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Question 5 - Arian

Leaning forward so that her chin was in her hand, eyes swept Arian from head to toe. Was he much younger than her? Lena’s driver’s license said that she was twenty-two years old but the face in the mirror said something much younger -- a fact that got her in rather serious trouble in the clubs sometimes. Of course she’d been sneaking into clubs from Day One so that wasn’t really part of the problem. It was all about attitude.

Attitude, Lena had in spades.

“If elected I can definitely promise that age will have no factor in the opinion being given to me. Of course, I’m twenty-two, one of the younger candidates sitting here on the stage tonight I believe.” Looking at her fellow candidates, the bluenette’s smile was pleasant as she mentally compared herself to them. Yeah, she was the baby. Well no, that was probably Haley. Mentally and chronologically. But still!

“If I can be elected to your city council, as a young person, there can be no excuse for ignoring other young people. After all, aren’t we the city’s future?” Not much else to say on that front, for sure.

Question 6 - Liberty

Curse you, Liberty Marie Reever, and your politically-savvy self! Of course it had to be the Reever that asked the hardest-hitting question, the question that took the most thought, but a solution presented itself rather quickly. Wasn’t Lena the bookkeeper for a startup small business here in Destiny City? She knew everything about stretching what you had, making it work, knowing the ins and outs of finances so that you could pinch pennies to make what you wanted happen.

“This is, actually, a very important point you make! One that I think I have some experience with. Several of the other candidates have experience from age, from family circumstances, but mine is all hands-on. Every city has a budget, do they not? Inside of a framework of a budget money has to be allotted to keep the city operating for the day-to-day without shutting down or going into the red. California actually had a very large problem with this. Greece has it, but far into the negatives. Be glad we’re not them!” Humor was, unfortunately, a large part of Lena’s platform. She couldn’t run as anything more than what she was and Lena Adler was a young woman with a deep sense of humor, a need to smile, and make others smile in return.

Compare her to Sarah Palin and she’d punch you.

“There has to be room somewhere in the budget for this. I think if we went through a deep review of the budget, essential services in the city, finding where we can bend corners and where lines need to be firmly held in terms of finances we can locate those resources needed to truly advocate change here in Destiny City.” Bringing in those investments such as big business wouldn’t hurt either, but rehashing points too often was dangerous. It made you look like a lobbyist when in reality, she did think it was the best way to go for the city as well for the Negaverse.

Sigh.

Question 7 - Aurora
For this question Lena was oddly subdued. Perhaps it was the mentions of being comatose, of being touched by the violence rampant in the city. One of the candidates was spouting off nonsense that was so idealistic it made her teeth hurt . The woman had to make sure she wasn’t going to simply jump up and show the audience what a starseed was by ripping his out with fierce enjoyment.

That was frowned upon. Kess would be very put-out if she did such a thing.

“These gangs of ridiculous individuals need to be stopped. You see them walking the streets at night in their getups, like Halloween costumes. They tell you that you’re supposed to feel safe because they’re protecting you. But from what? Aren’t they the ones causing all of this damage? With their ribbons, weird lights, strange weapons. We need to implement a zero tolerance policy for these individuals with harsh punishments reflecting their vandalism, their assault, and their destruction of our city.” All of that jovial humor from the question before had vanished, golden eyes incredibly serious as they fixed on the camera.

“I’d love to say I can end the violence in our city but that is a ridiculous ideaology that I won’t lie to you about. My platform prides itself on being 100% honest about my views, about myself as a person, and I can’t promise to make the city a safer place.” Especially since there needed to be a pile of dead senshi at her feet before that could happen, a phenomenon that hadn’t as-yet happened to Linarite.

Such a pity.

“I can promise, however, to advocate as hard as possible to catch these terrorists and bring them to justice under the fullest extent of the law.”

Question 8 - Sophie

This question was just as bad as the one preceding it! What could you say when you didn’t know who you were? Could you just admit that? Well it seemed Lena was going to have to. “I identify rather strongly with the young woman who mentioned a coma. Through the actions of the terrorists in this city, I don’t remember much of who I am. I know that for the past few years I’ve been Lena Adler, a citizen of Destiny City. I work at a local small business where I help stock the shelves and keep the books.” Looking down at her hands, thinking about the question, she was beaming when she looked up.

“I love this city. I love talking to people I meet on the street. I feel like this is my home and shouldn’t I want to make my home a better place if I can? I have ideas, I have plans, and I would love to have the chance to make them a reality. I don’t know much about who I am but I do know that I have a passion for making Destiny City the very best city it could be.” By having one foot in the door so that she could aid Infiltration to bring the officers into the city. One day they would overwhelm the senshi, the knights, and it would be over.

