Dear readers, tonight we reprint a transcript from March 23rd, 2018 radio interview with a man on a two-decade quest to punish the unworthy, with a long trail of blood and misery in his wake. He’s here to tell us about painful memories and profound guilt, and how a veteran supervillain must race against time to save the world.

Presenter: Aaaaand welcome back. This is John Tanner for HeroChat, WBPR News. Joining me via teleconference is noted forensic psychologist, Dr. Stephen Cronin.

Guest #1: Good afternoon.

Presenter: Before the break, Dr. Cronin and I were discussing his recent work consulting for the Department of Metahuman Affairs.

Guest #1: Yes. My team has been tasked with developing psychological profiles for some of the world’s most dangerous supervillains. It’s been a fascinating project.

Presenter:  Also a very important one.

Guest #1: Again, yes. We’re very hopeful that the profiles that we’ve put together will be useful to law enforcement.

Presenter: And to hero teams associated with the DMA.

Guest #1: Of course.

Presenter: Now, before the break we were discussing your analysis of Slaughterion; was there anything else you wanted to add?

Guest #1: Not really.

Presenter: In that case, I’d like to move on to your next high-profile assignment. It’s my understanding that you also prepared an updated casefile regarding one of the most feared villains in modern history: Doctor Fid.

Guest #1: And after recent events, one of the most controversial. But I’m here to say that the Mercer-Tallon incident changes little of what we know. Doctor Fid is a vicious criminal who has been active for two deca-

*silence*

Presenter: Dr. Cronin?

*silence*

Presenter: Ladies and gentlemen, we seem to be experiencing technical difficulties. While my producer attempts to reconnect us with Dr. Cronin, I’m going to open up our lines for callers to discuss what the people think about Doctor Fid.

Guest #2: *synthetic, disguised voice* I think not.

Presenter: What th-…Rob? Did you put a caller through?

Guest #2: Your producer is no longer in control of your telecommunications system. But fear not. Your ‘technical difficulties’ will cease before it’s time for Karl’s Traffic Round Up. The commute this evening looks particularly troublesome.

Presenter: Wh-who is this?

Guest #2: You know who I am.

Presenter: Oh, fuuuu- cough Okay. Okay. What do you want?

Guest #2: Primarily, to inform your listeners that Dr. Cronin is a plagiarist, a perjurer, and a fraud. His assessments are dangerously inaccurate; D.M.A. agents and associated hero teams should make use of his supposed ‘insights’ at their own risk.

Presenter: That’s, um, a very strong accusation.

Guest #2: Documentation has been provided to your producer and to other relevant authorities. It’s not unexpected that the Department of Metahuman Affairs failed to perform their due diligence, but I will admit that I expected better of local public-radio talk shows.

Presenter: Okaaaaay. So, what, you’re just here to set the record straight?

Guest #2: I suppose so, yes.

Presenter: Then would you, uh, be willing to answer a few questions? I mean that respectfully! 

Guest #2: Ask, and I will consider answering.

Presenter: Well, to begin with…could you tell our listeners a little bit about yourself?

Guest #2: Hah. Very well. My name is Doctor Fid and I have been terrifying the world’s most powerful so-called ‘heroes’ for the last twenty-one years.

Presenter: What do you mean by ‘so-called’?

Guest #2: I mean that they are unworthy of the title.

Presenter: Heroes like Valiant are unworthy?

Guest #2: Of course not. Valiant is a good man.

Presenter: But you still fought him on the White House lawn.

Guest #2: Valiant is an exceptional hero, whereas I—according to the analysis that Dr. Cronin posted to the remarkably insecure Department of Metahuman Affairs servers, at least—am a murderous sociopath with delusions of godhood. Of course we fought.

Presenter: And you battled against him again at Mercer-Tallon-

Guest #2: Untrue.

Presenter: The currently-most-popular video clip on the Internet says otherwise.

Guest #2: Whoever edited and added sound effects to that video has a magnificent sense of comedic timing, but…that wasn’t Valiant.

Presenter: Yeah, I get what you’re saying. Yeah. But, what about the Red Ghost? He unworthy?

Guest #2: The Red Ghost earned my respect a long time ago.

Presenter: So…you seem to spend a lot of time beating up people you seem to respect.

Guest #2: I do. An entertaining yet unfortunate side effect of my chosen vocation.

Presenter: So, why do you do it?

Guest #2: Obviously, it would be a poor choice to offer too much detail. It must suffice for me to say that, when I first began—in those first five bloody, violent years…when I built the Mk 1 powered armor and donned my helmet for the first time—I had a very specific goal in mind. It was not a kind goal, but it was…needed. When that goal became unattainable, I withdrew.

Presenter: This would be after that fight in D.C.? When you disappeared for several years?

Guest #2: Yes.

Presenter: So, why did you come back?

Guest #2: I will freely admit that the number of genuinely admirable heroes is higher than I once imagined…but they are not enough. There exist dangers that those heroes cannot or—for ethical reasons—will not address. There exist tasks which require a monster’s touch.

Presenter: That sounds…almost admirable.

Guest #2: Also, I missed hurting people.

Presenter: …Admiration retracted.

Guest #2: That’s fair. I am not the thing Dr. Cronin claims me to be, but I am also not a hero.

Presenter: What are you, then?

Guest #2: I am Doctor Fid. And now, I believe that it’s time for the traffic report…

While growing up, David was that weird kid with his nose in a book and his head in the clouds. He was the table-top role-playing game geek, the comic-book nerd, the story-teller and dreamer. Fortunately, he hasn’t changed much. David is a software engineer by trade and a long-time sci-fi and fantasy devotee by passion, and he lives in Silicon Valley with his partner of twenty-seven years. Until recently, he also shared his life with a disturbingly spoiled cat named Freya.

You can find Fid on the eponymous Chronicles of Fid trilogy.

Join us on Friday to hear from an immortal hero and his interviewer, from a world where science and technology intermingle. Please follow the site by email (bottom-right) to be notified when the next interview is posted.

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