Chapter 213
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January 1st, 2035. Major Hamilton called for an assembly in the barn. Some soldiers were still needed for guard duty. Those attending were expected to pass the word along. President Mason was expected to address his nation later that night, Eve wondered if these two were related. Hamilton told his soldiers about Santos' orders. They were expected to take an oath to the Republic of Texas within a week. Hamilton said they should swear this oath, even fight for Texas, but that their loyalty should remain to the collective. If they had to choose at some point, Hamilton hoped they would choose his side. Their word was good enough for him. There was really nothing he could do to them at this point to force their cooperation. But Hamilton stressed his faith in his comrades.
On the night of January 1st Eve and other collective soldiers were sitting around the tv, waiting for George Mason to make his address. They were all nervous, Mason didn't have a great reputation for calming the public with his speeches. Jacob decided to help ease the tension. He began explaining cartoon laws of physics. "A character suspended in space will remain suspended until made aware of his situation. For instance the coyote runs off a cliff, expecting more cliff underneath. He stands in mid-air contemplating his situation, until he looks down, at which point the standard equation of 32 ft per second per second takes effect." Another law says "the time it takes an object to fall down forty floors is greater than or equal to the time it takes for whoever knocked it off the ledge to run down forty flights of steps in an attempt to catch it. The object is inevitably priceless, the attempt to catch it inevitably unsuccessful." The crowd laughed at Jacob's observations. Even Hamilton, who always seemed stoic and serious, smiled a little at this. They knew Mason's news wouldn't be good, perhaps another harbringer of doom. But Jacob became the court jester for a little while. It allowed them all to briefly forget their troubles and laugh again. They needed this. President George Mason bean his address at 5pm eastern standard time, 3pm in Texas. He was wearing his trademark sweater, evidently still keeping the heat down in the white house.
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Mason: My fellow Americans, we have been through much these last two years. There has been much loss, including my daughter. Just as I have lost a child, so many other parents have sufferred this loss. Despite the conflicts, the fighting, even the killing, we as a species are in this together. We must put aside out differences, the animosity and hatred, to work together. I can not claim that this will be easy, but if we cannot live together, we will all die alone. Radical groups, without idealogy, logic, or mercy, have obtained deadly biological weapons. Containing this virus, stopping these groups, will require us to all work together. And, despite our past failures, I remain confident that, when everyone does their part, we can stop ELE. Fighting among ourselves will only divert precious energy and resources away from the bigger threat. Thomas Edison had over ten thousand failed attempts to create the light bulb. He said that he hadn't failed, he simply found ten thousand ways that didn't work. It only took one way to work to create light. It will only take one way to stop ELE. We must all come together to acomplish this, everyone working together. When this began, I hoped that people would come together voluntarily. But if that does not happen, I will do what I have to do to bring our resources together. Earlier today, congress voted to approve a new emergency powers bill. This allows the military and law enforcement the ability to be more aggressive in stopping the scavengers and traitors who have stolen the Arks from the United States. While we hope for the best, we must also prepare for the worst. One year from today, we begin the lottery to select those who will be in the shelters. Because of limited resources these Arks will have strict population laws. Although new children will need to be born to keep the species alive, they will not be able to sustain too many infants. Therefore, as hard as this is, under the new emergency powers act, no child born on, or after, January 1st 2036, will be admitted into the Arks. Women who are, or become pregnant over the next year, will have to make some very difficult choices. I regret that this is neccessary. But it must be done to ensure the survival of the human race.