I have once again been asked why I am standing for Councillor. Been asked how somebody like you can stand for all of us. Asked how you can possibly serve again.
And in reply, a simple answer. I serve.
The life of a Councillor isn’t glamorous. You make no money from it, you earn no glory. You are laughed at in comics that appear around the bunker. Reviled in opinion pieces, called rude names.
Many people disagree with my choices, many people say they would do better. I say if you truly believe that, I welcome you as a candidate against me. Step forward. Serve.
But serve the whole bunker.
Serve the medics, the engineers. Help them with projects. Give them your time so that they can make better use of their time, so they can work on new cures and better technologies.
Learn from the soldiers. Listen to how they want to protect the bunker from threats without and within.
Serve the crats who tirelessly work away on mountains of paper and code to catalogue and categorise, who search the histories for ways to make life easier and better.
Serve the Psionics, help them learn how to use their powers but not fall over the edge.
Learn to serve knowing people will hate you for your decisions and still be able to make the choices that need to be made. Because make no mistake, the choices you will face as a Councillor may terrify you. They are horrible choices. But they need to be made.
And that is why I want to serve again.
I am not finished dealing with the Hive. I am not finished taking the fight to the Specialists that threaten us outside and in. I am not finished working with the Free People and the Surface tribes to try and make everyone’s lives easier. We have expanded out to Fort Ned and it’s going to take time to consolidate our knowledge of what’s out there so we know what resources the sector can provide for the Ascendancy and I’m not finished with helping guide that either. I want to continue to work with Fortitude and build stronger links with them. I want to help mediate the groups at Hope’s end so that they all can live together. I want to help those that stay in the bunker and the FEF understand each other better. I want to work with each sector of the bunker to see what we each can do to help the other.
Every person in the bunker fears something. I fear losing my friends and my partner on the surface while facing threats two years ago I could not have even imagined. You may fear the power going out, or the strikes meaning there is not enough food. You may fear that the FEF are taking over and the council doesn’t care about the workers in sector 3 or 9 or 15 as it’s filled with FEF. You may fear Psionics, or you may fear because you are a Psionic. You may fear the surface and the strange tales that you hear of it. All of these fears are understandable and mean the council is not doing a good enough job. We need to do better. I need to do better. I hear you.
I still have more to do. Everything has a price, and I’m willing to make the decisions and to pay it. I work tirelessly for the Ascendancy and the Bunker.
I serve.