NOVEL WEB Chapter 217: Like them.
The chanting of thousands of people came in through the walls and windows like there was an uprising outside, a rebellion that was ready to unleash against the government, and it really felt that way… finally the people had a reason to raise their voice because the government didn't even have the power to save the Vice President, didn't even have the power to stop the massacre at 5th Avenue… so how can they believe in anything that they say?
The voices shouting "justice" not just meant to solve the case of what really happened but justice to them, to the people after years of corruption, years of suffering. Yeah, in the crowd weren't the supporters of the government but people who had enough of all this bullshit, the people who didn't want to just sit in their house while outside a war is breaking out, just like years ago, when they didn't even let their children out or go to school because who knew when a madman walks something terrible happens.
Yeah, these people are the working-class people, those who fight to survive in the city, who live paycheck to paycheck while they see the politicians in luxury cars and restaurants, while gangsters live their lives freely, not even scared of the government and its agents… yeah, the last gangster war, even if it ended, was in favor of the gangsters… but now they're not going to let it slide if that happens again.
No, they had enough and they will revolt and choose a president that's for the people and not for the money, for the corruption.
That's exactly what William said and knew, his speech, their speech had a 50-50 chance to actually work on people. He needed to grab that last bit of hope that they have in the government, but now seeing this many people outside he was more sure that the 50-50 chance was not in balance, it was more like 30-70, and if that happened then a catastrophe is going to go through the country.
First, if an uprising happens, it's not giving hope to the people, not even a little bit of it, because during an uprising the government focuses all of their power to restrain order. And even if that's not what happens and let's say the law enforcement sides with the people, a hole is going to be created.
A hole which the gangsters, the mafias, and all the criminals can use to get more power, to cause more outrage, smuggle more, and get more powerful. Yeah, all of the uprisings and rebellions against the government worked exactly for the criminals because they could work under the radar, nobody even gave a fuck about them. That's how some countries fell into terrorist regimes, the people focused on the bigger picture too much, for their future, that they didn't even realize that in the shadows the monster awakened and just got bigger.
And that monster right now was Bellini and the cartel. If the government falls they will have a fucking party and they will get so comfortable killing each other and ruling over regions that nobody would even have the chance to totally erase them.
In that scenario they would be like cockroaches, you can stomp them to death, but they rise again and again, they will always have more to back them up, they will always come back.
That's exactly why William had to make a hard decision that nobody knew about, only the four-star general of the Marine Corps, Fido Mires. If something bad were to happen, he would be ready to stop the country turning into a bloodbath... or moreover, make a bloodbath to stop the country turning into a playground for monsters.
"Are you okay, William?" Linda asked because he was visibly sweating like hell and his hand was shaking as he sat there just staring at his speech, but fuck he needed to get his shit together, he is the man of the country, the one that has the most power and the one that needs to be the light in dark times.
"Yeah, I'm good." He said as he looked at her and that's when he realized that Linda was asking the question, but she looked more shit than him.
Her whole face was drained and pale, her whole body was shaking as she stood there… and well, it was understandable to him. He made too many decisions without even telling them any of it, and now she needs to stand in front of an angry crowd that demands answers… and deliver her speech… but it's another thing to actually read it out loud.
And they all knew it, it's not just about standing there and reading the whole shit, no, they need to look powerful, full of charisma and show the people they still have the power and the order, to show them they are for them… but now in that state only one thing was visible.
They are in deep shit and scared as fuck, panicking… at least that's how Linda looked like, and the others were doing actually pretty good. Well, they are directors of the agencies and they were trained in manipulation and speeches to their agents, so that wasn't a problem for them at all, they can lie and manipulate with ease, but that's not true for Linda.
She never spoke to thousands of people, only hundreds and that too was a celebration, not a speech about the crisis and what they will do to literally not throw the country into a fucking rebellion. Yeah, she needed to find her voice and how to articulate in a way that she shows how good she is and charismatic.
Not just that, but she is a woman in high power, which means expectations from her, to show that she is standing not just with the public but with the women too. Yeah, she needs to show that they have power, they don't live in the 1900s where women are just good for the kitchen and to be a slave to the men and the system. Yeah, it sounds kinda bad, but she needs to sound greedy, egoist, and the main point is to reach the heart of the women who are suffering in jobs that pay nothing.
Gender equality, that's what she needed to grab and show women that they have power, they have a future.
But that was a very hard part because as she went through her speech she saw a name that was very familiar to her… the police officer, the woman that James killed with the chief, but not just that, the missing journalist's name was in there too, and with countless missing women who needed to be street girls to make money, but disappeared in the night. She could sympathize and it was a cause that needed attention and fair explanation, but the thing was that she was there when the officer was killed by James and she saw when again James shot that journalist. That speech was full of things that she experienced, saw with her own eyes, and she slowly realized that they really didn't do shit in the last years, just lived like fucking oligarchs, while the people just got more and more furious because even if there wasn't that much shooting and fighting between gangsters, the economy didn't change, it was just worse when the prices skyrocketed and the minimum wage became the lowest in the Union.
"Linda, just articulate and have power in your voice, let them hear it serious and under control." William suddenly said. "Don't panic, if you get stuck just say something in your own words, don't let the people's voices deter you, use your hand to gesture toward them, toward yourself, you need to be a preacher with passion." He finished, and well, it wasn't really doing anything to Linda, she was just looking at him with more lostness than before.
Preaching while they stole the whole country?
What a fucking joke. And as she looked at the others, she realized that something was off… because there wasn't any reaction at all from them. They were glued to their speech, and it told her that something was wrong… especially because Stephen's mouth was wide open as he read it, he didn't even blink, while Thomas's hands were shaking, the hands that held many secret files and read through them… now shaking from a speech.
"Shit… I mean with respect, Mr. President, but this is just… just like Maraci, the Bermuda convection will—"
William put up his hands. "Key word: 'like' Maraci, because it's not fully how they did it, it's mixed with our own version."
Yeah, Linda was sweating like shit while her speech was lightweight compared to the others… they had so many things to say out loud that it was just… fuck, they couldn't even fucking believe that their speech wasn't a speech, but orders to be said out loud.
Orders that will truly reform the whole country and its system.