Z: Richard, tends to oppose.
Z: Gloria, tends to support.
Z: Black Agate, tends to oppose.
Z: Ouzo, neutral.
Delegate: The situation doesn't look good.
Z: Do you have any news, Mark?
Delegate: Someone is spreading the minutes of your last meeting.
Delegate: I didn't get any direct evidence, but apparently every voter has read the anonymous minutes.
Delegate: The topic about Vertin ... It has become a great disadvantage to us.
Z: ...
Z: Double envelopment ...
Z: A "4-4 point double low approach" ...
Z: No wonder they let the draft go through so easily.
Z: To reject the draft during the committee meeting does not actually address the real problem. The House of Integratus can still re-submit the draft during the next legislative session.
Z: So she is planning for the long term ...
Z: To bring it down in the voting stage and make it a plan that is totally abandoned.
Delegate: I'm afraid so.
Delegate: A draft that has failed to win votes can hardly win the trust of the House's reviewers again, and of course it won't be submitted to the committee.
She counts the names on the whiteboard again.
Z: Did anyone make any actual move yet?
Delegate: Not yet. The minutes only changed their preferences, but the number of those who have taken a stand still remains the same.
Z: Hmm, just as I expected.
Z: This draft is not about Vertin, but a promise to the future—about how to balance the benefits between different interest groups.
Z: To reach that, we need to meet the expectations of those groups who have a need for flexible management, and also appease the conservatives and not shake their confidence in controlling the overall situation.
Delegate: Actually ...
The delegate adjusts his tie and interrupts Madam Z in a clear voice.
Delegate: We do have an opportunity to change the game now.
Z: Opportunity?
He puts in "0411" on the keyboard attached to his wrist, and turns on the big screen.
Committee member Pedra appears on the screen.
Committee Member Ⅰ: I hereby challenge Delegate Mark Hal to a public debate on the revised draft of Storm Reformation: Manpower and Discipline.
Committee Member Ⅰ: This draft of his will bring unpredictable risks to the Foundation, yet Mark himself seems completely unaware of it.
Committee Member Ⅰ: I believe it is necessary to make such risks public in a legal way.
The delegate switches off the projection. As he turns to Madam Z, his cheeks have become rosy in heightened spirits.
Delegate: See, I knew they were going to escalate Vertin's issue.
Z: You want to accept this challenge?
Delegate: ... All the internal media are reporting the news.
Delegate: If I step back, they will definitely humiliate me and take advantage of the public opinion to undermine the draft.
Z: Mark ... That's a menacing move.
Madam Z picks up Pedra's name card and sticks it to the board.
Z: It is coming for us.
Z: No matter fight or flight, they have comprehensive preparation for this.
Z: I would suggest taking the long view and not jumping to conclusions.
Delegate: But defense without attack will never bring us victory, Madam Z.
Delegate: I've always wanted an opportunity to defend the draft in public.
Delegate: Concerning the questions they implied about Vertin, I've collected more than enough cases to refute them.
Delegate: Misleading questions twist people's opinions. It's time to tell them the truth.
The gaze behind Madam Z's glasses has become subtly piercing.
Z: You have accepted it.
Delegate: ...
Z: Was it in front of the media?
Delegate: I was there when Pedra challenged me ... so were the media.
Delegate: ... Well I don't think it is going to be a complete mistake.
The lady in white seems to loosen up for a brief second.
She doesn't say a word ...
... but walks up to him and gives him a pat on the shoulder.
Z: It is a crucial debate.
Z: Do your best.
Druvis Ⅲ: You don't have to come along with me.
Druvis Ⅲ: I'm here to repel the pests in the woods. It's part of my daily routine.
Sotheby: Thank you for your kindness, Ms. Druvis!
Sotheby: It is fun to stay in Ms. Vertin's suitcase ... but I really feel like seeing the world out there.
Sotheby: By the way, the pests you mentioned ... What are they?
Sotheby: I've heard of a kind of giant worm called the Tatzelwurm. They live in caves, about two to five feet long, and their heads are like cats'.
Sotheby: Be very careful if you see one. Both its skin and breath are toxic!
Druvis bends over, lifting a hanging branch to make a way for Sotheby to walk through.
Druvis Ⅲ: Heh heh. I have never heard of such a terrible worm.