Utopia started with Destiny City. It was going to start with her.

“As to advice...just find your passion. Find something that you think you can do well. Do you have an interest in helping your city? Volunteer! Volunteering is the best you can do. From there you’ll find your path and your direction, your banner cause as it were. Mine is economics, taxes, and schools. Perhaps you, like Ms. Jones, will have a passion for...well. Agriculture?” Laughing, she exchanged an amused look with the irrepressible Ms. Jones.

“Find it. Make it yours.” Like she would the city.

Question 9 - Kyndall

Wasn’t that Tony’s wife?! Oh hell she had to be nice to Mrs. Darrow! Never mind that the woman, well-pregnant and fascinating in that Tony had gotten her knocked up, was insulting her youth. You just couldn’t be mean to a woman having the baby for one of your favorite people in Destiny City.

You couldn’t.

“I think any infraction of the laws is a problem. However if you want to solve a tax issue, legalize marijuana and regulate it. Tax it. I admit that this issue is something very low on my priority list but my priority is to bring money and prosperity back to Destiny City. I have heard of this city being a thriving town for education, for business, and yet we’re a shell of what we’ve once been. Obviously our mature council is very much in need of fresh minds and fresh ideas. This is the 21st century and many of our current council members, as intelligent as they may be, are out of touch with the youth.” Tapping her fingers, thinking about it, she wondered how to articulate.

“There are problems in this city that require 21st century innovation and perspective. We can give it. Why should our age prevent us from having a chance to make changes for the better in the city? Also one seat out of seven hardly seems like a weighty voice overall, to be entirely fair. Our age gives us an uphill battle, but I’m determined to overcome it.”

Penelope waited for Ms. Hollister to finish speaking before answering the question herself. She personally found illegal drug use of any kind, aside from true medical need, repugnant, but she was saavy enough to not openly attack one of her opponents based on a personal belief. "Marijuana is not, in truth, any more dangerous than alcohol. Factually speaking, it is actually far less dangerous, when one considers DWI related death and injury. I personally would have no real objection to reconsideration of marijuana's illegal status and taxing it appropriately to gain much needed revenue, given these facts. However, at the moment the use of it in Destiny City is illegal. Responsibility is certainly important, as Ms. Hollister indicates--but part of that responsibility is respecting the law. Anyone indulging in illegal drugs or other illegal activities should be willing to face the consequences of their actions."

The other part of the question was far easier to answer, and her face softened with a smile, "I understand your concern, but... I have spoken much about the potential that the youth of Destiny City possess. This positon requires a lot of responsibility, but a responsibility that will mold not only the person who receives the postion but also how others view the position. Would it not be better to show that we are all willing to give our youth a chance to shine, to grow, and to aid in maintaining Destiny City... then to say they are incapable?"

That settled it- Wallace really didn’t like that woman. If she wasn’t willing to give the political process the respect it deserved, then she shouldn’t be standing on that stage. But he wasn’t going to cave to his desires and sink into a petty argument. That would waste all of the effort he’d put into the debate thus far. Instead, he let other candidates handle the issue, and gave a gracious nod when he was addressed again. Robot indeed. And her speech was far more flowery than his was. It was on, now, and even if he didn’t win, he was determined to at least beat her.

The question of past accomplishments made Wallace uncomfortable. His status as one of the youngest candidates meant that he had likely accomplished less than many of his opponents, simply because he had less time in which to accomplish it. But he wasn’t about to let himself be run over, just because he didn’t have an illustrious resume. Unlike some of the others, he had political experience. So what if it was only school politics? Kids were brutal and not as easily swayed as the media liked to portray them. And he did have one thing on his side that he suspected at least some of the others couldn’t claim.

“I was born and raised in Destiny City. I attended Knightside Elementary and Meadowview High, just like my brother and sisters.” Until his kidnapping forced him to transfer to HITS, but that wasn’t something he wanted to talk about. Here was his chance to emphasize that he was a homegrown hero- though not so much with the heroic part. “I use public transportation to get around, and do my shopping at local stores. In that way, I’m pretty average. Just an ordinary Destiny City kid. And because of that, I grew up loving this place. I love the atmosphere that it has- or had, before the arrival of the terrorist groups. There is nowhere else on Earth that is quite like Destiny City.” Not that he’d done much traveling, but it stood to reason that no place would be exactly the same. “I just want to help Destiny City be the best it can be.”

