American Horror Story, Starting from Falls Town

Chapter 165 The Devil’s Late Night Show
In a KABC-TV studio, the special program continued live.

Most of the audience did not notice anything unusual about tonight's show. After all, they rarely get to see the faces of the audience and staff directly.

Only the middle-aged man sitting next to Jack, who was specially invited, felt something was strange.

This man used to be a magician who was good at hypnosis, but because this track was so competitive, he changed his career and became a professional counterfeiter, specializing in exposing all kinds of scams related to ghosts and superstitions.

Then this guy became an overnight sensation and frequently appeared on various TV shows.

The woman sitting next to Jack is a person who specializes in studying the supernatural and is called Dr. June.

The girl next to Dr. Joan is her current research subject, a person who is born with supernatural powers.

In fact, there was a trend of studying supernatural powers in the 1990s. Both America and the former Soviet Union had serious laboratories studying things related to superpowers.

This trend has spread all over the world, and even the East has been affected to a certain extent.

However, in Roy's previous generation's world, superpowers and the like were proven to be pseudoscience, but this may not be the case in this world.

After all, there are angels and demons in this world!

No one knows what secret and dangerous research the American government is conducting.

At this point, the show had been going on for nearly an hour. Apart from the ten-minute opening dance performance, the dozens of minutes in between were spent by Jack constantly recounting the supernatural events he had personally experienced, while the faker was responsible for exposing him.

Today Jack maintained his usual humorous style, and the show was quite good. The audience watching TV enjoyed it very much.

The audience at the show was rather indifferent.

"Mr. McConaughey, you still don't want to believe in the existence of supernatural powers?"

Jack smiled and looked at the professional counterfeiter, who pointed his finger at his eyes.

"I only believe what I see with my own eyes, but so far, I haven't seen any real supernatural power! Am I just unlucky?"

Well, this guy is really unlucky to appear on this live TV broadcast.

At this time, Jack glanced at Dr. June, who seldom spoke.

"Dr. Joan, what are your thoughts on Mr. McConaughey's remarks?"

Dr. Joan is an intellectual and beautiful woman in her thirties. Although she doesn't talk much, she has a convincing power.

"Just because you can't see it doesn't mean it doesn't exist, Mr. McConaughey. For example, you can't see air or cell phone signals, but these are real things. The human eye can only see the material world; things in the spiritual world are invisible."

McConaughey looked at Dr. June and smiled and shook his head.

The two people have completely different worldviews. McConaughey is obviously an extreme materialist, while Dr. Joan is an idealist with a slight tendency towards materialism, and is a centrist. Naturally, neither of them can convince the other.

"Dr. Joan, it's useless to say these things. If you want me to believe it, you have to let me see the supernatural power with my own eyes."

McConaughey's attitude is very stubborn, just like his character.

Jack clapped his hands, which slightly cooled the tense atmosphere of the show.

"Don't worry, Mr. McConaughey. In fact, in order to make you and all the viewers in front of the TV believe in the existence of supernatural powers, I specially invited Dr. Joan and Lily. They will definitely let you see the scenes you want to see. Right, Dr. Joan?"

Dr. Joan nodded slightly.

"I originally didn't want to bring Lily here because my lab has some agreements with the federal government. The federal government has a department specifically responsible for managing supernatural forces to ensure that the public cannot know the truth. But Mr. Del convinced me, so I decided to go on the show and expose all this."

Dr. Joan looked at the host Jack with a strange look, which made people wonder whether she was trying to persuade him or sleep with him.

However, Jack Del is also a very charming middle-aged man. Compared with those scientific researchers, he is definitely very handsome. It is no surprise that he can charm Dr. Joan.

The audience in front of the TV all showed interested expressions. Conspiracy theories about the federal government are always very popular in America.

Whether it's the aliens in Area 51 or the vampires in the Freemasons...

Of course, these conspiracy theories may all be true in this world.

