Path to Becoming the Greatest Space Mercenary
Author: MegaC
Chapter 409 Narrative Shift (3)
Avery’s lips curled up into a slight smile as he watched the reaction of the children when Nianni made her appearance.
He knew that having her speak to them would work in his favor, but their response was more pronounced than he had expected.
’At least ninety percent of them are clearly major fans that have been touched by her psychic ability. And the other ten percent still seem to be enjoyers of her music. Not a single one of them showed any sort of negative reaction or indifference.’ Avery thought as he scanned the orphan’s expressions and body language.
Since this was the first group that he was visiting, this was a bit of a test to gauge how well the presentation that he, Kasandra, Jasmine, and Regina had hastily prepared.
With so little time, they had gotten everything ready the day before and rushed out to attempt to change Avery current image.
Fortunately, things were going quite well so far as Avery could tell.
The first part was only met with mixed reactions and was not likely to change anyone that already had entrenched views of him. But bringing on Cerise and Nianni to speak on his behalf clearly added some doubts to whether Avery really was some sort of schemer using the chancellor’s daughter to try and control Azade from the shadows.
’Honestly, it’s ridiculous, and anyone that looked into things closely would be able to poke holes in the propaganda that Bastion Cuach is spreading. I didn’t even know that Jasmine was Regina’s daughter when she joined my crew, and she thought that her mother was still just a senator. She had no idea that Regina had become the chancellor.’
Unfortunately, Avery knew that if people heard something from a source that they trusted, they would not dig any deeper into the matter.
There were a number of news channels that claimed that Avery was some sort of villain and cited several pieces of circumstantial evidence that had been twisted to fit their narrative.
When people saw this, they would end up agreeing with the source of information that they frequented and look no further. Their minds were already made up.
That was why Avery was doing this presentation. He needed to bring something new that was more flattering for him to the forefront of Azade’s news cycle.
Obviously, Regina had tried to do this herself at first, but she had started out behind and was unable to catch up with her opponents this time.
Most positive coverage had been drowned out by the sheer quality of negative stories being propagated. And any time Regina tried to get directly involved, she was accused of "covering" for Avery on her naïve and tricked daughter’s behalf.
It was all mostly lies, but it was clear that Bastion and those in the same camp as him had prepared well for this attack.
’I bet many of them don’t even care about Jasmine and me. They merely saw this a chink in Regina’s armor to exploit and are hoping to bring her down. No doubt there are any number of upper ranking members of Azade’s senate that would love to take the chancellorship away from her.’ Avery speculated.
However, since Jasmine did not want any of their reputations to be ruined on Azade and was looking forward to the wedding ceremony, Avery was going to work his hardest to change people’s view of him. And it all started here.
Luckily, Nianni had already captivated the entire audience and would undoubtably continue to do so as Avery traveled around Azade.
He was incredibly grateful for her assistance, and that he and Jasmine had invited her to their wedding in the first place.
She was still a couple of days away since she had only been able to clear her schedule for the day of the wedding.
Still, Nianni would be arriving in person as Avery’s and Jasmine’s friends, and she would be singing at the wedding.
So, if Bastion Cuach or his supporters tried to claim that Avery had faked the transmission from Nianni somehow, it would only come back to bite them when she showed up in person for the ceremony.
"Well, I think that just about wraps up everything I have to say. But there is a song that I’ve been working on, and I was wondering if I could sing it here to all of you. It’s still a bit unrefined, so anyone has any advice for me afterwards, I’d love to hear it." Nianni said, eliciting a thunderous applause and cheers from kids.
This was basically a miracle one and a lifetime chance for most of them. They were getting to listen to one of Nianni Taador’s songs before anyone else.
Before she began, Avery hit a few keys on the podium’s control panel and brought a holoprojector on the stage to life.
Soon Nianni’s image was projected on stage, and it was almost as if she was there in person.
This brought on another set of cheers from the orphans, but they all quieted down once Nianni started singing.
Despite saying that it was unrefined, her song was quite beautiful.
The enraptured looks on all of the kids’ faces was enough to prove to anyone how impeccable Nianni was.
After she had finished singing, Nianni asked for any critiques the children might have and answered a few questions of theirs.
It was obvious that her unexpected performance had been a big hit, as all of the children were more engaged than they had been throughout the rest of the presentation.
Avery could already tell that their opinion of him had changed already. Being public associated with a great hero and the most popular singer certainly worked wonders for one’s image.
’This is just the beginning, though. We’ve got several more places to go today, and just as many tomorrow.’ Avery thought, not letting his guard down yet and resting on his laurels.
