Thomas Cross/The Interview

From Unofficial Handbook of the Virtue Universe

Transcript for Electronic Distribution ABS News Correspondent Ann Gentry Interview with Thomas Ivan Cross Original Airdate 12.11.2006 Copyright 2006, ABS News. All Rights Reserved.

Ann Gentry: (to camera, close shot) Thomas Cross. If you know the name, and it's likely you do, you know him as the prodigal son of retired federal court judge and hero Ivan Cross. Thomas was thrown into the media spotlight last summer when his kidnapping and subsequent interrogation by rogue elements in the Department of Defense landed his rescuer, Nicole Brody, on trial for treason.

There is, however, another Thomas Cross. A Thomas Cross that's begun to cause quite a stir in the New York art scene. His first major American gallery show, titled 'Visions of Mercy' opens on New Year's Eve at the Kim Schaeffer gallery. (camera pans back to reveal Thomas Cross, to Thomas) Thomas, thank you for talking with us today.

Thomas Cross: It's my pleasure.

Ann Gentry: I have in front of me a list of light questions that have been approved by your agent. May I ignore them and make this a real interview?

Thomas Cross: (takes a sip of coffee and smiles over the rim of the cup) I wish you would.

Ann Gentry: In last summer's court proceedings you were painted as a heroin addict and a petty criminal. You gave a full statement on the record, but never actually took the stand to respond to that depiction of you. Will you respond to it now?

Thomas Cross: (direct) I was a heroin addict and a petty criminal. There was a time in my life when it looked like turning to a needle for comfort was the way to go and turning to crime was the way to get the needle.

Ann Gentry: During the death of your mother?

Thomas Cross: During the death of my mother. But I don't lie to myself about that anymore. I didn't use to cope with the pain, I used to get high. Everyone suffers loss, they don't all shoot up. I did.

Ann Gentry: And you're clean now?

Thomas Cross: Since June. Heroin is insidiously destructive. Once your body is addicted, you don't take heroin to get high, you take it to get well. You take it to be able to function. It's a miserable trap and it would have killed me if it weren't for the Brodys and their willingness to nurse a sweating, dirty, raging, profane and sick stranger through detox. They're my second family, and were long before it was formalized on Saturday.

Ann Gentry: You're referring of course to the marriage between your father, retired federal court judge and hero Ivan Cross, and his fellow Legionnaire Nicole Brody. ABS wishes them both the best.

Did your gratitude to the Brody family play any part in your decision to undertake consulting work with the Paragon Police Department?

Thomas Cross: (surprise, admiring smile) You really did do your homework. There hasn't been any public statement about that. I'll answer yes, it did. Then I'll have to decline to discuss the nature of the consultation.

Ann Gentry: (grinning) Fair enough, Mr. Cross. So by your own account last June you began to turn your life around. You certainly had community connections, family. Things were looking brighter than they had in some time. How does a man in that position find himself in the Rogue Isles?

Thomas Cross: I was still getting a handle on seeing the world through sober eyes when I had the first manifestation of my extra-ordinary abilities. I wasn't even sure who I was. I did the same thing I'd done before. I ran away. Running to the needle wasn't an option, so I ran to the Rogue Isles. (flashes a quick grin) It was terribly tragically hip of me.

Ann Gentry: So why stay? Why set aside your American citizenship for citizenship there?

Thomas Cross: I don't advocate anyone visiting the Rogue Isles, ever, but if they did they'd see things that they would never forget. Things that would change them.

The public face of the Isles is the face of Recluse, Arachnos and terrorism. It's all most Americans see. They should see that. They're right to be vigilant. Recluse is a soulless megalomaniac who -

Ann Gentry: - You don't sound like a fan.

Thomas Cross: I'm not. Let me make this explicitly clear. I am not, have not, and will not work for or with Arachnos.

Ann Gentry: And yet they've assigned you one of their internal 'Threat Ratings'.

Thomas Cross: (laughs softly) An inevitable consequence of being a resident with extra-ordinary abilities. It's a measure of my ability to impact local politics, and I assure you, mine's not what anyone would call high.

What America hasn't seen and should are the people and places of the Isles. The ordinary men and women living their lives. The Isles really aren't any more a 'City of Villains' than Paragon is a 'City of Heroes'. The heroes and villains by their nature demand our attention as they soar through the skies on wings of raw power, but it's the ordinary people living their extraordinary lives that are the true soul of both places. There are streets in Cap Au Diable that could be King's Row. Boardwalks in St. Martial that could be Talos Island. That's what 'Visions of Mercy' is about. It's about the unseen and very human face of the Isles. The truth is, the only human spirit Recluse can degrade is his own, and those who willingly curry his favor. The harder he attempts to crush the brighter it shines. I stayed in the Rogue Isles because after twenty-eight years of life that's where I met my countrymen.

Ann Gentry: Now for the hard question.

Thomas Cross: (shakes his head, smiling slightly) We've covered my addiction and my expatriation and now we're going to get to the hard question?

Ann Gentry: Are you a good man, Thomas?

Thomas Cross: (thoughtful, eyes distant) That is the hard question, isn't it? When I look at the men I'm surrounded by; my father, Martin Brody, John Talbot, even my own brother ... the only answer I have to 'are you a good man' is that I am surrounded by better.

Ann Gentry: I think we can all say that. (smiles) Now for the obilgatory celebrity question - You do realize that you are a celebrity, don't you?

Thomas Cross: (shrugs and smiles)

Ann Gentry: Is there someone special in your life?

Thomas Cross: (laughs) That obligatory celebrity question. Let's just say I'm available for parties.

Ann Gentry: Thank you again, Thomas, for talking to us today.

Thomas Cross: Thank you, Ann.

Ann Gentry: Again, 'Visions of Mercy' opens at the Kim Schaeffer gallery on New Year's Eve and runs for - ?

Thomas Cross: Six weeks.

Ann Gentry: Six weeks. I'll make sure to see it.