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After all that happened, one thing remained to do, at least to the crowd… they literally started partying in front of the presidential building, and not just them, the whole capital suddenly turned into a place where people partied after the news broke and was finalized, after they heard the speech themselves… it was something really dumb to do.
Like from the government's and James's pov, the cartel still had a big threat toward them. The only good thing about it is that William already closed down the border, and with his order the border guards were replaced with ones who actually care… well, it was the military, but there were still cartel members still in the country, and if people go out partying all day, that's going to be the biggest threat.
If a mass shooter or a car bomb explodes, that is going to be a catastrophe with hundreds, if not thousands, of deaths, and the cartel is very capable of doing something like that… or actually, if that happened, it would work on their side.
After all of this announcement, if something really bad happened, that's going to work more on their side and just going to show the people that these announcements scared the shit out of the criminals, and their only weapon to use is the fear… but now fear is nothing, it's more like giving more power to the civilians, because now the government is with them, and they work together for a better future.
They are not going to fear, they are not going to step back, but moreover, fight for their right to live, for a country that deserves the care.
So yeah, in the downtown and everywhere in the city, all of the clubs, restaurants, everything opened up to the people. Some of it even gave out drinks for free to the people, and suddenly it turned out to be the biggest parade in the country's history, with tens of thousands of people celebrating the future.
Not just that, but the applications suddenly jumped in the law enforcement forces. Like not even an hour passed since the speech happened, and already people were applying for the position to defend themselves and the country, the people.
It worked way better than William and the others thought it would work… they just really changed not the government, not just the justice system, but the people.
In the office, William just sat stunned and in complete confusion, because well, it was not how he imagined it at all. Like, he thought a bit of opposing opinions would come, because the death penalty and literally execution of criminals is a thing that's still debated worldwide. But no, the people actually said yeah to it with their cheers. But not just that, the whole thing, like everybody knows they are corrupt and have been corrupt since they took power, but still, they stand with them… well yeah, because that was the only thing they could do. Still, he was expecting an uproar in the voice, a demonstration that it is all to save themselves, that it's still just a play from the government, but no, what he saw on the television was a fucking parade, a carnival in the streets.
But one thing that he knew was going to happen, the speech of the others. He knew they were going to mention his name several times even though it wasn't in it. Well, fair play from them. Now they were in the shit together.
"Linda." William called out for her as she was sitting in the chair, her whole body still shaking.
The reason for it, she didn't know if she gave a good answer to the reporters. She knew they could cut it up and put out a version where they totally misunderstand what she said. They are sneaks… but she worried for nothing, like they are controlling the media easily with the national emergency.
"Linda!" William now raised his voice to catch her attention, and she did as she looked up."You left out a major part of your speech," he said as he eyed her, and it was true.
"I can't say something like that, that is your power, not mine." She said back as she eyed him too.
"What part?" Benjamin asked from the back.
William leaned back to his chair. "We are changing the name of the capital." He said, and well, they were once again just stunned.
"That's bullshit, William. You know how many changes that would come with?" Linda asked as she shook her head. "We need to reissue city cards, the healthcare card, and many things that have the name on it, even institutions and many things, not even talking about how the public will react to it."
Yeah, if they change names, that would come with a lot of fuckery. Moreover, a lot of money would need to be spent to change everything.
"It's for them to know we are serious about it." William said again.
"Why? The name is good, well, sounds a little terrible, but still, it is already in the culture." Benjamin said again.
"That's the point… the culture and the history behind the name." William said. "Our capital name is Hangur, and who was it?"
They all looked at each other and then Thomas spoke. "Hangur Iverson, the name came from him. A rich man who built the capital."
"Not built, but had influence and a lot of money back then, and well, we have a lot of historical evidence he was the first big criminal in the country. He was smuggling liquor, bribing authorities, and killing a lot of people. He even had slaves." William explained. "He might be the one who gave the resources to build the city, but he is the literal source of the underworld. He was the first big name."
"But to people, he was a good man." Stephen spoke. "He built a lot of things, helped the poor, and, well, not just built the capital but the railway and a lot of things that helped people actually live."
"That's exactly why we're changing it. Because people only saw what he and the historians wanted them to see. But we know what is behind it, and actually in the past, a lot of people have already raised their voices against it." William stood up. "How can we say we fight against criminals who nested in the heart of our government and capital, when it is named after the godfather of all criminals?"
It made sense, but the problem was still that they would need to change everything with it, and well, they needed people to support it even if it's a national emergency.
"Then change the country name too." Thomas said with a smile. "It sounds like a fantasy book name that AI did."
"It was named after the king, Lyrinthia Augustus Gaius. We can't change that, that's just outrageous to do. But a capital name is not that outrageous." William said, and it was true. That was too much to change, but the capital is not.
"But then what will the name be?" Stephen asked.
"Oh, I know a good name." Benjamin said as he stepped forward a bit. "Bellini."
Everybody just looked at him in silence, like he turned into a full-blown fanboy or something, and well, they didn't pay much attention to it.
"We have a sea, a big capital with people who can fight like warriors for the freedom and the lives they want. So we will name it after the great freedom fighter who saved the kingdom's sovereignty and culture, Virelia."
There was a silence for a bit as they all just looked at William.
"Virelia?" Linda spoke back and she chuckled and had the reason for it. "He was the one who rose up against Lyrinthia Augustus Gaius and chopped his head off, and you want to rename the capital, the biggest city after him?" She chuckled still as she shook her head because it sounded outrageous.
"Lyrinthia made our nation one of the most powerful at that time, and our borders still stand to this day. But he had mental issues at an old age and wanted war with everybody. Virelia killed him exactly because of that… to save the kingdom. And after that, he fought with the attacking Nimsen and pushed them back, 70,000 soldiers against 250,000 and he won."
"Do whatever you want, but I'm going to my office." Linda said as she shook her head because it was just too much. Like, they'd announced so many changes, so many laws that go against everything, even international laws, that this fucking name change.
"Me too. Going to meet up with our lovely James." Benjamin said as he turned.
"Say to him that we'll have a meeting when everything dies down and the restructuring of the government is in stable condition." William said.
Benjamin nodded, and with that, he went after Linda, while Thomas and Stephen stayed in the Oval Office with the president, because they had work to do… lots of it. At least they wanted to get it done quickly.
For William, he needed to restructure the whole government, look at how much funding they had to do the projects, and many more things that come with it. A lot of work to be done to finally make the system livable.