"Good evening, Ladies and Gentlemen," The hooded man greeted. "And thank you for having me speak to you today. You may call me Umbra, spokesperson of the Ebony Shroud,"
A sense of unease broke through the crowd. They could not begin to fathom the boldness of this man to reveal himself to the planet's government when they were deliberating his group's extermination. The Mayor of Meiden rose to his feet to address the man on screen.
"I will applaud your confidence for presenting yourself to us," He gave a half-hearted clap. "But you have unwittingly put yourself between a rock and a hard place. I doubt it will be long before you are apprehended by the appropriate authorities,"
"No, Honourable Abayomi, I don't think I will be apprehended today," Umbra said. "And you are worried about the wrong things at the moment,"
"And what might 'the right thing' be?" President Buer asked.
"On a wider scale, the people of Pedtro. As of now, yourselves,"
The Mayor of Meiden opened his mouth to speak but he was stopped by the President's raised hand. The large man grumbled loudly and took his seat.
"Who are you really? If you have no fear of being here, then you should not be afraid to reveal yourself,"
"Mind games do not work on me, dear Mr. President," Umbra replied. "As for you I am, I am the same as all members of the Ebony Shroud, the people of Pedtro, and as far as you are concerned, your masses are faceless,"
The President's eyes tensed.
"What do you mean by you being the people of Pedtro?"
"We are the voice of Pedtreans, of those who have become silent to the upper class and are tired of being ignored,"
"You have only recognised us for our most recent actions, but the truth is, we have been kidnapping people for the last 2 months, starting from the poorest of the poor, and eventually moving up to the most influential individuals. The relatives and friends of those we took without money or power we took were unable to get adequate help to rescue their loved ones from us, even after seeking aid from the police. Yet we took a handful of significant people and there is already a task force established,"
"I disagree with your sentiment, Umbra," Buer said. "Regardless of who you took or many, this task force would have still come into fruition,"
"Then you can guarantee that it would have been established at the same speed as it was now?" The hooded man asked in his metallic voice. The President went silent.
"The Ebon Shroud is not here to cause disorder. We only wish for reform. If the Pedtrean Government can fulfil the requests that we have come to make, then we will slip back into the darkness that we had come from, as though we had never existed,"
President Emich Buer looked at the Minister beside him. The Minister of Security and Defence gave an awkward nod. They did not have a choice but to listen at the moment.
"Alright then," The President said at last. "What are your demands?"
"The people of Pedtro have been put under the pretence that they have a say in who they elect into office, but everyone present here and I all know that is a lie," Umbra said. "The majority of you have acquired your posts have done so through inheritance, blackmail, bribery, rigging and every underhanded measure impossible, and those who didn't have no choice but to fold to the wills of those who have the means to do unspeakable things to you and your loved ones. We only have two requests. That every official in the Pedtrean Government resign and a new one be formed through the will of the people, and that all those leaving office transfer the wealth acquired through their position put into the national reserve,"
"If you acknowledge that not every official is corrupt, why have all of us removed?"
"You cannot cure a cancer by removing half of it," Umbra said. "It must be completely destroyed for the body to be healthy again,"
The whole room broke into outrage. Several members of the government were screaming, claiming that the hooded man's request was ludicrous.
"Who is he to tell us who the planet needs?!" Someone yelled.
The President raised his hand and clenched his fist tightly. In an instant, the uproar died down into silence.
"And what if we refuse?" He asked.
Though his face could not be seen, Emich Buer felt a sense of unease wash over him as he stared at Umbra. It seemed as though he was smiling at the question he had just been asked.
"If the government is unwilling to change, then it will be made to change,"
The screens suddenly switched feeds, revealing two bombs.
"The first is near the bottom of the tower and the second is near the top," The hooded man continued. "They are set to blow up in 30 minutes. You have 20 minutes to come to a decision and send the President to the 75th floor to meet me. Should you all decide to not resign, I will detonate the bombs remotely. Should you all decide to sit there and do nothing, the bombs will blow regardless,"
Screaming erupted across the crowd. Several people began rushing for the door in an attempt to flee, but Umbra was much quicker. The doors swung open and several individuals dressed in black swarmed into the room, all being armed with some form of firearm. They yelled and made all the hysterical people take their seats again.
"You didn't think it would be that easy, did you?" Umbra asked. "No one is leaving until either a decision is reached or the time has elapsed. Whether you leave here by walking out the door on your own two feet or in an urn, is entirely up to you,"
The feed cut out, leaving a clock that began to count down from 30 minutes.