However, there are some particularly outrageous conspiracy theories, such as when a student at the University of Memphis, McIntosh, suddenly began to claim in 2017:
"Birds are fictional, they're an illusion, it's a lie. Wake up!"

He also said that all birds in America have become extinct, and the birds we see now are actually mechanical birds made by the federal government, responsible for monitoring people's every move.

McIntosh is a philosophy student, and he may have done this just to see the social impact and philosophical significance of online rumors.

But what was unexpected was that the rumor became more and more popular. After a few years, it had hundreds of thousands of followers, who would hold up various signs saying "The bird next to you is fake" and spread the rumor everywhere.

McConaughey crossed his legs and looked like he was watching a show.

"Then let's get started! Otherwise tonight will be too boring!"

Hearing this, Jack made a bitter face and began to laugh at himself.

"Oh, Mr. McConaughey, is my show so boring to you?"

Unexpectedly, McConaughey answered Jack bluntly.

"Yes, it's a bit boring for me. If there's nothing exciting, I'm going to fall asleep."

This is McConaughey's usual image on TV. Some viewers just like his outspoken and confrontational style.

"You will never be disappointed!"

Jack gave a strange smile and then looked at Dr. June.

Dr. June nodded and introduced the girl next to her.

(Lily on the left, Dr. Joan on the right)
"This Miss Lily Oppo is a girl with witch talent that I discovered by chance."

Upon hearing this, Jack immediately showed a surprised expression, but this expression looked fake no matter how you looked at it.

As we all know, the host must have known the guests, so this is also a common process in variety shows.

"Wow, a witch! Is that the kind of witch I know?"

Lily gave a somewhat stiff smile.

Because this girl has been in the laboratory all year round and has almost no contact with the outside world, her expression is a little strangely stiff, but her eyes are very lively, which makes people unable to help but like her.

"I don't know what kind of witch Mr. Del is talking about, but I know that after tonight this show will go down in history."

This was Jack's favorite thing to hear, and it brought a smile to his face.

"Miss Lily, can you read my mind? Can you tell what I want right now?"

McConaughey on the side couldn't help but complain.

"Come on, Jack! Everyone in Los Angeles knows you want to be number one in late night!"

Jack spread his hands helplessly.

"Mr. McConaughey, can't you just pretend you don't know and make me happy?"

Dr. Joan and Lily both laughed, but the audience remained silent, and the atmosphere on the show grew increasingly eerie. McConaughey felt vaguely uneasy, but being an extreme materialist, he suspected that the host, Jack, was playing a prank on him.

This kind of prank show is not uncommon in America, so McConaughey didn't take it too seriously, but was just a little more cautious.

"Okay, enough joking. Dr. June, can you tell me about Miss Lily's abilities?"

Dr. June nodded.

"Of course! Lily is the most gifted child I've discovered. After she awakened, she caused chaos, and an organization calling itself the 'Witch Federation' wanted to take her away. Fortunately, a secret government department intervened, allowing her to enter my laboratory safely."

Hearing this, McConaughey sneered, obviously not believing what Dr. June said.

Dr. June didn't care and continued to introduce Lily's abilities.

"Lily possesses a strong sense of inspiration and can sense some special spiritual energy..."

McConaughey couldn't help himself and interrupted Dr. Joan.

"Ha! You're not going to bring up that old topic of demonic possession again, are you?"

Jack glared at McConaughey, and the fierce look made the professional counterfeiter's breathing pause.

"Please don't interrupt Dr. Joan! Dr. Joan, please continue!"

Dr. Joan was very well-mannered. Even when she was interrupted by McConaughey, she did not get angry and continued to explain slowly.

"Mr. McConaughey is right. I'm talking about the phenomenon of demonic possession. There's actually a lot of energy radiation in the air that current scientific equipment can't fully detect. I call it spiritual energy. This spiritual energy can only be felt by certain special people, like witches and some priests. If someone's constitution happens to meet these requirements and they're in an area rich in spiritual energy, they might be affected by it."

This is what we commonly call psychic or demonic possession."

