The More It Changes? (Please telegram entry request)

[Hittanryan]

Sixington

“I’m drowning in nurses and caregivers,” said Olympia. “But…” well she couldn’t say I need a friend could she? It was too embarrassing to say to someone she had just met the other day. “I would really like someone who I can really talk to to come visit,” she added.

Julia suppressed the urge to walk right over to Olympia and hug her, and she swallowed the lump in her throat. She just wanted to tell her everything would be all right, even though she couldn't be sure it would be. Life in an egalitarian republic like Adiron had its own challenges to be sure, such as an often stressful educational process, competing in the jobs market, and trying to find companionship all on your own. To someone who grew up in it though, all that was perfectly normal. What Olympia was going through, it seemed utterly intolerable to an Adiran like Julia.

"Oh, of course!' Julia said with a bright smile. "That'd be great, call me up anytime. I'd love to do this again, and I'd love to see where you live sometime, too," she said. She stopped short of saying 'and meeting your husband.' The more she heard of him, the less she liked.

"Well, let's see, I tried racquetball and water skiing in school. Racquetball I tried in high school and college, tennis is kinda similar, right? I never played on a team, really. My friend's dad had a ski boat on Lake Freeman, and we spent a summer up there. I learned how to start on two skis and then drop one. I tried wakeboarding too," she explained. She decided it would be too much information to mention she lost part of a swimsuit upon faceplanting behind the boat.

"I'm willing to try almost anything though, oh, here's the food. Thank you, looks great," she said to the waiter.

Olympia mentioned some of her family as they dug in. Julia's eyes widened when she got to the bit about eleven children, but that was her great-grandma. "Things were different back then," she commented. Really as recently as the 1980s though the subsistence conditions of the Ceti Civil War favored large families. Several things Olympia said confused Julia a little though, "What did you mean when you said you have marriages, university appointments and military commissions to hand out? You have a lot of poor family? Is your whole family...um, I don't know how to put this...noble?"

[New Edom]

Sixington

Olympia was quiet for a moment, stirring her food with her fork a bit, and then looked up at Julia. “My family are one of the most ancient of New Edom; we are a Baran aristocratic family who swore allegiance to King David the Lawgiver before we were ever part of the Cornellian Empire. My family—the Domris—survived a great deal, but when the direct power of the aristocracy diminished under Adah the Liberator and her descendents, the…well…we’re not supposed to focus on earning money or anything, but there’s an appearance to keep up. That’s what my grandfather always said. He and my father spent a lot of what was left of the money, and so did other people. A Domris cannot be seen to do things that are vulgar or common or cheap. So my family has a lot of pedigree but almost no money at all. Well actually, make that none that my husband didn’t give to us. He paid a lot of debts, paid for commissions, paid for marriages, so that we could be restored to our former…solvency.”

“My husband has rough ways, but he’s a soldier, never married before this, and you know it was the First Civil War that made him, he comes from an untitled Baran family, they have a solid heritage but they were mostly farmers until he and his cousins invested a lot of money in the telecommunications industry. Everyone laughed at them, now it’s making a lot of money. It’s also saved the government a lot of money because they don’t have to build infrastructure in provinces and districts that had very few phones before, they don’t have to replace anything. So he’s also very smart. And he’s been generous to my family,” Olympia said.

And really…surely this was true. If only he were happier with her, but at least he had his mistress and he didn’t want sex as much, barely ever in fact, mostly just wanted to play with her a little bit.

"It just takes some getting used to, I guess. He's so much older than me, and experienced at life, but I think we are learning to get along well..."

[Hittanryan]

Sixington

"It sounds like something out of a book or something," Julia said, enraptured by Olympia's family history. Although Julia didn't know it, it read like something out of a Cetan history book specifically. The nobility in Ceti either adapted or went extinct. Nobles who adapted particularly well went on to found Ceti's trusts, which dominated the entire country and gave them more money and power than they ever would have had otherwise. If they didn't adapt, if they didn't start working, they went extinct. They dueled over the remnants of their patriarchs' estates, squandered their savings on vice or maintaining their appearances, and, just like the Domris', tried to marry into the new money to sustain themselves.

'They did it to pay their debts, the lazy...they traded their daughter's life because they were too lazy to work and pay their debts like the rest of us...' Julia thought, unable to fathom how anyone could be so uncaring. She felt sick again, unable to take another bite. Julia felt the lump in her throat well up again, and she rubbed her eye to mask the tear she felt building. "I hope..." she tried to start, but her voice cracked. She cleared her throat to try not to upset her new friend. "I really hope things work out for you. This must be so hard."

Julia quickly regained her composure. "It's...hard to imagine. You know everything about your family's history going...centuries," Julia said as she picked at her food. "I never met either of my grandparents on my father's side. He left them when he got old enough, when he came back they were gone. Mom, I didn't know her father. Apparently he died in the Civil War. Grandma...she raised mom by herself. I guess that must be a small family to you."

"Dad apparently was still in school when I was born. He worked in an office, something with computers, never understood it. Mom, I guess I got the creative talents from her, she was into graphic design. Things were just picking up for our country back then, they put me through school," she said, taking a thoughtful sip of her tea. "We never had much money. Derek joined the Air Force, he was more straight-laced than me. But I suppose he's making better money as a pilot than I am, so joke's on me. Lily's still in school, hasn't picked a major."

