You can probably tell that I like politics with parts such as these... I'm trying to get an internship with a political campaign this summer; we'll see how it works out. Anyways, winners.
Part LXVII: A New Era
Date: Yippah 19th, 114 A.U.
“It’s going to be down to the wire here,” Astrid’s campaign manager said as he flipped through the touch screen interface of the television to come to the news casters talking about the map of Araelia and its twelve districts, numbers flashing as polls were being tallied to determine the winner of the race for governor.
“Exit polls put you slightly ahead, 52 to 47, in Districts 3, 4, and 5,” the campaign manager said as he hovered the pointer over the screen. Districts 3-5 were the key districts that the election was going to hinge on. Districts 8-11, as well as District 2, were solidly behind Astrid, while Districts 1, 6-7, and 12 were solidly for Iraina. The election thus hinged on those three districts, the winner being whoever took the majority of the districts, or, in case of a tie, whoever won the popular vote. And although she had more secure districts, none would be won in the landslide that Iraina’s were going to be won by—meaning that unless she managed to come out with seven of the twelve districts, Iraina would win.
All of the polls agreed on the fact that Iraina would win the popular vote. It was going to be all that Astrid could do to scrape out a win from Iraina’s teeth. The soft murmurings coming through the door to her left reminded Astrid of the crowd that would be gathering in the large meeting room that she had set up to give her speech, whether for victory, or for concession.
“60% of the results for District 2 are in,” the campaign manager said as more campaign aides came in, watching the screen intently. “It has you beating Iraina by about thirty percentage points.”
“We already knew that I’d win District 2 by a landslide,” Governor Astrid snapped, uneased by how close this race was going to turn out. “Iraina never even tried to compete there. There are results being called for other districts, are there not?”
“All the districts except for districts 3-5, as well as District 11, are being called for the expected winner,” the campaign manager said. “District 11 for some reason hasn’t been called yet by the talk show host.”
“It will back me,” Governor Astrid said brusquely. “It always has.”
“All of the districts have traditionally backed you…” the campaign manager murmured.
“IT will back me,” Governor Astrid said, and she stood up, pacing around the room. “But as for the others… what did I do wrong? Iraina has had a fragment of political experience compared to me; he’s been a businessman all of his life! I saved the city from extinction by the elves!”
“Human’s minds tend to overlook the deeds of the past,” her campaign manager stated. “Yes, your work in saving this city have won you many, many elections in the past, but it would appear that over time, their memory of how much you did has weakened.”
“But I brought it back into play!” Astrid exclaimed. “I pulled all the strings that I could to remind me of my work, from reminding them in the Remembrance Ceremony, to calling for a Xavier Team to try and show them what I’ll do, and by all means, my call was actually the real one!”
“Aye,” the campaign manager agreed. “If it never transpired that we actually got men, the rumors of it being political spiel would have become a centerpiece of the campaign.”
“Just as well as they got no wind of it,” Astrid said, pacing. “But I did it! I brought together a Xavier Team, which should have secured the election for me.”
“Your interview this week was disastrous,” the campaign manager reminded her. “And Iraina put a lot of money into attacking this strength of yours. Besides the which he galvanized and excited the youth of the city to strongly back him.”
“The screen!” One of the campaign aides exclaimed. Astrid turned to see the breaking news flashing across the screen: Districts 5 and 11 had been called for Astrid.
Astrid breathed a sigh of relief. “There’s six districts,” she said. “District 11 fell right in as expected. How is the popular vote running?”
“A deadlock,” her campaign manager answered, looking intently at some numbers on the screen. 53% backing you, 47% backing Iraina. Of course, many from Iraina’s districts aren’t completely in.”
“We already knew he’d probably win the popular vote,” Astrid stated. “We just need one more district to win and then it’s over. I’ll secure the governorship, and begin a new era in implementing all of the plans that we have begun to execute to deal with the elves and support the Xavier Team.”
Iraina returned into the room, taking off his shades, as he came back from speaking to some of his supporters. “Anything new called?”
“You were here when District 5 went for Astrid an hour ago,” his manager said. “District 3 has been called for you, and District 4 is close for being called.”
“And District 11?”
“It went for Astrid when District 3 was called,” his manager said. “Remember?”
“Give it time.” Iraina sat down in his chair and picked up his glass of lemonade. “District 11 will support me by the time all the votes are counted.”
“It’s one of Astrid’s strongholds!” his manager said, confused. “Why-”
“I’ve done some work with the district,” Iraina stated bluntly. “It will fall for me.”
