The Campaign Trail... Resumes (Open)

Visiting Earth had mostly been for the sake of due diligence: Cato's last trip here had been uneventful, and she hadn't gotten a real grasp on things had progressed since her fateful meeting with Derry. She had told Ticoga all she knew about Earth, along with a few of her suspicions atop that. What she hadn't been expecting was to wander right into the middle of political campaigning.

She walked over to the poster only moments after the Majin had planted it on the wall, barely paying attention to him in the process. The stack of posters being dispensed to the crowd escaped her notice, while she fixated instead on the poster and its promises.

Slashed taxes... aliens... and a promise not to live in a castle.

Cato didn't know much about taxes, and the only aliens she knew about on Earth were all the Earthlings lurking about. She didn't quite understand what was wrong about castles, but then, she supposed this particular candidate shared her dislike of the gaudy decor inside some of them.

But it wasn't all of that which really caught her attention.

"I forgot people voted here!" she blurted out, a little too loud. "That's so strange. How do you trust ordinary people to vote on things!?"

---

Cato startled when the Majin started speaking to her directly. She supposed she shouldn't have ignored him in the first place, given this seemed to be his meet-up in the first place. She pulled down one of the posters as if it were a hand-out brochure, still looking over it as she spoke.

"You know, ordinary people. People with low power levels. The common folk. The ones who drive little hover-cars around and yell at each-other over lights turning red and green."

She thought that mostly encapsulated it. 

"Of course you shouldn't just kill your enemies," she added, waving the thought off. "Systems that thrive off of whoever's the best at killing someone else in single combat are doomed for failure, because half the strongest people in the galaxy are, you know, idiots."

She paused a moment.

"Really, what makes a system work is when you have someone in charge who's wise enough to be able to convince all those people strong enough to do the killing to kill the people they need killed," she continued. She wasn't sure if her explanation was working right or not. "That way, whoever's in charge isn't necessarily just the best fighter, but the one that the best fighters all trust. See?"

"Come to think of it," she looked back down at the poster. "Letting everyone have a vote is probably why you people are so paranoid about aliens and martial artists."

---

"Huh? But I am a Saiyan!"

Cato wasn't sure why the Majin had thought otherwise. She supposed he must have had a strong impression from those Saiyans who firmly believed in the throne challenge, but she didn't. Not anymore, at least.

"There was a time when I thought we had to preserve the sanctity of the single duel to see who's the best sort of... custom, you know?" she wrinkled her nose beneath her mask, and shook her head. "But then when I had to experience what it was like living under that system, I realized it could cause a whole lot of instability."

She points to the election posters still scattered about the crowd.

"But this seems like it'd do the same thing," she points out. "Especially given that most of the people here probably don't know the first thing about the world outside their own towns, cities--whatever. They certainly don't know what's at stake when they cast their votes, or how the laws they allow to slip through the system wind up effecting how everyone else sees them. Which--well, it probably doesn't matter to them, but it would if they were strong enough to perceive a world bigger than their slice of Earth."

She folded her arms over her chest.

"The strongest bloc of warriors should determine who leads," she stated, matter-of-factly. "Otherwise, they'll be a threat to launch a civil war to claim power anyways."

---

"I don't think the Tuffles are that evil," Cato contended, completely missing Megis' point. "That half of the planet they occupy is treated fairly well, outside of the parts they've ruined with Destron."

Even so, she followed Megis' gesture. It was true that if she hadn't had the sort of galaxy-spanning travels that she had, she might have found Earth to be a somewhat pleasant place, despite its many issues--pollution, traffic, and whatever a 'stock market' was. It was also true that Earth was one of the most cosmopolitan planets in the galaxy, challenged perhaps only by Arcose--though the hierarchies on that planet could sometimes work against it.

"They might be worried about how to keep the peace they have, but laws like the Accords speak to a certain certainty in the system that feels misplaced. Two sets of warriors with equal power is asking for conflict, unless some alliance or compromise can be met. That much is true. But..."

She hesitated a moment.

