Callum Briz fidgeted nervously in the back of the car, sandwiched between two burly figures in suits. He had been blindfolded, and his hands were cuffed behind his back. Anyone who had stumbled upon this situation, their first guess would be that he had been kidnapped, or perhaps was on his way to meet a mafia boss for something he’d done wrong. Alas, it was nothing quite as interesting. This was something Callum had signed up for voluntarily, but it didn’t make him any less anxious.
He was a graduate student majoring in political science, and over the course of the next few months, he would be interning at Central Peace Headquarters. Normally, summer break didn’t start until a few weeks later for students, but he had been able to finish all of his courses and exams a few weeks early. He had even managed to get his thesis completed on time, even though they were willing to give him an extension until after the internship was completed. Depending on how this internship went, it may give him all the credits he would need, and would be a fruitful beginning to his political career.
That morning he had arrived at the Prosper train station. Waiting for him were three CP agents holding a sign with his name, who were all rather intimidating in appearance. However, they were friendly enough. They helped him with his luggage, and talked him through a run-down of what was going to happen. They even let him take a small reprieve to use the restroom and get something to eat if he wanted, since they informed him the trip would take about an hour and he’d be rather busy once they arrived.
Callum took them up on their offer, having realized he hadn’t eaten due to anticipation. He hurriedly wolfed down a small pastry, since he didn’t want to keep them waiting even if they didn’t appear to be in a rush. When he returned, they pulled out a tablet and made him sign a waiver, then sat him in the back of the prepared car. His restraints were then attached to him and the restless drive began.
The reason he was forced to take such measures was due to the inherent secrecy of the Central Peace. After all, the location of their headquarters was the best kept secret in the world. When news of its existence went public, a lot of people went snooping around for the location. A lot of people then either went missing or became wary of even speaking on the subject shortly after. It has since become a place of legend, some doubting its existence entirely, most others opting to be blissfully ignorant.
According to his escorts, this kind of treatment that he was experiencing was rather rare. Interns weren’t common at the CP. Most people who worked there were contracted for long term employment. They could either be trusted with its location, or were one of those who lived there permanently. Representatives were the only ones allowed to come and go freely, along with their personal staff. As an intern only working there for a few months, he was considered a high risk of being a leak. Hopefully, this wouldn’t be his first and only trip there.
In this situation, Callum imagined most people would at least try to get some bearing on their location by memorizing the turns the car was making. However, for whatever reason, he could never feel it. If the car ever made a single turn since they’d departed, it didn’t stick out. Perhaps there was some form of gyroscoping stability in the seating.
The ride was long, but it definitely wasn’t boring. The escorts kept conversing throughout the trip, talking about random things they liked, even trying to include him now and again. Callum would rather have used that time to rest and prepare himself, but his nervousness never would have let him do that in the first place. Finally, the car stopped, and his blindfold was removed.
Callum was confused for a moment, thinking they’d gotten the wrong place. They were definitely underground, but it was not at all like he was expecting. It looked like they were at an unloading zone in front of a regular office building, or perhaps a hotel. There were sliding glass doors that led into what appeared to be a waiting room or a lobby. Above the doors was a sign that read ‘Newcomer Entrance’.
One of his escorts uncuffed him and walked him to the doors. Callum was assured his luggage would be taken care of, but he still felt a little uneasy about the situation, unable to completely convince himself that he hadn’t been scammed. The escort put a pendant around his own neck, and then the doors opened. Callum was ushered over to the receptionists desk, where he couldn’t help but notice that the receptionist was wearing a similar pendant.
A few days ago, Callum received an email with his reporting instructions. Included with it was a digital handbook containing a lot of information about the CP’s rules and regulations. It had been a pain to get to open, requiring several confirmation codes, personal response questions, and even a retinal scan. He wondered why the security was so tight on it, since the information inside was rather limited and much less useful than he’d hoped. It was doubtful someone wishing to infiltrate would garner enough helpful information from it, except perhaps the included information about the pendants.
