Arlette, United Federation of Elysia
April 25th, Elysian Calendar Year 1987.
04:00 PM
“Mister President!” A frantic aide burst through the Presidential Office.
President Irwin Patris looked up from the usual reports on his work desk. “Yes? What’s the matter?”
Recently sworn into office after his predecessor - President Lucius, who was killed by a roadside bomb placed by the Socialist rebels while in transit -, he is still full of energy and sense of duty. While he had hoped it would not be the Socialists making trouble again, he was prepared to hear more bad news.
“Sir, the Federal Space Agency just discovered a large storm developing over the West Sea! It’s like nothing we’ve ever seen!” The aide cried out.
Well, that was unexpected.
“Woah, calm down ma’am.” He stood up, curious about the situation. “Why am I just hearing about this all of a sudden?”
“The storm seemed to have spontaneously appeared. The guys at the Federal Space Agency should be giving you a call sometime around now, one of their meteorologists will inform you about the emergency situation.” As she finished her sentence, the phone on President Irwin’s desk began to ring.
Irwin walked back to his desk and picked up the phone. “President Irwin speaking.”
“Mister President,” a calm voice replied. “I’m Dr. Andrew Scott, meteorologist. I’m sure you’ve heard of the storm developing over the sea just off the Western shore. We’re still monitoring it however the increasing intensity of the storm has made us lose contact with the monitoring buoys so we are not certain of the situation, our speculation is that Elysia might be encompassed by the storm in less than 12 hours given the growth rate seen by the current sorties of weather reconnaissance aircrafts in the outer rim. We still don’t know how it came to be, but you should expect it to make landfall within 2 hours.”
At least it wasn’t the communists. Letting out a sigh, President Irwin closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Then, finding himself to be sufficiently composed, he motioned for the aide.
“Ellen, we need to declare a national emergency. Get everyone here ASAP, and make sure to ground all flights. Oh, and tell Steve to get my press team ready.”
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“Right away, sir.” Ellen rushed out of the room.
President Irwin then returned his attention to the meteorologist on the phone. “Dr. Andrew.”
“Yes sir?”
“Any suggestions?”
“You should hunker down and hope for the best, Mister President.”
“Wow… it can’t be that bad, can it?”
“I hope not, but you should prepare for the worst. I advise that you mobilize all emergency services and National Guard for disaster relief.”
“We are about to do so, Dr. Andrew. I’ll be making some other calls now, let me know if anything new comes up, Dr. Andrew.”
“Will do, Mister President. Good luck, sir.” He ended the call.
Now alone, President Irwin rests his face on the work desk. “Oh Lucius, what am I supposed to do without you?...”
“Good afternoon, Mister President.” A voice caught Irwin’s attention, causing him to look up. The press team is already pushing themselves into the room, setting up cameras and equipment to prepare for the emergency broadcast.
“Steve… I got this. Don’t worry about me, hand me my lines.” He ordered his assistant.
Steve pulled out a piece of paper from his folder and offered it to the President. “Here you go, sir.”
Irwin took the paper and read the lines, it was nothing he wasn’t expecting. Emergency broadcasts are as common in the Federation as poverty in the Socialist Republic of Yarik and leaders are expected to do their duty, upholding the law and promoting as well as spreading the superior way of life in Elysia to the world.
Grabbing a bottle of water and downing half of it, Irwin cleared his throat, adjusting his tie and straightened his pose for the camera crew. “I’m ready.”
The director announced. “We are rolling in three… two… one…”
The camera went live, broadcasting the President to every corner of the Federation. “People of our proud nation…”