How I Paved Highways Across South America (5)
Three months later.
KA-BOOM—! RUMMMMMBLE!
An engine roar like the sky being torn open rolled across the island, and the whole of San Marcos began to turn itself inside out. Hundreds of excavators and bulldozers shipped in from Korea charged forward, belching black exhaust.
VVVRRRMMM—! CRASH! CRASH!
Ancient trees snapped like matchsticks. Boulders the size of houses shattered and went tumbling down the slopes. It looked, for all the world, like a battlefield.
But the real spectacle was only just beginning.
FLUTTER—
Following the banner unfurled amid the clouds of dust—
"WAAAAAH—!!!"
An orange tide that filled the mountainside from ridge to ridge began to surge. These were the laborers of the first wave — men who had completed their training at ten education centers across the country. Farmers who had spent their entire lives tilling cornfields now took up shovels and pickaxes and began smashing the earth to grade it flat.
CLANG! CLANG!
There was something close to madness in their eyes.
"His Excellency is watching!"
"Haul those rocks! Don't you stop!"
"They said today's lunch is tortillas with sausage in them!"
The machines shoved the forest aside. Where the machines could not go, human beings did. The workers loaded boulders as heavy as themselves onto A-frame carriers and bounded up the slopes like mountain goats.
The dawn bell has rung~
A new morning has broken~
Everyone rise, everyone rise~
Follow His Excellency's will~
On the back of that momentum, the Central Mountain Range stretch — judged the most difficult section of the entire project — began to be graded at a startling clip. And the same scene was unfolding, identically, across every construction zone assigned to some thirty contractors.
At last, the curtain had risen on the greatest public works project in the history of San Marcos.
"Whew... I can finally get some rest."
The news that construction had started felt like a weight lifting clean off my chest. We'd set the table and sent the money. As far as the government was concerned, we were done. All that was left was for the construction companies to slug it out among themselves.
"You've worked incredibly hard, Your Excellency."
"You have too, Chief."
I set down my teacup and looked at Isabella. Her face was a wreck. The dark circles under her eyes looked ready to slide all the way down to her jaw, and her skin was dry and lifeless. Well — from the national ID project through the highway groundbreaking, she had pulled all-nighters every single day for a solid seven months. If she had looked normal, that would have been the strange part.
At this rate, am I going to get reported to the labor board?
I hesitated a moment, then spoke.
"Isabella, why don't you take the day off today?"
"...Pardon?"
Her eyes went round.
"Have my dark circles gotten as unsightly as last time?"
"Ah — no. That's not it."
I coughed and changed tack.
"I was thinking you'd rest today and I'd rest tomorrow. I'm pretty tired myself. Honestly, we've been running too hard."
"Hmm..."
She frowned, considering it.
"Then Your Excellency should rest first."
"No. I've still got some documents to sort through today. It'd be better if I started resting tomorrow."
"......"
Isabella stared at me for a long moment, then nodded.
"Understood. I'll head out first, then."
"Good. Get some real rest today, and I'll see you tomorrow. And please — turn your phone off."
"That won't be necessary. I'll remain on standby, so call me whenever you need me."
"There won't be any need. Go on."
Watching Isabella's back as she left, I thought:
Tonight I'm putting on Netflix and eating cup ramen.
For once, I could have a midnight snack without watching anyone's face.
After leaving Eugene's office, Isabella did not go home. She headed for the dedicated duty room tucked into a corner of the Presidential Palace's first floor. She had been so busy she had essentially set up house inside the palace long ago, and she had stayed so many nights that the place felt more comfortable than her actual home.
More importantly —
"Hmm-hmm~ hmm~"
She had work she had been putting off.
Click.
Once inside, Isabella locked the door at once and changed into comfortable clothes. Then, with practiced ease, she powered on her computer and started up the high-resolution photo printer.
Whirr— ziiing—
A moment later, someone's image emerged from the printer, freshly developed.
Isabella gazed at the freshly printed photographs with a look of deep satisfaction. She let out a quiet, pleased little laugh, then approached the bookshelf and pulled out the most recently dated volume among dozens of thick albums.
When she opened the album, every page was packed with photographs of Eugene. With the care of someone handling a sacred relic, she used tweezers to gently slot the new photos into place.
"Perfect."
Isabella sat transfixed, admiring her collection.
"Hmm-hmm~ hmm-hmm~ His Excellency really does look better with his tie loosened."
She glanced at the clock and started.
"It's already this late..."
She had meant to look for just a moment. It was already ten at night. She stood, changed back into the black suit she had worn to work, and prepared to attend a very important meeting.
When she approached the bookshelf and pulled out Machiavelli's The Prince—
THUNK—
A mechanical sound, and the bookshelf rotated to reveal a dark passageway.
