Watchers

Chapter 22: Dinner in the Elimination Room

Daniel picks up the envelope and everyone in the room is looking at him expectantly. He wonders why Melody gave it to him instead of just tearing it open – is it part of the game to make him confess his own sins out loud?

Sasha puts her hand on his shoulder and says, her voice tremulous, "Don't read it. Rip it up."

"That won't help," Taylor says from the center of the table. He seems completely disinterested in the outcome of this little twist of events, and he's got his mason jar in his hand, rattling it and riling up the centipede within. He says, "We're the only people who don't know the contents of that envelope. If you don't read it, Mer and Rob will do it for you. Better take your medicine, man."

Daniel turns the envelope over and puts his finger beneath the flap. There could be any number of secrets in there, and his number on the glass wall in front of him is already rising simply because Melody chose him instead of some other poor schmuck. He knows why she did it – he's an easy target – and he doesn't really care if the other people in this room find out whatever shameful things the producers were able to dig up about him. He doesn't even really care about the opinions of all the viewers spitefully voting for him. But he looks at Sasha's hand on his shoulder and he doesn't want to lose her respect – she's been nothing but kind and compassionate toward him, and those are rare qualities.

Taylor's right though – he has no choice. Daniel knows which piece of his past would be most damning and he has a pretty good idea of what he'll find in this envelope. He rips it open and pulls out a single piece of thick cardstock. Turning it over, he sees two sentences, and he's more surprised at the fact that they're embossed than at the contents. Who takes the time to emboss a dirty secret on a nice piece of stationery before using it to kill someone off?

"What does it say?" Sasha asks.

Daniel sighs and then reads, "I am the son of Senator Moreland, survivor of the Capitol Hill Massacre."

There's a little bit of surprised whispering at the table and Daniel sees that his number is going up again – it's just over 300,000 now – but of course Sasha already knows this much. Father Gary knew it, and some of the viewing audience had probably already identified him – especially after all the backlash over his expensive transition surgery, Daniel has a recognizable face in politically-minded circles.

"Is that all?" Taylor asks, needling him.

"No," Daniel says through gritted teeth.

"Keep going," he says, "or they're going to read it for you."

"I am the son of Senator Moreland, survivor of the Capitol Hill Massacre," Daniel repeats, "and for the last five years, I've been following in his footsteps to become a politician."

Sasha's hand drops away from Daniel's shoulder and the votes under his name are really pouring in now, almost half a million. Clearly there are a lot of Mark Brickner sympathizers in the audience, but there's nothing Daniel can do about that - they believe that his father was the real monster in that situation, and he knows from years of dealing with them that nothing will change their minds.

It had a lot to do with the reason why that statement - I've been following in my father's footsteps - was only true until three months ago, but if there's anyone Daniel has the urge to explain himself to, it's Sasha.

He looks at her and she asks, "Is it true? You're a politician like your father?"

Politician.

It has become a dirty word in most people's mouths by now, but it sounds downright obscene coming from Sasha's lips and a wave of guilt washes over Daniel. It wasn't the secret he'd been expecting to find in his envelope, but somehow this one is so much worse.