The One with the Conspiracy

"Okay, I want you to take a deep breath," Ashley told the patient. "Inhale... Exhale... very good."
She took of her stethoscope and wrote down stuff.
"Alright, Mr. Scofield, [haha couldn't think of another name] you seem fine today, I'll see you next week, then."
"Bye, doc."
"What's up, doc?" Paolo came in. "What's for dinner?"
"I dunno, you tell me." Ashley said.
"What? But we always have dinner at your place!"
"We know, and we're getting sick of it. You and Harvey just dont want us to see your stupid rec room!"
"Then stop trying to look!"
"What's in there anyway?"
"You don't need to know."
Ashley squinted.
"We'll find out soon."
"I'd like to see you try. I'm the one with the super eyesight, remember?"

At Java Perk,
"This is great! It's all over the news!" exclaimed Harvey.
"What is?" asked Paolo as he and Ashley entered.
"Our great rescue of the governor's grandfather!" said Lyca. "We're heroes!"
"Yeah, but they don't really mention our names, do they?" Annika said.
"But the point is, we saved someone's frikkin life! That's incredible!"
"Good point."
"So how do you think the governor feel about his grandfather being kidnapped?"
"Pretty shocked, I guess..."

At Paolo and Harvey's place,
"HaaaaaarVEY! My computer's broken, can you fix it?" shouted Paolo.
"Tsss.. what's wrong with it?"
"I'm trying to do a conference with my pen pal from Yugoslavia but the microphones got all this fuzzy stuff..."
"Okay, I'll fix it."
Harvey did all technicky stuff and wires and plugs and clicking and clicking and blahblahblah some technician words. But instead of removing the fuzz, he just made it clearer--accidentally of course. And he heard something he shouldn't have heard.
"Where are you? I'm at this place called Java Perk..." said a voice Harvey distinctly recognized.
He immediately pressed the record button on the system tray (his own design) so that the others could hear it later.
"Don't worry, I'll be there in five minutes." said a new voice.
Harvey stood frozen until Paolo came in.
"You done? My pen pal Bojka is gonna let me hear the traditional hog killing music!"
"Uh...say goodbye to Boj coz you gotta hear what I just found out!"

Minutes later, all five of them were gathered around Paolo's computer listening to the record.
"Are you stupid!?" said Ashley.
"What?? Not the reaction I was looking for!"
"He's down there in five minutes! How long do you think their meeting will last? One of us has to go there and find out what they're saying! It could be important!"
"Woah, woah, woah! What if it's dangerous? What if it could be like underground stuff or.. or like black market stuff?"
"So? We've got powers! Plus, you're the one who told us we should be saving the world!"
"Okay, fine! But who's gonna go?"
"Obviously you can't coz you're deaf. Haha, but neither can I."
"Paolo?"
"Too tall, they'll notice him."
"Fine! I agree, let me do it!" said Annika. "I'll gladly risk my life for the good of the people."
"You just think the guy's hot, dont you?" said Lyca.
"Hello? Did you HEAR his voice? OMG, it's like David Cook mixed with a straight Adam Lambert!"
"Hmmm..." they thought.
"Yeah, Annika should do it."
"Yay!"

So downstairs, at Java Perk, Annika walked in and immediately looked for two guys together.
"Hmmm... aha!"
She spotted two guys sitting on the stools near the window. She sat in the small chair near there and pretended to read Vogue.
Hmm.. that guy in the blue shirt is DE-licious... yum.. wonder what they're talking about... she thought.
"I told you, Lee," said the guy in the blue shirt. "There's nothing going on between me and Carl!"
"But I saw you come out of the theatre with him!" said Lee. "Dont deny it, Joey!"
"I told you, we just met in there! NOTHING happened, I swear!"
Holy crap, thought Annika. Shit shit shit shit shit!
"So then WHY were you two holding hands???"
"I-I was just--he's my cousin, Lee! Can't I hold my cousin's hand every now and then?"
Oh my God, I think I'm gonna puke... or faint... Annika thought as she turned green.
"Well I'm your lover and you don't hold MY hand!"
Ohhhhh nooooo... I can see the light...
"Shhh! I told you not to say that in public!" said Joey, his eyes looking around for anybody who heard.
"What? You're ashamed of being gay? Are you? Are you!?"
"No! It's just that people don't like to hear a man calling his BROTHER his LOVER."
And here we go...
Annika woke up with someone slapping her face.
"Dude! Dude!" called Lyca. "Wake up!"
"What happened?"
"You passed out, Paolo saw you from upstairs."
"Oh... Harvey! That information was totally useless! You led me to some nasty stuff..."
"What?"
Annika whispered to them what she heard.
"Ugh...!"
"Gross!"
"I know! And that's what you guys sent me down here to listen to!"
"Uh.. dude..."
"I am gonna have nightmares about this!"
"Doooooude..."
"For the rest of my life!"
"Annika!"
"What?"
"You we're listening in on the WRONG guys! THAT'S them over there, the guys in suits!"
"Oh... we'll go on, stop wasting time, listen!"

