1 President Grant II Ascending

This is the North American Union. Here, the president is elected every decade.

In the capital, Lincoln City, before a vast crowd, Fitzgerald Thomas Grant III takes the oath of office. Like a goat with the longest horns, he doesn't miss a word, as he repeats the ones the judge recites.

It's a great day for the rightists. And yet, most of them seem surprised...like Grant should've lost...

Like a speck in the crowd, the one that got him elected, Liv Pope, a lawyer, tries to look small. She is small...physically. But in every other way, she's an unforgettable parasite. The NAU's new president would know.

Among the victorious crowd, a steer elephant beholds the monotony. In reality, he doesn't realize what's going on. He doesn't even know he's a symbol of hope for the victorious crowd. He knows even less, but almost as less as the rest of the crowd, that the republic has more confidence in him, the flexi-nosed, big-eared, big-footed, tusked gigantic symbol, than in the man who's just become the republic's new leader.

Behind Grant, and just as insecurely, Mellie Grant stands, and physically supports her husband. In every other way, though, she either does too much or not enough for him. It isn't always her fault; she married the wrong man. And yet, sometimes it is; a lot of women like her, after all, would do anything to become the first lady of this NA of U.

And she does mean ANYTHING...

In a fish tank in the Grey House, two elephantfish swim in spirals around each other. One is the new chief of staff. They're both male. They're happily...if not proudly...gay partners.

If Cyrus, the chief of staff, had pride, he'd be the president. Odds are, too, that he wouldn't be Novak's, this lucky male elephantfish's, mate. But of course, Cyrus doesn't have to tell him what he doesn't have to know. He isn't even sure Novak can understand telepathy...

In the wild, elephantfish are pack hunters in Lake Tanganyika. But here, Cyrus and Novak will just have to settle for a lovely pair.

Outside, President Grant finishes taking the oath of office. All around, there is much rejoicing.

In the crowd, Liv still hides. She loves the president more than any woman he knows; white, black, whore, or mail-order bride. Alas, would he still want her if he knew everything about her?

He already knows her bra size. And yet, if only it were that easy for him to settle with the perfect woman...