The Urban Ecological Balance (Story)

The Free States of Ivroyia

“EEEEEEK”

Vice President Emil Koch hears his fourth new secretary scream for the third time this week. He thought he stated it clearly on the application that the city-wide mouse issue was not any better inside the capital. Even if they are on the fifty-first floor. The city is going into its third decade of the crisis with the rest of the country not fairing any better. The rapid expansion of the urban population and landscape of the nation brought with it the exponential population increase of mice.

Over 60 years ago, city planners and Architects assured the government that everything was perfectly safe when they planned on hammering out a 300 meter tall skyscraper every 3 years. Multiple crews with multiple shifts working around the clock rain or shine. Three crews, three shifts, 300 meters, 3 skyscrapers every 3 years. 3…3…3…3…3…3… The pressure on the government was too high to ignore. But the government did ignore it. It was easy to brush off the growing pains of a population getting too big for the island. It wasn’t happening outside of their window.

The government at that time was headed by Ludolf Walther. He led an apathetic government like no other. He never wanted to spend any money. He never wanted to change any policy. Change upset people. Change created resentment. That was until change was demanded. What Ludolf Walther never understood was that a nation is not a stagnant thing. Populations grow. Technology advances. Ideas Form. He still managed to be reelected twice as the population bought into his same fears of change. Sure, things weren’t better, but at least they weren’t getting worse.

In the middle of his third term, a thorn started to poke the side of Mr. Walther’s government. It started with letters of petition to increase subsidations for housing. Tax breaks and incentives for first time buyers were requested to help compete with those with more capital. Then, rent relief was a hot button issue. Tenants were becoming forced to have multiple roommates in single bedroom and studio apartments. Landlords were getting over-the-top offers on rent from wealthier clients. People who had previously afforded their mortgages and rents were being pushed onto the street. Ivroyia was running out of space and they started to take residence outside of the capitol.

The housing issue came to a head right before Ludolf Walther had to defend his executive seat for the third time against a, previously, unknown Arthur Ford Sr. Ford Sr. was not a politician by trade. In fact, he was a very average man. A wife, young son Ford Jr., and another on the way. He worked in construction as an electrician for 22 years before being inspired to run for the executive seat in government. He was one of the people that ended up sleeping and protesting outside of the capitol for months while his family stayed with in-laws. They had four generations living in the same complex. They weren’t starving, those who could work did, and their needs were all met. However, the close proximity to themselves and others was a health crisis in the making. He was not alone.

His story was like many others. People moved back in with family members out of financial need. Most had been able to support themselves just fine except for housing. The amount required to pay for housing year after year slowly crept higher. Many living comfortably a handful of years prior found themselves making desperate decisions. Maybe Ford Sr. was picked for his likeability or relatability. Either way, enough people saw themselves in him to want him to run; to make the changes that were being asked.

The Free States of Ivroyia

Ludolf Walther did not have a single worry about the election. He ran on the campaign of “business as usual”. No one he knew was affected by the housing crisis; at least no one he cared to know. Contempt for Walther grew over the months leading to the election. Advisors told him that it would blow over after the election. That everything will go back to normal. Nobody had the willingness to show Walther the latest polls. He could ignore protestors outside because his office was too high to hear chants. Letters that were addressed to him never made it to his desk if not administrative. Polls were harder to ignore. Most news outlets had Ford Sr. winning the election. Walther did not believe them one bit. How could the people want change?

They did want change and they showed it. Not since Walther’s first election did the amount of voters show up to exercise their democratic right. It was a landslide by Ivroyian standards. Incumbents running for reelection were no strangers to getting 70% or more during the elections. People were familiar with the candidate and less turnout boosted the percentage. Newly elected officials usually topped around 35-40% of the votes between the four candidates with greater turnout. Ford Sr. received 64.3% of all registered voters in Ivroyia not just counted votes. In fact, Walther didn’t only lose to Ford Sr., but another candidate as well. It was a categorical embarrassment for Walther and his career.

