NOVEL WEB Chapter 219: Time has come.
"This is ISB news, and as you can see, finally the door has opened on the presidential building, and with dozens of Secret Service agents, the president has come out with the side of the Justice Minister and with the Agencies directors." The camera zoomed onto the dozens of guards escorting them to the podium where the speech will be held.
"Today the nation finally gets answers… answers after years of living chaos.Today the questions will be answered, does the nation step toward the greater or fall back to the chaos it was always in? Stay with us, ISB News." The camera zoomed to the podium where more guards stood while the thousand of people still chanted the same words over and over again.
And finally, they truly understood the scale of it as they stood up to the podium. There were people everywhere, the whole park was stuffed with them, there was not even an empty spot, thousands, tens of thousands of eyes were looking at them for answers, and for what is going to happen to the country now.
"Stay calm." William said once again as he looked through all of them and with it, he stepped up to the front of the microphone and silence fell.
All of the people suddenly fell to silence, not even a sound could be heard as he was looking at them, as he was taking that moment of silence, like he was showing he is still the authority, that people still became silent when he stepped to the microphone, that they still respect him, him the power.
Meanwhile, Linda was just staring even more because it was on a whole fucking other level with all of those people, and well the other too started a little bit stressed, but not by the people, but by the speech they had to deliver… it was just too much, too even say in a meeting and now they need to say it out loud.
And even if they say it out loud, who knows what chain reaction it's going to cause in the government, in agency levels, literally everywhere. There could be people with leaked files, there could be some fucking guy who can make everything fucked up, but that's why all of them had speeches.
Each speech supports the other, like if there was a hole or too many questions in Linda's speech, Thomas's speech will answer it too. Yeah, the president actually thought about it a lot and prepared for the manipulation and the crowd control, and the fallout of it, but still, it needed to be accepted by the people.
"Why the fuck is he not speaking?" Hector asked as he stared at the TV.
"It's a technique to get every eye on you with silence." Sophia said. "And now he needs to get every attention he can get."
"Not just that, but he needs to show his authority." James added. "He just stands there and everybody goes silent, which shows people still see him as the power and second, he just calmed them down even more."
"That's true too." Ramirez said suddenly. "If the people really wanted a revolt or something, they wouldn't listen to the speech, they would just chant more and more, even attack the presidential building, but now they are dead silent."
It just showed that one thing was more important to the people than everything else at that moment, if they revolt, not just the government is going to fall but the whole fucking country, and if that happened, what are they going to do?
Yeah, they need to rebel in a way that they already have people to take power, a party, but thank God there isn't any party right now, nor do the people seem to actually try to rebel.
But now it was time for the president to actually address the nation, and he did. He took one minute of silence and then started his speech.
"Today, I come before you with a heavy heart and a solemn responsibility. Our nation is grieving. We lost a true patriot, our Vice President, Alex Carter. A public servant of unmatched honor. A friend. A father. A protector of our values. His life was taken in cold blood… and in that moment, a piece of our unity, of our very soul, was wounded." He said, and well, it was a big joke because even the public knew that they weren't friends but more like enemies of each other, but it didn't matter. The one thing that mattered was what was going to happen next.
"And then yesterday our streets erupted in chaos. Fifth Avenue, once a symbol of life and movement, became a battlefield. Chains of attacks shook our cities. Downtown districts fell into fear. Families fled for safety. Thousands watched in horror as criminals, empowered by years of unchecked corruption and darkness, declared war on the people.
No more.
As your President, I will not let this nation fall. I will not let terror rule our streets. Today, I am declaring a National Emergency." As he said it, he looked up and the crowd just fell into heavier silence, like nothing could be heard. Everybody just looked at him, and finally they got what they needed.
A national emergency was not a joke, no… it was the first step toward the goal they wanted, toward the life they wanted.
"I have invoked my constitutional authority to mobilize our nation's full security response. The Director of the International Security Bureau, Stephen Larky, the Director of the Intelligence Force, Thomas Servaj, Benjamin Hayes, the Director of the National Security Bureau of Investigation, and the Minister of Justice, Linda Orwin. These four leaders now carry special national security command authority, with my full trust and mandate to defend our nation without delay, without compromise." He took a look at them, and well, they were pale as fuck. They were stressing, but he had to believe in them, that they would deliver a powerful speech, in just like that, much authority and power as he does.
"Let me be absolutely clear, any group, gang, syndicate, or faction, any pitiful corner of the mafia or criminal underworld that dares to raise its hand against this nation will be wiped from the earth. You struck at us on Fifth Avenue. You targeted our civilians. You assassinated our Vice President.
And we now know why.
Our intelligence community has confirmed that the attack was centered around one man, Marco De Luca, an underworld figure with ties to Vice President Carter's assassination, but more importantly, a foreign terrorist group, a cartel from Dennus. That is exactly why, in the last forty-eight hours, I authorized a massive joint operation, coordinated by our four national agencies, to bring swift justice.
Today, I can report to the nation, Marco De Luca is dead. So too is Isabella Russo, and so too is Silas Ricci. The mafia that brought chaos to our nation, the names of them shall be erased from history, shall stand as an example to any criminals that they will die!
They were taken down in the operation that unfolded during yesterday's violence. They fell because we do not give second chances to those who would spill civilian blood. They chose their war. And we ended it!" As she said it, the crowd suddenly burst out cheering and clapping their hands for what seemed to them the right thing, that finally those were all dead.
Yeah, they knew who they were, they knew who Silas was, more importantly, and they thought he was untouchable… but now he was dead and it just put more hope into their hearts… that even an untouchable man can be hunted down.
"This is not a time for division. This is a time for resolve. We will restore order. We will protect our children. We will never, ever again let our nation kneel to crime, corruption, or fear. In the name of Vice President Alex Carter. In the name of every innocent life lost. In the name of our flag, our justice, and our people… we rise.
May the fallen be honored. May the guilty be forgotten. And may the nation never forget the price of our peace. I ask you now to listen carefully to a voice that carries the full weight of our national conscience. She has stood at the front lines of the law, and she now stands ready to carry its fire into the darkest corners of our country.
Please join me in hearing from our Minister of Justice, Linda Orwin, as she lays forth the justice we owe… to the fallen, to the betrayed, and to every citizen who refuses to live in fear." He finished his speech, which was not long, and everybody was kinda surprised by it because basically, he said nothing about what was going to happen next or what would be his order.
Yeah, at that moment Linda and the others too realized the President was playing a mastermind game, because he didn't want to put himself in a position where he says the outrageous things and operations no… he pushed it to Linda and the others so they would become the ones that get scrutinized and judged… that motherfucker made a genius plan to save himself from the voice of the public.