Click. Click.
She entered without the slightest hesitation, as if the path were second nature, and arrived at a secret conference room that no more than five people in all of San Marcos even knew existed. It had been built in secret under Isabella's direction during the reconstruction of the Presidential Palace.
She opened the heavy iron door, and familiar faces were already gathered inside. Field Marshal Pedro, Director Lucio, Senior Secretary Lessa, and Protocol Secretary Ana — the innermost of Eugene's inner circle in the current government.
"You're all here early."
With Isabella seated, the round table was complete.
"We don't have much time, so let's begin."
The reason they had gathered in secret in the dead of night was simple and crystal clear.
On the motion to install His Excellency as President for Life.
They were the members of UJIN Forever — a cabal dedicated to making Eugene president for life. It was the kind of gathering that would make Eugene clutch the back of his neck and collapse if he ever witnessed it. They did not care in the slightest. In the shadows, they were working to make him president for life.
"We'll start with the intelligence report. Director Lucio?"
From the darkness, SIA Director Lucio flipped through a chart.
"The SIA has been distributing a periodical compiling His Excellency's accomplishments through our covert publishing house, the Library of the Sun. Distribution points include hospital waiting rooms, hair salons, bank counters, and every government ministry break room nationwide. The contents are as follows."
Magazine covers appeared on the screen.
"A strategy as meticulous as I'd expect from you, Director Lucio. Well done."
"Thank you."
Isabella turned to Ana, seated beside Lucio. Protocol Secretary Ana pushed her glasses up with a look of complete confidence.
"This time I adjusted the visual presentation. I had him wear a five-year-old leftover suit from the back of the warehouse, and I personally sanded down the heels of his shoes to wear them out."
"His Excellency didn't find that uncomfortable?"
"He's the type who barely notices such things. He didn't react at all."
"And the effect?"
"Considerable."
Ana brought up the screen. Comments on a YouTube video posted by San Marcos public broadcasting.
Smartphone subscriptions had been rising with the overall improvement in San Marcos's income levels, and sure enough, there were quite a few comments.
"We've established the image of a frugal, devoted father. At this rate, never mind approval ratings — the people won't let him go even if it's just because they feel sorry for him."
"The attention to detail is outstanding. Excellent work."
Isabella nodded with deep satisfaction. Then Lessa, Senior Secretary for Resources and Tourism, spoke up.
"The Ministry of Resources and Tourism has not undertaken any particular activities."
"...?"
It sounded like an admission of dereliction of duty, yet Lessa wore a look of smug triumph.
"Thanks to the tourists from Korea, the entire tourism industry is blooming. They spend freely and their manners are excellent, so the image of Korea — His Excellency's homeland — is at an all-time high."
"...Even luck is on our side."
The current was flowing with them. Isabella nodded, thinking that His Excellency was destined to become the Eternal Sun of San Marcos.
"Good. Please keep an even closer eye on things so no problems arise with the tourists."
"Of course."
Next was Pedro's turn.
"As for the military, we've significantly expanded ideological education hours. We screen footage of His Excellency working through the night, and the second the video ends, we issue special rations in His Excellency's name. As a result, his approval rating within the armed forces is approaching one hundred percent."
"Like Pavlov's conditioning."
Isabella nodded, then her eyes glinted coldly.
"Now it's my turn."
She stood and began her briefing.
"I've directed an investment in the future. I instructed Senior Secretary Sergio at Education to revise the textbooks."
Founding Heroes of San Marcos
His Excellency's photograph, printed side by side with the nation's founding heroes, was impossible to miss.
"I've also elevated Korean to the same status as English. Given the actual increase in Korean corporate investment, the education field's response has been that it makes sense."
"Early education... that will certainly be effective."
"When these children grow up, they will offer His Excellency their unconditional loyalty."
Isabella brought up a map of the new highway routes.
"And one more thing. We've begun work on placing His Excellency's likeness on the highway signs being installed. That means people will see him every twenty kilometers. Since it just goes on the signs when they're printed, it doesn't even cost much extra."
"Wow... how did you even think of that... truly remarkable."
Lucio couldn't close his mouth.
The meeting, which had begun with each member reporting their activities, wrapped up about an hour later.
"Then we'll reconvene at this same hour on the last day of next month. I ask that you all continue your efforts until then."
Isabella rose from her seat. As if they had rehearsed it, all five stood at once, turned toward a life-size statue of Eugene standing to one side, and placed their right hands over their left breasts.
"For the Eternal Sun of San Marcos."
"For the Sun."
As if in answer, the life-size gold-plated statue of Eugene caught the light and gleamed.