Carol's past

The girls carefully maneuvered through the the debris covered floor as they headed for an exit. 

Iori was quick to take note of everything causing her eyes to narrow. "Looks like there was a big murder here. You know what happened?" she asked Carol.

Carol went quiet before finally uttering her reply. "I heard this where some Ewetuber was murdered."

"Zinnia Broadstone, right? She was a rising political influencer before suddenly turning against everyone she once supported if I'm remeberin' right. Well not like I could blame her, politicians are manipulative pieces of shit. Speaking of which, I bet that ponytailed fucker we saw back in London arraigned for this. That means we really gotta be careful. Goons could be lurking nearby. Carol-chan, you know the area?"

Carol nodded and proceeded to explain all that she knew.

"That's pretty informative. How'd you know all that?" Mimoko asked.

"I... Um, I lived in the area before."

"Yeah, New York's a pretty crowded place so it makes sense," Iori interjected.

"No, I guess I should tell you. I'm probably why this all happened."

Iori and Mimoko nodded and decided to hear Carol out.

"First off, I guess I should come clean. I'm actually Zinnia Broadstone."

"Figured," Iori shrugged.

"HUH!? H- How!?"

"Iori-chan, let her continue," Mimoko glared.

Iori nodded as Carol resumed her story. "When I was in college, I was forced into joining the political club at the insistence of my mother. To put it bluntly, it was hell. The bitch in charge did everything to beat me into shape. She kicked all my teeth out, burned me with her cigarette butts, forced me to watch non-stop videos of that ponytailed fucker, all to corrupt me into the ideal politician my family wanted me to become. After such cruel torture, it was only a matter of time before I succumbed to it, and before I knew it, I was a corrupted politically obsessed idiot.  Suddenly my unruly hair was straight and mature, my playful eyes now glaring and soulless, and my mischievous smile, now a disgruntled scowl. It was like I was mirroring my mother. Though I think I still held on to some form of sanity, or perhaps insanity as every day after acting like a soulless political robot, repeating the drivel like a broken record, I'd breakdown and smash my head repeatedly into my dresser mirror. If my hair wasn't naturally crimson red, folks probably would have realized what I was doing, but no one ever found out. I stayed like this until my final year of college, when I met Pewler in the flesh. Thanks to the brainwashing, I believed he was some mythical savior, but a part of the real me still remained, telling me he was nothing but a piece of shit. He was even worse than that!"

"What happened?"

"He offered to make me his secretary, but I refused, and as a result, he forced me to watch a demonstration. You know that bitch I mentioned that ran the political club? Well her older sister was a sane and overall good human being. However, I guess the bitch wasn't pleased with that and aired her grievances to Pewler. That fucker then forced me to watch as he used one of those DESPER things to force that woman into a match. He won and as a result, she was turned into a sheepblossom."

"A 'sheepblossom'?"

"Have you heard of the Dystopian novel, Glasstone?"

Mimoko shook her head while Iori tried to remember if she had or hadn't. Glasstone was a somewhat niche Dystopian novel written by Regis Revere. The book took place in America and focused on two characters. One was the antagonist, Kon Iving, who began slowly eroding the world and conforming it to his dystopian fantasy, while the other was the protagonist, Duos Calciamenta, who was trying desperately to stop the antagonist, however, the world had become too dystopian and the protagonist ended up being captured and unwillingly turned into a sheep-human hybrid known as a sheeplossom before being executed. The sheepblossom were billed as the evolution of the human race due to the fact that they could photosynthesize, reducing the need for consumption of food. However, unbeknownst to the masses, sheepblossom had genetic programming that would make them act like a herd of sheep and obey a shepherd. Shepherds in the book were humans, that Iving had deemed worthy enough  to rule the world alongside him as chosen elites.

As for how sheepblossom were created, it was by dragging people to a laboratory and injecting them with a special serum from a giant needle in the lab's basement. The worst part was that once someone was turned into a sheepblossom, it was irreversible and their old personality would completely vanish, being replaced by the hivemind-like personality Iving had implemented into the sheepblossom's genetic code. For an added layer of security both to ensure complete control over the sheepblossom and prevent any of the shepherds from attempting to usurp power from him, Iving implanted powerful microchips known as NEXXCTT chips into all his victims which with the press of a button, would turn them into mind-controlled robots. To make things even more dystopian, the sheepblossom were billed as being the most "free" people in the world, but in reality, they were both figuratively and literally livestock for the chosen elites. Some were even killed behind the scenes and served as meals for the elites, as their flesh was described by the book as tasting exquisite.

