It was a good protest. Over a hundred people came. They waved their flags and shouted slogans. Alex knew a lot of them, but not everyone.
"And by this, you are robbing people of their dignity! Do you hear, Robert Wheeler!"
Phil's speech always stands out. Alex snapped a picture of the speaker.
He looked rightfully enraged.
"Dignity, dignity, dignity!"
She joined a chorus of shouting voices.
So many people, we will change the world. As the voices were getting quieter, her moment of unity vanished. Alex realized that she should take a picture of the crowd. The faces will be calmer now, but she would not trade a good photo for missing the moment.
Alex found a spot where the crowd looked the biggest. She lowered herself to get a better angle.
Phil left the microphone and a box used as a stage. With that, a song started playing, and people sang along. During the chorus, most of them waved with their hands tightly clutched to the fist. Alex knew that she could not sing well, still, she was shouting as much as she could. She even borrowed a flag from Rebecca standing by.
The crowd thinned. Alex could see the writing on the politician's fence saying: "greedy swine!" She noticed three men with black glasses looking around, police. They just watched. The protest was peaceful. They would not interfere. She heard stories about police stopping the protests. It never happened to her. She sometimes got some fines, but nothing big.
Alex thought about how to describe the situation:
"Let's go home, it's a long way, and there might be traffic on the borders."
Manta interrupted her train of thoughts.
"Yes, Phil is not planning anything" added Nicolas.
Today, it was Alex's turn to bring food. She stopped in her favorite shop for just-heat meals. It would be a tasty dinner, not that boring stuff that Nicolas buys. She might even add some herbs and vegetables. They should have some in the fridge.
Alex turned up the oven and went for herbs in the garden. The garden was the best thing about the place. They planned to plant vegetables, but they missed the season for planting them. So, they used only herbs that grew there already.
Alex moved to her place immediately when she qualified. At home, she could not stand it. For some time, Alex lived alone, then with her ex. It did not end well, so she moved in with Rebecca.
They call it the villa. It's an older house, basically a squat. The owners probably wait until the building collapses, and plan to build something else there. But until then, it is free. The building was disconnected from the electrical network and everything. They dragged in the water recycler, toilet, and solar panels, and they live comfortably. Alex got used to walking in her shoes everywhere.
She found some herbs. They were dying. Should she water them or not?
The fridge was almost empty. Alex found only tomatoes in a box labeled Nicolas, so she used them.
"Dinner!" she shouted.
"Finally, ... are these mine?" Nicolas examined his dinner, especially tomatoes.
"Yes, I thought they might get rotten, so I..." Alex tried to explain,
but Nicolas grunted, turned away, and as always, took the plate to his room and closed the door.
"What is your plan for tomorrow? Is anyone going to the center?" asked Rebecca.
"Yes, It's my turn to walk, what do you need?" said Alex.
"Can you take a package for me?"
Another problem with the villa, not having the proper address. They needed to go for their packages to the post.
"Sure, no problem."
"I hate that I have to walk. I want a better work. Manta, you are so lucky, you talk with people that already like us. People on the street are stupid."
"I liked walking. If they are stupid, you can at least tell them to fuck themselves. I can't." laughed Manta.
"You know we shouldn't."
"Yes, but who will find out? In the recorded talk, it's much worse."
"But yesterday, I was talking to some fat guy.
He did not want to contribute,
so I said to him that he should eat everything.
You should have seen his face."
"Manta, you should not be so aggressive."
Alex frowned at Manta. Rebecca also looked a bit surprised.
The dinner ended in silence. The plates decomposed in the reclaimer, and Alex sat down to write an article about the protest.
Her photos were good. She cited a part of Phil's speech
and emphasized the amount of people that were there.
Maybe it would be nice to mention some of Robert Wheeler's mistakes,
so others know that he is an evil person.
Alex searched the internet for some dirt on him. Rober Wheeler was not so important. He was a rising star, but with not too much of history. He voted like she suspected: some pro-social, some pro-business.
Maybe the reason for the protests was property taxes. They should have them sooner, as we did. It was a big victory when the law passed. The taxes allowed for a 2% increase of the UBI, and the party got more money. Hopefully, the neighboring country will have these taxes too. They are a bit richer, so their UBI will be even higher.
Alex decided to scrap the section with Robert's mistakes and just wrote: "Hopefully, the congressman Robert Wheeler will listen to the voices of his electorate and support the proposal 996."
She was almost finished. The article needed just a picture of Robert Wheeler. It should be a picture where he looks ugly. She was searching for one for an hour. Some were with his family, this does not show how greedy he is. In other pictures, he was looking good. Finally, she settled for an official one where he was not smiling.
Alex watched two episodes of the trending show and went to sleep.
She woke up late. When she got up, she answered some comments about her article. But only the nice ones, there were around ten of them. For the disagreeing comments, she needs more time to think about them and reply well.
Alex prepared for the shift: she did her makeup, took her uniform and a jacket over it.
She was not looking for it.
It was foggy with a chance of rain.
The people will be in a worse mood.
In that weather, they don't want to reason and hurry up.
Moreover, she will be cold after she puts down her jacket.
Alex got to the city center. She put the jacket in her bag and checked her look.
So, it begins.
"Good afternoon, are you voting?"
"Excellent, can I explain to you how a new law will change your life?"
"Ok, I understand, could you give me a contact. I will send you a video that explains everything. You can watch it when you have time."
Alex usually did not get to a second question when people started
to walk away or look annoyed.
So it was over and over again.
"Good afternoon, are you voting?"
It was more than one hour. Alex moved to a less busy street and tried her luck there.
"Good afternoon, are you voting?"
"Yes, I'm."
Finally, someone who does not look annoyed. The man even stopped and faced her.
It was an older man, well-dressed.
"Excellent, can I explain to you how a new law will change your life?"
"Ok, teach me."
"So, there is a new law that supports an elite education.
It is unresponsible. The people on UBI are getting relatively poorer every year. Last year the increase in UBI was only 0.5%.
And they might cancel subsidies for the voluntary education."
He did not answer. He just smiled.
Alex did not know what to say, so she looked at him.
"So, isn't it outrageous?"
"No, not at all. Education is important."
"Yes, but this is elite education. It's just for the rich."
"You know, kid. It is because they are doing something."
"But everyone should get their share."
"Sounds like you did not get to your favorite school."
Alex got pissed she will get nothing from him.
She remembered what Manta said, it was almost involuntary.
"You know what, go fuck yourself."
The man was surprised. Alex was a little surprised too, but it made her feel good. Or better, at least.
She turned around to find someone else when she noticed someone familiar.
How could it be? Robert Wheeler? What does he doing here?