章節 33: "Bingo" On Both Sides
The chamber, which had before carried one booming voice after another all around its gilded halls and beyond to the outer ring, was silent. Every person present locked their eyes on one individual, presiding over the discussions from the highest vantage point possible. Once thick enough to coat the representatives, the tension now existed in a state of near tangibility; to say electricity ran hot in the blood of everyone present wouldn't be far from the truth.
One side, accepting the natural break between conversation and yelling descending. The Third Headman glanced up at his ally, unsure of the Prime Beacon's intentions. The man was by no means dull--he'd have never reached his position otherwise. It was simple and unfortunate that he was the kind of person to stick to thinking within the room, never curious enough to stick his nose into the adjacent doors to see what was beyond—a man of rules and precedents.
The Eighth Headman needed less time than it took for paste to steam to piece together the gambit the defacto figurehead of the militarists implemented. Eyes full of the mirth and humor In-3 had reserved in his not moments ago, she draped herself across her dais in a clear breach of decorum. With the current situation, no one could bother to tell her off. Most of the representatives didn't notice her in the first place.
And the newest addition to their ranks--uncertain in the details, though undeniable if asked to anyone present--was working to school his expression, torn apart with more uncertainty than his colleague from the Third. He had worked hard to preserve his ray's neutrality from the growing conflicts within the chamber that became harder to avoid as the years advanced, much like he was sure his predecessors contended with. It was understandable that he was livid with what happened this session. To have all that effort over generations negated by a simple address from one person was enough to pop a vein. The Prime Beacon had been right: the Sixth Headman would be seeking him out following this session's conclusion.
The other side never chose; the blanket of silence was thrust upon them, smothering their momentum and lashing it down with scutumsteel cables. The Fourth could only swallow their complaints; the Fifth and Seventh couldn't speak without raising notions of hypocrisy. And the Second never had anything to say to begin with, being one of the rays that was content to remain silent for the time being. Or they never had the chance to add their voice in the first place. The Prime Beacon's eyes narrowed as he scrutinized Ch-4. She was far from the only nebulous factor in the chamber, but she was the most immediate concern. In-3, for all his volume and presence, was the vocoder in the home interest's operation, nothing more. The Fourth joined in because it had a historical precedent to back the Fifth, and the Seventh, a ray dedicated to the birthing and preservation of life, would always be against the First's methods.
But Ch-4? He frowned. Her ray provided a valuable service: energy, something that every part of the Directory needed, barring none. The Second should also be neutral, like the Sixth: why make enemies with one ray, when all of them could be an ally? The Second, easier than any other, could cripple the current government's operations by messing with the energy budget allocations. Not that they ever would, but the mere idea was enough to make the other rays present their amicable sides first, whether in casual conversations or intense, heated negotiations.
He had delayed things long enough. Pushing back because of his wariness would only postpone the inevitable. He knocked on his dais, spreading a second stretch of silence over the first. "I don't wish to impose upon you all, but this chamber does still have further discussions to hold. And this, while official, is still an unplanned session…" He offered the sincerest grimace he was capable of. "...and should resolve on time so we can return to our duties."
The home interest raised almost no rejection of his proposal–as he had learned long ago, the vocal minority consistently included In-3. He needed to reserve a further three minutes to placate the man enough to enter the chamber into a short voting session; the man's own allies did nothing to assist, content to watch the Prime Beacon struggle to rein in the Fifth Headman. The eye twitch returned sometime during that…experience.
Following the preestablished order of the chamber's occupants, each direct representative stood on their dais and announced the vote of their ray.
"Ray of Military and Defense: Against."
"Ray of Energy: For." For the first time in that session, the woman with hair spoke. Her voice was soft and wispy, only carried to the necessary ears by the echoes of the chamber.
"Ray of Public Information: Against."
"Ray of Agriculture: For."
"Ray of Industry, Manufacturing, and Sustainability: For."
"Ray of Exotic Pursuits: Against!"
"Ray of Ray of Genetic, Reproductive, and Developmental Affairs: For."
"Ray of Home Security: Against."
Try as he might, he couldn't keep the tension out. Like an infection, it spread from his shoulders down, claiming territory at a startling speed until he felt uncomfortable from how rigid he sat. He tried to convince himself that it wouldn't be the end of humanity, should the Sixth's energy budget face reduction. From a realistic perspective, all that would happen was the pace of their R&D operations would slow; the projects themselves would still reach completion one day. Had this meet occurred a day ago, this would be the end of his line of thought and his immediate worries. It'd be a disappointing result, but it wasn't like he hadn't sampled defeat before. Having lived a life longer than average, he had the pleasure of losing to both fellow humans and the Aud.
