After the incident with Alexander, many were skeptical about the bridge project. The media preached about the construction project until it became stale. Everyone was tired of hearing the words, “corrupt politician,” and “Representative Eisenhower.” It was all true though, he was as crooked as could be. He accepted bribes, avoided taxes, used government funds for his own pleasure and that’s just getting started. Worst of all, his attitude was terrible. He was a total asshole.
Every interview either ended up with him storming out or refusing to answer questions. His personal assistants did everything they could to help him maintain some sense of composure, but nothing seemed to help much. One of his lower points was being interviewed in support of funding for a local youth organization while completely drunk. He ended up swinging at the lady interviewing him and had to be escorted off the premises by the building security when he refused to leave without her phone number.
The Organization paid for streets to be lined with signs in support of him along with nonstop digital ads. Gil was willing to throw as much money as needed to support him in order to get the bridge built. It was an investment that they knew would outweigh the expenses.
For representative Eisenhower, things were easy. He continued doing what he did best; denying the accusations and holding his head high with confidence. He was happy to keep collecting paychecks from The Organization and using the money to go a little further off the rails each day with a little more drugs and a few more girls.
For Gil, this was a stressful time. It was one of the biggest moves he’d ever made with The Organization. He had a lot riding on the votes to start the construction of the bridge. The overarching plan was to be able to build a new channel of income for The Organization with tax dollars of everyday citizens. The city would pay for the entire project if the vote was passed. All he had to do was sustain funds to make sure Alexander was able to represent the idea and somehow stay in favor of the public eye. It was beginning to get to the point where he wondered if he was spending more than the project was worth.
Sora was part of the team managing social media and internet presence. She was not fond of the project, but then again there wasn’t much that she was fond of. She stayed pretty busy hacking into news articles to change their information and deleting pages all together. The easiest role was being tasked with deleting any security footage that the cameras had of MC and Alexander the day of the attack at the construction building. Reports all confirmed that Alexander was there and he had a security guard with him, but there was no firm evidence that it was MC. All this work made her crankier than a house rat on Christmas Eve.
The Black Diamond attempted to fight back in order to make Gil spend as much only as possible on the project. The higher ups were tapped into the community and had a few other politicians and city officials under their control. A bit of extra cash was all they needed to sway corrupt figures in key places. The higher-up twins, Kuro and Shiro, even showed themselves publicly a few times. While there was no proof that they were leaders of the Black Diamond, there were plenty of suspicions from those who paid close attention.
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Gil kept a close eye on the news broadcasts and occasionally saw them in the background whispering into the ears of politicians and shaking hands with bribed figures.
MC and GM had time off from missions. The Organization was not doing much during this time due to Gil being too busy to really handle much else. Usual routes and check-ins still applied, but for MC and GM they were free to do as they wanted. To GM’s displeasure MC was always asking for more training every day. He was like a dog that begged at the door to go play fetch outside. Reluctantly, GM agreed to spar and train with MC once every couple of days. When he did agree to the training he would mostly just drink a lot and read magazines while ordering MC around. MC didn’t mind as long as he had guidance on getting stronger. He was used to GM’s unorthodox ways at this point.
Eventually, the day of voting came around. The vote was either in favor or against the construction of the bridge. It basically came down to a matter of how much the public trusted Representative Eisenhower. The Black Diamond twins ramped up their efforts in order to make Gil spend as much money and resources as they could. It really could have gone either way.
On voting day, booths and mailboxes were stuffed with opinions. Everyone was swayed by the media and their own wants and needs. The bridge was not only going to open up a resource route to The Organization, but would also provide quicker ways to neighboring cities. Commute times would be reduced and traffic would be filtered for certain parts of the city. In general it was a great idea for anyone who lived in that entire district and the ones around it. Selling the idea in turn for a tax increase was the tough part.
When all was said and done, the votes were counted up.
Gil watched the news live for their announcement. He sat on the edge of his chair in anticipation. Tips of his nails were chewed to bits by his restlessness.
The news reporter came on with her hair styled and fancy, but not too fancy blouse. She announced with the typical matter-of-fact voice that news reports do. “The votes are in, ladies and gentlemen. We’ve had a heated debate over this topic for the last several weeks. There’s been no shortage of stories, that’s for sure and today all of your anticipation will be answered. If you voted in favor of the bridge project, you’re going to be pleased to know that it has passed!”
Gil and The Organization members all were relieved and excited. Their plans for increasing their area of activities meant bigger paychecks for all and now Gil could quit dumping money into publicity.
MC, GM, and Sora were the same in the way that they didn’t care much if the bridge was built or not. MC was glad the voting was over so he would be assigned to a new mission. Sora was glad to be done with media control. GM said he didn’t care, but everyone knew he was excited to be finished dealing with the tension and drama. He was good friends with Gil and they hadn’t had one of their, “get plastered and talk about the good old days,” in far too long.