The orchestra suddenly stopped in mid chorus, breaking into the upbeat theme song used in the senator’s last campaign. The attention of the crowd suddenly turned toward the top of the stairs that lead from the south entrance of the main house down into the courtyard. When as if by magic, and in perfect timing with the music, two pale-blue spotlights snapped open at the top of the stairs, revealing the senator and his wife. Again, in time with the music, the senator thrust his right hand up into the air in triumph, a gesture made popular at his last victory party. The crowd broke into cheers and thunderous applause, while the senator took his wife’s hand and began their journey down the staircase. The spotlights captured every step as they descended, waving to the crowd, occasionally making special effort to point at those guests they knew best. It was an absolute frenzy of excitement, albeit a perfectly choreographed one.

As the senator reached the bottom of the stairs, his wife let go of his hand and turned to her left, disappearing into the darkness as her spotlight faded out right on cue. The senator, peeling off to the right, broke into a jog, looking fit and full of life despite his age. He made his way up onto the stage and over to the podium, arriving just as the music reached its climax.

“Thank you!” he said, repeating himself several times while he waited for the applause to die down. “Is everyone having a good Founders Day?!” he yelled, whipping them back up into a thunderous roar. He continued waving at the crowd another full minute before the ovation finally died down enough for him to be heard.

“Good, I’m glad everyone is having a good evening. It’s an important day in the history of our world, and it should be celebrated.” The senator looked around the crowd as the last of the applause fell silent. Finally, he launched into the main body of his prepared speech, his tone changing to one more befitting the topic.