CHISHIKI NEWS: 10/09/2086 - Election Season

CAN "BRAINWASHED" MAN SECURE FOURTH COUNCIL SEAT FOR COSMOPOLITAN PARTY?

10 - September - 2086

As the biannual elections approach within the independent city-state of Newton, challengers from across the political spectrum have begun the charm offensive that invariably accompanies such events. Though smaller parties and independents are optimistic about their chances of securing a seat on the city's governing council, the biggest battle is between the Cosmopolitan party, currently holding four of the twenty seats, and the Metropolitan party with three. If Metro can secure another seat, they will be able to deadlock a number of the Cosmopolitans' more controversial labor-export measures. The cosmopolitans are not discouraged, and have announced that Andrew Deane, lawyer and human-rights advocate, to stand for the fourth seat.

Cosmopolitan Party candidate Andrew Deane

Plagued by recent accusations of corruption, the party have chosen a candidate who, at first glance, might raise concerns for the average voter. Mr Deane has been surgically implanted with a neural-governor, a piece of technology normally associated with those recently released from prison as part of anti-civil behaviour treatment. The device is often used to correct a particular aspect of an individual's actions, such as violent tendencies, but in Deane's case is configured to prevent him from lying. More bizarrely, its installation was voluntary.

"I believe that it ought to be the right of every voter to be able to trust those that they've elected into power," Mr Deane explained. "It is also necessary that the man on the street should see the technology available to us as not a tool with which we are 'lobotomising the undesirable', but as an aid to socially beneficial behaviour." He has expressed a desire to see this kind of technology normalised, and more widely taken up. Having undertaken the installation of the extensive synaptic wiring required, the Cosmopolitan party claims to be able to have the "only 100% trustworthy" politician.

"He is incapable of lying - to anyone. Like, literally cannot," said a spokesman for the campaign. "Any attempt to do so leads to a surge of tremendous pain, like a migraine." On his campaign tour throughout the city, on the nets, and even within the Trance, the candidate has been put to the test, fielding questions on any topic from potential voters. While the response has been fairly positive so far, some critics are unable to put concerns to rest.

Metropolitan candidate Elektra Crosse has raised her own doubts. "It's a gimmick," she argues. "He'll be run by the same secretive board behind all of the Cosmopolitans' representatives. Sure, he may not be able to lie, but he also can't lie about what he doesn't know. They just won't explain their plans to the men on the ground anymore." Others have expressed skepticism - "how du we kno its even real? wherez the certifikate" asked Smashgasm54, a question that may need to be settled before the Cosmopolitans can rest assured of electoral success.