"Do you have any siblings?" she said, hoping to change the subject just a bit.

[New Edom]

Sixington

Olympia saw that Julia seemed a little choked up. She could understand missing family—even if she was rather ambivalent about her own sometimes, she missed her father and brother certainly. Her mother not so much. Some of her cousins yes.

“It sounds small, but it sounds like you all care for one another, surely that’s the important thing? Your brother’s a pilot, how exciting, it must be thrilling to fly so fast and so far…”

She got out her phone. “This is my brother, Alexander, we call him Aleky.” showing a handsome raven haired young man in a dress uniform, clearly posing for something like a graduation photo in front of a palatial building that looked like a 19th Century barracks. “He’s a Cornet in the Cavalry Guards now. “ her smile was fond. “He’s very much like my father, both such handsome kind and brave men.”

[Hittanryan]

Sixington

Julia managed to resume eating. There was a tightness in her chest she kept trying to repress. Part of it was knowing Olympia's situation was so hard to escape. If she left the General, her family would suffer. If she stayed, she'd be stuck as his plaything. Another part was thinking about how lucky she really was. Stalled novels? Low income? Who could worry about those things when she had a family who didn't use her to patch up their own failings? Or a loving husband whom she knew cared about her deeply?

Reflecting on all of that actually perked her up a little. Olympia then showed her a picture of her brother. Julia suddenly blushed raised a hand to her mouth. "Oh...my...god..." she said slowly, taking the phone herself. "Your brother...don't take this the wrong way, but what a hottie. Is your whole family perfect or something?"

"God, I'm sorry, that's your brother! How embarrassing..." Julia apologized. "I should be more used to men in uniform I guess. I mean, I didn't marry one. Oh, you asked about my brother? Here, you can even ogle him if you want, fair's fair," she said, pulling out a picture of him on her phone. There was a picture of a man with very close-shaved brown hair, a strong build, and a chiseled jaw in a dress uniform. He seemed to have Julia's eyes. "I mean, I'm really proud of him and everything, but he's a fighter pilot. You know...there's always that risk."

[New Edom]

Sixington

Reflecting on all of that actually perked her up a little. Olympia then showed her a picture of her brother. Julia suddenly blushed raised a hand to her mouth. "Oh...my...god..." she said slowly, taking the phone herself. "Your brother...don't take this the wrong way, but what a hottie. Is your whole family perfect or something?"

“They breed us for looks,” said Olympia solemnly. Then she giggled. “No, but he is a good looking man isn’t he. Shall I tell him that the Consul’s wife thought he was a hottie?”

"God, I'm sorry, that's your brother! How embarrassing..." Julia apologized. "I should be more used to men in uniform I guess. I mean, I didn't marry one.

“La, it’s quite alright,” said Olympia. “Why should you be embarrassed, being attracted to someone? Or would it make your husband angry with you? I suppose you don’t want that, husbands can certainly get very jealous can’t they…men do anyway.”

Here, you can even ogle him if you want, fair's fair," she said, pulling out a picture of him on her phone. There was a picture of a man with very close-shaved brown hair, a strong build, and a chiseled jaw in a dress uniform. He seemed to have Julia's eyes. "I mean, I'm really proud of him and everything, but he's a fighter pilot. You know...there's always that risk."

“He looks nice, good looking man, you must be very proud of him. I wonder how people talk about their daughters and wives who are in the military, I’ve always wondered about that. My husband…” she caught herself in time. “Well anyway, some of them here have a bad reputation, but of course it must be different in Adiron…it must be hard anyway, giving up normal things like marrying and having children unless you want to suddenly put your career on hold. My mother says that the traditional way is best for women. And you….well forgive me but you almost do that too, I mean you followed your husband here, you do the work that amuses you rather than statecraft or business, right?”

[Hittanryan]

Carnmag

Abby wore a pleasant smile throughout the EIO rally, taking notes behind her sunglasses. She resembled a well-weathered grandmother, the type who refuses to give up snowboarding even though half her joints were artificial. The type of grandmother that eggs on her grandkids in front of their horrified parents, or the grizzled professor who drinks her students under the table.

'These guys must've watched old footage of a few party caucuses back home,' Abby thought whimsically. 'Campaign promises, check. Plastered smiles, check. Armed militia? Well...maybe they're like interns?'

Speaking of interns, it looked like some foreign media had sent a bunch of greenhorns. A barbie doll, a furry-looking camera guy, and a tall drink of water. Like something out of a movie. Was it a musical or a comedy? Most musicals didn't have quite as much nudity. Maybe they thought they were covering something historic here. 'Aw, that's adorable. You go for it, kids.'

This rally was still more pleasant than monitoring the militia. The Committee had tried to accommodate the CDP's recommendation for a reporting system. It was, however, left in the militias' hands, which meant they weren't exactly neutral. Just outside, she heard an altercation which ended in somebody telling one of the guards to expect their friend to call on them. Inside, she encountered someone wearing a hood trying to submit a complaint and the militia getting upset at allegations and demanding to see identification.

[New Edom]

Carnmag

“Listen, you people have been attacking public property, and I’m not taking my hood off, and I’m not going to give you any ID!” shouted the person in the hood in a funny voice. This person was also wearing a Fineberg Flockers t-shirt and big Bermuda shorts and army boots, and had a raincape like cloak.