Wallace paused. Would it be helpful or hindering to mention his other experience? He wasn’t going to be like the guy that admitted he was kidnapped by an organ ring- that was a recipe for disaster- but it couldn’t hurt to be like the girl who mentioned her debate club experience. Could it? In the end, pride won out, and he decided to go for it. “I’ve run for some position in the student council every year since the sixth grade. In my junior year at Meadowview, I was Student Body Vice-President. I have always thought it was wonderful to be able to help the people around me, by doing jobs that they didn’t seem to want to do. Then, when I was older and there was more competition, it was because I felt I could do them well, and I wanted to do something meaningful. I still do. I started running for school office because it was there for me, something I could do that would make a difference. To anyone else considering it, know that it’s not easy work, despite what you might see on television. It’s hard, and painful, and often thankless. But there is nothing else like it, especially if you want to help secure the best life possible for the people around you. It’s not for everyone, but even if you decide it’s not for you, get involved and stay involved. Even if it’s just making your voice heard, that accomplishes more than many people seem to realize.”

That, he thought, went reasonably well. Wallace was just giving himself a mental pat on the back when the next question was asked, a double-whammy that shredded his confidence and pushed his heart down into his shoes. Drugs were not an issue he’d thought about. He didn’t even have a card for this. Aside from the hallucinogenics that the terrorists had used on him, he’d never had any experience with drugs. Heck, he’d never even had a prescription. The most he’d ever taken willingly was a couple of ibuprofen for muscle aches after swimming practice. And then she’d brought up his age again. These people were even worse than Flannery about reminding him of his supposed youth! How was he supposed to handle this?



The best way, generally, was with the truth. “I have no experience with drugs, illegal or otherwise. However, I must agree with my fellow candidates when I say that regulation is an important factor here. Anything with a valid, medical purpose should be made available to those who need it, and strictly regulated to keep it out of the hands of those who don’t. Anything that doesn’t have a medical use should be kept off the streets, and that starts with harsher penalties for the distribution and use of these substances, as well as education about them, and assistance in providing people the help they really need, rather than these artificial crutches.

“As for the question of youth, I only have this to say: the law requires those running for city council to be eighteen years of age or older. The law would not be this way if those of my age were thought unsuitable for the job. By the time one is eighteen, they have already had a number of experiences that have shaped their lives, and have learned a great deal. I do not pretend to have as much life experience under my belt as some of my opponents. However, I think I bring other things to the table instead of that: a younger viewpoint, a willingness to try new ideas, the ability to learn from those around me, and an unrelenting zeal to make Destiny City the very best it can be.” So what if they called him an idealist? Wallace was determined to see his ideas through, and that trumped anything else they could throw at him.

"Kisses for votes, I think you said." Her shrug didn't say much about where her ballot would go, but she looped an arm around Lena's waist, regardless, making them a matching pair of black and floral.

The debate was drawing to a close, and it was time to see where the cards fell. Kess, of course, could use a drink, and perhaps a minute or two to talk to each of the candidates. The cool ones, anyway.

DEBATE OVER!

Helpers! You get to now pick 1 candidate to support of the 7. The top 3 will move on for the games. The games open at 11:59pm Monday night so teams must be picked by then. Please keep in mind that you may be switched to make things even between the 3 top candidate. To make things fair you may not vote for yourself.

Liberty Marie will be supporting Avery Hollister.

Dominic Styles fell asleep and, upon waking, decided that he'll be supporting Azzo Crowley since he was the last person who spoke before the teen snoozed off.

Marlin had listened as the candidates answered the questions put to them from those like him on the floor, nodding along from time to time as one or the other had mentioned things that he agreed with.

It didn’t take long listening to the one called Haley Jones speak for Marlin to decide that there was no way that she would ever be on his mental list of people to support. She was either plain crazy or had stuck her name down for a joke and he was privately leaning on the side of plain crazy.

Although Marissa Reeves had come across as passionate in what she believed in, she had also managed to avoid answering a single question put to the potential candidates and thus was off Marlin's list for the simple reason that he had no real idea of just what she believed in.

Lena Adler wouldn’t be on his list either – Marlin had the feeling that she just didn’t have the interest in small and independent businesses that some of the others had.

Azzo Crowely had actually been a possibility until he had started spouting stuff about senshi, negaverse and souls stuff which made him sound weirder than the Hayley Jones lady. A shame since before that he had actually had points that Marlin had found himself nodding along to.

Eventually it pretty much came down to between Avery Hollister and Wallace Suite for Marlin, with Avery Hollister just edging it for him.