Terrestrial Undead

Chapter 45

Orla's stomach turned over as the shuttle landed on the outskirts of the city once again. They were headed for the printing press for what Orla hoped would be the last time— she found it spooky, and not just because of the haunted forest its shadows cast on the walls. It could generate an entire consciousness based on whoever operated it, spewing out copies and copies of words that made their own meanings inside people's heads. As it shuddered into life, Orla shuddered along with it. It spat out her own words, printed on paper which floated to her feet. MY NAME IS ORLA ARLINGTON, the title read, AND I AM NOT MY FATHER.
Underneath the heading was her story, as briefly and truthfully as words would allow. It featured her prison files and airship file, and finished with the declaration that if the public wanted her to take up the throne she would do it, as long as her father's loyal left the palace, and as long as she didn't have to wear that stupid, hideous crown.

The following riots lasted two weeks. Those in government, alarmed by Orla's appearance, had appointed a new king. The people of Terrestria had rallied, and the outcry was so great the Gaze was deployed. But now that they knew that Orla was the mysterious escapee cyborg that had taken down gazers on her first day on the ground, the protestors weren't all that afraid of them any more. In the end, the Gazers were destroyed faster than the government could have them made, either ruined secretly before they were deployed or taken down in all-out battle. Of course, Orla had joined them. She had arrived back into the city with all the vampires, including the ex-Airship 11 new recruits, rallied behind her. The welcome had been overwhelming, and she had had to step back and allow Faith to do much of the talking. Her speech was well thought out and commanding, much like the speaker herself, and the public had been more than satisfied. They had stormed the palace immediately.
With the governors turned out and exiled, the Air Brigade had nobody to coordinate them, and it became easy enough to pirate them with the remaining escape shuttles. Afterwards, Orla and her friends gathered together to watch the prison explode in a plume of purple smoke. A weight seemed to lift off Faith's shoulders as she watched it.
The last thing to do was deal with the King. It was agreed that he would be turned over to the citizens of Terrestria for judgement.
Orla and Tesla headed back to Airship 11; it had been kept as the vampire's new headquarters now that it was safe from the Air Brigade. Unsure of what to do with him, they had kept John there.
"What are you doing? Where are you taking me?" He had stammered as they hoisted him to his feet and hauled him into the escape shuttle.
"Quiet, John," Tesla smirked, "You're in the presence of the new Queen of Terrestria."
He turned a nasty ashen shade at this, and resorted to spitting on the ground.

They presented him to the public in Sect 1 city square, and read out the list of crimes they could prove, presenting the documents of those incarcerated, murdered, and tortured in the prisons and airships. The public ruled for execution.
Faith visibly tensed, and Pax looked pleadingly at Orla. She took a deep breath. "Don't be a bad rat," she whispered, before addressing the civilians.
"I'd like to see him slaughtered as much as the rest of you. But in taking that action, we would just be copying him, and the cycle would continue. It's only fair that the public should judge the man who pressed them for so long, and I will leave the final choice up to you. But I will say this; we have a chance to break the cycle."
The crowd murmured, and Faith took her chance to sway them further.
"The prisons across Terrestria have been destroyed, and good riddance. We have agreed that no citizen will ever be subject to torture ever again, even legitimate criminals. Here, we have the first legitimate criminal of our new Terrestria. Say we made a new prison, one more humane— wouldn't it be fitting that this man be the first to experience the new Terrestrial justice firsthand?"
A cheer went up, but there were still some cries of "kill him!" amongst the crowd.
Orla frowned, thinking.
"Raise your hand if you think we should imprison him," She called. A sea of hands rose, peppered with only a few disgruntled faces.
"What if we incarcerate him while we found a new prison, giving those who disagree a chance to make their cases? We can hold another discussion when it is finished. What say you?"
This seemed to placate the crowd, and Orla supposed she would have to remember that move in future. John was returned to the care of the vampires.
Slowly, the city was rebuilt. Decisions seemed to fall to the vampires and Orla, who was surprising herself every day with her ability to coordinate the rebuilding of the city. She had an announcement posted publicly, listing the order in which things were going to be repaired— the sewers would be the first, and the palace the very last, only to be patched up with any remaining resources at the public's say-so.
Between herself, her friends and the rest of the vampires, Orla found she could manage decision making committee-style, and put it to a public vote whether the vampires should form the new government. After their support in the overthrow of the king, it was widely agreed that they should, and so the Mechanical Vampire Committee was established to replace the Gaze, the Order and the rest of the king's royals. Despite all the changes taking place, Orla realised that old habits died hard in this civilisation when they insisted on her coronation. Up until now, Orla had mostly let the public and the vampires take charge; but now, everything she had been holding up came crashing down.
As she retreated to her new room in the palace, Tesla was waiting. Orla collapsed into her arms, and for the first time since before she had escaped the airship, she cried.
"I hate this," she sobbed, "I know I shouldn't and I should be happy but I'm not. I hate this. I can't be a queen."
Tesla rocked her gently. "Shh," she whispered, "You'll always be a queen to me."
"That's more than enough," Orla replied softly, "But I can't keep making decisions for the whole world much longer. My head's going to explode."
"Then just start making decisions for yourself for a while, and we'll go from there."
"That's okay?"
"Yes."

Orla made her last speech to the people of Terrestria when the sun was at its highest on a fragrant spring day in the new city.
"You called me to you out of tradition," she said steadily, "and it has been an honour to be placed at the head of Terrestria by its people rather than the likes of my father. But I have to tell you this: I'm not a leader. I can be; but power tends to weigh down on people like me after a while, while it suits others. To be honest, it was never me replacing the king; it was all of us together.
"If the fall of the king has taught us anything, it's that things can change, and we can all make our own choices. I may be the next Arlington, but an Arlington doesn't have to be monarch. There doesn't have to be a monarch at all. In fact, we've come furthest in the time we haven't had one.
"You called me to the throne, and whoever sits in the throne is duty bound to do what's best for all the people of Terrestria. It's for that reason that I can't let you crown me queen today. We can't have just one person calling the shots, or even just a few people. It has to be all of us.
"But if Terrestria really needs a coordinator, I really can't think of anyone better than Captain Faith.
"She's piloted an airship, and done things no captain has ever done before. She's always meticulously planned everything, while always taking others into account. In my opinion, nobody is more fit to rule.
"You have seen that the vampires are not to be feared— they will always serve you well. And if they ever don't, you've proved that you will rebel, and overcome.
"This is the final decision I will make at your head; the rest I can only make for myself. It's the birthright of us all— I hope in the time I've spent with you, and through everything I've done leading here, I've restored that to Terrestria. Now, I leave you to make your own fates, and I hope with the changes we have wrought, they will all be a little brighter. Thank you."