2175 C.E.

XXII: The Gathering Storm

Official Transcript: The Recap with Michael DeVoris: 08/05/2175

DEVORIS: Welcome once again to the weekend recap, I'm your host Michael DeVoris. New legislation passed by the Hegemony on Thursday this week makes the new fourth gen Interlink device a requirement in all Hegemony territories. The good news is that means that fairly soon, you won't have to hear about it from me anymore. The bad news is...well, I'm not sure there is any bad news, is there? I thought not. This is a win-win-win deal, ladies and gentlemen. Greater security for the Hegemony, greater access to internet resources for you, and greater power and influence for Ambience CEO Shen Wei-Fun, a public supporter of the advancement of Hegemony sciences and arts and an all-around philanthropist. And now, to the news. Probably the biggest story this week was the attempted assassination of Vice President Yong An-Hong when a roadside bomb detonated on the path of his motorcade. This morning, the Terran Internal Intelligence Commission released initial findings in the investigation of the attempted assassination. The Vice President has issued a statement to the press saying that, quote, "I am returning to my duties today-" this was yesterday,-"with all the vigor and dedication that I have brought to this job since the people came together to elect me. I will continue to serve the people with dedication as TIIC expels these traitors like viruses from a body." He was not able to give us an interview tonight. Instead we have joining us the commissioner of the Terran Internal Intelligence Commission, Byung-Ho Moon. Mr. Moon, welcome to the show.

MOON: Your welcome, Michael.

DEVORIS: Now, Mr. Moon, the Hegemony has been understandably hesitant with the exact details regarding the attack on the Vice President, but in such times, it's important for the public to know the facts as they happened, so I'd appreciate it if you could help in any way that you can to clear up some of the details about the attack and the investigation that the TIIC ran.

MOON: I will provide any answers that I can. Of course, the TIIC reserves the right to refuse any kind of questions, as is its prerogative as a national security advisory.

DEVORIS: Absolutely. I suppose that you could perhaps help us to clear up some of the general details of the incident. Now, the Vice President was in his motorcade at the time of the attack, we don't know where he was going, but he was on the streets of Beijing and had just left the Presidential Manor, where he lives in the West wing. Sources from inside the Presidential staff have told us that the Vice President had requested this transport unexpectedly and that they barely had time to assemble his motorcade before he had left. Is this true?

MOON: My investigators have found mostly the same thing. Obviously, some of the details are wrong, but that's understandable since you don't have access to TIIC sources.

DEVORIS: The question that follows, and I'm sure that many of the people tuning in tonight on their fourth gen Interlinks are asking the same, is how did Novan operatives know to set the bomb at that location at that time in order to attack Vice President Yong An-Hong? They would have had to know beforehand that Mr. Yong was leaving and where he was going, and even his staff didn't know that even an hour beforehand. How were these Novan operatives able to learn and anticipate for something before anyone knew it was happening?

MOON: The simple answer, I'm afraid, is that Novan spies have infiltrated Earth in a far more efficient and effective way than any of us had ever realized. And you're quite right, Michael, this sort of high level infiltration and espionage, as well as the coordination necessary to place a bomb on such short notice, is nothing short of incredible for intelligence operations. I was shocked when I'd heard that the Novan infiltration could possibly have gone this deep, and I'm sure I'm not the only one who felt that way.