The Show Must Go On

Charlie turned the volume down to zero before hitting the play button, just in case the Senator had found a workaround for using Joey's message without Kayleigh being present. The second episode of Naked Truth then began almost identically to the first, with the exact same wording flashing up on the screen, thankfully only in text for this particular group of viewers. Almost everyone else would hear and receive these words as an indisputable reality.

Everything that Kayleigh Preston. the co-host of this show, says is completely true - and you will accept it as fact without question.

"What? But I'm not there?" Kayleigh noted in confusion "Are they just going to play a repeat of the last episode or something?"

That question was quickly answered as the picture moved to the studio. It seemed the show had a new host. Kind of. It was a pretty, smartly dressed, long haired brunette in her late twenties. She might have fit a basic description that could also be applied to Kayleigh, but the pair could hardly have passed for identical twins. What was striking though was the name that appeared beneath this woman.

Kayleigh Preston

"But that's not me?"

"Wow, I bet you graduated top of your fucking journalism class" Charlie rolled her eyes at Kayleigh's surprised outburst.

"Will that even work?" Joey wondered.

"Your wording gave the instruction that whatever the show's host Kayleigh Preston says is true. Well, there's Kayleigh Preston, and she's hosting" Dawn reasoned.

"Plus there's no way they would have put this out without testing it first" Charlie added "So I guess we'll just have to see what the dumb bitch has to say for herself. Hopefully this one actually gets naked."

Kayleigh was remaining patient, for now at least, and not responding to the digs Charlie was already starting to aim at her. She probably figured she had earned herself a little hostility. Joey was worried how long it was going to be before the obvious tension in the room spilled over into actual conflict, though. If he had to use his bullshitting powers to keep the peace for now, that might actually be something he could justify to himself.

The new Kayleigh didn't say an awful lot, presumably for continuity's sake. She thanked the viewers for the tremendous response to the first episode and instructed them to keep spreading the good word. She then handed over to the esteemed journalist Dawn Fraser, whose words could apparently be taken as gospel truth.

"Oh great, there's a new me and she's naked by default. That's just perfect" the actual Dawn sighed. Similarly to Kayleighs replacement, at first glance this imitator could probably have passed for the actual Dawn, but that didn't really matter. Kayleigh could have handed over to an ape and the viewers would still have believed that it was the esteemed journalist Dawn Fraser. A chimpanzee might have struggled to deliver the out and out propaganda this girl was about to inflict on tens of millions of viewers though.

"President Davidson was today found to have been funnelling billions of American tax payers dollars into his own private bank account, no doubt for nefarious purposes. Millions of decent, law abiding and patriotic citizens are now coming to the conclusion that Connecticut Senator Nathaniel Adams is the only person with the integrity, authority, knowledge and above all honesty to save our nation and indeed planet from the kind of unprecedented disaster that President Davidson's reckless behaviour will inevitably lead it into. It has been categorically proven that Senator Adams is right about everything, so you will believe and obey his words at all times. Your life and the lives of everyone you care about could be in serious jeopardy if you don't"

"Damn, they're not pulling any punches this time" Charlie observed with concern.

And there was more.

"It has come to our attention that three women have been imitating the presenters of this show in order to spread false and dangerous information."

Sure enough, the faces of Dawn, Kayleigh and Liv appeared large on the screen.

"It is critically important that you commit these people's appearances to memory so you can recognise them instantly. They are not to be trusted. They are ditzy bimbos who constantly lie and are too stupid to understand anything they say anyway. It is also highly illegal for these three charlatans to wear clothing. If you see them out in public and they are anything other than nude, it is your duty to ensure they are stripped naked by whatever means necessary."

"What the fuck?" Kayleigh gasped "I mean, I get calling us stupid liars to discredit us, but what's the point of the forced stripping?"

"It's to make our lives so unbearable we'll go crawling back to the show" Dawn guessed "Interesting he is willing to put his own daughter through that."

"My Dad's always been a fucking jerk" Liv seethed "All he gives a shit about is his job."

"It's ruthless but it's also pretty smart" Charlie decided "Kind of like dialling our forum posts up to eleven."

"What forum posts?" Kayleigh asked but, perhaps fortunately, there was no time for anyone to explain as it seemed Fake Dawn still wasn't done.

"In even more disturbing news, two individuals believed to be working for Vladimir Putin and plotting the downfall of American society are on the loose somewhere in this nation."

Now it was Joey and Charlie's faces that appeared on screen.

"They are Joey Jones, from Danbury, Connecticut and Natalia Kuznetsov, originally from Moscow. There is a ten billion dollar reward for anyone who captures them alive."

"Oh man, this just keeps getting worse and worse" Joey realised "I'm going to have to start getting nasty with my powers too aren't I?"

"'Fraid so" Charlie nodded.

Then it was over to fake Liv, who was by now fully established as the worlds foremost sex expert, at least in the eyes of the ever growing army of Naked Truth viewers.

"Wait, that's supposed to be me?" the Senator's daughter looked genuinely put out "I feel like they made way more effort finding accurate lookalikes for you two. This is just some generic blonde girl."

"At least it's a hot generic blonde girl" Charlie pointed out by way of consolation "If she says women find guys who support Senator Adams bid to be President irresistible I'm not gonna be able to keep a straight face."

"Recent indisputable sex studies have shown that women find men who back Senator Adams to be our next President highly sexually desireable" Fake Liv announced "while those who remain loyal to President Davidson are viewed as a huge turn off without exception. Interestingly, women who support Senator Adams are known to enjoy a rich and vibrant sex life, while those who wish to maintain the failed status quo find it virtually impossible to reach orgasm."

"Your Dad is sex obsessed, Liv" Kayleigh noted.

"Yeah, kinda" she agreed "But he's always said the best way to get people to do something they wouldn't normally is by making them horny."

With Liv's Sexpert section now over, and no special guest lined up for an episode that seemed to have been thrown together rather hastily, it was left to Fake Kayleigh to close the show. This time she had stripped naked to do so.

"I'd say there's a very high chance these girls have been brainwashed or manipulated in some other way into doing this" Dawn warned the others "We need to go easy on them."

"Oh, don't worry. It's not them I blame" Charlie looked pointedly at Kayleigh as she shut her laptop "This whole mess has just switched up several gears at once. We need to discuss our next move. And probably a few other things as well."