Washington D.C., the Senate Office Building.

Daniel Sanders sat behind his desk, which was piled high with draft bills and policy briefs.

The progressive leader, usually known for his fighting spirit, was now taking off his glasses and wearily pinching the bridge of his nose.

He peered through his fingers at the television on the opposite wall, which was always on.

The news was on.

Onscreen, Leo Wallace stood before the deep pit on Grant Street. Behind him was Mary Gaiter, sitting in a wheelchair with a heavy cast on her leg.

The red banner at the bottom of the screen scrolled a shocking, bold headline:

"DEMOCRATIC CIVIL WAR? MAYOR OF PITTSBURGH SUES PITTSBURGH CITY COUNCIL"

Then, the scene changed.

It was a chaotic scene in the plaza before City Hall.

Hundreds of angry dockworkers holding signs were blockading the main entrance.

Dozens of personal injury lawyers in expensive suits, like sharks that had smelled blood, brandished their briefcases as they formed a long line at the Department of Public Works, fighting over freshly printed claim forms.

Sanders watched it all unfold.

He admired Leo’s fighting spirit, his ability to find a way out of a desperate situation.

But in this moment, that admiration had turned into a complex anger.

This was a midterm election year.

The Democratic Party’s majority in the House of Representatives was precarious, and control of the Senate hung by a thread.

The party’s top brass were desperately trying to project an image of unity, to show voters across the United States that the Democratic Party was capable of governing the country, of bringing stability and prosperity.

And Leo Wallace, the "progressive model" Sanders himself had personally propped up, had chosen this critical juncture to turn Pittsburgh into a showcase for "Democratic infighting."

Sanders picked up the remote and changed the channel.

A political commentary show appeared on the screen.

The host wore a gloating smile, with the chaos in front of Pittsburgh City Hall as his backdrop.

"Look, this is what a city under liberal governance looks like."

The host’s voice was sharp and grating.

"This is the future the Democrats want to bring to the entire United States. Even their own mayor admits that their own city council is garbage, a stumbling block to progress."

"In Pittsburgh, there is no order. Only lawsuits, only strikes, only politicians suing each other."

"And Senator Sanders wants to bring this same system to Washington, to your very doorstep."

Sanders turned off the TV.

The room fell silent.

’Leo had crossed a line.’

’He’s cashing in the entire party’s political credit just to save his own skin.’

Marcus Reynolds stood to the side, carefully observing his boss’s expression. He had been with Sanders for ten years and knew exactly what kind of volcano was simmering beneath the old man’s calm exterior.

"This is how he repays me."

Sanders put his glasses back on, his voice hoarse and devoid of any discernible emotion.

"I gave him my political endorsement, I gave him the data access he wanted, I even sent Ethan to his side. I expected him to make Pittsburgh a model of progressive governance—a model city that could prove to the entire United States that our ideals can be implemented, can build, can bring order."

Sanders pointed at the now-dark television screen.

"And what’s the result? He’s turned it into an anarchist gladiatorial arena for me."

Marcus said in a low voice, "Leo’s move... it’s certainly effective. Speaker Moretti has been backed into a corner, and I hear the City Council is starting to waver..."

"Effective?"

Sanders whipped his head around, his gaze as sharp as a knife.

"Marcus, has that kid led you astray too? Are we talking about winning some brawl between a mayor and a council speaker?"

"This is the year of the midterm elections!"

Sanders’s fingers rapped heavily on the desk.

"You know better than I do how fragile the situation is right now. The Republicans are watching us under a microscope, just waiting for a chance to label the Democratic Party as chaotic, divisive, and far-left."

"They want to tell moderate voters that if we’re in power, this is what the United States will become—a country of mobs storming government buildings, of endless lawsuits and infighting."

"This ’mayor sues the government’ spectacle of Leo’s is basically handing a knife to the right-wing news channels! Tonight’s shows will definitely make it their headline. I’ve even thought of the title for them—’Radical Leftists Are Destroying American Cities.’"

Sanders stood up, walked to the window, and looked at the distant dome of Capitol Hill.

He was an idealist, but first and foremost, he was a politician who had clawed his way through Washington for thirty years.

Without the support of power, even the noblest ideals are nothing but castles in the sky.

And to hold onto power, one must consider the bigger picture.

’Pittsburgh can’t be in chaos.’

’Pennsylvania, this critical Swing State, can’t be in chaos.’

