You come from nothing and your father said you’d never amount to anything. Yet here you stand, the CEO of a large powerful oil company and a major candidate in the electoral run for governorship of Texas.
One day your father dies of a heart attack (but not before seeing you become “successful”). You attend the funeral with a somber expression but once everyone is gone you stand alone by the grave, you bend over the tombstone, and with a completely demonic expression on your face you shout out profanities and curses at your dead father.
“YOU THOUGHT I’D AMOUNT TO NOTHING?! WELL F_____ YOU! I WILL BE GOVERNOR… I… WILL… BE … GOVERNOR!”
You are pragmatic and ambitious but also idealistic and motivated; you are committed to your political ideals.
In the weeks leading up to the election, a series of very unfortunate events and political scandals happen. Your analysts bring the bad news; they predict there is now a 90 percent chance that you will lose the election. This prediction is in line with all of the major political analysts nationwide.
You despair; HOW COULD THESE VOTERS BE SO IDIOTIC????
“This is the problem with this country!” you cry out as you fling some wine glasses across the counter.
“No one cares! NO ONE THAT WE FACE EXTINCTION!”
…
In your darkest hour, you are approached by a young woman. She reveals herself to be the Mafia Queen, the leader of the United States’ most powerful crime syndicate.
You are invited to one of her mansions in the upstate of New York. You quietly and nervously travel there, making sure that you are not followed.
Once there, the Mafia Queen has tea with you and makes you a proposal: she has people in place and can make a few plays to ensure that you win the election and become governor of Texas. You ask her how but she says “you don’t want to know.”
She says in exchange, you have to promise her Three Favors in the future. This bargain will be sealed by dark magic using the Relic of Unbreakable Promises (one of the magical relics of the Witch Queen that somehow ended up in Mafia possession). The magic of the relic will ensure that you are bound to her and have to fulfill three “favors” when she asks for them in the future (if you refuse to carry out a favor, you and your entire family will die of a very painful incurable magical illness).
You demand to know what these favors are in advance but she refuses to tell you. She says you can be reasonably certain that she won’t ask for anything in the first few months. She assures you that these favors won’t be “unduly burdensome” to your career and that they will strictly relate to her “business.” She has no desire to interfere with politics in Texas, she finds politics “tiresome” and on the whole, she has supported the interests of the United States (she reminds you that the Mafia helped the United States in both WWII and the Cold War).
As she sips her tea, she tells you that it’s in the interest of everyone involved to keep this all a secret. She makes you a general promise that she won’t use the magical promises in a malicious way against you… well… UNLESS you deliberately cause her or her organization trouble. She says on the whole, she has no interest in upsetting the status quo.
You consider her offer:
Pros:
You really want to be the Governor. You’ve spent not only years but DECADES working for this political goal. It is completely unprecedented that someone of your social class could be a major player in politics; your successful election could signal a new era in the politics of not just Texas but of the entire United Sates. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity; if you do not take the deal, you might become a footnote in someone else’s history book. Being a powerful oil CEO is one thing but the governorship could easily lead to a future presidency.
Once you are in office, you have very ambitious plans to transform Texas into a model US state and improve the lives of the people. All of this is contingent on your election.
Also, the you in this scenario clearly suffers from some daddy issues. Becoming governor would in a way signal a “final victory” over your dead father. You believe (rightly or wrongly) that this would bring closure to some seriously deep wounds.
Cons:
You would owe the Mafia Queen three favors, enforced by dark magic. You have no idea what these are but once you make the deal, she could make you do anything.
You would very obviously be unable to move against her because she could just keep a single “favor” as insurance against you. Furthermore, you have very little doubt that whatever way she chooses to use to “rig”/”influence” the election it will be highly illegal/unethical and it will be done in such a way as to implicate you if its revealed. Blackmail has always been part of the Mafia’s playbook.
Also, you would have to “trust” her not to abuse these favors. She assures you that she’s only focused on “business” and that she has no intention of messing with the reputation of your administration. However… that’s not exactly comforting because the Mafia is involved in all sorts of crimes. You have a feeling these “favors” are going to trouble your conscience.
Would you take this deal? Yes or no? Why not?
If you refuse the deal, you can choose to play for the 10% chance of getting the governorship without her help.
Please discuss whether or not you would take this Dark Bargain and justify your answer with your personal reasoning.