There was plenty left to do, but he felt confident that by the end of the next day, the narrative surrounding him will have shifted into his favor.
He knew that having her speak to them would work in his favor, but their response was more pronounced than he had expected.
’At least ninety percent of them are clearly major fans that have been touched by her psychic ability. And the other ten percent still seem to be enjoyers of her music. Not a single one of them showed any sort of negative reaction or indifference.’ Avery thought as he scanned the orphan’s expressions and body language.
Since this was the first group that he was visiting, this was a bit of a test to gauge how well the presentation that he, Kasandra, Jasmine, and Regina had hastily prepared.
With so little time, they had gotten everything ready the day before and rushed out to attempt to change Avery current image.
Fortunately, things were going quite well so far as Avery could tell.
The first part was only met with mixed reactions and was not likely to change anyone that already had entrenched views of him. But bringing on Cerise and Nianni to speak on his behalf clearly added some doubts to whether Avery really was some sort of schemer using the chancellor’s daughter to try and control Azade from the shadows.
’Honestly, it’s ridiculous, and anyone that looked into things closely would be able to poke holes in the propaganda that Bastion Cuach is spreading. I didn’t even know that Jasmine was Regina’s daughter when she joined my crew, and she thought that her mother was still just a senator. She had no idea that Regina had become the chancellor.’
Unfortunately, Avery knew that if people heard something from a source that they trusted, they would not dig any deeper into the matter.
There were a number of news channels that claimed that Avery was some sort of villain and cited several pieces of circumstantial evidence that had been twisted to fit their narrative.
When people saw this, they would end up agreeing with the source of information that they frequented and look no further. Their minds were already made up.
That was why Avery was doing this presentation. He needed to bring something new that was more flattering for him to the forefront of Azade’s news cycle.
Obviously, Regina had tried to do this herself at first, but she had started out behind and was unable to catch up with her opponents this time.
Most positive coverage had been drowned out by the sheer quality of negative stories being propagated. And any time Regina tried to get directly involved, she was accused of "covering" for Avery on her naïve and tricked daughter’s behalf.
It was all mostly lies, but it was clear that Bastion and those in the same camp as him had prepared well for this attack.
’I bet many of them don’t even care about Jasmine and me. They merely saw this a chink in Regina’s armor to exploit and are hoping to bring her down. No doubt there are any number of upper ranking members of Azade’s senate that would love to take the chancellorship away from her.’ Avery speculated.
However, since Jasmine did not want any of their reputations to be ruined on Azade and was looking forward to the wedding ceremony, Avery was going to work his hardest to change people’s view of him. And it all started here.
Luckily, Nianni had already captivated the entire audience and would undoubtably continue to do so as Avery traveled around Azade.
He was incredibly grateful for her assistance, and that he and Jasmine had invited her to their wedding in the first place.
She was still a couple of days away since she had only been able to clear her schedule for the day of the wedding.
Still, Nianni would be arriving in person as Avery’s and Jasmine’s friends, and she would be singing at the wedding.
So, if Bastion Cuach or his supporters tried to claim that Avery had faked the transmission from Nianni somehow, it would only come back to bite them when she showed up in person for the ceremony.
"Well, I think that just about wraps up everything I have to say. But there is a song that I’ve been working on, and I was wondering if I could sing it here to all of you. It’s still a bit unrefined, so anyone has any advice for me afterwards, I’d love to hear it." Nianni said, eliciting a thunderous applause and cheers from kids.
This was basically a miracle one and a lifetime chance for most of them. They were getting to listen to one of Nianni Taador’s songs before anyone else.
Before she began, Avery hit a few keys on the podium’s control panel and brought a holoprojector on the stage to life.
Soon Nianni’s image was projected on stage, and it was almost as if she was there in person.
This brought on another set of cheers from the orphans, but they all quieted down once Nianni started singing.
Despite saying that it was unrefined, her song was quite beautiful.
The enraptured looks on all of the kids’ faces was enough to prove to anyone how impeccable Nianni was.
After she had finished singing, Nianni asked for any critiques the children might have and answered a few questions of theirs.
It was obvious that her unexpected performance had been a big hit, as all of the children were more engaged than they had been throughout the rest of the presentation.
Avery could already tell that their opinion of him had changed already. Being public associated with a great hero and the most popular singer certainly worked wonders for one’s image.
’This is just the beginning, though. We’ve got several more places to go today, and just as many tomorrow.’ Avery thought, not letting his guard down yet and resting on his laurels.
There was plenty left to do, but he felt confident that by the end of the next day, the narrative surrounding him will have shifted into his favor.