A unique thing about the novel though was the fact that it told the story of how the antagonist, Kon Iving, managed to become the supreme ruler of his dystopian society. He started off building up his image as a good person, then sought power through politics. As soon as he became a rising star in his respective party, he began slowly weaving his dystopian fantasies into his party's positions, eventually leading to the party itself being tied to him and vice-versa.  This led to him preaching that in order to support the party, you had to support ALL his ideals with the upmost zeal, otherwise you were a heartless and immoral person. Due to his popularity, Iving managed to win the support of his party's base, and quickly eliminated any opposition from within. Then, he simply demonized the opposition to the point where ordinary folks would not vote for them, and quickly managed to get his party to complete power in the country and become president. Once he was officially sworn in, he had won. No one could stop him, though the end of the novel hinted that he would likely be killed along with the rest of the world's population after waging war against all the countries that had allied against his dystopian utopia, but even then, Iving himself viewed that as a win as even if the entire world was destroyed, it would prove that he was simply to powerful to beat, thus the world itself had to end to stop him. Not to mention, he was confident enough to think that like a cockroach, he'd survive the oncoming war.

As soon as Carol finished giving a summary of the book, Iori realized what was going on. "That ponytailed fuck began using that book as blueprint."

"Yes, and sadly he making it more non-fiction by the day. Just like in book, the city of Tombstone, Arizona has been razed to the ground and rebuilt as a metropolis filled with glass buildings and skyscrapers. He also renamed the town to Glasstone and hailed the achievement as 'humanity's rejection of it's neanderthal past, and commitment to evolution', just like Kon Iving in the book.  Picking up where I left off, after turning that poor woman into a sheepblossum, Pewler threatened to turn me into one too if I stepped out of line, but told me I didn't have to be his secretary and allowed me to leave. It was terrifying. He hadn't touched me, yet I was more terrified than I had ever been in my life. Worse, there was no out. I couldn't just say I supported some of his positions, as he made it so that you were either all-in on everything, or heartless trash lying about your support. It really ate at me for various reasons. Even if the political brainwashing never happened, there were some party positions I truly supported, but then Pewler stuck his thumb on the scale and put his own monkey's paw spin on them, and worse everyone within the Misericordia faction just cheered him on with no question. It was honestly like I was staring a deadly ravine in the face, but as I was walking home from that meeting, I ran into Christian."

"Christian?"

"My boyfriend- Well, guess he wasn't my boyfriend yet at the time. He had stuck up for me on my 1st day at school when I ended up getting my teeth kicked out for not following the Misericordia- No, the Pewler code of conduct that bitch and her ilk idolized. And as a result of sticking up for me, he was expelled.  When I met him again, all I remember is crying. Crying, just crying into his chest. Next thing I remember I was at his place. Everything was warm and cozy, and after a cup of warm milk, I finally broke free of the shackles binding me and decided I'd go my own way, but first I felt I had to at least speak out against Pewler, so I kept my "mature" persona intact just a bit longer. Though that was only because I wanted to seem more credible to the Misericordia party faithful. Guess you could say it was now just a mask, as I had freed myself from it's husk. Anyway, I dropped out of school and began living with Christian and making videos exposing Pewler. I tried to just direct everything at him and not the policies, but I had forgotten that he was now the party. Speaking out against him, meant you were speaking out against the Misericordia party and everything it stood for. And just like those that spoke out against Kon Iving in Glasstone, I was quickly demonized and silenced."

Mimoko recoiled in horror. "Then when you said you were attacked-"

"Yes, it started with his sycophants at the press running hit pieces on me in order to generate hate. I decided to tough it out though, but then I got doxxed and had an angry mob came to the house.  As the mob began breaking in, Christian shoved me into a hidden passage under the floor while he called the police and stayed behind to ensure I could escape. I naturally refused to leave without him, even when he locked the door shut. Since there was a peep hole, I stayed behind and watched, hoping he'd be ok, but instead I bore witness to his horrific execution. Those monsters jeered and laughed as he screamed in pain, worse I recognized many of the folks within that mob, as a good chunk of them were from the college, including that bitch that gave me so much hell. Christian really was an idiot, trying to save the girl he loved by sacrificing himself... Idiot."

