Chapter 5

August 19th, 10:12 pm.

--RAYSHE--

"President Hall... now how does that sound?"

Rayshe sat in the leather chair with his feet kicked up wooden desk in the Oval Office. Moonlight shined through the three windows behind him. He put his hands behind his head as he relaxed in the chair, taking in the details of his new office.

"Sounds like it was meant for you," said a robotic, female voice. Sitting on the corner of the desk, with her right leg folded over the left, was an android who resembled an Asian woman with a pale white exterior. She had jet black hair, cut short with bangs. Her cheeks had an unnatural red blush design that looked like a poorly textured imitation of skin. She wore a white dress shirt, a black skirt with dark fish net leggings, and high heels.

"You were always destined for more, and now you have it. It's all yours," she said seductively.

"All mine Ahnko, all mine," Rayshe said to her.

"What will you do first, Mr. President," Ahnko purred.

"First, I will enjoy this moment. We will enjoy this moment. We have a big new house to explore Ahnko," he said.

"Will I still be able to spend time with you?" she asked.

"You know you have to be my little secret, but we'll have the nights all to ourselves... when no one else is around," he chuckled.

Ahnko giggled, her synthesized voice stuttering as she did.

"You know what I want to do first, as your... secret little first lady?" she whispered while leaning closer towards Rayshe.

"Indulge me," he said, grinning strongly.

"Why don't I just show you," she said. Her hand began to reach out towards Rayshe's belt.

Mr. President? A voice called out from outside the room.

Rayshe kicked his feet off the desk and back onto the floor; his chair sitting down on all its wheels.

"Looks like we'll have to wait just a moment," he whispered to Ahnko. "Yes?" he called out to the voice.

I have the paperwork you asked for.

Rayshe stood up from his seat, buttoning his suit jacket together and adjusting his red tie. He gestured at Ahnko, having her get down off the desk and hide under it. He walked across the carpeted floor, through the rounded room, and to the middle door where the voice was coming from. He opened it to find his secretary standing there with a stack of papers in her arm.

"Didn't know that you were still here," Rayshe said.

"Well, it was a busy day. Getting you set up and all," she responded.

"And that's the kind of commitment I like to see," Rayshe said with a smirk. "Leslie, right?"

The secretary laughed nervously as she adjusted her glasses with her other hand. She wore a beige button up shirt with black dress slacks and short heels. She had blonde hair that went down to her shoulders, with hazel eyes.

"Yeah... I thought you knew. Given that you were the vice president. And we've known each other, and all..."

"Ah, I meet a lot of people. Lots of names and stuff," he said while grabbing the papers from her.

"But," he continued. "I do notice the dedication to your job. You aren't falling on deaf ears. Or... blind eyes." Rayshe furrowed his eyebrows and looked up at his forehead to think of a better analogy. "Whatever, you get it."

"Thank you, Mr. President," Leslie said awkwardly.

"Absolutely," Rayshe said with a click of his tongue, while pointing a finger gun at her. "I'll see you tomorrow."

"Goodnight Mr. President," she said, while turning around and walking away.

Rayshe started back towards the office, the door, which was resting against his back, following him.

"Oh, one more thing," the secretary said just before the door closed. Rayshe stuck his head out through the gap. "Your daughter has been trying to call you today. Just thought I should let you know."

Rayshe was suddenly reminded that he promised to call his daughter today after he was officially sworn in; a promise that he forgot to keep.

"Oh, yes, of course. I can't believe I forgot. Thanks again Leslie," he nodded, bringing his head back into the office and letting the door close. He began towards his desk as Ahnko slowly stood up from behind it.

"Is it just us now?" she asked.

"It is," Rayshe said while dropped the stack of papers on his desk. "But I have this quick thing I have to do real fast. I promise it won't be long."

Ahnko let out an aggravated sigh, which was offput by her still facial expression, which never changed from the blank, empty stare it showed.

This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it

Rayshe rounded the desk and sat down. Ahnko got back onto the desk, sitting in the same position as she was before. He picked up his phone off the receiver and held it up to his ear. He dialed his daughter's phone number, hearing the phone beep in his ear with each button stroke. The phone began to ring as it dialed his daughter, who lived across the country.

"Dad?" a young girl's voice said.

"Maggie! How was your day?" Rayshe asked.

"It was good," she answered.

"Yeah? That's good. How was school? Did you learn anything?"

"No, school is boring."

"Pssh. School is very important, and you should pay attention. If you do, maybe one day you can end up like me."

"Like the President?" Maggie asked excitedly.

"Thanks right, honey," Rayshe said. He couldn't help but smile as hard as he could as he talked to her. There was nothing he loved more than his daughter. "I'm officially the President now. What do you think about that?"

"That's so cool Dad!"

"It is pretty cool, isn't it? Hey, what do we say I come on over to the NLV this weekend? Bring a whole presidential parade, you can sit with me in my limo and we can roll down the street while crowds of people cheer for us. How does that sound?"

"That sounds awesome!"

"I knew you'd like it. I'll start getting that planned."

"I wish I could go see the White House."

Rayshe wrinkled his nose, disappointedly.

"I wish you could too Maggie," he said solemnly. "But you know what your condition is like. It's only safe for you at the NLV."

"I know Dad... it just stinks," she said.

"It does stink, I know. But I'll bring you a bunch of pictures so you can see what it's like."

"OK..." she said, her voice trailing off.

