Neon District: Redux

Part Three Chapter Three: Checkers and Chess

       Yuka entered Manzo's office to be greeted by nothing. No sound came from the television that was usually left on in the corner. No sound from the windows as the rain that gently pattered against it did so soundlessly. Manzo would normally had made a grim remark as an icebreaker or as a joke, but even he didn't utter a word. They never were funny, but this silence was what greeted her every time for the past couple of weeks.

       Manzo sat in his office chair and stared out the large windows that overlooked the District- the district he was elected into to protect. He didn't seem to notice his assistant's arrival until she stood right next to him and stared out the window as well. 

       "Everything alright?" was all Yuka asked of him. He didn't seem like his usual self and had acted a such those couple of weeks.

       "Nothing has gone the way we had planned it for," he replied quietly, his pointer finger digging into the side of his head, resting on it.

        Nothing going as planned had to be an understatement and a lie. Manzo's plans had gone the way he had wanted it to: the social classes in the District were flipped on its side with the wealthy becoming the new poor and vice versa. Yuka just believed that the he hadn't expected the outcome that followed after doing so.

       With everything out of order, many business owners were forced to close their doors for good and move somewhere else. Many of the leading scientists at Amery Labs were either let go or murdered due to the surge in crime two years ago. The economy was failing due to the crime spiking and it didn't help either that inmates from the local prisons are being set free due to budget cuts. 

       To some, it may seem like the utopia that they were searching for, but eventually people would start to realize that those who had money will be the next target. It's a never ending cycle: someone kills the wealthy, then a new wealthy comes into power and so on.

       "There is a way of fixing it," she started, glancing her grey eyes down on him, "you could always get someone else to come in and fix it."

       Manzo darted his attention away from the window and right at Yuka- his face a mask of fury. "And give up the power I have? Why on Earth would I do that?" he didn't let her pipe in as he continued, "I didn't spend years racking up a following of clueless followers in that cult, win the election, and have you dispose of Eiji just so I will give it all up!"

       "Then what are you going to do about it?" was the last thing she remembered asking him that day.

       "Nothing. It'll sort itself out if we leave it alone. The economy always bounces back," he replied before going back to staring out the window. A silent dismissal.

       The economy normally bounced back if this were a normal society, but this wasn't normal anymore. That was what she was going to tell him but she opted to just leave silently instead.

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       "So Manzo simply didn't benefit you anymore," Veila said as more of a statement than a question. Yuka only shrugged a shoulder. "How is it that you are going to put someone different into power?" she questioned this time.

       "Just leave that to me," Yuka began, resting her arms on the table and leaning forward a bit, "but since I will be out of the picture for a little while to do so I'll need you to find someone for me." 

       "Who?"

       "Abby."

        "What is she needed for?"

       Yuka licked her dry lips and stared off to the side, bashfully. "I am unsure, but I have a feeling she will be useful."

       She could feel the eye roll off of Veila. "That's rich coming from you."