Book 5: Family

Chapter 12

CHAPTER WARNINGS: homophobia, nudity, pregnancy, massages in hot tubs. (no sex)

~ o ~

Two days later, Korra found herself preparing for her first press conference since the defeat of Kuvira. In truth, it was Asami's press conference; at least in theory, since it was only supposed to be about the construction plans being executed by Future Industries. But Korra knew the press well enough to know that other questions, on other topics, would probably be asked.

So she tried to look her best, making sure all her clothes had been freshly washed and her hair was actually combed with a real comb. Then, just after lunch, she and Asami departed for the capitol building.

Like most press conferences in the city, this was being conducted on the steps of the capitol, in front of the street and behind a big stone podium. President Raiko had matters of his own to address first, which took a good thirty minutes to finish up; but then, when Korra was expecting to drag on ages longer, he introduced her girlfriend.

"I'm glad you asked about the infrastructure," said Raiko. "Because we have our proud nation's foremost engineer on the job, and she is here to answer all your questions. Asami Sato of Future Industries has been assigned the task of designing and overseeing the new new, Spirit-friendly infrastructure."

Korra followed Asami up to the podium, standing just a couple of feet behind her. There was some polite, appropriate applause, interspersed with occasional hisses and boos. Just as Korra had feared, news of their affair seemed to be spreading fast.

But Asami seemed not to hear them. In fact, all she did was place her folder on the podium, flip it open, and look out over the crowd with a polite but dispassionate look.

"Thank you, President Raiko. Citizens of Republic City — as you know, my name is Asami Sato, and I am lead shareholder and CEO of Future Industries. Our company has long been the face of change in our fair metropolis, and it continues to be now.

"Both your government and your police force have been wondering what to do about the encroachment in the center of the city. It was decided that leaving it in place was important for the balance of the world. Since then, most of the roads into Spirit Park have been closed due to disrepair. Their interim solution was to reroute traffic around it. However, this has caused traffic congestion on a regular basis. A long-term solution was needed."

With that, she snapped her fingers. Varrick, always happy to be involved, hopped up onto the stage and grinned at the crowd like the ham he was, then whisked a large sheet from over a detailed canvas with a stage magician's flourish.

"This is a diagram of the proposed over-streets system," Asami began anew, gesturing to the illustration. "As you can see, it's similar to the bridges spanning our rivers. However, this will be a much higher and much more stable bridge than has ever been built before. It will take a team of dedicated Earthbenders well over a month to implement this construction, and we'll be consulting with them on the stability of various materials to ensure it will go up and stay up. The end result, ideally, will be safe and unclogged traffic for all citizens. Thank you."

Korra smiled and nodded in proud approval, arms crossed in front of her chest, as Asami explained her plan to the entire crowd. She looked so confident and at ease in front of all those people! And to Korra's pleasant surprise, her speech was uninterrupted, except by the whir and poof of cameras.

"Magnificent, Ms. Sato," said Raiko. "If that's all, then we'll open the floor for questions." Immediately all the reporters began to cram towards the front, hoping to have their questions answered.