"So what's the bad news?" someone finally shouted from a corner of the crowd, as the archbishop had paused for a little too long after declaring the good one. Everyone turned their heads to see who this daring young explorer was, but for some reason, not even those near the source of the shout could pinpoint the culprit's position.
"Oh, the good news hasn't ended yet," Archbishop Karquen said, puzzlingly enough. Perhaps it was a psychological trick, dragging out the good news by spilling it part by part, waiting for the audience to expect the eventual bad one, and then subverting their expectations to leave a positive impression in their memory. It was working on Mir, certainly.
