“Humanity will never forget this moment,” he stated, as he sat down at his brilliantly carved English Oak desk. Centered on its front panel facing the door, a soaring eagle evoked the power and prestige that once embodied the office. Towering behind his chair, a pair of wilted flags separated three large rectangular windows.

The dispirited and weary man looked up with mournful, defeated eyes. “Are we sure we want to do this?” The heartbroken dignitaries standing around him couldn't even bring themselves to match his stare, let alone answer his question. With the reality nearly unbearable, his head hung heavy with sorrow and regret. Did it have to come to this?

A calm autumn breeze brimming through a cracked window did little to suppress the oppressive air.

Seated deep within his chair, the man reluctantly reached out for a single piece of paper on the opposite side of the desk. He slowly slid the document toward him.

The dozen or so witnesses, all dressed in black suits, were able to stand motionless, but not e-motionless. This unprecedented moment would not allow for apathy.

The man drew a pen from his breast pocket. Yet, an overwhelming sense of duty and honor stopped him from using it. The idle seconds that followed only intensified the agony. Eventually, a bleak sense of sanity filled the void.

“We have no more options,” his secretary whispered. Her trembling voice complemented her grief-stricken eyes, which remained fixated on her folded hands.

Nearly crippled with remorse, he slowly nodded and continued.

His signature gradually began to manifest itself at the bottom of the page: President, Madison Cohen. His eyes eased shut as the pen broke contact with the surface of the paper. Though the fault was not his own, he could not help but feel the immense weight of history pressing down on his shoulders.

The circular room, draped in old Victorian styling, began to slowly empty for the final time. As word spread millions revolted. But, millions more rejoiced. The United States of America had just been signed out of existence.