S1, E9 | Dreams of Reunification

“What is this about?” Blake contests, climbing out of the chair he’d taken upon hearing of his rally’s delay hours prior, hands held out at each side as he approaches the well-dressed president. “Sudden change of plans for my day. I needed to address the public and decided that I liked the acoustics here more than where Sparks is holding his” Ken answers, adjusting the flaps of his jacket as he walks through the door.

“I thought there were rules you set for these campaigns” Blake rebuttals, watching the man approach before carrying on past him, following the president each step of the way, “you can take the venue without notice, but you can’t do it to campaign for your own re-election.” Grunting as he struggles to slip one button of his blazer into the slot it belongs to halfway up the outfit, Ken continues to carry himself toward the stage set up directly at one end of the building.

“I’m not campaigning for my re-election” Ken reassures upon finally fitting his suit into place, reaching for the railing that stands at one side of the steps before taking the first stair up. “What the hell are you doing then? What is this all about?” Blake queries, pressing his hands to his hips as he remains standing on the ground, aware that he can’t follow the nation’s leader onto the platform that he, himself, was meant to occupy on this night.

“Something that you’re not going to like” the president answers, climbing the rest of the way to the stage before receiving as cold of a reaction from the hostile audience as one could anticipate. Looking away whilst shaking his head, Blake lets the president’s security carry past him before retreating to the sound of the audience’s collective jeering, their displeasure for the man who’d founded the nation they call home refusing to hide itself behind pressed lips.

His face sporting the lifted eyebrows of a man neither bothered, nor phased by the negative reception that he receives, Ken casually approaches the podium that the icon of the collective audience was meant to occupy himself, clearing his throat before doing so. “Thank you for the warm welcome” the president sarcastically comments, receiving an even louder chorus of booing as he chuckles to himself, keeping his satisfaction at the elicited response mostly subdued.

Jeering as loudly as they can, the populace vehemently in support of the man that their president had ousted from being able to speak tonight refuse to allow their voices to cease their aggression without it being earned. Seeing this and continuing to hear the roar of those who couldn’t be less enthused by his presence if they tried, Ken lets his humoured expression begin to settle as he lifts a hand toward the audience, letting it remain in the air changing nothing about his reception for a few seconds before speaking.

“The sooner you let me speak, the sooner I can leave and the sooner Mr. Dean can join you on stage” Ken comments, offering the audience their choices and waiting for them to choose as the jeering begins to slowly settle. Within a minute, the roaring begins to die down as those who choose to settle their negative ovation favour telling each other to follow suit, one by one lessening the thunderous howling of the crowd to free the air for their elected leader to speak.

“It’s been less than a year since I was elected to this position, and I’ll acknowledge that I haven’t done a fantastic job at keeping you from being taken advantage of” the president declares, owning up to the shortcomings that bring so many people to this building in the first place. “Many of you are homeless, many of you don’t have food, many of you don’t feel safe, and many of you live life in a way that I can’t imagine” Ken declares, shaking his head with disapproval, “there’s no argument against that.”

Hearing the leader’s voice reflecting off the roof and the walls of the building he’d booked for the evening, Blake remains standing off stage with his arms crossed, looking into the distance with eyes on the ceiling, trying to follow the sound of the president’s voice with his glare. “I’ll be honest, I see that as a bigger problem than perhaps many of you realise” Ken confesses, placing the palms of either hand against the surface of the rostrum.

“I’ve forced you to look to people like Mr. Dean for your hope when I was the one elected to give you that” he furthers, drawing only a few rounds of applause from members of the audience who don’t pay attention other than the dropping of their preferred candidate’s name. “Let’s be honest, Mr. Dean is just as guilty of dragging you into a lack of prosperity as any of the other business owners in Free Boston” Ken remarks, drawing a much greater rounds of boos than the minute applause the rival candidate’s name had elicited seconds prior.

“Does he not, Free Boston? Is he not one of two people in charge of operating that farm in the old village? Does he not have near-sole control of emergency services?” Ken questions back, still earning a poor reception, “let’s be honest with ourselves. He’s just as bad as anyone else, but you feel forced to buy into the narrative he’s painting.”

Drawing further ire from the audience, the incumbent president lifts a hand and hangs his head, gesturing for the audience that he will remain standing by patiently in wait for his next opportunity to speak. Quietly keeping to himself beyond the audience’s line of sight, Blake smirks to himself and conceals his laughter, taking joy and amusement from the piss-poor reception that the man he wishes to dethrone in a year’s time earns from his supporters.

