Maximus

They were still staring at each other several seconds later.

“Ten seconds!”

Maximus sat upright as he heard a vocal countdown from ten. His head twisted this way and that. What were they counting down? Were the police here already somehow? Had the Institute arrived?

His bear awoke, roused and ready for battle. There was no clue as to whom he might be fighting, but he wasn’t going to go down easily. The message had to get out, and he was going to ensure it did.

“Hey, what’s wrong?”

Haley was looking at him now, consternation written all across her beautiful face. Maximus decided then and there that he did not like it when she looked unhappy. He wanted to make her smile.

Taking over her show probably isn’t going to win you any points toward that. Perhaps not, but in the future he would. The future? You think there’s going to be a future? Dreamer.

“What are they counting down for?” he asked.

“Five!”

He stiffened.

“It’s the timer until we’re live,” she said, schooling her face back toward that professional façade he’d seen when he watched her show the morning before. Her gorgeous diamond-shaped face composed itself, her thin lips curling upward just slightly in a mildly happy/flirtatious combo that he was sure resonated with plenty of people. Maximus only saw it as fake. He understood it was necessary for her work, but he liked the real Haley better.

“Live?”

“On television,” she said, turning to face the front.

He immediately straightened as well, opening his mouth to begin speaking. A soft, delicate hand laid itself on his shoulder.

“You must work with me here,” she said as the fingers on the man in front of them flashed down to one. “Please.”

Maximus wanted to do nothing more than speak. To recite the message that he’d composed in his head. He’d worked on it nonstop, writing it down, editing it, erasing it, starting over. Several dozen drafts had gone through his head. He was ready. The time was now. It wouldn’t be long before someone at the Institute recognized his face on TV and sent either their agents or the local police down to the facility. He couldn’t take a long time to do this.

But if he just started blurting it out, they would probably take him off air, and he’d ruin Haley’s career. He couldn’t do that to her. She didn’t deserve that. So he just nodded, hoping that Haley would see it, even though she was already speaking.

“Well, sorry about that, folks. In this day and age of technology, things don’t always work the way you want them to. But we’re good now.” She laughed gaily. It sounded clearly false and forced to him, but maybe the viewers wouldn’t see it that way.

He tried to work his face into a smile, but saw the man dancing in front of the cameras shaking his hands back and forth. He looked at him, and the bald man turned his awkward smile into a more neutral expression. Then he gestured at Maximus. Clearly he wished him to do the same. So he let his face go expressionless, trying only to prevent it from looking angry. A thumbs up told him he may have succeeded.

Damn, this is more difficult than I thought.

“As you can see, I’ve been joined today by Maximus Koche.”

He nodded politely as she gestured toward him. “Thank you for having me,” he said. He’d watched more news shows as he prepared to pull off this hijacking, and he’d seen people say that when they were introduced, so it only seemed appropriate. Internally though, his mental clock was ticking. Every second they wasted on small talk was another second the Institute would be closing on them.

He needed to hurry before they pulled enough leverage to take them offline, something Lena warned him they would probably try to do.

“So, Maximus. You have a message for the people of Longhorne. But first, tell us a little bit about yourself.”

“My message is for the world,” he said. “The human world.”

“The human world?” Haley echoed, and he thought he saw recognition dawning on her. “So you’re not human? Are you a shifter?”

He nodded. “Yes.”

“So why do you think the people out there will want to hear this message of yours?” Haley asked.

He thought frantically. This wasn’t part of his pre-planned speech, and improvisation had never been a topic Maximus was any good at. In fact, he downright sucked. So, why would they be interested in hearing it? Well, why was he sending it out to them in the first place?

And just like that, the answer came to him.

“I think they will be interested, because the majority of humans are good people. It is that innate goodness in most of you that I am appealing to today. That I wish to address. That goodness, which I hope will help ensure that my message is received with all positivity and the urgency and direness with which it portends.”

He sat back, enjoying the slightly stunned look on Haley’s face as he nailed the answer to her question. Proud of himself, he didn’t even object as Haley acknowledged his words, and proceeded to give her viewers a brief overall rundown of everything else that they had on the show today.

“Now, Maximus,” she said, coming back to him. “You say that humans are good. That we have goodness within us.”

“Most of you, yes,” he said honestly.

She smiled thinly. “Most of us. So you’re saying some do not?”

He shrugged, oddly feeling more in his element. It surprised him, but Haley seemed willing to work with him. He was understanding now what she was trying to do. She was fishing for just what the hell he was trying to say. He resolved to tell her, the first chance he got, if there was a moment before she gave him the opportunity to tell it to everyone.

She’s probably aiming for the next commercial break.

Right. So he needed to help drag things out until then. Knowing that she was going to help him was big, and the less of a commotion he caused on the airwaves, the longer it would be before someone hopefully reported him to the Institute. Hopefully.

“I think it comes as no surprise to anyone listening that humans are capable of great evil. Just like we have our own tyrants and dictators, so have you. We may be part animal, but we’re also part human. We aren’t immune to evil either, sadly,” he said, trying to look downcast.

Perhaps he could get them to pity him.

“I see. So this message you have…tell our viewers, is it about evil humans or evil shifters?”

He grimaced. “Unfortunately, both. But the shifter world is aware of it. The human world is not. They must be made aware. Things must be brought into the light.”

Maximus forced himself to refrain from smiling, even as he recognized the excellence of the words he was putting together. He was doing it, he was actually doing it. Beside him, Haley slumped back into her chair, and the little man who had been counting down ran forward.

“Okay, you have a minute and a half. What the hell is going on here?” Haley snapped before the other man could speak. “What is this message? Evil humans? You make it sound like a movie where you’re out to save the world.”

He shook his head sadly. “Only my world,” he told her.

“Why did you hijack my broadcast?” she asked. “What am I? Why me?”

How was he supposed to answer that? She would never believe that he’d almost never seen a television show before, and that she just happened to be the first one he’d seen. That for no apparent reason he’d argued until he was blue in the face with his brothers to ensure that this was the show they made an appearance on. All because he couldn’t get her face out of his head? No, that wouldn’t go over well. He had to think of something else.

“Because…” he said lamely, trying to come up with a reason.

“That’s it?” she asked, aghast. “You’re ruining my life…because?”

He looked away, unable to bear the anger he saw burning deep within the gray-green seas of her eyes.

“Great. That’s just great,” she snapped.

“Thirty seconds,” Andy said, stepping back from the desk. “Tell us, tell us now. What is your message?”

“I will tell everyone,” he said, allowing himself to be stern now that he was in control. “I don’t want to say it twice.”

Andy looked like he was going to argue, but a low growl from Maximus sent him scampering away.

“I am sorry,” he said to Haley. “I did not intend to ruin your life.”

“Just say your message and get off my show, and leave me the hell alone.”

“I will,” he promised, though it hurt him to do so. He didn’t want to leave her alone…