Empyrean Iris Story Collection Vol. 4

Legally Dead

BREAKING NEWS
EX PRESIDENT TALA KELLY BACK FROM THE DEAD: HOAX OR FACT

Earth is reeling today after an online tabloid media site received leaked footage from inside Fort Harmony that seems to show Ex- President Tala Kelly alive and well after her supposed death more than three years ago. Armature video analysts have speculated wildly over the past day whether the video footage is real or faked, some citing an apparent glitch as reason enough that the footage is bunk, while others can find no sign of editing software being used to fake the video. If the video is fake, the question remains, who would fake such a thing and why?

News reporter and columnist for IG Daily was quoted as saying, "Some people need no other reason than because they think it will cause a stir. Whoever made this video was simply trying to get media attention, and it has done a wonderful job."

However, when attempting to speak with members of the UNSC about the subject, our office was denied access, and no answers were given, leaving us to believe that there may be some sliver of truth to the story. Is this old video captured and released several years ago?, Is it an elaborate test from government officials to demonstrate the power of their new computer editing software, or perhaps was Tala kelly's dead a hoax.

Small time media tabloids and conspiracy theorists are in an uproar citing the previous years election as an elaborate hoax to set president Hunt up in power without any obstacles. Media personality and host of the show, The Governee's report has laid out an elaborate scenario that describes the election as an elaborate front for the government's anti-GA isolationist agenda to place Hunt in power for their own Ends with Kelly as its fall woman.

However, as of now the video has neither been confirmed nor denied by the UNSC or the Hunt administration, and now the nations of earth wait on bated breath to see what might happen next.

***

Kelly sat in the waiting break room surrounded by the familiar smell of the old plastic furniture and the sound of the whirring air conditioning. The building was old, probably too old, but rather than tearing her down and replacing her completely, the UNSC was determined to simply replace it piece by piece as the old technology finally broke down and became obsolete. Somehow the fan air conditioner was still working, despite the military budget which certainly would have given them access to universal climate control systems similar to if not identical to the ones used in the ships on their interstellar fleet.

She had been here for hours, here at For harmony, over the night and well into the next day. She gave Hye a call to let him know she probably wouldn't be bake for a while, and he assured her she didn't need to worry about him.

His voice had been distant behind the sound of squawking gulls and the rushing of a boat engine. He hadn't said what he was doing other than to excitedly squeak something about turtles before inadvertently hanging up. It sort of made her smile as he sent her a desperate text a moment later.

Sorry, phone cut out, big sea turtle!

And then he sent her a picture and she zoomed in to examine the turtle whose shell must have been a good three feet long. It wasn't the biggest sea turtle he had ever showed her, but it was a pretty good size. She forgot how much she missed getting these texts from him, and held the image to her chest for a moment in silent contemplation.

The door opened then, and she looked up to see one of the four stars standing awkwardly in the doorway/ it was a strange image to be sure, a general coming to fetch her like the average enlisted or lower ranking lieutenant. He almost looked apologetic verging on nervous.

They had been making a few calls.

Several supreme court justices had been roused from their beds and brought together to mull over the problem before them. Usually, the procedure for challenging a pronounced death was to set a court date and simply show up at a courthouse to prove you were alive, but in this case things were a little more complicated. Kelly wasn't technically alive, at least not to their standards, but she was here and she was in office when she had died which technically made Hunt a stand in until her recovery.