Tears began to pour out of Carol's eyes as her hand began trembling.

"Mimo-chan, I think we got the gist of things. No need to press anymore. Now let's think of what we do now," Iori nodded.

"Iori-chan... It's rare to see you so serious. Did her story remind you a bit about yourself?" Mimoko asked.

"Yeah, we both had our lives upended by shitty politicians in more ways than one."

Once Carol calmed down, the three discussed their gameplan. Since no one had busted into the abandoned home yet, the three assumed that they had at least enough time to remain there and discuss their plan.

"Since we're in America, shouldn't we be able to take refuge in a secret puzzle cafe?" Iori suggested.

"That's true, since America has a maestro, there should be secret puzzle cafes, but we don't know where they are and Tanabe-kun mentioned that the SPCMs here were big Pewler supporters," Mimoko frowned.

"Still, they wouldn't be able to sell us out if we're in a secret puzzle cafe. That's WWCF territory and if they try to mess with us there, the old man will come and fuck them up."

"They might also not be sycophants and just simple supporters. That fucker does have a good public image despite how vile and evil he really is," Carol stated.

"Even so, we don't know where the secret puzzle cafes are, and since Tanabe-kun's phone is off, I can't contact him," Mimoko sighed.

"What about challenging him with the WWCF card?" Iori suggested.

"Tried that too, but it didn't work."

"So that's why he did that roundabout strategy of dragging us to Britain first. That way, he could lure Oki-kun to Britain before dragging us to America."

"So you're saying I'm not the main target?" Carol asked.

"Probably not. The Desperados have marked Mimo-chan and Oki-kun as their top targets to eliminate."

"I didn't know."

"Now ya do. So why don't we get out of this rundown shit shack before ya start sobbing again. We're in New York, right? So we just gotta find some chess hustlers. They'd probably know where to find a secret puzzle cafe."

"But what if there's an ambush outside?"

"Then stick close to me," Iori grinned as she kicked down one of the boarded windows.

As the girls exited the abandoned building, they found themselves on a crowded residential street. No one seemed to be around, nor did it appear as though there was an ambush lying in wait, so the girls eased up.

"Surprised New York has places like this. I thought everyone lived in skyscrapers," Iori shrugged.

"I once thought Japanese live in traditional homes," Carol smirked.

"Hey, some still do."

"I know, I moved into one."

"You moved into one?" Mimoko asked.

"Yeah, I was able to move to Japan with my grampy, but before I could really crash at the place, all this happened."

"How'd you manage that?" Iori asked.

"The old man chess guy in charge of the WWCF. I met him a few months ago and after agreeing to be a chess player, he agreed to pull some strings to get me out of America. And I'm glad he did, because I don't think I can live here anymore, especially if that fucker Pewler becomes president."

"You don't think the boomer will win the election?"

Carol let out a sigh. "I'd only vote for him because he's the only one that's got a chance at beating that fucker Pewler, but if Boomer was running against anyone else, I wouldn't vote for him."

"That's not good. We can't let someone like Pewler become president," Mimoko glared.

"And how do we do that?"

"We challenge him and beat him in a game of chess."

"He won't accept. He never puts himself at a disadvantage," Carol sighed.

"Nah, Mimo-chan's right. We just gotta run into him, and he'll activate his DESPER in order to get rid of her, then she beats him and makes him die," Iori grinned.

"Iori-chan, killing is wrong," Mimoko glared.

"But he needs to die. Even if you just had him drop out of the race and confess to his crimes, the fucker would just find a way to weasel his way back to power"

Mimoko stared Iori in the eyes for a bit before giving her response. While she could understand where Iori was coming from, she did not believe in taking lives no matter how horrible the person was. Even Michiko who had upended her life didn't deserve death over a life in prison according to her.

"Guess you really are a saint. But that's the problem. A saint like you can't beat a megalomaniac like him," Iori grumbled.