Making an effort to give into reason, the more vocal members of Dean’s audience begin lulling their negative feedback once more at the behest of the level-headed within them, gradually opening the space up for the president to continue speaking again. “I don’t have as much power as many of you think that I do. Most of what goes on in Free Boston comes from those who have the social power here” Ken explains to a more hushed audience, “you’re lying to yourselves if you think Blake isn’t one of those people.”

Again receiving jeers, Ken presses his lips together with a half-grin and half-frown, watching the audience continue to receive him as poorly as they had when he’d first taken the stage, remaining as patient as he has been through the entire evening. At the same time, Blake shifts his grimace into a more satisfied smirk at the sound of his crowd’s rejection of the president’s comments, feeling the small amount of tension within his upper body lessen as their poor pallet for the leader’s verbal salad makes itself present.

“I’ve decided to give those of you who support Dean because you feel like I’ve given you no other choice an actual second choice” Ken proclaims, speaking as if he were on the campaign trail in a way that Blake no longer concerns himself with off stage, keeping his hopes that the president is taking over his rally to turn it into one of his own with how poor it’s gone thus far.

“I’ve decided to let the election in around a year’s time be both a choice for who you want to represent Free Boston, as well as a referendum on Free Boston as a whole” Ken explains, prompting the audience’s vocal displeasure for him to begin settling down. Unsure of what’s meant by this, the audience unknowingly joins Blake in looking on with confusion, their growing hush allowing for the president to explain.

“One thing that’s become apparent is that people start fleeing to Athens when the going gets too tough to manage here. To many, the idea of one person making sure that everyone has the same thing as each other is preferable to what we have here” Ken confesses, looking out at the audience and their perplexed expressions staring back at him.

“Pretend that Mr. Dean isn’t just like the rest of the people controlling what you do or don’t get if you want, but the fact is that Free Boston has a very small amount of people controlling things from the very top...” the president continues, lifting one hand to point a finger into the audience that suddenly becomes far more quiet than it had been throughout the night, “...and none of you are one of them.”

Finally criticising the audience’s line of thought without receiving massive blowback for it, Ken is left returning his palm to the flat surface of his tribune, looking out at the audience as they wait to hear him out. “President Leon Grave over in Athens has come over to speak with me a few times in the last few weeks to point this out to me. Unfortunately, I already knew what he had long before he told me” the Free Boston founder continues, pressing his lips together in a frown.

Continuing to squint as he looks toward the heavens, the amusement in Blake’s visage completely disperses as he goes just as quiet and becomes just as reserved as the rest of his supporters do, trying to uncover where the president is going with this address. “In addition to appointing- amongst other things- a pro-expansionist vice president, President Grave has informed me that he’s willing to open Athens to Free Bostonians more than he has been in the past” Ken confesses, continuing to receive silence.

“He’s not willing to go all-in on being a federally-supervised capitalist utopia or anything, but he’s willing to improve the relationship between our two sides in ways that might help prevent you all from feeling like you’re trapped in a prison you’re destined to suffer in” the president explains, watching the audience’s doubts appear present through their posture, though their mouths refuse to part in an effort to stifle his comments.

“Halfway between now and the vote to elect a new president of Free Boston, I’m going to hold a public referendum protected by the same terms as our leadership elections” Ken explains, following through on the point of his trip to Blake’s neck of the woods, “a referendum that will allow you to decide whether or not you want to live a life of depending on others making you promises that you can only hope they’ll keep.”

Whilst some don’t understand the term, others don’t understand the point that’s trying to be made, a reality that prompts the man who makes them this promise to double down. “In the summer of next year, I’ll give you the option to choose whether or not you want Free Boston to merge back with the Nation of Athens in a federal, communal-capitalist society” Ken declares, earning an immediate wave of hushed surprise from the audience that now understands his more-direct explanation.

“A group of people that you will vote for would oversee a unified Free Boston-Athens government tasked with allowing trade and bartering just like what we’d negotiated for when our two sides had been forced into one years ago...” the president furthers, “...whilst remaining rooted in Athens’ control of keeping people from growing too powerful to be controlled by those that you have chosen to be spoken for.”

Garnering interest at the very least, the president looks out at the audience as they speak amongst each other, discussing what’s vowed to them whilst the nation’s leader carries on. “If Free Boston votes ‘no’, then nothing will change. The election next winter will be just to determine Free Boston’s next leader and that’s it” Ken continues to remark, lifting a finger amidst his pause, “but if Free Boston votes ‘yes’, then the election next winter will be for both a president and a decision.”