“You did work outside our plans?” his manager said. “Iraina—I plan your whole schedule—You couldn’t have-”
“Shut up and watch the results,” Iraina snapped. “Watch and learn. Watch and see how I win this election.”
“District 4 has been called for Iraina.” The campaign manager watched Astrid’s face as she pursed her lips, obviously disappointed.
“What of the popular vote?”
“95% has been tallied,” the campaign manager said. “52% for you, 48% for Iraina.”
“So I may yet win the popular vote,” Astrid said, taking a deep breath. “Which districts still need to report?”
“A couple hundred more votes from District 4, but the majority are still from District 11,” her campaign manager said. “They’re expected to come in in a couple of minutes.”
“So District 11 ought to be mostly for me,” Astrid said, taking a deep breath. “So I ought to win the popular vote. What’s the vote currently in District 11?”
“55% for you, 45% for Iraina; 90% reporting,” her manager replied. “It should continue that trend, more or less.”
“So I’ve won it,” Astrid said, a calm suddenly breaking over her.
“In every likelihood, yes,” her campaign manager replied. “I’ve been crunching numbers, and you’ve won it, Astrid. Iraina’s been defeated. He has basically no hope of winning.”
“Good,” Astrid said, standing up. “Best to probably wait for the final results though, before I make my victory speech.”
“They’ll be in any time now,” her manager began. “If you want to, you might as well-”
“Breaking news!” one of the newscasters broke out in a louder voice. One of the campaign aides instantly turned up the volume. “The last results are in with an astonishing conclusion. District 11 now has 100% of the vote tallied, and, in a remarkable upset, pretty much all of the remaining 10% of the votes have gone for Iraina, making him the winner of District 11, 51 to 49%. Iraina has won the election.”
“But—but that’s not possible!” Iraina’s campaign manager was flabbergasted as Iraina stood up, putting on his shades as he prepared to give his victory speech.
“I told you that I’d win out on District 11,” Iraina said.
“But-but that was one of Astrid’s secure districts!” the campaign manager said. “She was beating you by 10 percentage points?! How could the remaining 10% of the vote go almost unanimously to you! It’s impossible! Look at the numbers, IRaina! Of the remaining percent-”
“I won it,” Iraina said confidently. “And that’s where we’ll leave it. Now, if you excuse me, I have a crowd to address. A new era has been born in Araelia. And I will lead this era to victory.”
Part LXVII: A New Era
Date: Yippah 19th, 114 A.U.
“It’s going to be down to the wire here,” Astrid’s campaign manager said as he flipped through the touch screen interface of the television to come to the news casters talking about the map of Araelia and its twelve districts, numbers flashing as polls were being tallied to determine the winner of the race for governor.
“Exit polls put you slightly ahead, 52 to 47, in Districts 3, 4, and 5,” the campaign manager said as he hovered the pointer over the screen. Districts 3-5 were the key districts that the election was going to hinge on. Districts 8-11, as well as District 2, were solidly behind Astrid, while Districts 1, 6-7, and 12 were solidly for Iraina. The election thus hinged on those three districts, the winner being whoever took the majority of the districts, or, in case of a tie, whoever won the popular vote. And although she had more secure districts, none would be won in the landslide that Iraina’s were going to be won by—meaning that unless she managed to come out with seven of the twelve districts, Iraina would win.
All of the polls agreed on the fact that Iraina would win the popular vote. It was going to be all that Astrid could do to scrape out a win from Iraina’s teeth. The soft murmurings coming through the door to her left reminded Astrid of the crowd that would be gathering in the large meeting room that she had set up to give her speech, whether for victory, or for concession.
“60% of the results for District 2 are in,” the campaign manager said as more campaign aides came in, watching the screen intently. “It has you beating Iraina by about thirty percentage points.”
“We already knew that I’d win District 2 by a landslide,” Governor Astrid snapped, uneased by how close this race was going to turn out. “Iraina never even tried to compete there. There are results being called for other districts, are there not?”
“All the districts except for districts 3-5, as well as District 11, are being called for the expected winner,” the campaign manager said. “District 11 for some reason hasn’t been called yet by the talk show host.”
“It will back me,” Governor Astrid said brusquely. “It always has.”
“All of the districts have traditionally backed you…” the campaign manager murmured.
“IT will back me,” Governor Astrid said, and she stood up, pacing around the room. “But as for the others… what did I do wrong? Iraina has had a fragment of political experience compared to me; he’s been a businessman all of his life! I saved the city from extinction by the elves!”
