Martin made his way to the podium, stealing a quick glance at the dead body that would decorate the background behind him. He faced the camera and nodded, the camera operator counting down with his fingers until pointing at Martin, surely the biggest audience to have ever tuned in to an organizational address.
“Good morning, Road Runners,” Martin said with a smirk. “I want to first apologize for surely getting most of you out of bed at such a late hour, but monumental events cannot wait to be announced. I also want to apologize for the stress I have caused the organization over the past few weeks. I have been absent from my office and regular duties to work on this weeks-long mission. It is my great pleasure to announce that the mission is complete.”
The small crowd on the jet erupted in applause. The TVs in the jet showed the live stream, and Martin noticed the camera view showed Martin off-center to the right of the screen, strategically allowing the viewers at home to see Chris Speidel, from the stomach up, on the left-hand side.
“As you can see behind me, Chris Speidel is dead.”
Martin paused, allowing a moment for the news to sink in for all those watching around the world. The cell phone in his pocket immediately started buzzing and would remain in that state for the next two hours. His team on the jet hollered and shouted, hugging each other now that the announcement had been officially made. Their commotion rumbled the jet to the point of making Martin wonder if they were getting ready for takeoff. The celebration carried on for five minutes, Martin remaining behind the podium, smiling and nodding to both the camera and those in front of him, thanking everyone for their showering of joy. The moment grew somewhat awkward for Martin, feeling stuck behind the podium while the entire Road Runner world lost their minds. He wasn’t even halfway through his speech that had now been put on pause. Once the applause finally died down, Martin continued.
“I want to award a major token of gratitude to this team here with me. Every single person here has been working around the clock for nearly a month. No one has had a full night’s sleep during this mission, and many have been on the road with no contact to their family and friends. Thank you all for the sacrifices you have made to make this possible.”
Martin paused and took a sip of water while another round of applause went around. He looked forward to getting drunk off whiskey and falling asleep at the next opportunity he could.
“I also need to take a moment to thank Sonya Griffiths. Without going into details, Sonya decided to sacrifice her life to make this mission possible. As you may know, Chris had injected his blood into her system when she was a child, guaranteeing him a life of invincibility as long as she lived. Without her sacrifice, this mission would have surely hit multiple road blocks along the way, and may have ended up failing. I know that Sonya had a rocky ending to her relationship with the Road Runners, but if I can forgive her, then so should you.
“I understand the shock you might be experiencing from hearing this news today—you may even have doubts that Chris is really dead. I understand the concerns, and that is why our plans for his remains will include dismembering his body into thirteen different parts. The parts will be sealed in steel boxes to either be buried in a remote location, or dumped into the ocean. We will keep one of the sealed boxes in the Road Runners’ headquarters, and it will transfer to wherever our next commander chooses to base the headquarters during their term.
“The day has come for us to no longer live in fear. When the sun rises later this morning, rest assured that it is rising not only over a new day, but also a new era for the Road Runners. We’ve lost so many of our own during the past several months in what ended up being a bloody end to this war. Let’s take the time to mourn those losses, but also keep our heads up. We can operate without the lingering threat of destruction. We can walk down the streets again with our friends and families and not have to constantly look over our shoulders. We can even start building our offices above ground, and live our lives free of worry.
“I came into this position reluctantly. I had no experience, and honestly no desire, to be the commander for all of you fine members. All I had was an unrelenting need to kill Chris Speidel. Now, as I look to our future, I can’t help but to be filled with pride of what we have accomplished and what still lies ahead. This organization was founded to counter the antics of the Revolution, and we have seen that purpose through. We now have the unique opportunity to shape our organization into whatever we want it to be for the long-term future. I’ll be relying on you, the members, to help form this new vision. Let’s take our time and seriously consider what we want that future to look like. This team by my side will be taking a much-deserved vacation as soon as we handle Chris’s remains—it’s an order. And once they’re all back, I’ll also take a brief break to clear my head. During that time, I encourage you all to have conversations with each other, discuss what you like about our existing structure, and, more importantly, what you don’t like. We will set up a system for the millions of you to deliver your remarks so that myself
