The Inaugural Address

PART I - CHAPTER IX

9.

"Please tell us what's going on," Brock asked behind me as we all headed down the stairs of the interview building. We had three flights to descend, and we figured Mabel would be waiting for us on the ground level. Charity replied with silence, and so I joined Brock's effort.

"Charity, please," I began. "After you all left, Eleanor told us–" My sentence was cut short by Charity, who abruptly turned before me on the stairs, wide eyed. We watched as she gestured with her left hand to stay silent. Her right hand simultaneously reached into a pocket on her jacket, pulling out a piece of paper. As she unfolded it, Brock and I paused quickly to read what was written on it.

"I HAVE A WIRE ON. MABEL CAN HERE US. DO NOT SAY ANYTHING, IT ISN'T SAFE."

Both Brock and I took a second to process Charity's warning. I blinked in amazement at the situation we were in, and glanced back at Brock to see his reaction. He was just as unsatisfied with the vague warning as I was, and gestured with his hands outward as he silently mouthed to Charity: 'WHAT'S GOING ON?'

My eyes jolted back to Charity, who sighed quietly in return. She mouthed back slowly while holding up one pointer finger. 'ONE SECOND, TRUST ME, PLEASE.'

Both Brock and I then mimicked her sigh and Charity continued our descent to the ground level. My thoughts raced as we approached the exit.

My mind began to contemplate what could be waiting for us on the other side of the exit door at the bottom of the stairs. Could we be taken to Liberty and tried as traitors to Mabel's rebellion? Was Mabel going to imprison us and use our imprisonment as an example of her power? Would she turn us over to the House of Scorpius and Alexander IV as some type of bargaining chip for Alexandria?

I had no idea how a trial orchestrated by the leaders of a rebellion would commence, but I knew it was most likely doomed to be brutal. Brock and I wouldn't have any entity but ourselves as defense, and we were obviously powerless against any of Eleanors's three movements.

Eleanor, oh yeah – where was she?

After Brock pulled me away from her up in the studio, Eleanor practically disappeared. She could've been taken by one of Mabel's guards, or even by one of Alexander IV's soldiers, if they somehow showed up. She definitely wasn't making either movement happy, and I guess neither was I.

Mabel could easily be waiting at the bottom of the stairs with Eleanor. Two guards could be wielding two pairs of handcuffs, one for Brock and another for me. Would Charity walk us into a trap? Would she have been informed that she was by Mabel if that was Mabel's intention? Regardless, we were headed down to the staircase all the same. Hell, Emperor Alexander IV could be waiting for us at the bottom.

We approached the last flight of stairs and I started to hear what was occurring outside. Gunshots, shouting, and other associated sounds of heavy artillery; all muted by the windowless stairwell, filled the air. I watched as Charity slowed down while we approached the exit. I can confidently say that not one of us wanted to leave the safety of the stairwell. The battle going on outside naturally made us all freeze up a bit. What were we walking into?

"Ariesan soldiers," Charity spoke over the muted gunfire. "They found out about the livestream shortly after it began, they're bombing Taupo and trying to capture you."

Great! Our enemies were fighting our other enemies, and they both wanted me.

"Oh my god," Brock replied, "Is it safe to leave?" I witnessed as he couldn't hide that his mind and emotions were racing. "We need to save Taupo, it's our home!" He suddenly jolted past me and Charity toward the door, to which Charity countered by standing in front of the door, blocking him from opening it.