Algernon sat in one of the many booths of The Paper Tiger. He decided to retreat from crosstown court, the rain had started to become unbearable. He had picked up a copy of The Vienda Weekly on his way to the pub. It was one of his favorite papers, but his respect for it had decline since the headline incident. To him it was much better then the Kingsway Post, which thankfully was officially canceled.

He read the reviews carefully, slowly drinking his wine. Vienda was changing, there was no doubt about that, But was it for the better or worse. He had not actually read the headlines yet. After the last headline fiasco, he saved them for last, Not going anywhere near the front of the paper. First he read the reviews, then the art section, then he would finally read the headline.

When he reached the headline he gasped. The headline said nothing about Queen Esther. The whole city was abuzz with the news. Someone had leaked the information to the Kingsway post, even though it was canceled. A coworker from the officer had told him about the queen. She was a very sick woman, but this could be it, this could be the breaking point. The world seemed to be crumbling, Algernon just hoped he could survive it.

Algernon sighed slowly. It's for the worse. he thought. "What is this world coming to?" he said in a grave tone. "This all started because of the riots. They have made her ill." Algernon wasn't talking to anyone in particular, just speaking out loud. The news of the day made him that flustered.