The Electoral Center

“Milly, it’s your damn job!” hushed the producer in her left ear, “We are not fucking joking. You have been in this damn room, doing jack-shit for a week.”

Humanity had just experienced strangest week in its history since the pinch. The Great Communion had transformed the human collective. It had washed most fear from the general population. Everyone was now resolved to adulthood. The problem on mars, if there was one at all, wasn’t humanity’s to solve. Everyone knew with each passing day was a countdown to the Electoral's final, less than two weeks on the horizon. Inadequate prophets had taken to calling it the End of Days. The six finalists on mars knew better. They were preparing themselves for the last three games.

None of them would dare win, no cared if they didn't. There was no doubt, Emilio and Laurent needed the stage at Round 32. Emilio’s transformation into a lover and a time guesser suggested Laurent would win the game. Sophie, the Attractor, needed to see her dad win the job on her birthday, and that was the core of why the game still moved ahead. Flooded by positive waves, the six remaining contestants were happy to play second fiddle and lose. In hours, the first capsule of to-be-defeated contestants from the sky-high Holiday Inn Mars would be catapulted into the moat made of miniature robots surrounding Electoral's tall spike.In theory, the Catapult was a great deal, but with the insanity unfolding, it was more of an annoyance.

“For Christ’s sake, it’s in your contract. Try something!” Milly never feared anything; her instincts as a journalist were pure. She got the story and reported it. On earth, her nickname was "Lois Lane," Superman’s girlfriend from the Daily Planet. But this was in a whole different league. She felt like a bull in a china shop, but one paralyzed by doubt as to touching anything. “I don’t want to disturb anything,” she mumbled to herself from a corner of the Command Room. “This is above my pay scale.” She did itch to act, though. In fact, she had a perfect plan.

“Milly,” begged her producers, “it's your job. Do it for the world. You are there for a reason, you have a role to play in all of this.” They were, of course, right. She needed courage.

The last game, while fun, was rather anti-climatic in this whole scheme of things. Playing it, Sophie truly enjoyed herself like the child she really was. That was a good thing as earth braced for impending destruction. Strange things were happening to the fabric of society. Hospitals were now empty. Small improbable miracles arose everywhere to the benefit of humanity. Everyone picked the winning lottery numbers, there was no point in watching sports; instead, every person was discovering superhuman powers linked with the new fabric of the world. Kids were making three-pointers in basketball from half court, skateboarders were flipping boards on handrails. Incurable diseases were in complete remission. Even the homeless were finding money and food under rocks where bugs once crawled.

This period of time in humanity’s history was unusual in many more ways. Men’s pettiness had ended minutes after the Communion. Prisoners were not being released because the end of days was approaching. Rather, they walked out because those running the prisons knew keeping them was now irrelevant because each and every human had matured and felt genuine remorse. Most prisoners never asked to be released, in fact, most refused at first to go. However, they all realized that they each had redeeming tasks to perform for the greater good before they died. In the streets, people cleaned graffitis, planted food, and helped each other. The internet was silent of insults and petty posts. Parks were filled with laughing strangers happy to watch the pale, strange sunrise.

Part of this sudden evolution included a regret for the ignorance and recklessness leading up to the destruction in the Purple. Francois’ dreams were coming true. Channels on television were busy booking intellectuals in all fields. To most, the Sixth Attraction was inevitable, and they had a duty to do as requested by the Attractor. If Sophie asked them to avoid connection on the fatal day of November 21, mankind would. If these were destined to be mankind’s last weeks, they would unfold in the most civilized way.

Earth, on the eve of its inevitable destruction was blissful.

Greater forces were at play. Somehow, this time was unique and different at a much deeper level than any preceding it. Invisible to all but Marilyn, the arrival of the Attraction, paired with the miracle from the God Virus, had changed mankind in one crucial way. Positive Rho waves generated by ten billion people began to flow out of the azure atmosphere to the red neighboring planet. Humans were now sending Sophie energy and support. A one-way connection had now become a self-reinforcing loop.

