IC
“Well, Tabby? Where is the vacuum cleaner?”
Laughing track
“I don’t know, John. Maybe Francis can tell us…”
“Good evening, this is Howard Ginsburg, CNN. We interrupt this broadcast for important breaking news. First Citizen Melinda Delcastillo has fallen ill on a flight from Washington DC to Atlanta while escorting her son, newly-appointed governor Laurence Delcastillo, on his trip to Atlanta where he was to take up his post. After arriving at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport the First Citizen was transported to the Atlanta Medical Center for immediate treatment. The White House press secretary has so far not responded to any questions besides reassuring that Delcastillo is in very capable hands, although she is, and I quote, ‘not out of the woods yet’. For more, we move to our Atlanta correspondent…”
It is the end of an era. From the end of the Constitutional Crisis in 2025 to this warm autumn day in 2067, Melinda Delcastillo was the lighting beacon that kept America together. Being elected as the President Pro Tempore of the Senate in 2023, as President of the United States in 2024, and being sworn in as Supreme Court Justice in early 2025, the power of Melinda Delcastillo held no practical bounds. With these three positions in hand, she had the power to return a semblance of normalcy to America after years of unrest. The Constitutional Crisis had left many dead and wounded, and even more disillusioned. When she assumed the Presidency, Delcastillo promised a swift return of peace and prosperity.
She delivered on the promise. Being but forty when she was elected, Delcastillo had the energy and the charisma to see her vision through. By Executive Order, she used funds from the US treasury to pay the pensions of drafted soldiers of all sides of the Crisis. She used funds to rebuild the interstates which had been broken up by fighting, and she pardoned most of the lower officers and some of the higher-ups who had fought in the Crisis. In 2026 she instituted the Special Federal Tribunal for War Crimes, under the direct supervision of the Attorney-General, to punish for treason and war crimes the leaders of the various rebellions. Those found guilty, a handful, were executed by firing squad, a punishment brought back federally by executive order. The Tribunal would remain, used to execute a number of traitors and revolutionaries over the coming years.
Under Delcastillo, America began to work again. US troops returned from abroad to help reconstruct the country. She used her powers as commander-in-chief to rid the US of the last roaming bands of bandits and revolutionaries. She used her powers over the Senate as President Pro Tempore to push through appointees that she favoured, and that favoured her. She made no new appointments to the Supreme Court, becoming the sole Justice in 2035. The House of Representatives became a shadow of her former self as no legislation could pass to the Senate without approval of the President Pro Tempore, and the President could rule by executive order. In 2036, Delcastillo was granted the honour of becoming the First Citizen, a title that transmitted the gratitude of the American people for her role.
Now, those days are over. Melinda Delcastillo is a frail, 83 year old woman. She is sound of mind, but her body is no longer what it used to be. Up until the moment she fell into a coma on her flight to Atlanta, she commanded absolute respect. Now, the First Citizen is broken. Her comatose body lies silently in an Atlanta hospital, a machine doing her breathing for her. Her heart grows weaker by the day, and as she slips further and further, more and more questions arise. Who should replace her? Should the positions she held together for forty years even still be linked? These are questions for you to answer. Maybe you are the Vice President, traditionally second in line when it comes to presidential succession. Maybe you are Speaker of the House, hoping to return the power of the old legislature. Maybe you are Laurence Delcastillo, son and spiritual heir to your waning mother. Or maybe you are the Attorney-General, responsible for the disappearance of countless dissidents over the last years, not desperately looking forward to the return of accountability.
“Quem ad finem sese effrenata iactabit audacia?”
Welcome, musician, to the symphony that is America. The piece has had many iterations and interpretations, but for the last forty years it has been strictly conducted by Melinda Delcastillo: President, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, and President Pro Tempore of the Senate. After the period of violent civil strife known colloquially as the 2021 Constitutional Crisis, she restored order in the United States. This, through a policy of strategic mercy and swift punishment, the latter doled out by a specially constituted tribunal. Her terms in office were above all peaceful and effective, and her consequent re-elections have been unopposed. Everyone in America has gained something from her, and everyone has lost something. On the balance, her rule is far preferable to the chaos of the Crisis, and even of the deadlocks before that.
You, musician, are someone of importance. Someone Melinda Delcastillo has spoken to in the last week. Be it a cabinet member, a member of the legislature, someone from the pentagon, a family member. Someone who will be informed of the imminent demise of the First Citizen. After that, the future of America is up to you. Will the Republic be reborn? Will there be elections again? Will America return to the factionalism and bloodshed of the dreadful Constitutional Crisis? Will the status quo be maintained under her son? A lot will be decided in the coming days that will change the future of the United States forever.
Every action sets precedent, every acquiescence makes law.
Facts (will be expanded on as people make apps and the IC progresses):
- Melinda Delcastillo is President of the United States, Chief and sole Justice of the Supreme Court, and President Pro Tempore of the Senate.
- Melinda Delcastillo has a son, Laurence. He was appointed as governor of Georgia mere days ago.
- The Attorney General in some way controls the Tribunal for Peace and Reconciliation, which in the past has convicted people based on evidence that was not beyond a reasonable doubt.
- News media are legally free to report what they want, but there is pressure from the government to report positively on the First Citizen and her policies.
- The Constitutional Crisis was a civil war, but there was no north and south. No New Confederacy or Second Confederacy of anything like that. It was far more chaotic, numerous sides with factions that switched around regularly. There was no front line.
- The Constitution remains technically unchanged, but term limits have practically been abolished. Favourites of the First Citizen often run for office unopposed.
- The US armed forces have seen only limited use over the last forty years. Army expenditure has been cut drastically. The navy (including the marine corps) has been deployed to combat piracy on major trade routes and to end a handful of embassy hostage takings, and is now considered the largest arm of the armed forces.
- The last combat on US soil occurred over forty years ago. Subsequently, the veterans of the Crisis are around 60 years old at this date.
The app is bare-bones, but that is by design. While I want to know a bit of who’s who, most of this information will be played out in the IC through interactions and posts. I expect the writers here to give sufficient depth to their characters. Characters do not only move and speak, they also think, especially in a political drama like this. Really represent the views of your character, both their goals and their fears. It is currently the 15th of September, 2067.
Roster:
Cabinet level:
Connor Wright - Chief of Staff
Played by: The Archipelago Territory
James Ripley - Solicitor General
Played by: Nytavuthar
Richard Hamilton - FBI Director
Played by: Reverend Norv
Personal staff:
Kenneth Mandelbaum - Military Adviser
Played by: Cylarn
Nathan Anderson - Executive Protection Force Director
Played by: Rodez
House of Representatives
Joyce Wu - Speaker of the House
Played by: Vienna Eliot
Local governments
Georgia Hamilton - Mayor of Washington DC
Played by: Lunas Legion
Family
William Delcastillo - Son
Played by: Pasong Tirad