When the reins were handed over, Ford Sr. got to work immediately. What he didn’t know about running a country, he made up for in his knowledge of construction. Administrative duties were mostly left to his vice president, Omar Pile, who received the second most votes in the election. Ford Sr. chose him for that reason and that Omar was a career politician. Not being one himself, Ford Sr. found that he was more comfortable on a jobsite than behind a desk. So, when Eternity Construction approached with a bid, Ford Sr. jumped at the opportunity.

The offer was too good to be true, but it was not any more outlandish than the promises Ford Sr. had made during his campaign. Eternity Construction proposed that they could build nine new supertall skyscrapers before the end of Ford Sr.’s first term. The plan was to use public and private investing, labor, and materials to achieve this goal. Nine new additions to the Ivroyian skyline that would each be a minimum 300m tall and able to comfortably house 2,000 average citizens. Part of the deal to the wealthier clientele of investors was to reserve one of the nine new structures for themselves. This was to be worked on throughout the construction of the others and offer no more than 75 places of residence while being a staggering 500m tall.

Ford Sr. was able to spread the enthusiasm he had for the project around the capital and Ivroyia altogether. Ground broke on three towers within the first year after his election; two of the eight residential and the one luxury skyscraper. Omar Pile handled the paperwork and Ford Sr. got to go back to the jobsite. Federal security and Eternity Construction was not happy with having to deal with the celebrity of having the president on a jobsite, but morale was high. It needed to be high to keep three crews on each of the three skyscrapers on pace to finish in 3 years time.

The Free States of Ivroyia

The first two years of building went about as well as expected when dealing with construction and time crunches. Supply chain issues, overlooked parts, trades getting in each other’s ways were all expected. The big problem was the momentum of the crews. Workers became fatigued and missed deadlines. Injuries started to pile up; most were minor, some serious, and, thankfully, no deaths. However, one of the few serious injuries was that of Arthur Ford Sr, the president himself. While on a ladder working on an unknowingly powered circuit, he came in contact with the live wire and fell. Arthur Ford Sr. was quickly tended to and rushed to a nearby hospital.

Between luck and the privileges that come with being the leader of a nation, Ford Sr. did not endure any life-threatening injuries. Burns to his hands, a broken collarbone, and concussion were well looked after. In his, now, 15 years of experience, he hadn’t suffered anything close before. Safety of the workers was a higher priority than speed. At least, that’s what Eternity Construction wanted to portray. Throughout Ford Sr.’s recovery, injuries, accidents, and near misses were at an all-time low. There was still talk of them happening and the theory goes they were being brushed aside. But without the eyes of the president and his staff onsite now, Eternity Construction was willing to push harder.

The wealthy investors started to take notice of the lack of quality control and pushed for their tower to be done correctly, but still on time, no matter the cost. This took away even more from the residential towers being built. Workers ended up working longer and doing so with less. Instead of the nice and neat precision that the luxury tower was getting, corners were being cut; sometimes literally. The essentials, basics, and most important structural parts were all accounted for. Eternity Construction didn’t want any future lawsuits or loss of life on their hands, of course. They did just enough to pass inspections.

After four years of building, half way through Ford Sr.’s term as president, Eternity Construction had managed to build 3 new residential towers and start another 3 as planned. The luxury tower was about half done. They opened up the recreational areas of the luxury tower on the lower, finished floors. The future residents were already getting massages, playing racquetball, holding meetings, and working on their ever decaying golf swings. The residents of the other 3 towers moved in with great anticipation of finally having some breathing room. While many of the units were designed the same way as cost and time saving measures, many of the residents and their families found ways of making the sterile unit into their home.

