| Episode: | Season 1, Episode 1 – Chaos! At The Gala |
| Location: | Gala Hall |
| Written By: | Paige Cohen Charlotte Preston |
| Date: | 08/28/2026 |
| Word Count: | 1,033 |
Paige sat there fiddling with her fingertips as she listened to the speech that her father was up on the central stage giving. The entire gala crowd, and the recorders for the event were all giving her father the attention. Not that it really bothered her, though sometimes the twelve-year-old did question her father’s choices and being part of politics.
It wasn’t that his speech was all that boring, and she’d been around for different pieces of it as he practiced in their apartment. That’s what it was, Paige realized, it was that she’d heard the speech before anyone else at the gala. She had a sheepish grin on her face as she looked over at Charlotte who’d been sitting right next to her.
“What?” Charlotte asked suddenly when she noticed her best friend staring at her. She’d been deep in thought about her father and hoping he was okay with her going to the gala. It had been all she’d thought about since the interviews and all that had started.
Paige giggled a little, “Nothing,” She answered. Then she leaned over just a little bit, “I’ve just heard the speech before and it’s really not all that interesting.”
Charlotte grinned when Paige said that and nodded with understanding written all over her face. The twelve-year-old could see that as being a mild problem. One look around and the other children who were present, some older and some younger, had the same glossed over expression. “I don’t think you’re the only one who’s bored Paige.”
Paige looked around, “This party needs to liven up,” She whispered with a hint of sarcasm in her voice when she’d suggested it. And, it was true the dancing and everything that had been going on through much of the early evening had paused while her father was giving his speech.
Charlotte found herself agreeing with that sentiment. And, while it was obvious that many of the adults around them had been mesmerized by what Paige’s father was up there saying it was clear that the younger audience weren’t interested. “Politics is rather boring,” She quietly replied.
Paige nodded, she absolutely agreed with that. “I’m not following in his footsteps,” She said and looked over at the councilors who were sitting at a separate table. Her father was still talking, but for the most part besides the applause that erupted from time to time, it was dead silent in the gala hall.
“I think we should go back to the kid area,” The twelve-year-old Paige suggested to Charlotte. And, she was just about to get up.
Charlotte reached out and took her friend by the arm, “Wait a second,” She said noticing that something was a little off suddenly. It was as if the entire mood of the room shifted, “Look at the man holding the recorder.” She pointed out suddenly.
Paige stopped moving and looked toward the man that Charlotte had pointed out. At first she’d not really noticed anything out of the ordinary. Then, after a brief moment of watching she noticed that he was trying to sort something with the recorder. She looked toward the others, and some of the journalists as well.
Everyone was reacting in much the same way. Paige hesitated as she noticed that the tele-net connections had somehow been interrupted. She swallowed and looked at her best friend, “T-that didn’t happen the last time.”
Charlotte was scratching the back of her head as she felt Paige sitting back down. She couldn’t remove her eyes, James was still standing up at the podium talking. It was as if he’d not noticed, and then she heard complete silence. Charlotte looked toward the podium and noticed he’d stopped talking and she didn’t know if his speech was over or not.
“Paige?” She asked.
Paige shook her head, “That’s not the end of it,” She mumbled. Something was horribly wrong and she looked around trying to figure out what the problem was. There were connection issues going all over the place, and the crowd had fallen completely still and silent.
“Folks we seem to be having some technical problems,” A voice said.
Paige lowered her shoulders, maybe it was just a minor issue. There had been a number of them in the past few weeks from what the girl knew. Her father had talked about it, not with Paige but near her anyway. Then there was the slight voice in the back of her head that kept playing out. There was more going on here than what it looked like.
Paige turned and looked toward Charlotte, “Something isn’t right.”
Charlotte had figured that part out rather quickly, and there was some shuffling around going on nearby. She looked up at the podium and noticed that the podium’s sole occupant was still standing there looking around. “Your Dad looks kind of confused.”
Paige nodded, “Yeah that’s to be expected.” She whispered softly. And, it was to be expected because it seemed like everything around them had gone into a complete standstill. The preteen had fully sank back into her chair. She felt like she shouldn’t have been there in the first place. Then she noticed something about one of the tables.
“Didn’t that security guy bring someone?” Charlotte asked.
Paige tried to think about it for a moment before nodding, “I thought he brought a woman,” But, when the girl looked over at the table she was missing. She saw the station’s head of security sitting there and the head of engineering sitting there as well.
There was a sound behind them that drew Charlotte’s attention away from the security guy toward the back of the gala hall. The doors swung open with a loud crack that caught the attention of the rest of the gala hall occupants. Charlotte pulled on Paige’s arm again so that the girl’s attention had been directed that way.
Paige looked just as she realized many of the people holding recorders suddenly had a feed, but they weren’t directed toward the podium. There was a man who’d just burst through the hall doors and he wasn’t alone. Paige’s breath caught in her throat, it wasn’t good. It wasn’t good at all.