Chapter 631 - 295: Symbiote

Harrisburg, the Hilton Hotel.

A whiteboard was plastered with a dense array of senators’ photos.

Red X’s, green checkmarks, and a large number of yellow question marks for the "undecided."

Leo Wallace stood before the whiteboard, the marker in his hand warm from his tight grip.

"Twenty-three votes."

Leo stared at the number, his voice hoarse.

"Even counting the three poor souls we’ve driven into a corner, plus our guaranteed base of support, we only have twenty-three votes."

"We’re still three votes short of a simple majority of twenty-six."

"And we’re a far cry from the supermajority needed to force an end to the debate."

Leo tossed the marker aside and turned to look out the floor-to-ceiling window at the brightly lit state capital, a sense of defeat washing over him.

In the end, he had underestimated these senators who sat at the apex of power in Harrisburg.

These people had spent decades climbing through the political jungle of Pennsylvania. Each one had roots that ran impossibly deep, and each one’s influence exceeded what he had planned for.

Among the twenty-five seats up for reelection, aside from the Democratic Party senators who supported him and the three unlucky targets he had successfully taken down, the remaining senators displayed an infuriating resilience.

Leo’s much-lauded "family expansion" plan had been unstoppable around Pittsburgh and in the traditional industrial towns of the west. Voters who had spent their lives under factory smokestacks were frantically pressuring their representatives for that Red Card.

But once you crossed the Appalachian Mountains in the center of the state and reached the affluent suburbs of the east, or the financial heart of Philadelphia, that logic completely fell apart.

The political ecosystem here was a completely different species.

The senators from the Philadelphia area weren’t worried about Leo’s offensive at all.

Their constituents were the high-earning middle class and elites living behind neatly manicured lawns.

These people had the best corporate-sponsored health insurance in all of America. They didn’t care if insulin cost three hundred US Dollars or thirty, because their out-of-pocket expenses were always fully covered by their companies and insurance providers.

To these voters, Leo’s disruptive reform experiments seemed more like a threat.

They worried this confrontation would upset the existing business equilibrium and affect the pharmaceutical stock dividends in their retirement funds.

Leo’s slogans, which sounded like the coming of a savior in the west, were heard as the roars of a barbarian in the wealthy districts of Philadelphia.

Aside from the three who had already surrendered, Leo had been unable to contact a single other Republican Party senator showing signs of defecting.

Leo found himself stuck in a strange stalemate.

In the west, his power was a flood, capable of submerging everything.

But in the east, that flood had crashed against a long dike.

This left his vote count stuck firmly at twenty-three, unable to advance even half an inch.

"Only half the senators are up for reelection." Leo stared at the whiteboard, his voice hollow.

"That means the other half have a two-year safe period. The threat from public opinion is too distant for them. They would rather offend their current voters than the corporate giants who can write them checks right now."

"I can’t drag this out any longer."

Leo threw the marker onto the table.

"The Mutual Aid Alliance’s funds are burning away. Every day we delay, our costs increase. If I can’t get legislative authorization by the end of the month, Evelyn’s short-selling plan will be affected, and we’ll have a major problem with our capital chain."

Leo paced back and forth in the room, the sound of his leather shoes on the floor rapid and heavy.

’Mr. President.’

Leo called out in his mind.

’Conventional methods have failed. Intimidation through public opinion doesn’t work on those old-timers who aren’t up for reelection. I need a more direct form of power.’

’How do you plan to do that?’ Roosevelt’s voice sounded, tinged with scrutiny.

’Since they only understand money and self-interest...’

Leo stopped pacing, a ruthless glint in his eyes.

’...then I’ll give them self-interest.’

’Not just from pharmaceuticals. I’ll bring in other capital.’

Leo walked to the window.

’I can give orders to construction companies and have them lobby the stubborn senators. I can grant more concessions to energy companies in exchange for them pressuring the Senate. I can even bring in outside financial capital and let them into Pittsburgh’s settlement system.’

’I’m going to use capital to defeat capital.’

Leo’s speech grew faster and faster, as if he were trying to convince himself.

’I know it’s a trap, Mr. President.’

’But I’ll just be using them temporarily. I’ll give them contracts, let them help me build factories, set up medical facilities, even get involved in my logistics network.’

’Once my system is built, once the Mutual Aid Alliance is firmly established and holds absolute administrative power...’

Leo made a cutting gesture in the air with his hand.

’...I’ll kick them out with executive orders and antitrust investigations.’

’It’s what you call letting the enemy build your castle, then pulling up the drawbridge.’

Leo felt he had found a way out.

’If my current power isn’t enough to topple the fortress, then I’ll just have to bring in another force.’

’As long as the ultimate goal is for the people, compromises along the way are acceptable.’

"Just like you did back in the day," Leo added. "Use big corporations to win the war, and then tame them afterward."

’Shut up.’

A cold command exploded in his mind.

’Leo, you will retract that foolish idea immediately.’