Lisa:
It was time for the President's address. Luke, Anna, and I were sitting on our couch watching the TV. Anna was still clutching her mother's crystal. I was still shocked and saddened by her aging herself so much. I would have to watch Anna carefully for fear that she would join her mother. Her dream seemed to indicate that she was thinking about it. It clearly terrified her though.
The President stepped up to the podium and said "Good afternoon. I'm glad that you could join me here today. I never thought that I would see a civil war here in the United States of America during my lifetime. Unfortunately I have witnessed a civil war. This war wasn't about freeing slaves or taxes that were too high. It wasn't about keeping the union together. This war is about fear. Fear of the
power that the Bonded now hold. I had hoped to protect the Bonded from harm by taking them into protective custody. I was wrong to do that. It made an already tense situation worse leading to this war. As of nine am this morning I have ordered our troops to stand down. I will not allow this civil war to continue. As you know, the Bonded have grouped together in compounds and they are capable of defending
themselves. We should have seen this before now. Maybe this war could have been avoided. That's in the past though. We must look forward to the future. We must remember that the Bonded are human beings same as we are. I hope that there will be a constitutional amendment to protect their rights as U.S. citizens. I will be flying out to the Bonded leadership compound to meet with them. I will be discussing how we will handle returning those soldiers who were
transformed back to their original selves. I will now take any questions you may have."
Many of the reporters raised their hands to ask questions. The President pointed to one and a female voice said "Mr. President, we have heard rumors that two of the delegates to the Bonded were killed by them. Is there any truth to these rumors?"
"Two of them did die" the President said. "Though only one was killed by the Bonded. In that case the Bonded were physically attacked after they insisted on searching the delegates. The other delegate took her own life when she became Bonded."
A male reporter said "Mr. President, we know that the Bonded are able to bring people back from death. Can you tell us why they didn't in these cases?"
"All I can tell you is that the one that was shot had a vial of something in a body cavity" the President said. "As to the one who committed suicide I can not tell you why they didn't bring her back."
Another female reporter asked "Mr. President, do you mean that you don't know or that you know but won't tell us?"
"I have not been given the particulars on her suicide" the President said. "Therefore I can not tell you why she wasn't brought back."
The first female reporter asked "Mr. President, can you tell us which of the delegates were killed?"
"There names are being withheld pending notification of their families" the President said. "Again I thank you for coming."
The President left the podium while all the reporters fired more questions at him.
"Well it looks like the President is coming here" Luke said. "You had said that you'd meet the President one day."
"At least we won't have to fight a war anymore" I said.
"That's good" Luke said.