Sam started talking faster, as if, having decided to trust his secret to the sheriff, he wanted to say it all before he lost his courage. "Back sixty, seventy years ago, there were a fair number of things called "reality shows". They were huge. People watched them constantly. Didn't seem to matter how hokey the premise, how low the production values were...people watched them. My boss thinks we could tap into that. You know, make a reality trid. And his idea...well, it's a survival-of-the-fittest gig, you know? Take a group of city people and put them out in the wilderness with as little as possible. Maybe not even the clothes on their backs, if we can get away with that. Then see if they can make it home, whether they're willing to break the law to do so, will they work together as a group or fall to infighting...and film it all with hidden camera drones. Maybe even broadcast it live, let people vote on who's going to make it, you know?"
"Thing is, my boss wants me to make sure that our...contestants...can actually pull this off. Which is the real reason for this scouting trip. The trid Ms. Delavine thinks we're going to do? Well, it might happen--we've got an early script that we've shown her--but we couldn't afford to do it right now. Not unless this survival show works out the way we need it to. So, I'm looking around, and I'm getting nervous. If normal people out here are this scared of something--" he gestured at the security again, "--well, I need to know what that is, and figure out if it's going to kill our contestants. Or worse the show. I mean, we expect a certain amount of challenge from wild animals, sure, but are people out here so scared and mistrustful of strangers that they wouldn't be able to get help? Or is there a corporation doing something shady out here that our people might run afoul of? We weren't figuring on anyone getting shot at unless they tried to steal what they needed or tried to sneak across the border or something else equally stupid...but if they could get shot just for going to a random house to ask for help, well..." Sam's courage finally left him, and he broke off, not looking at anything in particular.
“Well, I can assure you that I don’t see anyone getting shot off a doorstep just for showing up, though if you strip down some troll banger from the barrens to his birthday suit and set him loose around here I can’t see people welcoming him into their home with a blanket and a cup of coffee. “ John grinned at his joke, “I guess this would be a good place to try that kinda thing, the mountains if the Nations are about as low-tech as anywhere gets anymore. I assume you are going to get all the permits you need from Council Island and what not. I don’t think the concerns you mention are going to be a problem, I would be worried about the bloodbath you are going to be in for the first time they stumble across some wolves or a bear, or some paracritter.”
The Amerind thinks it over a bit as he walked, “The logistics of it shouldn’t be your concern though, the contestants are your problem. Unless it is somehow against the rules to have someone just walk in and say they need help, I mean it’s not like you are going to use SINless for this show, if they are on the Net I can’t imagine we wouldn’t try to get them home, might ask a few questions, but we would get them there. Had a runaway do that last year, no clue how she got here, but she walked into the station and said she was from MCT in Seattle and could we get her home. Then you got the ones with The Talent, they could seem like they were bedding down and then go astral and get in touch with all their buddies back home to help them out, I mean everybody’s got friends, right?” He walks along a bit before looking around again.
“Tell you this much though, it sure would be funny as hell to see some pinkskin cityfolk running around the woods, you might have a hit in the NAN at least.” John grins again.
