Christine Ch 4
#4 of Cadi, Volume 5: Christine
With all of her friends by her side, she felt truly unstoppable. And, for all intents and purposes, aside from the massive walls surrounding the district, she pretty much was unstoppable. She was very well familiar with the various strengths of her friends, and she wasted no time in putting them to use in helping the district run smoothly.
Chloe even did a fantastic job in the requisitions department to get them basic materials for the district's inhabitants. She had a real knack for hiding the purpose for the materials she was asking for in innocuous, exceptionally long lists of supplies that they would need. The district actually saw an uptick in supplies for the various businesses, which the furs then used to produce things for each other. They were done ordering clothes that would need modifying when they had skilled tailors who could take the raw fabric and do so much more with it. She even worked with a dyer in the district to allow them to bring in raw white fabric in bulk, which they would then color as needed.
Pam really helped in organizing the district's agricultural efforts, even arranging for live chickens to be brought into the district to breed and as a source of eggs for the residents. Diana helped by taking over a lot of the community event organization, Marilyn helped manage the district's finances, and Bailey headed up the real estate management aspects of the place. Life really was shaping up to be pretty amazing, and for a few years, it was.
At least until Parson decided to make himself into a real problem for them, with his draconian lockdown of the districts. Still, her team went into crisis mode, and Christine made her speech to the district, reassuring them that things would be alright. She... really didn't expect them to be quite alright as they wound up being, only lasting for about a month before Parson himself came to tour the district... not to actually check up on the furs, but more as a gloating victory lap for the cameras.
Only, before he'd even left, Christine started getting reports in about something that had happened while he was visiting... some kind of an incident when he had been confronted by a tigress, who was fairly new to the district. At first Christine's heart sank, fearing that he would use the confrontation to his advantage.
"No, no... you don't understand," Zack said, holding up his hands placatingly. "She didn't touch him... all she did was talk to him... witnesses are saying, though, that both he and one of his bodyguards were left... in a daze... practically incoherent after she left them. When I saw him out of the district... he looked haunted..."
Christine wasn't sure what to make of that, but before she could come up with a reply, the television in her office kicked on with an urgent broadcast. When she saw Parson on the screen, she braced for a new crisis to handle. What happened next, though, was something that... she could never have prepared herself for. On the screen, she could see that he was standing somberly, rather than projecting his usual pomp and arrogance, which had played so well with his base.
"Citizens of the Transhuman District, I have an important announcement to make. Effective immediately, all of the recently implemented laws are being revoked. All curfews and enhanced police presence are at an end. During my visit, I..." he said, pausing for a breath before continuing, "I had an opportunity to gain a sense of perspective for the struggles that you all face on a daily basis, and the impact that these laws have had on your lives."
He paused once more, clearly at a loss for how to continue with his statement. "I... am sorry for the pain and distress that they have caused all of you. I was... wrong to inflict that on you. I'm... not trying to buy your forgiveness, but I am going to turn my attention to pushing for aid and resources to be provided to the residents of the district. You all... deserve so much more than the table scraps of the world outside. Thank you. May tomorrow be a brighter day for all of you."
The broadcast clicked out, and Christine turned to look at Zack. "Find out everything you can about that tigress," she said as the district outside erupted into cheers as people poured out onto the streets to celebrate the lifting of the lockdown.
Zack pulled everything that he could on Cadi... and it wasn't a lot. She hadn't been in the district for very long before the lockdown had happened. She'd worked and lived at Carla's restaurant for a little bit before she moved in with a doe named Dawn, and started working at Briar's Cauldron. Zack even seemed to remember having seen her a few times, playing the part of "the witch's cat," but beyond that, she didn't flag in his memory very much.
During the lockdown, she'd become a lot more active around the district, bringing needed supplies to people, though no one knew where she was getting them from. The few that had anything to say about their source was that it was "magic." Not like magic, but actual magic. So, that's one box ticked on the unexplained chart. Another ticked on that chart was the question of what she'd done to Parson and his bodyguard. But more than that, Zack could not find her on the intake rosters... and any furs that were sent into the district by the agencies outside were logged. There was no record of her arrival.
Christine didn't like that, and she sighed, shaking her head. "Not a lot to do, then. Time to go find our tiger," she said as she set out into the festivities. She caught sight of her by Briar's table as the badger told her that she expected to see Cadi at work the next day, to which the tigress replied by saluting. She had a doe with her... the one that she'd moved in with? Dawn, wasn't it?
Still, as she watched, she couldn't see anything untoward about this tigress, and so she sighed, walking a bit closer. She folded her arms over her chest and started tapping her foot on the grass, as she let out a clear, "Ahem," directed at Cadi. The tigress jumped a little and spun to look at Christine, who just couldn't help but grin at the way she'd done it. She was definitely an odd cookie. "I get the feeling that we need to have a bit of a talk, Miss Carys."
She saw the tiger stand up a bit straighter and take a breath before she nodded and replied, "Yes, ma'am," with a half smile.
