The applause for this response outstripped the last round by a mile. Stan had received praises for closing Blackstone and for supporting exploration of the Southeastern Mountain Range.
“What are your thoughts on the recent ideas of taxing the NPC villagers, now that they can grow carrots and potatoes?”
“Oh, no way!” cried Stan. “I will never put any sort of tax or quotas on the NPC villagers! I’ve lived with the villagers before, but they typically just want to be left alone. I do think that we should get carrots and potatoes from the NPC villagers, but we should do this by offering them a fair trade. We know how to grow crops. If we trade with the NPCs, they’ll be happy, and we’ll have our own carrots and potatoes to grow. If we’re honest with ourselves, we know that we’re smarter and more powerful than they are, so it’s our responsibility to make sure that nothing bad happens to them. We certainly can’t put taxes on them!”
There was healthy applause for this statement. Almost none of the citizens of Elementia understood NPC villagers the way that Stan did, and they knew that. All they saw was that Stan was trying to stand up for those who could not stand up for themselves.
“Stan2012, what are your thoughts on the emerging organization calling itself the Noctem Alliance?”
In the past month, there had been a growing number of protest rallies in Element City staged by members of a group called the Noctem Alliance. Despite the fall of King Kev, they still believed that the lower-level players of Minecraft didn’t deserve the same basic rights as the older, upper-level players.
“The Noctem Alliance is, as of right now, just a protesters’ group, so I have no control over them,” Stan said calmly. “Everyone is free to voice their own opinions, regardless of how I, or anybody else, might feel about it. However, I’ll definitely be keeping an eye on them. Any group that threatens the equality of the players of Elementia won’t be tolerated. The Noctem Alliance can say what they want, I won’t stop them, as much as I disagree with them. However, if the Alliance acts on any of their views, there will be no hesitation in putting the group to rest.”
The applause shook the courtyard. Although all present were aware that Stan was vehemently opposed to the views presented by the Noctem Alliance, it was encouraging to know he believed in their laws to a point where he would not actively stop the Alliance unless they took action.
“Stan2012, here is your last question: What are your thoughts on tracking down and neutralizing any of King Kev’s remaining allies?”
“Well, I think my thoughts on that should be pretty obvious,” replied Stan with a chuckle, and a charged laughter rippled through the audience.
“I don’t know where King Kev’s remaining supporters are, or what they are doing. Our army has devoted almost half its resources to catching any of King Kev’s followers who are still out there. I think that we are giving all that we possibly can to the search right now, but I’m ready to send more soldiers out if the traitors don’t reveal themselves soon. Rest assured, however, as long as I am your president, there is no danger in Element City from King Kev’s supporters.”
The applause the crowd was barely holding back now surged forwards as they sang the praises of their president who they fully trusted to keep them safe and happy. Stan was elated. The applause was still strong as he left the platform and entered the side tower to watch Blackraven’s interview.
Blackraven had always had somewhat different views from Stan. Personally, Stan believed that Blackraven was in favour of putting resources where they were not necessary, and taking them from where they were. Although Blackraven did have a following among the citizens of Elementia, it paled in comparison to Stan’s.
One thing Stan gave Blackraven credit for was that, although Stan may not agree with them all, Blackraven was firm in his beliefs, and he made that plain. Respectable a quality as that may be, Stan still did not feel that Blackraven should have run for president. Blackraven had had to give up his seat on the Council of Eight to do so, and he almost certainly would lose, as very few players agreed with his ideas.
For example, Blackraven believed that investing resources in diamond mining was of supreme importance, even if that meant less effort went into looking for King Kev’s remaining followers. He also believed that people with similar views should band together into political parties. This was unsettling, as the shady Noctem Alliance wanted to become a political party. Perhaps the view that Stan most disagreed with was that since the NPC villagers lived on the Elementia server, they should pay taxes the same as the players.
After Blackraven finished answering his questions, he walked over to sit next to Stan as the polite applause died down. Stan turned to wish Blackraven luck, but a pensive look had crossed the old player’s yellow-and-black-feathered face, so Stan looked away. Instead, he looked out the window of the tower at the voting machine.
The machine was an ingenious contraption of the Mechanist’s design. One by one, the citizens of Elementia lined up and walked into a room, inside of which there were two buttons: one to vote for Stan, and one to vote for Blackraven. Press a button, and pistons ejected you gently from the room, and the door opened for the next voter.
By the time the sun was setting, the last voter had entered the booth. As the door swung shut for the last time, there was a moment of silence as one of the officials checked the records of the voting within the machine. Then, a frizz of white hair appeared on a platform atop the machine as the Mechanist climbed up and read the redstone circuitry that sat before him. Stan saw him give a slight nod and a tiny smile before turning to address the crowd.
“The votes are all in,” the Mechanist announced, his Texan accent deep and pronounced. “The winner of the election for president of the Grand Republic of Elementia is Stan2012, for his second term!”
Stan tried to look dignified, but he couldn’t stop the uncontrollable grin that had spread over his face. Blackraven didn’t seem to mind, though. He offered Stan congratulations, which Stan returned, shaking Blackraven’s hand for good measure. As Blackraven headed down the stairs to leave the castle, Stan looked over the bridge to tumultuous applause.
“Thank you, citizens of Elementia! Together, we will make this server the best place that it can be! Thank you for giving me the chance to continue to prove myself to you! It is my job to serve you, so I hope that you find yourselves happy, healthy and safe under my leadership. Good night, and thank you again!”
The applause shook the ground beneath his feet as Stan walked back into the tower. He was quite content that he was president once again, but he felt exhausted, and was eager to finally get some sleep.
Stan could not deny that he was very happy he had been re-elected, but right now, he could not hide his annoyance. He had explicitly told the guards of the castle that he would talk to anybody who needed him the next day, but not tonight. Yet he had still been woken up four times, by DZ, Kat, Charlie, and DZ again. His friends only wanted to congratulate him, but Stan was far too tired to appreciate it. Stan ordered the guard firmly to tell everybody to leave him be for the rest of the night, and slammed the door irritably.
Stan got back into bed, glad that the campaign was over and that he could now get some real sleep for the first time in days. He pulled the covers up, closed his eyes, and was about