The Tomorrow Series Fanfiction: Who Will Lead Us? - Chapter 2
This is the second chapter in a fanfiction of The Tomorrow Series by theun4givables.
Chapter 1
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Jazz knew it was coming, but that didn't make it any easier. His stomach still twisted as he waited outside of Ryin's hospital room. Ryin - he was dying, probably today. Jazz's eyes stung. His best friend couldn't die, not now, not after everything had gone wrong because of Jazz's foolish decision.
He could barely breathe as his eyes filled with tears. Jazz lost awareness of his surroundings, drifting into memories of Ryin and their time on the run. He wanted to make more memories. Couldn't Savin do something?
A nurse interrupted his melancholy daydreaming, tapping him on the shoulder. “You need to come back inside now.”
Her expression was sad, pitying. Jazz's stomach sank. After the chaos he had seen in Ryin's room before, there could be only one reason the nurse would usher him back inside soon soon. It - it must be almost time. No,, Jazz thought.
Hoping for a miracle, he followed the nurse into Ryin's hospital room.
Savin stood by Ryin's bed, his expression grave. Even now, with his best friend about to die, Jazz didn't want to look Savin in the eye after he had voted for Mitchel and ruined everything.
“How - how is he?” Jazz asked, though he didn't really want to know. Maybe Savin had some surprisingly good news for him?
Savin's expression said it all. There was no good news, not here, not now. He said, “I can - try to save him, but it would only - only prolong the inevitable.”
“It's - time, isn't it?” Jazz choked out.
He nodded. “It is, I'm afraid.”
As if in agreement, the unmistakable beep of the flat line sounded. Even Jazz knew what that noise meant. His breath caught in his throat, and his shoulders shook where he stood. He didn't even know if he could remain standing.
Savin put an arm around Jazz's waist as he looked over at the clock. “Time of death - six-oh-three - in the - in the afternoon.”
Jazz leaned into Savin, grateful for the physical comfort as the grief overtook him. His whole body shook with the force of his sobs. Tears fell freely from his eyes - there was no stopping them. Ryin was dead, and Jazz had already ruined his legacy by allowing Mitchel to be voted in as Emperor.
* * *
It didn't matter that Jazz's best friend had died not even an hour before, Mitchel had called a special Council meeting. Savin couldn't just tell the, ugh, Emperor he couldn't make it. He bristled with anger, thinking about how Jazz must be feeling. The younger man stared off into space, a look of despair on his face like he never wanted to think about anything ever again.
Savin sighed and pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. There was nothing for it, so the two of them made their way towards the Council room. What could be so important Mitchel had to call a meeting now? Savin wanted nothing more than to hold Jazz close and offer him what comfort he could. Maybe - maybe after this meeting, he could find some way to make Jazz feel better, if that would even be possible after something like this.
Too soon, and they were at the door to the Council room. Jazz looked at Savin with huge, sad eyes. It broke his heart to see him in such a state.
“Are you - sure you can do this?” Savin asked.
“I - I kinda have to,” Jazz managed, though his words were barely audible.
Savin gave Jazz's shoulder a quick squeeze before entering the room. He sat down in his seat, stomach twisting. Anything Mitchel thought so important could not possibly be good news.
The new Emperor wore a giant, self-satisfied smirk that made Savin's stomach twist even more. Savin wished he could hold Jazz's hand, but the risk was too great. If anybody discovered their affair, things would get horrible for Jazz. Mitchel turned his attention to the two of them, his eyes glimmering with a light Savin truly disliked.
He nodded at Mitchel. “Good evening.”
Mitchel gave him a meaningful look. “Aren't you forgetting something, Savin?”
Savin tried not to sigh as he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. “Good evening, Emperor.”
He smirked in such a way Savin wished he punch him in the face. Why did have to do this shit now, when Jazz was obviously so distressed? Mitchel should not be in Ryin's seat.
The Emperor smiled at them all. “Welcome, Council members. I'm sorry to call this meeting on such short notice.”
No, you're not, Savin thought to himself.
Regan asked, “So, Emperor, why did you call this meeting?”
