Short story: The202nd faithless elector

Gloria watched the final presidential debate at Black Whiskey in DC sipping Lagavulin with some of her friends. TVs turned from sports to politics. High fives all around. Slam dunk. After it was over the pollsters agreed; Branson Newbury of the Flat Earth Party was going to win. Triumph tastes good.

Ms. Silver fell asleep as soon as she hit the sheets. Her iPhone wake up song, Takin Care of Business, BTO, started the morning routine: coffee, news, (more of the same), shower, more news, more coffee, power bar, dress, last mirror check, off to work. 

Nothing usually stood out. But this morning one story was  radically different; the Vaneera Eclair network of TV stations was directed by "must reads". Investigative reporters scene stitched hundreds of local news anchors saying the same thing. They were following a script. Serves them right, Gloria said to herself, stupid Social Justarians and their misguided policies.

For every story, every side of a coin, there is another position. The day before their lack of independence went viral, Eclair had run a story in partnership with Opensrcica about candidate Newbury. That as a boy he had been diagnosed with ADHD. He had been treated with psycotrophic Modfilistan for 8 years. The drug is off the market today due to side effects, including super influencer capabilities, possibly the reason for his success with live audiences and television. However, it also caused early mortality, usually within 30 years of first taking the drug for a sustained period.

Gloria, shook her head. He looks so healthy. Someone needs to regulate the news. You can hear just about anything . . . no!, her brain exclaimed, I sound like a Justarian.

In the weeks that followed, both stories proved to hold up. Eclair was driven by "must runs" and Newbury had been on the drug. The slam dunk election morphed into the closest in the history of the United States. 

The moment Gloria dreaded was becoming certainty. The 2028 election would be decided by the college and she was an elector. DC went with Flat Earth. It was time to vote. Gloria had taken an oath; if she failed to follow protocol, there could be fines. But a vote for Newbury was in effect a vote for his vice president. Citizenship is hard.

Gloria Silver became the 202nd faithless elector in the history of the United States.