Ask News of the Worlds

[Lymsleia Tane]

The click-clacking of the keys was driving Lym crazy.

She'd been sat in that tiny waiting room for nearly an hour. Hugging her file close to herself, taking a moment to rearrange all the features she'd included. Snapshots and excerpts from articles she'd written for her college paper. Work reports and recommendations from her internship with HoloNet News. Personal statements and plans for her career. All ready to present to the big guy at the Galactic Bugle.

Whatever the heck the Galactic Bugle was doing way out on Christophsis, she had no clue. Probably something to do with the politics out there. It was ISC territory, so that meant different rules, different laws, different insights. One thing was for certain though, JJ Johnson was a far cry from her last editor. The ones she'd worked under at HNN had been studious, quiet but ruthlessly clever. They put together the news but never became the story. JJ? Well...

It's just for a few months. Just a few months. If you can last here Lym, you've got a ticket to any network in the Galaxy.

The secretary smiled over at her, with a sickly-sweet scarlet grin.

"Mistah JJ will see you now," she drawled as something flashed on her desk. With a gulp, Lym stood up and moved towards the door. The secretary pressed the intercom button and leaned in close.

"Mr. Johnson? Your next meeting is here. Miss Tame from Coruscant?"

"Tane!" Lym hissed, correcting her. She glared at Lym in response.

"Sorry, miss Tane," she drawled, waving her fingers towards her.

@Rhogar

 

[JJ Johnson]

"Send her in!" JJ's gruff voice would shout from his office. Upon her entry, she'd see JJ standing with his back to the door, his gaze fixed out the window of his new studio. His jacket was off and when he turned, he had a cigar clenched between his teeth while both hands rested on the suspenders he wore. "Ahh, Miss Tane!" he'd say through clenched teeth, one hand leaving the suspenders to pull the cigar from his mouth and he puffed out a perfect ring of smoke. "Take a seat!"

As JJ crossed the room, he took a seat in his comfortable leather chair while two slightly less comfortable leather chairs sat opposite his desk. She'd see a file open with all the information JJ had dug up on her on his desk, in full view. She would also notice the slight limp in his gait as he walked, as there had been numerous different types of rumors about how he had cured AMS, been abducted, etc. etc. There was even a rumor he had been killed and replaced by a cyborg. Grabbing what could essentially be equated to as 'her life on paper', JJ would put it in a neat stack. "So. Miss Tane! What made you want to become a journalist?" A whole slew of questions lay ahead, so he figured he'd start it off easy.

@Charndley

 

[Lymsleia Tane]

Lym stepped into the office and felt a little awestruck. There he is. JJ Johnson. The man, the myth, the shouty legend. She might've said he was some sort of enigma, but that'd overestimate his complexity. To her, he just seemed like a tabloid hype-man. Big stories, big arguments, big audiences. She could scoff all she wanted, the truth was right in front of her. This was a man who knew how to make news.

She took a seat in one of the chairs opposite, offering a nervous smile. He seemed a lot smaller in person than his wild broadcasts would suggest. The voice was just as full-on in the flesh though.

"Uh well... it's important work," she started to say, wondering how to pitch it. "Keeping people informed, helping them understand what's going on in the Galaxy." Her voice was soft, sweet and quiet compared to his tone. "My major is in linguistics and communication... and I didn't just wanna go off and be a diplomat like my dad."

@Rhogar

 

[JJ Johnson]

Leaning back in his chair as she spoke, he'd nod his head as he took a long pull from his cigar, blowing out another perfect ring of smoke, before he set it down neatly in a tray. "I see that! In this stack of papers. Top of your class, child of a diplomat. Do you want people to be informed? Or do you want them to know the truth? Because I see here, you were over at HNN. They do the former, we do the latter! Information is nothing in this business without the truth. Jot that down, because that will be the most important part of free knowledge I ever give you!"

He would lean forward in his seat about to speak before he was cut off by a buzzard. The receptionists voice would come over his comm. "Mistah JJ, your wife called. She wants you to know its time to take ya heart pills."

JJ would curse before opening his top right drawer and from where she was, Lym could see several different pill bottles of prescribed drugs. He would reach for the bottle on the right. Another buzzard. This one almost making him jump. "Middle bottle." He winced again and quickly opened the middle bottle and popped a few pills out and scarfed em down, chasing them with a sip from his glass of scotch.

Pushing the drawer shut, he'd gesture behind Lym. "Help yourself to some water or juice!" if she did so, she would see the wall was lined with various awards. He had made his name on Coruscant, then when he didn't play ball, he would be forced to leave where he settled on Naboo. A recent attempt on his life there was the last big incident before his disappearance. And so now, he was here in the heart of the ISC.

"Are you willing to go out there and not only chase the stories?! But live them?"

@Charndley

 

[Lymsleia Tane]

"I was only an intern at HNN, sir," Lym said, like it might help a little. She had only really made them drinks and typed things up. JJ Johnson didn't seem like the kind of man that liked being challenged, though. Back at HNN, the editors had been clear to their reporters: challenge everything. No ego is bigger than the news. She didn't think such talk would fly here. Instead, she took out a notebook from her bag and started to scribble some of what he said down.

"Thank you," she said politely, taking a glass of water. It was cool and refreshing. Despite what she might think of JJ's attitude, you couldn't deny his pedigree. He was a newshound. He'd earned his stripes. So why did Lym feel slightly skeezy whenever she talked with him.

"Uh... yes sir. I'm ready to go and root out those stories. I'm ready to go and uh... live the news. I'm ready to breathe the news," she continued, torturing the metaphor past all decency. "I'm ready to eat, sleep and be the stories!"

Lym felt like such an idiot saying all this. Her interview for the HNN internship had been so much easier and more sober. But this would open more doors, she was sure of it.

@Rhogar

 

[JJ Johnson]

JJ would nod a bit, he even took note of her demeanor, her posture. All of it. His eyes would narrow as he took a long puff from his cigar and blew out another few perfect rings. So far, she was -almost- on the right path. Almost. Then, she started running with the metaphor and butchering it. He'd hold up a hand. "Nobody likes a kiss ass, Lym. Ya gotta ride the line, but ya needta think on your own!"

He would take a sip from his scotch and reach across the table. "Let's see your portfolio."

@Charndley