Mitchel smiled again. “I have a proposal to...rectify some of my predecessors' more, ah, misguided measures and policies.”
Dread made Savin's chest tighten. With the odd way Mitchel looked at Jazz, he had an awful, sinking feeling what this proposal might be about. But even Mitchel wouldn't -
Mitchel said, “As you all know, Emperor Casio worked tirelessly to repeal the Natural Born laws. While I...admire such dedication, I believe he made a mistake with that effort. Far be it from me to speak ill of the dead, but it is my opinion he put the great Empire of Second Earth at risk. He allowed sentimentality and self-righteousness disguised as a sense of justice to cloud his judgment. Unfortunately, Emperor King was cut from the same mold and upheld the repeal. I, however, propose we undo the repeal and reinstate the Natural Born laws.”
Savin's stomach sank to the bottom of his feet. Beside him, Jazz paled. Terror threatened to swallow Savin. What would happen to Jazz if this went through? And Danni and Mari, if they were found out? Savin's chest tightened and his hands shook. Breathing became nearly impossible. He had thought Mitchel wouldn't, but he would. While Savin knew the man was a power-hungry bastard, this - this was unconscionable.
He had to speak up. “Mitchel, you can't be serious!”
The man only smiled. “Aren't you forgetting something? Again?”
“You can't be serious, Emperor,” Savin muttered.
He would like to punch that smirk right off Mitchel's face.
Mitchel said, “I am being perfectly serious, Savin. You, as a doctor, should understand the danger the Factor poses to society. Aren't you, perhaps, letting your friendship with Jazz influence your judgment? And what about your family? Surely you can't consider yourself unbiased.”
“My personal associations have nothing to do with my opinion on this matter, Emperor.” Savin did his best to keep his voice steady and look Mitchel in the eyes, though he could almost feel his face go pale. Just how much did the man know?
The Emperor shrugged. “If you say so.”
“I think it's an excellent plan,” Regan murmured.
Alexandra looked over her reading glasses. “Emperor, don't you think this plan might be a little...extreme? The costs of reinstating the laws and reforming the NBEA would be astronomical. I don't know if we can afford it, what with the likely possibility of war and all.”
Mitchel didn't appear fazed at all by this question. “We can find the funding. Alexandra. All we would really have to do is scale back the Empire's bloated social services. They're a drain on us, anyway, and most of them don't contribute enough to justify their extreme cost.”
Savin fumed at this. It wouldn't do anyone in the Empire any good to have billions of poor and hungry.
“And you wouldn't be worried about morale and social unrest?” Samantha wondered.
Stephen said, “That's what the military is for, right?”
Jazz snapped out of his trance. His eyes widened. He looked at Stephen like he had lost his mind. “Are you seriously suggesting we divert troops when we need to prepare for war?”
“We have a lot of troops,” Stephen retorted.
“And they're already stretched too thin, if you consider intelligence about Hooba's numbers!” Jazz said. His eyes were bright, shining with emotion. Savin was familiar with Jazz's impressive strategic mind. The younger man knew what he was talking about in military matters. He could only hope Mitchel would listen, but that didn't seem likely.
While Savin had often disagreed with Jazz on similar matters in the past, he finally understood enough to defer to him now. “I agree with Councilman Callahan on this one, Mi - Emperor.”
“Of course you do,” Mitchel muttered. “And it has nothing to do with how close you are to Jazz, I'm sure. Besides, if we get rid of enough extraneous services, we should have plenty of money to fund extra troops.”
Jazz growled, “Troops you wouldn't even need if you weren't planning to cut those very same services.”
Savin said, “Social issues aside, there isn't enough money to go around, and reinstating the NB laws would be a waste, causing a cascade of unnecessary problems.”
Regan sneered, “You would know a thing or two about social issues, wouldn't you?”
He felt his hands begin to shake. Savin balled them into fists beneath the table. Of course Regan would follow Mitchel's lead in taunting him. It didn't matter if he did care about Jazz too much. Reinstating the Natural Born laws was a bad idea, anyway. Savin dearly hoped there was some way to convince the Council of that. Dread clamped down on him; he had to prevent these laws from going through, or else who knew what kind of disaster awaited the Empire of Second Earth?
