Medium

The Meeting

= United Nation's POV =

- Flag World - UN Headquarters -

"Where's the United States of America?" I was asking his brother.

It was 30 minutes after the original starting time, and he wasn't there. He was the one who called for it!

Canada shrugged. He was as puzzled as I was. "I don't know. The UK isn't here too, and I have no idea why they're late." He tried hard to hide his irritation but looked at his phone once in a while, texting his father and brother.

Some, or a lot of the countries, were getting restless. They're still seated, but who knows when someone will start throwing rolled-up paper across the room? That will be a disaster. And there are already countries starting up arguments, though the others are trying to calm them down.

"Um... UN, if you don't mind, I'll go out to check on them." A subdued voice came from somewhere to my right.

I turned to see Austria with his hand raised. He was one of the permanently neutral country who has been quiet through the 30 minutes. He does volunteer to do these things, so I was very thankful.

"Can you do that for me? I'll try to calm the room down." I sighed as I looked around.

The tension was arising in some places. The Latin countries were still calm, talking to its neighbors and eating snacks. However, the Germans and Asians were not even trying to hide their dissatisfaction.

"OK. Oh, and well... Good luck." Austria smiled as if to comfort me, and slipped out of the room.

Canada sighed greatly. He wasn't having a great chance in getting his family's information. He looked at me dead in the eyes, and shook his head.

"At least he's not driving while on the phone." He said sarcastically and put his phone in his bag.

I smiled a little and thanked him for his help anyways, and went up to the podium.

= Britain's POV =

When we finally arrived at the headquarters and checked-in, I heard a voice calling us.

"Oi, Amerika! Vereinigtes Königreich! You're 40 minutes late!" Austria came running towards us.

"40 minutes... The UN should be furious by now." USSR laughed irresponsibly. I shot a glance at him.

"Is the room alright? No fights?" I asked, "Yes, for once." Austria let out a small laugh. "Though some are getting annoyed by the delay."

America scratched his head. Third Reich grasped the hem of his cloak tightly.

"I'm sorry." He whispered, "I should have stayed calm. It's my fault they took so long."

Austria looked at him surprisedly and pointed at him as if to get confirmation on something. I nodded.

"He knows what he did." I say.

TR looked up and met Austria's eyes. He moved his lips a little, but no words came out. The eyes which were half covered by the cloak were wavering. He was scared. Scared of getting blamed for things that he can't even remember, but still know that he had done.

"Oh, you're a faster reader than I remember." Austria put on a nervous smile, trying to make TR less tense. "Follow me. The UN reserved the larger meeting room today."

He started to walk down the hall to the stairs. We all followed him to the front of the large door.

"Alright, Soviet, TR, you guys wait here. I'll call you when... it's time." America said, and put on a serious face.

I could sense the tension inside the meeting room too, and could understand why my son was so serious for once. It felt like there were shards of glasses sticking out of the door, ready to pierce us.

Let's just hope he'll forgive me. It's my first time being late. Though I don't really care if my son is scolded by the UN.

Austria knocked on the door, and opened it a bit. He took care to not open it too much to reveal the two uninvited guests. I slid inside after him. Then my son followed. Sharp gazes were showered upon us, as we walked towards the UN.

"Thank you Austria." He smiled and made the gesture to send him back to his seat.

Then he turned to us.

"What is wrong with you?" He kept his voice low, but was literally yelling.

"Ah, yes. I thought you'll ask us that." US sighed. "Don't you give me that face, sir. You called for the meeting without any explanation, and TURNED UP 40 MINUTES LATE!"

The room went silent.

He was irritated, and I understand. We called for every country to come, and I can see the UN had put in great effort to keep them steady and calm.

"We're awfully sorry sir. We had issues, very important issues related to this meeting we had to discuss." I apologize. The UN gave me a skeptic look, but his temper seemed to calm a bit. "Oh, really? That is a very clear explanation. Why don't you explain your issue, and we'll see if it's worth the late arrival."

I look up at my son's face, and our eyes meet. I nod. He cleared his throat, although we already had the attention we wanted, and looked across the room. His usual atmosphere of playfulness gone, and only the aura of charisma was there.

"We've found someone who is in a very complex situation." He announced. "He's currently waiting outside the room, and I'll bring him in front of you, after I give some few information."

He put that in a very oblique manner. I was impressed about that.

The other countries however, still had the expression of puzzlement and suspicion. They were waiting for him, holding their breath.

"Before I tell you who he is," America continued, "I'm going to tell you what we found out about him. First of all, he lost his memories. He didn't know his name and where he was from, nor did he know what he did before he was found."

The countries started whispering to each other, discussing who it may be, why a country human may lose his memory, and how he can still be alive if he doesn't have any memories. Nobody loses memories; we keep all memories from the time when we are recognized as the representative of the country until we die.

"Secondly, he has been glitching. I mean, like those characters in the video games when there's a bug." He explained. "Parts of his body gets blurry or even disappears for a second, before turning back normal. We've seen that in the real world too, and I believe we need to testify and find out the solution."

He hinted that we need to keep the man alive before doing anything.

Some countries with high medical technology started fidgeting. That just told me that nobody knew about the glitches. This is interesting. America waved his hand to get attention again.

"Yes, yes. I know it sounds interesting and great and all, but then, the final point I want to make is the one you need to be giving the most attention to."

He took a breath, "European countries, I hope you don't get flashbacks or get traumatized. And everyone, if I see anything that is likely to cause harm to him before any decisions are made, I'll kick you out."

At that, the room went silent again.

France raised her hand, and America nodded and gestured for her to speak.

"That means, we know him. N'est-ce pas ? And we've been looking for him. For decades." Her voice was shivering, her hands were shaking, she already knew who we had brought here.

"Oh, you figured it out. And before anyone asks anything, no we're still taking votes before doing anything." I answered. "Wait. WAIT. So, he's right outside? This room? He isn't alone is he?" The UN bombarded us with questions. "He's with Soviet." I answered.

"How can the two be together for this long?" He asked again, "Well, it's no use talking over the horrible things he did, if he has no memories is it? And well, it's quicker to understand if you see him."

UN looked at us, face pale but determined, and indicated the door.