The Conference

EARTH ROOM IX

OPERATION 11235

DEBATE IN SESSION

Thomas stared at the Conference room door, filled with both dread and relief. He had finally made it to the room. He was surprised he had even made it this far. He had come with two others, but they’d been caught earlier. He just prayed no one would be on his trail. He had never met a Counselman, let alone a Headmaster before. The woman at the front desk—if that was a woman—didn’t notice, but she might not have ever been on Earth before… Maybe a Counselman or the Headmaster would be able to tell…

He couldn’t think about that now. He had to enter the Conference room and join the conversation. He could hear footsteps approaching around the corner, likely counsellors coming to the Table. He double checked his nametag that identified him as Counselman E, smoothed it over his button-down shirt, which they had given him upon arrival, and pushed open the door.

The Conference room was smaller than Thomas anticipated. He expected a room resembling a large lecture hall or something like the Senate. Instead, it was a mundane conference room like you would find in any office building. The Table in the center of the room covered the majority of the space and was actually multiple different tables pushed together to form a rectangle with space in the middle.

There were 24 different seats around the table, which looked to be standard office chairs, one for each Counselman, A through Z. At the head of the table, there was a chair made of wood, larger than the rest, reserved for the Headmaster who had not yet arrived. A revolving whiteboard sat behind the Headmaster’s chair. On the board was written “EARTH ROOM IX:Operation 11235, Debate” – the same title from the door.

Counsellors began filtering into the room behind Thomas. He studied them for a moment. He expected they would act sort of neutrally, robotic, but they seemed to have unique characteristics. Some were shorter than others, though all around average height. Some had dark hair and others had light hair. Eye colours were different, but did not seem off-putting. Some walked a little differently than others, but again, never enough to be off-putting. They all had some differences in how they acted, but never enough to separate them from the group. Each Counselman who entered was male. And white.

No. Each Counselman appeared male and appeared white. Thomas had to remind himself that these were not Earth creatures. They just appeared that way.

Thomas sat down at his respective seat reserved for Counselman E, exactly five seats to the right of the Headmaster’s chair. None of the other counsellors gave him any particular attention. It gave Thomas some relief, but the Headmaster hadn’t arrived yet.

None of the counsellors talked to each other, and still remained silent as the Headmaster joined the room. He wore a black button-down shirt, the same as the counsellors, but while everyone else’s office pants were black, his were a dark red, and he wore a dark red suit jacket as well.

The air seemed to change as he entered, as if a heaviness came with him, bringing stress and tension into the Conference. Behind him was another figure dressed in a white shirt and black pants with a “Notetaker” tag displayed on his chest. The Headmaster took his seat at the head of the Table, while the Notetaker opened an Expo marker and wrote the following on the board:

EARTH TOPICS:

• Crime & War
• Sexuality & Gender
• Race & Culture
• Technologies
• Religion, History & Science
• Pandemics
• Government & Structure
• Familial & Social Roles

The Headmaster held his hands together on the Table. “At the previous 11235 meeting, we had concluded that these were the most important generalizations of topics to discuss. We had already touched on a few of them. Take a moment to review these topics, then we will open the Table for you to share your thoughts.”

The Table was quiet for some time. Thomas stared at his companions, who were mostly staring off into space or locked in on the whiteboard. Thomas took a deep breath, trying to stay relatively silent. He was not sure if any of his characteristics or actions could give him away.

“Yes, Counselman G?” The Headmaster called upon G to speak after noticing his raised hand.

Nervously, the counsellor stood from his seat. “Counselman G, Department of Tribes, speaking on the Topic of Race and Culture.”

“What would you like to say to the Table?”

“Well… as you know, we tried separating the races in the beginning to see how they would react upon meeting each other. But this resulted in divides and the subjects crossed them forcibly.”

“Yes,” the Headmaster replied, “we have established that. After the races established their divides, greed arrived, and the subjects became aggressive.”