Everyone at the CP wore one, and it was mandatory to keep it on at all times except in private quarters. It was similar to an employee ID at any other job, but far fancier. At the center was a flag to denote where the wearer was from. Around it were various symbols that denoted the person’s station, rank, and any other necessary information. Inside the pendants themselves were microchips which hosted a variety of features, but the most important one being their access restrictions.
There were no keys in the CP headquarters, except for perhaps personal safes and lockboxes. Not a single door used one anywhere in the facility, only pendants were used. If a person who didn’t have the proper clearance tried to open a door, it would be automatically locked. If they continued to try and force it open, security would be called. Those without clearance could be temporarily granted access by those with it, but such a thing would be logged in a database in case of violations.
While the CP Headquarters itself was one big secret, there were very few secrets inside of it that the top brass wouldn’t know about. Everyone was constantly monitored; where they were, what they were doing, even their purchases. Only private quarters were left private, though someone with conspiracist tendencies would likely doubt even that.
Like before with the escorts, Callum was handed a tablet. This time it had a multitude of waivers. He had already filled out all of his information ahead of time, but these had to be signed in person. There were 906 waivers in total spanning 4,852 pages. Callum’s eyes practically melted out of his skull at the thought of reading it all.
Fortunately for him, and likely everyone else who had ever come here, there was a non-committal, preemptive, sign-all option where he would agree for now and the forms would be sent to him for review. If he had a dispute with one of them he could argue it later. However, if he didn’t personally read it later but confirmed he had, he was still liable to all of the conditions under an ignorance clause.
Callum couldn’t decide if this was either much too lax, or far too conniving since there was no way any sane person would read all of them. After returning the tablet, Callum received his pendant from the receptionist. On it was only a flag and a single icon marking him as an intern. He truly was on the lowest rung here, and everyone would know it with just a glance.
However, there was something off, though it took him a second to realize due to his fawning over all his wildest dreams coming true. The flag on his pendant was entirely wrong, not depicting his home country, but rather the country of Regend. Before Callum could question the error, a door opened and a woman stepped into the room.
She was an older woman. If Callum had to guess, she was in her 50s. It didn’t take him long to figure out her identity, the pendants already proving their usefulness. She was the Representative of Regend, and he was immediately panicking, trying to figure out the reason someone so important would have come to meet him. No doubt it had to do with the error on the pendant, and he started wondering how profusely he could apologize over something he had no control over.
Representatives were as high-ranking as someone could get in the CP. There was one from every country, and their level of power was on par with that of the country's ruler. Below them were the Vice-Representatives. On average, each country had three, but under special conditions they could ask for more. None had more than five. Callum had been expecting to be interning for someone about five stations below them, and would find it a rather joyous day if he ever got to meet a Representative in person, so this was sending his mind into overdrive. The worst part was that he was entirely blanking on her name.
“Callum Briz, Right?” the woman greeted him and shook his hand. “I’m Marigauld Viscelli. It’s a pleasure to meet you. I’m sure you have a lot of questions, but for now, please follow me.” He was thankful that she had introduced herself. It was highly probable that she knew he’d be confused due to the sudden change in nationality. He didn’t need to be asked twice either, and began following obediently back through the door.
When they got into an isolated hallway, Viscelli immediately cornered him. She placed a hand on his shoulder, and smiled at him. Her smile felt eerie somehow. It was definitely cheerful and welcoming at first glance, but it shook Callum to his core.
“I believe we should re-introduce ourselves now,” she said heavily. “I’m sure I seemed every bit the professional in there, but that much is expected of me in public. I like to get close and personal with my team, and you and I will be working very closely over the coming months. So, the standard formalities won’t do. From now on, I will address you as Callum, and you’ll address me only as Gauld. Is that understood?”
“Uhh, yes Mrs. Viscelli, gah-!” Callum had started to stutter an affirmation but then his shoulder was crushed. “Mam, could you please, gahh!-” her grip tightened. “Gauld it hurts. Could you please let go?!” A sudden memory came flooding back to him. On a political discussion board, someone had mentioned that the Representative of Regend was rather eccentric. Callum had never given that notion a second thought, but now he was starting to see why.