But this wasn't a day ago. Tool's final visit had raised his vigilance, made him reevaluate everything he'd been planning before it, and forced him to consider what was important. Tool had said the end was coming. Not already here, but no doubt arriving shortly. His immediate reaction was to rearrange his timetables, pushing everything forward. Well, not this particular item. If he could, he would've preferred to give the Sixth a greater energy budget allocation so their progress could increase even further; it was a shame the home interest would oppose him with such vehement intent that it was pointless to pursue. His hands were tied. Preserving their existing budget was the extent of what he could do.
Thus, explaining his discomfort, as existing in a scenario where he couldn't completely control every variable involved was antithetical to his nature. Control, more than power, was what he needed, and they denied him it. It was ironic, then, that the only way he was getting what he wanted here was through a second gambit.
The Sixth wasn't the only neutral ray in the Directory--er, formerly neutral, that was. Its position as an uninvolved faction with the divide engulfing the government would have been untenable if it had no allies who also shared its stance of neutrality. The Ninth, holding jurisdiction over humanity's education system and data archives, held a close relationship with the Sixth. The two of them guarded the other's back against any potential advances from the militarists or the home interest. And was the Sixth not wrenched away by circumstances beyond their control–ironic again, that the way he maintained his control was by depriving others of theirs–this status quo would've persevered for who knew how much longer humanity persisted.
Without the Sixth, the Ninth would become another victim all the same, even if it lacked a relationship with the militarists. The home interest, currently in a more radical phase of its continuity, withheld little to determine bystander from opposition and would make no exceptions for the Ninth. Ninth Headman could discern this with less effort than his own eye color and was reliable enough to be trusted to act to preserve his ray's current state.
"Ray of Education and Past." Their headman took a breath, locking eyes with him. "Against."
Once, humanity would say "bingo" when expressing satisfaction at a desired outcome. He didn't even know what it meant. And, yet, whispered in satisfied secrecy all the same: "...bingo."
And it so happened that there was an easy way to achieve this: as a show of good faith, the Ninth, a tiebreaker vote between the four-to-four, could vote against the energy budget reduction, not only ensuring the good relationship between it and the Sixth continued but extending an offering of good faith to the militarists–the First. Which made the final vote five-to-four.
The headman stood in unison and rapped the sides of their stands. Their aides below were scrawling away or speaking with hushed tones into communicators. He looked around, struggling to keep his face free of a smirk. Another reason why he didn't find himself suited to politics. In a skirmish, he had no reason to learn to school his expressions.One of the aides for the Sixth stepped onto the speaking podium below Sixth Headman's dais. "The vote is clear. The proposed energy budget reduction of the Sixth is null."
Grumbles originated from one side of the chamber, but the direct representatives quelled them. "As this meet has decided." Ch-4 bowed her head compliantly. Her hair fell forward, blocking her face like a curtain, and only worsening his suspicions of her. He had an idea of what she could open discussions for next to make his life even more--
"It had come to the attention of the Fifth Headman that," In-3 nodded at the acknowledgment, "one week ago, two of humanity's war assets deviated from their scheduled patrol path. They should have returned to the Last Light for regular maintenance and restocking, but they never arrived. At the time, the Fifth worked to keep this from becoming common knowledge until it could determine the reason for this irregularity."
"Since then, the Flux Monolith and the Dervish's Gale have not only failed to return, they have fallen outside the range of the Last Light's transmission towers." Some of the occupants of the chamber lacked a proper background in communications technology, forcing her to explain. "The Last Light's transmission towers have a strong enough signal to reach every corner of the Gaiss Hollow and even stretch further into some of the most immediate greater tunnels. Given that there was no receiver to connect to, there are two outcomes."
She raised a couple of fingers. "One, two of humanity's war assets faced destruction and failed to avoid it. Or two, they are currently deep within the greater tunnel systems. Either way, the fact stands that they rerouted from their intended course when they should not have, and the Fifth wasn't responsible for this unexpected change. No, I'm sure many present will not expect to hear the orders came from the First."
Permitting a moment for the inevitable outcries of shock and outrage to release, she struck her dais after to regain quiet. The dull boom traveled around like a wraith, refusing to fade in its entirety and returning every few seconds like a haunting echo. "More so, from a specific position. His." A pointing hand leveled itself against him, managing to feel both accusatory and indifferent at once.
"Prime Beacon, please explain."
每周推薦票狀態
-- 推薦票
榜單 
-- 推薦票