fiction

Futures Part Twelve

Denise Mastenbrook

11 Sep 2026 • 4 min read

"I appreciate how open and candid you've been so far."

"And?"

"That seems like a leading statement. As in you don't expect that to continue."

The news reporter laughed, "Well, just in my experience most politicians have what they want to say planned out and it doesn't much matter what I ask them, they still go with their plan."

"Ah. Well, I don't like that so I don't do that."

"I can see. And I do appreciate it. But yes, I have some more questions for you that you might not want to answer."

"Alright. I consider myself warned." Olivia gave her best please continue smile.

"Do you think the attempt on your life was to prevent you from running for president?"

Olivia laughed, "I think the Constitution prevents me from running for president. I'm not even old enough to run for the Senate."

"Yet."

"I am focused on my time as a Representative. I'm running for reelection to the House. I've only served part of one term and I think any speculation about anything else is more than premature."

"Is it though? Everyone I've spoken to says that you very well could be the party's nominee in 8 years."

"That's flattering, but again, way too premature."

"I guess we will see. What do you say to people who think that the shooting was a false flag event?"

"There isn't much I could say to them to change their minds. People will believe, or not believe what they want."

"They say the timing was too perfect."

Footage of the assassination attempt begins to show in split screen

"You are giving your remarks and your phone falls off the podium. You look at it for a second then decide to bend down to pick it up. And..."

The screen freezes and a blur of motion is highlighted. The bullet where Representative North's head had been moments before, then the recording starts again and the bullet shatters the backdrop behind her

"It still gives me chills to see."

"I was very lucky. Though the screen of my phone did crack when it fell so not completely unscathed."

"And they haven't caught the shooter which bothers a lot of people."

"I can guarantee it bothers them a lot less than it bothers me." Olivia tried and failed to keep the slight edge out of her voice.

"Understandable. They did recover the weapon, correct?"

"They did. And they were able to get a full set of prints from it, but the prints are not in the system so, for now, that's not much help. We do implore the public to come forward with any information that they think might help."

"I understand you've gotten offers from a few psychics to track down the shooter?" The reporter could not keep the amusement from her voice, but Olivia didn't think she was really trying.

"We have. And we appreciate anyone who thinks they might be of assistance."

"One other area I wanted to talk to you about. You were part of the James Gang that got legislation for women's health passed when you were an intern."

"I worked on Senator James' staff, yes. And my colleagues and I worked very hard for the Senator to get her the best information possible to write the best bill she could."

"You don't care for the James Gang moniker?"

"Honestly, I think it's a little silly, but I am very proud of the work I did for Senator James and will always be very grateful for the opportunities she gave me, as well as for her support when I decided to run for the House and her continued partnership on the Hill."

"And your campaign manager..."

"My campaign manager?"

"There are some who question why you have a man working as your campaign manager. You had a woman your first election but replaced her with a man."

"Sarah did a fabulous job on the campaign, as evidenced by the fact that I was elected, and then transitioned onto my staff and did an outstanding job there as well. She decided to leave DC and move back to the midwest. When she left I offered the job to Lucas."

"Did you interview any women for the position?"

"I did not. I didn't do any interviews at all. Lucas and I already had a working relationship from his earliest days in DC and I knew this was an area he had interest in and I felt could do a good job. Which he has."

"But he's a man."

"He is. And, if you'll indulge me, I'll explain why I find this line of questioning to be really sexist."

"Sexist against men?"

"No, sexist against women. If a man has a woman in a high ranking position on his staff he's hailed as some sort of hero, if a woman does not hire all women she's viewed as anti-feminist. Why would you say that is? Why are women still being tokenized as other?"

"I don't think that's...."

"I know, you probably don't. But it is. Women should be honored to work for men and it is expected that no man wants to work for a woman. I'd say that's a problem."

"But you did have a woman in the position before."

"And now I have a man in that position. It has nothing to do with gender and all about who is going to do the best job. I believe that Lucas is almost as capable as Sarah was. And I only say almost because I haven't been re-elected yet so it still remains to be seen."

The reporter laughed, "I don't think you have to worry about being re-elected."

Jayde turned off the TV. She shouldn't have watched the interview at all. If they knew she was still keeping tabs on Olivia they'd ship her back to Nebraska. If she was lucky. She wondered how long Sarah was going to spend there. And she wondered how long it would take the home office to realize anyone they put close to Olivia would soon be too close to Olivia to do their jobs.

And as she always did, she wondered what that meant. About Olivia and about the home office.