Alusia: The Fire

The Headwayer: The Forrokko Report, 14/07/2045

Alusia, the famous formerly-successful corporation hosting an Exhibition of its latest invention, has suffered a horrific tragedy yesterday. And as we find out more about what happened there, the pieces of the puzzle start composing a more and more dark picture. I, Jerrekin Forrokko, have dropped everything to visit the sight of disaster and make light of it for you, the reader.

During the penultimate day of the Exhibition, a fire broke out within one of the labs. The building was not designed with evacuation routes in mind. There are reports of crowding and a panicked frenzy, as people rushed around the facility, bumping into each other, barely escaping the flames. According to rumours, the fire started in a room with locked doors, and that the imminent danger of fire provoked physical violence and destruction of equipment. People fighting for their lives. Most of them have escaped.

According to an official statement by Alusia, all 14 visitors have been evacuated safely. Unfortunately, the same can't be said about the employees. While the rescuers are still risking their lives to free the survivors from under the rubble, we have a preliminary list of casualties, most of whom are in a critical condition:
Julia Barrett, Joan May,
Alex Girard, Jason Rayne,
Clark Winston, Lily Bush,
Paul Lindley and Delilah Cash.

“We didn't start the fire” - said Jeremy Burns, the new Senior Human Resources and Public Relations director at Alusia. “Maybe it was a provocation from someone”.

As you, the reader, might know, I usually am quite skeptical of conspiratorial rumours, but you can never know. I'll present you the facts and let you decide for yourself. In the same interview with Jeremy Burns, he suggested that Alusia's competitor, Intra, could be behind all of this. If the visitors were Intra's employees, then that would explain the sudden fire and the signs of physical violence as sabotage. The motivation is also there - had the Exhibition been successful, Alusia would've reclaimed its grip on the technology market, starving Intra of funding.

I am planning on digging deeper into the mystery of the Fire until the truth has been revealed; and when it is, you better believe it will be in The Forrokko Report.

Outside of Alusia, 14/07/2045

In the early afternoon, a man arrives to the site that used to be the Alusia Foundation. He circles around the crowd of employees, like a vulture, and picks out a scientist from the crowd.

- “Hello, I am Jerrekin Forrokko, a reporter from the Headwayer. Do you have a moment?”

The duo walk off. Forrokko opens his suitcase and places two small folding chairs on the ground.

- “Please take a seat. From what I've heard, you don't currently have a trained Public Relations Director or whatever Alusia calls that role. And, well, I'm a reporter, and I need to interview someone. In the light of current circumstances, can I ask you to fulfil that role?”
- “Uhm… Sure!”

Forrokko smiles. He already knows this interview will be one of the more productive ones.

- “Alright, then. What's your name?”
- “Jeremy Burns.”
- “Ok, Jeremy, what happened? Was it arson from a disgruntled employee or something?”
- “We didn't start the fire, if that's what you are implying.”
- “What caused it, then?”
- “I- I don't really know.”
- “Fires don't start themselves, Jeremy.”
- “Well, maybe, I just don't think it's intentional. I think everyone loved their job here, they wouldn't… I just think it was an accident, and well… We weren't really prepared for it. I mean we haven't been doing fire drills because they interrupt experiments, and nobody would want to spend their time checking fire extinguishers instead of developing high-density semiconductor lithography or something…“
- “How exciting. Is there any other possible explanation?”
- “I dunno. Maybe it was a provocation from someone, but that's quite a stretch.”
- “And if it was a provocation, then who do you think did it?”
- “Not sure, maybe Intra. They are Alusia's big competitor.”
- “Hm, and how do you thing Intra got inside? Perhaps the visitors were from Intra, after all?”
- “That is… That is quite hypothetical, isn't it? Shouldn't you be asking about what happened?”

Ok, maybe the interview isn't going to be that productive, after all.