"How much does she really want this?" the guy whose voice Harvey thought was familiar said.
"Very much. And you know she won't stop until this gets done." said the other guy from the record.
"Yes, I know... but to do that? I mean--"
"Please be informed that it was not her idea to kidnap." interrupted guy #2.
"He is finding that very hard to believe."
"Then MAKE him believe it. She does not like to be thought of as some dirty scumbag."
"But this is just a small thing. Why does she want this so much?"
"Because it is a small step towards the future that she all hopes for us."
"Even if it is against all our beliefs?" guy #1 asked in a shocked voice.
"Even if it against all your beliefs." repeated guy #2. "Good day, and I hope you will be reporting this word for word."
"I.. I will..." said guy #1 sounding lost and defeated.

"What the hell was that about?" asked Annika.
Paolo and Ashley, easily the smartest people in the group [haha sorry but I have to type the truth =P], were in deep thought.
"It sounded like..." Paolo said. "A threat."
"Yes. It sounds like this 'she' wants this 'he' to do something that will be a 'small step towards the future that she all hopes for us'..." said Ashley.
"So..." Harvey said. "It could be a crazy girl who wants to make this world a better place, right? Like Light from deathnote?"
"Maybe... but why would they both send these two guys to communicate? Why don't they just do it themselves?" wondered Paolo.
"Because... because if they meet in public together--or if they get caught speaking to each other-- that would raise suspicions..." Ashley declared. "So that must mean..."
"...that they are like, high profile people?" suggested Annika.
"Exactly."
"So... these two people, the man and the woman... the woman wants something from the man?" Lyca asked.
"Yes. And by what the guy said 'but to do that' means that the woman did something that surprised the man. Showing him how much she really wanted this." said Paolo.
"And if the man was surprised, then that must mean the thing that she did was something that a woman like her shouldn't be doing." said Ashley.
"So you mean... it's illegal? What she did?" Lyca asked.
"Could be..." Paolo said as he sipped his coffee. "Or it could be something bad but not illegal..."
"Hang on," said Harvey, finally speaking. "I recognize that one guy's voice, the one that was with the 'he'."
"Where have you heard it before?"
"That's the thing, I can't remember..."
"Was it recently?"
"Yeah.. All I remember is--"
Suddenly the guy #1 came out of the bathroom door. He didn't leave the coffee shop yet. He was balding, fat, looked like a potato and smelled like smoke.
The WB fell silent at once. When the guy left,
"Do you think he heard us?" asked Annika.
"My guess is, no." said Ashley. "When he came out, he smelled like smoke. I think he just--"
"Took drugs." said Harvey.
They all looked at him.
"I was gonna say 'smoked'... but if you recognize the smell..."
"No, no, no, no... go on."
"So he didn't hear us?" asked Lyca.
"Nope. He has no clue."
"But I have a clue who he is now." said Harvey.
"Who is he?" the others asked excitedly.
"Well, yesterday, after I got out of the post office, I walked back to you guys, right? Well on my way, I passed by the governor and his grandfather. And the smoking guy was there, he was on his cellphone saying something about damage control..."
"So he's the governor's manager-like thingy?" asked Annika.
"So that must mean...!"
"The 'he' is the governor. But who then is the 'she'?" said Paolo.
"Could be anybody," said Harvey. "His wife? Sister?"
"But like we said, she's someone high profile. Wouldn't be doing... oohhh!" said Ashley as a sudden realization hit her.
"The kidnap of the governor's grandfather was a threat so that the gov would the sign the new bill for the senior citizen thing, right?" she said.
"Yeah."
"So... so..." she stood up and paced up and down. "So somebody with a high profile wanted this bill to be signed... someone... high profile..." she sat back down and thought.
"So... yeah," said Harvey. "I'm gonna get coffee, you guys want anything?"
"Uh, coffee and a bagel please," said Paolo.
"Just coffee for me," said Lyca.
"Me too." said Annika.
"Ashley?"
"Uh.. coffee, bagel, turkey sandwich, choco chip cookie and a blueberry muffin please." she said, still thinking.
"That's it? Are you on a diet or something?" Harvey joked.
"It helps me think."
"Okaaay..."
So they ate their food and sipped their coffee.
"Paolo," said Ashley. "If you were a politician, what would your top priority be?"
"Hm... my campaign, I guess."
"Ok."
Pause.
"Hello?" said Annika.
"Hi."
"Why don't you ask us, too?"
Ashley raised her eyebrow. "Okay. What would your top priority be if you were a politician?"
"Hmm... money."
"See, thats why I asked Paolo..."
"Haha... >P"
"Would you think I'm crazy if I said that I think this is a conspiracy?" asked Ashley to the others.
"A conspiracy?" asked Harvey.
"A plot. A plan. A secret plan."
"By whom?"
"...the government?"
Pause.
"Ash, there are loads of conspiracies about the government already."
"Yeah, but this could go somewhere. I think it's real."
"How so? Please explain."
"Well, President Centrino [haha I got the name from the intel sticker on the laptop] was recently elected, right? Just last year. And since then he's been signing all kinds of bills... like the clean up bills and etc. etc... who was the one person who always was against these bills?" she asked.
"Don't look at us, we're not politically aware of things." said Harvey.
"VicePresident Vista [haha from the windows vista sticker]." answered Paolo.
"Correct. She opposed the clean up bill, the energy bill, everything. They're saying its like the worst pair ever. They are always against each other."
"So what does this have to do with conspiracy?"
"Vice President Vista is a girl. Wendy Vista [haha Windows isn't really a name for a girl]."
"So you think she's the 'she' in this whole thing?"
"Possible, right? She wants our governor to sign something she's sure President Centrino wouldn't like. The senior citizen extension thing."
"So... its like a game? The more people you have on your side, you win?" asked Lyca.
"Seems like it."
"So the VP is blackmailing people to support her on this bill?" asked Harvey.
"So it seems. She's using criminals as her cover."
"Wow... but this is all just guessing, right?"
"Yes. We have no proof."
"But really, what's the purpose of this bill? Its just age! Pretty useless, right?"
"That's it... I don't know..."
They watched as the rain splattered down on the windows (yes, it's raining now).

