08-13-2023, 06:58 PM
Council of Kerlile Chambers
Present Day
“Calm down, all of you!” President Rebecca Arnott shouted, slamming a thick hardback book against the desk several times to hammer home her point. The gathered Councillors of Kerlile, at least those who had not left the country, fell silent – though they did not stop glaring at each other. “One at a time. Chiu, please explain the logic.”
“I am not playing politics,” Councillor Chiu replied calmly. “That is what my colleagues here are struggling to understand. This is not about political expediency; it is about doing what I believe is right. The Founding Mothers were visionaries; and who are we to edit their vision to serve our own purposes? I support the original manifesto, and therefore I oppose its censorship. It is that simple.”
“Except, it is all politics!” Letitia Greenwood snapped. “It is not that I do not understand what you are saying, it is that I do not believe you. This is some kind of ploy, and the timing is deeply suspicious.”
“If you are claiming you are not a gynarchist, then you should leave the Women’s Party at the very least,” Nirmala Patel snapped. “If this was five years ago, you would have been facing execution. Count your blessings and step down, Lia.”
“The Women’s Party was never meant to be like this!” Chiu insisted. “It is you that has corrupted the vision, and therefore it is you who ought to leave.”
“Have we considered that perhaps Councillor Chiu is going senile?” Lucia Viallamando piped up, looking up from her tablet for once. “She is eighty-two, after all. Perhaps a nice retirement is in order.”
“I have all my faculties, thank you very much!”
“STOP!” the President shouted again. “What’s done is done! It’s out there. It’s 2023, you can’t put things back in their box again. The Secret of the Six is out, the old manifesto is out, all of it is out! It’s up to the Women’s Party if you kick Chiu out. I don’t frankly care. I have been trying desperately to hold this country together after the damn war and you are all making things that much harder!”
“This country is falling apart because of you and your so-called reform!” Nirmala Patel snarled. “Perhaps it is you we should be recalling!”
“Oh, cause that ended so well the last time someone tried it!”
“Are you threatening me!?”
“Goddess, I cannot stay here any longer,” Natalia Hart whispered to Rosemary Arnott and Electra Georgiou. The trio hadn’t said a damn word all throughout this meeting. As members of the Secadualist Union and Reform Party (x2), respectively, they did not much care for the internal Women’s Party drama. Each of them already acknowledged that they differed from the Founders in some ways.
“Can we just leave?” Rosemary whispered back.
“Yes,” Georgiou nodded. “This isn’t Full Council without a Hale rep, so you can leave whenever you want.”
In response, Rosemary stood up and headed straight for the door.
“Daughter! Where are you going?” President Arnott demanded.
“Anywhere else but here,” Rosemary answered frankly.
“Sit down and stop being so unprofessional,” her mother snapped.
“Oh, like you’re being professional? Screaming at each other and threatening to kill each other? Give me a break!” Rosemary scoffed, opening the door and leaving with a wave. Natalia Hart took her chance, stood up and, shrugging, followed the younger Councillor out of the door.
“Well then,” Georgiou remarked to the stunned silence that followed. “Perhaps we ought to decide what we’re going to do about Amelia Quinn?”
“Execution, obviously,” Patel replied. Greenwood and Viallamando nodded.
“Come to think of it,” Viallamando mused, “the Founders were the ones behind the Castle of Grapes. So, like, clearly, they saw the light after they wrote the 1919 manifesto. What Chiu here is worshipping is a document written as a theory, before the realities of the creation of Kerlile were discovered. It is something that was written as an ideal. It was never meant to stand up to the scrutiny of the real world. So, Lia, you’re dreaming. Wake up.”
“Okay, that’s it, Lucia. Would you like me to demonstrate just how fit my mind and body still are?” Chiu snapped.
“ENOUGH!” shouted Arnott.
And the cycle this meeting had been trapped in began anew.
Present Day
“Calm down, all of you!” President Rebecca Arnott shouted, slamming a thick hardback book against the desk several times to hammer home her point. The gathered Councillors of Kerlile, at least those who had not left the country, fell silent – though they did not stop glaring at each other. “One at a time. Chiu, please explain the logic.”
“I am not playing politics,” Councillor Chiu replied calmly. “That is what my colleagues here are struggling to understand. This is not about political expediency; it is about doing what I believe is right. The Founding Mothers were visionaries; and who are we to edit their vision to serve our own purposes? I support the original manifesto, and therefore I oppose its censorship. It is that simple.”
“Except, it is all politics!” Letitia Greenwood snapped. “It is not that I do not understand what you are saying, it is that I do not believe you. This is some kind of ploy, and the timing is deeply suspicious.”
“If you are claiming you are not a gynarchist, then you should leave the Women’s Party at the very least,” Nirmala Patel snapped. “If this was five years ago, you would have been facing execution. Count your blessings and step down, Lia.”
“The Women’s Party was never meant to be like this!” Chiu insisted. “It is you that has corrupted the vision, and therefore it is you who ought to leave.”
“Have we considered that perhaps Councillor Chiu is going senile?” Lucia Viallamando piped up, looking up from her tablet for once. “She is eighty-two, after all. Perhaps a nice retirement is in order.”
“I have all my faculties, thank you very much!”
“STOP!” the President shouted again. “What’s done is done! It’s out there. It’s 2023, you can’t put things back in their box again. The Secret of the Six is out, the old manifesto is out, all of it is out! It’s up to the Women’s Party if you kick Chiu out. I don’t frankly care. I have been trying desperately to hold this country together after the damn war and you are all making things that much harder!”
“This country is falling apart because of you and your so-called reform!” Nirmala Patel snarled. “Perhaps it is you we should be recalling!”
“Oh, cause that ended so well the last time someone tried it!”
“Are you threatening me!?”
“Goddess, I cannot stay here any longer,” Natalia Hart whispered to Rosemary Arnott and Electra Georgiou. The trio hadn’t said a damn word all throughout this meeting. As members of the Secadualist Union and Reform Party (x2), respectively, they did not much care for the internal Women’s Party drama. Each of them already acknowledged that they differed from the Founders in some ways.
“Can we just leave?” Rosemary whispered back.
“Yes,” Georgiou nodded. “This isn’t Full Council without a Hale rep, so you can leave whenever you want.”
In response, Rosemary stood up and headed straight for the door.
“Daughter! Where are you going?” President Arnott demanded.
“Anywhere else but here,” Rosemary answered frankly.
“Sit down and stop being so unprofessional,” her mother snapped.
“Oh, like you’re being professional? Screaming at each other and threatening to kill each other? Give me a break!” Rosemary scoffed, opening the door and leaving with a wave. Natalia Hart took her chance, stood up and, shrugging, followed the younger Councillor out of the door.
“Well then,” Georgiou remarked to the stunned silence that followed. “Perhaps we ought to decide what we’re going to do about Amelia Quinn?”
“Execution, obviously,” Patel replied. Greenwood and Viallamando nodded.
“Come to think of it,” Viallamando mused, “the Founders were the ones behind the Castle of Grapes. So, like, clearly, they saw the light after they wrote the 1919 manifesto. What Chiu here is worshipping is a document written as a theory, before the realities of the creation of Kerlile were discovered. It is something that was written as an ideal. It was never meant to stand up to the scrutiny of the real world. So, Lia, you’re dreaming. Wake up.”
“Okay, that’s it, Lucia. Would you like me to demonstrate just how fit my mind and body still are?” Chiu snapped.
“ENOUGH!” shouted Arnott.
And the cycle this meeting had been trapped in began anew.
LIDUN President 2024 | she/her | Puppets: Kerlile, Glanainn, Yesteria, Zongongia, Zargothrax