The Free States of Ivroyia

Arthur Ford Sr.’s first term went typically for an Ivroyian politician; once the dust settled, people became too busy with their lives to care for much else. Once the constant construction became the status quo, the citizens adopted it into daily life. As promised, Eternity Construction was on schedule to complete 9 brand new skyscrapers by the end of Ford Sr.’s first term. Eternity Construction came to support Ford Sr. in his upcoming chance to be reelected. However, Ford Sr. was not cut out for running a country. His Vice President, Omar Pile, did most of the executive work behind the scenes. Ford Sr. took Pile’s advice every step of the way, except for construction. That was why Ford Sr. chose Pile. Ford Sr. had a vision to alleviate a common problem for Ivroyians that he himself faced. Everything else that came with being the Head of State was not in his wheelhouse.

Ford Jr. was now 20 and old enough to run for the presidency himself. Having grown up in the capitol throughout his teens, Ford Jr. had come to understand the workings of government. He showed a great interest in government along with construction. He had gone through an apprenticeship during his late teen years and became part of the project’s overseeing committee. His father saw how Ford Jr. took great interest and pride in his country and convinced Ford Jr. to run for president. Between Eternity Construction and his father’s endorsements, it was an easy sell to a populous that didn’t want much for change. Ford Sr. had shown that an inexperienced president brought good change that people didn’t want to ruin. Instead of risking it getting worse, it was a simple solution to the problem of Ford Sr. not seeking reelection.

Ford Jr. ran for president and handedly won. A few post-election polls found that some voters didn’t even know it wasn’t the incumbent, Ford Sr.,that they were voting for. Omar Pile was, again, chosen to be the Vice President. He had guided Ford Sr. through his first term and, now, having Ford Jr. at the helm, it was not much of a regime change. Eternity Construction proposed to Ford Jr. similar plans that they did to his father; three new skyscrapers in three year cycles. The plan was not only for the capital of Regrid, but throughout Ivroyia. Housing was still an issue, but improving. Ford Jr. didn’t have much of a choice. He gave Eternity Construction the exclusive rights to build skyscrapers, as they had in Regrid, across Ivroyia.

The Free States of Ivroyia

Ford Jr.’s first term had been beat for beat as his father’s before him had. Skyscrapers were being built to accommodate the evergrowing populace. By this time, the method to madness had been mostly optimized. Unfortunately, the optimization applied to Eternity Construction’s wallet more than anything else. After the structural integrity of a tower was verified, oversight reduced dramatically. Remaining verification processes had to authenticate fire prevention systems, plumbing, and electrical. Nothing that was critical to the structure of the building or life safety was a priority to Eternity Construction. The cheapest labor and materials that could be subcontracted for the remaining work was sought after and left to their own devices. It was becoming common for tenants of the unfinished units to install leftover outlet covers, paint walls, and clean up dust.

People tended to not complain because housing was becoming available. Ford Jr. implemented a policy to prioritize housing those with dependent children first. This, conveniently, coincided with the birth of his first son, Arthur Ford III, less than half way into his first term. Ford Jr., now having a young family of his own, empathized with those still looking for a place to live with their new families as adults began to move out of their parents’ homes. Ford Jr. began to understand the struggles his own father went through trying to home his family. He put further pressure onto Eternity Construction for faster construction and more buildings. Eternity Construction would happily oblige as it led to more funding. This was the basis of Ford Jr.’s campaign for reelection.

Omar Pile did not run for the presidency as Ford Jr. sought reelection. Instead, Pile retired into one of the open units in Eternity Tower, the luxury skyscraper built during Ford Sr’s presidency. This left Ford Jr. to run against three new opponents for his reelection. Without Omar Pile on the ballot, the ranked choice vote showed Ford Jr. had 82% of the “as first choice” votes against three lesser known opponents. Turnout was less than a quarter of all registered voters. As was usual, but not required of the president, Ford Jr. chose the second most favored candidate to be the Vice President. Amber Lonelle was brought aboard as Vice President.

Amber Lonelle was a fan of Ford Sr.’s hands-on approach to politics. While she was a new Vice President, she was not new to politics. She had worked hard to get a ballot spot for the most recent executive election and was proactive in getting voters to turnout. She approached backers and citizens herself. Not exactly to the degree Ford Sr. had, but far more than any other Ivroyian politician in the past. She wanted to use the opportunity to advance her career and show that she could be the first choice for the nation in later elections.