“I’m glad we’ve reached an understanding,” Gauld smiled again as she let go of his shoulder. “Now then, let’s walk and talk. I’m sure you’re wondering about how you’ve ended up under my tutelage. Let’s do a quick test of your knowledge. You already have a degree and are a graduate student, so this should be a piece of cake. Could you please tell me the electoral system for Central Peace Representatives and Vice-Representatives?”
“Um, sure, Mrs- err, Gauld,” Callum stuttered yet again. “When the Central Peace was first formed, a Representative was chosen by each country’s government. Along with this, a Vice-Representative was elected by the country’s citizens. Then, for the next two years, a new Vice-Representative was elected bringing each country to a total of three. Vice-reps serve terms that gradually increase in length. First is three years, then six years, and finally, ten years. It hasn’t happened yet, but after the ten year mark if they are still in office, then they are allowed to stay as long as they like unless there is a reason to remove them.”
“At the end of each term an election is held, and a candidate can run against a current vice-rep, though they generally run unopposed. Citizens can also vote for ‘no-option’ which wouldn’t choose any candidate, and would forcibly remove the current one from office. I believe this has only happened twice so far. Representatives have an unlimited term from the beginning, and are only removed from office through either retirement or violations. When they leave, one of the Vice-Reps takes their place. If it’s through retirement, then the Rep chooses their replacement. If it’s through violations, then the citizens vote.”
When Callum finished talking, Gauld made a rather loud and unseemly snoring noise. “Oh, are you done? Geez Callum, my youngest could have explained that in about two sentences and would have been way cuter while doing it. Alright, next explain the balance of power between Reps and Vice-Reps, and try to keep it shorter this time.”
“Um, I’ll try,” Callum started again. “The balance of power refers to the CPs voting system. When it comes to official votes, each country gets two. The first vote goes to the Representative, and the remaining vote is divided up among each Vice-Rep. So the more vice-reps you have, the less weight their individual vote has. Through this system, a country could essentially negate its own vote if the Reps and Vice-Reps vote opposingly.”
“Exactly right,” Gauld confirmed. “And that’s the situation I’ve found myself in. My Vice-Reps have been a huge pain in my side as of late. We almost always vote on opposite sides which makes it like we aren’t even involved. Two of them aren’t too infuriating, and can be reasoned with on occasion, but the third has it out for me.”
“How to put this delicately…” Gauld pondered for a moment. “He’s a mawhging zjikbag, and I want him to die horribly. That’s as nicely as I can put it. Somehow, I ended up on his bad side, and now he’s using his entire political career to spite me. No matter what I vote, he will always vote the other way. Even if the entirety of the CP senate voted unanimously on something, he would be the single opposing vote solely to not vote with me. Ah, our elevator is here. We’ll continue this in a minute since you’re about to be incapacitated for a bit...”
Indeed, the elevator in front of them did ding open, and the two of them stepped inside. Callum was surprised when the elevator started going down. He had assumed they were already as far underground as they could be. His eyes widened when the wall opposite the door became clear, and light flooded through. Through the glass wall, he could see a world he didn’t know existed.
In front of him was a vast open space, the likes of which should be entirely impossible underground. It was a large expansive circle, and Callum could just barely make out the other side. Along the walls of the circle were endless windows, and at least a hundred elevators running up the sides just like the one he was currently inside of. There had to be over 200 stories, and Callum looked at the elevator numbers to confirm it. They were currently on floor 219 and descending.
At the bottom of the circle was a park, much larger than any he’d ever seen. It alone could be the size of an average sized city. There were ponds, flowers, trees, playgrounds, and thousands enjoying everything it had to offer. The sky was fake, but it felt just like being outside, with clouds floating by and a bright sun beaming. The trees in the park were rustling, meaning there was at least some form of artificial wind.
Surrounding the park on all sides were places to go for a day out on the town. He could spot a movie theater, shops, restaurants, and endless people flowing in and out of them. This wasn’t an underground bunker like he had guessed. This was a city, living and breathing. In the sky, Prosper City News was displayed, but most people seemed to be ignoring it. “Can I ask what the population is here?” Callum asked
“Oh, it’s been a while since I’ve looked, but it’s well over a million,” Gauld answered.
