The shadowy council

Ookuma scowled and discarded her corrupted phone into a vat of sulfuric acid.

"So Rebelle messed with a talented hacker. I assume then she'll be coming to inform me in person. Seems I'll have to consult with my allies in Illumous in order to get some anti-malware security. Hmm, though I can still win even with this setback. After all, I planned to use the investigation spurned by the restaurant incident to constantly drag down the opposition for next year's election. This one should go just as planned, especially with the death of Segawa," Ookuma thought as she picked up her un-corrupted main cellphone.

The next day...

Rika let out a relieved sigh after casting her ballot.

"I didn't think it'd be that hard to just get the ballot," Rika sighed.

"You never are good when it comes to matters of documentation," Masaru sighed.

"I just thought you just went in and grabbed a ballot."

"*Sigh* You can't just walk up to the table and say, "Gimme a ballot" without proving information about yourself. They only just lowered the voting age from 20 to 18 last month so naturally they are going to check to make sure you're eligible to vote," Itsuki sighed as she cast her ballot.

"Well good thing Mimi didn't come with us. She'd probably have a tough time considering she just got a new ID card a few weeks ago," Rika stated.

                                                                       ...

Once the three returned to the restaurant, Benihime, Waki, Zuina, and Matcha set out to go to the polls.

"Wow, didn't know voting was so tricky. I'm glad Harumi-chan was with me," Mimi stated.

"Wait, you were able to vote!?" Rika gasped.

"Yeah, guess Harumi-chan took care of all the paperwork. As soon as I showed my credentials, I was given a ballot," Mimi smiled.

"Guess I'm glad she gave you a new ID. If you had used that forged ID, who knows how bad things would have been."

"So think Ookuma will lose?"

"Hopefully, but I fear she's likely gonna get a majority."

"How? She tried to have me murdered," Masaru stated.

"But no one but us know she was trying to murder you. If she leaks that image she took, she'll have full control over the narrative."

"Then why not tell everyone our story first?"

"Because we have no proof. A court of law would believe her more sadly."

                                                                          ...

Rika let out an audible groan along with 99% of the restaurant's guests and staff as the pundits projected Ookuma's party to gain control of the house of councilors.

"Dammit, why'd those idiots in district 9 vote for that wacko's party?" one patron groaned.

"I heard that's where that recent massacre took place. That police commissioner that appeared alongside Ookuma also claimed the opposition candidates were the likely suspects that hired those two assassins," another sighed.

"Yeah, I hate to admit it, but years ago, I ended up voting for one of her candidates after the opposition candidates were all linked to something nasty. Though I've been voting against said candidate now in subsequent elections, but she always wins no matter how much better her opponents are. Heck, come to think of it. There haven't been any scandals for the opposition candidates in my district since that initial election," another patron stated.

"Seems Madam Ookuma has proven she's got what it takes to take control of the country," Benihime mused.

"Do you really agree with ALL her crazy positions?" Rika asked.

"Nay, but I will wholeheartedly accept them should she become prime minister next year. It will be the will of the people which I am bound to serve."

"And if the people hand Ookuma a landslide defeat?"

"Then I will uphold their will. I merely vote and hold respect for Madam Ookuma and her party. I shan't engage in preaching their ideology until it is clear that the majority of the nation agrees with it."

Rika simply ended the conversation there and returned to the kitchen.

                                                                             ...

Late at night, Ookuma appeared in a darkened room before a table occupied by 12 shadowy figures.

"I'll be taking my seat here soon," Ookuma stated as she glared directly at one of the figures.

"I'M the one who deserves the credit! I raised you after all!" the shadowy figure boasted.

"Akuma, do not try to steal credit from your daughter. She has been proving herself far more capable of being a leader than you have," the shadowy figure at the head of the table stated.

