Netcast Title: Subjective (Aquataine)
Original air date: 3 April 2136
Host: Good morning everyone, I’m Emma Zander, and thanks for joining me today on Subjective. My guest today is someone who most of us will remember from the sensational events surrounding the dome minister elections last November. He was part of a team of three who dug into the nefarious activities of Saxon Cole as he orchestrated a series of attacks meant to discredit Dathan Monroe and build his own empire in our city. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Mr. Phelan Maxwell to the show.
Phelan: Thank you Emma, it’s my pleasure to be here.
Emma: The pleasure is all ours, Phelan. Now, we’re all dying to know. How on earth did you get so involved in this activity? I believe this all happened just before your sixteenth birthday. So, I mean, what prompted you to want to try to dig up evidence against Saxon Cole?
Phelan: I guess it was a lot of things, really. I was working in the desalination plant—Main Inlet Station Number 4 where the explosion occurred—helping my uncle’s team do some testing on upgrades we’d just completed, and…
Emma: That’s your Uncle Eugene, is that right?
Phelan: Yeah, my uncle Gene. Anyway, I thought I could have done something wrong that caused the explosion. Uncle Gene told me later that the Undercurrent suspected it was an act of sabotage, or even terrorism. He asked me to do some research while we were evacuated to the surface, and I think I figured I could do more.
Emma: And I’m so sorry, but you lost a friend in the explosion as well, isn’t that right?
Phelan: Yes, ma’am I did. My friend Marco Lopez was right where the explosion happened, and he and his father were both lost. [There is a pause.] And my boss, Zale Somerset died right after an accident on our evacuation sub. We’d made it to the surface, but we were sinking. He was trapped in his seat, but I managed to get him free just before we went under.
Emma: That must have been awfully frightening, I’m so sorry.
Phelan: I thought we were all going to drown.
Emma: If you don’t mind answering, Phelan, what is your biggest fear?
Phelan: Well, apart from almost drowning. I guess when I was in the Commercial Dome and there was an explosion there. I had been watching the Wave’s headquarters, and right after that explosion is when I saw Cole’s men watching me, and that really freaked me out. And then of course all I could think about was that every person I met was coming after me. After a while, I couldn’t go anywhere without almost having a panic attack.
Emma: Were your friends aware that you were having such difficulty being around other people?
Phelan: Ariana Torrent—she’s my girlfriend now—well, she’s pretty good at reading me. She would always find a way to get me to calm down, I guess when I was getting crazy. Destyn Albright usually picks up on stuff after a while and he helps settle me down too. Even right after I met him, he was helping me get to Ari’s house and I must have started to panic because we were out in public. He actually made us stop for pastries in a crowded coffee shop. It sounds nuts, but it worked.
Emma: Sounds like you have some good friends there. Is there anyone that you’re particularly glad didn’t find out about your fear of being in public?
Phelan: Oh gosh, I feel kind of foolish now. I’m okay in public, but at that time, I was losing my mind. If Cole, or his lead guy, Daniel Jericho would have found out, I’m sure they’d have found a way to push me into a crowded area or something, and I’d have been caught.
Emma: Well, I’m glad that it never came to that, and I’m so glad you have good friends who look out for you. I’ll tell you what. Let’s move on to something a little bit happier. Tell me about someone you look up to as a hero, and a little bit about why.
Phelan: That’s an easy one. It’s my Aunt Lori—well, Lorelei. I think, looking back on everything that’s happened, it’s my aunt who seemed to have kept everything calm. First, there was the evacuation, and my aunt does not like to travel. The subs freak her out, but by the time we were on the surface, she’s the one who kept everyone together and calm. When my uncle Gene was beaten, my aunt stayed by him in the hospital, and still kept tabs on me. And when I got into trouble with Cole’s gang in Commercial Dome, it was my aunt who called on the Undercurrent’s network to help me get away. You know, my uncle and I tease her a lot, but she’s really the one who’s kept it all together. I think she’s pretty cool.
Emma: One last question. If you could go back to that day of the explosion, would you do it all again or would you play it safe?
Phelan: Man, I don’t know. There was the evacuation sub and almost drowning. Then I slept outside overnight, and then I got framed for an attack on the Oxygen plant. I spent some time with the Distressed folks, had to run from the police, got shot with a Neuro-Stim dart, and I was badly beaten. [There’s a pause.]
Emma: I suppose that is a lot to ask of anyone.
Phelan: Yes. I don’t know how I could not have gotten involved. I’m happy I got involved, and I’m glad Saxon Cole is in jail. What he and his people did to our dome, and to all those people who lost their lives… He got what he deserved. Yes, I’d do it again.
Michael Crowl - Author 