List of candidate

34.4% - Almond M. Chaveil

26.1% - Monty L. Kind

17.5% - Hanna H. Tolcin

11.2% - Joy L. Nicam

10.8% - Ronald K. Dola

(M)"Oh, Sam! Finally back. I have an amazing news."

(A)"'Amazing', I practically gave you the idea."

(S)"Girls! I just arrived, please…"

I entered the hotel room, exhausted in anticipation of what they are gonna say.

(M)"Okay, so, it is not about the book update, I am still working on it. But I.."

(A)"Hum hum!"

(M) "… ‘we' had a great idea for a new project."

(S)"What is that?"

If I were in better mental shape, or if I actually cared, I would probably try to foresee her answer, but I have the impression it won't be worth it.

(M)"I… we are close to developing a power detector. The idea is simple, we create a device that can measure someone's ability to use flux, and we display it as numbers."

(S)"Wow… seems… ‘yaaaaawn' so interesting."

(M)"Come on Sam! We will be able to see if someone is strong or not in an instant!"

(S)"Excuse me, but as a person who spends his time with other people ten times stronger, I don't see the point to show me the gap with numbers…"

(M)"Pfff, it's a great idea, even if you don't like it."

(S)"Yeah yeah… oh, by the way, I'm going to the outer circle tomorrow."

(A) "Wait, don't you have a conference with Monty?"

(S)"Well, there's only 4 weeks until the vote, so we will have something every day anyway. And I don't have any vision about it yet."

Now that I think about it, I used my last vision today, maybe I should meditate some more tonight.

(M)"Is it that important? Nobody really talks about it, it must be the slum of the city, with nothing to see but jobless people."

(S)"Well, that's what I going to find out."

(A)"I'll go with you then."

(S)"Alice… it's not against you but…"

(A)"Let me be clear, it has been more than two weeks since we arrived here, and I see you less than an hour a day. I'm not your fucking wife, because if I was we would…"

(S)"OKAY, you can come tomorrow…"

(M)"Haha, nicely done Al'"

(A)"Thanks."

They have nicknames now? I can't believe yesterday they were at each other throat… I really don't understand women.

We left the hotel early in the morning, before the sunset. I already gave the instruction for today to Monty the day before, so we headed off to the border of the centre circle. Usually, people don't pass from one place to another, for a simple reason: there is no official pass point. If people want to get out of the city, they use some kind of monorail train, and they don't see the outer circle at all during the trip.

Truth to be told, everything seems fishy about this area, at first I thought it was just the normal way a wealthy city would hide its poor quarters, but with what Monty told me yesterday…

If it is true, it would at least explain why they want to hide it at all cost, but more importantly, it would mean that we can't lose this election, no matter what.

As I said, there is no official path that links the centre and outer circle, but there is a way. The only way is one of the secret gates heavily guarded, with movement detector, armed guard, camera, and more - they really don't want the people to get out apparently, or in. Alice wanted to force the way through, but I managed to convince her otherwise. I have a plan to pass, without hurting anyone. It is a carefully thought plan, one that only superior mind with a sharp sense of anticipation and intelligence can come up with.

"100.000 credit to pass."

“Deal.”

And the mission succeed. Surprisingly, the guards didn’t ask much, as if they were used to this kind of process.

So, just like that, we entered the outer circle, and I have to say, it was worse than anything I had imagined. We were less than two hours away from the city centre - with the train, probably less by running- but the difference was like heaven and earth. There was a unique relatively clean road, but everywhere else I could only see trash, and here and there some construction who I guessed were houses, or clearly abandoned buildings.

This place was swarming with filth, it was the middle of the day, but a thick fog was covering my field of vision, and even I had trouble distinguishing the way before us.

But what struck me the most, was the number of people. I thought only a handful of unlucky folks would end up here, but I was so wrong.

Ten minutes after passing the gate, we were already in the fog, and the road was now just a dirt path. Left and right, on top of pieces of junks covering the ground, people were staring at us. Mostly children, but also some elderly people. Real old people, not like the ones inside the city. They were all dirty, with rags as clothing, and some had even visible scars.

They were obviously afraid of us, and I slowly started to realize that everything that Monty told me was true. The officials are lying to the population in order to keep the outer inhabitant in check as… well, basically to keep them as slaves.

I caught a stone flying toward my face, and looked in the direction where it came from. A young girl shouted some insult at me, with two of her friend trying to hold her back.

I stared at Alice, as expected, she was even more affected than me.

“Sam… what the hell is happening here?”

"I'm not sure. I have several places to see."

I gazed at the little girl to scare her. It felt bad, but it’s not like I can do anything else… yet.