“Oh yeah? Well our activists have been attacked too, and we have a rpetty good idea of who did it!” shouted one of the militia back. They were EIO, painted Niradnis colours, wearing kilts, carrying assault rifles, knives and with radio headsets on, old fashioned ones with big microphones the size of a lollipop.

“What’s going on out there?” muttered Duke Uthecar.

“I’ll find out,” said Cenn Deroil. “I told those idiots to manage this.”

“How do we know you’re not some kind of Anarchist, with that hood on?” shouted the militiaman.

“An Anarchist? Would I be standing here talking to you if I was an Anarchist, you fool? No, I’d be burning your crops and raping your women!” the person cried.

“So that’s what you’re planning!”

“No, that’s what I’m not planning! Ancestors, are you deaf?” cried the hooded person.

“Take him!”

“Hang on, I’ve enough here for at least two of you, who wants to be first?” the hooded person had a sawed off shotgun that whoever it was produced from their cloak.

The milita guards froze, but they were wary, watching carefully. If whoever it was fired, there would be four more ready to kill. It was a standoff.

Cenn Deroil came out, frowning. “What’s going on here, you in the hood! This is most inappropriate, can’t you see that there’s a political rally going on here?”

“Some kind of Anarchist, chief,” said the leading militaman.

[Hittanryan]

Sixington

“No, but he is a good looking man isn’t he. Shall I tell him that the Consul’s wife thought he was a hottie?”

Julia blushed hotly and whispered "You can tell him that, it's just a compliment. Just don't tell Cary that." It was just a compliment, after all, and it wasn't like she actually wanted to jump the kid's bones. He was probably ten years younger.

“La, it’s quite alright,” said Olympia. “Why should you be embarrassed, being attracted to someone? Or would it make your husband angry with you? I suppose you don’t want that, husbands can certainly get very jealous can’t they…men do anyway.”

"Oh, believe me, it's not just men," Julia replied. "I mean, I did go out with some guys who I later found out were really controlling. Like they owned me or something. Tell me how I should dress, try to schedule me, give me a hard time if I looked at or talked to somebody or someone did the same to me. Awful. Dumped all of them. If Cary did any of that, I never would've married him."

"But women will do the same thing. Sometimes they're worse. One wrong move and they'll start spreading rumors about you. It's a little scary sometimes," Julia commented. "There was even a movie, I can't remember the name, about a man's ex-wife who goes crazy with jealousy and attacks his family."

"Well anyway, some of them here have a bad reputation, but of course it must be different in Adiron…it must be hard anyway, giving up normal things like marrying and having children unless you want to suddenly put your career on hold. My mother says that the traditional way is best for women. And you…well forgive me but you almost do that too, I mean you followed your husband here, you do the work that amuses you rather than statecraft or business, right?"

"I don't know if I'd say the traditional way is the best though," Julia clarified as she finished her salad. "It's probably not for everyone. You mentioned the military. Women join the military in Adiron, still find ways to get married and have kids. They might get leave to have kids, but they still do it."

"I guess Cary's the breadwinner, though, yeah," Julia replied, laughing a bit at how old-fashioned she must seem compared to what she was just talking about. "When I got together with Cary, I think I knew he'd probably always make more money than me. I did choose this. When I was finishing up school, I started to realize how hard it would be to make a living on my own. I accepted it, because I guess I couldn't picture doing anything else. And I don't regret it. I mean, I get paid to do what I love."

[Hittanryan]

Carnmag

Duke Uthecar's speech was over. Abby and the news crew were both leaving, Abby trailing behind as she took notes. Sometimes she wished she just had little spies everywhere; flies on the wall or little robots that could be everywhere at once. As it stood, Abby merely felt like she was doing a poor imitation in her capacity as a monitor. However, she did count her fortunes at being limited to a single city.

Holly was regretting wearing flats instead of proper sneakers. She'd heard it was supposed to be a political rally, something official, so she thought that meant she should dress up a little, just a blouse and skirt, really. But there was all this walking, and they often needed to move pretty quickly for a good shot. Anyone watching her would notice that after each hurried movement she'd be smoothing her skirt, flipping the backs of her shoes back out, shifting her bra around.

Travis' head was still swimming from his morning swim. The whole episode had practically driven him crazy with desire for Christina. He and Holly didn't talk too much; for his part, he hadn't intended to reveal quite that much of himself to his director just yet. She knew she'd walked in on him and Christina, and at the pool too, but still...he'd been hard. Adirans went nude at the beach sometimes, didn't freak out at nudity in movies, and were somewhat liberal about casual nudity (especially when not in mixed company). That, however, had been just a little too real and a little too much of a surprise for the two of them.

Olsen, in sharp contrast, was almost entirely focused on the action around him. Therefore it was him who noticed the commotion at the entrance. Abby noticed not long after, glancing up from her clipboard and simply standing off to one side to observe. Chris pulled the rest of the crew aside.

"Hood..." Olsen said cautiously.

"Yeah, I know," Travis replied gravely.

"What? What's the hood?" Holly asked.

"Could be nothing, but they're something of an Anarchist symbol around here," Olsen explained.

Travis quickly jerked his camera back up to his eye, waving the others aside as the militia gathered, saying "Come on."

Holly looked petrified. "What if he really is..."

"They're dead, hated, and banned, he's not an Anarchist, just a guy in a hood," Travis reassured her. Olsen seemed to agree and started approaching the scene cautiously.

