"The earliest flight out."

...

On Interstate 376, heading toward Pittsburgh International Airport, the rain was pouring down.

The windshield wipers swung frantically, their monotonous, rapid scraping barely able to clear the seemingly endless curtain of water.

Outside the window, the skyline of the Steel City distorted and blurred in the rain-laced fog, like an oil painting drenched before it could dry.

The air inside the car was suffocatingly stuffy.

Ethan Hawke was driving, his hands gripping the steering wheel tightly. His eyes were glued to the blurry road ahead, not daring to let his focus waver for an instant.

In the back seat, Leo Wallace held his phone.

The screen’s cold light illuminated his face, while the countdown on the wall still ticked away in his mind.

Twelve days left.

If the five-hundred-million-US-Dollar bond issue wasn’t approved for sale within twelve days, it would all be over.

Leo took a deep breath and dialed a familiar number.

The phone rang three times.

"Leo."

Daniel Sanders’s voice came through.

The background noise on the other end was loud. It sounded like he was on a break during a hearing.

The old Senator’s voice sounded weary, tinged with an anxiety he couldn’t quite hide.

"I know things are bad. That bastard Monroe is playing with fire." Sanders spoke before Leo could get a word in. "I’m talking to people at the Transportation Department for you right now. I just got off the phone with the Secretary’s chief of staff, but you know how it is—they’re always hiding behind states’ rights."

"Federation Agencies don’t want to directly interfere with Pennsylvania’s administrative review. It’s a sensitive jurisdictional issue. I need some time to apply pressure."

"Senator," Leo interrupted him.

Sanders paused. "What is it?"

"I’m out of time."

Leo watched the curtain of rain rushing past the window.

"I can’t just sit here and wait. I’m going to Washington."

The other end of the line went silent for a moment.

The pause only lasted two seconds, but the tension in the air skyrocketed.

"What are you coming here for?"

Sanders’s tone changed in an instant.

The previous weariness and reassurance vanished, replaced by a voice full of suspicion and accusation.

"Leo Wallace, who are you rushing over here to kneel to?"

Leo frowned. "I’m not going to kneel. I’m going to solve the problem."

"Solve the problem? In Washington, there are only two ways to solve problems: with power, or with deals." Sanders’s voice rose a few notches. "You have no power, so what do you plan to trade?"

"Did those K Street lobbyists get to you?"

"Or did the Wall Street bankers who control the back doors of the Treasury Department give you a hint?" Sanders pressed on. "Did they tell you that as long as you sign a few unfair deals, as long as you sell them Pittsburgh’s water or parking systems, they can take care of your troubles in Harrisburg?"

"Leo, how many times do I have to tell you? It’s an alligator pit! Washington is one giant alligator pit!"

"You’re the standard-bearer for the Progressives, someone we worked so hard to build up. Everything you’ve done in Pittsburgh proves that our path is viable."

"You are hope. You are the future."

"If you make some kind of dirty deal with the Washington Establishment Faction to meet that twelve-day deadline, you’ll destroy yourself!"

"More importantly, you’ll destroy our movement!"

Sanders’s words came in a rapid-fire barrage.

"Our national credibility is built on a foundation of ’anti-corruption, anti-money-in-politics.’ If you, our model Mayor, bow down to capital just to survive, what will the Republican Party say?"

"Is it worth sacrificing our entire belief system just to save one city?"

Leo held the phone, silent for a long time.

The only sound in the car was the drumming of rain on the roof.

The scolding had left him somewhat speechless.

Sanders’s words came from the moral high ground. They were unassailable.

For an idealist, belief truly is paramount.

’Don’t be intimidated by his anger, Leo.’

Roosevelt’s voice rang out in Leo’s mind at the perfect moment.

’Senator Sanders is a good man and a determined fighter. But in this matter, he’s still acting out of self-interest.’

’Your purity is his political asset.’ 𝕗𝐫𝐞𝕖𝕨𝐞𝗯𝚗𝕠𝘃𝐞𝚕.𝐜𝗼𝚖

Roosevelt analyzed the logic behind it.

’To Sanders, Pittsburgh is just one piece on his national chessboard. If that piece is sacrificed due to the enemy’s despicable tactics, it makes for a heroic tragedy. He can use that tragedy to rally voters and attack the injustice of the system.’

’That’s a glorious defeat.’

’But if you collude with the Establishment Faction and make deals with lobbyists to survive, it proves his revolutionary path is unworkable in reality. It proves that a city can’t be governed without relying on money and political maneuvering.’

’That’s a shameful victory.’

’He would rather see Pittsburgh go bankrupt, because that would be Monroe’s and Warren’s fault. He doesn’t want to see you defect, because that would be a failure for the Progressives.’

’He wants you to be Iphigenia, Leo.’

’Agamemnon, for the sake of his fleet setting sail, for the sake of the so-called greater good, personally sent his own daughter to the sacrificial altar.’

’The sacrifice is always pure, because the sacrifice cannot speak, nor can it fight back.’

’Sanders wants you to die a beautiful, tragic death. That way, he can stand over your corpse and deliver a deeply moving eulogy to attack those greedy Republicans.’