Vench Closer ran the two candidates through the gauntlet of debate topics. Both men would clearly and concisely present their arguments. There were good proposals and talking points on either side, and the politicians sounded competent and well-studied. Yet at every available opportunity, Gort Hower would attack Drim with excessive claims or questions to try and trip the young man up or catch him off-guard, obviously in an attempt to highlight his inexperience and expose any weakness.
But Drim always had an answer for the accusations, plans for the platforms, ideology for the issues. Not only had The Fiendish King prepared for the debate, his campaign staff had trained him on a full contingent of counterarguments and defenses. They went through every possible scenario that might be directed at him, ready to thwart Hower’s every trick and scheme.
Thanks to all their preparation, the bulk of the debate went smoothly. Ultimately, it was like most other debates in terms of structure, but only half of the answers were the same tired and repeated garble that the viewers had heard countless times before. Because of Drim’s unique life circumstances and the fact that he’d been generally removed from politics, he was able to provide a new perspective to the world while most other politicians would recycle the same answers as their affiliates.
There was one question that wouldn’t be found in any other debate however. While not the most burning issue, it certainly was notably relevant to the world’s immediate future. “Many of our viewers are asking us to go into detail on the polling process,” Closer brought up the next topic of discussion. “There’s a lot of confusion as to why the standard voting machines that are common in many countries aren’t being used for this election.”
“I can answer that,” Hower took the lead. “It is because of affiliation. We were set and prepared for all nations to use standard voting machines for this election. But the nation of Fiendish sent the Central Peace a proposal on a new voting method. While I can’t discount its merit if it works as they say, the idea remains untested.”
“Discussions are not off the table for it to be implemented in the future, but it would be suited to a smaller, local election far from the boundaries of Fiendish. Because while the technology sounds promising, we can’t discount who created it and who would control and oversee it. Since Fiendish has such a high stake in this election, we can’t risk the chance of it being rigged.”
“However, since we rightly rejected their proposal, they put in a counterclaim stating that since most voting machines are Central Peace developed and distributed, that they were just as much of a liability because of my own personal affiliation. While I deeply believe that this is nothing more than an unsubstantiated burden on election officials around the world, fair is fair, so we settled on a new agreement.”
“The machines everyone will be voting on for this election are built by an unaffiliated third-party company that developed the prototype for the original machines that are since well outdated. And since they’re a smaller company, they did not have the budget to build them all on their own, so both the Central Peace and the nation of Fiendish split the bill evenly so that there could be no assumption of bribery or foul play..”
“My colleague is correct,” Drim confirmed Hower’s claims while also jabbing the man in the process—notably wincing at the fact that the young man had called them colleagues. “But he left out a few specific details. The method we proposed is to use Common Cards to allow you to cast your votes.”
“As you’re all well aware by now, the cards are linked to your unique genetic signatures. They can not be faked, though many have tried over the years, and their systems would prevent any sort of multiple voting attempts or fraud. While I do understand the trepidation given our involvement in its creation, the accessibility should at least save it from being so haphazardly brushed aside.”
“Every adult would be able to vote. No matter where they are or what they’re doing. Hopefully, most citizens have been given time off by their employers to vote, but we know not everyone will be able to or have reasonable means to get to a polling station. This would negate any and all of those issues. Even if you don’t have a Common Card, any in the world would work.”
“Still, their concerns are valid, but to remedy them, we offered to give the Central Peace a full breakdown of the programming code involved in the voting function so that they could scour it for any possible backdoors or foul play. Additionally, we would allow them to monitor the data on election day in real time so they could see for themselves that nothing was being rigged or altered. Yet despite all this, not a second moment of consideration was given, just flat rejection.”
“However, since our group is working towards the betterment of society no matter what, regardless of the outcome of the election, we will still launch this technology in the future. Genuinely fair and accessible elections are how the people can make lasting change in this world, and we want to assist with that in any way we can. That’s a promise.”
The debate then continued on for some time. [800] quickly became [900]. And though the debate was only supposed to last for that one hour, the two men continued with vigor beyond it, showing no sign that they were running out of steam or breath.
As the final questions were starting to wind down, however, Gort Hower presented one of his own. “Drim Drazah. I will openly admit that you’ve impressed me during this debate. It is quite evident that you have brushed up on your political knowledge, even to the degree of one who’d completed full schooling for it. However, since you’ve barely any experience holding office, your platforms are a bit rough around the edges and your hopeful ideals seem slightly removed from the reality of what is feasible.”
“But I do still have one question about your tactics. Throughout this debate I have often criticized you and your past, pointing out any flaws that I might find relevant for our voters to be aware of. While you have thrown a few crass jabs my way, you haven’t pointed out a single issue with my own background or tenure as a politician. Do you just not understand debates, or are you actively refusing to participate in our traditions?”
The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
“And why would I criticize you, Mr. Hower?” Drim did his best to sound sincere. “You have had a near flawless career in politics. From your time as a clerk in the Horage government office to helping found the Central Peace. Not to mention the years of loyal servitude as one of the most dignified and well respected Representatives. You’ve had a major hand in shaping modern politics, and I believe as president, you would continue along that same path of improvement. We could certainly do a lot worse.”
