Ephemera

Introduction

"Yes."
There was some sort of silence that hung in the air. Half the council nodded seriously, seeming pleased but somewhat stiff. The other half stayed entirely still, likely completely shocked.
"Are you serious?"
The quietness was broken by a woman sitting across them, looking infuriated. "Everything we've learned---everything we've built on as a society and as a race, do you really just want to throw that away?"
"And do you want to make us die when you know we can save ourselves?" The woman was interrupted by a short, gray-haired man next to her. He looked equally angry. "How can you live with that? How can you live with the guilt of knowing you willingly want to basically murder an entire species?"
"It's not murder!" another person chimed in.
"It is!"
This sparked a third heated debate. The room was filled with passionate arguing and abundant shouting; it was frustrating the whole council. After the yelling had died down, the air in the room was tense.
"No matter what you all think," the head of the council began. "The decision has been made. We will be emitting xenonide into our air."
There were a few sharp exhales of disapproval, but aside from that, no one disputed out loud.

Naveen did feel a little guilty. But he was confident that he did the right thing. Even if his twin, Mila, disagreed strongly.
"...I mean, seriously. Our entire species' history? That's a huge thing to forget," she rambled furiously. "Are you dumb? Why would you pick that? Why would you completely ball up and throw away what we built as a society, just because you want us to live a tiny bit longer? What's even the point of life if we can't have what is most important to us?"
"Mila," Naveen interrupted her calmly. "I did the right thing. It would practically be murder of a whole race if we didn't switch to xenonide."
"The only thing you're murdering is what matters! Naveen. Listen to me---"
"The decision is made, Mila! You can't change that! We're changing our air to xenonide, and that's that. It's done!"
Mila didn't reply. She glowered and crossed her arms.
"Besides," Naveen said, collecting himself. "It's not like you're affected."
"Not affected? Everything I love will be!" Mila snapped. "Naveen. How can you say we're not affected? All of our dreams, our hopes, everything we've built---gone. And you try to tell me that we're not affected?" She huffed. "I don't get you, Naveen. I don't get your logic, and I don't get why you would ever agree to anything like that! Think about Ma and Pa! Think about---think about Hope."
"Don't..." Naveen's voice lowered. "Don't mention Ma and Pa. And don't mention Hope."
"Why not? You love them, don't you? We love them. And we..." Mila sighed a shaky sigh, her lower lip trembling. "We love Hope."
This time, Naveen didn't reply. He looked down, examining his shoes.
Mila shook her head. "How can you stand that?" Mila continued. "How can you stand yourself? We're going to lose our family. We're going to lose what's important to us.
"And---don't you have a heart? Imagine going home to Ma and Pa and---"
Naveen didn't want her to continue that sentence.
She did anyway. "And they don't remember you. Imagine that. Sooner or later, you won't have to imagine."
"Be quiet, Mila," Naveen pleaded. "Can you just be quiet? For once? Seriously, you're always prattling on and on about your crazy, lunatic beliefs!"
"You're so brainwashed, Naveen," Mila whispered, looking at him in disbelief, as if he wasn't the Naveen she knew. As if he had changed too much.
She gave him one angry look and stormed off, leaving her brother alone with his thoughts.