“Quite the interesting group you’ve chosen for your Representatives,” The Warden made a wistful comment before getting to the point of their intrusion, curiously glancing at the three men standing behind the Drazahs. “Your sister is a natural choice as Rep, considering her direct standing in your organization. But as for the three Vice-Reps, I would have assumed the other Greaters would be your choices when you eventually joined.”
“It was solely based on desire,” Phon took on the onus of explanation. “Tize has a long history in the military and with social services, and as such is interested in reforming those aspects. Likewise, Roque wants to throw a wrench into business legislation and taxation, so that’s why he joined. And Crucion, well his is also based on desire in another way. Because absolutely no one else remotely wanted to take the job and we needed three, so he volunteered to do it.”
“Well, I can’t say I envy the reps and the jobs they have to do, so I understand it’s not a position for everyone,” The Warden accepted and moved on to the point of their friendly ambush. “I’d like you all to join me in my office for a moment. It’s unsafe to discuss this anywhere else. However, it’s a bit more cramped in there than you might expect. So if it’s alright, I’d ask that only the two Drazahs accompany me.”
“For you other three Vice-Reps, might I recommend the exclusive restaurant that you now can dine at as members of the Central Peace, assuming your Rep approves your access.”
“Oh yeah, that’s the high ranking one Jaid has mentioned fondly every chance she gets,” Phon thought back. “I’ve popped by there a few times myself and it lives up to the hype. Though it’ll be interesting going there without jumpscaring the workers and diners with my sudden appearance. Of course you all can go, but bring me something too. You’re not allowed to get anything for Jaid, though, and must tell her about it later, to make her envious.”
“Come along then, brother. Let’s see what the phony person has to share with us,” The Representative of Fiendish began pushing Drim after dismissing the others, following The Warden towards the elevator, and not acting like any politician of either of their stature ever should in a public setting. Despite their fancy titles, nothing had changed about their sibling dynamic.
The Warden kept quiet on the entire ride up on the express elevator. And up they went, all the way to the top, even past the uppermost floors. Most who worked there would have no idea that it could even go any higher. While their host had been allowed to put in the code to select the floor thanks to the embedded pendant in their skin, before the doors would even open to let them off, a sensor popped out of the elevator to do a full scan of the car’s occupants. No one was allowed in The Warden’s office but them.
And even if someone could manage to get off the elevator, odds were they’d get creeped out and turn around before they ever reached their destination. The trio was let off into a long, cramped, and dimly lit hallway where they couldn’t see the other end and had to walk down it in a single file line, passing by giant whirring fans that provided ventilation for the entire facility.
But things brightened up quite a bit both literally and metaphorically when they entered the office. Unlike most fancy suites at the height of the business world, where they had floor to ceiling windows looking out of their towering skyscrapers, or luxurious skylights to look towards the heavens, The Warden’s office featured an entirely clear floor.
It was set directly above the fake artificial sun that illuminated the main town of their small society. Fortunately, the blinding light was aimed entirely down and around, with just normal levels of luminosity reflecting back into the room. It really was quite the stunning view, even to those who had seen countless amazing wonders across the world. It really cemented The Warden as the watchful eye always looming above at the Central Peace, keeping them in line.
“That was quite the commotion you caused,” the host’s voice sounded more entertained than someone in their position should. “Though they couldn’t say it, you could see their preconceived notions crumble as the truth was laid out before them. It was refreshing to say the least. Hower has been on my zjik list for a long time, but I’ve never been able to prove anything. Until today.”
“Perhaps it was due to the urgency of the indictment Callum Briz gave, but of course those in the meeting still on Hower’s side contacted his camp. The fools. They used Central Peace tech to do it. While the data is encrypted, I alone see all. Perhaps they believe me entirely impartial because I have not acted against them before. But I will always seek the stability of this place above all else. And they are threatening it.”
“So during that ordeal, almost all of his confirmed lackeys asked about whether or not they should activate some specific phase or project or plan or scheme. Each one called it something different. Here’s an example: ‘Do we activate the Wooled Eyes Protocol? There’s no way we’re getting out of thi.’ And another is ‘They’ve found out. Final Phase Burn It All is a go? We need to clean house.’”
“I suspect that each one was given a different name for it so that if it ever leaked, Hower would know who was responsible. And the man in question, or his staff, did respond to a few of them, but not everyone, at least through CP channels. They’re all roughly along the lines of ‘Not yet, we aren’t out of options.’”
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“So while it seems they have no immediate plans to instantly go forward with this thing, it is something you should know of and be concerned about. Of course, there’s no files anywhere in the Central Peace database matching any of those specific codewords. However, I did a cross-examination of the shared verbiage amongst all the messages sent. It mostly pulled up reports of incidents throughout the years, but there was one document that stood out among the others.”