Early after the Pokémon game, all of the players flew back to the Holiday Inn Mars to wait for the next round. Ordinarily, they would have each been the news, but the six qualifiers other than both leaders felt childish giving importance to the game. The next round was the quarter-finale, and only these eight players would compete. The chosen six knew better, they would lose tomorrow or in the following eight days, leaving the finale for the well-deserved contest of giants. Laurent and Emilio would face off as the world ended.

In her room, Sophie spent the week alternating between time with her father’s reality and playing the Pokémon game as Laurent watched her with Mall-ik from the porch of his hotel. No one dared question the girl or even enter her room. Everyone in the Center pretended like nothing extraordinary was on the horizon. There was a need for normalcy in this vortex of chaos.

The end of the world was at the doorstep of this fragile house, though there was serenity for the moment.

“Please,” begged Milly’s producers for the thousandth time.

During last night’s dinner, pushed by her team, Milly Wong found the courage to ask Sophie if they could talk. “Thanks to you, everyone down on earth is changing in a good way. Adults are much more mature if that makes any sense.” Sophie did not want to talk about these things. Milly pushed, “People would love to know what you think.” Sophie grinned the question away.

“This game is about my father, ask him what he thinks. You should interview him.”

“I will,” promised the journalist. No one cared about Laurent for an obvious reason, Sophie was now all-consuming, the pivot around which the world tilted; she was the Attractor. Sophie had asked Marilyn if she could travel to the hotel to take a ride in the Glass Slipper. Everyone knew better than stand in the way of the Attractor. Without discouraging her in the most polite way possible, everyone promised to join. But on second thought, Sophie didn’t really insist. Her father could not go, and the Multiverse’s darling felt like she should not leave him.

“I have better than the Slipper,” offered Marilyn at the dinner table. The young girl just looked up, smiled and dismissed the idea without a word. Milly could imagine the consternation of her crew back home. Mankind was left to wonder. On the eve of the game, Milly had enough. Every thirty minutes her team down on Earth reminded her she wasn’t doing her job.

***

Back in her room, Milly pushed a button, and a compartment door slid open. Behind it rested her suitcase. A large tag read “Press Privilege - Do not search.” She unzipped the top and pulled out a large box which had obviously not benefitted from interplanetary travel. This was a poorly wrapped gift damaged in many places. Grabbing her courage with both hands, she took it and carefully walked to the Attractor’s bedroom the box in hand as if it contained a freshly baked cake. She refused to push the doorbell and instead knocked. Cameras buzzed around her. Down on earth, gleeful producers watched. They all hoped Milly would show why she was sent. The larger Asian woman was extraordinary, like everyone who even remotely touched this story.

“Yes?” answered the girl. “Come in,” Sophie loved the fact someone had wasted the time to knock. That showed a lot of respect. As the door slipped open, the Attractor walked off a floor pad where she was playing the Pokémon game, and she removed the heavy game glasses. On her face was the largest of smiles.

“Sophie, can I? There is no good time for this.” Milly was vulnerable and nervous. She was holding the box, and for once, it was plain that she was vulnerable. Milly had packaged this box herself, and it was holding something very special.

“Come in, sit,” Sophie said, jumping on the bed and patting a spot next to her. Milly was too emotional to sit that close to Sophie. Instead, she pulled a chair to the edge of the bed.

Milly took some time to gather herself and began. “When I was assigned to cover this event on mars, and I was told about this game, I researched you. Your father wasn’t really a potential finalist, he was just considered lucky.” The woman sat the box on her lap. “You probably do not know this, how could you? We have something in common.” After swallowing, she added, “I once lost a son to a car accident.”

“I am sorry.”

