2012 11 07 2

Wed Nov 7 2072 Any sign of weakness on the political stage is blood in the water among sharks. The CAS and Sioux look to their neighbor, wondering what instability might bring to their borders, while the members of the Corporate Court look to expanding their holdings. Denver, always in uneasy equilibrium, stews in worry over what it might mean to have its borders redrawn if the ANP makes good on its promise to turn over the UCAS Sector to the CAS… and how the other Treaty signatories might react to a shift in the balance of power. A petition for Seattle to secede and become an independent state gains 50,000 signatures in less than a day. Meanwhile, the big names in Washington unsheath their claws and send out political operatives. It's obvious that the shadows have already had their fingers in this mess, but there's always room for more. Calls go out. Johnsons take up their credsticks and head to quiet, private locations. Deckers blow the dust out of their decks with compressed air, load up their programs, and get ready to hit the feeding frenzy of lost, found, and faked data. Riggers send out aerial surveillance drones that circle like vultures over trucks shipping ballots, chips, and even mainframes. Despite the jokes, government security is competent, dedicated, and expecting trouble. These are the circumstances that make a runner's rep in the shadows forever, but this is also when a lot of kids with more balls than brains, and some pros who've used up their luck, end up dead. You don't need a SIN to cast the deciding vote in this election anymore.