Hybrids

Dinner

Despite how odd he appeared to be, Theodore was nice enough to give the Stars a full course dinner at one of the city's most prestigious restaurants free of charge. The family had been sat at one of the booths by the window, with a small flatscreen that extended up from the edge of the table which was playing live feed from the city hall. Cloude and Flower were focused on it as they waited for their meals, as they felt like it was the least they could do to repay him.
Rez however was looking out of the window and at the orange sky, the sun had already begun to lower in the sky, which surprised him as he didn't think they were out for that long. But he shrugged and continued admiring the city shining in the sun's light.
His eyes wandered upwards towards the clouds at a fairly big shape in the sky, he narrowed his eyes slightly to help him see it, but it was still too faint to make out.
Reaching over to Riza, he tugged her shirt and pointed at it "Riza, what's that in the sky?" he asked curiously.
Having been grabbed by her brother, she looked over and up, before pondering for a few moments. She rubbed his head and sat back "Oh that? That's the Absolute Authority still in orbit" she told him, looking at a magazine that came with the table.
Rez was instantly fascinated as he looked back and forth between the shape in the sky and his sister "It's that big?!" he said a little too loudly, catching the attention of other customers around them, all wearing much more expensive clothing.
Cloude looked to him and then raised his eyebrow "Hey hey, don't need to shout inside a restaurant bud" he quietly spoke, before turning his attention back to the TV. 
Rez nodded and paused as he thought about it for a few moments, then he smiled and wiggled in his chair "That's awesome. I wish I could visit it"
Overhearing what he said, Flower smiled and turned to face him "I'm sure with how much he's done, I wouldn't put it past him to do that" she jested of course, but he was an odd man full of surprises.
He nodded, then sat back and drifted into though. Soon enough he found himself nodding off into a nap while they waited for their food, and he nestled his head onto Riza's lap, who could only smile and rub his head.

The city had calmed down a fair amount compared to earlier, as many people were settling down to watch the proper results and announcement. The streets were clear and traffic was moving in some areas, but the building that the two candidates were at was completely swarmed with people. It was the System Embassy, the only building on the planet with a connection to the other Embassies on the rest of the planets. It was a huge tower with a sleek design and imposing figure on the skyline. However its powerful satellite dish wasn't on the building itself, but halfway across the planet. Connected with highly guarded and vast tunnels, the location of the satellite dish was kept hidden from many, as if it were to go down, the planet would have no communications with the other Embassies. Another reason for it having to be so far away, is hat it had to be extremely large to send messages out with much greater speeds than ever before. A broadcast from the Embassy Satellites can travel through space and reach Earth instantaneously. 

But before Rez could get into an even deeper sleep, he was woken up by Riza. He opened his eyes and rubbed them as he groaned, then he noticed the enticing smell of the food that was now sitting on the table in front of him. On an oval shaped plate sat on the table, a steaming salmon laid across it with a few pieces of lettuce underneath it. A fair bit of boiled rice was just across from it, with some spices sprinkled over it. 

Cloude looked over and smiled "Mmhm, that looks delicious" he spoke a little enviously, as what he got on his plate wasn't exactly what he expected, he poked his with his fork "It's a little smaller to what was shown on the menu..." he sounded pretty disappointed, which earned him a disapproving glance from Flower "Well, you ordered it so you need to eat it".

"Well it is free, I could just order something el-!" he couldn't even finish what he was saying as Flower had delivered a sharp, quick slap to his hand "You ordered that now eat it"

"But dear, another meal is like an ant compared to his wallet" he whined, trying to find a way to convince her to no avail.

"No buts. You wouldn't like it if you bought someone a meal, and they went 'ugh its too small'. Would you?".

He shook his head slightly and sighed, but looked to his food and slowly began to eat. On the TV on the edge of the table, camera footage begun to show Theodore and Calio walk onto a big, wide open stage between the Embassy and the huge crowds of people. Calio seemed far broader and larger than Theodore, having a wide neck and muscled body. His expression was very stoic, with defined features across his face. He had pitch black hair that was extremely short and styled in a 'posh' fashion. Just from his looks, he was already a lot more serious and sensible than Theodore.

The two candidates stood behind their respective podiums and waved to the crowds of people before them. People wearing suits came and went as they finished some last minute preparations and final checks of their equipment, and it was easy to tell that the atmosphere was tense. Not from the crowd, but from the staff. It was safe to assume that if a speaker didn't work or a spotlight was broken someone would be losing their job.

Rez didn't know what was going on on the TV, but he continued to keep his eyes on it even as he ate his salmon "When are they starting?" he asked, looking up at Riza.

She looked over her shoulder to see him and reply "They should be starting soon I think, they're just uh... Making some last minute checks. Make sure that everything is working right"

He nodded in response, looking back to the TV when suddenly the small spotlights on the lip of the stage turned on and illuminated the two men's faces and podiums. It seemed that it was finally beginning.

Theodore smiled and waved at the horde of people, leaning into his microphone "Hello everyone! It's such an honour to stand here in front of all of you, I'm very grateful that I was voted for enough to be standing here. Before we start is there anything else you'd like to say Calio?" he asked, looking to the left of him.

Calio blinked for a moment, slightly caught off guard before leaning in and speaking "Oh um, of course, of course. I too and very thankful for this opportunity. I hope that no matter the outcome of today, we'll all strive for a better future all across the system" his voice was much gruffer than Theodore's, and didn't have the smooth talking capabilities. Would Calio's powerful appearance be enough to overtake Theodore's experience?

Theodore smiled once more, showing some of his pearly white teeth "Alright then everyone. Today we find out will be the next Head of System. As per law, all above the age of 15 will have the voting application on their mobile devices. In five minutes the app will be unlocked so the people of the system can vote, and in another five minutes after that it shall be locked once more, and the votes shall be compared. Our way of doing things is simple, has been and always will be. Most votes win, nothing shady or hidden. If you do not have a mobile device, there will be booths all along the bottom of the stage here which will let you vote as well. Now, if everyone is ready, let us begin!"

Shorter chapter than usual, apologies. But look forward to a full sized chapter next time ^^