Record:Grand Council Meetings
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Select transcripts from weekly meetings between the T'vaqi Grand Council.
[Grand Magisters V'sha, Q'so, and Pili gather in a triangular office for a routine weekly meeting. V'sha and Pili sit in their respective chairs, but Q'so elects to remain standing, pacing around his seat.]
V'sha: Q'so, if you could sit down, please.
Q'so: I don't see why I have to.
Pili: Well, it's more of a formality. Helps... keep the group cohesive.
[Q'so sits down on the arm of his chair. V'sha frowns.]
V'sha: Well then. The meeting commences now. We will maintain civil and relevant discussion regarding government matter for one hour at minimum, more if—
Q'so: Do you really have to say that every damn time?
Pili: Again, it's more of a formality. And please keep rude language to a minimum. Civil and relevant, remember.
[Silence. Pili shuffles uncomfortably in his seat.]
V'sha: If anyone would like to raise a discussion topic, please do so now.
Q'so: Actually, I do have one. When are we going to stop being cowards?
V'sha: I do not grasp your meaning.
Q'so: And that's what I don't get. You've been here the longest, Dimasi. You saw both of your partners die in the span of less than a year. Are you not worried about your own safety?
V'sha: The deaths of Voti and Ila were unfortunate, but I cannot attribute them to anything more than coincidence. There is nothing that indicates I am in any present or future danger as of now.
Q'so: Bullshit. Ila dropped dead from some unknown, unpreventable, probably fatal disease from who-knows-where. Voti got a bullet to the head after the Modhesian Army started following him during their pathetic terror campaign. You know what the common denominator is?
V'sha: I believe you are insinuating that deliberate foreign involvement is at play, but I would strongly urge you to reconsider.
Q'so: So at least your CC Score wasn't faked. You're smart enough to figure that out.
Pili: I would refrain from spreading false rumors about fellow Grand Magisters—
Q'so: Oh shut your damn mouth, Pili! What the hell do *you* know? You've been here three goddamn months! Someone like you—
[Long silence. Pili opens his mouth to speak, then hesitates and decides against it.]
V'sha: I will provide a topic, if nobody else wishes to. What is to be done with the miner population regarding emigration in the wake of the Silicon Rebellion?
Q'so: I don't care if they emigrate or what. Anyone with enough CC to walk on two legs is smart enough to know that joining the military is better than slaving away in the mines. And the military is exactly where we want them.
Pili: Mining labor is the backbone of our economy. We cannot simply ignore their population dwindling, especially in the wake of a rebellion.
Q'so: Havata, Pili, are you blind? We're in danger. This nation is in danger. V'sha made the idiotic decision to open communications with everyone else when we had no army to speak of. We might as well be holding a big sign with the words “attack me” on it. They might seem friendly on your precious IGRS, but they're subtle. And you know the most subtle way to collapse a government?
V'sha: Q'so, please reconsider your viewpoint—
Q'so: You take it down from the inside. Two Grand Magisters dead, terrorists bombing the streets, economy one mistake away from crumbling. We need to strike first. The miners are a lost cause. I want every citizen old enough to carry a gun and dumb enough to use it to join the army.
V'sha: This is madness. You are clearly unwell. I urge you to rest and reevaluate your proposal, and you will find that it is most unreasonable.
Pili: I'm inclined to agree with V'sha.
Q'so: Damn you all. Voti was the only one with any goddamn sense.
[Q'so storms out of the meeting hall. Pili reclines in his seat. V'sha glances at a clock.]
V'sha: It would appear we have nine tenths of required discussion time remaining.