Travis filmed most of the confrontation, doing his best to frame the shot as he moved. That was when the shotgun entered the picture. Holly gasped, Travis and Olsen froze. Holly tried to run away, but Chris caught her arm, looked at her dead in the eye, and shook his head. They weren't in any kind of cover, but with a Mexican standoff, Olsen didn't want to spook anybody.

[New Edom]

Carnmag

At tthat moment there was a loud screech of tires and rumbling of engines, and two pickup trucks pulled up on the street, full of White Thorns.

“What’s going on here?” exclaimed one of them. “A citizen can’t make a complaint in Carnmag? Then we’ll help him!” he was a lean rawboned Elwe youth with a combination of body paint, modified ears, hair spiked and bue and wearing both a kilt and a camouflage sleeveless top. The others in the truck were leaping out, armed with a combination of rifles, pistols, machetes and clubs.

“Raise the alarm,” muttered Cenn Deroil to one of the militia. “You damned beggars, you bandits, get the hell out of here! I know where most of you live, if you don’t want to have the EIO on you like a ton of bricks—“

However they were still advancing; suddenly the air was full of cordite, smoke, muzzle flashes, screams and yells, and one of the militia and two White Thorns were on the ground. Cenn Deroil and the White Thorn leader had ducked down; Cenn Deroil seized the fallen militiaman’s rifle and fired off a round.

From around the corner 4 EIO came charging, wearing riot helmets and firing off tear gas grenades around the White Thorns’ trucks; coughing and choking, they retreated.

---

Captain Cotta held a handkerchief to his face as he looked around; the bodies were gone but there were dark stains on the street, and worried looking people passing by beyond a cordon of Military Police “What the hell happened?” he asked Cenn Deroil, who was sitting on a bench being tended for a powder burn.

“What happened was some White Thorn dressed up like the Hooded Man came to our rally and was demanded to make a complaint of some kind—naturally our guards tried to chase him off but it was a setup; he had someone on lookout for a squad of White Thorns.”

“Why didn’t you just tell him that this was not the place to make complaints and to make a complaint to the Committee?” Bishop Arminius asked him sadly.

Cenn Deroil paused. “I didn’t think of htat.”

“Streets of Heaven, what a clusterfuck,” exclaimed Cotta. “Yet another thing we have to do! What a country!”

“Sir, you can hardly expect people not to defend themselves…” Cenn Deroil said.

“Oh shut up!” Captain Cotta stomped back to the land rover they had come in, Bishop Arminius and their respective aides following. “Can we arrest the lot of them?”

“Then we’d call it off and look like chumps,” the Bishop said, shaking his head. “We have to see this through.”

When they were back at the hotel, Christina was asked by Dr. Ashren to explain some of her thoughts. “The problem,” she said, “Is that a lot of people don’t understand what the Committee’s real powers are. Are we the arbiters of the election? Then why aren’t we involved with telling people who to vote for? I think that there’ve been too many incidents like this for us to not believe that this is part of the problem. I have figures…”

“Forget the damned figures,” said Cotta. “What’s your idea/”

Blushing, she said, “I think we should set up a separate office just for complaints. A general complaints office, that is known to be neutral, and it should be someplace like a church, so that people know it’s neutral.”

Prince Findi Lamat exclaimed, “Yes, that’s what we need—more bureaucracy.”

“Actually sir, bureaucracy is one of the foundations of modern civilization. You can see a proportion of people following rules and going through proper channels and avoiding taking the laws into their own hands in proportion to a bureaucracy and social infrastructure,” said Professor Delmar. “In fact I have figures on that too, it’s laid out in my manifesto…”

[Hittanryan]

Carnmag

The militia's attention seemed to shift away from them, so Travis quickly stalked his way back through the crowd to get a better vantage point, never lowering his camera. "Travis...Travis!" Holly hissed after him.

"He knows what he's doing, come on, we need to get closer so we can hear some of what they're saying," Olsen commanded.

"What?!" she snapped back incredulously.

"Come on, or we'll miss it!" Olsen whispered fiercely. She shook her head in response. No, this was too much. She'd spent her days setting up shots, positioning things, writing questions to be asked of the subjects, and looking for footage. She wasn't supposed to die for a job.

Frustrated, Olsen whispered, getting very close to Holly, "We need to catch this for the audience so they know what it's like here, come on!" He took off thinking he'd left her behind, but Holly, shaking, did manage to get herself to move slowly in his wake.

Travis was back a bit in the crowd, and managed to get a decent shot of the standoff. That was when the trucks pulled up. Although the cameraman was suddenly aware of possible danger, he couldn't just give up. He'd keep an ear out for any shouts about a camera, and only then would he run away screaming like a baby.

The scene had gone quiet enough that the entire news crew could hear the exchange of words between the White Thorns and the EIO. Cenn Deroil could clearly be heard shouting at the White Thorns, agitated, and then the air erupted in gunfire. 'Fuck!' Travis thought. His first concern was for his own safety, he was more or less in the White Thorns' line of fire from where he was standing. He ambled over to one side, trying to stay upright in the now panicked group of people. His second thought was for his footage: 'That gunfire's gonna kill the volume...'

