There were cameras everywhere, but no other beings apart from Rethais, Kayelar and the moderator, a senior Rethan by the name of Dyphon Kalliergos. Dyphon had been moderating in High and Vice General Candidate debates for about eighty years now, and he was still going strong. A Rethan who relished his job and wished he got to do it more often.
Dyphon sat happily in his seat, a black, comfy armchair, with a table and a set of questions in front of him. Rethais and Kayelar only had stools. No table. No drinks, no notes, just plain, plastic stools with a swivel in the middle. Both of them had to sit perfectly still. They both knew that their seats were wobbly for a reason – their idle movements, twitches, swings, everything, it would all be scrutinized and judged.
“Are you both ready?” Dyphon asked. His voice sounded rather dull. Again, it was dull on purpose. To make his questions as clear as possible.
Rethais gave a calm yet strong ‘yes’, while Kayelar politely nodded.
“Very well. Let us begin. You must answer the question you are given. You will have a limited amount of time to answer, and cannot attack the other side. By flip of the coin, Rethais will answer this question first, followed by an answer from Kayelar, with one rebuttal each. Understand?”
Another yes, another nod.
“Our first question is as follows: Immigration of other races, both legally and illegally, into Rethan territories is at an all-time high. How would you work with your High Generals to solve or curb the issue?”
Rethais remained silent for a brief moment before answering. “Legal immigration is currently not a true issue for us. A society, even one as strong as ours, always needs hard-working beings to fill every job, to work in the Stratos, and so on. Illegal immigration is indeed a problem, because we cannot track illegal immigrants, and it is difficult to send them home or punish them when they break our laws. My solution, if I can call it that, would be to make it easier for immigrants to enter legally but also to persuade immigrants that being legal has more benefits.”
“Thank you.” Dyphon expressionlessly turned to Kayelar. “How would you solve or curb the issue?”
Kayelar seemed slightly less sure than Rethais did. “To be honest… I would probably do something similar. Illegals sneak in because they can’t get in legally. But they miss out on the benefits of being a Rethan citizen. My only addition would be that I would also see why these beings are immigrating, and perhaps see what can be done to help them at home.”
“Anything else either of you wish to add?”
Rethais glanced at Kayelar, then shook his head. “I think both our answers shall suffice.”
Dyphon tutted, then moved on to the next question. “Ever since Vice General Elkay was forcibly removed from power last year, security for our highest officials is a concern to many Rethans. Kayelar, how would you reduce these concerns?”
“Unfortunately, there are risks in being in power. That is the whole point of being in power. You cannot guarantee anyvok’s safety, a hundred percent of the time. That being said, we can improve. If I was Vice General, I would advise that we no longer rely on the Ksa on their own, instead brining in the Generals’ legions to protect our leaders. The Ksa are overworked and few in number. As we all now, being overworked is not a good thing. Mistakes happen. But if we have our dedicated legions protecting our leaders, perhaps we can lessen these mistakes.”
Dyphon turned to Rethais, ready for a rebuttal. “General Rethais, you are protected by the V-Class Ksa alongside Generals Emthion and Lepidas. What are your thoughts?”
“I would very much agree that our Ksa are overworked and that we should have our legions be about to help us. I am certain I would feel more protected if my vok of the 250th Legion protecting me. But as to not put our Ksa out of a job, I would have them working together with our legions for the best protection. As a way to cover all our bases.”
The fact that the two candidates annoyed Dyphon slightly. “Any rebuttals?”
“No.”
“Very well.” Dyphon pushed onwards to the next question. “With the Cassids voting to remain as members of the Maza and the Thanatians considering leaving, how would you convince them to stay? Rethais?”
Rethais smiled a little. “That is quite simple. I would remind them of not just the money they make, but the protection they get as well. Elkay reminded the Cassids of this when he was Vice General, and I would do the same thing. I would also expand on that, explain the concept of herd immunity. If we are all in this together, we can work together to protect ourselves, and if something does go wrong, then those in trouble will get the help they need.”
“And Kayelar, your thoughts?”
“There is little more I can add,” Kayelar sighed. “We can’t force them to stay, we can’t bribe them. All we can do is show them the benefits while counter-arguing or downplaying any negatives they come up with.”
Dyphon almost growled. As he reached for the next question, he couldn’t help but tut loudly. “You know you are both supposed to argue and disagree with one another. You are not reading each others’ minds, are you?”
“No,” Rethais replied bluntly.
“Not at all!” Kayelar smiled.
“Well… Fine…” Dyphon tutted and moved on to a new question. “Continuing from my previous question, how do you both feel about the current change in Thanatian government?”
“It is my turn to start, yes?” Kayelar glanced at Rethais, then back at Dyphon. “Well… Obviously, the fact that they overthrew their leaders isn’t a good thing. I hope that they find a way to become a democratically run society. I recommend democracy, it is pretty good as long as you have fail safes to stop tyranny.”
“And you, Rethais?”
“I would say the same…”
“Do you NOT HAVE opinions?” Dyphon suddenly shouted.
“I was not finished,” Rethais rolled his eyes. “I was about to say that while I condone their hostile take over, they firstly did it without harming anyone, secondly, the Thanatians were ruled by an unelected king and queen anyway and thirdly… We cannot really criticize them when the Bayvak choose their leaders by abandoning kids on mountains, and just look at the violence the Vayra commit against their own. I expected better from the Thanatians, but as long as their new government is respectful to everyone and follows interracial laws, then we can’t force the Thanatians into a democracy.”
Dyphon sighed. “Kayelar, do you have any rebuttals?”
“Just that we should slowly help them build a democracy, but I do essentially agree with him.”
“Fine. Here is a question,” Dyphon spat. “Why do you both agree with each other? Did you plan this? To perhaps make me look bad?”
Rethais and Kayelar looked at each other.
“No?” Kayelar seemed confused. But Rethais seemed to have a better understanding.
“I think that, while our High General candidates have a lot of differences, they both ironically looked for some middle ground when it came to their Vice General picks,” Rethais explained. “They picked rather… centrist candidates.”
“Why?”
“Well,” Kayelar interrupted. “The High General often has rather crazy ideas. I’m sure you’ve had… similar craziness, General Rethais?”
“I have. We were chosen to keep our fellow candidates grounded. It just seems as though Generals Photeianos and Elkay both see things in rather unusual ways, and we help to stop them from going over the top, as a Vice General should do.”
“Are you both going to agree on everything I ask?” Dyphon gave up.
Kayelar shrugged. “Probably.”
“Fine…” Dyphon rummaged through the papers on his table, before growling and swiping them all away. He’d had enough. “What is your favourite ice cream flavour?”
“That’s something we can disagree on!” Kayelar and Rethais both laughed, as the cameras faded to black.