“At first glance, it’s rather innocuous, and my eyes skipped over it during the first few checks. It is simply titled ‘Retirement Plans’, which is rather common for many of these Reps and workers to have. That alone doesn’t raise any bells, because why would anything scandalous be in what basically amounts to a hope journal of how much these people want to fish until they’re dead. But the file owner caught my attention. It’s none other than Gandr, Hower’s personal assistant.”
“And would you look at that, it doesn’t tell me specifically who, but that specific document has been opened nearly a hundred times today by different sources, some of which aren’t even here on premises. Fortunately, I’m invisible and leave no trace. Gandr will never know I’ve accessed it. Take a look for yourselves.”
The sibling pair crowded around the monitor, getting close to properly read the document that was roughly a page long. While short, it said all it needed to without wasting words.
“Holy zjik,” Drim couldn’t believe his eyes. “This is lunacy. To think he even prepared something like this—a contingency if he loses. He plans to take as much of the world as he can down with him. The release of his own cache of evidence against every politician not a part of his circle. Ordering his privately owned mercenaries to open fire on civilians to drum up chaos. Using his vast network of influence and wealth to completely tank the economy worldwide to thrust the masses into poverty. And that’s just the first paragraph!”
“Yeah, this mawhger wants to start his own apocalypse,” Phon agreed, struggling with the concept herself. “I knew the dude was zjikked-out-of-his-mind insane and evil, but even for a megalomaniac like him, this is too much. He’s the sorest loser in existence. I guess if he can’t win and be president, he plans to functionally destroy the world.”
“Yes, we need to stop him immediately,” Drim’s words burned with conviction. “Even if this is all some cruel joke or wishful ravings, we can’t take that chance. Where is he, Phon?”
“Give me a second,” the woman closed her eyes and put her mind-minions to work. “Tch, of course, he’s in his special building. There’s no way he’s leaving it until the election is over. And if he wins, it’ll be that much harder to take him down without scrutiny.”
“I don’t understand the problem,” The Warden raised an eyebrow. “You can teleport anywhere in the world, right? So shouldn’t you be able to go directly to him, or move him anywhere you like?”
“No, that building is specifically designed to be Anti-Fiend,” The Vixen elaborated. “The entire thing is surrounded by an aura field, something they were researching at the Power Station, which as you now know, was run by Hower. So of course he’d use it to protect himself. Neither mine nor Kada’s power can be used to infiltrate the place. While regular good ol’ brute force would work, there’s factors in play that make it so we wouldn’t want to attack the building.”
“Yes, it’s his own safety net,” Drim concurred, now leaning against one of the walls in the cramped room to give himself some space to think. “Damn it, and we don’t have time for this either. We have to confront Rathe. That is still the top priority, and it’s all set for tomorrow. Even if we started right now, raiding that place would go well into the night.”
“Not to mention, if we so much as set foot in the door before the polls open, Hower will cry foul and use it to his advantage. There is a media blackout from both of our campaigns as soon as voting starts, so that we can’t provide new information or messages after any of the votes are already set in stone. If he even so much as mentioned me then, he’d be violating the rules and would be disqualified.”
“It’s why he built what’s essentially a fortified tower. To keep us from daring to try anything physical against him. And we were perfectly fine letting him cower. We wanted nothing to do with his ultimate fate.”
“That was the whole point of today—to allow his own world and peers to judge him, rather than us with higher power. If he is arrested or killed for his crimes, that is because it is the justice that humans have sought against him. But now he leaves us no choice.”
“Urk, but we can’t just kill him either!” the king slammed his fist against the wall. “We know he has a penchant for deadman switches. I wouldn’t put it past the bastard to have his ‘Retirement Plan’ or whatever he calls it to activate the moment his heart stops beating. In fact, we could almost guarantee that as a certainty. Knowing him, all of his supporters would have been paid off already and instructed to continue even without him. He’s so extremely petty that it makes me want to scream.”
“Okay, alright, we can work with it,” Drim eventually talked himself through the problem. “We’ll just have to divide our focus tomorrow. Phon, sorry, but I’ll have to put more pressure on you.”
“Of course,” his sister agreed without hesitation. “Whatever you need, dear brother. We are at the end, the finish line, and I will support you all the way through. That was what I swore to you after all. Let’s get out of here. Sounds like we need to modify some of our preparations.”
“Yes, if you’ll please excuse us, Warden,” the king bowed his head. “We have a job to finish. You might see change here. However, I promise this place will stay standing. But we also have a promise to keep to one of our own. It’s finally time to take over the world.”