Want (Numbered #1, YA Scifi Dystopian) Wattpad Featured Story

Chapter Five

Everyone knew Jonathon Hansen. His face was familiar from vid screens, his voice from speeches, his name because he was Elite. Being a Hansen meant that he was one of the top five ruling families of the Empire, but that wasn't the only reason he was famous.

Barely twenty years old, Jonathon Hansen was touted to be the next president. He had graduated training at only twelve, and he had then moved on to study politics at Lunar University, the only tertiary education possible in the Empire. And he had shone. With the rare ability to speak to everyone at the same time, to reconcile those who had been thought irreconcilable, to negotiate, and most of all never, ever to say anything that he didn't mean, Jonathon was the ideal candidate.

Politics in the Empire were, well, both complicated and simple. Aurelia had a basic understanding of the workings of government, but she was sure that things weren't quite as easy as she had been taught. In theory, each block of a city named a candidate, and one candidate from every ten blocks was chosen as a representative to the City's Assembly. Each set of ten representatives was further narrowed down to just one who would then go on to the City Council to represent the nine others in his group.

The Council itself was ruled by three members, all of whom were Elite, chosen from a group of Elite candidates by the Worker Council members. This was supposed to be a compromise between a dictatorship and a democracy. The three ruling Council members were allowed to sit on the High Lunar Assembly to represent their city's interests in the capital.

Finally, the High Lunar Assembly elected the President, who could choose ten cabinet members for his government, but all cabinet members also had to be Elite.

The concept of political parties as such didn't really exist, though Aurelia was more than aware that they had existed in the past. These days it was a question of personal promises and constantly changing alliances and enmities, which was why Aurelia was sure that the political situation in Lunar was far from simple.

A president reigned for a decade, at which point he would be replaced. It was technically legal for a president to be his own replacement, effectively extending his tenure for another ten years, but that had never happened.

With the current president just months away from the end of his term, the only candidate that the Ruling Classes could so far agree on was Jonathon Hansen. And now, here he was. Aurelia switched to work mode, hurrying to Nicholas's side and taking Hansen's legs as Nicholas swung round to take his arms.

"Over here," said Aurelia, directing him as the rest of the med staff parted to let them through.

They placed Hansen on the floor, next to Michael, and Aurelia immediately bent to examine him. Moments later, the senior med Worker joined her.

They worked in consort, neither speaking.

"Found: leg wound, concussion, responsive but unconscious, lesser injuries on right arm and right leg," said the senior med Worker at last.

"Concur," said Aurelia, indicating that she had found exactly the same.

"Nothing life threatening," said the senior Worker, sighing with relief and sitting back. "We're going to need some security Workers in here; I'll get them. In the meantime, keep an eye on his pulse and start cleaning that leg wound out; we'll see if we can stick it."

Aurelia got to work. She was so engrossed in her task that she didn't notice Nicholas sit beside her until he spoke.

"So you are really a med Worker, then?" he said with a tired smile. "You were so confused about Clones that I was starting to doubt that uniform."
Aurelia snorted but kept cleaning the leg wound.