CNN Studios, Earth

"We have excellent news to report," said one of the two CNN anchors to well over half the human population watching the show.

"What is it, John?" bounced back his beautiful co-anchor.

On earth, nearly everyone with a pulse watched eagerly. Viewers forced to be at work polished dishes or did some other minor task with eyes drawn on a wall-mounted flat screen. Others were sitting or standing like zombies, watching the show using the contact lenses called Screenlenzs. Seventy-one percent of the human population was logged into the Electoral 2072 system, ready to watch Round 26, the live show of the century.

Large red letters flashed on the screen, they read:

-- Breaking News from the Electoral Center --

"John?"

"I am getting breaking news from Milly Wong, our famous Mars journalist imbedded in the Electoral Center with the Lapierre family. We interrupt this pre-game broadcast to report that after many long, interminable days when it was feared that Sophie Lapierre had become lost inside of her father's mind, she has indeed returned. The precious darling is finally back amongst us. I am told she is now awake, and that her doctor gave a clean bill of health. What a relief! These last days of international outrage seem to have been for naught."

"Are you serious? What fantastic news." The sincerity in the co-anchor's voice was apparent. "Does that mean Sophie's father Laurent can enter Electoral and play Round 26? As all our viewers know, Marilyn Monroe refused to connect Laurent to the game unless Sophie, his legal guardian, was able to give consent. This rigid application of the rules by the computer system came to most as a complete shock as she argued a merged mind can’t enter her world." There was a lengthy dramatic pause, and he resumed. "Round 26 is due to start in minutes. Laurent is moments away from disqualification, which would virtually guarantee President Sanchez's reelection. Laurent fell into a coma a week ago while traveling to Mars, for reasons still unknown. We have had no update about the condition of his mind or his ability to continue competing. We hope Sophie helped him while connected to him for so long."

Journalists were masters at creating drama, and keeping typically boring events exciting. This situation needed no enhancement. On the screen, both anchors had their fingers crossed. The man touched the microphone in his ear as if to tone out the set's noise, "I am told Sophie just agreed to let her father connect to Electoral 2072 even though she has been unable to speak to him directly. That's very strange. Where has she been these last few days?"

"Everything is simply moving too fast. There are too many unanswered questions. Who knows, maybe the technology of those Rho chambers on Mars still has glitches." The excitement on the set was palpable. The anchor continued, "Sophie has agreed, grudgingly, to let her father connect and play. They are hooking up Laurent's mind to the game as we speak. He will use his neuro-jack connection, and it will be paired with the high technology of the Rho chamber on Mars. What a turn of events. Minutes ago we were looking at Laurent's imminent disqualification, and now Laurent enters the game using the best technology around."

"We can confirm here at CNN, Laurent Lapierre, Sophie’s poor crippled father is back in the race. His name is amongst the remaining 127 players logged in the software. All of the legal protests have been dropped, and we have a green light to proceed with the broadcast from his mind. At this time, we can only cross our fingers and hope he is intact from last week's terrorist attack in the Airbus, which nearly crippled the vessel's ability to decelerate. This game is out of Sophie's hands and back in her father's. What an exciting turn of events."

John felt the viewers needed some context. He unplugged his earpiece and spoke off-prompter. "For the last twenty-four hours, we have been reporting violence and public outcry from all over the world. No one understood the strange decision from the regulators of the Electoral 2072 competition to change the timing of the rounds to be played. They moved the date of the next round ahead by a full two days in what could only be described as an effort to disqualify Laurent as Sophie slept in that tube. Nothing seemed to justify the change in schedule. Sophie's attempted rescue of her father. It cried for a suspension of the game, not an acceleration of the schedule. If Laurent is sick, he needs time to heal. Many feared this change in timing was a power grab."

The producers were silent and listened as the man improvised. There was emotion in his voice, and this made fantastic television. The anchor knew he needed to conclude; time was short. "The fact that neither the President nor Marilyn took responsibility raised the public's level of frustration. Sophie's brave attempt to rescue her father on live TV was heroic. She is the definition of bravery. At such a young age, this can only reinforce our admiration for this virtual orphan. If Laurent had somehow been disqualified during the rescue, there would have been a civil revolt. The plan by these politicians appears to have backfired. Laurent and Sophie are back in the game, and the pair's popularity has soared to new heights."

The CNN ratings were also at their highest. They were the only station with a journalist located inside the Electoral Center, and they were raking in billions in advertising. Anyone with half a brain opened the computer on their frequency. The anchors knew Milly Wong was ready to broadcast, microphone in hand from the Center. The story taking place on Mars was the single most important televisual event since Neil Armstrong's moon landing. Sophie and the Electoral 2072 competition were both highly addictive and irresistible. Nothing about it was normal.