In her field work findings as Vice President, she started to hear similar stories from those that recently moved into newly constructed towers. Ford Jr.’s second term had still prioritized the construction of new towers. However, during his second term, problems from his first and his father’s before had become apparent. Amber Lonelle was accustomed to hearing how families dealt with the aesthetics of shoddy construction until a new issue started to creep into the consciousness of citizens.

The Free States of Ivroyia

Mice started being reported on lower floors of buildings while construction was happening. The newly dug supports for the towers disturbed burrows and displaced numerous colonies. As construction progressed, the noise and smells disturbed the mice enough to keep them away. After completion and some time after, they came back. Residents on the lower level were first. Setting up, emptying, and replacing traps become routine. Building maintenance designated task forces to deal with the pests. Garbage dumpsters were placed as far away from building entrances as possible. Anything that could be done was tried.

Amber Lonelle noted the complaints. Mice being an issue was not necessarily a new or concerning problem. She did whatever she could do to organize exterminators or raise awareness of cleanliness. Anything to get her name out there and have the support of the people in her future campaign endeavors.

The rest of Ford Jr’s second term went off without a hitch, as far as Ivroyian politics go. People continued to settle into their new homes. Eternity Construction continued to build. Amber Lonelle pressed on with her ambition to be president. Elections were coming up and she knew she had to do something massive to catch the eyes of the voting populous. She had figured that if Ford Jr. was elected for a third term, by the end of it, his son, Ford III, would be old enough to run and she would have no chance for at least another eight years after that.

She hit the ground running. She went building to building to ask residents what they wanted to see changed around Ivroyia. Most people shrugged her off. Others didn’t know who she was to begin with. Amber put up posters with contact information for questions and comments about the state of Ivroyia. She also held rallies where she could. Turnout was abysmal. Then, a thought crossed her mind that flipped her plan of attack. Her campaign changed from asking what citizens wanted to telling the citizens what they wanted.

The mice problem she had heard complaints about throughout her time as Vice President was thought to be her ticket into the minds of voters. She would get to the bottom of it and come up with a solution herself. Exterminators were interviewed about their opinion of the matter. Cleaning and garbage crews were asked what solutions they came up with. All of the information she gathered led her to what she thought was the root of the problem; the construction.

The issue seemed almost too simple. In the beginning, mice were already part of the city. They had always been there in the old, cramped buildings. When new towers were built, the nests and burrows would be destroyed. People would then move into their brand new homes and expect no mice to be in the building. This was true for a great while. However, the construction of the other buildings did the same as before. It destroyed old nests, replaced them with new underground portions of the skyscrapers, and gave the mice nowhere to go. One of the few places they could go was back into the footprint of the newly built skyscrapers. Yet, without established nests, the mice burrowed into the walls. Except, how and why were the walls being left with so much room between them that mice could not only live but thrive?

The Free States of Ivroyia

The mice only went up. As the mice problem crept up story after story, the aesthetics of a resident’s unit became less about feeling like home and more so a battleground against the invaders. Traps and baits were set sporadically around each of the buildings. This was quickly found out to be a temporary fix as the mice grew privy to the traps and baits designed to eradicate them. Less mice were spotted throughout the years, but the presence persisted.

Again, the residents grew accustomed to the mice. The mice became accustomed to the new buildings. Building after building went up at fantastical rates. By the end of Ford Jr’s second term, the housing crisis had an end in sight. That’s what was promised and that’s what was delivered. The contracts signed with Eternity Construction seemed to stretch for that long; an eternity.

Amber Lonelle pushed her boots-on-the-ground campaign harder before the election. She had an aggressive campaign against the mice that were being complained about in the new buildings. Exterminators, sanitation workers, and building maintenance crews were putting in extra hours trying to combat the mice. They backed Amber Lonelle and her endeavors to change building codes and increase inspections. She knew there was a major issue with the construction if this many mice were freely living in the buildings. There was no strong estimation of the amount of mice in a given building, but she used the fear of unstable, unsanitary conditions as ammunition in her campaign.