“Human’s minds tend to overlook the deeds of the past,” her campaign manager stated. “Yes, your work in saving this city have won you many, many elections in the past, but it would appear that over time, their memory of how much you did has weakened.”
“But I brought it back into play!” Astrid exclaimed. “I pulled all the strings that I could to remind me of my work, from reminding them in the Remembrance Ceremony, to calling for a Xavier Team to try and show them what I’ll do, and by all means, my call was actually the real one!”
“Aye,” the campaign manager agreed. “If it never transpired that we actually got men, the rumors of it being political spiel would have become a centerpiece of the campaign.”
“Just as well as they got no wind of it,” Astrid said, pacing. “But I did it! I brought together a Xavier Team, which should have secured the election for me.”
“Your interview this week was disastrous,” the campaign manager reminded her. “And Iraina put a lot of money into attacking this strength of yours. Besides the which he galvanized and excited the youth of the city to strongly back him.”
“The screen!” One of the campaign aides exclaimed. Astrid turned to see the breaking news flashing across the screen: Districts 5 and 11 had been called for Astrid.
Astrid breathed a sigh of relief. “There’s six districts,” she said. “District 11 fell right in as expected. How is the popular vote running?”
“A deadlock,” her campaign manager answered, looking intently at some numbers on the screen. 53% backing you, 47% backing Iraina. Of course, many from Iraina’s districts aren’t completely in.”
“We already knew he’d probably win the popular vote,” Astrid stated. “We just need one more district to win and then it’s over. I’ll secure the governorship, and begin a new era in implementing all of the plans that we have begun to execute to deal with the elves and support the Xavier Team.”
Iraina returned into the room, taking off his shades, as he came back from speaking to some of his supporters. “Anything new called?”
“You were here when District 5 went for Astrid an hour ago,” his manager said. “District 3 has been called for you, and District 4 is close for being called.”
“And District 11?”
“It went for Astrid when District 3 was called,” his manager said. “Remember?”
“Give it time.” Iraina sat down in his chair and picked up his glass of lemonade. “District 11 will support me by the time all the votes are counted.”
“It’s one of Astrid’s strongholds!” his manager said, confused. “Why-”
“I’ve done some work with the district,” Iraina stated bluntly. “It will fall for me.”
“You did work outside our plans?” his manager said. “Iraina—I plan your whole schedule—You couldn’t have-”
“Shut up and watch the results,” Iraina snapped. “Watch and learn. Watch and see how I win this election.”
“District 4 has been called for Iraina.” The campaign manager watched Astrid’s face as she pursed her lips, obviously disappointed.
“What of the popular vote?”
“95% has been tallied,” the campaign manager said. “52% for you, 48% for Iraina.”
“So I may yet win the popular vote,” Astrid said, taking a deep breath. “Which districts still need to report?”
“A couple hundred more votes from District 4, but the majority are still from District 11,” her campaign manager said. “They’re expected to come in in a couple of minutes.”
“So District 11 ought to be mostly for me,” Astrid said, taking a deep breath. “So I ought to win the popular vote. What’s the vote currently in District 11?”
“55% for you, 45% for Iraina; 90% reporting,” her manager replied. “It should continue that trend, more or less.”
“So I’ve won it,” Astrid said, a calm suddenly breaking over her.
“In every likelihood, yes,” her campaign manager replied. “I’ve been crunching numbers, and you’ve won it, Astrid. Iraina’s been defeated. He has basically no hope of winning.”
“Good,” Astrid said, standing up. “Best to probably wait for the final results though, before I make my victory speech.”
“They’ll be in any time now,” her manager began. “If you want to, you might as well-”
“Breaking news!” one of the newscasters broke out in a louder voice. One of the campaign aides instantly turned up the volume. “The last results are in with an astonishing conclusion. District 11 now has 100% of the vote tallied, and, in a remarkable upset, pretty much all of the remaining 10% of the votes have gone for Iraina, making him the winner of District 11, 51 to 49%. Iraina has won the election.”
“But—but that’s not possible!” Iraina’s campaign manager was flabbergasted as Iraina stood up, putting on his shades as he prepared to give his victory speech.
“I told you that I’d win out on District 11,” Iraina said.
“But-but that was one of Astrid’s secure districts!” the campaign manager said. “She was beating you by 10 percentage points?! How could the remaining 10% of the vote go almost unanimously to you! It’s impossible! Look at the numbers, IRaina! Of the remaining percent-”
“I won it,” Iraina said confidently. “And that’s where we’ll leave it. Now, if you excuse me, I have a crowd to address. A new era has been born in Araelia. And I will lead this era to victory.”
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