Madam President ✓

29. Offspring

Hours earlier, they'd been rushed up here by secret service service and told to stay like a dog. They didn't like that- but they knew if they protested it would blow their cover. So they layed down to watch some Big Bang theory- having struggled to sleep most of the night.

They related to Sheldon in a way. People knew he was smart, but nobody quite grasped just how smart. He mentioned once that he built a laser in his garage, and a lady from the government came and nicely explained he couldn't do things like that. She felt for him- why not? It's not like he was planing on hurting anybody. They then realized that's where the similarities stopped.

They did plan on hurting people, and they were extremely successful. Thousands died, there were less than ten survivors- and only two of them managed to do so without serious injuries, just as planned. The others were pure miracles, but they would deal with them later on. They knew from eavesdropping on the secret service that most of them were in such critical condition they couldn't move- let alone speak.

And they didn't regret that they'd hurt people either. It was necessary, in their mind- for the greater good.

They continued watching the show and landed on the last episode. Apparently, President Lowe's daughter- who was a previous occupant of this room, loved it too. Sheldon gave his speech- thanking his family of friends.

They'd realized earlier that they didn't have any real friends, but that scene really drove it closer to home. They hadn't had a whole lot of time (not as much as they'd preferred) to plan this thing, so they'd devoted every second they could- despite their other obligations, to getting this done.

They'd stopped talking to their only true ones and stopped sleeping. The person they could always count on, despite what she thought- started noticing and asked one day.

"Have you been sleeping?" Were her exact words.

Because they were a terrible liar- but a great manipulator, they just smiled.

"I'm fine. Never been better, actually."

The last part was sort of true. They knew because of their actions- America would get who it deserved as a leader instead of that thing she'd been sleeping with while thinking it wasn't obvious to those with half a brain.

They turned over and pressed a button on the lamp to turn it off. In the place of light, different colored stars dotted the ceiling and walls and the white LED lights lining them turned on.

They shook their head. They'd never understood the trends among younger members of gen z, but the past year it'd been especially confusing. Most of them seemed to lack empathy. Sure, they knew they did too- but seeing it on a mass scale really put things into perspective.

They spent nearly ten minutes ripping the lights down, preferring to sleep in near darkness and dove under the heavy comforter that didn't belong to them.

They smiled again. Everything was going to be okay.

Their mother was now the president of the United States.