The populace didn’t care enough. They were getting themselves off of the streets and out of cramped living conditions. The way they saw it, they’d rather deal with mice in their walls in a new, independent living space than on the street or in an already cramped home. In many citizens’ eyes, Ford Jr. was the clear choice.

After the lost election, Amber Lonelle decided a career change was in order. She was onto something. She contacted some lawyer friends who contacted general contractors on the Eternity building sites. Statements were taken and documentation was being handed over. Amber knew she had to build an airtight case against an entity as large and, now, as influential as Eternity Construction. Especially with Ivroyian Federal backing. If she couldn’t make the average citizens care, her new aim was to make Eternity Construction care but hitting them in their accounting spreadsheets. She knew it wasn’t going to be an easy process, but she knew with each passing tower built in Degrid and across Ivroyia, her case would continue to grow.

The Free States of Ivroyia

As Amber Lonelle had predicted, by the end of Ford Jr.’s third term he had stepped down to endorse his son Ford III. Whether it was pure apathy, recognition of the name, or being so terribly misinformed that “Arthur Ford III” wasn’t the incumbent, people voted the third different Arthur Ford into office.

While it seemed the complacent population lived their lives, she dug deep in Eternity Construction. She started recruiting on-site workers to document what construction entailed. A lot of the trades already had work orders of documentation. Short forms filled out at the end of the day to send to managers and contractors kept track of each trade. Some of these were sent directly to Amber Lonelle and her team.

At first, it was a lot of normal, boring construction stuff that didn’t seem remarkable. Eternity Construction did a tremendous job with the structural integrity and life safety systems of the buildings. The trades after them were reporting excessive pressure to complete work and withholding of payment and fines were threatened if not completed in time. Soon, photos and documents of corners being cut started rolling onto the desk of Amber Lonelle. Electricians reported outlets without wires. Plumbers that had cut through studs where pipes were intended to be placed were left empty. Drywallers that were given insufficient materials had to literally cut corners; making the rooms smaller and the gaps behind the walls bigger. It was all in the name of cost-cutting, speed, and lack of materials.

After one of the most recent towers was finished and before full occupancy, Amber bribed a general contractor to let them onsite and see for themselves. She was shown the exact locations of where pictures were taken. Some of the people she recruited were there to point out specific locations. Electricians took off unconnected outlets. Drywallers took slabs of drywall off to show behind the walls. Plumbers showed the holes in studs where pipes were supposed to be. Amber and her team of exterminators could only shake their heads.

The exterminators took detailed notes, compared them to the previous reports, and predicted the mice may be on the higher floors before residents at this rate. Before they left, the exterminators tried their best to slow the mice down by installing steel wool and copper mesh where obvious paths would be. They knew it was only a temporary fix and that they would be back. All the while, Ford III’s administration was carefree playing the housing heroes.

The Free States of Ivroyia

For years, Amber Lonelle and her team pleaded with Ford III’s administration to look into the claims of unusually high amounts of mice within these new buildings. However, it fell on deaf ears each time. Word was spreading of how much faster people were able to move into their new apartments. Suddenly, the streets felt freer and the populous were housed.

Ford III’s next two terms went as expected for the Ford dynasty now; his son, Arthur Ford IV, was running for his first term. Endorsed by his father and grandfather while holding up the legacy of his great-grandfather, Arthur Ford IV took office to be the leader of the Free States. At this time, construction had come to a major close. The strong demand for new skyscrapers tapered off as demand was being met. Amber never stopped her quest of reporting the mice infestations. She tried to warn the people that moved in. She tried to warn Eternity Construction. She tried to warn the government.

Throughout Ford IV’s first term, the complaints trickled in. Petitions were signed to investigate the infestations in some of the original skyscrapers Eternity Construction built; buildings as old as Ford IV’s grandfather. This was brushed aside by the age of the building. The sentiment of Eternity Construction and the government was that mice will always find a way in. When word got out that this was not an isolated problem to the older buildings, residents started to become furious.

