Romeo stood at the building opposite where the ceremony was being held. Every mayor in the world was in attendance in Morocco to celebrate the appointment of the first president. After a long voting process, everyone seemed more relaxed, apart from the nominees who were anxious than ever waiting for the result.

Looking for Josef, Romeo hadn't spotted him. He assumed he must have arrived earlier and he was now inside. Even when Father James arrived, he was with Aisha and Mercy. "Mercy is Aisha's assistant," Gideon had told him when he asked through the earpiece. "Don't do anything stupid, yet." 

There were more than a hundred cyborgs, either protecting their respective mayors or guarding the event. In big occasions like these, no one wanted to take a chance in case something bad happened. There were already two mayor assassinations in the last hundred years (Belgium mayor and Iceland mayor) and it sent their countries into economic turmoil. No one wanted that to happen again.

He pressed a button on his watch and a holographic screen popped up. It was feeding off a feed from one of the TV stations, showing the ceremony. Father James stood between the two candidates. The priest couldn't stop smiling as the cameras flashed. There he was again at the center of everything after making the world return to a point in time where the minority were marginalized so the rich could get richer.

I hate you so much. Romeo wanted to destroy the watch, but he needed it. It was the only way he could contact Gideon, who was in attendance. 

"Has Josef arrived?" Gomez asked from behind. He had gone to get food and drinks as they waited for further instructions from Gideon.

"No."

"Damn. Where is he?" Gomez stood beside Romeo and handed him a hot foil paper. "I got anything that looked nice to eat. I hope that's not too much."

Romeo took it. "It's not. I barely ate with Josef there. I need to get as much energy as possible."

"Here's your juice." Gomez gave it to Romeo before he opened his bottle of beer with his mouth. "What?" he asked after noticing Romeo staring at him.

"Do you think it's a good idea to be drinking right now?"

"It's the only one I'll have."

"You said that four beer bottles ago."

"Those were barely alcoholic. Plus, I think I deserve a drink after being caged like an animal and getting my ass whooped by the Russian."

Romeo sighed and shook his head.

King Abdul now stood on stage as the guests stared at him. "Without wasting anymore time, I think it's time we announce who the new president is."

The crowd cheered.

"Why do I feel like, whoever it is, he'll be Abdul's puppet," Gomez said. "Last night at dinner, I got a weird vibe from him. I don't think we should trust him."

"We should never trust any of them. All they do is take advantage of the poor and abuse their power. Because they have money, they are able to create the illusion that they are better than us, but they aren't."

"I agree," Gomez said while chewing.

Romeo had finished eating and drinking his juice, and he was now staring at the screen. To him there was no better candidate between the remaining two. Alonso Guerrero, former mayor of Spain, was accused numerous times of having multiple ties to the drug cartels in his country, and anyone with proof died in mysterious ways before they could present their case. And the other one was Ichika Kagawa, former Japanese mayor. She was accused of having ties to the Yakuza and being among the mayors who green-light the assassination of the Iceland mayor, who was planning to expose corrupt mayors in the world.

This is not a win-win situation, Romeo thought.

Before King Abdul could open the envelope in his hand and announce the winner, Father James went to him and whispered in his ear. There was a little bit of shock followed by excitement on Abdul's face as Father James spoke to him. "Forgive me, but it seems I have an urgent emergency," he told the crowd. "No matter, I'll be back soon and we can celebrate with the victor until tomorrow." He then called one of the mayors at his right (Jamaican mayor) and handed her the envelope. "Best of luck," he mouthed to her, which Romeo spotted, before heading out of the building.

A minute later King Abdul and Father James walked out, escorted by two cyborgs, and entered a hovercar that was waiting for them. Romeo turned off his watch.

"Hey, I was watching that," Gomez complained, but Romeo ignored, focused on the two men.

"They are up to something," he said.

"Who?"

"Those two." Romeo wore his mask and adjusted the lenses to get a closer look. He gasped. 

"What's wrong?" asked Gomez.

"It's Josef." Romeo pointed at him in the driver's seat. "I can't let him get away. I'm going after him." 

"Don't you see the cyborgs with them? They'll kill you before you get close."

Romeo looked at Gomez and smiled. "Distract them for me."

"I can't believe I'm about to piss off cyborgs." Gomez shook his head. "Alright, let's do this."

"All you have to do is shoot at them. Father James and the others will drive off quickly, and I'll catch up to them. Got it?"

"Yes." Gomez saluted.

Romeo pressed his earpiece.

"What?" Gideon said on the other end.

"Father James, King Abdul and Josef are leaving. Something big is about to happen. I'm going after them."

"Wait, don't go without m-"

Romeo turned off the earpiece and looked at Gomez. "Now, do it."

Gomez took out his gun and shot at the car. As expected Josef drove off fast and the two cyborgs headed towards him. Romeo had already left, trying to catch up with the car. After jumping on three rooftops, he could see the car right below him. With a deep breath, he jumped off and landed on top of the car.

He took out his gun, ready to shoot Josef. Before he could do it, a huge explosion came from behind him. He nearly fell off the car, but luckily he fell face first on the roof. Looking up, he could see the ground spreading apart and it was getting close. 

"Drive fast!" King Abdul shouted from the car.

Romeo held on tight while he stared in shock as half of Morocco was crumbling to the ground. Gomez! He remembered his friend. Forgive me.