[Lauchenoiria]

Meeting Room 2D, Council Building, Kerlile
17th October 2020

The Committee on Xiomera sat around the table, watching the subtitled broadcast by Calhualyana for the third time before anyone was allowed to comment. Once to absorb content, twice to ensure legitimacy, thrice to form opinions. The Committee, composed of Councillors Pierre, Hale, Georgiou and Greenwood alongside Foreign Secretary Katrine Porter and the Aurora known as Zichitla or Nelly depending on who you were, had been operating since May and so far had managed to work well together in spite of its composition.

“Okay, so the present situation is,” Georgiou began, her role being to summarise and peacekeep within the committee itself, “we have troops in the Zapotlán area, under the command of Texoccoatl, and three of Greenwood’s… interrogators at Chuatztlapoc alongside one former Aurora who remained in Xiomera and is now loyal to them primarily. Western Xiomera is in the process of coming under control of the allied forces but the east remains a stronghold of the usurpers. Two former Auroras are missing, one detained, and seven former Restricted Region employees have committed treason, including one Mariya Adema. Calhualyana has deposed Xochiuhue and assumed his position. Thoughts?”

“This Calhualyana appears to want peace, and can’t be as hostile towards us as Xochiuhue was, surely? I think perhaps we need to take her up on her offer of discussing peace, after all…” Councillor Pierre mused, only to be interrupted.

“No,” said Zichitla, and everyone turned to stare incredulously at her. While Auroras were granted freedoms other Kerlian citizens were deprived, Councillors still greatly outranked one, and interrupting Councillor Pierre was an affront that would have, in the old Kerlile, earned Zichitla a thorough beating.

“Excuse me?” Pierre said sharply.

“Do not trust Calhualyana. She is worse than Xochiuhue, worse than all of them. She may share our gender, but she will not forget that we backed Yauhmi. That woman would murder her own child to get ahead.”

“Huh, so just like a Women’s Party Councillor then,” joked Hale, earning her glares from Pierre and Greenwood.

“Calhualyana tried to have you detained when you were leaving Xiomera,” Pierre nodded to Zichitla. “I recall that from your debriefing. It stands to reason that you would dislike the woman, and think ill of her. But ending this war with minimal bloodshed and minimal threat to our own country is the priority, now that Yauhmi is safe.”

“I’m sorry, Pauline, you’re not seriously suggesting we attend peace talks?” laughed Hale incredulously. “Did you not swear on your second-eldest-daughter’s life that never again would you allow foreigners to trick us into peace treaties?”

“Maybe we should watch the clip again, cause I didn’t see the word ‘treaty’ in there. Attending discussions does not commit us to the signing of a treaty. Every second we are at war, we are risking the lives of brave women, and I suppose some men too given we actually have allies in this conflict,” shrugged Pierre.

“Remarkable,” Hale said, deliberately widening her eyes in an expression of fake awe. “A Pierre Councillor, arguing that we should seek peace and not war. Truly, will wonders never cease? Perhaps we should get her checked out, make sure she’s really Pauline and not a Sanctarian in a Pauline Pierre suit.”

“Goddess, this is serious, Jennifer! Can you stop acting like a clown for five minutes!?” Georgiou cried out, getting sick of the constant joking. “I like the idea of peace, if there is an avenue for that, we should at the very least consider it.”

“NO!” yelled Zichitla, standing up and slamming her hands down on the table, making Katrine Porter, who was doing her best to remain silent, jump. “If you attend peace talks with that woman, we won’t end up with another Haven Accords… we will end up with a dead Councillor. I don’t think a single word out of her mouth is true! She is a fake, a liar, and she will kill us all before she cedes a single cubic millimetre of territory to Yauhmi’s faction. She will not settle until all her enemies are in the ground and…”

“That’s quite enough, Aurora Nelly,” Georgiou raised her voice slightly, placing a hand on Zichitla’s shoulder and encouraging her to sit back down.

“The Aurora is right,” said Greenwood, speaking for the first time since the meeting had been convened. “This woman who calls herself Empress convinced seven former Restricted Region employees to defect, including a woman who once won an award for services to the Matriarchy. She is dangerous. And she is protecting Mariya Adema, who needs to be executed for treason as soon as possible. We cannot trust this woman.”

“Thank you, Councillor Greenwood,” Pierre said distastefully. “Hale, aside from jokes, what are your thoughts on the matter?”

