“Silas!” I hissed. Where could he be? The one time I needed him, he was not there. I walked the halls briskly, my head on a swivel trying to think back to where I last saw him. My dress snagged on the corner of a tall white vase and I grabbed the end, pulling, trying to free it quickly. The clock was ticking. If only I could’ve worn pants. Once freed, I bumped into a slightly tall figure, whose arms caught my wrist when I stepped back in surprise. 

“Selene? What are you doing outside of the meeting room? I said I would get you when it’s finished.” The voice said, clearly surprised to see me. 

“Silas, there you are! I’ve been looking for you everywhere.” I huffed my eyes strayed up to his face. His eyes were wide, like he couldn’t possibly put together why I was looking for him. The shock wore off quickly, and he then snapped back into his position as my advisor. “It seems like you have run into an issue. We can discuss on the way back to the meeting room.” We started our journey back and I guess I walked faster than I thought because we were a good way from the ambassadors. As we walked, we passed by other paintings of nature landscapes and even a piece resembling Planet X, with their distinct grey color palette and atmosphere. 

“Silas, I need you to listen close. I’m going to push for a reschedule.” Silas stopped walking and turned to look at me. His face bewildered and mouth open in protest, I could see his mind thinking. He looked so frustrated and even slightly annoyed with me. Maybe my constant jumping around and changing of our plans was finally getting to him. It was odd. Normally when I proposed a change in plan, he argued for a bit, then gave in. But this time, I could see from the look in his eyes that he was determined to pass this bill.

“The whole point of bringing up consumption was to instate the bill as soon as possible. If we push for a reschedule, our economy will crumble even further.” He had a tone of exasperation at my insolence and my understanding of politics. While I may not be the smartest, I knew some things, and this I was completely right about. 

“Silas,” I whispered, taking a step forward, “some things take sacrifice and we need more time. I can’t keep bullshitting my way through meetings. I need to be more prepared.” My voice rose, determination filled my body and packed itself in tight. I was going to get this meeting rescheduled, no matter what. “It’s time for me to learn and prepare. I need to become a better leader than Her. In order to care more, I must learn about the cause.” His nod showed he understood my expression better than ever before.