“A million…” Callum repeated. “You know what, I can believe it, but with so many people... How has this possibly stayed a secret?”
“That’s actually a lot simpler than you’d think,” Gauld smirked. “Very few people ever leave, that’s what it boils down to. It’s not as ominous as you were probably imagining. Almost all of the original contractors who built it a decade ago are still here, living with their families of course. They perform maintenance, along with any expansions that we need. As for the rest of the staff, it’s slightly less savory, but honestly I’m rather pleased with it.”
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“The majority of them are criminals. Not the dangerous ones of course, those who were either in the wrong place at the wrong time or debtors. They get the option of rotting in prison, or being given a job and a nice place to live. After they’ve paid off their debts to society, they’re free to leave. Most never do though, and yes there is actually a process for people to leave. I will admit, it’s rather tedious. One look at the stack of paperwork makes people re-evaluate their choice.”
“Sorry, this is all just a bit to process,” Callum was in a daze. “It’s just hard for me to accept what I see in front of me as actually being reality.”
“And what you’re seeing isn’t all of it either!” Gauld seemed oddly proud of this. “This is only the residential area. It’s nothing but private quarters and offices, oh and a school for people’s children. There’s also a college. I wouldn’t mind if you wanted to take a few courses to further your degree while you’re here as long as it doesn’t interfere with your other duties.”
“Beneath the park down there, it goes even farther. Below that surface extends another world just as large as this one. That’s where most of the secret and important stuff is kept. I’d say it extends just as far as this half, if not more.”
“Umm, is it alright to be telling me that?” Callum was wary.
“Probably not,” Gauld shrugged. “But oh well. You’ll need to know all that in the future anyways, and in regards to that, let’s resume our conversation. We’ll be in this elevator for quite a while still. Contrary to a normal office structure where the big dogs get the nice view, the VIP offices and residences are all near the bottom. This is so we can get to all of our allegedly important destinations quicker. Normally, we'd use the express elevator dedicated specifically for our use only, but I thought it would be nice to take you the scenic way for your first time.”
“So… why you’re my intern… The short answer is that I hijacked you. Originally, you were supposed to intern for some lobbyist, or copywriter, or... I don’t know… but you get the jist, basically a bottom-feeder from your country. But I stole you away! You’re welcome! I did it for my own political future, because I need someone I can manipulate… Did I just say manipulate? I clearly meant mold or mentor. You’re hearing things!”
“Umm, it’s not that I don’t mind that my internship got changed, but a bit of advanced warning would have been nice,” Callum interjected. “How long ago did you change my plans?”
“Yesterday, now hush and never interrupt me again,” Gauld glared at him and put a shushing finger to her lips. “As I mentioned earlier, I’m in a bit of a political stalemate, but that will change rather soon. Savvish, that scum-eater I mentioned earlier, is about to reach the end of his second term and will face re-election next year. But that’s not going to happen, because just recently I caught wind of a little, highly incriminating scandal he’s involved in.” Gauld chuckled menacingly to herself for a moment, which creeped Callum out quite a bit.
“It hasn’t been made public yet, and I plan to keep it that way until just before the next election. Currently, he is set to run unopposed and I want to keep it that way. That will leave no time for any upstarts to form a proper campaign. This is where you come in, Callum, my soon-to-be bright shining star. At the end of your internship, I am going to hire you as a permanent aide. Now, I’m going to impart a well-kept secret to you: a loophole in the election system.”
“It is believed by basically everyone that in order for someone to become a Vice-Representative of a country, that person must be a citizen of it. However, that is not the case! All that is required is for them to hold a political position in that country. So yes, you, Callum, will run unopposed as the next Vice-Representative of Regend. Of course, there’s a chance of a no-option, but I’ll take care of that. I am going to make sure you have the best campaign Regend has ever seen.”
Callum desperately tried to chime in, his mind filled with a flurry of questions, but Gauld pinched his lips shut. “Yes yes, you want to know, ‘oh, why me?’ and all that. I bet you’re thinking ‘I’m just some nobody political upstart with big dreams and not-yet compromised morals. Why would she possibly pick me for this?’”
