Chapter 12
The Governor

 

May 7^th, 43 A.R.

 

“Colin, yah had an appointment request,” Kathleen said as he walked into his office.

“What?” he asked, not looking up from his device.

Colin was too preoccupied with the news coverage of Kendra Washington’s mysterious murder.

“Uhm,” Kathleen said, looking at her tablet, “a COLI*GO employee. I told her tah make an appointment with yah at the COLI*GO building, but she was persistent, insistin’ in meetin’
yah here.”

“Who?”

“Doctah Julie Walsh.”

Colin stopped dead in his tracks.

“What time?” he asked, sharply looking up at Kathleen.

“Noon. Do yah want me tah get lunch? Or do yah want me tah cancel?” Kathleen asked, already typing on the screen of her device.

“Don’t cancel. Lunch would be great. You know, the regular.” He flipped through his agenda for the day before closing the door.

Julie Walsh wasted no time. He remembered their encounter at the COLI*GO event and smiled. He wanted Julie to find an ally in him; he genuinely cared about her . . . about her antidote.

Think, Colin. His mind churned but then paused. He couldn’t distract himself with thoughts of her.

Colin spent the next few hours diving into the legislative agenda Kathleen had provided him. After Kendra’s death, the building remained unnervingly quiet. Kendra was junior in her role but left a mark within The Capitol Building. There was a hesitation to keep bill proposals under wraps, the extremist Humanizers wanting to exploit the situation to their advantage. But they were also smart enough to know their main voice, Kennsington, couldn’t handle the pressure. Colin refocused on the school and public education bill. He couldn’t waste time cashing in on The Supreme’s promises. The whole motivation behind killing Kendra.

The Representatives of The Androids messaged back: They unanimously supported the measure.

A light knock on his open office door broke his thoughts.

“Governor?” The voice was soft but confident.

“Yes,” he answered without looking up from his device. Out of the corner of his eye, he recognized Julie Walsh and watched her enter his office. Colin looked up and leaned back in his chair, giving her his full attention.

“You said to make an appointment with Kathleen,” she said with a shrug. “So, here I am.”

“I’m glad you did,” he responded, gesturing for her to sit in the seat across from his desk.

Julie hesitantly sat, looking around his office curiously. He watched her observe her surroundings; she was truly a scientist at heart, taking mental notes of every aspect of the room. Her eyes paused over the image on his desk of him and his mother from his childhood. A small warm smile crept across her face.

She didn’t flinch once she noticed him watching her.

“That’s a lovely picture.”

He admired her authenticity. While Julie was young, her drive and ambition shone through, but Colin glimpsed at the softer side of her he hadn’t expected. Julie was a genuine and intuitive woman, gentle, even. Instinctively, Colin confidently believed Julie would never manipulate him. A feeling he wasn’t used to.

“I need your help.” Julie looked at him, her cheeks flushed with embarrassment. “It’s about the antidote.”

Colin nodded as she continued.

“I’m close to having support from enough board members. Martin, you, and potentially The Supreme. I don’t need a large budget. It could be an exploratory lab assignment or something, I don’t know. I need to get the antidote back in everyone’s purview since there’s been so much advancement to it over the last two years. But I can’t take it any further without more resources.”

“Of course there’s been advancement; I wouldn’t expect anything less from you,” Colin said kindly.

She smiled, the blush deepening against the freckles on her skin.

“But you can’t let them know about all of your advancements.”

“I can’t?”

“No,” Colin said and smiled, “you never let them know all the moves you’re thinking about.” He pointed to the chessboard on the table beside them. “Imagine how impressed they’ll be if the antidote gets minimal dollars diverted to it and it accelerates so quickly? They’ll never question you again.”

He and Julie looked at one another as a playful smile passed between them.