Scowling, Blake squints his right eye at the sound of the proclamation that bounces off the roof, echoing toward him before reverberating back across the athletic grounds. “Each candidate in next winter’s election must take a stance either in favour of reunification or against it” Ken announces, pressing the palm of his hand against his chest, “if the referendum passes, then who Free Boston votes for next winter will be someone who either refuses to accept the referendum, or who carries out the people’s decision and approves it.”

Receiving no applause for his comments, Ken watches many within the audience at least nod or look toward him with faces of pleasure at the opportunity that’s provided. “I’ll lead by example and confess that I am in favour of the reunification after the last few years” the president comments, standing his ground and doing his part, “I have failed to lead you adequately, but I will not leave office without trying to make right in that and giving you a way out of the mess I made for you. Thank you and goodnight.”

Turning back without anything more to add, Ken suddenly makes his way to the steps that he’d ascended and returns to the backstage area, finding a perturbed candidate waiting for him with crossed arms and an angry visage. “This is not going to go over well with the others, Mr. Spence” Blake remarks, watching the shrug that the president returns to him precede the unbothered expression that the president wears.

“I’m doing you a favour, Mr. Dean. You’re not the man that you make yourself out to be for these people, and you have just as much control of those others as I do. So if you think your presidency would go any differently than mine, you’re leading a farce” Ken responds, patting the powerful figure on the shoulder as he prepares to walk away, “had it not been me making this offer to them tonight, it would’ve been your head on the chopping block when they forced you to give it to them two years from now.”

Looking back toward the stage with his bottom lip sucked between his teeth, Blake allows the president to carry on with his night without further comment, having nothing left to offer the man who’s already chosen to play his cards as they are. With a click, the candidate’s mouth opens as he lets out a deep breath and swipes at his own chest, running out any of the creases in his suit jacket as he climbs the steps, returning to the stage to the sound of a massive ovation with his hands raised high in the air, waving to his supporters.

= Athens of America is created by Zachary Serra, all rights to the series belong to Zachary Serra and his entity of Pacer1 from the start of Season 1 onwards =

“You may enter, wise one” Leon jokes, calling back toward the entrance of his suite whilst rummaging through his dresser in search of a shirt for his currently uncovered upper half. “Are you planning on dying or something that I don’t know about?” Velma questions aloud the moment she steps through the door, catching the president of her ballpark-centred nation by surprise, though his unmoved reaction wouldn’t suggest such to be the case.

“Well, if I was going to die, I’d like it to be of a heart attack while I’m high on cocaine and surrounded by beautiful, naked women” Leon responds, shrugging as he puckers his lips and shakes his head, “so, if you’re planning my death, I’d appreciate it if you followed that request.” As indifferent to the man’s comments as he was to her sudden inquiry over his perceived mortality, Velma tilts her head to the side with her mouth agape, the bottom of her jaw shifting to the right.

“Why do you ask, Velly?” Leon inquires, laughing off their brief exchange of humour in favour of returning to his search for a reasonable shirt. “Because Jaime came up to me a few days ago- before you publicly named her as the V.P- and said something that I just can’t shake from my head” Velma answers, crossing her arms before walking over to the man’s bed, taking a seat at the end of it as the president reaches into a stack of shirts and picks out a light grey, long-sleeved shirt.

“Should I ask or should I have stayed quiet and waited for you to tell me?” Leon queries, slipping the article of clothing away from its pile before turning back toward the woman. “She said you named her the vice president because you wanted Athens to be modelled more like the Angelino Republic if anything were to happen to you that left her in charge” Velma responds, watching the man dress as she speaks, “she said Athens as it stands probably wouldn’t exist for long without you.”

“That’s interesting” Leon responds, walking over to the kitchen without saying anything else at first, pausing as he lifts the kettle from its base and pours its water into the french press already fitted with the coffee his closest confidants cannot tolerate. “I was wondering if she even cared to question what would have moved me to name her as the vice president. I figured there was a chance she might not” the president confesses, “but not only did she question it, but she found the answer pretty fast.”

“So it’s true?” Velma questions back, looking at the man as he carefully lowers the kettle back down, reaching for the plunger that he slowly fits back into the top of the beaker. “The only reason people decided to start following my orders was because they saw me stand out there and throw myself on the sword when everyone else was too scared to” Leon replies, lifting an eyebrow as he walks to the opposite side of the room from the woman who visits him, “the only reason Athens still lets the current status quo slide is because it hasn’t grown too out of control not to.”

