“What do you mean by at risk?” Karl broke in.
Veronica, who couldn’t have been much older than thirty-five, pressed her perfectly painted red lips together in an expression of concern, while her brown eyes flashed, making it seem like she had a secret she was dying to tell. Or maybe even a bomb she couldn’t wait to drop.
She’d come into this election from out of nowhere, popping up only a few months ago to announce she was running against the mayor. No one had really paid her much attention at first—our current mayor had won the last three elections in landslides—but she’d slowly begun to gain momentum, so that now, only three weeks from the election, she and the mayor were neck and neck. Although he still didn’t seem very concerned by it.
“I mean,” Veronica continued, “that every time a human has a baby with one of them, they’re putting the entire human race one step closer to extinction. These visitors act like they’re not here to threaten us, but it’s a lie. They’re trying to breed us out!”
“Interesting,” Karl said, nodding as the creases on his forehead deepened once again. “What exactly do you propose, Veronica?”
“Simple. Make it illegal for humans and Veilorians to marry.” Veronica lifted her fingers, revealing sharp nails as red as her lips, and ticked her points off as she spoke. “Make it illegal for humans to go into the District. And most importantly, make certain there are harsh punishments for anyone breaking these laws. They’re traitors, after all. Species traitors.”
Kaitlin’s lips, which looked ghostly pale compared to Veronica’s, were pressed together in disapproval, but she remained quiet.
Isobel, on the other hand, snorted and tossed her frizzy, unkempt auburn hair over her shoulder. “You act like humans going into the district is a common occurrence.”
“It is,” Veronica insisted, lifting a tablet off the desk and flipping it on. “I understand your skepticism, trust me. I was as shocked as you are, but it’s true. In a recent survey of a hundred teens between the ages of fourteen and eighteen, nearly sixty percent admitted to having gone into the District. Sixty percent!”
“No,” Isobel gasped, her hand flying to her mouth to reveal her own nails, which were unpainted and jagged. “You have to be mistaken.”
“I’m not,” Veronica punctuated the words by waving the tablet. “And you can bet the number is higher than that. Imagine how many teens lied because they were ashamed to admit the truth.”
“As they should be,” Isobel muttered.
Kaitlin let out a very audible sigh, causing Veronica to narrow her brown eyes at the other woman. As if deciding it wasn’t worth her time, she switched her focus back to Isobel.
“It’s these shocking numbers, combined with our current mayor’s refusal to do anything to protect the human race, that led me to run.” Veronica’s dark hair barely moved when she shook her head. “We need someone in office who is going to take this threat seriously. We need someone who understands how dangerous this situation really is. More and more children these days don’t see Veilorians as different.”
“They’ve never lived in a world without them,” Isobel pointed out.
“Exactly.” Veronica slammed her hand on the desk. “And we have to do something about this situation before it’s too late.”
Kaitlin opened her mouth, possibly to try to rebut the things Veronica was saying, but was cut off by a burst of applause from off screen.
In response, the mayoral candidate gave a humble smile that didn’t hide the gleam of satisfaction in her eyes.
“I’ve heard rumors,” Isobel said once the noise had died down, “that Mayor Gunderson has been playing with the idea of integration.”
Veronica snorted, a sound that didn’t seem to match her overly tailored appearance. “I wouldn’t be surprised. He’s a sympathizer if I ever met one.”
She shot a look at Kaitlin.
“The first two years after the Veilorian’s arrival proved integration doesn’t work,” Karl Winters broke in.
“Some people just don’t learn.” Veronica gave her best impression of a sad smile. “We did our best for these,” she paused and pursed her lips as if trying to find the right word, “invaders when they first arrived, but they proved they couldn’t be trusted to live among humans.”
“Yes, yes.” Karl lifted a tablet of his own so he could read off a few statistics. “Crime went up sixty percent the first year, and the number of attacks on women…” He exhaled instead of finishing the sentence. “Tragic.”
“Yes,” Veronica said, her voice now grave. “The atrocities committed against humans were what led to the creation of the District.”
“That number reflects overall crime,” Kaitlin said, managing somehow to get a word in. “Which includes atrocities committed against Veilorians.”
“Can you really blame people for trying to protect themselves?” Veronica shot back. “I can’t. Which is why we need to make sure we protect our young people by passing stricter laws.”
Again, Kaitlin sighed.
Karl Winters and the two anti-Veilorian women talked among themselves for a while after that, with Kaitlin managing to jump in only a few times. They discussed the establishment of the District before eventually moving on to Veronica’s campaign. Mom’s head bobbed as they talked, getting more emphatic with each passing moment. Even when she reached for her glass, her focus didn’t stray from the screen. Which, for her, was major. Other than her booze, there wasn’t much she paid attention to these days.
“And let me just say it,” Veronica said dramatically, lifting her hands to stop the others from interrupting her. “They need to take care of themselves. No more handouts from the government. At all. We’re wasting precious resources by giving them monthly rations, and it has to stop. It’s been over twenty years. It’s time they stood on their own two feet.”
Isobel gave Veronica an obnoxious