Druvis Ⅲ: Hopefully we will not encounter any.
Sotheby jumps briskly over some roots crawling by her feet.
Sotheby: Hah, uh!
Sotheby: So what are we disinfesting this time?
Druvis Ⅲ: Oak processionary moths. Perhaps a few gray squirrel cubs.
Druvis Ⅲ: It's not enough to only rely on potions and arcanum to keep the woods in peace ... Oak trees reside here, and everything will change with it.
Druvis Ⅲ: Animals that live in symbiosis, fungi that depend on each other, all of them will embrace diversity by the day.
Sotheby suddenly looks up and points to the direction to the edge of the woods.
Sotheby: Do you mean that?
Sotheby: A group of grey fluff is flying over there!
Druvis looks in the direction her finger points to.
Clusters of fluff, in gray and brown, coming together and forming a flossy tornado in front of them, fly and dance in the air.
Druvis Ⅲ: ... A swarm of oak processionary moths!
Druvis Ⅲ: They are preying on something.
A fuzzy figure in red at the center seems familiar.
Sotheby: Ms. Druvis, let's help out right away!
COMBAT
APPLe: sighs ... This APPLe is deeply grateful for what you've done.
APPLe: I almost thought I was caught in a nightmare. This APPLe has never seen so many moths.
He is trembling from his stalk to the bottom.
APPLe: Ugh. This APPLe is going to have PTSD from insects.
Druvis Ⅲ: They are very sensitive to the scent of sap.
Druvis Ⅲ: With all due respect, even among all the plants, Mr. APPLe is quite attractive to insects.
Sotheby: So it was the scent that attracted them. No wonder Mr. APPLe's invisibility didn't work.
Sotheby: Thank goodness we are here!
Druvis carefully cleans off the fluff on APPLe with her handkerchief.
Until he restores his handsomeness.
Druvis Ⅲ: Mr. APPLe, did you find out anything?
APPLe: Yes, Ms. Druvis. I brought something insignificant.
APPLe: As we planned earlier, I disguised myself and reached the office building next to us.
APPLe: There is a device to detect arcane power at the entrance, however, this APPLe pried out what we needed from the guards.
Sotheby: What, what is it?
Sotheby: Did Ms. Vertin win on that voting list?
APPLe: Sadly, not yet.
APPLe: It's not time for a formal vote. Everyone is cautious and remains neutral.
APPLe: Apart from that, there are some rumors in the Foundation ... They are not very favorable to Vertin.
Druvis Ⅲ: Rumors ...
Druvis Ⅲ: It sounds as though the situation that Madam Z handles is more complicated and volatile than I thought.
Druvis Ⅲ: However, the votes have not been lopsided under such bad circumstances ...
Druvis Ⅲ: Perhaps that means the arcanists who share our aspirations are not in the minority.
APPLe: That said, I'm afraid we are starting a protracted war, Ms. Druvis.
Druvis Ⅲ: Yes. I know. I've taken an inventory of the supplies. We can still hang in there for four weeks and a half.
Druvis Ⅲ: Although they have cut off the water and electricity supplies in the building, we can still live on the resources in the suitcase for a while.
Druvis Ⅲ: There are fewer guards destroying the woods, probably because the abatis works.
APPLe: What worries this APPLe is that if the procedure to finalise the draft takes more than four weeks and a half, we would ...
Druvis Ⅲ: We would then survive by gradually shrinking our territory ... until Madam Z's draft is officially approved.
Druvis Ⅲ: We have chosen the thorny trail, and so we are destined to burn our boats and never look back.
Druvis Ⅲ: Vertin ... She is worth fighting for.
APPLe: For this point, Captain and this APPLe have absolutely no disagreement.
APPLe: Then this APPLe will keep scouting around for updates so that we could respond in time.
Sotheby: ...
Sotheby's eyes are fixed in another direction.
Druvis Ⅲ: What are you looking at, Ms. Sotheby?
Sotheby: Over there ... It feels like someone is staring at us.
Druvis Ⅲ: ...
They both look over to that corner.
There is nothing but shadows. The darkness looks like a pond of unimaginable depth.
Druvis stands up.
Druvis Ⅲ: Let's go back.
Druvis Ⅲ: To the deep woods.