Mason exited the VirtuaScape debate prep program, and slowly awakened. He was working out of a nondescript suite on the same floor that Grace was on. True, he was still a bit nervous about this debate. The future of Christianity hung in the balance. If he were to loose to Malek, it would be a huge blow to the millions of worshipers across the nation. It was his job, his responsibility to return the freedom to them that they had once enjoyed. How had it come to this, he wondered. How had it come to the point that to be Christian, to have faith in God, to accept Jesus Christ as your savior, would put a target on your head, and that of your family? It had to stop. Yes, he admitted, he wanted to be President, but this election was way more than just about that. It was a last chance opportunity to correct so many wrongs.
He received notification that Grace’s new Secret Service agent had arrived, and checked the time. He would not be able to introduce him to her as he had expected. He sent her a brief message with his name and picture. He answered the dozen or so messages that had come in while he was in the virtual world, and then watched the short video that Bradlie had sent him. She loved the fuzzy bear he had sent, and had to tell him all about how it talked and was funny. And then she was dancing around with the stuffed animal he had sent her. He sent her brief response, glad that she liked his present, and then turned his focus back to the matters at hand. His performance in a few hours would be the most important thing he had ever done. And the future of the nation lay on his shoulders.