Democracy is Dead

Chapter Seventeen

"Students have enough stress to cope with, without making them take all of their exams at once," Cress said to a couple with a young child in a buggy. "How can anyone be expected to perform their best in a system that is designed to put them under maximum pressure?"

Athena was standing beside her friend, digital leaflets loaded on her glasses, ready to forward to passers-by.

They'd been in Trafalgar Square for almost an hour now and Athena could no longer feel her toes. Her nose, she guessed, would soon be producing icicles. But Cress was undeterred by the cold; her desire to promote her cause was keeping her warm. She was bouncing with excitement as she convinced more and more passers-by to accept leaflets.

When Demi had knocked on their door that morning and asked the girls if they could go out to help campaign for the new vote, Cress had jumped at the chance. Athena yet again found herself frustrated that her flatmate was quite so enthusiastic about campaigning. Most of the time, Athena loved that Cress was getting her right to the centre of the action, but she would appreciate her more in the summer, when it didn't mean risking frostbite.

The couple with the child promised to vote and hurried inside the flagship Freedom hotel and spa situated off of the square. Cress turned to her next victims.

"Hi there, have you considered your options for the education vote yet? Just because you're not in school any more doesn't mean that the vote won't affect you."

Athena turned to smile at the new couple, who turned out to be rather familiar. "Sephy? Orion?"

Both Sephy and Orion were dressed in conventional pop clothing: Sephy was wearing a bubblegum pink coat and fuchsia hat and Orion had a pink scarf wrapped around his neck, although he was still wearing his black coat.

When icy air rushed down Athena's throat she quickly shut her mouth, which had fallen open at the sight of the couple. Sephy grinned and winked at her.

"Since you already know her, I will leave you in Athena's capable hands. Please excuse me," Cress smiled and went to stop a family of four. She didn't seem to recognise Sephy from their lectures; it was amazing what a change of colour could do.

"Go on then," Sephy said, grinning. "Sell it to us - why should we be voting against the proposed changes to our education system?" she asked, reading off the leaflet Athena transferred over to them.

"Because it puts too much pressure on the students to perform," Athena stammered. "How can they be expected to do their best with only one chance to take their exams, all of which happen at the same time? And it's not as though it's a small number of exams, either; most students take twenty five or more separate examinations. That's twenty five different topics to revise all at the same time. We're creating a system which the students are likely to fail and that seems ridiculous." Athena paused for breath and looked back at the pair. Orion was grinning.

"She's playing with you, Athena. We're already both going to be voting against the proposal. You don't need to convince us that it's ludicrous."

"Really?" The shock must have been all too evident on Athena's face, as Orion laughed.

"We don't vote against popular opinion to prove a point - that would be counterproductive."

"There's nothing wrong with the opinions of pop voters," Sephy added, lowering her voice so that she wouldn't be overheard by Cress. "It's their sheep-like mentality that we feel strongly against."

She wasn't sure why, but Athena felt immensely pleased that Sephy has said 'their' instead of 'your'.

"All we want," Sephy continued, "is for people to be able to make their own choices, whatever they may be."

"But what about within the group? Do you all vote the same way?"

"Rarely - I can't remember the last vote we all agreed on. But that makes our debates more interesting."

"And it really helps you to decide how you want to vote - sometimes people will make arguments that force you to see the proposal in a completely new light," Sephy added.

"We had a few in favour of the healthcare vote to start with. But in the end I think most people were swayed to vote against it purely because of what it might lead to. Making smokers pay for their healthcare could act as a precedent for other issues. Where do you draw the line? Obesity? Extreme sports injuries? Allergies - perhaps you should have a duty to avoid things you are allergic to. Pregnancy - it was your choice, after all. Before you know it, there's no state funded healthcare at all."

Athena bit her lip. Not once, in all of the meetings she'd gone to, had anyone said anything negative about the healthcare campaign. No one had suggested there might be a hidden danger in voting for it. Sephy and Orion didn't sound like terrorists. They didn't sound like they hated the system at all - they just wanted to improve it. To make it better. She thought back to Castor, and her mission, and her stomach curdled. Someone wasn't telling her the truth, and she was struggling to work out who.

"I'm not certain that we all voted against in the end," Orion added with a shrug. "But there was no pressure on members either way."

Sephy started to hop from foot to foot. "Look, as lovely as this chat is, I think I'm about to lose a toe, so we'd best get moving again. My aunt gets cranky if we're late. It is great to see you though, Athena. I hope you consider coming back at some point." She smiled warmly and Athena couldn't help but smile back.

As she watched them walk into a nearby cafe, Athena tilted her head, deep in thought. She had the impression that Dyo hadn't said anything to them about their meeting at the voting centre and she wasn't quite sure what to make of that. Did he not care? She'd been certain that he'd been doing something for the group, but if that was the case, surely he would have explained to them why it had gone wrong. Did that mean he'd been acting alone, outside of the group's orders? Perhaps that was why Sephy and Orion didn't sound like terrorists. Perhaps Dyo was the poisoned member of the group after all.

"Hello? Earth to Athy! Those leaflets aren't going to give themselves out!" Athena was brought back to reality by Cress' calls.

She shook her head and turned towards the next group of people walking across the square. Dyo was a conundrum that would have to wait until later.

"Hi, have you given much thought to the changes being proposed to our education system?"