Triton

“Fair hero and fallen maiden” by Toby There’s a slick shadow in the newsroom, eyes glinting like knives under fluorescent lights. It moves between the desks, all teeth and silence, drinking from the cup of swallowed voices. Politeness is its venom, slipped into smiles, dropped into meetings like sugar in poison. It hisses compliments that sting, and every nod tightens its coil. It doesn’t roar, it calculates. It doesn’t fight, it erases.

In Star Wars: Episode ІІІ Revenge of the Sith, Padme Amidala utters a chilling line as she watches the Republic fall: “So this is how liberty dies- with thunderous applause." In 2024, this quote has resurfaced with a sense of haunting urgency as Donald Trump returns to the presidency, and many Americans question whether the foundations of democracy are eroding before their eyes. The urgency of this situation cannot be overstated, and it calls for immediate and decisive action.