And he didn’t go for all that talking-head virtuality crap or the pop-culture mayhem of the vidi slashers. He came to the office in person every day and sat in front of the cameras, blemishes and all. Roni had a creamy complexion, a full head of dark hair, and a secret weapon in Derryn the makeup boy who wielded pure genius with a brush, but it was content that drove his high ratings and big bonus bucks. He had a nose for news and prided himself on finding the real story behind the headlines. He strolled into the newsroom to find five staffers busy at their terminals stroking the V-net feeds for daily drama like trawlermen checking their lines for a good catch. They had their thoughts plugged up on viewscreens to share internal visions with the team, and Roni watched images flash like lightning as their fleeting minds paraded the virtual landscape. “Did you see the one where the escaped criminal jumps into space from a crashing troopship and lives?” His executive editor, Gladyz van-Dam, looked over from her thoughtscreen and pursed pretty lips.
