Chapter 41 – Press Conference
Davis parked the limousine in front of the company’s building and opened the door for Aniya. A path was open for her, granted by her security men, who were making sure she could enter the building without being disturbed by the crowd of reporters that kept on asking questions about why she called for a press conference and why she hadn’t made a public statement regarding the death of her father, the attack on her mother, and the deaths of her friends.
Aniya fixed the position of her sunglasses, checked her knee-length white dress for wrinkles, and walked straight to the entrance, not even bothering to answer. The reporters she wanted to talk to were already inside, according to the message that Anna Kent sent her, meaning that the ones outside were from small newspapers, television channels, and radio stations, looking for a scoop.
When Aniya entered the main lobby, Anna was already there, nervously waiting. She rushed to meet her and accompanied her on her walk to the auditorium, right after the elevators. “They are all there. The major ones that you told me to invite and a few small TV and radio stations. The reporters outside found out there would be a press conference today, and they also wanted to enter, but I denied it. Mostly because we don’t have room for them. The auditorium is full. You got your speech?”
Aniya took a piece of folded paper from her purse and showed it to her assistant. She glanced over it and frowned. “You changed a few things. I see nothing worrying, so I guess this is alright. I also have here the latest reports from the other packs. Their mission went well, and the scientific group sent this.”
Aniya looked at the file that Anna was showing her and jolted. “They did it? It worked?”
“According to this, with tremendous success. You are going to use this in your speech, right?”
Aniya made a slight smile, and Anna opened the Auditorium’s door for her. As she entered, the television cameras already there filmed her walk, and camera flashes came from everywhere. Anna winked at her and went to the chair behind the podium that was in the middle of the room. Aniya looked around, facing the men and women there, seated on the chairs at different levels.
She raised her open right hand, asking for silence, and after gently tapping the microphone to make sure it was working, she addressed the curious group. “Thank you for coming here today. I bet you are all eager to ask about the events in my personal life two months ago, but I won’t talk about that, so there is no point in going down that road because I won’t answer, and after hearing me, you will think of more urgent questions.”
Aniya placed the paper with her speech on top of the podium and spoke while looking at the group of reporters and glancing occasionally at the paper. “Over the last few months, I made a few trips to meet several potential business partners. I am now proud to announce that ‘Rossi Technologies’ will expand to other countries and we will also become the sole representative of a revolution in the medicinal area. My attorney has already taken care of the changes according to the legislation, and we will fully dedicate a small branch of my company to this purpose. We are also aiming at making several agreements with pharmaceutical companies already in the field, because they have way more experience and distribution means than we do, and that will make our products reach more people faster than we would if we did it alone.”
A chorus of voices rose, and Aniya looked at the audience that wanted more explanations. She disguised a smile because that was the reaction she was expecting, and revealed, “I am talking about a breakthrough in medicine with products that will help Humans heal from injuries at an astonishing speed, vitamins and steroids to help treat diseases, and health enhancements to double life expectancy. This can also be considered a bribe that we are offering to the public, considering how those products were achieved. If you give me a moment, I will try to explain properly.”
The reporters slowly stopped making questions, and they sat on their chairs again. Aniya took a slow, deep breath and continued. “Two months ago, someone told me that the public would never accept what I am about to say, but the advantages that I am offering right now will definitely ease the doubts of many people when they are facing the necessity to heal fast from a deadly wound or to survive a killing disease. Not to mention living longer. Two thousand years ago, an evolutionary jump occurred, and a blood mutation appeared. By fate or chance, when conditions are met and someone with that mutation reaches sixteen, during their first full moon, they change into a different being.”
Aniya waited for the repercussions of what she said, but no one spoke. They were all looking at her, wondering if she was being serious or not. So, she explained.
“Werewolves live among us, hidden in plain sight, and until a full moon appears, they are normal Humans. For years, when they changed, they were mindless beasts that would kill anything and anyone. That was why, for millennia, Werewolves would lock themselves up, so that they killed no one. That fate changed with another evolutionary jump recently, and now, people affected by that blood mutation can control their beast side. It was thanks to a group of scientists that are also Werewolves, that several medicines were created and tested with tremendous success, and they are now ready to face the several processes necessary for a few new medicines to be approved and mass-produced.”
One reporter got up and asked, with a nervous tone, “Miss Aniya… Are you talking about Werewolves... as in, creatures of nightmares that are people that grow fur and look like some sort of enormous wolf? Is that what you are saying?”
“That is exactly what I am saying. Flesh-eating Werewolves with long claws, big mouths, and sharp teeth. Creatures from nightmares that are just normal people like you who only have a strange blood mutation. A new era is coming because more and more Werewolves are being born each day, and in one hundred years, almost all of our population will probably be Werewolves, granting Humanity unimaginable possibilities to thrive. I hope to see you there because I will for sure be.”
THE END