Chapter 1092 – New Year’s 3 – To the New Year
Underneath the screen was a stage and off to the side of the stage was a large tent. Unlike the other temporary structures around, the public was barred from entering this one. Inside, the technical staff, service personnel and politicians were busy going about their individual jobs. Whether that was making sure the bars were equipped with fresh kegs or going over their speech one more time, it was all important.
John turned away from the busy insides and looked up the ramp and to the person currently on the stage. It was the mayor of the Guild Hall, the person that governed the Residential district to the southwest. They also had quite a bit of sway over the Commercial area, so it was a position with a bit more power than the number of people permanently living in the Guild Hall might imply. John could overrule essentially anything they did whenever he wanted. Having them around meant less work and complaints flying directly at him, however.
The speech was listened to by a select few who stood by the fence that separated the stage from the general gathering area. In the first place, the gathering wasn’t that large, about 600 people, since there were other gathering spots all over the city and many preferred to be closer to their homes (or just remain inside them). There were only two reasons to get to the Guild Hall, aside from living there. Either one wanted to watch the events unfold live or they wanted to enjoy the better weather. Both reasons were good, but having to walk and take a boat to get to the event was a dealbreaker for many.
Of that moderately sized crowd, many were talking among themselves. Standing or sitting around provided tables, they sipped their beers and only listened to the mayor with half an ear. They weren’t the reason anyone was here, and they knew that, so the mayor kept their speech light, humorous, and engaged regularly with the people who were directly listening. They probably knew each other anyway.
Eventually it came to an end, the stage dimmed, and the mayor returned. John exchanged a couple of niceties, before the elected official went out to join their friends down on the festival floor. Meanwhile, the screen switched to an entirely different location. On it was the current Speaker of the Commons, delivering her speech. It got even less engagement than the mayor’s.
John turned his head, while the leader of the technical staff and Emrik approached him by the exit of the tent. With an electronic pad in his hand, the former spoke first, “We are one minute thirty seconds behind schedule, but the planned five-minute break can absorb that.” He looked up and gave both John and Emrik a respectful nod. “Please leave on the signal. If you stick to the projected length of your speeches, all will go off as planned.”
“”Good work,”” John and Emrik complimented at the exact same moment. The technical staff leader thought nothing of it and walked away with a smile. The two politicians looked at each other. John could practically feel the awkwardness. Whatever jokes he would have usually made just felt wrong around this guy.
‘I just don’t like him,’ John thought and sighed mentally. ‘Bothersome. He would be useful on my team.’ Since that seemed to be an impossibility with Emrik’s persuasion, John decided to be direct. “You want her job, don’t you?” he asked and gestured at the screen.
Emrik raised an eyebrow for a moment. That was all in terms of surprise that he expressed outwardly. “What makes you think that?” he asked.
“It aligns with your goal to ensure the Lake Alliance remains as independent as possible,” the Gamer answered. He wasn’t afraid of giving Emrik any ideas, there was no way the representative hadn’t figured this out already. “You can get elected to the House of Commons fairly easily and the Speaker position is voted on in the house, so you only need to convince the other representatives.” Emrik stayed silent to the assertion, which was all the answer John needed. Any further confirmation he would need would lie in the content of Emrik’s speech.
Rave walked up to John and hugged him from the side. Absent-mindedly, he put an arm around her waist. He checked the speech in his head one more time. While he wasn’t in the habit of writing down what he would say, he did prepare the talking points and structure in his head. Fully winging anything wasn’t his style.
“You look sexy when you’re serious,” Rave whispered into his ear.
“Do I?” John answered with little words.
Putting his hands on the sides of the podium, John stood straight and proud as he addressed the people. Standing there, the crowd looked a lot larger, even though he could see over all of them. He looked to the main camera, then turned to the Statue of Liberty that rose high behind him.
“I have a great many things to say,” he started, while returning his gaze to the crowd. “Getting all of them done this year would be impossible though.” The joke caused a couple of chuckles in the crowd. “Unsatisfactory as it may be, I want to at least mention a couple. Freedom is a fickle and important good. The freedom to make your own choices and your own mistakes. The freedom to commit atrocities and to forgive. I will tell no one, on either side, who lost a loved one in the war against the Lake Alliance to forgive. It is your free choice to do so. I only ask that you understand that, for the good of the future, it is best if we leave the hostilities behind now.