"But I did so much in the past century-"

"All you did was kill off the rest of your family so you'd be the sole member of the Ookuma clan. Then you simply lived like a king flaunting your status as a founding member of Illumous. Had you not produced an heir you would have been demoted from the council and forced to surrender your depository key."

"But, my daughter plans to-"

"What she advocates for will ensure Illumous has full control over the future population of Japan."

"Yes, by mandating that all future humans be bred in laboratories, we can assure that they are Illumous foot-soldiers from birth. Then, we can simply toy with the stragglers we have yet to mind-control or kill," Ookuma snickered.

"Indeed, you have done well. I now believe you are worthy of sitting on the council. Should you become Prime minister in a little over 1 year's time, you shall become the new head of the Ookuma clan and replace your father at this table."

Akuma extended his long sharp fingernails and sliced them down on the table, slicing whatever device was being used to project him at the council table.

"So Akuma has left in what the children call a "rage quit"," another shadowy figure mused as he adjusted his hat.

"Why do you pay so much attention to young'ins, Frank?" another shadowy figure fumed.

"Because it's good to learn about the world. Perhaps if you paid more attention to your great great granddaughter, she wouldn't have turned rouge, Antonio."

"And you just do whatever you want without even advancing Illumous' agenda most of the time. If you weren't so powerful, we'd threaten to boot you like we did with Akuma."

"Antonio, your great great granddaughter is also an important topic for discussion now that she has committed her first rouge act against us," the leader glared.

"Indeed, she and her partner will become a problem in the future. Even though I was able to predict their course of action and use it to my advantage, I'm sure Izuhana will not be so foolish in the future, much to my regret," Ookuma stated.

"I thought you hated foolish women," Antonio glared.

"Indeed I do. Of course, now that I am before you all, I can state my true intentions, but first I must confirm that our security is secure, yes?" Ookuma asked.

"Since you came physically without electronic devices, you are likely fine. We also wield the power to detect unauthorized hacking so you have nothing to fear. We will indeed look into this mysterious hacker," the leader declared.

"Excellent. *Ahem* Publicly, my slogan is this,"The only thing I despise more than a man is a foolish woman." Naturally, I tend to frame a "foolish woman" as one that does not strictly adhere to my mantra, but leave some leeway for some to convert to my ideology. Though as you all know, I enjoy a foolish woman, and foolish men, that will blindly obey my back and call. Those true supporters are what has carried me to such great heights," Ookuma stated.

"Spoken like a true politician, here, here," another shadowy figure clapped.

"Naturally, I do hold SOME respect for some of the fine gentlemen here. Particularly the ones that don't remind me of the scum who bred me," Ookuma stated as she shot a glare at Antonio.

"Very well, Ruchi Ookuma. We congratulate you on your electoral victory and advancement of Illumous' control over the world. Now we must move on to the other items of discussion," the leader stated as Ookuma sat down in the chair, where her father had previously been before he left the meeting.

                                                                           ...

Once the meeting was over, Ookuma met with a girl with multicolored hair clad in a high school uniform.

"You're makin great strides. Might even inspire little ole me to take a shot at dethronin my dad for head of the council," the girl snickered.

"You would make a fine council member, Hilda. Though, the chairman's spot will likely got to me," Ookuma stated.

"Guess I'll have to take over the EU in order to stand a chance against you in the vote. So ready to go cement your wins?" Hilda snickered as an army of shadowy Illumous foot-soldiers appeared.

"Just like we do with every election, lets do the official canvass," Ookuma snickered as she gazed at the stack of microchips before her.

                                                                              ...

At Ookuma's home, Mao gritted her teeth as she gazed at the election results.

"With these wins, she'll only need to flip a handful of districts next year to become prime minister. Damn it. If only she didn't have those damn microchips, I could have escaped long ago. But she told me she those things are under her complete control and anyone that has one in them becomes her robot on a string. If I hadn't resolved myself to this long term escape, she might have chipped me like she threatened to. But even then, it's a struggle not to let her persona consume me," Mao thought.