“If that is what you wish, then I am here to help.” Silas looked at me, as if he was seeing me as responsible for the first time in a while. He turned back around and started walking again. “We can regroup and figure out the best way to move forward after the meeting is over. For now, though, we must hurry. You’re going to be late.”

~~~

My eyes intently watched whoever was speaking. Instead of letting my mind wander, like I had done. I paid as much attention as I could afford and set my sights on fulfilling my goal. “I hope the break gave everyone a chance to regain their wits.”

“I never lost mine, unlike some people.” Ciwe eyed me and studied my face. His eyes seemed to light up with glee, mouth shaping into a smirk. Maybe he could tell what happened, maybe not. All I know is that something made him excited. 

All I had to do was stay calm. If I did that, then no one could get under my skin. I had to keep reminding myself to ignore him, as focusing on my goal was the most important. I rebuilt my composure within seconds and transformed into a dutiful ruler who liked control, even if that may be the opposite. 

“Let’s review what we have gone over today. First, we have the light consumption, to which we decided it will decrease from next month onward, then we have the teller issue. I offered for a bill that states,” I flipped through my notes, “ah here we go, tellers will be given more stories, but we will also teach clone illusions to prevent overwork. The ambassadors brought up legalities and backlash ‘issue pushed to next month’. Our last topic was to finish requests from previous months before the consumption decrease. Oh, and Ambassador Ciwe demanded an,” I trailed off, looking up to find him scowling at me, “infrastructure increase for Lumin, Sol, and the Wandering Isles. The previous was our current issue of debate. I’d like to ask you all at the table, besides those groups, if their demand should be met.”

“I want to introduce a new idea. How about we move the decrease to six months from now?” Vaughn declared her bluish black waves bounced when she nodded her head. “It’s nearly impossible for us to complete all this construction within the month. Especially if we expect excellent results, so if we push decrease by a few months we will have better infrastructure, more jobs, and a better economy, before we begin our decline.” 

“Six months from now is the equinox. New tellers will have already been taught by then, early graduates will have been in the workforce for two to three months. Consumption decrease could be unnecessary by then.” Yaen remarked while their piercing pale eyes made their way around the table, emphasizing their point.

“How long does it take a teller to complete a story, Amelia?” I asked everyone at the table (except me) knew the answer. 

Amelia called for a servant to grab her bag and bring her folder that contained all the necessary data. With a serious bun that contained her luscious curls, she changed her demeanor to a professional one. After checking her notes, she said, “A fast worker can complete one in three months, but on average, it takes five. A slower teller can take as long as ten months.” She looked up at me, giving me a subtle wink before anyone noticed.

I nodded my head in understanding, formulating a plan that would resolve these issues. “How many tellers do we currently have on Earth and how many of those are fast workers?” If I could just buy a bit of time… My hands flew to the surrounding skin around my fingers and nervously picked at those areas.

“Around seven hundred thousand are currently on Earth, which is around fifty percent. Six hundred of those are what we’d consider fast.” Amelia responded, working the numbers through her head before spitting them out to me. She sounded like a robot. Her appearance and demeanor sold the deal for me. 

This is going to take longer than I thought. “Does speed depend on the teller, or can it be taught?” If we can teach the rest of the workforce to be as fast as those six hundred, then we might stand a chance against this consumption increase. “Before you answer, that let me clarify something. As I’ve stated previously, there is a decrease in the human population but an increase in lower-quality light production. However, there is also an increase in universean light consumption, which is why we are discussing this issue. But not once has anyone ever mentioned a plan to find the cause of the increased consumption and eliminate from the source.” I leaned back in my chair, slightly smug but also in a dignified manner. Or at least that’s what I’m going for. 

Roma nodded along in agreement to this statement, his pin straight hair slinked back and forth, swinging like everything expect, “How are we supposed to find the cause if we don’t know when it started?”

“Ah, but we know, Ambassador Roma. Amelia, if you would please.” Amelia brought out a stack of papers from the same folder, and handed them to the same servant to pass around the table. Once the paper reached me, I knew exactly what it was. “Alongside our findings of the actual data, we also found the starting point of this decline to be when the previous supreme leader started her second rule.” I glanced up from the paper to find Ciwe seething with rage. His sun-kissed complexion now seemed sunburnt. Wiln even shared some of this anger that was noticeable by the vein popping out in his neck. The room became quiet enough to hear the grinding of Ciwe’s teeth and the fumes of Wiln’s breath. Usually, they were the cool headed one, but I guess she didn’t tell him about this. I had known about Her, Wiln, and Ciwe’s alliance since before I took her down. I first discovered it when I spied on her and made a record of their meetings. Ciwe visited her more frequently than Wiln did. But when Wiln did, it was extremely important. They often talked about the humans and their production but never about their population and the quality. It was interesting watching her work, the way she effortlessly changed subjects whenever they got too close to her plans. Or how she avoided them for weeks at a time, just to come back with a flawless plan that was sure to avert their attention. Some of it was familiar and inclined me to look back into my own memories to see where this familiarity came from. I couldn’t go too far back without immediately splitting.

