Charles was quite surprised and was more interested in what he had to say. “Give me more details on this.” Charles requested with a glint of curiosity in his eyes. Mark was more than happy to share him the information he wanted to hear and spilled more than enough to Charles. Charles was pleased to hear the amount of information he heard from Mark, and Mark kept giving him more as days and weeks passed until the D-day. Now, it was that very day which both George and Charles had been waiting for, badly. This day was going to tell who would end up being the winner, and trample on the other. They got to the event, and they sat at the front seat, somewhere in the crowd until they called them up to the stage and people gave them a clap. The people of the state were also watching from their TV. They were all excited about this day and were ready to support their candidates. “We welcome Mr. Charles Lincoln and Mr. George Washington to the stage.” The presiding officer announced, and the crowd cheered them on. Soon everywhere was calm, and all necessary things had been done before it was time for the questions to start coming in. “So, your citizens have sent in their questions and I shall begin to ask them one by one.” He informed them, with a smile on his face. Charles was calm because he had taken his reward of intellect skills, so he didn’t feel he would have any problem in the questioning aspect. “What is the propensity for authoritarian regimes to use quazi-democratic institutions, such as sham elections, stacked legislative bodies, etcetera to undermine the public’s confidence in democratic principles, thereby averting opposition?” The officer directed the question at them. While George was still thinking about the perfect answer to sway the feet of the public, Charles had gotten his own answer, and was ready to reply. “Well, we need to perhaps distinguish between democratic processes and institutions from processes, networks, and institutions that facilitate effective feedback.” “Okay?” “Alright, this is because successful authoritarian regimes need to be able to manage and optimize feedback from the forces and sectors that the political body, they are ruling is composed of.” Charles said, then cleared his throat before going on. “Effective management of feedback permits them to optimize the benefits and minimize the costs in the classic “Coercion-Extraction” cycle, and thus permits them stability and longevity that could not be achieved by mere coercion.” Charles ended. There was an applause coming from the crowd, and George couldn’t find any enticing thing to say about the question they had just asked. Questions continued to come in and most of them were based on foreign aid, human trafficking, education, world hunger, disaster response, health, and collaboration. Charles continued to answer perfectly to an extent that it blew the minds of people and it was beginning to look like Charles was leading. Just before Charles could answer another question, Angela decided to carry out her plans as her blood was boiling and she could not bear to lose to Charles. She tampered with the control room, and the projector began to show pictures of Mark and Charles meeting. People were confused and wanted to know why this was happening, so Mark stepped out to the podium. Charles stared at him with a straight face, and wasn’t surprised to see him coming out to the podium. The officer was quite surprised, and the curiosity to know what was going on, made him allow Mark step up for an explanation. “These pictures you’re seeing are all evidences to show that Charles Lincoln is not the person who you think he is. He is corrupt man who thinks he can bribe his way through anything. All this while, he has been trying to use me against Governor Aspirant George, but I played smart with him.” The crowd murmured and it was certain that everyone watching this on air were also shocked, and were probably finding it hard to believe. Charles felt embarrassed even though he saw this coming. “Sir, are you certain of what you are saying, because Mr. Charles whom we know is a righteous and just man.” A woman from the audience spoke out when she was given the microphone. Mark scoffed, and slid his right hand into his pocket. “That’s the image he is trying to show the public. But trust me, once he gets this governorship position, he is going to make you suffer, and do quite the opposite of the proposal he has offered to the people.” Mark replied, and glanced towards Charles who was burning in anger. Mark sneered at him, and smirked. He had been waiting for this day when he would be able to look down at Charles back again. “In fact, Mr. Charles here must have indulged in some illegal things because he suddenly turned wealthy overnight. He was once under us.” The crowd was showing signs like they found it hard to believe. George was happy inside him, and loved the way things were going in favor of him. “I could show you another evidence that he bribed me.” Mark announced, and then the credit alert transaction was shown to the public which made them gasp in shock.” Charles beat himself up for trying to even pay him for the work he was doing just to deepen the trust, and make him fall into his own trap instead. Now, the transaction was vying against him, and the public were beginning to seem displeased, and their murmurs increased. Charles looked around for Vera just so she could take control of the situation as she was supposed to, but he couldn’t find her. Things were getting rough, and the officer glanced at him. “Mr. Charles, do you have anything to say about this?” He asked, looking like he was giving him the benefit of the doubt. Charles bit his lower lip, and was feeling a fit of rage inside of him. He couldn’t call Vera as he could not make use of his phone, and this was not an issue where he could speak without evidence. This was beginning to look like Charles was going to suffer a big blow. His enemies had ganged up against him, and his plans seemed to have fallen through.