Chapter Text
Outside the interview room, a few of the Eurovision entrants were waiting for their time with the dictator. Mahmood knew he was up soon. Mostly he dreaded it, but part of him just wanted to get it over with. This whole thing seemed never-ending. Jonida seemed to sense just how worried Mahmood was.
"Hey," Jonida said, "Don't worry about it. Just tell him you don't know anything and you'll be fine."
"Alright," Mahmood forced a smile. He hoped that was true.
A few more minutes passed. Mahmood shuffled in his pockets for a minute, looking for where his phone was, but he couldn't find it. He figured he must have left it in his hotel room, which was a shame since he could really use it to pass the time waiting for this. Any distraction from this mess would be good right now.
At that moment, Chingiz walked out of the interview room. Mahmood sighed. That meant it was his turn now. Mahmood carefully opened the door and stepped inside.
Jon Ola just sat there, sneering at him. Conan had said that his interview with the dictator had been short, and that it wasn't so bad, so Mahmood was surprised to see Jon Ola looked angrily at him, two Norwegian soldiers at his side.
"Ah, Mahmood," Jon Ola said, "There you are."
"Your Excellency," Mahmood said, but Jon Ola cut him off.
"Let's just get right to it," Jon Ola replied, "Do you know anything about the video that has been circulating? It was first spotted on a TV outside the hotel. Do you know the origin of that video? Who started this? Who?"
Mahmood just looked down. He had seen the video on the internet, it had been available for download on some website and he had watched it. But he didn't know who the source was, or who had made it play outside the hotel. And even if he did, he wouldn't tell Jon Ola who it was.
"I don't know anything."
Jon Ola didn't seem pleased at Mahmood's insistence that he knew nothing about the video.
"Oh? That's strange then, isn't it?" Jon Ola replied, as he brought out a plastic bag and brought something out of it. It was Mahmood's phone. Uh oh. This was the moment when Mahmood really started to panic. He had no idea how Jon Ola had gotten that but this was really bad. The downloaded video was still on the phone. If Jon Ola had gone through the phone and saw that, then he'd think that he was the origin of the video. And then-
"Mr- Y-your excellency, I-" Mahmood struggled to find the right words.
"Silence," Jon Ola replied, "I don't know if you are the source of the video, I don't even know if you were the one who made it play. But I do know that you know who did. And you are going to tell me everything."
Mahmood looked down, not wanting to look Jon Ola in the eyes.
"Look at me when I'm speaking to you," Jon Ola said, "You have the video."
Silence. Mahmood struggled to think of something today. Maybe it would just be better to tell the truth, that he just downloaded the video after the news came out, that he was innocent.
"I-I don't know, actually," Mahmood said, "I-I just downloaded the video to watch it, when it became a big news story, I don't know who-"
"Possible," Jon Ola said, "But right now you are the most likely suspect. Ok, take him away while I deal with the others."
The two Norwegian soldiers stepped over to where Mahmood was.
"W-wait," Mahmood said, "I didn't do anything wrong, what are you doing?"
Jon Ola didn't say anything as the handcuffs were put on Mahmood, as Mahmood begged and pleaded that he was innocent, that he did nothing. Mahmood was taken out of the side door by the two Norwegian soldiers as Jon Ola leaned back in his chair.
"Wait!" Mahmood yelled back, "Where are you taking me? You can't do this! I'm innocent, please!"
"I'll deal with you later," Jon Ola said, "I have other people to interview first."
Meanwhile, Jonida, Nevena, Duncan and Srbuk were all waiting outside the interview room, waiting for Mahmood to come out so that Jonida could go in. She was next on the list, after all. So when the door opened, they were surprised to see not Mahmood, but Jon Ola himself peeking out of the door.
"Jonida," his voice always sounded commanding, even when he was trying to speak normally, "It's your turn for an interview now."
"Uh," Jonida said, "Mahmood didn't come out yet?"
"He went out the side door," Jon Ola said, "We have other things to discuss. Now it is your turn to speak with me."
That didn't sound good at all, but Jonida had no choice, she had to speak with the dictator now. She stepped into the room with him. Awful, being in the same room as such a monster, but again, she had to do it. While she was in there she was sure she could hear Mahmood shouting in the distance. She wanted to say something but ultimately kept quiet, yelling at the dictator to free him wouldn't help matters at all, and would probably end up with her joining him. This really wasn't going to end well, she knew that much.