franklin, standing to the side, was still lamenting.

“Mike and I both really like Roy Black as a boxer. If we could interview him, we might be able to get an autographed photo! But Roy Black doesn’t seem to like giving interviews. Only Keller Evans, a reporter from the Los Angeles Times, can get an exclusive interview with him.”

"Alright then, Franklin, let's interview Roy Black privately!"

Franklin looked up at Marianne, his eyes wide as saucers.

“Wow? Marian, are you serious? What if the manager finds out…”

"Look at this!"

Marian took a voice recorder out of her pocket and waved it in front of Franklin.

"I knew that old lecher was up to no good, so I prepared this to deal with him! If he tries to cause me trouble, I'll hand this over to the police!"

At that time, before the #MeToo movement, even if Marian's actions could win over the manager, it would be difficult for her to find a new job afterwards.

Who would accept an employee who likes to hide a recording pen on their person? Isn't that just asking for trouble?
Therefore, this move is one that injures the enemy a thousand while damaging oneself eight hundred, and Marian would not use it unless absolutely necessary.

Franklin was still somewhat hesitant, after all, Marian had a recording pen to protect her, but he and Mike did not.

Upon seeing this, Marian immediately made a guarantee.

"Franklin, don't worry! I have a way to get big news out of Roy Black. As long as it's big news, the manager will definitely turn a blind eye!"

Marian and her colleagues work in the news department of ABC, a department that ultimately aims to uncover breaking news.

Some television stations even wiretapped the British Prime Minister's residence in order to get news coverage. Compared to these people, Marianne was as well-behaved as a model student.

Upon hearing this, Franklin couldn't help but mutter something.

"You said the same thing last time."

The last time was in March, when another manager had already explicitly told Marian to leave the scene.

But Marian didn't listen, which led to the plane crash. The three of them almost died on the spot, but Roy saved them.

By the way, that manager died in the "Devil's Late Show" incident, and he is not the same person as the current manager.

"This time we don't have to take a helicopter, so there's definitely no danger!"

Franklin was eventually persuaded by Marian. He was rather unprincipled and was the kind of person who would echo Marian's orders in the trio.

"The problem now is, where can we interview Roy Black!"

Marian rested her chin on her hand. Since the manager was using this as a task to lure her in, he must have obtained the interview rights and even arranged an interview time.

However, since Marianne doesn't have interview rights, they have to find Roy to interview him.

At this moment, Mike, the middle-aged man who had been listening to Marian and Franklin's conversation, suddenly spoke up.

“I know that! Roy Black is going to UCLA to report tomorrow, he’ll definitely be on campus, we can totally ambush him at the school gate! But I think there are probably quite a few people who want to ambush him.”

Marian looked at Mike strangely.

"How did you know?"

Mike scratched his head, looking a little embarrassed.

"To be honest, I actually enjoy watching boxing, and I'm a big fan of Roy Black. I've been following his schedule online!"

Judging from Mike's words, he was probably also craving Roy's autographed photo. Those things were extremely rare, and only Roy's early boxing fans had them.

After all, with Nidi's black-rimmed glasses, it would be difficult for passersby to spot Roy's whereabouts.

Upon hearing this, Marian nodded.

"Great! This time I'm going to create a bombshell news story!"

　Marianne and Gretchen both came from "Bombshell," but Marianne also starred in "The Devil's Advocate."

　　
　
(End of this chapter)