Why Did You Vote For This Man?
"Are you sure?"
The young women turned around sharply to face Karl, her auburn hair swishing as she moved.
"You're not supposed to be in here," said the woman, "this is a secret ballot."
"And that is fine," said Karl, "your final decision can be a secret, but only after you've thought again about who you are voting for."
"Who the hell are you?"
"Think of me as your conscious."
The young women turned around sharply to face Karl, her auburn hair swishing as she moved.
"You're not supposed to be in here," said the woman, "this is a secret ballot."
"And that is fine," said Karl, "your final decision can be a secret, but only after you've thought again about who you are voting for."
"Who the hell are you?"
"Think of me as your conscious."
"I don't need a conscious. I mean..."
"Exactly," said Karl.
"I'll call an official."
"Go ahead."
"Help, help!" shouted the woman, although there was no semblance of fear and she stared at Karl with a hard expression of defiance.
No one came.
The woman poked her head out of the voting booth. The hall was busy with people, but they were all frozen like statues. She turned back to face Karl.
"What's happening?" said the woman, her face began to pale, fear and shock slowly infecting her.
"I'm giving you a second chance," said Karl. "The man you're about to vote for, will he be a good leader?"
"He stands for the values I represent."
"And they are?"
"Well. Traditional values."
"I see. Freedom? Democracy?"
"Yes, exactly."
"Do you think that he will go to war to protect those values?"
"Sure."
"Do you think that he'll go to war to enforce those values?"
"Erm, yeah, I guess."
"I see," Karl smiled. "And what if he disagrees with everybody else's idea of freedom? What if he doesn't like the results of someone else's democracy? What if he thinks that he can change the world, to mould it into a version of his traditional values? How far would he go?"
"I don't know," said the woman frowning.
"Do you think that he'll invade another sovereign state, to change it for the better? Do you think that he'll bully the world into doing what he wants because he's addicted to power? Do you think that his goal to keep the homeland great will overrule all other goals?" Karl raised an eyebrow at the woman. "Or do you think that he'll cut taxes?"
The woman's mouth began to drop in confusion.
"I don't know," said the woman, "I really don't know."
"Then maybe you should go away and think about it for a while?"
The woman nodded to Karl. Karl smiled then quickly left the voting booth, walking across the hall between the frozen people. He stepped outside, into the fresh air, the sky grey and oppressive.
Karl looked upwards.
"This isn't working," he said, "we need a different approach."
#
Karl sat on the bridge of his starkiller class ship, staring at the beautiful wash of interplanetary dust gathering around the yellow star. He sighed, then typed a few commands on his console. The ship vibrated as the missile shot out into space and towards the star.
"Control? Objective complete. Supernova estimated in forty two hours."
"Confirmed," said a voice from over his comm system.
"Requesting permission to jump back to origin time coordinates," said Karl.
"Confirmed," said the voice.
"Get out of that," said Karl as he initiated his ship's jump drive.
"Exactly," said Karl.
"I'll call an official."
"Go ahead."
"Help, help!" shouted the woman, although there was no semblance of fear and she stared at Karl with a hard expression of defiance.
No one came.
The woman poked her head out of the voting booth. The hall was busy with people, but they were all frozen like statues. She turned back to face Karl.
"What's happening?" said the woman, her face began to pale, fear and shock slowly infecting her.
"I'm giving you a second chance," said Karl. "The man you're about to vote for, will he be a good leader?"
"He stands for the values I represent."
"And they are?"
"Well. Traditional values."
"I see. Freedom? Democracy?"
"Yes, exactly."
"Do you think that he will go to war to protect those values?"
"Sure."
"Do you think that he'll go to war to enforce those values?"
"Erm, yeah, I guess."
"I see," Karl smiled. "And what if he disagrees with everybody else's idea of freedom? What if he doesn't like the results of someone else's democracy? What if he thinks that he can change the world, to mould it into a version of his traditional values? How far would he go?"
"I don't know," said the woman frowning.
"Do you think that he'll invade another sovereign state, to change it for the better? Do you think that he'll bully the world into doing what he wants because he's addicted to power? Do you think that his goal to keep the homeland great will overrule all other goals?" Karl raised an eyebrow at the woman. "Or do you think that he'll cut taxes?"
The woman's mouth began to drop in confusion.
"I don't know," said the woman, "I really don't know."
"Then maybe you should go away and think about it for a while?"
The woman nodded to Karl. Karl smiled then quickly left the voting booth, walking across the hall between the frozen people. He stepped outside, into the fresh air, the sky grey and oppressive.
Karl looked upwards.
"This isn't working," he said, "we need a different approach."
#
Karl sat on the bridge of his starkiller class ship, staring at the beautiful wash of interplanetary dust gathering around the yellow star. He sighed, then typed a few commands on his console. The ship vibrated as the missile shot out into space and towards the star.
"Control? Objective complete. Supernova estimated in forty two hours."
"Confirmed," said a voice from over his comm system.
"Requesting permission to jump back to origin time coordinates," said Karl.
"Confirmed," said the voice.
"Get out of that," said Karl as he initiated his ship's jump drive.
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