Christine didn't want to set the expectation that this was a scolding, so she made sure to grab three mugs of beer from Briar's table before they found a semi-secluded table among the bushes and hedges to sit at. She set one drink in front of each of them before she sat down and took a long sip from her own.
"Ahh, Briar always brews the best... anyway, I've been asking around to try to figure out the reason for the sudden turnaround, and everything I've heard points back to you. So, would you care to enlighten me on what happened? Oh, and before you ask, yes, I do know about your special abilities. I've heard enough stories about them from the residents to not doubt them. Especially with the extra work that you've been doing since the lockdown took effect." It was, perhaps, a slight exaggeration to say that she's heard about them... she'd only just really learned about them that evening in the reports about them on file.
Cadi smiled at Christine with a charming "you got me" smile, and started going over what had happened. Christine maintained her poise, though she'd never been the best at keeping control of her eyebrows. As she came to an end, she finished with, "So, you see that I didn't hurt him... or threaten him in order to get the lockdown lifted. Hell, I didn't expect anything to happen in a hurry. But I guess what I did was... particularly effective."
Christine mulled that over for a moment before she set her beer down on the table. "Well... I'm certainly glad that you didn't use force against him... which would have caused many more problems for us than it would have ever solved. I'm... surprised with the solution you found... but... I can't deny that people who treat others that way that he has frequently do not have a sense of the other person's personal experience, so... I'm not surprised that it was as effective as it was." She chuckled, grinning broadly, "And that bodyguard... ahh, such a lovely little tangled mess there." She knew entirely too well how men like him were.
Cadi laughed softly and sid, "Such an obsession with strength... and making sure that it's shoved in other peoples' faces, right?" She paused to sip from her beer, "So, I'm not in trouble, right?"
It was a reasonable question. "Mmm, no, not at all. Far from it, really. If anything, you're now someone on my short list of people to help deal with... unexpected situations." She couldn't help but grin broadly as she said that. "At the moment, it is quite a short list, but at the end of the day, if we're going to survive as a community, we need people who act like the glue of the place. Briar is on my short list, too... and Carla should be on it too, honestly... her restaurant ends up being a lightning rod for newcomers." She laughed and sighed, settling back into her seat. "That's why she's got the spare room, and I haven't pressured her to get a permanent resident in it."
Cadi looked thoughtful for a moment. "True. She really didn't seem all that phased by my arrival, so yeah... she's got to have some sense of how to handle things. Either way, I certainly don't mind being on your shortlist. I've really enjoyed helping out around the district during the lockdown. It felt... right for me." She smiled so big at that last bit, though Christine could tell that she didn't have any explanation for why it had felt that way, so she didn't push.
"Great. I'll have to start writing up the paperwork to make you an official TOA agent." She had to laugh at the absurdity of that. "You'll even get a fancy little badge to keep in your wallet and all."
Cadi grinned broadly, a playful look in her eyes. "And a fancy title? Like Prime Meddler, or something like that?"
Christine couldn't help but smile so big at that. "I like that... suits you, too... given what I've heard about you around the district." She sighed and turned to look out over the party, a solemn feeling settling over her. "Almost said 'the city'... one of these days, we'll have a city of our own... a land of our own, if I can swing it. It's hell being stuck in here... surrounded by these walls."
Cadi looked up at the walls in the distance and seemed to grimace a little inwardly. "You'll get no argument from me on that... plenty of good parks, but that's nothing compared to having an area of true wilds to just... stretch your legs in. Worse, it leaves us absolutely dependent on the outside world. That's only going to work for so long, especially if the population here keeps growing." Cadi closed her eyes, thinking over something. Christine was impressed that she'd picked up on that. Still, the tigress had more to say, it seemed. "Maybe an island... a good sized one where we could spread out and build up."
Christine couldn't help but laugh. "I like the sound of that. Islands don't run cheap, and most of them are already claimed. It would take some really fancy footwork to get one for our people."
Cadi reacted interestingly to that last phrase. "Yes, our people. Our people need their own land... and that's going to end up being something for all of us to work toward." Christine could see a thought pushing at Cadi as she spoke, and after a moment, she looked at Christine with a grin. "So... you've got ambitions beyond 'director'? What, Mayor? Governor? President?"
The three of them around the table laughed at that last part, making Christine grin, "I suppose that would come with the territory, wouldn't it? Quite literally. President sounds nice... but we'll cross that bridge when we get to it, yeah? And don't you dare start calling me 'madam president' in the meanwhile, do I make myself clear?" She gave Cadi a stern look.
Cadi finally managed to come down from her laughing fit well enough to reply, "Yes, director," even if she still had a giant smile plastered on her face.
Christine couldn't help but smile, herself, relaxing into the chair. "I look forward to more smiles like that... I've missed those during this lockdown... thank you for what you've done, Cadi. I mean that with all of my heart."
"Well, with this news, there'll be a lot more room for smiles around, yeah? But for tonight, let's enjoy the party." She paused and sniffed at the air, "Smells like the restaurants have finally started arriving... let's get some food and just enjoy the night."