“A tricky one,” Jennifer said, shifting posture to signify she was ready to discuss things seriously. “I am of course in favour of peace, and a settlement which prevents further bloodshed is naturally desirable. Yet Calhualyana is very much against reform of Xiomera’s system from what I know, and would be a tyrant to any people in territory ruled over by her. Thus my principles dictate that we must fight her, and cannot allow her to remain in her position.”

“So we have two Councillors for accepting discussions of peace, and two against. Secretary Porter, what are your thoughts? Naturally the President will need to approve any measures but it would be good to know what someone who has dedicated time to this thinks,” Georgiou asked of the non-Councillor.

“Councillors, Aurora, I do not presume to have the authority to make decisions on this matter, and solely advise… however, the state of our economy, the deaths we have seen in the past years of members of our armed forces… if there is an option for peace, I think we should take it, and I feel that most of the other Councillors will agree.”

“That’s true,” nodded Hale. “I don’t really have any objections to attending discussions, we can at least talk and then if Calhualyana appears unwilling to make the necessary concessions then they’ll fall through. We should go to…”

“I WILL NOT ALLOW THIS!” Zichitla jumped up suddenly, a gun in her hand. Immediately, the Councillors went for their own weapons, Georgiou noticing that hers was not present - Zichitla, not possessing the right to carry a weapon in this building, had somehow managed to swipe Georgiou’s.

“Stand down, Aurora,” said Pierre threateningly.

“We both know that I could kill all of you before you’d even blinked. If I wanted you dead, you would be, Councillor Pierre,” Zichitla said calmly. “I respect you, and I am loyal to the Matriarchy, I swear to you. I am telling you, as the expert on this matter, what you are about to do will risk the security of yourselves and this country. Councillor Greenwood, I would advise you take this matter to the full Council, and call your security to place the other three Councillors under arrest temporarily.”

“You overestimate my commitment to continuing this war, Aurora,” Letitia shook her head. “I’m not going to assist you in staging some kind of coup here. Put the gun down, please.”

“Fools! All of you are fools!” Zichitla yelled, slamming down the gun on the table, making everyone else jump. It did not go off, Zichitla had the careful dexterity of all Auroras.

Pauline quickly pulled open the door and gestured for several security personnel to enter the room. “Detain the Aurora,” she ordered them. The two women glanced nervously at each other and then turned to Zichitla as if she was about to rip their heads off. They stepped towards Zichitla, who dodged out of their grasp.

“You will destroy yourselves. You will destroy the Matriarchy. You can torture me, or execute me, but I came back here because I was loyal to Kerlile. I joined your committee even though Councillor Hale told me I was free to leave because I am loyal to Kerlile. But perhaps the Kerlile I knew is gone. You have become weak. Even Pierre has become weak. Detain me, see if I care. I have suffered worse, in your training centres,” she looked Pierre in the eye, “as an eleven year old child. Your weakness will lead to your fall and the true Kerlile will rise again. Until then, I will be in my cell.”

With that, Zichitla stopped dodging, allowing the two security guards to take hold of her and lead her out of the room. She didn’t struggle, or attempt to escape, allowing herself to be led out of the room with her head held high.

“You’re really an Aurora?” one of the guards asked her eventually as they walked, blurting the question out like it couldn’t be held back.

“I am,” she confirmed, smiling at the guard. “I am of Kerlile, as it should be, not as it has become. Don’t worry, I won’t be any trouble for you, a cell is as good a place as any to hide from the coming destruction.”

“Uh… yes, Madam Aurora,” the guard stuttered, uncertain what to say.

“I hope your families will be safe when it happens,” Zichitla told the guard, tilting her head sympathetically. “If they go down this path, it’s likely Kerlian civilians will die. You should hold them extra-tight tonight. That’s something I was taught, always behave as if tomorrow will never come. Ah, well, good talk.”

They’d arrived at the holding cells in the basement of the Council Building, where any threats to the Council would be held before being transferred to a more permanent facility - or executed on the spot, as needed. Zichitla stepped into the cell without prompting from the guards once it was opened, and smiled warmly at them as they locked her in. Then, she sat on the hard stone slab that served as a bed, crossing her legs and humming to herself.

Outside the cell, the two guards whispered to each other.

“What was she talking about?”

“I don’t know… you don’t think the Council is going to let war come here do you?”

“Auroras can’t betray Kerlile, right? I heard they put some kind of microchip in their brains that makes treason impossible. Which would mean that one really believes some kind of destruction is coming!”

“Surely that’s a rumour?”

“I dunno, have you seen some of that Trivian technology on the banned list? It’s not impossible.”

The two guards walked back upstairs, continuing their conversation in hushed tones as they returned to their duties, doubt seeping into their minds - exactly as Zichitla had planned.