"Phone," Sanders said, holding out his hand.

Marcus immediately handed him the cellphone.

He dialed Ethan Hawke’s number.

The call was answered after just one ring.

"Senator."

Ethan’s voice came through, tinged with nervousness.

"Shut up."

Sanders cut him off coldly.

"Ethan, you are the Mayor of Pittsburgh’s chief of staff. That’s correct."

"You advise him, you help him draft documents. That’s all fine. That’s your job."

"But."

Sanders’s voice dropped several degrees, laced with a chilling authority.

"Have you forgotten who put you in that position?"

"Have you forgotten that you’re still my eyes and my ears?"

On the other end of the line, Ethan’s breathing grew ragged.

"Senator, I..."

"A strategic move this big." Sanders didn’t give him a chance to explain. "The mayor suing his own city government, mobilizing every lawyer in the city to drain the treasury, even giving this kind of highly inflammatory, divisive speech in the plaza."

"Something this big, and you didn’t even give me so much as a warning text?"

"Did you think this wasn’t important? Or did you think I’ve gotten old and senile, that I don’t need to know these things?" 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎

"No, Senator!" Ethan argued anxiously. "Leo’s decision was made very quickly. It was his counterattack in a desperate situation. We were backed into a corner. If we didn’t do this, the revitalization plan was finished. Besides, the move is legally sound..."

"I don’t care about the legalities!"

Sanders raised his voice.

"I care about the bigger picture!"

"I care about next month’s midterm election polls!"

"I care about the fact that the Republicans are taking this mess you’ve made in Pittsburgh and using it to attack our candidates in Ohio, in Michigan, in Wisconsin!"

"Figure out where you stand, Ethan."

Sanders sat back down in his chair, his fingers drumming on the desk.

"If you can’t control him, if you can’t stop him from going crazy..."

"...then at the very least, you need to let me know that he’s about to drive the car off a cliff."

"This is the last time."

"I don’t want to turn on the TV next time and see the model city I supported turned into a crematorium billowing black smoke."

"Do you understand?"

"Understood, Senator," Ethan’s voice fell.

BEEP.

Sanders hung up the phone.

He took a deep breath, calming his emotions.

’He knew that just yelling at Ethan was useless.’

’Ethan was young, after all, and he’d already been swept up in the fanatical atmosphere of Pittsburgh. It was easy for him to lose sight of the bigger picture.’

’He needed someone with more weight, someone who better understood the political stakes, to go cool down that crazy young mayor.’

Sanders picked up the phone again.

This time, he called John Murphy.

"John."

Sanders spoke bluntly as soon as the call connected.

"Go to Pittsburgh."

"What’s wrong?" Murphy’s voice was weary.

"John, that little protégé of yours is setting fires in Pittsburgh."

Sanders wasted no time with pleasantries, cutting straight to the point.

"You should see the news. He’s turning Pittsburgh into an anarchist testing ground. It might be good for his personal reputation, but for the party as a whole, for our image in Pennsylvania, it’s a disaster."

Murphy paused for a second. "Leo? I heard he had a bit of drive..."

"Drive? Don’t give me that nonsense. If you still want to have a seat in the House of Representatives after the midterms, you’ll get over there and figure out what’s going on. Now."

"Go see what the hell he thinks he’s doing."

"Tell him I support his anti-corruption efforts. I support his development projects. I even support his fights."

"But this stunt of setting his own house on fire for the neighbors to see has to stop. Immediately."

"Tell him that if he screws up the midterms, if his actions cause us to lose key seats in the Swing States..."

"...I will personally tear down his stage."

"I don’t care how much public support he has, and I don’t care if he’s some kind of model."

"I will make sure he’s thrown out of that mayor’s office."

"Understand?"

Murphy was silent for two seconds before his tone turned serious.

"Understood, Daniel. I’m booking a flight now. I’ll be in his office first thing tomorrow morning."

Sanders put the phone down.

He walked back to the window and stared out at the gloomy sky.

’He admired Leo’s drive, but he couldn’t allow that drive to ruin the entire game.’

’In Washington, in the face of the bigger picture, any individual heroism had to be caged.’

’If Leo couldn’t learn to walk into the cage himself, then Sanders wouldn’t mind shutting the door on him personally.’

’This wasn’t just anger. It was the cold, political calculus of the upper echelons.’