Kings and Crowns: A Dystopian Thriller (Age of End Book 2) by Chris Yee Page B

arms. “Welcome friends.” His voice was deep. “It’s so good to finally meet you in person. I am Victor Greene.” He stuck out his hand to shake theirs. His grip was firm. “Now I know you have a lot of questions, but that will have to wait just a little longer while I speak with Ms. Marble. In the meantime, make yourselves comfortable.”
    He pulled Charlotte aside and lowered his voice. “Excellent work Ms. Marble. Showing them footage of Simon was a brilliant idea. Just what we needed to get them on our side. Did it work?”
    “I think so.”
    “Fantastic. You have done well. I’m going to keep you with them. There is no need to watch them on a screen when they’re here in person, right?”
    “I suppose that’s true, sir.”
    “From now on, you are their escort. You will show them around and bring them wherever they need to be. But secretly, you will continue to observe them. Note anything of interest in your journal. Do everything you do in the monitor room, but in person. And if they start to have doubts, you can nudge them in the right direction.”
    “Yes, sir.”
    “Very good.” He turned around to address the others. “Sorry to keep you waiting. I know you were eager to meet me. I have certainly been eager to meet you. People around here call me Mr. Greene, but let’s move past formalities. Please, call me Victor. Now let’s get to business. It appears that we have a common goal. You met Simon, correct?”
    “Yes,” Saul answered. “That’s correct. He seemed okay when we met him. We had no idea he was so…so…”
    “Vicious?” Victor said. “Cruel? Savage? Barbaric? There are many words to describe him, but none of them quite capture his essence. He’s an evil man guided by false justice. He disturbs the peace in the City that I work so hard to achieve. He’s killed countless numbers of innocent people in the name of his so-called justice. But how can that be justice? It can’t. I don’t have to convince you. You’ve already seen it. The Crowns don’t only follow him, they worship him. They believe he is the solution to all of their problems, and that if he takes down the Spire, pain and sorrow will disappear. But it won’t. It will only spread chaos. Pain and sorrow will always be present, but here in the Spire, we try to make life a little better for everyone.
    “Our tests help many people. Your very own vitality injection has led to some great breakthroughs in life expectancy. Simon looks past all of the good we do and focuses on false accusations. He antagonizes us. Turns the people against me when I’m only trying to help. He is a virus. An infection that grows in the form of the Crowns and attacks our peaceful society. He needs to be eliminated. Taken out. Exterminated.”
    He pointed to Vince and Saul. “That’s where you two come in. He was going to make you the face of the Crowns. I plan on doing the exact opposite. You will be a success story for the Spire. A triumph for the people of the City to look up to. A shining example of why we do these tests.”
    “And what do we do?” Alan asked.
    “Support them. They’ll need all the support they can get. There are going to be conferences and meet ups. We’ll get the two of you out into the public. Meet people face to face. Vince and Saul will be all-stars, and being all-stars is a lot of work. They’ll need good friends by their sides.”
    “That sounds like a lot of work,” Saul said.
    “It will most definitely be a lot of work, but I assure you it will not be in vain. Your hard work will bring us closer to our goal. It will help tear Simon down from his throne. We will ease you in with the conference. You don’t have to say anything. Just show up, stand on stage, and let me do the talking. We’ll take it from there.”
    “When is the conference?”
    Victor looked at his watch. “In about twenty minutes. I spent all night planning it. I’ve opened it up to all Spire employees, as well as the media. Your