"Find every call we’ve gotten over the past two years about slip-and-fall injuries and vehicle damage—all the ones we rejected due to ’insufficient evidence’ or ’governntal immunity’!"
"Call those clients!"
"Tell them the good news is here! The Mayor is handing out cash!"
"We need to snatch up all these cases before the other law firms do!"
The sa scene was playing out in law firms big and small all across Pittsburgh.
The phone lines began to run hot.
Fax machines began to shriek.
anwhile, inside City Hall.
Thomas Moretti was sitting in his office, enjoying his afternoon tea.
He was in a very good mood.
Those four thousand applications had been sealed away in the basent, and the so-called "verification team" had begun their work at a snail’s pace.
Leo Wallace’s offensive had been defused. ’That young Mayor must be fuming in his office right now, throwing a fit of impotent rage.’
Just then, the office door was flung open.
His chief of staff burst in, a tablet in his hand, his face deathly pale.
"Mr. President! We have a huge problem!"
The chief of staff’s voice was sharp and piercing.
"What is it? Why the panic?" Moretti frowned and set down his teacup. "Is that kid pulling his old tricks again? Delivering more cardboard boxes?"
"This is a thousand tis worse!"
The chief of staff slamd the tablet down on the desk in front of Moretti.
A replay of Leo’s press conference in front of that massive pit was playing on the screen.
"...If they won’t approve the repair budget, then they’ll have to approve the damages!"
Leo’s voice echoed through the office.
Moretti watched the video, his eyes fixed on Leo holding the Tort Claims Act, on the janitor, Smith.
His pupils slowly dilated.
"What is he doing?" Moretti muttered to himself. "Is he inciting citizens to sue us?"
"It’s not just incitent."
The chief of staff’s voice trembled.
"The legal departnt just called. In the last half-hour alone, they’ve received twelve demand letters from attorneys."
"All of them for personal injury claims."
"The grounds for all of them are based on the ’actual notice’ provision."
"This is just the beginning, Mr. President."
The chief of staff pointed out the window.
"Every lawyer in the city is going crazy. They’re all over the streets looking for that pit, looking for anyone who’s fallen."
"The head of the Legal Departnt said that at this rate, we could be facing several hundred lawsuits by tomorrow morning."
"The initial estimate for the claims..."
The chief of staff swallowed hard.
"...could exceed fifty million US dollars."
Fifty million US dollars.
That was more than double the budget Leo had requested for his revitalization plan.
Furthermore, money spent on road repairs becos an asset, while money paid out in damages is a pure loss.
"That lunatic..."
Moretti muttered under his breath.
’How dare he? He’s the Mayor! How could he throw a Molotov cocktail at his own house just to force my hand?’
’This is a kamikaze attack. He’s willing to drag the entire city’s finances down into the muck just to beat .’
Seeing Moretti still muttering to himself, the chief of staff was practically bouncing with anxiety. "Mr. President! Who cares if he’s crazy! What do we do now? If we don’t take action imdiately, this building will be wallpapered with court summonses by tomorrow! Once a judge rules this was intentional neglect, it won’t just be a matter of paying money, it’ll be dereliction of duty!"
"What’s there to panic about?"
Moretti looked up, his gaze instantly turning sharp.
"Pay them? Fine, let them have it. It’s not my money, and it’s not your money. It’s the taxpayers’ money, after all."
He dusted off his hands.
"You need to be clear about the situation. Whether it’s fifty million US dollars in damages or a road repair budget that’s still impossible to calculate, this is no small sum."
"For a sum this large to go through the budget, my signature alone isn’t enough. This requires the endorsent of the entire City Council. It requires all nine of those other heads to nod along."
"Leo wants to back into a corner? Fine. Then I’ll let everyone else get a taste of what it feels like to be cornered."
Moretti straightened his collar.
"Notify all the council mbers!"
"Ergency closed-door eting in half an hour!"
"Tell them if they don’t co, they can prepare to explain to their constituents tomorrow why their tax dollars have turned into lawyers’ fees."
Moretti strode toward the conference room, his gait still steady.
He hadn’t lost; he was just being forced to escalate the ga.
Since Leo wanted to play for high stakes, he would just make the table bigger.
「anwhile, in the Mayor’s Office.」
Leo stood before the floor-to-ceiling window, watching the lights in City Hall across the way suddenly flick on one by one, watching the frantic figures running past the windows.
He knew the bomb had detonated.
But he didn’t feel relieved. On the contrary, he clenched his fists.
"Ethan," Leo said without turning his head. "Get a pen ready."
"I imagine our budget proposal will be passed soon. But before that, I’m afraid there’s one last, nasty battle to fight."
Roosevelt’s voice echoed in his mind, carrying a trace of wry amusent.
’You see, my boy.’
’This is the beauty of the law.’
’It can be the chains that bind power, or it can be the hamr that breaks them.’
’The key is who holds the hamr, and whether they have the guts to bring it down on their own foot.’
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