"Have you been feeling ok recently?" Rayshe asked.

"Yeah..."

"No episodes?

"No."

"Ok, good. I always want you to be safe. Anyways Mags, it's late. I'll talk to you later, ok?

"Ok Dad."

"I love you."

"I love you too."

Rayshe set the phone down on the receiver; the ongoing call timer on the screen disappeared. He turned to look at Ahnko sitting on the desk, idly swinging her feet.

"Are you ever going to let me meet your daughter?" she asked.

"Of course. One day, but I think it's best we wait till she's a little older," Rayshe assured. "And once my wife is out of the picture."

"Will you be divorcing her?" Ahnko questioned.

"When I'm fully set up in office, when all this chaos finally dies down, you'll be my new First Lady. My secret, little, First Lady," Rayshe said softly while leaning closer to Ahnko. She looked back at him with soulless eyes as her hands reached down for his belt once again. She pulled the leather through the belt loop; the metal clanging as she did so. Suddenly, the door swung open to reveal his secretary once more, standing in the doorway.

"Oh, gosh! I'm sorry I didn't know," she frantically apologized. Her face was flushed with embarrassment.

"Leslie?!" Rayshe said while hurriedly retightening his belt. Ahnko quickly got off the table and hid underneath it again. "I thought you went home," he asked.

"Uh... I was going to, but I just got stopped informed that there is an emergency meeting you must attend. So... I came back to tell you," she said flustered.

"Really? Then what was the meeting we just had?" he asked confused.

"This one is an emergency sir, something just came up," she said.

"That's strange... Well ok. I'll be right there," Rayshe said, still confused by the sudden action.

Leslie nodded her head, and before she could close the door, Rayshe noticed that her shirt was white now, different than what it was earlier, and that she was wearing black dress shoes instead of heels.

"Did you change clothes?" he asked.

"Uh... no?" she responded suspciously.

Rayshe squinted his eyes. "Huh, I could've sworn you were wearing like a beige, tan colored shirt earlier."

"No... It was always white," Leslie said in an uncomfortable tone, almost like she was lying.

"If you say so..." Rayshe said. He knew that she wasn't telling the truth but couldn't pin why she would lie about something like that. Or why she would change shirts in the first place.

The door closed, allowing silence to reenter the Oval Office. Rayshe looked down at Ahnko hiding underneath his desk.

"Looks like we'll have to wait a little longer," he said disappointedly. Ahnko didn't respond, she just shooed him away while she crawled out from under the desk.

"I'll go get ready for you," she whispered to him. Ahnko walked out of the right door, heading to his room. Rayshe stood up from his chair, doubling checking that his belt was corrected before heading to the middle door. He opened it and walked down the short hallway.. He walked by the secretary's desk against the wall before reaching a crossroads. It was then he realized he didn't know where this "meeting" was happening. Rayshe looked down both ends of the perpendicular hallway when he saw a secret service member at the end of the hallway to his left. He had told them to "give him some privacy tonight" so they weren't close by his door. Besides, Rayshe didn't need protection. He turned left and began towards the agent.

"Do you know where the meeting is?" he asked as he approached him.

"What meeting?" the agent said.

"The meeting... emergency meeting?" Rayshe said. The agent still looked confused. "I was just told there was some emergency meeting going on somewhere."

"By who?" the agent asked.

"My secretary."

"Ms. Garrett just left."

"Yes, she left twice. She just came back to tell me about this meeting," Rayshe explained.

"When did she come back?" the agent questioned.

Immediately after he said that Rayshe's heart sank in his stomach. He knew something was wrong.

"You didn't see her come and go from here twice?"

"I'm monitoring all movement through this hallway. She left and didn't come back," he said.

Rayshe spun around and started sprinting back to the Oval Office. He turned the corner and saw the door at the end of the short hallway. The illusion of his forearms disappeared, revealing massive blades, tipped with red, gleaming metal.

Rayshe dropped his shoulder, plowing through the door, causing it to shatter and splinter into thousands of chips. Standing at his desk with the stack of papers in his hands was a very large, dark man. He wore the same clothes that 'Leslie' had been wearing the second time: a white button shirt, not beige, with shoes.

"Who the fuck are you?" Rayshe called out at him.

The man turned around, tossing the desk to the side to make a break for the windows. Rayshe quickly lunged at him to stop his escape attempt. Before he could reach the man, he whipped around, swinging a punch with a fist that was exaggeratedly large. It connected square into Rayshe's chest, striking him with incredible force, launching him backwards. His head hit the top of the now empty door frame, bulldozing through it as he smashed into the wall all the way at the end of the hallway.

"What the hell," Rayshe said to himself, still disoriented from the blow. He looked up to see the window behind his desk broken from where he escaped from. Secret Service began pouring in; stomping and yelling quickly reverberated through the halls, turning the once quiet night into a panic. Rayshe sat where he was, slightly lodged into the wall. The voices came pouring into his psyche; overlapping screams of despair attempting to jar at his composure. He stared at the broken window, watching agents pile into the Oval Office. He stayed frozen, not with injury but with anger, knowing he was tricked.

"Get people out on the streets now. Everywhere. Stop and search everyone," his voice boomed out through the halls at the agents, but he could barely hear himself over the symphony of agony reverberating in his mind.

"The target is a shapeshifter; it could be anyone," he said as he finally stood up from the wall, reapplying the illusion of forearms and hands over his blades.

"Lock D.C. down. No one in or out."