“It’s exactly because you’re nobody that I want you Callum. You’ve done well in school, but you have yet to make a single wave. Oh, I’ve looked into you quite a bit. You’re the kind of person that people just walk all over because you don’t know how to stand among them. Instead, you just flop on the ground and become a doormat. So, my shiny new doormat, I’m going to turn you into my ideal puppet…! I didn’t just say puppet. Obviously I said pupil, or maybe prodigy. Just pick a ‘P’ word that lets you sleep at night.”
“I’m sure I’m coming off as rather aggressive right now, but it doesn’t need to be that way.” Gauld let go of his lips and went back to wearing her professional smile. “I genuinely do want to work with you, Callum. I read your thesis, you know. It was a bit drab, but the ideas in it were genuinely insightful. Our political values line up surprisingly well, and I believe that the two of us working together will lead to a bright future for Regend and the entire world. What do you say?” Gauld held out her hand, prompting him to shake it.
Callum raised his own hand in response, but hesitated. “What happens if I refuse, or if I don’t live up to your expectations?” he asked sheepishly.
Without breaking eye-contact, Gauld reached into her jacket. She pulled out a picture of his home, or rather his parent’s home since he hadn’t fully made it on his own yet. Then, she pulled out a lighter, flicked it on, and lit the corner of the picture on fire. Within a second, the picture was gone, just a few black specks floating in the air. “Just so you know, I don’t smoke,” Gauld emphasized. “So I had to go out and purchase a lighter, then carry it all day solely for this moment. Do I need to elaborate further?”
“No! No… happy to work with you Gauld!” Callum anxiously grabbed her hand with both of his and shook it with vigor. He imagined it was likely quite unpleasant for her, due to the amount of sweat now seeping from his palms. “But, since I’m now your accomplice… err confidant, is it okay if I ask a few questions?”
“Good initiative, I wouldn’t have it any other way,” Gauld seemed cheerful. “You’re allowed to ask me anything as long as it isn’t about wanting us to have a secret love affair. Sorry kiddo, but I’m a happily married woman. Even if you are cute and my husband doesn’t look at me like he used to, it would still be wrong of us. Don’t stare at me like that, Callum!” After feigning a bit of drama, Gauld laughed to herself once more.
“Wouldn’t it be best to go ahead and leak the scandal now?” Callum inquired. “If he’s being as much of a brick wall as you implied, the next months will mean you’ll essentially accomplish nothing whenever you can’t convince the other two. If you got him out now, you could make progress as well as get credit for getting rid of him. That would grant you a lot of political sway in the election for his replacement.”
“So, it wasn’t just your thesis. You really are rather insightful, Callum,” Gauld smirked. “Believe me, I’ve considered that option, but it just adds a few more variables I’m not comfortable with. In a few days, I’m going to make a potentially career-ending move. Well, it would be for someone who isn’t me. I’m going to confront Savvish and tell him exactly all the dirt I have on him. When it comes to schemes, this is normally the last thing you want to do, since it would give him a chance to retaliate. Even I have a few skeletons I’d rather not come to light, though none of them are as bad as his.”
“I’m going to make a deal with Savvish. He’ll know I’d have no choice but to come forth with the information, or I’d be liable to be charged with abetting. So, him trying to bribe me otherwise would be pointless. What I can promise him is to tamper with the evidence, and make his scandal seem more like a blemish. I’ll make him believe he can continue his career, as long as he starts working with me. So, for the next few months he’ll become a loyal lapdog who votes any way I tell him. Beats him being kicked to the curb and potentially going to jail. He’d be stupid not to take it.”
“You really are rather conniving, aren’t you Gauld?” Callum couldn’t help but utter. Whoever had made the post that day about her eccentricities couldn’t be farther from the mark. She was insane, but somehow, he couldn’t bring himself to dislike her.
“That’s the sweetest thing anyone has said to me all day,” Gauld chirped. The elevator then dinged, and they’d finally reached their destination: Floor 3. They stepped off the elevator, and Callum was immediately bewildered yet again. The hallway was rather large, much wider than should be needed.