“Don’t be,” Milly's legs were shaking nervously under the box. “I am not telling you this for sympathy. My son left me fifteen years ago. But your story touched me deeply. For the last fourteen years, I had one regret. I wished I had passed in this accident instead of him. I was driving the car. I felt it was my fault and wished every single day we could switch places in that car. I wished I had died. Then I read your story.” She paused, and a tear ran down her cheek. “Now I know his death was the best thing for him. He should not be forced to be here without his mother.” Sophie looked at her. Milly, as a powerful woman was not ready to show her vulnerable side, but what she said touched the young girl. “I know how he would have suffered if he was left here without me. You were even given a guardianship. Timothy was not as strong as you.” Milly pulled a tissue, wiped her tears. “So,” she continued looking at the box.

A screen lit on the wall, it was Marilyn’s face. She was about to speak.

“Not now,” snapped Sophie at the image. The two words from the Attractor and a hand wave were sufficient. The screen turned back to a window view of Earth.

Milly was allowed to continue, “I know you hate gifts, your bio says so. For the same reason, I think I do. They tie us to this world and remind us of others. Like you, I often wished I lived alone on an island.” Sophie smiled. “So I wondered what, if anything, you would enjoy. I never even imagined I could give it to you and feel free to refuse it,” Sophie found the words very touching.

On earth, the ratings on CNN were off the charts. Everyone had stopped living and was watching the touching discussion. “I have a little hobby, so I did this for you.” She extended her arms and box in the girl’s direction. Sophie bounced off the bed and gently grabbed the box only to bounce back a second later on the thick bedcover, holding the box on her lap. The two women looked at each other and decided against any display of affection.

Sophie crossed her legs and gently started unwrapping. The box had been brought from earth with great care, despite the outward damage to the wrapping. Luggage was a tight fit on the Airbus, so this was valuable to the journalist. Inside were two rows of wood-carved figurines. They were partly painted. One was a rabbit, the other a queen of hearts. These were hand-carved and painted figures from her favorite story, Alice in Wonderland. Milly was far from an artist, and the work was nothing close to a finished product. The sweetness of the attention made Sophie’s heart melt.

“For me?”

“Yes. I know you love this story.” Each figurine was well adapted. Sophie finally grabbed the statuette of Alice, the girl had short brown hair instead of long golden locks. “It was supposed to be a chess set to play with your dad, but I ran out of time.”

“It's better this way,” she inspected the pieces. “The first time I saw you was back in the long plane.”

“Yes, I saw you were reading the book.”

Sophie’s eyes stopped on one piece, and she pulled it out of the box. It was a white dog with a rounded white face in the image of Oscar, her plush dog. The piece stood out of place. Milly offered, “In the book, there is a dog, it’s brown and called Puppy, I looked it up. But for some reason, I felt like I should paint it white. When I saw you in the elevator of the Hotel holding the white plush dog I knew there was something odd here.”

Sophie grabbed the toy and put the wooden piece next to it. “That’s strange.”

“I haven’t touched the box since I left earth. Look at the base.” Sophie tilted the piece to inspect the round area below it. There was a five letter word. It read Oscar. “You probably don’t know this but Tim, my son had a dog, it was a westie called Oscar. I doubt this means anything, but I felt you needed to know.”

Sophie was thoughtful, she knew Liam was in her head, ready to help.

“Irrespective of the coincidence, that was extremely kind. I wish I had a gift for you.”

There was a silence, the voice in her ear said, “Ask her for an interview.”

“Well,” Milly hesitated.

“An interview?” asked Sophie. Milly’s journalistic face returned. “You heard them?”

“Yes.”

“How about now?” added the Attractor. “I understand people need some information, I had a great week.”

***

Marilyn was broadcasting the couple’s touching gift ceremony. Down on earth, the internet exploded. Millions connected in the hope the Attractor would speak. Sophie was no longer a sweet girl or a person producing strange waves able to alter mood. In little over a week, she'd performed both the Great Communion and pinched reality. She was now the closest thing to a savior humanity ever had.

“God,” said the producers, “we love you,” slipped one to the journalist.

CNN’s producing board felt, a year ago, Milly alone could cover the game. This was months before this Sixth Attraction began. They were right, Milly cared, truly so.