Holly shrieked as the first shots went off and she fell to the ground, squatting with her arms around her head. Olsen was suddenly aware that she was right behind him, and knew she was in a potentially very dangerous position if the crowd stampeded out. Not only could she not see, but she could easily get bowled over and trampled underfoot. He took her hand, tried to pull her along, she looked up. Then she saw one of the White Thorns get shot. It was the first time she'd seen anyone being (likely) killed.

Her eyes went wide, and she seized up. She felt a chill all over, wrapped her arms around herself. Olsen saw the fight intensify, they couldn't stand still. He squeezed her hand, lifted her chin to face him, and he only said "I've got you." Her expression remained unchanged, but she ducked off to the side until the teargas arrived. The two of them covered their noses and squinted as the acrid gas drifted their way.

As the firefight died down, Abby emerged from her hiding spot, taking detailed notes on the incident.

---

On the way back, Holly was quiet. Travis and Olsen had merely flinched a bit and crouched down when the shots were fired. Holly had panicked, and the image of the dead was imprinted on her.

"I got it, I'm telling you I got it," Travis was saying. "Caught it just when the trucks pulled up and..."

"Hey," Olsen interrupted.

"What?" Travis asked. Olsen merely motioned at Holly, who was looking ahead in a blank expression. Travis stopped talking. Holly suddenly stirred, though her mood didn't improve. Olsen had noticed Committee members discussing the problem.

"Travis, can you get all of them in a shot from...here?" Holly asked, standing in a spot some distance away.

"Well, uh..." Travis said, eyeballing things and digging his handheld out. He kind of wanted to ask Christina if it was all right. "Maybe, I'll check the audio...all right."

"Good," she replied. They got footage of the Committee members and Christina. Holly asked to see the footage afterwards, said she was satisfied, then said she was very tired. Olsen and Rikkers understood.

Travis found Christina after filming her. "Hey you," he greeted her warmly. Still sort of riding high after the firefight, he was bold enough to greet her with a kiss on the lips. "I was going to ask you if you minded, but I didn't want to interrupt, plus you were on a roll. I won't use that footage unless you're all right with it."

"You did great though, right in front of your boss, too," he said, putting his arm around her. "A few people did get shot at the rally we went to. Fight was over pretty quick. I think you hit the nail on the head about a general complaints office."

---

Afterwards, Travis was hanging out with Christina, and Olsen found himself alone. He spent an hour going through notes and planning questions for the inevitable fallout, then a half hour drinking. Olsen was kidding himself though, he knew Holly was hurting. Somehow he felt he needed to do something, but couldn't come up with a logical reason why. Maybe he felt sorry for her, being in over her head. Maybe he was just going soft. Maybe, just maybe, he didn't want to see someone else wind up like him.

Walking over to Holly's room, he knocked on the door. No answer. Then he noticed that by knocking, the door yielded about an inch. It was open. No sign of Holly at first, until he tripped over something. All of her clothes were piled up on the ground. Olsen then noticed the sound of the shower from the bathroom.

"Your door was unlocked," he reminded her loudly, and started walking to the door. There was a sudden pang of worry though, when she still remained silent. He knocked on the door, and called inside. "Holly?"

Still nothing. Now he was a bit worried. Sure it was probably rough, but was it really that bad? He creaked the door open, it was also unlocked. Holly was sitting with her knees drawn up to her chin, her arms wrapped around her legs. She had a thousand-yard stare, not even broken when Chris cracked the door open.

He thought about what she'd said, how she'd gotten the job probably because the network was desperate. Holly wasn't supposed to have seen that. Under other circumstances, Olsen might have simply called up the network and told them their director was no good. He couldn't, though.

Approaching cautiously, he saw Holly still didn't look at him. She clearly didn't care, her mind was far away, possibly back at the rally. Sitting down next to her, disregarding his shorts and t-shirt and the shower, he put his arm around her, softly saying "Hey, come here."

It was a few moments before she seemed to acknowledge his presence, resting her head on his shoulder. She seemed to start clutching at his arm, muttering something. It was too weak to make out at first, but soon Chris could hear it.

"Blood...blood..."

"Hey..." Chris said, taking and caressing her hand gently. "Your hands are clean. Cleanest I've ever seen." He rubbed her shoulder a bit, but at that point she just stood up, clearly not caring that Chris saw every last inch of her sculpted body. She sort of drifted out of the bathroom in a daze as Chris shut off the shower and went after her.

He saw Holly collapse onto the bed, on top of the covers, just sort of splayed out on her back. Trying his best to ignore all the bouncing and the...compromising position she ended up in, he started undoing her sheets under her. Lifting her back and then her legs, he was able to tuck her under the covers.

"Does it get easier?" she suddenly asked.

Chris had to consider the question for a moment. "Yeah, it does...but not for a long time. Here, sit up." After helping her to a sitting position, he sat behind her himself. He started gently massaging her neck and shoulders.

They sat for a while like that without saying anything. His hands just moved in rhythmic circles across her smooth skin, gently kneading and melting some of her tension away. Eventually he thought he saw her eyes closed, and figured she could use the rest. As he rose, however, her hand found his.

"Don't go," she weakly pleaded.

Chris stopped for a moment and asked "What?" She didn't answer him, though, she looked like she was nodding off. All she could answer was a weak sort of cross between a mumble and a moan. He stood up and laid her down on her pillow, pulling her sheets over her as he did so. Somewhat foolishly he realized he was still holding Holly's hand. As he left the room, she rolled over onto her side and curled into a ball. Olsen wasn't entirely sure what to make of it, but decided to be satisfied in helping her get to sleep after today. The question stuck in his mind was why was he doing this for a director not fit for the job.