Jack gave an exaggerated expression of sudden realization.

"What a brilliant explanation! It's really enlightening to me! Dr. Joan, could you please let Miss Lily demonstrate some of her abilities? I think the audience would really like to see that!"

Dr. Joan hesitated for a moment, but looking at the man's face, she nodded.

"Okay, but Lily's physique is quite special. She is a natural psychic, and is particularly prone to attracting spirits or demons."

McConaughey laughed again.

"Can you tell me what kind of demon she has attracted? I happen to know a bit about the occult!"

Since he wants to fight against counterfeiting, he must have some professional knowledge, so McConaughey has quite good attainments in mysticism.

Sometimes this guy can expose some charlatans just by using his knowledge of the occult.

Dr. June looked at Lily, and the little girl put on a strange smile.

"I call it Mr. Squirm."

"Mr. Squirm? Why is he called that?"

Jack's face was full of curiosity, and Lily's expression became even weirder.

"It always creeps some strange thoughts into its body."

This explanation was quite childish, but it left the audience a little confused, so Dr. Joan quickly explained it.

"Mr. Creep is just a code name. In reality, demons don't easily reveal their real names, because if their real names are known, they will easily be expelled back to Hell. So far, I still don't know which demon Mr. Creep really is."

As soon as he finished speaking, the theremin in the live broadcast room suddenly started to make a sound. The sound was like a person's distorted scream, harsh and grotesque, causing several guests to cover their ears.

Only Lily's expression remained unchanged, as if she knew in advance that the theremin would make a sound.

The theremin is the world's first electronic musical instrument, invented in 1919 by Soviet physicist Professor Lev Termen.

Unlike conventional musical instruments, the theremin does not require contact with any part of the human body to be played. It relies on two tubes that can sense magnetic fields to produce sound based on the size and changes of the human body's magnetic field.

Theoretically, if the magnetic field changes significantly, it can make a sound even without anyone manipulating it.

The high-frequency sound emitted by the theremin directly shattered the glass at the scene, scaring Jack and others.

McConaughey finally couldn't stand it anymore. He stood up, walked to the theremin, unplugged the wire, and the sound disappeared immediately.

"Pretend to be a ghost!"

"This was done by Mr. Creep. He just heard you talking about him and he's a little unhappy."

Lily looked at McConaughey expressionlessly, her eyes a little dazed and numb.

"That's enough! I've had enough of this cliché! Can't you come up with something new? If you can, call out that Mr. Squirm!"

McConaughey pointed at Lily's face and was very emotional.

At this point, the show has entered its climax. The audience likes to watch this kind of live conflict. The show's ratings are rising steadily and are very close to the champion of the same period.

Jack gave a strange smile, but everyone's attention was mainly on Lily and McConaughey, and no one noticed his change.

"I think Mr. McConaughey's idea is great! Dr. June, can you ask Lily to summon Mr. Creep?"

Dr. June immediately rejected McConaughey's opinion.

"The summoning ceremony must be conducted in an absolutely safe environment. A live broadcast does not meet this requirement!"

At this time, the audience who had been very quiet suddenly started to make a noise and expressed their desire to watch.

At the same time, Jack also looked at Dr. June with a special look.

"Dr. June, I think you could consider this!"

In this case, there was no way Dr. Joan could refuse.

"Okay, but I have the right to interrupt the ceremony at any time!"

"Of course! Let's go through a commercial break to set up the summoning ceremony, and then we'll continue after the commercial break. Everyone, don't leave!"

The scene switches, and Dr. June pulls Jack to a corner with some annoyance.

"Jack, this is different from what we agreed on at the beginning!"

"Listen, Joan, tonight is very important for both you and me! Sometimes life is about taking risks! What do you think?"

There was no emotion on Jack's face, and this look of Jack made Dr. Joan feel very unfamiliar.

"Okay, this will be the last time I help you!"

With that, Dr. June turned and left to make preparations, while Jack behind her gave a strange smile.

"There won't be a next time."

(End of this chapter)