“While I don’t necessarily disagree with you, I don’t think that Athens needs to change in order to survive” Velma responds, allowed to continue speaking as the president ventures over to a chair and sits opposite his confidant. “Don’t get me wrong, I think we should eventually. But I don’t necessarily believe we’ll need to just because you stop being president for some reason” the visitor continues, “I think people will rally around whoever you tell them to rally around.”

“So who should I have named to succeed me?” Leon questions back, only to watch the woman’s head begin to shake without second thought. “Who you choose has nothing to do with this. I think Jaime’s fit for the job and I just want her to be devoted enough to doing it for me to trust that she’ll always do what’s best for Athens” Velma corrects, watching the president lean forward in his seat with hands coupled in his lap.

“I don’t think Athens would need to dramatically shift in any way after you go just to avoid chaos breaking out” she adds on, receiving no push back from the man across from her, but choosing to fall silent as she sees his lips begin to part with the intention of speaking. “I think the only reason that people follow my orders is because they feel like they’re indebted to me” Leon admits, speaking in a tone that sounds more like a whisper, but carries a volume more than capable of filling the air.

“If I gave them extreme orders, I have a hard time believing that there’d be many people willing to push back against me” he continues, wearing an enthusiastic grin so as not to leave the room’s atmosphere feeling too heavy and overbearing. “If someone else took my place, I don’t think they’d have as easy a time of keeping Athens running the way that it is. The people aren’t indebted to that person” Leon concedes, unbothered by what he says, “Athens would need to evolve with its leader.”

“You say that as if Ken Spence hadn’t just offered Free Boston a chance to unify with us one week ago” Velma retorts, watching light fill the eyes of the Athens figurehead as he bows his head with laughter, humouring the woman that speaks to him enough to earn a grin from her as well. “If Free Boston chooses to unify, then I won’t need to worry about needing to change since it’ll already happen” Leon comments, a conclusion that his friend doesn’t react to with anything other than averting eyes.

“Listen, Jaime seemed to have something good going on a scale far larger than what we have between Athens and Free Boston. It was only ruined by powers out of her control” the man explains, watching his friend’s eyes take back toward him as he offers reassurance, “if I go and the people need a reason to keep believing in Athens without me, I trust that she’ll be able to put what she did in Los Angeles to use here.”

|

“I think you’re stepping on toes that you’d been pretty good about not stepping on until now” an older man with grey hair trimmed in a short, yet professional manner remarks. “No one’s saying that it’s popular, Gerald. But what I am saying is that it’s a necessity that most of you don’t realise is a necessity yet” Ken retorts, casually leaning back in his chair without receiving a flattering reception from those that his office hosts.

“Before the tragedy, there was a reason why governments didn’t spend money on infrastructure upgrades until things started falling apart, Kenny” a black man remarks from the chesterfield in the corner of the president’s office, wearing a suit and sitting with one hand draped over the armrest and one leg crossed over the other.

“Ray’s right. You’ve got to let the people see things crumbling before you fix the crumbling” Gerald doubles down, the only one within the room that has refused to take a seat, “if you fix the problem before it becomes one, all people do is complain that you spent resources fixing a problem that didn’t seem to be one.”

“Unfortunately, the four of you are only here because you realise that it already is a problem, and you’re trying to get me to back off because you’re afraid everything you have is going to crumble” Ken responds, swaying his unbothered head from side to side as he shrugs. “The four of you are thugs that keep the people beneath your finger. That’s the crumbling, and people already see it” the president doubles down, “they’re not asking why I’d bother fixing a non-problem, they’re asking why I didn’t do it sooner.”

“The campaign that I’ve run has already proven that they can be convinced we’re out to help them rather than use them, Mr. Spence” Blake interjects, sitting on the opposite end of the chesterfield from Ray before jutting his chin toward Wallace across the room, “and to his credit, Mr. Sparks has been convincing the more level-headed of them the same thing when he’s not boring them to sleep.”

“The four of you haven’t convinced anyone of anything, which is why we’re in this mess to begin with” Ken responds, leaning forward with an end to his relaxed posture as he couples his hands upon the desk. “I’m the president, so they blame me when they can’t get a meal. But make no mistake about it, they know exactly who’s keeping the food out of their hands” the president warns, “I’m just the middleman for blame here. Winning the presidency for either of you means that you just become the middleman and the rightfully blamed.”

