Imagine this being the only news clip in existence for this time period (like the comment says) after Shayde pops up, and people asking her about it. -- RecklessPrudence
[AN: Amalgam happens 500 years in our future, but I can deal]
Shayde didn't expect a ceremony. Usually what passed as her work was catching up with news and events she had missed[1], gathering favourites, and occasionally explaining things to a small audience of concerned Archivaas.
Today... the entire theatre was booked out. With live-streaming content for the people who couldn't get a seat and people crouching in the aisles and a camera person aimed at her face to catch even the subtlest reaction.
Shayde checked her databrace to see what the flying hell was up.
2010's. Weather forecast.
That was it for the news from that decade. An accident of her automated scheduler made it the only event for the morning.
Rael, already seated to her right, took in her befuddlement with the air of a connoisseur, and said, "Are you nervous now?"
And since he lived to see her flustered, she confessed. "More'n a wee bit, aye. This must be one fook of a forecast."
And it was.
Volcano in Charlottesville. Flooding in Kilmarock. A superstorm in the atlantic and, the crown on the cake - Godzilla. Old School Godzilla.
That was when she knew it was fake.
There was a moment of silence after the minute and thirty-two seconds played out. Everyone was looking to her.
Shayde stood and faced the expectant audience. Many of them were holding their breath. "It's no' real, I'm sorry. This is either an April Fool's broadcast, or an audition tae see how well th' guy can read wi'out crackin' up, ye ken. Given how old he is, I'm puttin' me money on April Fools." She thought about this for a second. "Or they're tryin' tae prove how nobody watches the local weather broadcast. I bet they lost th' bet."
One of the throng raised a limb. "You can't tell which of the three it is?"
"Not wi'out context. In order of most likely tae least likely, it's April Fool's, Provin' a Point, or Audition. Either way, it's no' a real forecast."
Some were frustrated. Some were disappointed. Some gained an appreciation for how humanity could troll civilisation for half a millenia.
[1] Game of Thrones was a trip. What an ending.
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