In the grand, echoing halls of the Republic of Veridia's Parliament, where marble columns whispered secrets of bygone scandals, the ruling party, the Evergreens, reigned supreme. Led by Prime Minister Harlan Voss, a man whose smile could curdle milk and whose policies were as evergreen as synthetic turf, they had secured a 98% majority in the last election. How? By sheer accident, or so they claimed. The opposition, the Withered Branches, had imploded during a heated debate on national tree-planting initiatives. Their leader, in a fit of passion, accused the Evergreens of "rooting out democracy," only to trip over his own podium and face-plant into a potted ficus. The viral video meme'd them into oblivion; voters laughed them off the ballot.
But democracy, as Voss often pontificated in his mirror, required at least the illusion of opposition. "We can't have...
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