“Yes, so then we tried to keep the divides less strict. We created some gaps. But now instead of turning on other subject groups, the races are killing each other within their divides.”

“Yes, we have established all of this.” The Headmaster sat back in his chair, crossing his legs, “What is your point, Counselman G?”

“My point is that the subjects proved they were aggressive when divided but are still aggressive now that their physical boundaries are unrestricted. My thought to the Table is a question about whether or not we can still fix this topic or if the aggression that stands now is due to their divisions in the beginning.”

The Headmaster gestured for the Notetaker to write this down. He pulled out a notebook and a ballpoint pen and began writing as the Headmaster spoke.

“The aggression is, indeed, disappointing. We have begun action in Operation 11235’s next attempt, to reinforce border divisions again now that the subjects understand the danger of unrestricted gatherings. Our hope is that this new method will create unity within the groups and separate them from others entirely. Are there any other comments or disputes about this topic before we close the discussion?”

Counselman G seemed to have more to say. His face was flush and his hand shook at his side, but instead of continuing his thought, he sat down. No other Counselman raised their hand.

“All right. I would like to now open the Table to any other topics.”

It was again silent for a moment. Thomas didn’t understand what just happened. They wanted to reinforce border divisions on the topic of race and culture? Did that mean they were going to stop immigration on Earth? But how could they—

His thought was cut short as another counsellor raised his hand, this time Counselman V, right across the table from Thomas.

The Headmaster called on him to speak, “Counselman V?”

The counsellor stood from his chair as G did and introduced himself, “Counselman V, Department of Femineity, speaking on the Topic of Crime and War.”

“Intriguing, Counselman V. What do you have to say?”

The silent Notetaker began writing.

The counsellor sighed sharply before answering. “Criminal acts of violence against women have been very rampant still since our last meeting. This thought also concerns the Topic of Sexuality & Gender, as—”

“Do we need to combine the topics?” The Headmaster asked. The Notetaker stood up with the Expo pen in hand.

“No, no. That isn’t necessary.”

The Notetaker took his seat again.

Counselman V continued, “The thought that I have is about criminal activity, commonly by men against women. There are also cases in which the genders are different, but this specific crime usually involves heterosexuality from men against women.”

“What is the problem, Counselman V?”

A look of shock hovered over V’s face. “Headmaster, the problem is that since the beginning of Earth’s time, the male sex has been overly sexually aggressive towards the female sex, resulting in violent activity negatively affecting the physical and emotional state of the female. If we could somehow change the perspective of the male, or redirect the sexual energy, perhaps it would not be as much of a detriment to the female.”

“Is this a pressing issue?” said the Headmaster blankly.

“Forgive me, Headmaster, but this is Operation 11235. Part of our purpose is to find the best possible solution to maintaining peace between our subjects. Don’t you believe this is a pressing issue?”

The Headmaster glared at Counselman V for the last remark. The stare seemed to be an alerting cue, Thomas realized, as the counsellor’s face went pale, then he sat down in his seat, looking down at the floor.

“Are there any other suggestions on how to fix this problem?” The Headmaster said to the rest of the Table.

Thomas felt helpless. They were talking about sexual assault. He wanted to raise his hand, say something—anything, but he did not have a solution for the problem. Not a real one. And what if he talked about something that was said at the last meeting? Would they recognize that he wasn’t there before? But…

His hand shot into the air anyway.

“Yes, Counselman E?” The Headmaster called on him to speak.

He sat puzzled for a moment, then stood from his chair, remembering the common routine. “Counselman E, Department of—”

Shit. Department of what?

“Department of Femineity. Topic of Crime and War.”

The Headmaster stared at him expectantly. Thomas prayed that Counselman V wouldn’t know he wasn’t part of his department.

Thomas continued, “I would like to suggest… to the Table… that it might be beneficial to the women on Earth if the governing powers arranged for more strict punishments for men who commit such offenses as Counselman V described.”

He hoped his language matched the rest of the group… He continued.