"Well, can you say that the way things have been handled on Earth has really kept it safe from conflict? You've just traded wars for constant isolated battles. By antagonizing the strong and treating them like they're worthy of suspicion, you've basically sent out a clear signal across the stars that Earth is afraid of aliens."

"Well--" she conceded. "Maybe not you. But you know what I mean."

---

"There was one Saiyan who wanted to end all that--the constant conflict, the bickering with the Tuffles, all of it. She proposed a future where we would roam around helping just causes as sort of--galactic mercenaries, I suppose."

She wasn't too clear on the details of the previous Queen's plans, except that she didn't view money as being much of a draw. She supposed in hindsight there might have been some wisdom to the idea of seeking out greater and greater challenges, but Plant had proven enough of a challenge on its own.

"I don't know what it'll be like once our peace with the Tuffles becomes more... accepted on both sides. But, I'm sure we'll find our way."

She was surprised to hear the Majin had no taste for the Accords, though she supposed it made sense. He was a powerful alien of some sort, and so surely he would have also felt unfairly targeted by them. She nodded along as he spoke, considering his comments.

"A unified Earth would be a powerful force," she admitted. "It might be a distant rival to the power of a united Saiyan people. But, I suppose you do count a few powerful Saiyans amongst Earth's greatest protectors. I've never really understood why anyone would willingly choose Earth over Plant."

She glanced back across the crowd. Maybe it was a little more peaceful here, but it was also a mess of another kind. Things on Plant were simple and straight forward, even with the occasional wildcard element like Lottus or the aliens lingering around the Mercenary Outpost.

---

Cato eyed the alien for a moment. Of all the potential explanations for him, being a Tuffle creation wasn't one of them... but at this point, it probably should have been. He was far from the first she had encountered, and she was reasonably sure he wouldn't be the last.

"They do have a habit of creating sentient beings to try to enforce their will," she considered. "If anything, that is going to be one of the problems with a lasting peace. Maybe your creator was more benevolent than that and made no attempts to keep free will from you, but the habit of certain scientists of creating living, breathing--figuratively--people to do their bidding really doesn't feel... so great."

"Maybe it all does work as well as you point out,  but do people here really accept when they lose and agree to go in any kind of unity?"

She indicated the gathered Earthlings, in a vague gesture.

"They cast a vote and feel they've made a difference because it's all they're capable of doing. But, if things were really so great here, and if people really were so respected, then stuff like the Accords wouldn't exist. Are you sure you haven't just traded one form of chaos for another?"

---

"People might just be holding off on killing each-other because they don't have the power to," Cato pointed out, folding her arms over her chest. She thought it was a good point, anyway. "How peaceful do you think Earth would be if it wasn't relying on most of its population not having enough power to frighten more than a fruit fly?"

She glanced at a passing Earthling who shot her a rather sour glance at that comment, and muttered a sheepish. "--Sorry."

"Anyway. I get it. But, it's hard not to judge Earth for that. If the King of Plant tried to get away with something so brazen, you can be certain I would be doing everything I could to overturn it. And hey--maybe you are doing what you can to overturn it. I know Derry has some freakish strength, I ran into him myself..."

She paused.

"... But, I've also met martial artists in the wilds who could have easily stood up to him, and shown him that Earthlings didn't take kindly to acts of tyranny. But they didn't, because enough paranoid common-folk had cast ballots for him."

As much as she hated to admit it, the Majin did have a point. Power didn't guarantee good rule, and that was an inherent problem. Yet, it was one that had been solved elsewhere in her mind: the Empire. Ticoga might have lost his duel with Mint, but his words alone could have ensured his accession through popular demand. So she thought, anyway.

"It takes a little bit of everything," she finally conceded. "Strength, clarity of purpose, a little wisdom--and the charisma to draw in allies, and keep them. Maybe that's what's kept Earth's protectors placated under Derry."

She hesitated again. She should probably clarify her opinion of the President.

"I do like the President. He was easy to negotiate with, and clever in his own way--on top of being a sight to behold. It's just, if he was my King and not some foreign ruler, I would've come to blows with him by now. And--you know, he's probably dangerous, and probably a problem, but in a good way."

"Still, I hope he loses this whole election thing. So, I guess, good luck--you know?"

---