[New Edom]

Carnmag

Gratefully, Christina leaned up into the kiss, though she was embarrassed at being kissed so caually in public by a man who wasn’t married to her, what would people think! But it was important to her that she show affection to him—she could always explain to him later, in a way that didn’t embarrass him in turn. In fact there were two aides, whispering in High Baran, so that he couldn’t understand them, and she was sure they were talking about the two of them, an arch expression flitting her way. Bitches!

“Thank you so much, I really appreciate your supporting me, you know. Sometimes it’s hard to be on the spot, and I think it’s funny how we kind of forget how you are all there—though it’s increasingly hard…now that it’s you…”

“I’m actually going to copy this one…hang on a minute…” said Christina, suddenly tapping keyhs on her laptop, leaning over the conference table, putting on her glasses to peer at it. Her back curved out to her neatly curved bottom, her perky chest dangling sweetly as she did. “Here it is, take a look…this is the model I’m going to use. Let me know what you think.”

Office of Complaints and Concerns

The Government of the Allied States, in the interest of international cooperation have decided to open the doors of our already existing national administrative complaint department to the international sphere. It is our intention improve what we can concerning our international administrative duties on behalf of peace, and so we will allow for feedback from all nations around the world rather than merely our citizens.

Forward complaints against High Council employees to the Office of Foreign Affairs in writing. A Department form is required, and the complaint should include:

- the names and titles of the individuals suspected of misconduct,

- the details of the allegations including case names or situations,

- any other relevant information,

- copies of any documentation pertaining to the matter.

Directly mailed information goes to the office of the Director of the Office of Complaints and Concerns as follows:

Jabez Lech, Director of the Office of Complaints and Concerns
274 Mizpah Street , Department of Administration, Suite 927
Fineberg, Government District Mu 125539

Code: Select all

[b]Name:[/b]
[b]Nation:[/b]
[b]Describe the situation:[/b]
[b]What caused the situation?:[/b]
[b]How you were affected?:[/b]
[b]Additional Comments:[/b]

“You know,” she said, squatting down to retrieve her power cord, “It is awful what happened at the rally, but what can you expect from the Elwe, they’re such savages. Maybe all this will civilize them a bit eh? One can hope…”

[Hittanryan]

Hotel
Carnmag

Christina leaned over the desk to type something on her laptop. Did she have any idea what that did to him? If she did it on purpose, great. If not...still great. He couldn't help but admire her lithe body, and marveled that she had still been available when they met. Who could pass that up? Reading the form she pulled up, he put his arm around her waist. He could smell her hair as he read over her shoulder.

Then, in a case of severe emotional whiplash, he cringed a bit when Christina talked about "civilizing" the Elwe. 'Savages? God damn...' he thought. It turned him off more or less instantly, though he didn't recoil or anything. Just as well, it was in the middle of the day, there was a time and a place for everything. Instead, he thought he'd frame it a different way.

"You ask me, this whole city's a bit scared and confused. Elwe, refugees, unions, ETC, all of 'em. They all grab a rifle first and ask a rival militia to back them up whenever something goes wrong."

Pointing to the computer screen, he said "Reworking that form for the election should be easy for you, you know what you're doing. Then there will be an alternate complaint process with more paperwork and less teargas, hopefully. The Committee just has to listen to you..." He then glanced around the room, saw the aides.

He whispered so the aides couldn't hear, "I know things didn't go great today, but what was with Cotta biting your head off? You were only trying to help, somebody piss in his tea his morning?"

[New Edom]

Carnmag, Raith Immel Province, New Edom
The day arrives.

THE FINEBERG TIMES

Thursday, August 21, 2014

---

Historic Test Vote in Carnmag

by Tim Stanton

CARNMAG, Raith Immel Province— New Edom’s involvement with democratic government has been a challenging and at times tragic one. The first major experiment in democracy came with the election of a National Legislature during the latter days of the reign of Adah the Liberator—which was more of a representative body of the aristocracy and wealthy than truly representative of the populace. Following that, in the 1970s the New Day Party was elected, and held onto power for nearly two decades in one of the most corrupt governments this country has ever seen. After that, in the early 21st Century, William Touchstone led the Free Congress to near victory, but two costly civil wars later, endless compromises had eroded what little democracy had been established.

President Pahath-Moab was elected on the promise that he had not seized power but rather was the custodian of it in order to restore order so that the promises of the constitution proposed by the Free Congress could be fulfilled. Through this test election he is trying to fulfill that promise.

In spite of brawls, threats, violence, confusion and attempted subversion of the nomination process, political parties have been formed and a vote is to take place. The Elwe Independence Organization, the Green Party of Carnmag, and the Unionist Movement Party plus independents will be voted for for the office of Ethnarch of Carnmag and Quaestors of Carnmag. This is a test election, but it will no doubt bear fruit in proposed official elections.

Help in getting this far has been in part due to help from Democratic Verification LLC and the Adiran government which has provided neutral advice on transparency, rules of order and elections process.

“It is a miracle that we have come so far,” said Father Emmanuel, one of the elections officers with a smile. “Two years ago this area of the province was a crossroads for civil war. Now we are settling things peacefully. This is, for our community, a time of Thanksgiving.”