“If this kind of crime is so rampant, it would be a good idea for the authorities to prepare appropriate consequences and more available outlets for women to speak about these offences.”

Counselman V did not look up from the floor.

The Headmaster squinted his eyes before commenting, “Yes, well, at the last meeting for Operation 11235, we discussed the Topic of Government and Structure, and the resistance to harsh punishments for crimes. As you know, we agreed that punishment and consequences should be more highly reinforced. However, we have also seen what happens when the male subjects do not have an outlet for their sexual tendencies. This is a topic I believe needs to be addressed last, after all the other areas have been fixed, as all the other topics will fall otherwise.”

What?

Thomas couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Rage bubbled inside him, and it took everything in him to stay in his place. “You mean that you won’t address the topic because men are more likely to commit other crimes in other areas if they don’t let out their sexual aggression?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“But that’s insane! Men have to be held to a certain standard! The… subjects… cannot just do things like that to one another and get away with it!”

“Counselman E.” The Headmaster said in such a stern voice, every other counsellor lowered their eyes. “Enough. The ruling on the matter has been given. Due to the outburst at this Table, you will now have no other comments to make from this point onward. Is that clear?”

Thomas bit his lip in frustration, gave a slight nod, and sat back down in his chair.

The Headmaster sighed and leaned forward over the table with his hands held together.

“To recount, our last decision on the Topic of Race and Culture from previous meetings was to allow unity in the people by lessening the divides and allowing movement across borders. This proved to be an un-utopian decision, not reflecting the goals of Operation 11235, as the subjects became aggressive within their own divides, in which the white subjects showed aggression and violence towards the non-white counterparts. Our next move, to commence immediately, will be to reinforce physical borders on the subjects to maintain divides between the races. This should reduce the amount of race-based violence. This concludes our discussion on the Topic of Race and Culture. We will now close the topic.”

The Headmaster gestured to the Notetaker, who then crossed off “Race & Culture” from the board.

“As for the issue regarding sexual offences,” he continued, glaring for a moment at Counselman V, who had still not looked up from the floor. “We will also be closing that discussion. No further action will be taken at this point regarding that issue.”

“Headmaster.”

Thomas spoke before he could stop himself.

The Headmaster peered at him through his eyebrows, but raised his palm upwards to the ceiling, gesturing for him to speak.

Thomas continued, “What was the conclusion at the last meeting regarding the Topic of Government and Structure? I can’t remember the past ruling.”

A beat passed.

“It would be wise, Counselman E, for you to be more diligent about the content of these meetings. The previous ruling for the Topic of Government and Structure, before the topic was closed, was that governments would be pressured to be more aggressive about authority. Citizens have been less obedient to their leaders, following our previous decisions. We have already begun to take action on this issue.”

“In what ways?”

A part of Thomas wished he would stop asking questions. At any moment, someone could realize he wasn’t one of them. At any moment, he could give himself away. But he couldn’t go back empty handed. He needed to know what their plans were.

The Headmaster stared at him for a moment with squinted eyes. “There are many different ways that things have begun to change for the Earth subjects. Of course, our intentions were focused on the subjects in the West. Aggressions in the East have resulted, as we cannot choose what part of Earth our decision-making affects… However, it has led to the results we were hoping for in the West. Authorities have been stricter about punishments for rioting, for example, which we anticipate will strengthen as time goes on.”

The man in red smiled. It was the first smile Thomas had seen on anyone since he had entered the Conference room. It was not a happy smile, but a grin that made him feel uneasy.

The Headmaster leaned back in his chair. “Men of the Counsel. Take this as a teaching moment as we conclude this session early.”

Wait.

“Today’s session of Operation 11235 in Earth Room IX has now closed after Counselman E was identified as an uninvited guest.”

No.

“Counselmen.”

The Notetaker pressed a button under the Table.

Red lights flashed around the room as the counsellors stood in unison.

Thomas didn’t have time to get up, didn’t have time to run, before hands grabbed onto his arms.

He felt a sharp pain in the side of his neck, and the room went black.