The Story Ark, Ep. 3: Revolution
Sorry for the long break! Had trouble with inspiration :’0
“It is simply far too easy to manipulate these mindless masses.”
“You are telling me, all I have done was let slip a little ‘secret’ about you-know-who colluding with the wrong people and my campaign practically ran itself!”
“Now all we have to do is convince them that we deserve tax relief for all that ‘hard work we are doing for this city’ and we will be sitting pretty.”
“That is, until we are voted off the council….”
Ark leaned against the wide mahogany doors as he listened to the room within burst into laughter. He grinned. Just when you’d think you are safe… He shook his head and stepped away from the door, turning towards it. Standing at the ready, he knocked the heel of his boot rhythmically into the ground until the etchings hidden faintly on the dark leather began to glow bright red.
Amongst the circle of portly politicians, the laughter has yet to cease. Tears rolled down their faces, dampening their perfectly curled moustaches. The jokes shared amongst themselves were at the expense of others, and that made it all the more satisfying for Ark to blast down the doors with a single swift kick. The splintering of wood turned the red faces of laughter into red faces of fury as the circle stood from behind their podiums to reprimand the one who dare intruded on their private meeting.
Sweaty faces could not make out the sharp silhouette of the culprit against the bright hall light beyond the doorway. One shaky voice managed to call out in mock authority, “Hark, whoever you are, you shall indeed be punished post-haste for this unprecedented intrusion on political grounds! It is our right to convene here without interruption and you shall be jailed for forgoing that right, or worse, fined!”
“That will not be necessary gentlemen, as I have a far more fitting punishment for one who dares step on something as serious as another man’s rights,” Ark said as he stepped lightly over the splintered wood littering the way to the center of the congressional hall. The dim light closed in around him as he reached the edge of the circle where squinting eyes could now barely make out the form.
“I dare say– Ark Tyrian? I do hope you realize that this breach of law will not net you any gain. Your grant application has been denied, and I do think you shall be even worse off now that you shall be paying for the damage done to our building, let alone any fines we shall place on you at our own discretion,” a politician remarked, leading the group into a cacophony of nods and affirmations.
“Fines? I do hope you mean like the fines you personally collect, Emerson Daly, was it? I think one might call that ‘embezzling funds’ but who am I to say, I am just a simple scientist.”
At mention of his name, he flicked his eyes back and forth at the others. All eyes locked with his before turning in unison back towards the accuser.
“Or you, Sigurd Helmsbrook– or was it Helmsbrand? Hecklesberry? My my, you all have such terribly formal and long winded names that I can hardly keep track, but last I heard was that you were sleeping with the mayor’s wife! The lengths one will go through to gain power, it is simply disgusting.”
Sigurd stood at this claim, enraged. “Indeed, who are you to say anything at all, Mr. Tyrian,” he shouted through spittle and sweat. Others in the circle began reaching up to ropes hanging from the ceiling. “First you somehow manage to evade our guards and break into government property, and next you destroy said property, and now you dare slander us at our own council? I dare say, my compatriots seem to agree on your fate, Ark Tyrian.”
Ark let another smirk loose. “That will not be necessary,” he said, producing a small disk contraption from his jacket. With a swift wind up, he tossed the device into the center of the circle, and with a jolt of purple electricity, it slammed to the ground as if gravity weighed it down hard.
That is exactly as it has done, for upon activation it began generating a limited gravitational field that was nearly triple the strength than what was natural. Congressmen all sank back into their chairs, arms weighed down onto their armrests before a single one of them could pulled down their ropes.
Ark, however, moved freely in the field, in fact, he seemed even lighter on his feet than before. He sprung forward towards one named Bruno Maximilian directly across from him. Ark seemed to float down into a deep lean against his podium as he watched him struggle to move out of his seat at all.
He rest his head in his arms and said, “Mr. Maximilian, usually gerrymandering would be cause of such an easy council seat for someone such as yourself, but fraudulent votes on top of that? A bit unnecessary.”
Tears were practically pulled from his eyes when he asked, “What will you do, kill us?”
Ark pulled back and laughed, nearly toppling over with a hand covering his forehead.
“Kill you? Good gracious, no, I am not one to do something like that and after all, if you were dead where would this city be in terms of leadership, legislature, or even just people to look up to?” Ark pulled himself together and reached over the podium to press a button on a console.
The room shuddered as the ceiling split in two. Light poured into the dark council hall through the tiny sliver. The light grew brighter and brighter as the two pieces pulled away from each other acting as a sort of hangar door above them. Then the ground creaked to life as it began to spiral upwards along tracks now illuminated by the light of the daylight above them. Slowly the platform rose to the top, locking into place in the center of the city, just before the government plaza behind it’s thick intimidating walls.
The politicians will soon pay the price for their hubris in making a “private hall” that can be converted into a public debate space. It was their own fault for relishing in the public attention, and now surrounding the outdoor platform was the public. Every man, woman, and child gathered around the corrupt few who have claimed to be representing the people’s rights, just as Ark had planned. The gravitational field still held but Emerson managed to pull himself up in his cushioned leather seat.
“Is this all your plan? To expose some ‘secrets’ you have of us, with no proof?”
Ark ignored the questioning of the council and turned towards the crowds surround him.
“Greetings, people of the great City of Kings! I am Ark Tyrian, a proud scientist and mage who has come to free you of the clutches of such corruption dictating your lives, while they sit free of all rules and regulations. You have heard my call and gathered together here, which I do greatly appreciate, and while I am sure some of you already have your doubts and disliking of these poor old men surrounding me, I think it is best to hear some of the disgusting things they have done from the doers themselves.”
Some of the council members broke into a fit of laughter. “And how will you manage that, Mr. Tyrian?”
Ark finally decided to face his adversaries. “You may remember how I called myself a mage, yes?” Ark began, “Well, some magicks are finicky in the way they way work, especially when used on the human mind. Unfortunately for me, the sort of truth spell I wish to put you fellows under is incredibly difficult, requiring many years of research on the human brain, as well as extensive knowledge of illusionary magicks as well as adept skill in control magicks.”
Ark snapped his fingers together and a light haze passed through the minds of the councilmen.
“Unfortunately for you, I have done a lot of practice.”
Ark approached each of the podiums they sat behind and switched on the microphones connected to speakers throughout the city for large scale announcements or public debates. He turned with a final wink to the circle before letting the spell to kick in and the true secrets to be exposed by the ones who spent their lives keeping them.
Voices were heard over the loud speakers that were soon drowned out by the angry mob forming around Ark as he waltzed through the crowds out of the city.
“It could have been so simple,” Ark mused aloud, hearing the shouts over the city walls as he mounted his horse to head home. “My application was pristine, but that denial led to the dismantling of a corrupt political structure. What a shame.”