"But governing is about turning dreams into bread."

"It’s a form of engineering. It requires calculation, compromise, an iron fist, and the tedious, difficult labor of day-in and day-out work."

"The latter is ten thousand times harder than the former."

"You think you’ve already reached the summit?"

"No. You’re just standing at the foot of the mountain now."

Leo looked out the window.

A year ago, he was still outside City Hall, pumping his fist and shouting to the crowd.

Back then, he felt like the whole world was at his feet. He believed that with enough courage, he could change anything.

But now, as he truly stood at the highest point in the city, trying to look past its prosperous facade and see its scars...

He didn’t feel the thrill of conquest.

Instead, he felt a crushing weight.

A weight so heavy it felt like it could shatter his bones.

It was no longer just numbers on a ballot or percentages in a poll.

It was three hundred thousand living, breathing people.

It was the elderly who stood in line to vote in the biting wind, the single mothers counting on him to fix the schools, the unemployed workers who had pinned their last hopes on him.

Their daily needs, their lives and deaths, their heating, their garbage, their safety.

From this moment forward, all of it rested on his shoulders.

If he made the wrong decision, it was no longer a simple matter of losing a few points in the polls like during the campaign.

If he screwed up the budget, people could actually fail to receive their relief checks and starve.

If he failed to maintain public safety, people could actually be robbed on the street late at night, or even murdered.

At that moment, the weight of power became terrifyingly real.

Leo pressed his palm against the cold glass.

His fingertips turned white.

"Do you feel it?"

Roosevelt’s voice echoed in the depths of his mind.

"This is the breath of the Leviathan."

"When you were campaigning, you saw it as your enemy. You wanted to conquer it, to ride on its back."

"Now, you are sitting on its back."

"And you’ll find it is no docile horse."

"It is a monster comprised of countless interest groups, innumerable legal statutes, and the infinite greed and fear of human nature."

"It is cold, sluggish, greedy, and exceedingly difficult to steer."

"It has a will of its own."

"You try to make it go east, and it might go west. You try to make it run, and it might lie down and go to sleep."

"You have to whip it, feed it meat, and sometimes, you even have to carve off your own flesh to feed it, just to make it budge an inch."

Leo gazed at the city outside.

’I’m a little scared.’

Leo admitted to himself.

’I look at the people down there, and I think I might really screw this up.’

’I’ve never managed anything this big before.’

"It’s right to be afraid," Roosevelt said. "If you were feeling excited or arrogant right now, then I’d be worried."

"Only a fool feels excited while being strapped into the electric chair."

"That fear is your last line of defense. It’s what keeps you sharp."

"It will remind you that every word you sign with that pen in your hand carries immense weight."

Roosevelt paused.

"Look at this office, Leo."

"During my twelve years as President, I saw this country through the Great Depression, through Pearl Harbor, through Normandy, all from the Oval Office in the White House."

"I even saw out my own end from there."

"This is not an easy chair to sit in."

"It’s covered in thorns."

"Every single thorn is a problem you can’t solve, a compromise you have to make, a nightmare that keeps you tossing and turning in the dead of night."

"The real hell is only just opening its gates."

Leo turned and looked at the empty desk.

It was an altar.

He would have to sacrifice his youth, his energy, even his soul to this city, all for the slightest chance of making a change.

"Sit down, Mr. Mayor."

Roosevelt’s voice carried a hint of anticipation.

"Our work has only just begun."

"Now, let’s take this city—even if we have to tear it down to its foundations, even if we have to shatter its very bones."

"We are going to remake it into the city we want it to be."

Footsteps sounded from outside the door.

Hurried and chaotic.

It was his team: Sarah, Ethan, Frank, Karen...

Leo took a deep breath.

He straightened his tie, walked behind the desk, and pulled out the leather swivel chair.

The chair made a low, heavy sound.

He sat down.

"Alright, Mr. President."

"Let’s see just what this hell looks like."

KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK.

A knock sounded at the door.

"Come in,"

Leo said.

The door opened.

A clamor flooded in.

In that moment, the new era of Pittsburgh officially began.