John calmed himself. Julie reached over and placed her hand on his shoulder. She continued, "Laurent will now play and connect to the software using the controversial neuro-patch. We all hope he is healed. Marilyn suggested that was the case. Once more, Laurent's luck pays off. Any one of the 126 other players still in the game could have filed a complaint requesting that Laurent be forced to use the same technology as they do. They are at the Hotel and don’t gave his patch or even the cradle he is in. That's a very simple rule of fairness. But Laurent was already facing disqualification, no one imagined to waste their time with another complaint. In minutes, Laurent goes from impending elimination to holding a strategic advantage over Emilio himself. Good for him. We are praying Laurent can make good use of Marilyn's Rho tubes and crush the game about to start."

She winked at the camera. "We all hope Laurent's mind is intact and he will be able to play."

"Given that Sophie’s journey into her father's mind took a little under a week, I am a bit sad to think Sophie never spoke with him. That was the silver lining to most." John continued, "The official reason given for the change in schedule by the regulators is the split of the final. The last scenario will now be held on two different days. Take a look at the new dates."

A calendar appeared on the screen.

Round 26 - 127 players (Now)

Round 27 - 64 players (October 29)

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

Round 28 - 32 players (October 31)

Round 29 - 16 players (November 3)

Round 30 - 8 players - Quarter final (November 7)

Round 31 - 4 players - Semi final (November 15)

Round 32 - 2 players - Final part 1 (November 18)

Round 32 - 2 players - Final part 2 (November 21)

"What remains unchanged is the last day of the competition. The last portion of the finale will still take place on the 21st of November; the night Sophie turns thirteen-years-old. At this point, because of the scary nature of the events going on, we all hope this is nothing more than a coincidence. Everyone here at the station is already looking forward to watching the face of Sophie as Laurent walks into the highest office in the land or becomes the best vice-President Emilio can dream to have. A vice-President regulating the Internet confined to the Internet. We have here at CNN one fantastic birthday celebration reserved for her; I can promise you that."

CNN was required to broadcast the rankings of the top players still in the game, and the anchors veered their commentary to comply. "At the conclusion today's scoring round, half of the participants will be dropped. Since we had the misfortune of losing one player during the inbound flight to Mars, only 63 players instead of the usual 64 will be eliminated. Don't feel bad for them. Just remember, their scores have already qualified them for a job as a member of the lower chamber of the Congress, an excellent job with a good salary. Past Round 26, they are just playing for cabinet positions, ministries and the position of President."

The game schedule was replaced with a list of names.

President Emilio Sanchez - 2,434 points

Laurent Lapierre - 2,267 points

Mathilda Proux - 1,855 points

N'Bele Abukaye - 1,854 points

Fiancé Lee - 1,854 points

Julian Velev - 1,854 points

Stanley Block - 1,853 points

Marie Lalancette - 1,853 points

Ji-Ing Po - 1,853 points

Bukoye BoLi - 1,853 points

"As you can see, with a maximum of one hundred points awarded during each round, and after having played a total of 25 rounds, the largest number of points any player could have secured was 2,500. The President lost about three points each round and has an almost perfect score. That alone defies any logic when we see how the game is scored. Since he has been scoring so high for three election cycles now, we have gotten used to it. Laurent is Emilio’s only serious contender for the finale, losing only 10 points each round. Laurent and Emilio are leagues above everyone else.

"The other 125 players are within a five-point pocket," she continued, "They are more than three hundred points behind Laurent and the leader. That is utterly insane." He rolled the last word on his tongue. "The mere fact that the two front runners have managed to distance themselves from this pack of nearly a billion is a statistical impossibility, but who cares, right? There are seven rounds left to qualify for the finale, so unless there is a disqualification, which almost just happened, everyone else is only there for the free trip to Mars and an experience of a lifetime."

"What if Laurent's mind is gone, that will disqualify him, right?"

"Shush!" He ignored her words and continued, "Once in the finale itself, the points of both finalists are wiped clean. It's a winner take all. The loser becomes Vice-President, a nice consolation prize. The winner will be elected President. It's a two-man race at this point; no one disputes that." Around the world, everything was on hold. Everyone with a pulse had connected to the system to watch. Cars were stopped halfway to their destinations on the side of roads. Even factories were closed, and most governments declared a national holiday.

