Rise of Kings and Queens

Chapter 12

LIN CRESPO ESCAPES FROM PRISON THANKS TO A MAN CALLING HIMSELF AGENT OF DEPENDENCY.

By L.M.Taurus

1/1/0027 UWC

6 hours before headline

It was New Year's Eve and some of the world military leaders still had to work. One of those leaders was Fyn Cyr. Fyn was in charge of looking after a protest at headquarters. The protest was being held by Brodie Noble who still wasn't happy to see other countries taking care of the Haitian refugees.

There was supposed to be a party at headquarters to bring in the New Year, but the protesters put a damper on those plans.

Fyn stood on the roof of the headquarters as he saw the protesters gathering outside of the barrier. "Unbelievable," he said.

"What is?" asked Esme as she and Kara approached.

"These people. Why protest on New Year's Eve? Shouldn't they be partying somewhere else, like we should."

"Even if they weren't here, I still wouldn't be partying," said Esme.

"Stop that," said Kara. "You know damn well I would have dragged you to one. Honestly, you're lucky these people made it their business to come here or I would have taken you to Saudi Arabia so you could party with my family."

"You would have tried," said Esme.

"I would have succeeded."

"We can still ditch this place and find another spot to party," suggested Fyn.

"Oh careful, golden boy," teased Kara. "You don't want to lose that great reputation you have."

"Stop with that golden boy stuff."

"Don't act like you don't like it."

"But seriously," said Fyn. "Why don't we try to sneak out. I bet we can find some nice spots downtown where we could welcome the New Year."

"No," said Esme.

"Wait," said Kara. "Don't shut that down so quickly. Fyn might be onto something."

"You agree with me?" exclaimed Fyn, surprised.

"I'm shocked as well," said Esme as she crossed her arms.

"Why not?" said Kara. "We've been working all year and it's been a long year. Don't we deserve to have a good time."

"The long year is the reason why I'm not in the mood to party," said Esme. "It hasn't really been a successful year. Haiti hasn't been rebuilt yet. There's a new terrorist group calling themselves Dependency. Ji-hun was injured by two terrorist siblings. And we have a protest right outside our headquarters on New Year's Eve. I'm in no mood to party."

"Sorry," said Fyn.

"Don't apologize. It's not your fault."

"Next year will be better."

"That's right," said Kara. "And there's no better way to start the New Year than with friends having a good time."

"I completely agree," said Fyn.

"No thanks," said Esme. "But you two can go ahead. Have a good time. I'm going to stay here. I heard Brodie Noble is leading this protest. Maybe I'll get the chance to talk to him."

"Why do you want to talk to that jackass?"

"He's the leader of this movement. Maybe I can convince him to ease up on the refugees. It's not their fault they're in this situation."