A motorcade arrived in the town square, with the rest of the Committee; formal salutes and bows were exchanged. There were also protestors defiantly waving signs against the Chairman, who ignored them completely as though he was unaware of their existence, in spite of pictures showing grinning villains in House Obed colours spitting hapless Elwe, carving up Raith Immel and Teman like pies while slavering over them. A few fistfights broke out here and there, but the political leaders did their best to keep this to a minimum. To some, especially the immigrants, Admiral Shalmaneser was a great hero who had faced down the Norvenians. He was indifferent to these people as well, though one of his aides assured them that the admiral was deeply touched but had so little time...

Prince Elijah Shalmaneser, in full dress uniform with gold braid and aguillettes, epaulets, decorations, billed cap, tall and sonorous, spoke to the assembled candidates, electoral officers, members of the committee and foreign guests, as well as the press. (who were advised that they were limited to two questions each). “I have inspected the plans, the security operations, the polling booths, the public media arrangements, and I have decided that they are satisfactory.” He showed no particular concern or prejudice; he might have been completing the inspection of an engine room.

“It is entrusted to me by the President to decide whether or not this community and my own committee have done the adequate amount of work sufficient to pronounce this test case fit for procedure. There were a number of categories necessary to be satisfied for me to make this decision. It has been recommended that I should do so by the representatives of Democratic Verification LLC. I have taken their advice into account, but have nevertheless rendered my own decision after hearing the counsel of my own committee.”

He looked up, his eyes somehow boldly raking over everyone there as though they were new recruits on the deck of a ship, and he saw every flaw, every weakness. He then said without inflection, “I have decided that at some point a vessel must be launched and put to the test. We will now do so with Carnmag. As agreed, the voting of public officials, law enforcement and militia personnel will take place by designated units and districts tomorrow, following that the public will vote. I will now take questions from the press.”

[Jedoria]

Carnmag, Raith Immel Province, New Edom

Standing amidst the crowd of reporters, a young man with an angular jaw line, sharp eyes and crew but hair raised his hand. He was wearing a light blue T-shirt, a badge that read "Press" and stuffed into the back pocket of his woodland camoflauged shorts were his waivers. In his hand he held a pad of paper and in the other a pen. He spoke with a voice that conveyed nothing but a serious attitude and solid demeanor. Once picked up on and confirmed that he could speak, he did so. "Hi, I'm Carl from the Tharkad Times."

"How does the Monarchist faction in New Edom feel about these elections taking place, is there approval or disapproval amongst them?"

[New Edom]

Carnmag, New Edom

"Feel?" said Vice-Admiral Prince Elijah Shalmaneser, as though rolling the word on his tongue to experience the meaning. "Feel. I have no idea, I have not asked, and I do not care. I presume that like myself they will do their duty, since none have openly protested. If they do so with lack of agreement then they are cowards without conviction. Next question."

[Jedoria]

Carnmag, Raith Immel Province, New Edom

After hearing the Vice-Admiral's responce, Carl quickly jotted down his reply, then played a quick game of tic-tac-toe with another reporter. When given the chance, the reporter shot his arm into the air once more. When selected, he said again in the same tone. "Yes I'm still Carl."

"Is this election a sign that Brigadier General Perrin Pahath-Moab plans to transform New Edom from a military dictatorship masquerading as a Constitutional Monarchy into a full fledged democracy?"

[New Edom]

Vice-Admiral Prince Elijah Shalmaneser replied, "General Pahath-Moab is fulfilling his agreement to re-establish democratic principles of legislation in this country. He is a man of honour. Next question," he said, searching for another journalist with the keen expressionless face of a man searching the waters ahead of him on a vast and indifferent ocean.

[Hittanryan]

Town Square
Carnmag, Raith Immel

The news team had arrived early, taking advantage of their press access to scout out the venue ahead of time. By this point they knew the town square well enough, but not the layout that the Committee would use to give this speech. Clad in a casual tropical suit, Olsen was deciding on questions for Shalmaneser, limit two, after all. Leading Shalmaneser into a productive response would be like herding cats, and he only had two tries. Holly, Travis in tow, was bounding around the square. She was wearing her flattering blouse and skirt, while Travis was clad in a t-shirt and khaki shorts.

Since the rally, Holly was mostly back to her usual self, though she hadn't witnessed any more murders up close since then. Ever since then, though, she hadn't acted the same around Chris. The day immediately after she'd been very reserved, not looking him in the eye, and only chatted idly with Travis, Tim, or Christina. This, in turn, made Chris feel like he'd made her uncomfortable, despite not being able to articulate where he might have offended her. He became withdrawn in turn around her. After two days, however, she seemed to be back to normal, and suggested they all go out for drinks. This became something of a habit on off nights, with the group extending invitations to Tim and Christina (phrased in such a way that they didn't feel obligated, Christina told Travis about the slight fumble the news crew made upon arrival).

One night last week Holly casually said to Chris that they were going out, and that the others might meet them there later. Upon arrival, Holly started asking Chris about himself. For some reason, Chris answered. Where he was from, where his job had taken him before, that sort of thing. Then she asked if he had anyone else in his life. Olsen replied something along the lines of 'What do you mean?' to which Holly joked 'That's a no.' Then Holly looked at her phone, and said the others couldn't make it. At the end of the night, which had a bunch of much less personal conversations, Chris was left bewildered as to whether or not he'd just been on a date. Holly didn't seem to act any differently after that, so he just let the matter lie.