"Well, I gotta go get back to work," said Harvey. "I'm like, 20 minutes late thanks to your conspiracy theory, haha..."
"Yeah, and I'll go sing up there..." said Annika. And she started singing 'Who's that girl?' [Hilary Duff, not Madonna haha].
Ashley and Paolo looked at Lyca.
"Oh, I don't have to work today. I'll just read the newspaper."
"Okay, we'll talk about doctor stuff."
Lyca picked up the newspaper from the coffee table and looked for the comics. She sent a comic strip and wanted to see if they printed it. But something else caught her eye.
'President still insistent on proposed bill'
"Ash, I think your theory's wrong..." Lyca showed her the newspaper. "Apparently the President too wants this bill, not only the vice."
Ashley squinted, thinking again.
"The president wants it... vice president forcing the governor to sign it... but they're supposed to be opposites, right?"
"Maybe for once they agree on the same thing..." suggested Lyca.
Ashley thought harder.
"This is gonna sound crazy but... if the bill was passed, and turned out to be a huge disaster, a huge mistake... then the blame would be put on the president, right?"
"You're suggesting that the VP is intentionally getting this bill passed knowing it would fail just so that the president would look bad?"
"It's every Vice President's dream to be president, no?"
"Yeah but that just seems really risky." said Paolo. "She would also fall because she approved the bill, too."
"She could change her mind last minute and come out the good guy." suggested Ashley.
"This is just insane..." said Lyca. "Maybe... maybe there isn't anything suspicious in here. Maybe we just think so coz we're bored."
"Maybe."
"Yeah, maybe."
"Okay, goodnight."

That night Ashleyh was thinking all about this conspiracy.
If the vice president really did want the president to look bad, how would this bill make it so? If the senior citizen age would extend to age 70, what could possibly go wrong? Not enough jobs? Unemployment rate increase? Would this be enough to make the president look bad? Or could it cause an impeachment? Or was this bill just the first step? The first 'small step'... after this there could be another bill...
Ashley racked her brains harder.
We'll just have to wait and see then , she thought. In a few days the bill would either be passed or rejected then in a few months they would see what happens.

Yeah, I'm tired so I'll stop here.
See ya