Ch 3 - Lewis

Mayor Lewis took comfort in the silence of the building, as heartbreaking as it is. Years of neglect hasn't done the place any favors, the occasional thunder strikes to the frames, and years of mildew and rot, it's a wonder the structure hasn't collapsed.

Still that one chair here in the community center still feels better than the one at home.

A heavy click of a door opening cuts through the silence though, waking Lewis from his dazed rest as the creaks echo.

The old man watches the girl step in, cautiously, nary a glance longer than a second.

The few interactions Lewis has had with Miss Taylor only makes him more tired, to see someone so strained in life.

But she's still curious.

"Hello, Miss Taylor."

"'Lo, Mayor Lewis."

She didn't even flinch.

Lewis would be lying if he said he didn't find it amusing.

Taylor flits about, walking that strange gait examining the lobby of the center. The ruined fish tank, the 15 foot shelving of tattered books, the fire pit and seating.

"… what happened here? How'd this place fall apart?"

Lewis chews his lip a moment before standing, "Abernanthy died. He's the one that maintained it, and a storm tore the roof apart and everyone stopped coming here because of the damage. A library was built, the fish were released."

Joining Taylor standing over the fire pit, Lewis thought of how to word this.

Jojo is offering to buy this place and the land for development. A new headquarters, alongside a major warehouse for distribution. It would bring a lot of jobs here, people, money."

"… Would it be worth it?"

"Dunno," Lewis shuffles under Taylor's gaze, a strange sense of understanding between them. "This town would go from twenty nine citizens to over two hundred. We get passerbyers and people that come for artisan goods from Marnie's Ranch and Pierre General Goods. Gunther spends his time occasionally maintaining that fuel station by the bus stop, but apart from those regulars it's a pretty quite place and I'm not keen on parting with that. Still, might be for the better if I let them in."

Taylor tips her head, not quite nodding, "Jojo corp, a megacorporation that has output inalmost every major industry. A megacorp that's virtually a monopoly with too many government permissions backing them."

Lewis raises an eyebrow at her.

Scoffing, Taylor continues, "organizations like that always turn corrupt, only for harsh reprocussions to be faced later when their time comes." Taylor's eyes look to a distant place, "People forget to remember their principles."

"Taylor?" the girl looks at him. "If you manage to fix this place up, I won't sell it to Jojo Corp," states Lewis with amusement.

Taylor looks at him incredulously. Lewis shrugs, "You're the first person I've told about this. I think most people here would say yes to this deal, but I figured an outsider would have a better perspective. And…"

Everyone is doing fine, nobody in town is doing poorly, their little town is mildly better than self-sustaining, with the added bonus of a better weather conditions most towns their size has to deal with regularly. The mountain ranges creates a nice pocket for idyllic living, but greed exists even here.

Even Pam is doing well getting severance payments for the delays, if only going stir crazy since Jojo is holding out repairing their own bussing service and willing to ignore Pam's complaints.

"… I'm hoping someone would care."

Taylor slowly relaxes at that, a look of recognition on her face.

In an aimless search, Taylor recoils from something she sees, before walking down a hallway.

Lewis chuckles, watching her investigate the place on her own. Jojo wants to buy this town up for the express purpose of showing off a beautiful local to their financial wizards? Lewis has been putting them through the wringer, hoping to dissuade them and force them to go through proper channels instead of fast tracking through political means. Maybe if the farm took off successfully he would have what he needed to kick them out of his hovel, he could hold them off a few more months at the very least.

He'll be fighting until the end at least.

Vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv

A/N: Post Spring Day 5. in fic time, that's about 16-17 days.