It's around a month after Valeska visited us. We still keep in touch though Evelyn does a majority of the talking and planning. Either way we were still waiting for something to happen.

In the meantime I was continuing meditation and journaling. It wasn't a full cure, but doing it made the girls happy, especially Alexis. In all honesty I understand why she pushed me so hard. In the end this is working, I am feeling a little bit better every day. It almost became routine. I would work, eat, shower and then write and meditate either in the morning or before sleeping.

Though this morning I had a pleasant surprise. I woke to Evelyn's face hovering above mine, her gray-blue eyes bright with something I hadn't seen in weeks.

Excitement.

"Good news," she said before I could even fully process being awake. "Mark just announced his first major policy reforms."

I sat up, the fog of sleep clearing instantly. "Already? How long has he been World President?"

"Around a month and a half," Evelyn replied, her tablet already in hand. "And he's moving fast. Probably trying to capitalize on his approval rating while it's still sky-high."

She pulled up the news coverage, and I scanned the headlines with growing satisfaction.

"WORLD PRESIDENT MARK ANNOUNCES MERIT-BASED GOVERNANCE REFORMS"

"NEW POLICIES PRIORITIZE HIGH-RANKING SYSTEM USERS"

"ENHANCED INDIVIDUALS TO RECEIVE PREFERENTIAL TREATMENT IN GOVERNMENT POSITIONS"

I read through the details, and it was exactly what I'd predicted. Job rank requirements for government positions. Priority access to resources based on System ranking. "Merit-based" structures that effectively created a two-tier society—those with high-ranking jobs and those without.

"He's doing it," I said, almost disbelieving. "He's actually implementing the exact policies I thought he would." I knew it was practically guaranteed, but there was always the chance he'd do something unexpected. It was Mark after all.

"His support is still high," Evelyn cautioned, scrolling through polling data. "Ninety-one percent. But—and this is the important part—for the first time since he took power, it didn't go up. It stayed exactly where it is."

I felt something click into place. "Because some people are starting to realize what these policies mean for them."

"Exactly," Evelyn confirmed. "Most people don't have high-ranking jobs. Most people are B-Rank or lower. And Mark just announced policies that explicitly disadvantage them while benefiting the elite."

"There are still some people praising him," I noted, reading through social media responses. "Lower-rank individuals saying it's 'fair' that the enhanced should have more opportunities. That it's 'natural hierarchy.'"

"Delusional," Evelyn said flatly. "Or suffering from internalized oppression. Doesn't matter. What matters is that his approval stopped climbing. This is the beginning of the decline you predicted."

"How long?" I asked.

"Unknown," Evelyn admitted. "Could be weeks. Could be months. Depends on how aggressively he implements these policies and how quickly people realize they're being screwed over."

I nodded slowly, processing. "But we just have to wait. Let him keep making these kinds of decisions. Let the world see who he really is."

"And then we strike," Evelyn finished. "When his approval drops enough that people might actually listen to our side of the story."

She left to continue monitoring the situation, and I got out of bed with more energy than I'd had in weeks.

The morning meditation had helped. So had the writing—processing emotions instead of burying them. I wasn't fixed. Wasn't healed. But I was better. Functional in a genuine way rather than the hollow productivity I'd been forcing.

I headed outside to help with farm work, finding Elliot already in the fields.

"Morning," he called out, tossing me a tool. "Thought you might actually sleep past dawn for once."

"Revolutionary concept," I replied, catching the shovel. "How's the north field looking?"

"Good. Your irrigation system is holding up perfectly. Tomasz was asking if you could help with the barn roof later—thinks it needs reinforcement before winter."

"Sure, been a while since me and Sienna did some actual construction work," I said, falling into the familiar rhythm of physical labor.

As I worked, my mind kept circling back to Mark. To his policies. To the pattern I'd predicted that was now playing out exactly as expected.

Mark wasn't physically powerful. Not compared to me, at least. Job Switcher was his job title—the ability to change his active job to any other job he'd want. Useful for versatility, but it meant he could only use one job at a time. No portfolio combinations like I had. No simultaneous skill access.

