Chapter 529 (1/2)

It was becoming hard to direct the insects now, so Randidly largely let them go, buzzing too and fro, attacking monsters and leaving people alone. As he straightened, the old woman was there with her arms folded, regarding him frostily.

Sighing, Randidly said. ”Look, you saw the notifications, right? A new magical apocalypse has hit earth. Everything is governed by the System. It lets you grow strong, but it also throws monsters like that at you. You were stuck in frozen time for the past year and a half, and I'm just here to try and rescue you, and people like you. So stop making trouble, and just let me get you to safety.”

”Hmph, you are single, aren't you young man.” The woman said, shaking her head as she walked past him. ”Still at that age when you get angry at women for forcing you to be honest. Well, what are you waiting for? Don't just stand there collecting giant bugs in your open mouth, lead me to safety.

Fuming, Randidly closed his mouth and did so.

*****

Alan felt a headache coming on when he received the news. This was exactly NOT what he wanted.

Perhaps it had been callous of him, but he had been carefully diverting resources from the rescue missions at the borders to other areas. It wasn't that he didn't know about the loss of life, but Alan believed it was worth it. Right now, the influx of so many people who didn't understand the System, or the threats that they were facing, was undermining everything he had been able to build in the prior months. There were so many votes coming into districts that it was almost impossible to keep track of them all.

And no matter how much support the Tier initiative received, Congress had always been careful to emphasize that voting did not require citizenship. They were elitists, but many of those that survived the early days of the System had clung strongly to their root beliefs about the nation. All could who registered could vote.

Still, there were very real roadblocks in place to deter a casual registrant. Often, it would be more hassle than it was worth to spend the time to register to vote. You would need an organization supporting such an effort on a vast scale to make it worth it.

Which was, Alan knew, exactly what Father Foster was doing.

The speaker cleared his throat. ”Mr. President, I believe the floor is now yours, to say your piece on the diplomacy issue.”

Alan stood, casting a glance over towards Senator Firefly. The man's pompous grin was more of an eyesore than his extravagant suit. The momentum was shifting in Firefly's direction, and Alan knew that they would likely call this Randidly Ghosthound before Congress to speak. Still, even Alan was curious what the man could tell them when he was directly questioned.

However, one thing at a time. That victory cannot go easily to Senator Firefly.

”I do not want to derail the discussion,” Alan said, planning on doing just that, ”but I want to speak briefly about today's rescue operations and the refugee issue. I just received word that the preliminary numbers are in, and across the Zone we have liberated 150,000 Americans. I have no doubt they will make splendid citizens of the UHF. Congratulations, ladies and gentlemen.”

Everyone clapped, but many did so only out of politeness. Everyone knew that the refugees were growing, and growing far, far too fast to keep up with. But It had been in the thousands before. Not 150,000. This was two orders of magnitude above what they were prepared for.

”Even... even the most optimistic estimates stated that only around 30,000 would survive the rescue operations, even with our most talented troops there.” One senator said, confusion clear in his voice. ”So... so....”

”We appear to have grossly underestimated the size of the expansion. In addition, the Western expedition... was uncommonly successful. Almost 69,000 just from that one area. But now, we have 150,000 people who need places to settle down and grow. Does anyone have any suggestions?”

The hall went silent. Everyone thought about the volatile elements that refugees could bring into a district. No one wanted to subject themselves to that.