The words were no different then normal but something changed when he spoke that night .It was and old story of the wars of the ages . He spoke of unity and strength and the delusion of separation and scarcity. He spoke of commitment and sacrifice past and present, but most of all he spoke about love and interconnectedness.

  Nothing has changed in his message for the good part of twenty years . The content was unchanged apart from the tactical and technological aspects.. For the most part the changes were for the greater good of the bigger collective agenda . In that two decades his hair had greyed starting in his beard and the lines on his face become firm and unmistakable during the delivery.

   The audience always applauded the guest speaker at such an event, because of the political nature of the gathering the extremist fanatical element appears. There is always a natural high associated when he delivered a speech like that one but over time it has lost its shine and sometimes was merely an exercise in preaching to the converted.

  There was an art to relieving yourself of the burden truth. Hitting all the key points and building a message in a way that allowed people to easily copy the language and help them tell their own story , of themselves and too themselves . Allowing them to be to the observer of themselves for the first time as well as being the story teller. When someone understands themselves better then the way they move thru time and space , verbally and physically is better.

  The language that connected his audience to his message not only allowed them to communicate with themselves but more importantly with each other. He left the stage under a shower of balloons and confetti  shrouded in the arms of his wife and his daughter Sophie and Sheena.

   "That was perfect John, we should celebrate " Sophie said jumping up onto her tippy toes to kiss his cheek. It was Sophie birthday tomorrow so why not start early.

  " That was awesome Dad , you were so strong and clear tonight " Sheena said kissing the other cheek . Sheena was eighteen now and as tall as John with a striking Euro-Asian appearance . 

     She inherited the good fortune of a smile that can physically change the world from her mother and John was blessed to be in the company of such am amazing super power. John often recalled the story of when he first encountered Sophie`s smile and how his life had changed from that time on . The three of them hurried back stage past all the back patters and congratulators, through the corridors and into the dressing room where they were alone .

   John knew that he had nailed it because he wasn`t second guessing himself. There was a knock at the door . Before anyone could answer it the door bust open . It was Patrick the event coordinator, he worked for the convention center . He was carrying an arm full of flowers and a bucket with champagne on ice . They found a couple of coffee cups to add to the two champagne glasses. Each vessel clanged together as they toasted the "Citizen  Union"

  Patrick poured another round and told how the real time ratings for the broadcast had gone thru the roof and blown all predictions out of the water . There were more viewers at the end of the broadcast then there was at the halfway point. This had never been achieved by a politician  The real time rating system has only registered this type of analogue during big time sporting events usually caged fighting rematch spectaculars. Time would tell if this endeavor turns out to be as profitable and valuable as two people killing each other inside a cage.

   Patrick's phone vibrated and he answered. His brow lowered and it revealed his age despite the Botox. Everybody watched , glass in hand as his absurdly sun tanned round face changed from seriously concerned and slightly shocked to instantly smug and devious. It was a little unsettling to bare witness too.

 " Don`t worry , don`t worry , it`s just a few protesters and thanks to them and John speech tonight , our venue has been the back drop to world wide marketing campaign fully funded by the private and government media organizations."

  By this time Patrick had the phone on loud speaker and everybody could hear a voice booming thru the speakers.

" Make sure John and his family stick around until things die down and then slip them out the back . "

 Patrick hung up the phone and talked of rent-a-crowds protesters that had set up out the front of the venue. They were claiming to be the Farmers Union and the Tertiary Education Union.

  "There will be repercussions from this John" Sophie said and she was right , she was mostly always right . She really enjoyed being right, to the point sometimes it was embarrassing . It was easy to underestimate Sophie, she learned overtime time how to make up for what she lacked in height with energy and beauty ,combined with her intelligence . She was always naturally clever now with the age of time she has added to her character a stone cold wisdom. She was the secret to John`s success and he knew it , he wasn`t afraid to tell anyone who wanted to listen.

 Sheena had her mums energy and sparkle. She was quite different but equally as beautiful . She looked nothing like John on account of the fact that her biological father was Russian. With her mothers Khmer heritage and her fathers Russian bloodlines . Sheena had a unique beauty that turned heads and stopped heart beats on the regular.

    John had a checkered but painfully transparent past. His journey to redemption had endured him to the populous. The eleven year age difference between John and Sophie seemed to become less and less as the years rolled by . Now after twenty years of being together he was just about to turn Fifty eight on his next birthday. He was a Lean six foot tall and had pretty good health and shape for his age. Patrick left the room and returned with some more champagne and pizza.

  "It`s fucking bonkers out there. There is three hundred people outside the front gate. The police are there trying calm things down. There is a steady stream of people arriving  and it looks like there are more and more yellow vests among the crowd" Patrick paused only long enough to pop the cork on the champagne. John opened the curtains to the large windows that stretched the full length of the room and could see the news chopper`s hovering over the building and the emergency vehicles which were coming and going , with full lights and sirens. There was a knock at the door and Patrick opened and then slipped out the door . 

  Sophie found a remote control and turned on the tv too see the live footage from outside the building. Everybody gathered around the screen and they replaying footage of people being loaded into ambulances. Patrick came back into the room and locked the door behind him. He looked at the screen and said somebody had been stabbed and the police are sending in the riot division. "By the way your speech has gone viral . Your opening piece on transparency has been retweeted one hundred and fifty seven million times in forty seven countries in the one hour since you walked of stage."

  The police have asked nobody to leave the building until things have calmed down outside. Just then Patrick's assistant arrived with a trolley containing sushi and assorted cheese platters . It was easy to see that she had been crying . Patrick told Lisa that everything was going to be ok and not to worry. "They killed a little girl " By this time Patrick was standing next to her and she broke down crying into his shoulder. Patrick's reaction was awkward as if he despised human contact" I`m scared Pat " Lisa sobbed openly now . She was only nineteen years old and had moved from the country only two months before. 

 " Calm down and take a deep breath, I want you to tell us what you know?" Pat said clearly and slowly." Lisa pulled herself together and apologized. She had heard the police talking to the security guards . The factions have stared to agitate each other , there was more then two thousand people outside now surrounding the building. At least a third of them were Citizen Union Members . They could be easily recognized from their yellow vest. The police have set up an exclusion zone and were holding them apart from each other.

  Sheena synced her phone with the tv and showed everyone the live feed from inside the crowd from the Citizen Union Members. They were literally burning cars. A physical line between the two as being held by a line of water cannon tanks armed and ready to go. A strategic squirt every now and then reminded everybody present how far the aquatic reach of the law was. This managed a thirty meter wide no go zone between the two rowdy crowds.

   In the initial brew ha haa  five people ended up in hospital with stab wounds . One victim was a thirteen years daughter of a Citizen Union Member. She died on the way to hospital. She stepped into help her father who was also stabbed and is now in hospital unlikely to survive. The police are on edge waiting for the news crews to find out. Who knows what is going to happen .

 "It`s is exactly what they want " John said 

" We have to let it play out "

  Everybody in the room were aware of saboteur infiltration , since the disastrous early days of the movement they learned eventually to have all protesters were the same color and also personal cams with live feeds . At least ninety percent wear cams and at least fifty percent of them are live stream. Everybody is identified through p2p digital ledger to verify their identity . The through analysis after the event we can identify the saboteurs.  

  "This is as good as time as any for us to make a statement" John said knowing what this possible could mean.