Chapter 4: The Chosen

Luke and Henry couldn't help but exchange glances as they watched their country be prepared for the event that would occur in only a few minutes. Margaret was shooed away from the man, her nervousness making her a bit too shaky to do much. Alfred was kind as always, sending her off to fetch coffee as he straightened his tie. He was sitting behind his desk, still filling out paperwork as everything was being set up across the states. Soon, the digital screens that his new 'guards' were still trying to get used to began to appear, and they moved to the other end of the room, so as to be out of view. The president didn't look up, even when the last screen appeared, and the chosen people were standing before him.

"Hello everyone. Sorry for pulling you from your busy lives but what you have been gathered for far exceeds anything you're doing now." He shuffled the papers to get to some others. "You have been chosen by the governors of your states to become something much greater than what you are now."

The man sighed, putting his pen down. "So here's how this is gonna work guys..." Alfred lifted his gaze from his paperwork to look at the screens in front of him, raking his eyes over the men and women they showed. There were a great many people standing rigid, waiting for what their president was going to say next.

"You are the men and women chosen by your governors to be entered into a kind of ballot for a very special position. What you have not been told, however, is that this position is one that was abolished upon my entrance to the presidency. For the first time since the war, I am going to allow there to be a human vice president." the people were beginning to mutter, but fell silent when he cleared his throat. "I am going to personally sort through all of your individual files and history, and once I have weeded through your ranks the remaining few of you will be put on a list and sent out to every US citizen. There will be no campaigning, no preliminaries, your platforms will be released by me."

Alfred paused to get up from his desk, walking around to stand in front of the screens. "I will tell the people what is important for them to know about whichever of you make it through my choosing process, so there will be no bashing of any of you, no divorces or affairs or dirty secrets to ruin your image. However, if you have a criminal history, or any kind of internet history that is inappropriate in the ultimate sense of the word, you will be immediately eliminated. I will not have an internet pedophile as my second, nor a murderer, or anything else that might damage the reputation of the United States chain of command. That being said, don't think I will scrutinize every little thing. I don't care if you smoked a little weed when you were in high school or if you stole some beer from a gas station 'cause you were underaged. Whatever. Kid stuff. If it isn't something that would undermine the US, consider it unimportant. "

"Sir, if I may?" a girl from the Georgia sector stepped up to the front of her group. "I was told I was being recommended despite the age limit. Why am I here?"

"Miss Morgan Coulson, age 18, early high school graduate, accepted into the military early, rose through the ranks at an amazing pace due to a tactical prowess I haven't heard of since Erwin Rommel or Robet E. Lee." Alfred leaned back against his desks. "I asked for you to be added, but you weren't supposed to be at this meeting. You are the only person that is on the list so far, and even if you are not voted for by the citizens I have another position ready for you as a military advisor."

"Isn't that favoritism?" a texan drawl made Alfred move his gaze. "If she's already hand picked by you, then what chance do we have?"

"I am not choosing the vice, the citizens are. That doesn't mean I can't have a favorite to win, hell, my entire staff likes her. The other countries like her. But I'm not an idiot. I am going to choose out of the rest of you and put on the pedestal wit her. You're all going to be promoted equally, and the monitors put on the names of the chosen will keep anyone from leaking information that would promote favoritism. After your names are released I will step out of the picture entirely, and the voting will begin immediately. From the time your names are released there will be two weeks for the votes. Every citizen will receive a ballot personally, no registering to vote, no districts. These ballots are electronic and can only be used once. I designed them myself, and they will immediately send in the vote to a databank that will announce the elected person to the entire nation, myself included, once every ballot has been used. I can't do a thing except decide how to welcome whoever wins."

"So what exactly are those of us who aren't acceptable candidates supposed to do?" now it was a man from Louisiana.

"Move on." Alfred stood straight again. "Run for mayor, run for sheriff, I don't care as long as you're on your best behavior. But you should know, that even after you're eliminated as a candidate, you will be monitored. If you fix your mistakes, or get on th straight and narrow, you could be put on the list again, and might even be elected next go around. This isn't a permanent position like mine, this is something like the old system. Without the lifelong pay or guards. Once you're out of office, we're not supporting you anymore. Anyway, good luck, go get some rest. You'll be sorted within two days."

As the screens disappeared Henry and Luke approached, watching him walk back around his desk to sit down. Another set of screens popped up, and as the men joined him they saw the screens were running the histories of the candidates.

"Was it really alright to tell them about Morgan?"

"She asked, I answered. Besides, she's the only one I actually like right off the bat."

"I reviewed her history myself Luke," Henry chuckled. "If she does win, we'll definitely have our hands full."

"How full?"

"Remember Alfred before the war? I'd bet that full."

Luke cringed, looking at Alfred. "No wonder you like her. That alone tells me she's like a mini you."

"She is, to an extent. Since she has no ties to the country, her thoughts can't be clouded by the overall shared opinions of the people. Remember how I hated Russia? Clouded thoughts. We're best buddies now that the Cold War is long since over. My fear of England way back when? The fear the colonists shared."

"Sorry but I can't see you being scared of anyone." the younger man shrugged. "Doesn't fit how cocky you are."

"This attitude wasn't natural, it was made. Prussia saw to that when he whipped my ass into fighting shape. The military has done the same thing to Morgan, the only difference is her youth can let her get away with it."

"Is that why you'll bring her in whether she wins or not?"

"No. Like I said before, she's got a tactical prowess I've only seen a few times before. I want her as an advisor if she's not gonna be my vice. She's too valuable to let slip through the cracks. Just like you were, just like Henry was, just like Brad was."

Now it was Henry's turn to cringe, remembering how Brad had jumped in front of Alfred when he first announced he was getting rid of human presidents. A crazed redneck had took a shot at the country, and Brad had jumped in front of Alfred and took the shot for him, despite Alfred stepping up to take it himself. He had known the shot wouldn't hurt him too much, but Brad had reacted almost on instinct, and moved. He had died within minutes, and then and there Alfred announced he would never have another human bodyguard.

"That man would have been so proud of you Alfred. I wish he hadn't jumped in front of you but honestly I can understand why he did."

"To be honest I might've kicked his ass for it had he lived." Alfred chuckled, but his smile was sad. "He was a good man."

"So are you kid." Luke ruffled his hair. "Now get back to work. "You got too many papers to get done before this program finishes running your candidates."

"Yeah, I know, I know."