“Listen, I had a talk with Monty yesterday, and I wanted to be sure… this situation, he might be able to do something about it.”

"But what the fuck is wrong with this city? I and Mar spent hours on the internet and watching for any info we could get, and nothing like that came up! How do they…"

“It’s a bubble, Alice. And, right now, Monty is a needle.”

I wanted to confirm and understand the existence of three things. It was basically the three most important point that Monty made yesterday.

First, unknown to every regular citizen who thinks the industry is entirely automatic, a huge portion of the manufacturing and ‘shameful' jobs are performed by the population of the outer circle. That's the reason why the huge industrial building form a sort of ring around the centre circle, at the inner side there are the offices and on the other side, there are filthy production chain and such.

Second, according to Monty, the Mafia had overtaken everything here. It's a weird situation, as they are awfully unfair to the people, taxing and threatening them, but it is still better than before, when people from the centre were managing the place. It is better because back then the common folks weren't asked anything, they were just beaten up for no reason, and it is still not rare for rich people to come here and buy people, especially children and woman. With no way of defending themselves, the outer folks are condemned to accept whatever they're asked to do, and only the mafia has some leverage for negotiation with the ‘government', because they regroup large amount of people and counterfeit weapons.

Lastly, if we consider the outer circle part of Lucropolis, it actually covers more than two-third of its total area, and at least 90% of the population leave here. They don't realize it, but Lucropolis is nothing without this place, and the only reason nobody is revolting is that they either don't know, or they do, and realize they don't have any power to change anything.

Everything was true. He told me it could have changed a bit, since it’s been years he left the place, but everything was as bad as 50 years ago. All this campaign, the reason why he was still running, why he was ignored by the other candidate and the media itself, and the meaning of the two vision I had.

Alice seemed really troubled by everything that happened, even though I have my doubt about the true reason. I'm not that stupid, I know they want to frame Monty despite my disapproval, and she knows that with this trip I can't, even in a million year, change mind anymore. I understand why they want to do it that way, so I guess it'll come to me to find a way to pass the struggle without getting Kind of trouble.

On our way back, we passed in front of a disused factory. As we had still a bit of time before the evening, I decided to visit it, but as we headed over there…

Ring ring ring.

Damn, my scroll…

“Hey Alice, it’s Marie, can you take it for me?”

“Wait why do I…?”

Without waiting for an answer I threw my scroll to her and ran toward the factory. I don’t know why, but I’m not in the mood to chat with her. Maybe it’s because I’m not comfortable lying to them, even though they are the one trying to go in my back. Sigh… they’re probably right, I’m waaaaaay too nice for my own safety.

Anyway, Alice grudgingly took the call and I entered the empty building.

This place has been abandoned for several years, at least. It has now become a dust castle, I can’t even distinguish what they were making here. All I could distinguish were lines of offices. I passed the door and arrived in a huge empty room. There was nothing but a kind of simple stage, maybe it was a place for someone to give speeches…

I approach the stage, and jumped on it. From here, the room was bigger. I imagined myself in front of peoples, looking at me and listening to my every word. In fact, I might not need to imagine anything…

I spend the past few weeks using my powers, and I became quite proficient in foresight, but I think right now, it is time to learn about the past. I closed my eyes and focused myself. A familiar sensation surfaced rapidly, and I opened my eyes again.

In front of me, the room was full of ghostly figure, staring at me. I could see some of the faces, and they were all extremely concerned and attentive. They must have been listening to a very important speech… but where is the orator? I looked to my left and right but there no one here. That's when I realized the crowd wasn't really looking at the stage anymore, but at its side. I followed the stare, and someone was slowing climbing the small stairs leading to the top of the stage. A young man, in his twenties, waving at them. He was reminding me of someone… isn't that…

“AAAAAAAARGH”

MY HEAD!

Images are flashing through my mind.

The pain! It’s… too much.

Ghost ars mixed in vision and vice versa. I am seeing the man on the stage, but in another place, with an older face, then another scene, where he was holding a baby. Time is passing slowly, and sharp surges of pain are striking my head, multiple times.

I felt my knee touching the ground, but I am not even sure, I can't feel anything but my head about to explode.

It was like most of my life passed in front of my eyes in an instant.

And the pain…

I… can’t…

“SAM!”

I opened my eyes again, I haven’t even realized they were closed in the first place.

I looked around, I had fallen from the stage, I was on the dusty ground, draught with sweat, and I could fill blood on my lips. Alice was here too, she was the one calling my name.

“Sam! What happened?”

“Haha, just the usua…”

Oh shit, I'm losing consciousness…