Record:Hospital Visit
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Dux Moretti: (Flipping page.) Well? What is it?
Advisor Marone: Nothing, nothing. Just... I don't know, I'm sorry, Giulio.
Dux Moretti: The past is the past. I certainly don't wish to dwell upon it. Have you been following the bond market? Markets are in a panic, they have to be reassured...
Advisor Marone: (Cracking smile.) How do you stay so focused like that? I've been eating myself up over this ever since... Today, it's about the third flight I booked to get here, I just wanted to make sure you were doing well.
Dux Moretti: I am doing it because I have to, and because no one else will, Signore Marone. I have no will to cease my fight, for as long as it is needed. There is still much to be done.
Advisor Marone: I know, it's just... Look, I'm sorry for what I said, Giulio. You're doing the best that you can, I know that. I never could have expected they might've been the last words you'd hear.
Dux Moretti: (Adjusting his glasses, he brings the private- and union-owned company profit comparison graph on page 37 closer to his face.) Well, they certainly weren't, Signore Marone, and I do not expect to hear any of the sort while I am still in office.
Advisor Marone: Wait, what? Are you seriously planning on continuing? In this state that you're in?
Dux Moretti: Do I have a choice? Not right away, obviously. But within a few weeks? Certainly. The hospital visit, if anything, made me quite more relaxed.
Advisor Marone: Do you have a...? Certainly you do, Giulio! (Noticing his outburst, he lowers his voice.) Look at yourself, you are in no state to govern.
Dux Moretti: You are greatly overexaggerating my state, Signore Marone. My personal doctor has performed an analysis. The physical issues persist, but cognitively I am in an excellent state.
Advisor Marone: And what if this happens again? You're not even dead, Buonestrotti's already trying to claim power for himself.
Dux Moretti: It will not happen again, Signore Marone. I have simply met my limits, and I will make certain I do not find myself doing so again. I will delegate more work to my subordinates, and...
Advisor Marone: Giulio, your term ends early next year. Who is going to elect you after a stroke like that? The voters are already rumoring about your death. At least choose a successor!
Dux Moretti: That will only stoke the fears further, Signore Marone.
Advisor Marone: Who cares? There is a nation to be ran, you cannot possibly expect to pass decrees in this climate! This is a disaster!
Dux Moretti: (Taking eyes off newspaper for the first time.) And who do I nominate, Signore Marone? Signora Tritone? I'm sure that's going to go well with Mare, let alone you. You, perhaps? We run into the same issue. There is only one veto-proof nomination.
Advisor Marone: Buonestrotti. Damn it.
Dux Moretti: Indeed. I will not let one last clawing member of the Families to destroy the years of reforms we have passed in this country.
Advisor Marone: Well, what then?
Dux Moretti: I will serve out the rest of my term, as I have priorly stated.
Advisor Marone: And after it?
Dux Moretti: Then I will resign. You are right, the odds of my re-election are too unfavorable to bet on them. Someone will have to continue my work.
Advisor Marone: I mean, you know how much I despise the woman, but Advisor Tritone seems to be the favorite among Isolans.
Dux Moretti: And I am certainly not asking for her. I'm talking about you, Bartolomeo.
Advisor Marone: Me? I haven't, I mean...
Dux Moretti: The two of us most certainly have plenty of our own grievances. I consider you too rash for your own good. But my options are scarce. And ultimately, I do think you to be motivated by not what is best for your businesses or best for your unions, but what is best for La Rossa.
Advisor Marone: I don't know. Neither party seems to be particularly willing to support my bid.
Dux Moretti: Then begin an independent one. Do not let either of them win. La Rossa cannot afford to isolate itself further. And it certainly cannot afford to go back to cronyism and corruption. We have to move forward.