“Thank you so much for coming, Mr. Worthington,” Judy said, grin plastered on her face, for what seemed like the four-hundredth time as she firmly shook the hand of yet another greying benefactor next to the podium in the grandiose environment of the museum gardens bursting with fragrant plant life, peppered with hors d'oeuvres-toting waiters and the miniature fountains Nancy had ended up providing.

            “It’s our company’s pleasure, and mine, too,” the man reported good-naturedly with a tip of his chin and a habitual adjustment to his expensive suit collar.  “Frankly, I’m not even sure why you had to throw us this little get-together.  You’ve already got this one in the bag.”

            “Ohhh, don’t jinx it,” Judy joked with a little feminine chuckle.  “But I do so appreciate the support.”

            Several yards away, next to a station holding pamphlets on Judy’s politics that Nancy had printed up the previous week, the Stevens children stood together in a courteous circle to great other passerby.  Scott stood on the table, which nearly put him at chest-height with Kyle, who was positioned next to it and Maggie, with carefully coached smiles from their mother on their faces as well.  In his earnesty to follow through on Judy’s promise, even Scott was putting his best welcoming foot forward.

            “Hello there,” a woman called out as she approached the trio of siblings, her brilliant red hair tied back in a tight bun and her green eyes positively glowing as she offered a hand to shake.

            She appeared considerably younger than most of the aging guests, looking even a few years less than Judy, and the mere sight of her both perplexed and unnerved Scott for reasons he couldn’t explain.  Her suit was certainly worth more than the Stevens’ family’s cars combined.

            “Hi!” Maggie chirped excitedly in unison with Kyle’s more reserved greeting, though Scott found himself unable to speak up as well.

            “You must be Judy’s children,” the woman responded, shaking Maggie’s hand and then Kyle’s.  “Pleasure to meet you.  My name is Emily Brookes.”

            Emily Brookes.  It couldn’t be that Emily Brookes.  Then that made her…
            “Wait, you’re…” Maggie gasped quietly with recognition, to which the woman responded with a knowing nod.  “Oh, wow.  It’s… so cool that you’re here.”

            “Well, thank you very much.  It’s good to be here, especially after all the time your mother has put into her work.  I wouldn’t have missed this for the world,” Emily said before her eyes turned to Scott.

            “Hello,” the twenty-one-year-old said belatedly to the current CEO of the Techilogic Corporation.

            “And you must be Scott,” she declared as though making a major discovery.  She extended a hand, with her index finger out, to shake with Scott, who accepted.  “You’re looking very dapper today, Mr. Stevens.  I hope it’s a sign of a continued improvement for you.”

            “Thank you.  And I… hope so too,” Scott responded robotically, off-put but careful to stay positive in the face of the person widely considered to be the nation’s most powerful woman.

            “Sorry if I sounded silly just now, I just… I admire you so much, and your work,” Maggie continued breathlessly in the brief silence, clearly having to put a lot of effort into holding back the hopeless fangirling for the sake of social graces.  “C-Could… could we talk while you’re here today?  I’d just love to hear about you and your job and… and…”

            “I appreciate it, hon, I really do.  Come find me later on and I’d be glad to let you pick my brain, though I’m afraid I’ve got a couple of things to go over with your mother now,” Emily said with genuine remorse, taking Maggie’s hands and giving them a squeeze of promise.  “Deal?”

            “Deal!” the sixteen-year-old said, still having to fight back the glee as Emily Brookes departed to speak with the newly available Judy.  She turned to Kyle and Scott, a goofy smile on her lips.  “Can you believe that she came?”

            “That… actually is kind of crazy,” Kyle admitted quietly.

            “I know!  She’s… she’s basically the one who decides which companies can keep existing in the whole country.  She’s just… so…” Maggie huffed.

            “…creeped out by you?” her younger brother commented dryly.

            Grimacing with embarrassment, Maggie gave him a half-hearted slap to the hip before anyone could see, then turned toward the table where Scott was still standing motionless.