“Our rallies would not see such high attendance if they thought about us what they do” Blake responds, watching the president sway his head from side to side as he shrugs. “Not now, but they certainly wouldn’t be so enthusiastic when you hold them for re-election, now would they?” Ken retorts, voicing his disbelief in the men across the room from him, “you don’t have any idea how to stop their bleeding... none of you do. One one of you becomes the face for your oppression, the rest of you will by association.”

“I would choose my words very carefully if I were you, Ken” Galen warns, seeing a lack of care in the visage of the president that throws hands out at either side, untroubled by the threats that find themselves levied at him. “Do you think I’d have propositioned the people this if I gave a damn what the four of you thought of me? I know how this works” Ken remarks, looking the older gentleman in the eyes as he gradually leans back in his seat.

“Nothing that I’ve said here in this room today has been wrong... It’s just been stuff that you don’t want to hear” the president restates, pointing a finger at the man that stands over him, “you’ve built a house of cards, but you keep convincing yourself that winds can’t possibly get faster than a calm exhale... So there’s no way it can be knocked over.”

“Getting Athens out of the picture would certainly go a long way in preventing the need for a referendum, wouldn’t it?” Blake questions aloud, challenging the president’s thought before being surprised to find a grin handed back to him. “Do you honestly think that Athens is the only other force you’ll ever have to worry about?” Ken wonders aloud, seeing a squint roll through most of the souls within the room.

“Leon Grave just named a woman from Los Angeles as his new vice president. Do you know why she’s here?” the president inquires, seeing a lack of care taken in the faces of those that stand opposite from him. “If you don’t, you’ll certainly get to find out if she chooses to let you know. But not knowing is also the reason I can guarantee that all of you are in over your heads if you think that little Athens is the biggest fish you’ll have to fry... And the biggest one in the pond is not us” Ken concludes.

“We’re getting way off topic here, Kenny” Ray remarks, buttoning the middle-most button of his suit jacket as he climbs off the sofa, approaching Gerald’s side whilst looking the president in the eyes, “you’ve made our lives a lot more difficult with that little stunt last week. You’re lucky we haven’t put our collective differences aside just for the purposes of sending you a message.”

Grinning, Ken presses further back into his seat and looks to the side of the office, allowing the fortunate civilian to offer his comments whilst pretending to be a captivated audience. “I don’t care what the people want and neither do the rest of us. The resources you’ve just demanded from us to campaign people away from this unification dream you have is unacceptable” Ray declares, snapping his fingers in the air to gesture that the president looks him in the eyes, “squash it or we’ll squash you.”

Carrying a squint, Ken watches the lone black man turn away and retreat for the office’s exit, having said his peace and made himself clear beyond doubt. “I’d listen to Ray if I were you, Ken” Gerald proceeds, stepping backward in the direction of the man whom he doubles down on the claim of, “you’re very close to getting out of office unscathed. It’d be smart of you to retract this vow.”

Letting his eyes fall to the surface of his desk, Ken watches as Wallace climbs out of his seat without uttering a word, the older candidate’s eyes immediately taking toward his younger contemporary. “If you luck your way into the presidency, I’d be very careful with how I approach the public, kid” the elder of the presidential hopefuls warns, not caring to address the incumbent president at the back of the room, “if you prove to be what brings this place down, you will be discarded of violently.”

“You already know that I’m going to win this election, Wallace” Blake retorts in a smug tone, matching the older man’s stance of climbing off of the sofa whilst approaching his opponent, believing that the incumbent’s hopes of re-election die alongside his referendum. “I have a reason to believe you stand a very good chance of it, yes...” Wallace replies, closing the distance that the younger of the men had purposefully left between them as his voice lowers to a whisper, “...that’s why I’m warning you.”

Having made his point, Wallace steps out of the office and follows his fellow high-ranking figureheads in venturing beyond the president’s chambers, leaving his young opponent in the room, alone with the incumbent. Turning his scowl toward the man behind the desk, Blake lets one hand slide into his pocket whilst the other hangs loosely by his side.

“You just couldn’t help yourself, could you?” the younger figure of wealth with hopes of soon claiming that chair that Ken currently occupies questions back, “you had to make trouble on your way out of Athens, and you had to make trouble on your way out of here.” Shaking his head with disgust, Blake leaves his comment at that and leaves the office, following the trail of his fellow men of fortunate stance whilst the president watches on, given his ultimatum and promised consequences.

== Athens of America ==