Book 3 - Chapter 30 - Entrenched Position

This took much longer than expected... I like the general idea, but it didn't flow that well. Teddy would 100% not want to wait for planning, but I couldn't see her pulling a Cat on the entire government either. I need to think on it more... don't know if tomorrow will be a replacement, or continuation. Can't afford to spend more time on this today.

When I stumbled out of bed the next morning I was surprised to find not my family, but all my friends sitting at the dinner table.

“What are you all doing here this early?” I grumbled as I trudged past them into the kitchen.

“Evelyn, it’s Eleven in the morning. I’d hardly call it early,” Hel sighed. “As for why we’re here, we wanted to start making plans on what to do about the council. We actually wanted to start earlier, but when we called Nyx interrupted our calls and refused to wake you up so we had to come here.”

“I’m a growing girl, and I need my sleep,” I mumbled, grabbing some sort of sandwich out of the fridge and taking a bite. The crunchy leaf and tangy slices on it had too much flavor for my taste, but I still choked it down. “So, did we come up with a better plan?”

“Unfortunately, no,” Sharron replied quietly. “After some quick research last night I learned it would be pretty easy to remove the board from power, but it would leave a power vacuum that would leave the city in pretty rough shape.”

“Especially when they’re still fighting in the streets,” Nora added.

“Is our best option still to call Stalking, and see if she has any ideas?” I asked before taking another bite of my sandwich.

“Probably. We haven’t been able to come up with a better idea yet,” Angeline replied.

“Fine,” I said as I wandered over and slipped into a chair next to everyone else. “Let’s get this over with.”

Angeline pulled a small hemispherical device out of her jacket and placed it in the middle of the table, then tapped the middle of it once. The speaker on it beeped twice, before Stalking Shadow’s silky voice emerged. “Wide-Eyes, darling, what can I do for you today?”

“I’m here with a couple others. Hel, Humboldt, Hoppy and Teddy, and we wanted to talk to you about something,” Angeline said. “Do you have a couple minutes?”

“Of course. What can I help you with this morning?”

“We need someone to take over the city when I destroy the council!” I declared, mouth still half full.

Stalking sighed. “Teddy, my dear, it’s good to hear your voice again, but you really need to work on your subtlety.”

“Blunt is faster,” I grunted.

“Indeed. I take it that the information Zetta has been disseminating, along with the rumors my own network has been passing me are true then? The council attempted to use descension protocols on an occupied area?” 

“Indeed,” I said, popping the last of my meal into my mouth. “I have no problem with incompetence, but wholesale slaughter of civilians crosses the line. They have to go.”

Stalking was quiet for a moment. “That would be difficult. It’s not just that the council is incumbent, but they’ve spent years putting policies and practices to entrench themselves. Most of the information and control systems don’t go through the council office, but their company headquarters. That includes taxes, government databases, and payroll.”

Hel narrowed her eyes. “And I’m guessing that money has never been fully accounted for, or audited.”

“That’s just how things are done around here. The system was working, but I do agree with you, they’ve crossed a line,” Stalking admitted. 

“So do you have any ideas?” Nora asked, leaning closer to the small speaker. “You have more experience with this than we do.”

“The databases need to be recovered before anything else. The council has threatened to wipe them when their position was threatened before. Once that’s in your hands, you’d need a temporary government body ready to take their place.”

“That’s kind of why we’re calling. We didn’t know about the databases, so that’s good information, but we were really hoping you might have some ideas on who we can get to replace them,” Angeline said. “We don’t really have any experience with governmental stuff.”

“Darling, you’re not going to find anyone with experience around here, no matter how hard you look. The big five have just been in power for too long,” Stalking said. “The best you can do is put together a framework, and make sure you get the support of the different factions before you make a move.”

“You mean the citizens, and the different mega corporations?” Sharron asked. “Because I think the citizens are already on board. The news feeds reported protesters gathering outside the council building within minutes of Zetta releasing the news.”

“Oh, I’m not talking about them. The truth is it’s been so long since the people held any power, and they’re so used to being pushed down, that once the council is removed they’re really not going to care who’s in power. Sure, there’ll be a few enterprising individuals that will want to take power, but that’ll be entirely for their own benefit. It’s the same with the corps. I’m talking about the samurai factions,” Stalking explained. “There’s a number of people that have vested interests in making sure the corporations have power, and another group which believes the city shouldn’t be under corporate control. They’ve been content to snipe at each other, and push for new reforms up to this point, but if you remove the council you set a precedent. Putting a corporate group in charge would probably drive the anti-corporate group to take action. Likewise for a civilian government.”

“This sounds like it’s going to be a lot more complicated than expected,” I grumbled. “I was just planning on destroying the council, and beating the crap out of Mirage if he complained. Now there’s talk of doing a ton of administration, and appeasing the different samurai factions? Too complicated, I’m out!”

Everyone looked at me, looks ranging from distrust to disbelief. “You’re just going to let the issue drop? After what happened yesterday?” Sharron asked in disbelief.

“Fuck no! I’m just not going to be involved in the planning part. It’s long, boring, and I’m already frustrated with the situation. I’ll leave that to you all, and just deal with the council,” I explained.

“Evelyn…” Sharron brought up a hand and pinched the bridge of her nose. “Weren’t you paying attention? We can’t make a move on the council until everything is prepared. Please don’t be difficult.”

“I’ll be whatever I want to be!” I declared loudly, raising eyebrows around the table. “I realize we can’t remove the council this instant, you all made that clear, but that doesn’t mean we have to put up with the bullshit in the streets. These assholes have been roughhousing inside for far too long, and damaged too much of the furniture, it’s time to force them to take it outside.”

“I followed right up until that last metaphor, but now you’ve completely lost me,” Angeline admitted. “Force who to take it outside where?”

“Denver, and the council,” I clarified. “Outside the walls. I didn’t want to get involved in the conflict, but after what happened yesterday I realized I can’t let them have free reign of the city any longer. If they want to fight, they can do it elsewhere.”

“And how, exactly, are you planning to convince them to leave?” Hel asked. “I could honestly see you doing it if your forces were at full strength, but most of the bears are tied up running security for the refugee camps!”

“Well, Zetta has been spreading the news about what happened yesterday. By now both sides should have heard that the samurai are pissed, and we destroyed not only a superheavy but a full armored column. Hopefully I can use that, along with deploying my Kodiaks in a display of strength, to convince them to move on relatively peacefully.”

“And what if they call your bluff?” Angeline asked quietly.

“Who said anything about bluffing? In a straight up fight my forces will come out ahead. Not only that, but whoever fights me will weaken their own forces before the next big battle. If they’re smart, they won’t try anything.”

“The council tried to collapse part of the city, I think we’re well beyond the realm of smart,” Nora said sarcastically.

“That’s a good point,” I admitted, “but this does provide one other advantage. If I throw another curveball at the council, they’ll be too busy trying to figure out how to deal with me, and won’t see the coup coming.”

“You hope,” Sharron added. 

“I hope,” I confirmed.

“Nothing we say is going to convince you this is a bad idea, is it?” Hel asked.

“Nope, the time of thinking has passed. Now is the time for action!”

“Fine,” Hel sighed. “Just don’t go overboard. Remember, you’re trying to improve the situation, not aggravate it. I don’t want to hear that a three way brawl erupted in the middle of the city.”

“I’ll do my best, but that’s up to them,” I said, pushing away from the table. “I’ll leave the planning to you all, just leave the action to me!”

As I headed towards the garage I just heard the faintest whisper from Stalking, “I really hope you know what you’re doing.”