“You may have noticed that throughout this lengthy campaign, we have not put out a single attack ad the entire time, for either you or any of the other candidates—compared to the hundreds that have been put out by your campaign. I’ve learned about horrible things I’ve done that even I didn’t know about. But we didn’t participate, because we believe there’s a better way, a more civil way, to highlight what we can offer rather than chastise the opponent for what they cannot.”
“However…” the king’s tone of voice shifted to one far more critical. “While it would be difficult for me to pick out any actions you’ve taken throughout your career as fallible, I do believe there is one aspect where you’ve failed. And that would be a history of inaction, where your voice would have carried great swaying weight.”
“Let’s go back to Bastion for a prime example. I am well and fully aware that you would not have had the authority to order the Horage army to stand down and prevent their participation and subsequent slaughter. However, at the same time, you made no effort to convince your fellow countrymen that it was the incorrect course of action. You merely accepted their choice without question.”
“But that’s not where it ends. You then went on to fail in your duty as a Central Peace Representative. Because your country had made its choice, you then abstained from all discussion and voting regarding Bastion thereafter. Even if you couldn’t have stopped Horage from joining, perhaps you could have convinced someone else, or swayed the vote of the Central Peace to reject the operation outright and ignore the bounty placed. But instead, you did nothing. Even if you felt it futile, a true politician of the people would have gone down fighting for what is right, not letting their voice be unheard.”
“If this had been a single blemish in your career, it could have been forgiven, written off as a momentary lapse of judgment. But then less than a year later, you repeated the same heinous offense of sitting on your ass. I’m referring to Humanity.”
“Some of you may have forgotten, and many manipulative politicians still refuse to even publicly admit that they existed at all. But their carnage was very real. There was an active terrorist group killing and destabilizing lives all across the world and yet the Central Peace did nothing. And you were among those who turned a blind eye and let it happen, once again abstaining from any vote to deal with them.”
“Like me, you speak of unity between all races on Rathe, but how can we believe your intentions now? You had the chance, the power to stop the madness and hatred at its source, to save the lives of countless humans and Fiends alike, but you turned away when the world could have truly used your help. Humanity is gone now, no thanks to the Central Peace, but solely due to the efforts of The Artillery, Xard Randex, the Fiend Crimes Division, and a few brave citizens who took up arms on their own.”
To the accusations, Hower merely huffed and changed course. “I find it laughable that you speak of and condemn fanatical groups when you have one of your very own working in your interests. I’m referring to the Fiendnatics of course. I saw what you did on Ledmer, everyone did. You had the chance to dissolve them then and there, to end their actions, but you let them go, sending them off with inspiring words so that they’d only worship you further.”
Rage built up in Drim to the point of bursting. He had to spawn a few thorns hidden in the palm of his hands and squeeze them in order to diffuse his anger. “I find it wretchedly disgusting that you would even dare to compare the two groups,” the king was done playing nice. “You’d put violent kidnappers, murderers, and terrorists on the same level of peaceful activists who have done nothing but better their communities?”
“Please, I beg of you, name one example of the Fiendnatics resorting to violent crime that wasn’t later disproven, or was revealed as subterfuge to try and pass blame onto the group for entirely unrelated actions. I’d say I’d wait for you to do so, but you know as well as I that there are none. Truly heinous for you to try and deflect away from your own shortcomings by attacking a group that has done nothing wrong because you attempt to condemn me along with them.”
“While your career is polished, you’re too set and stubborn in your ways. Willing to take inaction because it’s inconvenient for you or detrimental to your standing. Letting innocents suffer because they don’t align with your political values. That is not the type of president this world needs.”
Before things could escalate even further, the moderator moved them along, asking the few remaining questions. Nothing exciting happened for the rest of the debate, and the two candidates were pushed to closing remarks. Hower delivered one expected of a man of his experience. It was well-spoken, concise, boring, safe. But the Fiendish King went a touch more unconventional.
“Citizens of Rathe,” Drim started. “I’m well aware that the name Drazah is still a touchy subject for many. The trauma of even mentioning it will be deep rooted into society for generations to come. When my sister and I chose to return to the land of the living, we easily could have changed our names, hidden who we were, but that wouldn’t have been right. We didn’t want to deceive you, nor did we want to abandon our own past.”
“Our aim was to prove that we are not our parents, to free ourselves from their legacy and to forge our own. I hope during the past few years, we’ve given you a glimpse of what the future can be when you don’t chain yourself to the past. It is important to understand the lessons of history, but when you refuse to change, you can’t make history of your own.”
“My rival candidate will give you more of the same. If that’s all that you want, I won’t tell you not to vote for him. It would be ignorant of me to lie and say that I am the best candidate for every voter and their unique situations. But what I can promise is that I will strive every day to bring the world towards a brighter future.”
“Look at what we’ve accomplished up until now. To many of you, it might feel like a dream seeing how much the world has evolved in these past few years. But to be brutally honest, it’s just a glimpse of what’s to come. Even if not elected, we at the Fiends For Hire and the nation of Fiendish will never stop working for you, never stop trying to make Rathe the best world it can be. But I hope you can put your trust in me, so that we can achieve even more. Thank you and goodnight!”
With those final words, Drim vanished from the stage just as suddenly as he’d appeared. He was headed home for a well-deserved rest, fully unaware that the night was just getting started.