A road was in the middle of it, like one would find anywhere. It was paved black and there were lines painted on it. The road on the side closest to him suddenly glowed red, making Callum want to investigate closer, but Gauld put a hand on his shoulder to stop him. A second later a man went zooming by, standing on what looked like a larger version of the robotic vacuums that had been recently gaining popularity. When the man was gone, the road went back to its normal color.
“Better watch your step, Callum, or you’ll end up as roadkill,” Gauld warned him.
“Just what was that?” Callum asked after he caught his breath.
“It’s a personal mover,” Gauld explained. “This place is so huge that getting around on foot would take forever. So, those little buggers get us around fast. Honestly, I didn’t like them when they were first installed, but they’re just so Cosdamned convenient. To get one, just stand near the road and squeeze your pendant.” Gauld demonstrated, and a large white puck popped out of the ground, just off to the side of the road. “These things only go one way, so make sure you’re standing on the correct side of the road depending on the direction you want to go.”
Gauld stood on her puck, and prompted Callum to do the same. “Once you’re on it, squeeze to go, and squeeze again to stop. If you’re feeling adventurous you can just jump off too. It’ll be able to tell that you’re not there anymore. If someone is coming, it’ll wait to start moving until they pass.” She squeezed her pendant and took off. Callum did the same and his puck began following hers.
They were both moving at blazing speed, but somehow it didn’t quite feel like it. The ride was a lot more stable than Callum thought it would be. In under a minute, they had traversed to the other side of the Floor 3 ring. Gauld stopped her puck in front of her office, and Callum’s slowed down automatically to not crash, so he hopped off of it. The two pucks then scooted off to the side, and sunk back down into the floor.
Does this place ever stop having surprises? Callum wondered to himself. As he stood there lost in thought, the door a few offices down opened, and a man stepped out into the hall.
“Oi, Callum, that’s Savvish!” Gauld whispered to him. “This is my first official order as your boss. You’re to join me in pointing and laughing at him.” Before getting confirmation from Callum, Gauld acted. She pointed at Savvish, and began laughing heartily. Callum was confused, and wasn’t sure what to do, but eventually gave in after a few seconds of being glared at.
The two of them laughed in Savvish’s direction, until he finally turned around to inspect the commotion. When he saw it was Gauld, his face flushed red with anger. He then spun around, and stomped off towards his next destination. This made Gauld laugh even louder, until she winded herself. Content with her mocking, she opened her office, and ushered Callum inside.
The office was smaller than Callum expected for someone of Gauld’s standing, but it was still quite large for one built in a place with limited space. It was fancily furnished, and one wall was covered in screens, all tuned into different news sources. Otherwise, there was nothing really notable about it. Gauld walked over to the window, and gestured for Callum to join her.
Callum stared out the window, but wasn’t quite sure what he was looking for. “This is my favorite view,” Gauld said, almost tranquilly as she stared down at a nearby playground with dreamy eyes. “I’m sure that makes me sound like a pedophile, but I can’t deny the truth. Before I worked here, I was on the top floor of a skyscraper. Sure it was pretty, but this just soothes my soul.”
“When we first moved here, my husband would bring my children there to play. I’d just watch them for hours, even though they never knew I was. As you can imagine, I didn’t get a lot of work done back then. All of them are too old now to still play there of course, but I still love watching it. It gives me perspective of just what I’m doing this for. Also, all the little children are so cute I just wanna pinch their cheeks and give them candy!”
Gauld then gave Callum the tour of her office: where everything was kept, the organization system of files, even the location of her hidden safe. He had no idea why on Rathe she showed him that. Then, her watch beeped, and she looked at it with wide eyes. “Ah zjik, we got distracted. I meant to just show you where the office was, but now we’re running late. A session is about to start, we need to hurry up.”
“Umm, is it really alright for me to join you?” Callum asked excitedly, but he was still wary.
