Chapter 93
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On Friday November 4th president Mason gave an address to the American people. Eve was working at Ravenwood, everyone seemed to be watching the news. It had been exactly nine months since Mason told the world about ELE, there were now 989 days until impact.
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Mason: My fellow Americans, on Monday there were ten school shootings throught this country. 108 children have been killed, another 50 injured, several are still in critical condition and in danger of dying. Earlier today the house of representatives and the senate passed an act to prevent future terrorist attacks. Banning most private ownership of guns, restricting what use of the media that might, inadvertadly, relay information to similar terrorists. I realize that since Febuary 4th, most inmates have been put to use building Arks. Those who pled guilty to theft, rape, even murder, have been building Arks. It was believed they were logical enough to save their own lives, and all of humanity. Others are not as logical. Samuel's followers have the potential to destroy these Arks, possibly destroying humanity's only chance of survival. This act, which I have already signed, allows for the death penalty for anyone over 16, who murders children. This was not an easy decision, but it is one I felt justified by the times. I cannot claim to have controlled events. I confess plainly, events have controlled me. Things changed for the worse on Febuary 4th, they might get worse still. But we will not abandon our humanity, we will not just e slouching towards Bethlehem. We will persevere.
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Eve was a bit nervous after Mason's speech. Maybe some measures were neccessary to prevent the murder of children. But would it stop there? And the part about executing 16 years olds, Eve was almost 16. She had no desire to murder children, but could she be mistakingly accussed? Most criminal cases were just plea bargains, many were willing to work on the Arks for more chances. Many students at "Armageddon high" had done this work and came back on probation. If they got in trouble they often had to sit with their probation officer, in front of everyone. Actual trials were rare, what exactly were the new procedures for those accussed of murder? Eve hadn't taken Amy's fears about government becoming too powerful very seriously. For now at least, Eve was willing to go along with president George Mason.