Intercepted Mail: no email.
Number 71 is a Third-Generation Henchman Third-Class, or “Minion”, of The Victorious Viceroy, a dictator and lepidorist from Earth-29. 71 represents the entire Horde of the Viceroy, and acts as a general dogsbody and go-getter for The Union. Like all Minions, 71 knows that one strike puts him down, he crawls out of the way of the protagonist, moves out of view, swaps nametags with another minion, then rinses & repeats the process.
As she rode the recently installed lift up the centre of the Union Tower, Justine was buoyant. A convincing victory in the polls has secured her first term as a Councillor, and now she was on her way to a victory dinner with her fellow Union party members. Or at least, that was what the card had said - the lack of any fellow travellers in the elevator was somewhat jarring, as was the overall lack of activity in the tower, which she would have expected to be buzzing with activity. Nonetheless, she assumed it was simply that the dinner was to be a small, private affair.
As the lift arrived, she was ushered out, not, as she was expecting, by a waiter or footman, but by a uniformed member of the Union Elites, fully armed even here, at the centre of Union power. The man and his partner indicated her to follow, and she kept pace with them down the corridor, arriving shortly at a door she recognised as leading into one of the Union's council chambers. The elites took up position on either side of the door, and beckoned Justine inside. Rather confused now, she hesitantly entered.
Inside, the council chamber was dark, and filled with shadows. In the gloom at the far end, she could make out, lounging in leather chairs, thee figures. Two she just recognised as Miles Reynolds and Niobe, the Union's oldest two hands on the council. The third figure was deeper into the shadows, merely a silhouette. A fourth chair sat unoccupied, facing towards this mysterious fourth, and at Niobe's beckoning, she sat down. No one said anything for a few moments, before the figure in the shadows spoke:
“Congratulations, councillor Justine. I have been told many good things about you, and your devotion to the City and the Union. However, before you can properly serve the Union's interests on the council, there are a few things you need to know. My name is Zero, and I would ask you to listen closely…”
Sometimes a public figure must step back to the shadows to continue their good work. Sometimes, an organisation needs a martyr. The Union needed to remember the part it had played in driving off the Empire, and One, who became Zero, felt that he could better serve the Union as a symbol and a hidden hand. Returning in disguise from the battle against the Empire, he set about ensuring the Union's continued presence as a political force in the city, acting as a counterbalance for Sylvios Brant's plays for political dominance. He married Niobe Riette in a secret ceremony, and the two of them along with Miles Reynolds formed a hidden triumvirate, steering and guiding the Union from strength to strength, his memory and the continued presence of his forces and innovations ensuring that few could even conceive of attempting to tear it down. When Sylvios Brant formed the first political party, the Union formed one in response, and the fact that power remains in balance in the city is a testament to Zero's continued work.