“Of course it is,” Gauld declared. “We’re allowed to bring whomever we want, within reason. A few eyebrows might be raised as to why an intern fresh off the bus is there, but as my pawn you need to be kept up to date on all the issues.” Callum internally sighed since she was no longer even remotely trying to cover up that he was being used. He then followed her out of the office, and they got back onto pucks.
In less than a minute, they were standing in front of a red elevator door with the word ‘Restricted’ projected in front of it in big letters. “This is the express elevator I mentioned earlier. There’s around a dozen of them throughout each ring,” Gauld explained. “I’ve given you authorization to use it, but you’ll only be able to take it to specific floors when you’re not with me.” The two of them hopped onto the elevator and headed down to the session.
The session hall was on floor -1, which could only be accessed by express elevators. There were floors below it that normal ones could access, but this one was wholly restricted. When they stepped off the elevator, they were in a staging area, which was basically just a blank open space with a few chairs, restrooms, and a mix of personal and official security guards. In front of them were large doors, with a timer counting down above it. Once the timer hit zero, the doors would be locked, and no one would be allowed in, even Representatives.
This caused Gauld to panic, since only a few seconds were left on the timer. She ripped open the door, and practically shoved Callum inside. The door closed behind them, and then there was a loud clunk: the sound of them locking. Thankfully, no one seemed to notice their late arrival, or they simply didn’t care. As Callum followed Gauld over to her desk, a disembodied voice began speaking. “The meeting for Quadruneber 19th, 2077 is now in session. 377 of 449 are in attendance. Details of all those absent will be present in the logs.”
Callum sat down next to Gauld when they got to her desk, and then he took a look around the room. Most meeting halls were in a semi-circle formation, but this one was a full circle. There was a podium in the middle, and the Representative of Horage took the stand. His face was soon projected on the walls around the room for those who couldn’t see his frontside. It seemed he was in charge of leading the meetings. He started off by going over formalities. Callum was definitely interested, since it was his first time, but he couldn’t stop his eyes from wandering.
The childish side of him couldn’t help but gush at every Representative he saw. Even some of his long-term political idols were in attendance, and he felt like he was going to faint. Maybe he could get Gauld to introduce him to a few of them later, as recompense for being her toy. Another thing he quickly noticed was that there were too many desks. Each country had enough space for the desk of their representative, along with 5 potential vice-reps, but there were still more than should be allocated for. Then, Callum noticed some of the flags. Not all of them belonged to member nations of the CP.
I see, so they’re leaving space open in case those countries join in the future. It really was quite impressive how much of the world was part of it, with a dozen more countries joining since the start of the year. A lot of them had joined out of fear of the new Fiend threat. Callum started to wonder if this was perhaps part of the Drazahs' plan. He had a lot of thoughts on them, but this was an angle he hadn’t yet considered.
The session went on for roughly an hour and a half, into the early afternoon. It was a tiring experience, partly from all the new information, but largely due to being stared at by Savvish the entire time. Gauld hadn’t been kidding when she said he had it out for her. As for the information in the meeting, he had been able to keep up with a lot of it, but there was just as much specific information he was lost on from not having prior context.
Gauld stretched when they got out of the session hall and yawned, “Let’s go get some lunch, Callum. I’ll take you to a nice place only us allegedly important people have access to.” Callum was barely listening to her words as they waited for an elevator that was heading down. He was still beaming over what he had just witnessed, which was surely the highlight of his life up to this point.
However, there had been something off about that meeting. It was much more civil than he expected. Every single person remained calm, and everything was discussed thoroughly without much emotional attachment. A lot of topics had been covered: wellbeing of countries, plans for the future, a couple pressing matters, and a few new bills that some Reps were trying to push forward. There had even been a vote on the standardization and accountability of insurance practices, which passed by a decent margin.
There was one topic that was noticeably missing: the Drazahs and Fiends. Not a single word had been uttered about them, which Callum found hard to believe. He understood that they weren’t the center of the world, and there were other matters that were just as important, but not even doing a check-up on them was baffling. He knew that the CP wasn’t ignoring them entirely, and had plans in the works for dealing with them. It was possible they were only discussed on certain days, or after major events to avoid taking up all of the session time.