Committee Member Ⅰ: There is no need to hold an emergency meeting for this.
Committee Member Ⅰ: Such "declaration of war" without tactic or plan B is typical example of arcanist behavior.
Committee Member Ⅰ: The area they controlled has no value at all, no matter in terms of the size or the influence.
Committee Member Ⅱ: Well, the administration department has not taken official actions yet.
Committee Member Ⅱ: I heard the plan was to dispatch a team to escort them to the School of Discipline.
Committee Member Ⅰ: Problem solved then.
The books of case files are closed. As the chairs squeakily scratch the floor, the attendants of the meeting stand up.
Z: Next time, if Vertin brings back more unregistered arcanists ...
Z: Will the same thing happen again?
Madam Z stands still where she was.
The committee member stops by the door, and slowly turns back to her.
Committee Member Ⅰ: I don't understand.
Committee Member Ⅰ: It's not a shame to join the Foundation, is it?
Committee Member Ⅰ: By signing the agreement, arcanists will enjoy the right to use arcane skills in human society and be bestowed great honor.
Committee Member Ⅰ: The human resource department could have used a whole floor to hold the applications a dozen years ago!
Committee Member Ⅰ: Not even the New Age Movement could challenge the Foundation's authority in the international community!
Committee Member Ⅰ: And these shortsighted exceptions ... They aren't even worth being made a topic for the meeting.
Z: Yet ...
Z: They're not here for the St. Pavlov Foundation.
Z: They're here for Vertin. They choose to follow her out of their own will, because of their admiration for her.
Z: That is the essential difference between them and our former recruits.
Committee Member Ⅱ: You mean ... it's not important at all for them to join the Foundation.
Z: I'm afraid so.
Z: But we can't expel them.
Z: We both know that the Foundation now requires new members to form a stronger force.
Committee Member Ⅰ: What are you trying to say, Ms. Z? Skip to the point.
She returns to her seat, sits down, and opens the folder again.
Z: Today, the House of Integratus has resubmitted the revised draft of Storm Reformation: Manpower and Discipline.
Z: I think it's time to decide if this draft can be adopted and then start the debate.
Committee Member Ⅱ: You're asking for troubles, madam ...
Z: Please turn to page 21, section 3.
Z: "External personnel recruited by the Timekeeper should be placed within the Timekeeper's department."
Z: "The Timekeeper has the duties of education and discipline to them and should be responsible for their follow-up behaviors."
Z: "Personnel within the Timekeeper's department, subject to the Foundation's Staff Code, will take orders from the Timekeeper and are not required to take direct orders from the Foundation."
Z: This section allows those unregistered arcanists to have more autonomy and develop a stronger sense of identity as a part of the Foundation.
Z: Meanwhile, by giving orders to the Timekeeper, the Foundation still has the military right to deploy them.
Z: It can solve the current problem.
Committee Member Ⅰ: Which means we'll be working with some uncontrollable mercenaries.
Z: I'll say it's the reserve service for wartime.
Committee Member Ⅰ: It's not going to work. What happened when the arcanists were not under control?
Committee Member Ⅰ: Massacres, tyranny, endless revenge ... History is nothing but a sewer to them, where they vent their excessive energy and deceive those in power with a speech of ignorance.
Committee Member Ⅰ: The reality has proven that.
Committee Member Ⅱ: Exactly. What's more, there has never been a reform as such in the history of the Foundation.
Committee Member Ⅱ: During the unexpected "Storm," reforming in a rush will only increase the ri- ...
Constantine: Sorry for being late.
Constantine strides into the meeting room, throwing her folder on the table.
Constantine: Quite a heated discussion.
Constantine: I can see you all have a great interest in this draft proposal.
Constantine: Hope I didn't miss too much.
