‘She’s got a scrying block up,’ Courtney had said. ‘I would have a scrying block device if I were the one running around trying to kill people here.’
‘It was worth a try,’ Nava had replied. ‘And thank you for teaching me a new cantrip.’
Now, after too little sleep, Nava was on stage watching the crowd gathering to see the second and final debate. Mitsuko was already in her seat and also suffering from lack of sleep, but it was a little less obvious. For one thing, Nava rarely wore makeup while Mitsuko customarily did. Today, Mitsuko had gone to some lengths to disguise the dark shadows under her eyes while Nava had not. The two of them had retired to the second bedroom to get some rest while service robots cleaned up the mess. By the time they had got up, the apartment was spotless and even the hole in the wall where Maya’s Slice had impacted after missing Nava was gone. All they had to do now was get through the debate without incident.
If Nava were to be honest, her mind was not entirely on her job. The familiarity she had felt on seeing the assassin now had a clear reason. She had not seen Maya for years and the girl had changed. She was supposed to be dead. Nava had been certain… Though maybe that had been an assumption. Maya had vanished one day and the ones who disappeared were never seen again. Maya was one of them, but now she had reappeared.
Shaking her head, Nava turned her attention outward again. Maya had reappeared and because of that, Mitsuko needed protection. That was the mission Nava had accepted, and it was the mission she was going to damn well do.
~~~
Mitsuko lay sprawled on one of her sofas, watching the feeds from the News Club on her wall screen. She was dressed in her red robe and did not seem to care that this was causing Melissa some embarrassment. In truth, she did care a little, but she was too tired to care a lot.
‘It’s a race between you and Tracey Spears,’ Melissa said. ‘Sebastian Ranta has fallen so far behind that he might as well c-concede now.’
‘If the polls are to be believed,’ Mitsuko replied. ‘I suppose, in these circumstances, they’re probably reasonably accurate. However, there’s a week to the actual election and things can change.’
‘You have an eight-point lead over Tracey Spears,’ Nava said. ‘That seems like a relatively insurmountable advantage.’
‘People don’t always vote the way they’ve said they will. Much of that lead comes from combat students saying that Tracey’s policies are too extreme. Some of them, maybe many of them, will vote differently when the time comes because they’re guaranteed anonymity.’
‘There might be some who go the other way though,’ Melissa said. ‘Peer pressure making them say they’ll vote for Tracey Spears when they really intend to vote for you.’
‘It may be my fatigue talking, but I suspect there will be fewer of those.’
‘We’ll just have to wait for the results and find out. I think you’ll win.’
‘Thank you for your confidence, Mel. After last night, I need the boost.’
235/2/30.
Nava slipped her ketcom into its slot as she sat down at her desk. The room was buzzing already and the polls would not be opening for five more minutes. What was it going to be like when these students, who had never been in a position to vote for anything in their life before, could actually cast their vote?
The idea of the ‘polls opening’ was a bit of a misnomer, of course. What was actually going to happen was that, at eight thirty, the website for voting would open. Since the site authenticated with the student’s ketcom, it was a highly secure method of ensuring that just those involved could vote and vote once. Those concerned with their privacy could access the site from anywhere they deemed secure and there were screened voting booths set up in the library for those who were really concerned. Nava did not care and planned to use the site as soon as it opened, right from her desk. It was vaguely possible that some people had not figured out where her sympathies lay, but they had to be few and far between. So, why hide it?
Luca Newton walked into the classroom and went to her lectern. She waited all of two seconds before speaking. ‘As I’ve no doubt you all know, it’s election day.’ The room was already beginning to quiet and those not at their desks were heading that way. Normally, Luca waited until everyone was seated before starting. Today, apparently, was going to be an exception to that. ‘The voting site will be open in… ninety seconds. If you already know how you’re voting and don’t mind that there might be someone looking over your shoulder, I have no objection to you voting during homeroom. Just remember that the site is open until eighteen hundred and that there will be no actual reporting on the voting trends. We get the results at eighteen fifteen and any reports you hear before then are speculation. You’ve got plenty of time, so you don’t need to jump straight in.’ Someone put their hand up, which got a raised eyebrow. ‘Yes, Lydia Bonfils?’
Lydia was a tall girl with bronzed skin and the look of someone who spent much of her time on a beach at an expensive resort surrounded by suitors. It tended to come as a surprise to discover that she was lacking confidence and tended to defer to her friends a lot. ‘How would you vote, Miss Luca Newton?’
‘It’s not my place to say. I believe that you should evaluate the candidates based upon how you see them. If you want my opinion on the traits