People always knew they would have to deal with the mice. People paid more to be on higher floors to avoid the mice. The thought was the mice will only climb up the building so far. When penthouse residents started to complain, the government started to listen. These were people with influence. Not quite wealthy enough for Eternity Tower, but not just people that could be easily ignored. Eternity Construction stood by their work. They provided exactly what they were paid for, but when Amber and her campaign got wind of the wealthier clients complaining, she knew she had an in.

All of the evidence that she and her crew had gathered over the years was finally having a light shown on it. She displayed document after document of firsthand cases from electricians, plumbers, and drywallers about the conditions they were working under, the expectations of the projects, and the poor construction that led to the perfect breeding ground for the mice. Amber started to show more evidence of the lack of quality more so than Eternity could provide credible building inspections. Eternity Construction deflected by expressing no one was being forced to move into any units not inspected properly. They also emphasized that nothing, as they left it, was life-threatening nor in a nonworking condition. Units were advertised with appropriate amenities and accurate floor plans.

Now, towards the end of Arthur Ford IV’s first term, he seeks reelection. He pleads with the people to give him the chance to fix this. He uses the words his great-grandfather did as the backbone of his campaign. He has to convince the people that he is the right person for the job. Vice President Emil Koch, suffering from losing secretary after secretary from the Capitol fighting its own infestation, has to believe in Ford IV’s ability to fix this. Emil Koch, while having to run for the presidency to be eligible for the vice presidency, does not want to be the face of this disaster. He sees this as one of two ways. He either gets to be a part of the greatest orchestration of Ivroyian infrastructural change since Ford Sr. or he gets another eight years to come up with a plan of his own for the next election cycle. Either way, his plan is to become the president after Ford IV’s next term.

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As mostly expected, Arthur Ford IV was elected to a second term. He knew he had to give the people results. Families were waiting for the grand solution to the problem; a problem caused by the money hungry private sector and the government for lack of accountability. The government looked towards private industry to come up with a solution. The private sector was more than happy to continue selling temporary solutions to an ongoing problem. Mouse traps were in great demand, poisoned bait needed to be replenished, and any blockages that could be installed were eventually chewed through and replaced. Fighting the hoards of mice became more than part of daily life, it slowly encroached on becoming life itself. Ford IV started to realise that a more permanent, yet also, hands-off approach needed to be the answer. He couldn’t expect people to continue to fight mice for the rest of infinity, no matter how much the private sector wanted otherwise.

Weeks went by as ideas were thrown around the meeting halls. A Mice Paradise in each building would provide bedding, food abundance, and warmth where the mice would be enticed to gather and then be rounded up and removed. Introducing biologically altered sterile Alpha Mice into populations that females would want to, but couldn’t, mate with. Even infecting the mice with a zombie-like virus that would make them want to eat each other was brainstormed. Everything was harebrained and expensive.

About a month later, Ford IV’s nine year old daughter was doing a science project. A biology project about the animal kingdom, specifically predators and prey. She loved animals and was especially excited to tell her dad about what she learned and what animal she picked to do her project on. She basically retold the entire lesson of that day. The lion eats the zebra. The shark eats the fish. And most famously, the cat eats the mouse. Ford IV laughed to himself at the last one. It seemed like everyone in Ivroyia had a cat and there was still a mouse problem. Cats cannot fit inside of the walls to hunt the mice. She then goes on to reveal the animal she picked for her science project: the weasel.

His daughter exudes her enthusiasm for the little creatures she’s chosen to study over the next few days. She goes on to explain that there are many types of weasels in the weasel family. Minks, ferrets, ermines, stoats are all weasels and even related to otters, badgers, and wolverines. They are among the smallest carnivorous mammals on the planet with some weighing only a few ounces. She goes on to explain their colors, habitats, and diets. What really caught Ford IV’s attention was the information of the least weasel. According to his nine year old daughter doing a project for school, they are incredible at hunting mice.