In a straight fight, especially with my System fully functional and multiple combat-focused jobs, I'd overpower him easily.

His real strength was public support. The narrative he'd built. The eighty-three percent—now ninety-one percent—of the world that believed his version of events.

But he was losing that. Like an idiot. Implementing policies that actively hurt the majority of his supporters just to satisfy his philosophical beliefs about merit and hierarchy.

I paused mid-shovel, the thought crystallizing into something uncomfortable.

An idiot…..but…..Why would Mark do that?

Yes, he had policies. Yes, he had his own ideas about how society should be structured. I'd heard them directly—his whole philosophy about job rank determining worth, about the enhanced being naturally superior.

But Mark wasn't dumb. He was manipulative. Strategic. He'd orchestrated Hugo's exposure, my downfall, and his own rise to power with frightening efficiency.

So why would he throw away his greatest advantage—public support—for policies he had to know would be unpopular?

Was he really so committed to his ideology that he'd sacrifice everything to implement it? So insane that pragmatism didn't matter?

Or…

Or he's tricking us.

The thought sent ice through my veins.

What if the policies were deliberate? What if Mark wanted his approval to drop? What if this was part of some larger strategy I wasn't seeing?

"Rey?" Elliot's voice pulled me back. "You okay? You've been standing there staring at nothing for like five minutes."

"Yeah," I said automatically. Then, more honestly: "Maybe. I need to think about something."

"Want to talk it through?" Elliot offered.

I shook my head. "Not yet. Still working it out."

I finished the morning's work on autopilot, my mind racing through possibilities.

Maybe Mark was just arrogant. Thought his approval was so high that it could weather unpopular policies. That people loved him enough to accept being disadvantaged.

Or maybe he was planning to blame someone else when things went wrong. Use falling approval to purge political opponents. Create a crisis he could then "solve" to regain support.

Or maybe—and this was the most disturbing possibility—he was deliberately building opposition. Creating enemies he could point to. Setting up a scenario where he could position himself as under attack by elites who opposed his "fair" policies.

That last one felt right. Had the ring of Mark's strategic thinking.

If he implemented these policies and people started protesting, he could spin it as the entitled elite trying to maintain their advantages. Frame any opposition as proof that the system was rigged against regular people. Use backlash to strengthen his position rather than weaken it.

Which meant my plan—wait for his approval to drop, then strike when people were disillusioned—might be walking straight into a trap.

"Damn it," I muttered.

I needed to revise. Needed to account for the possibility that Mark was smarter than I was giving him credit for. That he was playing a longer game than simple policy implementation. But what would I even do? Everything that I'm thinking is nothing more than a mere speculation. I could be predicting Mark to a tee or I could be completely overthinking this.

I found Evelyn in her makeshift office later that afternoon.

"We need to talk," I said, closing the door behind me.

She looked up from her tablet. "What's wrong?"

"The plan," I said. "Waiting for Mark's approval to drop and then striking. It might not work."

Evelyn's expression sharpened. "Explain."

So I did. Walked her through my logic. The pattern that felt wrong. The possibility that Mark was deliberately creating opposition to strengthen his position rather than weaken it.

She listened without interrupting, her evaluator training making her process information systematically.

"You think he's that strategic?" she asked finally.

"I think he's that manipulative," I corrected. "Remember, he fooled me for a long time. He was playing both sides for the longest time. Then betrayed everyone at exactly the right moment to maximize his gain. That kind of long-term planning doesn't just disappear."

Evelyn nodded slowly. "So what do we do?"

"I don't know yet," I admitted. "But I need to revise the plan. Account for more variables. Assume Mark is always three moves ahead until proven otherwise."

"That's paranoid," Evelyn pointed out.

"That's survival," I countered. "Underestimating him is what got us here. I won't make that mistake again."

I left her to think, heading back outside where physical work might help clear my head.

But the question kept circling.

What is Mark really doing? What's the play I'm not seeing?

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