“I want to mention our great successes. Fusion is not yet a year old, yet it has unified under it vast stretches of land in peace and prosperity. Some of it came with pain, much with loss. I personally paid for my ambitions,” he gestured towards his eyes, “yet I stand strong in what I want to convey. Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, for everyone. Life is not fair, liberty isn’t easy, and the pursuit of happiness has no guarantee to pay off. A world in which we can strive for the wellbeing of us and our loved ones is a good one, regardless. To try and to fail is better than to have never tried at all. I paid for these values in scars... which is little compared to what others have given... which brings me to what I truly wanted to talk about today.”
John’s tone got quieter, sombre and remorseful. He didn’t have to manufacture these feelings, the memories of what he was to address did enough. “There is something I need to address. Even if the Lake Alliance joining us is likely on the top of all of your minds, I must speak to this: I am not a hero,” he told everyone who was willing to listen. “I’m a man with a vision for the world with the strength and the will to enact it. Future generations may write me down as a liberator or a tyrant, but I am not a hero. However, I met one. One true hero, without a doubt.
“It was just four weeks ago, an eternity to me, in many ways, when we had to deal with the Death Zone. Our initial warning was the disappearance of the soldiers we had positioned along the border. The expansion rate of the Death Zone was unknown and our only way to find out the borders was to leave people to be swallowed by it. It was an unknown fate, the worst we could have thought was only surpassed by what I eventually found inside. We only let volunteers stay to do that work. Among those brave souls was a soldier named Mark Jeffson.”
John stopped for a moment to cast down his gaze. Shame at what he had to confess rose to the surface of his thoughts. Although he knew that he had done his best back then, he couldn’t completely suppress that sense of failure and that the staring crowd judged him for it – righteously. “When I went into the Death Zone, I found him by chance. He was being attacked by what had been one of his former comrades, whisked away by the Death Zone days earlier and themselves devoured by the Lorylim. I saved him from death at that moment. I promised to protect him. It was not a promise I could keep. The corruption lay too thick in the air for almost anyone, even trained soldiers, to remain themselves for long. Soon the spores had infected him inside out.
“When it dawned on him, when I told him he wasn’t going to make it, I expected him to cry out in terror. I would have understood if he had cursed at me for getting him into that mess, that he would have lashed out at anything and everything. Instead, with a body filled to the brim with poison, Mark handed me his tag and thanked me for the half an hour I had bought him. He thanked me, and those words will stick with me forever: ‘For what my family gets to inherit’. He died as himself.”
John stopped for a moment, having not realized how close to tears the recollection had brought him. Two soft touches on his back reminded him that he wasn’t alone up there. Momo and Rave smiled at him and Emrik, two steps away, seemed stunned by the display. Was it so surprising to see the Gamer feel such intense sorrow to the pragmatist?
Before he could be distracted with the search for an answer, John continued. “That is heroism,” he stated. “What courage lies in my actions, when I fight someone who cannot hope to defeat me? What honour is there in achieving goals that benefit me? I couldn’t possibly claim the title of hero, when it should be reserved for those who, despite every likelihood that they will be harmed or die, do the right thing. Someone who faces even death with the belief of a better tomorrow. Mark was a hero, the soldiers whose end I couldn’t witness, they were heroes. Their sacrifices shall never be forgotten.”
He cleared his throat and straightened up, he knew he had to finish up fast now. “My resolution is to live, in whatever little way I can, aspiring to those feats of heroism. I wish for you all to do the same. Be forthright, keep your swords sharp and sheathed, be brave, be humble, and carry the burden you can. Let us live happily, for those who can’t anymore.”
With that, he ended his speech and took the fountain pen. “A good speech,” Emrik complimented, while they both put their signature under the document. The touched and stunned crowd, one by one, fell into the countdown that was being displayed on the screen. Silence was swept away by the growing unity of hundreds of voices, more joining with each number.
The zero came, the cheers erupted, John held up the signed contract, and behind him the torch of Lady Liberty ignited with Salamander’s flame. It illuminated the night in a flash that dimmed swiftly, as countless rockets rose up into the air around it and all over the city. A steady drum of explosions echoed over the city, over the country, over the nation, and sparkling lights drove back the darkness of the winter.
On the stage, John smiled and invested his GP into Guild Perks. A couple taps later, the Guild Hall upgraded to Tier 5, triggering that fantastic, iridescent view of a barrier expanding. A wall of rainbow surrounded them on all sides, pushing outwards until it hit the new boundaries of their home.
The singular tear that rolled down his cheek was kissed away by his girlfriend.