sharp objects { shiv's speech }

↳ SHIV IRVINE

You had a speech planned. You penned it yourself, had it reviewed by your close staff and your speech writer. You sat down with Altair and the other secretaries to make sure you touched on everything that was important to them; the clean energy investments that your sister put in the groundwork for, the exchange program out of Ten you’ve embraced and the many students who have been taught the better for it, even the infrastructure spending that kicked up such a fuss.

It’d been hard to convince the Council to the funding, but now the district has more widespread access to telephone lines. The electric grid hasn’t gone out once in the years since its update. You knew reliable access to electricity was crucial for improving quality of life in Nine, and you bent backwards to make it happen.

It’s your intern who tells you it’s nothing anyone is going to want to hear.

She coming to give you another cup of coffee. You take the mug from her hand, replace it with the finalized slip of paper. She grips the white loosely between her fingers as you say “tell me what you think of this.”

She swallows, surprise etched into the lines of her forehead, but she reads it without question. This is why you have always liked her. She always does the job.

“Mourn Adroxis basically incited a revolution the other day,” Ines says, her mouth twisted and pursed as her eyes flick back up to me as they reach the bottom of the page. “This is great, and it’s all true, but half the district is on his payroll and the other half listened to him say fuck the system. Meanwhile, you’ve spent the last five years making sure their lives were comfortable enough for them to be able to say fuck the system.”

Your brows rise a little at the cursing, but a smile forms too.

She shrugs, as if it’s obvious.

“Most of them aren’t going to realize you’re a big part of the reason they’re in a position to have any power in the first place.” She puts the paper down on your desk carefully, as if it’ll combust. “You should talk about everything you’ve done for them, but you need to remind them that he didn’t really promise them anything. He said he was angry that we have gangs in our streets, and asked for unity. They were pretty words, but you know they’re empty. You have to point that out.” Her words rush out of her, heated, impassioned, believed. “He endorsed you last election, and he was right to. He’s built an empire profiting off violence, and he’s not promising anyone peace. Sunflowers in his pocket or not, he's asking for more violence, asking to be more like them, like the Capitol, like the careers. To take them down, sure, but still.” A pause, a breath, she’s nervous to say whatever comes next and you’re proud of her when she does. “You need to point out that he didn’t actually offer anything. It would be irresponsible of you to do anything else.”

You look at her for a long moment, eyes level, before slender fingers pick up the sheet. Pushing away from your desk, you drop the sheet into the shredder without ceremony. The noise of paper being ripped fills the room. 

“Sit,” you say. “We have work to do then.”

What comes is to the point, direct, doesn’t pull punches. You don’t allow him to be the centerfold of your speech, else his name in your mouth take precedence over the work that you have done, but Ines had been right. He offers an empire of violence to your people and calls it their only chance at peace, says nothing to the countless concerns of the people. Grief shadows his entire speech, the dead taking priority over the living. To let that go undressed would put Nine in harms way.

The crowd today is large, the largest you’ve been in front of since the traveling parade earlier that year. The campaign hasn’t been long, and the events have been sparser than perhaps they should be. You’ve had work to do though, and standing in the spotlight has never been why you took this job. Stepping out onto the small stage though, your smile comes to your easily.

These are your people. This is your home. And you’ve fought for them well. They will see that.

“Good morning everyone,” you say, smile warm. “My name is Shiv Irvine; I work for Altair Qadir, if you don’t know me.” There’s a scattering of laughter among several of the attendees at your jest, some shaking of head’s. Your Secretary of Education is somewhere off to the left, and you smile when you meet his gaze. “Been doing it awhile now.”

You place your binder in front of you on the podium, open it to the single slip of laminated white paper holding the speech you wrote with Ines. When you look up, you keep your shoulders square.

“Safe to say I have one of the best jobs in Nine,” you begin, chin up. “When I began my work as Mayor, I came into the position knowing that above all else, the children of this district were special. Something to be cherished, given the chance to flourish and grow the way we’ve watched our economy begin to improve in the decades since Colgate came home.

“It’s why I couldn’t think of a better place to give this speech than here,” you gesture behind you to the new school that was finished being built at the start of summer. “I wasn’t sure when I came into office exactly how I was going to be able to better the lives of students across Nine, but working together with District Ten has given us incredible strength in that regard. For the first time, our kids are able to learn truly anything because of their exchange program. We’ve also seen a rise in not only test scores here in our own schools, but better than that, the highest rate of degree completion to date.

“Thanks to increased funding, we had the means to build two new elementary schools and fill their halls with teachers. Come fall, these halls will be filled with bright young minds, and with more teachers it means those classes can have lower ratios, leaving room for students to have an education better tailored to each student. If you all elect me to office for another five years, I can promise that this is only the beginning. The kids learning new trades in Ten, in Six, in Five, they’re all going to come home eventually and teach all of us ways to be even better.

“They say you can’t teach an old dog new tricks, but I disagree. We can be stronger than the violence that has shaped our home.”

You swallow, take a sip of water. Let that settle in.

“I believe you all know by this point; I have never been a woman who pulls her punches. You all wish for me to speak about Mourn, and the empire he wishes to offer you all.

“I shall keep it brief. Now, I am not here to say that a businessman is incapable of taking the reins. I myself five short years ago was not in a dissimilar position to Mourn. I hadn’t the political experience, only the business savvy and the connections and the will to help the people. But I also took steps through the campaign process to build a platform for change that involved more than empty promises of strength. You all have seen great change in our education system since I have joined office, to say nothing for the healthcare plans I’ve laid in place to protect those that care for our young ones. You all are aware of the strength I have not only offered you, but made sure was actually delivered. Employment is up thanks to our increased infrastructure spending, and healthcare coverage for public workers is up twenty percent.

“It is sentiment, what my old friend offers you, not safehood.”

You take a deep inhale, not somber exactly, but serious in a way you don’t want them to take lightly. It is not an easy thing, to outright denounce someone you at least sometimes consider a friend, but you will do it for the safety of Nine.

“I would offer you programs instead of promises, friends. Let me continue to help you all grow.”

You prefer to plan for tomorrow rather than dwell on what was, what you have been.

“Your futures have always been my priority, above all else,” you say to close. “I humbly ask that you let me continue to guide them, that you let me plan for your prosperity, and thank you all for the time you have allowed me to thus far. It has been an honor serving Nine, and I would like the chance to continue. So please, Vote Irvine when you submit your ballot. Thank you all for your time.”