Season 02 - Episode 25

‘quietly hanging her’

“Syl?” snaps Ste across his desk. “Syl!”

“What?” says Syl, shaking her head as if to clear the thick dark fog of her mood.

“I said,” says Ste, irritated. “We have a new problem.”

“Sorry,” says Syl, forcing her focus back into the room and onto work. She sits forward in her chair. “I was just... sorry. It's nothing. Go on, what's the problem? I thought things were going well.”

Ste frowns at her for a full second before slowly returning to what he was saying.

“Things are going well,” he says then. “Over a third of the cults that existed before The Collapse have been exterminated and the rest are on the run. We're even seeing some cults, including some of the larger ones, just disappearing altogether. We're assuming their members are discarding their silly costumes and hiding among the civilian population to escape justice. We'll track them down later, but for now we predict an all out victory within the next few weeks.”

“Ok,” says Syl, nodding. “So what's wrong?”

“What's wrong,” snaps Ste. “Is the latest polling data. Despite winning this war, GovCo's approval ratings are lower than ever.”

“Do we care at the moment?” asks Syl. “Surely the war is the focus. We can bring them back around after we've won.”

“The war is the focus!” says Ste, exasperated. “That's the point! Every EnFo we have to have in our own territory policing dissent among civilians, is an EnFo who's not out there killing cultists. We can't fight on two fronts, Syl, we don't have the manpower.”

“Alright,” says Syl seriously, thinking hard. “So what, specifically, are people's concerns?”

“The usual,” says Ste dismissively. “Moaning about interruptions to food supplies, especially in cult controlled areas and accommodation shortages generally. After that it's people getting caught in EnFo crossfire and sanitation issues around bodies not being cleared away quickly enough. I mean, for goodness sake, there is war on! What do they want?!”

“Sure,” says Syl reasonably. “Sure. So do we have a response or is that what we're working on?”

“Oh, we have a response,” says Ste, picking out a particular memo from the chaos of his desk. “We're bringing forward The Enemy's execution.”

At the mention of Iz, images flash though Syl's mind. A dirty, severed finger. The mysterious video message she received. Suddenly she feels sick and sweaty.

“But...” she begins, thinking desperately. “They haven't finished touring her round yet have they? She's got appearances booked in for weeks. Shouldn't we wait?”

“Forget that,” says Ste, waving away Syl's words. “Turnout's been shrinking anyway. No, we need a big, high profile event. A public execution, that's the ticket. It'll take people's minds off things and remind them who's in charge.”

“Sure,” says Syl, licking her lips and trying not to sway as Ste's office seems to darken around her. “But... Well...”

“What is wrong with you today?” asks Ste, putting down the memo and staring at her.

“I'll level with you, Ste,” says Syl, dragging a hand down over her mouth. “I'm not sure I've got the stomach for this. I mean, I'm a corporate servant not a soldier, I'm...”

“Well you'd better just find the stomach for it!” shouts Ste savagely so that Syl is taken aback. She stares at him, open mouthed.

“I'm not kidding, Syl,” he continues, visibly furious. “You're either doing the job in here, comfortable and well fed behind a wall of EnFo security, or you're out there alone, in the chaos! Do you understand?”

The old man's anger shocks her but Syl is far more disturbed by the realisation that he's right. No matter her worries, she is in the very heart of this thing now and has nowhere else to go.

“Yes, Ste,” she says quietly, hanging her head. “I understand.”

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