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written for 500themes prompt #379 "Lost in Dreams"
Chapter 1
---------
Jazz knew it was coming, but that didn't make it any easier. His stomach still twisted as he waited outside of Ryin's hospital room. Ryin - he was dying, probably today. Jazz's eyes stung. His best friend couldn't die, not now, not after everything had gone wrong because of Jazz's foolish decision.
He could barely breathe as his eyes filled with tears. Jazz lost awareness of his surroundings, drifting into memories of Ryin and their time on the run. He wanted to make more memories. Couldn't Savin do something?
A nurse interrupted his melancholy daydreaming, tapping him on the shoulder. “You need to come back inside now.”
Her expression was sad, pitying. Jazz's stomach sank. After the chaos he had seen in Ryin's room before, there could be only one reason the nurse would usher him back inside soon soon. It - it must be almost time. No,, Jazz thought.
Hoping for a miracle, he followed the nurse into Ryin's hospital room.
Savin stood by Ryin's bed, his expression grave. Even now, with his best friend about to die, Jazz didn't want to look Savin in the eye after he had voted for Mitchel and ruined everything.
“How - how is he?” Jazz asked, though he didn't really want to know. Maybe Savin had some surprisingly good news for him?
Savin's expression said it all. There was no good news, not here, not now. He said, “I can - try to save him, but it would only - only prolong the inevitable.”
“It's - time, isn't it?” Jazz choked out.
He nodded. “It is, I'm afraid.”
As if in agreement, the unmistakable beep of the flat line sounded. Even Jazz knew what that noise meant. His breath caught in his throat, and his shoulders shook where he stood. He didn't even know if he could remain standing.
Savin put an arm around Jazz's waist as he looked over at the clock. “Time of death - six-oh-three - in the - in the afternoon.”
Jazz leaned into Savin, grateful for the physical comfort as the grief overtook him. His whole body shook with the force of his sobs. Tears fell freely from his eyes - there was no stopping them. Ryin was dead, and Jazz had already ruined his legacy by allowing Mitchel to be voted in as Emperor.
* * *
It didn't matter that Jazz's best friend had died not even an hour before, Mitchel had called a special Council meeting. Savin couldn't just tell the, ugh, Emperor he couldn't make it. He bristled with anger, thinking about how Jazz must be feeling. The younger man stared off into space, a look of despair on his face like he never wanted to think about anything ever again.
Savin sighed and pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. There was nothing for it, so the two of them made their way towards the Council room. What could be so important Mitchel had to call a meeting now? Savin wanted nothing more than to hold Jazz close and offer him what comfort he could. Maybe - maybe after this meeting, he could find some way to make Jazz feel better, if that would even be possible after something like this.
Too soon, and they were at the door to the Council room. Jazz looked at Savin with huge, sad eyes. It broke his heart to see him in such a state.
“Are you - sure you can do this?” Savin asked.
“I - I kinda have to,” Jazz managed, though his words were barely audible.
Savin gave Jazz's shoulder a quick squeeze before entering the room. He sat down in his seat, stomach twisting. Anything Mitchel thought so important could not possibly be good news.
The new Emperor wore a giant, self-satisfied smirk that made Savin's stomach twist even more. Savin wished he could hold Jazz's hand, but the risk was too great. If anybody discovered their affair, things would get horrible for Jazz. Mitchel turned his attention to the two of them, his eyes glimmering with a light Savin truly disliked.
He nodded at Mitchel. “Good evening.”
Mitchel gave him a meaningful look. “Aren't you forgetting something, Savin?”
Savin tried not to sigh as he pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. “Good evening, Emperor.”
He smirked in such a way Savin wished he punch him in the face. Why did have to do this shit now, when Jazz was obviously so distressed? Mitchel should not be in Ryin's seat.
The Emperor smiled at them all. “Welcome, Council members. I'm sorry to call this meeting on such short notice.”
No, you're not, Savin thought to himself.
Regan asked, “So, Emperor, why did you call this meeting?”
Mitchel smiled again. “I have a proposal to...rectify some of my predecessors' more, ah, misguided measures and policies.”
