Chapter 289: Declaration of death
The flag of the empire was flying at half mast and above every royal palace in every city of the empire, the hologram of the dead empress was on display. Drones in the sky projected her image, stretching across the clouds of the capital like the wings of a mourning bird.
The number of mourners outside the royal palace had increased from thousands to hundreds of thousands, nearing a million. Human traffic stretched all the way from the royal palace to the center of the city. When news of the emperor’s speech was shared, they readied themselves to hear the bad news.
When he stepped out in black, quiet whispers traveled in crowds and heads were bowed. Silent tears poured from eyes of the soft hearted in the crowd, muffled sobs darted from those that could not control themselves. The blue sky seemed gray and the sun lacked warmth.
One nation prepared itself to mourn in the open.
Emperor Junjie stepped forward onto the balcony which was closest to the crowd. Cameras shattered, as images of his grief stricken face were taken. Hearts clenched when he covered his eyes for a moment--an expression polished for performance.
The Empress Mother displayed a handkerchief deliberately and yet used her back to block the cameras. She made it obvious that she was comforting her son by wiping away his tears. She was more worried about the make-up being ruined, giving away the fact that he was not grieving at all. In fact, his face was rosier than usual.
But the crowd lapped up the performance like cats lapping on milk in a saucer. They shouted out words of comfort, encouraging the Emperor to be strong.
The Empress Mother stepped back and Junjie became visible again. He raised his hand, and the noise started to die down. All over the empire, even outside, every news channel and other medias that were interested captured the ongoing address.
"My dear citizens." Junjie began, his voice steadier than he expected. "I come to you today to share some terrible news. I stand before you not just as an Emperor, but a man gripped by loss. A tragedy visited our empire and it resulted in the unfortunate death of close friends and loved ones. In the explosion of the Celestial Mo, the Empress and others died. I personally involved myself in the investigation and oversaw most of it. I can confirm now that there were were no survivors."
Even though it was old news, gasps still came from the crowd below the royal palace.
Junjie’s voice cracked and he paused before continuing, "The investigation revealed that there was mechanical failure which resulted from the new software that was used. Software that was acquired from the foreign company Cosmosis. Even though this company was already aware that there software was faulty, they chose not to address this to avoid making losses. I would like to declare right now that we will be suing the company."
His voice cracked again. Some people in the crowd clutched each other, others wept even louder. The skeptics that believed a tech company was involved refused to believe his words.