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Region: Northern Utopia

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Meridian commonwealth

Apartment 3-16
Bowman Concourse, Voyager Arcology
District NW, Progress

Alia could hear the commotion in her apartment before she opened the door. A few frustrated (and very creative) Farsi curses, the kind that were actually... kind of impressive, in that they didn't actually use any expletive words, but they felt more insulting for it. She quietly swung the door open and stepped inside.
"... except for one, so you can have toothache!" Samira hissed at the holo-monitor in the lounge area, showing a live feed of Director Park's first State of the Nation address. Even from a brief glance, you could tell that the intended feel was different from Samira and Anahita's addresses. The cameras were lower, tilted up slightly to make her look more menacing. Two furled Commonwealth flags stood behind her. Park was so much more energetic in her speeches, almost shouting. If Samira didn't know better, she'd say Park was going full fascist.
"You alright?" Alia asked, peeking out from behind the wall. "I could hear you from the other side of the concourse.
Almost immediately, Samira calmed down. A wave of her hand, and the screen flickered out of existence, before she went to Alia and enveloped her in a hug. "I'm fine, my love."
"Honey, I love you to bits, but you're a really bad liar. What's wrong?"
"Nothing. I promise."
"Then what's all this?" Alia gently pulled away from Samira, gesturing to the virtual trash scattered around the augmented reality workspace overlaying reality - broken bottles, screwed up balls of paper, more than one hole smashed into reality itself. Samira's cheeks went redder as she waved a hand, dismissing her instance of Desktop Destroyer: AR Edition.
"Stress relief..." Samira said, sheepishly.
"Look, if you're feeling bad enough to use that program, you need to be talking to a therapist."
"No therapist can help me deal with the fact that Part is ruining my fu­cking country!"
"Oh, jeez... look, babe, I really hate to say it, but it's not your country any more. You lost the election. I get that you're upset, but... you really need to move past it. There's nothing more to do."
"There's always something to be done."
"... you're not serious."
"Elections are only the start of one's civic duty. They are not the end."
"Are you suggesting revolution!?"
"What? No! I'm suggesting a movement, yes, but not violent. Not yet."
"Oh, thank God, you had me terrified for a moment."
"The situation is nowhere near that bad. If we act now--"
"I hear you, but... I know for a fact that your concerns are for the nation as a whole, but I'm afraid that a lot of people are going to look at what you're saying and dismiss it as you just being salty over losing an election."
"I am."
"... you're really not helping your case. Look, at the very least, you need something to take your mind off all this. It's not good for you to get angry like this. Why don't you get a job at Meridian Industries?"
"That's... not a bad idea." Samira stared off into the distance for a moment - a clear sign of somebody using their augmented reality tech. "Well, I just put in an application."
"Great! Now while you wait for a response, let's head to the theatre. Tonight is theatre sports night."
"Really? I suppose I should check the arcology notice board more often."
Alia leaned down and gently planted a kiss on Samira's lips. "And listen to me more often, too. C'mon. Let's go have some fun."

Thanedom of jon and Astarey

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