Dread made Savin's chest tighten. With the odd way Mitchel looked at Jazz, he had an awful, sinking feeling what this proposal might be about. But even Mitchel wouldn't -
Mitchel said, “As you all know, Emperor Casio worked tirelessly to repeal the Natural Born laws. While I...admire such dedication, I believe he made a mistake with that effort. Far be it from me to speak ill of the dead, but it is my opinion he put the great Empire of Second Earth at risk. He allowed sentimentality and self-righteousness disguised as a sense of justice to cloud his judgment. Unfortunately, Emperor King was cut from the same mold and upheld the repeal. I, however, propose we undo the repeal and reinstate the Natural Born laws.”
Savin's stomach sank to the bottom of his feet. Beside him, Jazz paled. Terror threatened to swallow Savin. What would happen to Jazz if this went through? And Danni and Mari, if they were found out? Savin's chest tightened and his hands shook. Breathing became nearly impossible. He had thought Mitchel wouldn't, but he would. While Savin knew the man was a power-hungry bastard, this - this was unconscionable.
He had to speak up. “Mitchel, you can't be serious!”
The man only smiled. “Aren't you forgetting something? Again?”
“You can't be serious, Emperor,” Savin muttered.
He would like to punch that smirk right off Mitchel's face.
Mitchel said, “I am being perfectly serious, Savin. You, as a doctor, should understand the danger the Factor poses to society. Aren't you, perhaps, letting your friendship with Jazz influence your judgment? And what about your family? Surely you can't consider yourself unbiased.”
“My personal associations have nothing to do with my opinion on this matter, Emperor.” Savin did his best to keep his voice steady and look Mitchel in the eyes, though he could almost feel his face go pale. Just how much did the man know?
The Emperor shrugged. “If you say so.”
“I think it's an excellent plan,” Regan murmured.
Alexandra looked over her reading glasses. “Emperor, don't you think this plan might be a little...extreme? The costs of reinstating the laws and reforming the NBEA would be astronomical. I don't know if we can afford it, what with the likely possibility of war and all.”
Mitchel didn't appear fazed at all by this question. “We can find the funding. Alexandra. All we would really have to do is scale back the Empire's bloated social services. They're a drain on us, anyway, and most of them don't contribute enough to justify their extreme cost.”
Savin fumed at this. It wouldn't do anyone in the Empire any good to have billions of poor and hungry.
“And you wouldn't be worried about morale and social unrest?” Samantha wondered.
Stephen said, “That's what the military is for, right?”
Jazz snapped out of his trance. His eyes widened. He looked at Stephen like he had lost his mind. “Are you seriously suggesting we divert troops when we need to prepare for war?”
“We have a lot of troops,” Stephen retorted.
“And they're already stretched too thin, if you consider intelligence about Hooba's numbers!” Jazz said. His eyes were bright, shining with emotion. Savin was familiar with Jazz's impressive strategic mind. The younger man knew what he was talking about in military matters. He could only hope Mitchel would listen, but that didn't seem likely.
While Savin had often disagreed with Jazz on similar matters in the past, he finally understood enough to defer to him now. “I agree with Councilman Callahan on this one, Mi - Emperor.”
“Of course you do,” Mitchel muttered. “And it has nothing to do with how close you are to Jazz, I'm sure. Besides, if we get rid of enough extraneous services, we should have plenty of money to fund extra troops.”
Jazz growled, “Troops you wouldn't even need if you weren't planning to cut those very same services.”
Savin said, “Social issues aside, there isn't enough money to go around, and reinstating the NB laws would be a waste, causing a cascade of unnecessary problems.”
Regan sneered, “You would know a thing or two about social issues, wouldn't you?”
He felt his hands begin to shake. Savin balled them into fists beneath the table. Of course Regan would follow Mitchel's lead in taunting him. It didn't matter if he did care about Jazz too much. Reinstating the Natural Born laws was a bad idea, anyway. Savin dearly hoped there was some way to convince the Council of that. Dread clamped down on him; he had to prevent these laws from going through, or else who knew what kind of disaster awaited the Empire of Second Earth?
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written for 500themes prompt #379 "Lost in Dreams"