Terrain on The Horizon

Damnum Genti

After attending the NSL's speech, Matt returned to his manor. He resumed working on such and such, and around a week later he began working on something else. He was preparing for a meeting he had the next day, piecing together topics to discuss and such. All seemed to be going well, a few hours passed, and he was finishing up his prep. Suddenly, he heard a loud knock at his office's door.

"Who is it?" Matt asked as he walked to the door and opened it.

"One of the messengers here." The guest answered. "Go to the meeting room, it's urgent."

"Okay, see you." Matt said as he gathered a notebook, closed the door behind him and walked downstairs to the meeting room. He knew something was up.

"Sit down." One of the meeting's attendees ordered Matt. He looked around and saw all of the Western Powers' leaders around the table, along with some people from various organizations.

"Why are we meeting here and not at the OWNS headquarters-" Matt asked and got cut off by another attendee.

"Don't ask any questions. Sit down, shut up, and listen." The attendee demanded. "The West is in danger. Here, Mrs. Quaila, take it from here."

"MCPS Empire recently finished building a rocket that will transport astronauts from T7Z90 directly to Earth." She said. "They plan to arrive on Earth in 2022, and they're serious."

"Damn it." Matt muttered as he heard the news. "It can't get any worse, right?"

"And that's not the only thing they've done." Quaila added. "Last night, they positioned a missile launcher pointing at the OWNS headquarters and are planning to launch it soon. We can't stop them; we can't transport our countries' soldiers there in that short of a time range."

"Well, I think our current objective should be to colonize Earth as soon as possible." Acadiemn's leader declared. "This way, we'll be able to escape if T7Z90 erupts into war. Mr. DeAlto and others, do you agree?"

"I agree with that, colonization is a good plan. We are already stuck on it, and it'll improve our countries anyway." Matt answered. "But I feel like we should deal with T7Z90's problems first."

"Well, DeAlto, the only alternative would be to do both. But our time is running out, so we should choose one for now." Acadiemn's leader said.

"How much time do I have to choose?" Matt anxiously asked.

"Matt, what do you think?!" Joribel snapped. "It's only a matter of time before the West gets pulverized by the dangerous East! Obviously, you should choose it now! You don't want to die-"

"Alright, settle down." Another attendee said. "Let's do a vote. Each of you, and I, vote for which should be our current objective. Majority rules."

Matt sat nervously at the table as he wrote down his vote. He folded the paper and put it in a box in the middle of the table. The other attendees put their votes in a box and waited until all were in there. Then, a meeting supervisor took the box and counted the votes.

"The votes are in." The supervisor announced. "And our current objective is... Earth's colonization!"

"Bring it on." The Western Powers' leaders said in unison as the meeting ended. A quick handshake later, and the attendees left to resume working.

Matt's meeting the next day was cancelled, but he didn't seem to care. He had other things to worry about. He went back to his office and finished some work before going to his living quarters and getting some rest for the night. He fell asleep and dreamed of the glorious past. After dreaming, he woke up and was reminded of the present's urgency and the future's uncertainty.