            “Well?” she asked expectantly, crossing her arms as she glowered.

            “Yes?”

            “You…” she began with a frown, surveying his little suit, then sighed heavily.  “You actually look… okay in that.”

            “Thanks,” he responded.  “You too.”

            Half-smirking and giving her hair a cute little toss, Maggie leaned down closer to the table before whispering nonchalantly:  “You should keep it on for later so she can see you in it.”

            Taken aback at this heretofore unseen display of verbal generosity, Scott tried not to let it show in his face as his sister quickly turned back to her duty of acting as a distraction for guests before Judy was free to talk.  He glanced over where his mother had been standing with Emily Brookes, who was gone now and replaced with another benefactor.

            “It’s just about time for your mother to speak,” came the sultry voice of Nancy Dugan to the trio, suddenly next to the table and near enough to snatch Scott up, who simultaneously cringed and felt the onset of goose bumps as she ran her finger down the back of his leg.  “All of you feeling set to smile?”

            “We have been, Mrs. Dugan.  We’re all ready,” Maggie assured.

            “Excellent.  Keep it up.  I can see you three have been holding down the fort here,” Nancy said with an approving nod, then lowered her gaze to Scott.  “Would one of you go ahead and take your brother nearer to the podium so you can all stand together?”

            “Sure,” Scott’s sister volunteered immediately, scooping the young man up in her hands and cradling him at forearm’s length from her stomach as she and Kyle made their way to Judy.

            “Ready?  Here’s another copy of the cards, just in case,” Nancy whispered as she handed over the notes to Judy, who had politely waved away the last of the benefactors for the time being and stepped behind the podium as the crowd of wealthy political friends, numbering at nearly three hundred and scattered across the expansive landscape of flowers and fountains, all steadily turned to give their attention to Judy.

            “I’m ready as I’m going to be, Nance.  Thanks again,” Judy said confidently as Nancy positioned the Stevens offspring in what was evidently the most positive formation to stand, according to her campaign manager wisdom.  With Nancy’s instruction, Maggie awkwardly juggled her brother so that he could sit up with good posture while leaning against her curled arm.  Then, giving final glance at her kids and a twinkle in her eye, Judy shot Scott a stupefying look that told him to stay silent and still until further notice.

            “Good afternoon, everyone,” Judy boomed into the mic after twisting it on, instantly getting the attention of the remaining conversationalists out in the crowd of suits and scurrying wait staff.  “I just can’t tell you how much I appreciate your presence here today.  Though the conversation has been ongoing for a while, today I am officially announcing my bid for senatorial candidacy.  I won’t keep you long, because I want you to continue enjoying the sunshine, appetizers, and lilies instead of listening to a bunch of politics before the real work has even begun, but I do have something to say.”

            Scott clasped his hands together in his lap and tried not to uncomfortably shift as he reclined on his sister’s forearm.  He was already unavoidably captured by his mother’s powerful speaking voice, if only out of a diseased feeling of foreboding making its way through his body.

            “I’ve always had a strong stand on the revision of the American justice system.  I haven’t liked the state it’s in for some time any more than you have, and I’ve made quite a stir in getting it changed, the act of which you are probably familiar with under its legal nickname.  This will not be news to you, unless I’ve managed to lure you all here simply because I have a knack for talking your ears off,” Judy continued, a low murmur of approving laughter rumbling across the garden.  “But I’m not standing still.  The Shrink Act is young and will continue to show its already monumental potential for positive revolution only two months after its inception.  Today, though, to ensure that you know precisely the patriot you have chosen to stand behind with your generous gifts and political support, I would like to make a statement, loud and clear, so that my position and platform is well-understood from this day until I am sitting in Congress and beyond!”

            Some light applause came up, but the throng still held their breaths in anticipation.  Glancing around, Scott could see several news cameras set up that he hadn’t noted before.

            This thing really was getting a far reach.

