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Thursday 27 September, 2018
Day 28. I'm beginning to better understand how this game forces the player to walk a fine line between corruption and moral righteousness. Every small decision to placate or upset a character in the game can cause a domino effect, culminating in disastrous effects later on. I discovered this when I pissed off City Hall. I'd refused to fire all black employees, I didn't suppress riots with force, and I accidentally missed a few opportunities to send the Mayor officers for unofficial business. So I wasn't entirely surprised when the Mayor cut the police force budget, and I was forced to fire an employee. It wasn't ideal, but I adapted and realized I should be more cautious with City Hall requests in the future. Then I was reported to the Labor Union by an employee. I couldn't figure out what I might've done. I decided to let it play out, trusting that I could navigate my way out of it or call that employee's bluff. What I didn't know was that I had broken the law when I fired that employee for the Mayor. The case went through, and my pay was dropped 50%. Now I pull in $724 each week.
Worse than the pay cut, that experience made me nervous. Through the future, I worried about the City Hall and their ridiculous requests far more than I had for the first 22 days. So when the Mayor demanded that the police force have a balanced sex ratio, I felt obligated to make it happen. At least this time I supported the sentiment. So for the next four days, I made calculated firings and hired any female applicant available, gradually yet legally bringing the ratio from 14 men and 9 women around to 12 men and 11 women. It was that last day, however, that I ran out of options. I'd run out of old officers, drunks, and unreliables. There were no more female applicants left. I knew that Burch Jr. was the man who needed to go, but I didn't have the legal means. I spent that last day in anxiety, hoping for a deus ex machina moment that might save my ass. But as the day came to a close, I couldn't help dwelling on that final resort: a mafia-aided assassination. It was at that moment that a call came in from the Ghetto, only a noise complaint but calling for three officers and a SWAT team. I sent Burch Jr..
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