Again, thanks to all for your support. I appreciate any comments whatsoever--they make my work that much more important and drives me to continue! Merci!
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The voices of the thousands cut through the air, the echoes coming off of none else than the city's elite estate, Paradigm Dome. From every sector of the city, they formed a loose organisation of protestors, and with signs in their hands, their voices were designed to finally be heard.

High above them, in the presidential office of the Paradigm Corporation, stood a sharply-dressed man in a white suit wearing a sly grin on his face. As he peered his gaze across the citizens below, he casually held his arms behind his waist, and released a knowing laugh.

"We are always full of surprises," he told himself. "Who would have known that it would come to this?"

The military police had arrived on the scene to maintain order in this ocean of hateful bodies. Each scream, chant, and silent whisper unnerved yet another man in uniform, sending many to reflexively stroke their guns. But in the fore stood Colonel Dan Dastun, and his command was clear: No action unless ordered, with violators to face court-martial within the day. The face that he wore was one of steady coolness, but certain moments saw his deep black eyes betray him, a look of dispair and disbelief showing itself, then quickly defeated by sheer will.

Dastun held his men fast, but his mind travelled a million blocks of the city. "Why would Paradigm allow this to continue? They've always pushed protestors away, no matter their purpose. What then, was Paradigm's goal in permitting this outburst of civil unrest?"

The presidential office was in dead silence, but a look into its shadows would clearly show the cheer upon its person's face. He slowly raised a glass to the barbaric nature of the people below. Thank you.i

"No more Megadeus! No more Megadeus!! No more Megadeus!!!"

The chant went through every one of the attendees, and every one of them meant it, and every one of them had a story: "The Megadeus smashed my house with its fist, and now I've got nowhere to live! Burn, Megadeus, Burn!"--"Thanks to the Megadeus' enjoyment of battle, my wife is dead and my little girl is in the hospital with sixteen broken bones. Do you even know what its like for me, Megadeus?"--"I had just started a new job. A job that I had hoped would finally put some bread on the table for me and my mother. But that damn Megadeus crushed my delivery car like it was nothing! Sorry, Megadeus! but I ain't gonna let you rob me of my means to live ANYMORE!"

Every person had a story about how the black Megadeus had destroyed the city on each day, throwing its giant metallic punches through the air like there was no longer any humanity in this city. For too long, he had terrorised the city with a recklessness never before seen in memory. What they had endeavoured so hard, as citizens, to build, was rubble again in the blink of an eye, and so, with a united voice to the sky, they held court outside Paradigm Dome with a unified request:

"Destroy the Megadeus and return us to the right to live!"

The stress worn on Dastun's face was that of a disbelieving man ready to explode in fury. The quiet elation worn on Alex Rosewater's face was that of a destined man ready to grant the wishes of the people. And far away from them, where the voices were faint, a human and an android stood on a rooftop lookout with eyes steadied on the distance.