“This may sound outrageous to some of you,” I smirked subtly eyeing Ciwe and Wiln. It was nice to make a threat of my own, “but it’s the truth. We tried to dig as deep as we could before the meeting to provide the best information possible. However, we found a break in the records about thirty years back. Someone tampered with the data collection to avoid prosecution and The Nebula revoking their title.” By the end of my explanation, everyone was in disbelief. They must have thought I was mad, but what was even crazier was the sudden burst of the doors. To me, they looked like they were going to come off their hinges. What shocked me the most wasn’t even the outburst, but who was behind it.

“I must speak with you immediately, Supreme Ruler.” The culprit was none other than Silas. He stood by the door, hunched over, attempting to catch his breath. Instead of speaking Universean like we had been using at the table, Silas spoke Monatin, which I’m guessing was for security. His skin was abnormally pale, even worse were his eyes. They looked wide and maybe even teary. He looked like he had seen a ghost.

“We are in the middle of an important meeting. Can’t you find a better time for this?” I quickly reeled in my surprise and responded in Monatin. Everyone was staring. I could feel their eyes burning into Silas and I. Turning to the ambassadors, I apologized in Universean, “please excuse my advisor’s outburst. He does not know the importance of certain issues.”

“Supreme Ruler, I urge you to look at this.” At his insistence, I saw something I did not see before. There was a briefing tablet in his left hand. The green device was used to compile files easier but costly to produce, so they have yet to be popularized. Five exist and we own three of them. The Moon Tower and Brave Isle weavers use the remaining two devices. “If you must.” I curtly responded, switching back to my native language.

Silas carried the device in his arms, tightly clutched to his chest while walking the thirty steps it took to cross the room. Once he was beside me, he lowered the device and the screen read as followed; ‘FOR THE SUPREME RULER’S EYES ONLY’. My eyes quickly skimmed the briefing tablet and I could not control my gasp once I saw what it was about. I whispered to Silas, “You’re showing me this now?” 

“I did some research while you were in the meeting to be productive. Because I visited some far-off places, it delayed my return during recess. I was on my way to compile the data when you interrupted me.” He whispered back, his words came out in a rush. I guess he did not enjoy the attention we were getting from the other ambassadors. “Once I was done, I read over it and knew I had to show you this immediately. I could even find out which kids were involved and their records. It seems like this facility caused the overconsumption and quality the decrease.” He removed the tablet from my view and held it by his side. “Selene, I strongly advise you to withhold this information from the other ambassadors. Not even Amelia.” 

“For once, I agree with you. I don’t think they can handle, nor will they be able to understand it. Now go. We’ve taken too long and they will have tons of questions.” My mind spun at this revelation. I couldn’t believe my eyes. Parts of my brain reopened and tons of images popped out at me. It was a stampede of memories that lasted one second before my brain shut off again. It felt like my mind was being microwaved and then frozen. The temperature change was so drastic that my brain felt like it was going to explode. 

“I almost forgot, The Nebula wants to attend the Solstice Ball.” He added. That made the whiplash even worse, as I would have to prepare the whole damn thing myself and accommodate them. The guest list just kept getting bigger and bigger. 

“We will discuss that matter after I finish up here.” After I made my last statement, Silas promptly got up from his knee and walked out the door. “Apologies for that, my advisor decided now would be a good time for his briefing. On that note, shall we continue our discussion?” 

“What did the device say?” Elaun spoke up for the first time since the beginning of the meeting. She was one of the more quiet ambassadors, but their ability to rule was unmatched. If I had to make a guess, I would say that Lumin has been in its best shape since he took up their position. 

“Classified until further notice. I cannot discuss that information with you all without verifying its credibility.” My misdirection worked as Elaun dropped the matter and protested no longer. 

“Now, as I was saying, finding the root of the problem would be more effective rather than trying to take preemptive measures.” I tried my best to keep the meeting back on track, but I could tell that everyone was wondering what I had been told. Their focus was just simply not there. Fortunately for me, though, it’s exactly what I needed to push for a reschedule. 

Ciwe was in the middle of another declaration about Sol’s need for governmental support and higher military resources when I cut him off. “Seeing as we cannot keep focus on the issue, I believe we should reschedule this topic for next month.” I looked around for the slightest protest, but nothing came. “Since everyone agrees, this meeting is adjourned and we will pick up where we left off next time. I’ll send notes on the meeting’s contents by the end of the week; those with concerns can contact me privately via my advisor or by letter. With that, I will take my leave.” Soon, the servants came in to show everyone to their temporary rooms, as this meeting went a bit later than usual.