He planned to never be put in the same position that he was in previously, where he simply didn’t have enough points to bring people back.
Setting the report to one side, Felix pulled over a tablet. He put in a meeting for himself to go into the vault, then the morgue.
“And that’s that. Everyone should be up and running by tomorrow,” Felix said. “Might take a bit longer for that Warden though.”
Victoria looked up from the corner she was lurking in at the sound of his voice. Realizing he was talking to himself she went back to whatever it was she was doing on her phone.
Andrea made a humming noise at his side but said nothing either. She wasn’t quite pleased with her role the other day. She’d been asked to split into hundreds of herself and to secure and hold both T:HQ and SC:HQ.
“I promise that next time you can have a few Others around me. I mean it. I just couldn’t trust the HQs to anyone else, Andrea,” Felix said, looking at her.
“Yeah?” she asked, not meeting his eyes.
“Yeah. Promise.”
“Nn. Kay. I just wanted to be there for you.”
“You were right where I needed you, protecting our home-front,” Felix said. He meant it too.
Andrea smiled and ducked her head, nodding. “Okay.”
Felix didn’t want to read anything more in the action report. He’d already read it through twice.
Something like a hundred people had been turned over to the Sausage Machine. There was no looting, pillaging, or crime on Legion’s part, other than taking no prisoners of those who attacked their security forces. All in all, it was a successful OP. Many of his people gained real world experience, they gained a massive amount of positive PR, gave the Heroes Guild a black eye in the media, and even managed to steal everything on their private network completely.
His office door opened, Andrea, two Others, and Victoria all coming to attention.
Only to relax when they saw it was Kit and Lily coming through the doors. No one but his inner-circle would be coming in the door in the manner they did, but it still set his guards on edge.
“Felix. I think it’s time to talk about your plans to run for governor,” Lily said without preamble or even so much as a greeting. She slumped down into a couch and seemed to ooze into the cushions. Kit took the seat next to her and crossed one leg over the other, looking the part of the ever present cool collected head of HR that she was.
“Alright. You ok by the way?” Felix asked.
“Tired. Very tired. I’ve done nothing but interviews and press conferences with interested parties,” Lily said, laying a hand over her eyes.
“Oh? How’d that all end up by the way? Seems like everything went well according to the reports,” Felix said, setting that very report back down on his desk.
“It did. It did go well. Even the National Guard was quite happy with us. They didn’t have to do much and weren’t the bad guys. I made sure that whenever we talked about them, it was always neutral or positive. They don’t control their own deployment, of course, so it’s not their fault.”
Felix nodded at that. She really had been careful about the wording for them. He imagined it might make some people happier about it. Especially military veterans.
“The new governor is furious of course. He won’t do anything directly since he took our bribe, it’d implicate us both, but he’s definitely no longer a friend,” Lily said. She didn’t sound concerned about that. “The Heroes are in a tizzy. This isn’t just a black eye for them, but an embarrassment. As for the people themselves… they’re beyond grateful. In the end, our rapid response, recovery, and peacekeeping kept damage and looting quite low. Far lower than the expectation.”
“Great. Good work, Lily. You’ll have to tell me how to reward you for this one,” Felix said. He earnestly meant it to.
“Tell me that again after I get you elected. Half of my team is already running up everything we need to get you legally ready for office,” Lily said. “The other half is starting to go through the paperwork on donations and who’s sending what to where. The election itself and how to run it is all Kit’s.”
Kit smiled and rearranged her hair with one hand. She’d cut it short late last night, and had a hairstyle very similar to what she looked like when he first met her.
“We’re also digging through who the players are on the governor’s spot. Pay, donations, business deals, all the like. As for running the campaign, I think that’ll be rather easy. We just flood the radio, TV, and Internet with ads,” Kit said. “We just do it exactly as you told Lily. Focus on the essential items that the voters want.”
“Good. At the same time, I want you to talk to all local elected officials below the governor, as well as the police chief, fire chief, and local federal agent liaison. See if we can get them on board. I’m open to promises of support to them, either for public funds, private donations, or equipment,” Felix said.
“Do you need their help though?” Andrea asked. “It’s a voting thing. You just need to get everyone to vote for you.”
“Somewhat. Votes are only half of it. I need to expand the number of people who are supporting us, and decrease the number supporting the governor. The fewer he has in his coalition, the harder it is for him to maintain power. And if we can take away the replacement backer pool he’d draw from, it makes it ever harder for him. Those people are who others turn to for direction and support. The more of them we get in line, the better. Actually, in addition to all of those people, contact their opponents, and subordinates who would be considered if their boss lost their job.”
Kit frowned at that and rubbed a finger against the back of her hand.
“The people I use to take power, may not be the same people I use to keep power,” Felix said. “I have to consolidate my power base almost as soon as I take office and the people who put me there will more than likely cost more to keep in my pocket than who can replace them.
“We’ll also have to get an idea on the city treasury within a day or two of taking office. So let’s get some new accountants ready and set to dig through a lot of shady bookkeeping. I imagine we’ll end up using Legion funds at some point, but I’d rather do that as a last resort. Making the books balance for both the city and Legion after that would be annoying. And costly.”
Andrea lifted her head and stared at him with a glum look. “I don’t like this. Do you have to be a governor?”
“I don’t have to be, but it’s the easiest way to get approvals all the way around for Legion. This is a golden opportunity, and I’ll leverage it for all it’s worth,” Felix said.
Andrea sighed and then leaned forward, resting her forehead on his shoulder. “Ok. I understand.”
Felix grinned and patted her lightly on the head, taking a moment to rub her ears.
“It’ll be ok. Besides, this’ll be good for us. You’ll probably get to be on TV at some point. You’re my personal secretary after all, right?”
“Yeah?” she asked, her voice muffled in his clothes.
“Yeah.”
“Felix,” Kit said, getting his attention. “That all makes sense. None of it should be an issue. The real problem is going to be conflicts of interest. They’re going to have a field day with us. We’re opening a college after all.”
“That’s why we have our lovely and talented Lily over there,” Felix said, indicating the lawyer. She pulled her hand from her eyes and met his gaze. “Use Miu, hire more people, do whatever you need to do. Just make sure we don’t have a problem.”
Lily paused for a second to reflect on that, then nodded. “Alright. I’ll take care of it.”
Turning her head to the side she addressed Kit. “I might need a Fixer. I’d be willing to pay the head-count to your department to have one on loan for a few months.”
“Alright. I think we can manage that. Send me a meeting invite when you’re ready, and we’ll go through the candidate pool,” Kit said agreeably.