A small light set to the side of the TV went from red to yellow.
“Ah, time to go and take my place I suppose,” Felix said. Standing up he turned to face Lily directly. “Let’s catch up after this. Maybe go hit a restaurant with those handy disguises of yours?”
Lily made a humming noise and smiled up at him. “Asking me out? Well. I’ll take you up on that. You’ll have to tell me where the courage came from as well.”
“I’ll tell you right now, since it’s actually rather simple,” Felix said, walking to the door that would lead him behind the stage. “I already know you’re interested, and that you’re just as nervous as I am. That makes it a lot easier to deal with.”
Lily was watching him with an amused look.
“Lost my mystery, have I?” she asked.
“Not at all. Far from it, in fact. It’s just different knowing it’s mutual,” Felix said, then left, getting the last word for once.
Ten seconds after leaving Lily in the green room, and Felix was waiting again.
He was standing atop a position marker that had his named painted on it. This was his assigned spot.
Trying to get an idea of his surroundings, Felix looked around. As a whole, the backstage wasn’t very well lit and everything was dipped in shadow. He didn’t know why but assumed it had something to do with lighting for the stage.
Kit slid out of the darkness from one side, coming to a stop at his side. “Did you have any further questions about my answers?”
Shit! I didn’t read them. Really need to take care of that.
“You didn’t read them,” Kit said with a flat tone.
Is she reading my mind? Think dirty thoughts of her to test it out. Kit with short hair taking a shower and—
“No, I’m not reading your mind. You’re just… much easier to understand now. After having read your mind, that is. You can stop thinking dirty things about me, unless you want to,” Kit said. She held out a small deck of index cards to him.
“I know you said you didn’t need them, but I made some quick note cards for you. Only a few sentences on each card. Bullet points if you will. Short enough that you can read them in a glance. I sorted it out by person with tabs on the side,” she said, indicating the said tabs with a finger.
“Thanks, Kit. I appreciate it,” Felix said, taking the cards from her. “Anything I need to know last minute before heading out there?”
“Not really, no. Though you’re supposed to give an interview later today. It’s not one of the networks that’ll probably give us favorable coverage, but it’s not one of the ones that’ll set out to try and end us either. It might be a good time to drop the news about the prison contract if it doesn’t come up here. Maybe earn you a favor,” Kit said. “And if not the prison contract, then the contracts for corporations. Lily approved what I put together and we’re ready to start up the program.”
“Fantastic. Between you, Andrea, and Lily, Legion damn nearly runs itself. I’m not sure I could do it without you three,” Felix said and meant it.
“Good thing we’re not going anywhere,” Kit said.
The light set in the ground next to his marker turned a solid green.
“Go get ’em, boss. You’re looking rather smartly dressed and ready,” Kit said, running her fingers over his lapel quickly. “It’s a shame most of that doesn’t count for much for those who think you’re simply too young. I’ll be on the side playing spy as we go. This’ll be a good opportunity to go diving for secrets,” Kit added, unable to keep a chuckle out of her voice. “It’s a good thing telepathy powers aren’t that common, otherwise the world would be run by us.”
Felix couldn’t help but agree with that sentiment.
Stepping forward he exited the backstage. He pressed through a slit in the curtain in front of him and stepped out onto the main stage.
Lights beamed down from above, and Felix had a hard time seeing what was in front of him.
“Felix Campbell, founder and CEO of Legion,” said a female voice over the loudspeaker.
Whoever was manning those spotlight beams from hell took pity on Felix. They thankfully shifted away from sitting right on his face.
Felix could finally see the audience. It was full.
Full of people, cameras, reporters, and security.
The entire place was packed from wall to wall. There wasn’t an empty chair in the building or even standing room.
Waving with a smile, Felix walked up to the podium that had been set out for him. Setting the cards Kit gave him down atop it, he looked to his sides.
He found at least half of the other candidates standing at their podiums as well. They were men and women who had been in politics for quite a while. There were also quite a few people Felix had given money to so that they’d run, even if they weren’t the primary candidate.
He gave them each a polite nod of his head and a smile. It never hurt to be polite when other people could see.
Letting his eyes wander to the crowd, he focused on himself. Keeping himself calm and collected.
The introductions continued on, giving Felix a chance to settle his mind.
“Ladies and gentlemen, we’ll now begin the debate. First will be a simple question and answer session. Each question will be directed at one candidate at a time. Each candidate will have two minutes to answer the question,” said one of the moderators. “These questions were all submitted by the audience prior to this evening. We’ll go left to right to keep things simple.”
The moderator picked up a piece of paper from their desk. “The first question is, in light of recent events regarding the prison break, what do you feel is the best course of action with regards to the heroes guild?”
Damn. They’re not playing around. That’s a pretty loaded question to answer. This’ll separate those who support the Heroes from those who don’t right at the start.
Felix watched, and waited. He listened and tried his best to memorize what each man or woman was saying and their position.
They all had rather bland answers. Of course they supported the Heroes guild. They wanted more oversight over zoning but didn’t feel the guild was responsible at all.
On and on they went, praising the guild and extolling their virtues. While also heaping criticism on the missing Governor.
Felix thought the man was dead somewhere, the aneurysm the Fixer had prepared having come to fruition in some dark corner of nowhere.
“Mr. Campbell, your time starts now,” said a moderator. Felix turned his head to the moderator and smiled.
Damnit, Felix, not the time to be losing track of yourself.
“To repeat your question, what is the best course of action with regards to the guild of heroes,” Felix said, giving himself a moment to catch up. “Do I support the guild? Yes, of course. I’d be foolish not to.”
“Sure have a weird way of showing that,” said someone to his right.
Looking over, Felix found the speaker. It was Dave Nectar. A copper skinned short manchild with a huge ego and eyes as dark as tar.
He had to be at least forty and his vanity was clear to everyone considering how much time he clearly spent on his looks. Felix wouldn’t have been surprised if he drove a giant truck and lived at the gym.
Didn’t help matters with a name like Dave Nectar. It sounded like a moniker someone in the adult video industry would use.
That and seeing a woman young enough to be his daughter.
Felix wasn’t unfamiliar with this pitiful man. He was a leading member of humanity first, and happily espoused the view that anyone who wasn’t human shouldn’t be in Tilen.
The problem was that many conservatives fell into that mindset out of fear.
In that moment, Felix realized the moderators weren’t on his side, since they said nothing to the breach of etiquette.
Staring at the man for several seconds, Felix turned back to the crowd and grinned.