Politics of Termina

With my lesson learned, I spent the next couple of hours until the meeting with Kaiser practicing my handling of the knife. I had to say, the improvement was not vast. Still, it was nice to do small things like this, it gave me a sense of purpose.

So as the military knife cut through the air with every maddened swing I could feel my heart beat faster and faster until finally hitting a wall.

"Meeting time" Jimmy said standing up from his chair with a bored expression. He had been overlooking my amateurish swings although no longer teaching me anything.

The two of us headed up the cramped stairwell all the way until finally reaching the lounge floor. Here, I found a seat and so did all the other members.

"We've been away for a while, Malcolm will catch us up" Kaiser said as he showed up with Malcolm beside him. Malcolm had gone with us but it seemed he often took care of these logistic matters.

Malcolm started to page through some papers he had on hand randomly. Before speaking up with uncertainty.

"Ummm… We are still making profits but things have dipped a little…" Malcolm started.

"Particularly in the sale of fruits, erm, it looks like… wait... Oh, vegetables too, yes" Malcolm's report was a mockery, but everyone listened attentively. I personally was the most intrigued. The sale of… fruits?

I never imagined that gangsters and Mafiosi would be hanging around selling fruit produce. My confusion was understandable but no one cared to address it, it was as if I was a ghost which… was fair…

After Malcolm's report Kaiser finally took back the reign on things.

"First, congratulations to us. We can finally move onto the next step towards our goal." Kaiser said to everyone with a suave smile.

"WOOOOOOO!!!" "YEAH!!!" "LET'S GO!!!" The celebration that followed seemed a bit exaggerated and as I was once again out of the loop I maintained my silence. The only thing I knew was that Kaiser only told his real goal to two people, what these people were cheering for could not have been it.

"There is a condition" Kaiser continued under the boisterous celebration prompting all to quiet down.

"It's a hit order" Kaiser started to explain with much drama. Hearing the words hit order the eyes of some sparkled while others seemed to have a frightening premonition.

"The attack on the library has a month time limit and will put us in a good position with the disquisitive party." Most of the members understood the former part but did not know what to make of the latter statement. The three parties were something unique to Eden, most of the members never heard of it until now.

Since I read things from the library however I could understand quite well what this meant and, I had to say, it was a smart decision.

"We've been building some connections with the planetary party however so this will ruin all of that" Kaiser added which surprised me. Why was he willing to forego all of that progress then?

The planetary party seemed like a dying faction when compared to the disquisitive or reformative parties, but progress was progress. The disquisitive faction did have the majority of seats in the prosperity council but it was by a margin of one. It made no difference.

"You guys don't keep up with it but, the disquisition power controls sectors A, C, and D, which are situated directly next to us. That opens up the possibility of expansion." We were allowed to cross sectors but it required a lengthy legal process. How were people in the underground supposed to cross then? What could they say when they asked for the purpose of the visit? Murder?

Obviously not, but with some good ol' fashioned corruption this process could be easily brushed aside. It was news to me that the sectors were split among the parties, but since they were it was important to adapt.

Kaiser then began to explain how exactly Sector B managed to be surrounded by another party. The reason was simply desperation. When the three parties were formed, they did not have defined identities meaning they all started with similar strength.

The sectors of Termina were divided into eight and there were three parties however meaning that one would automatically get the short end of the stick. It was either dividing the sectors further or one of the parties taking a loss. The planetary party took this loss and later when it came time to build a library they called in this favor to take hold of things.

They were now the hub of knowledge which was too much for the other factions to handle. ...or it would have been if they hadn't eventually made their way out to the surface. Eden was born and Termina was slowly shunned.

Just as before, the other parties took charge and left the planetary party with the smaller hand. The other parties later learned this was a mistake.

The discovery of waste mining changed the board. Suddenly, the planetary faction held a total of five sectors while the reformative party held two and the disquisitive a pitiful one.

Waste mining made up at least 5% of Eden's current economy, to have the majority of that profit in the hands of one party this did not sit well with the other two. They started to band together against the planetary faction and it stood no chance.

It started to dwindle until its current state. At which point, both parties stopped actively targeting it. Destroying the party outright could ruin the balance of the parties by making things a direct confrontation.

The party continued to desperately try to hold on until being forced to prioritize its most strategic location. Sector B. It had the library as well as a tunnel to Eden. There were only two tunnels. Holding one was pretty great since that meant controlling the flow of trade from Eden to Termina.

As I had just learned, this trade mainly consisted of basic government aid and illegal merchandise like fruits and vegetables. They weren't illegal per se as much as they were… not allowed… but they were a secondary resource tied to the economy of Eden and also to the party in control of it.

Most of the mafia members could not keep up with this boring political explanation but those that could understand understood they were on a sinking ship. The disquisitive party was planning on dealing a final blow to the planetary party in Termina.

Then, when offered to join them for even higher prospective benefits, who would refuse? Yes, this was the best decision they could make.