There was a thirty-second commercial break. The car company paid three billions of credits to buy this time. The commercial message was touching. A new car stopped on an empty road; the window opened, and a man holding the wheel looked at the camera and wished all the contestants luck and skill. Before the seconds were over, the broadcast resumed. "I am sorry, but we must interrupt." Television stations never cut in over a paying customer unless there was a critical need. John said, "Milly Wong, our live reporter from the Electoral Center has an update on Sophie's condition. How are things up there?"

The field journalist's face appeared in a part of the screen. As she spoke, her image grew so she would fill the entire screen. She was standing in the Electoral finale room surrounded by the thirty-two empty Rho tubes. Thanks to the Electoral technology, Milly was speaking live even though she was millions of miles away.

"John, Julie, as you both can imagine, everyone here on mars is relieved. We were worried sick for Sophie. Seven days in a coma is a long time for anyone. Doctor Susie during this period was simply awesome. She spent hours massaging those little legs so our sweetheart would keep her body functions as healthy as possible. We all know Doctor Shin is no stranger to comatose patients; she has been caring for Laurent for well over a year now. Very possibly the strangest medical assignment anyone has ever held."

The journalist was standing next to the shapeless pink body of Laurent. His scarf was wrapped around one end, with the lifeless form tethered to the center cradle of the Electoral room. Both rows of sixteen tubes aligned in a curved configuration like a Roman coliseum. The walls behind Milly, flush with large monitors, scrolled a flood of data.

"How is Sophie?" asked the journalist from earth. "Did you speak with her?"

"Yes, I did. John, Julie, as you know, aside from the President playing from earth and Laurent resting next to me, all other 125 players are hooked up to their gloves and wearing their contact lenses back at the Holiday Inn Mars. The majestic hotel is about a hundred miles away from where I stand. This magnificent structure is about one mile above ground level. I did have the honor to speak with Sophie the moment she woke up. She is back to her grumpy old self. In fact, after running to see her father's body, she ran to her bedroom across the hall. She kicked me out of her bedroom." Milly decided not to play that footage. "Marilyn was there, on the screens lining each wall, begging the girl to make a decision and consent to Laurent's connection. We all love Sophie, and we all know how much she hates being pressured into any decision. She was unhappy with the need to move quickly and trust me; you did not want to be in Marilyn's shoes during that exchange. Sophie used the expression 'tin-can' describing her when she learned about today's game."

Everyone on earth watching the show smiled. In their hearts, they all forgave the young lady and could easily imagine the brunette yelling at the blond.

"Any news on Laurent's condition? Can you confirm if Laurent is ready to play?" demanded Julie.

"That remains unclear. We have no update as to his condition. Sophie said she spent no time in his head. That is strange. We witnessed an odd event in Sophie's room. Electoral's Rho detectors had exploded seconds before the girl awoke. Sophie said something we could not distinguish. She said one word, sounded like "miam." Marilyn ignored the comment and immediately got her approval to connect Laurent. Sophie was extremely upset to be given no time to act." Journalists liked to repeat themselves.

Georges, Electoral's creator and programmer, was sitting at his console a few feet behind the reporter. He was at his station monitoring the feed of the 125 remote players. He used a headset and communicating with Marilyn in code words. Dr. Shin hunched over Laurent's form. She was closely monitoring the reading of the new Rho monitor on her forearm. Susie did not like the new technology. It gave her insight into her patient, but she had no clue what the vibrations in the feed meant. Susie now had another tool to try and evaluate the health of her patient, but she felt like a market trader watching a stock index trying to anticipate the next crash.

Laurent's physician would not enjoy what was about to transpire. "As you can imagine," said Milly, "Marilyn only told us to watch the broadcast for greater clarification as to his condition. We should find out live on the air if Laurent is fine and can play. But I can say this: Marilyn, in her usual demeanor, finished the conversation with a wink and an enormous smile. She is obviously not scared of what is coming next. To me, that means Laurent is fine. We will find out very soon."

"She is such a show-off."

"Indeed!" confirmed the journalist. Behind Milly, Georges looked over his shoulder in her direction. In a rare show of emotion, the big man smiled at the Asian woman. Electoral was right, he liked the journalist.

John continued, "Milly, I apologize, my producer says the Electoral broadcast is going live in five," as he countdown from Earth, "four," the images behind Milly Wong in the Mars command room also counted down, "three, two, and one."

The game started. This was round 26. More than five billion people would be watching the twenty-sixth round of the thirty-two round tournament. To everyone around the world except one man, what transpired in the game was the most important event of modern times.