            “Our prisons are filling up.  They’ve become a box to put away the part of society we don’t talk enough about and would prefer to forget, but it’s finally catching up to us as a nation.  And, I’ll be straight with you, because that is what you have come to expect from me: these places are only breeding grounds for the crime of tomorrow.  The robberies, murders, rapes, acts of terror of tomorrow.  You’ll find the research my associates and I have done will back this up.  What have we done, other than give those that would perpetrate these acts the tools and experience that would drive them to continue their efforts tenfold, should they be given another chance to act?”

            A murmuring of agreement buzzed through the crowd.

            “Make no mistake: those who occupy the prisons, on taxpayer dollars, no less, are the single greatest threat to our safety, not because of who they once were, but because they have not been handled correctly to not only make themselves safer, but safer for all citizens of this great nation.  That chance has been squandered.  Until today, that is.”

            The low roar continued, more enthusiastically now.  A few token hand claps sounded out.  Scott, somewhat bewildered now, looked up to find his mother’s hands descending rapidly on him and scooping him out of his sister’s arms.  For once, he found himself wanting to stay in Maggie’s grasp instead of being transferred literally anywhere else.  Judy lifted him up until he was standing next to the microphone on the podium and looking out at the crowd, his breath caught in his chest.

            Forcing himself to become momentarily frozen in this position, Scott folded his arms behind his back and stood as neutrally as possible.

            Think.  Of.  Ella.

            “I’m aware that my family has not exactly been the most positive on the ends of everyone’s tongues since the events of two months ago involving my son, Scott.  This is not something I shy from.  Rather, today my family and I stand here to show you what our country can look like if I am given the chance to make my ideas understood on rehabilitation and personal accountability,” Judy continued, clearing her throat and taking a sip from a glass of water handed to her by Nancy from behind.

            Puzzled, Scott refused to let it show on his face.

            Statue.  He had to be a statue.

            “Today, I am announcing my dedication to ensuring that, if I am elected, all criminals in the American justice system will face their societal dues under the Shrink Act, be it in house arrest, or in specially designed facilities where those reduced in size can have a real chance at reformation.  And further, those who go beyond merely breaking the law with their violence and contempt for all that is good will face even greater consequence, extending beyond their incarceration, for the safety of everyone.  I am absolutely committed to the belief that if we are willing to fight for that safety of every innocent man, woman, and child in these United States, now is the time to realize that we cannot sit idly by while those who would harm what is most precious to us continue to become even more hardened in some prison cell, with the means to do more damage than ever before.  We cannot allow them that chance; we must take it back before we have to bury another innocent.  This is our fight now, and we will not let those who have declared war on our way of life win,” Judy bellowed, her words like a stampede, her volume rising in time with the ascending intensity.

            By now, small cheers were coming up from across the garden.  Scott glanced in the direction of the four or five news cameras again, careful not to let his expression change, and saw the surprised and eager looks of their operators as they realized what a story this was turning into.

            This was turning into a catastrophe.  Like watching a car squelched in slow motion into a twisting flurry of metal shards, blood, and fire.

            And all Scott could do was stand there.

            “So this is my vow to you today,” Judy sighed with satisfaction into the mic.  “I cannot promise that I can save the justice system or preserve peace overnight, but I will give every breath I have to protecting and empowering America once again from those who threaten its safety…”

            Feeling incredibly hollowed and on the verge of shouting out at the universe, his mother, and every sad-sack out there who’d been suckered in to the continually mad machinations being spewed, Scott could feel Judy’s eyes on the back of his head, burning a hole through his skull with her gaze, and willing him to remain perfectly stoic.

            “…by putting them in their rightful place, below the true keepers of liberty and for the common good of all citizens, shrunken down safely and peaceably… on a permanent basis.”

            Scott felt a cold darkness wrap like a steel blanket around his silent, paralyzed form with so much weight he wasn’t even sure he could remain standing as the crowd of benefactors erupted in applause, with the news cameras zooming in on the family of three liberated human beings and one tiny empty shell of a person standing on the podium like a dust-coated doll.