Holly was looking through the camera, realizing she didn't like this shot. "Why don't I just stand all the way in the back?" Travis was asking, "That way we get everything."

"I think that's a really boring shot though, just straight-on," Holly replied, "Plus I want to get a shot of the crowd, show how many people are interested, you know?"

"We'd have to move farther up though, and then all we'd have is a great shot of Shalmaneser's podium and maybe his chin," Travis pointed out.

Holly smiled a bit, but then quickly looked up and said "Hey!" Her exclamation was supposed to indicate he should follow. She made her way to one side of the square and glanced at the shot. "Oh yeah, this is better. We can get most of the crowd, and it's a more interesting angle to shoot the speech from. Wait a sec..."

When Travis caught up, she asked to see the camera again. Upon looking in, she said "Ew..."

"It's clean," Travis sniped back, thinking she was insulting his precious A/V equipment.

"Huh? No, I mean, look," she replied, looking away from the camera and pointing at the background. Most of it was a solid wall of a commercial building of some sort. Not far off, an industrial warehouse took up a large section of the shot. Travis was about to say something along the lines of 'That's New Edom for you,' but he suddenly thought of Christina.

Looking behind her, Holly nudged Travis a little and said "Ooh!" Again, she took off, with Travis a step behind her. Same distance from the stage, but from this angle it looked down a street. There were some charming shops and houses, and some of the forests and some Elwe architecture added a bit of extra green to the color palate.

"OK, this is good. Get some of the square in the some of the wider angle shots. Hey, do you think everyone will be here before they start?" Holly asked him.

"I dunno, why?" Travis asked, camera to his eye.

"That's when we can get some shots of the crowd, instead of missing the speech. Wait a second, who are those people?" she asked, motioning to the first few protestors arriving on the scene.

"I spy picket signs," Travis observed.

"And they're setting up right on that street? Oh, no, they're moving, whew," she said, afraid they'd ruin her original shot. She wasn't about to ask them to move, either.

Once the Q&A began, Chris waited his turn and then asked his own question. "Admiral, will the Committee make its final recommendations public information? If so, when after the election might that report be released?"

[Spartianus]

Carnmag, New Edom

Apiashal hated everything about this job. The crowd of fierce competition, the outdated equipment, the disgusting cameramen. Information was one of the few jobs in the mamlaket not protected under the ancient laws of distribution. How would they even distribute it? What a joke. They had even made him shave his brilliant crimson mustache! Apiashel reminisced the long since dead facial hair as he stroked his upper lip, raising his hand to ask a question.

"Shalmanseser qaro'! Qaro'! Does the government expect any radical foreign policy changes with the upcoming elections? Should allies and enemies expect a new face for the allied states?"

[New Edom]

Chris waited his turn and then asked his own question. "Admiral, will the Committee make its final recommendations public information? If so, when after the election might that report be released?"

"Yes," Admiral Shalmaneser said. "The Committee will make its final recommendations public information. This is considered necessary for the good of the country. It has been planned that a full analysis will take place immediately following the election, and a prospective release date of the information given out following that."

"Shalmanseser qaro'! Qaro'! Does the government expect any radical foreign policy changes with the upcoming elections? Should allies and enemies expect a new face for the allied states?"

"This is a test election," said Admiral Shalmaneser. "The government expects no radical foreign policy changes in a test election. Even if it were a real election, it is a municipal election for Carnmag only, and therefore would have little to no effect upon foreign policy. Next question!"

[Vyrsar]

-Erased-

[New Edom]

Vice-Admiral Prince Elijah Shalmaneser said to the Germanic woman: "The test election is intended to provide information on what electoral principles our government should rest, in order to establish future processes for legislation on different levels of government. The hypothesis is that such a process would provide improved transparency and accountability in government as well as providing alternate points of view that can be discussed in a civil and legally sanctioned manner. Next question!"

[Hittanryan]

When Apiashal asked about foreign policy, Chris and Travis both did double-takes at the man and just stared at him with bewildered frowns on their faces. Shalmaneser was unerringly precise and formal in correcting him, true to form. Chris even missed an opportunity to ask a question because he was dumbfounded at the reporter's sheer ignorance of the story he was sent to cover. This campaign had been going on for weeks now. ANBC had covered it when it was announced, and the Fineberg Times documented it every step of the way thanks to Tim Stanton. And this "reporter" really thought this was a national election? Well, he wasted his question.

That wasn't to say anyone else was doing much better with the head of the Committee. Chris thought it was clever of the Edomites to put one of the most taciturn men on the planet in charge of the Committee. You'd be lucky to get two words out of him when pressed; he'd never leak a damn thing to the press because he'd never talk to anybody in the first place. Too risky to really ask him much about the future, you might only get an "I don't know" and then dismissed.

Finally, Chris had to settle on his second line of questioning, but he dreaded the Admiral answering with something along the lines of 'Yes, no, yes. Next question.' But the other one built off a question from before that went nowhere, so this was all he had. "Admiral, has the Committee found the feedback of foreign advisors to be helpful in this election? Can you describe instances in which their suggestions improved the process? Did they understand New Edom's needs well enough to be helpful?"