I walked further into the room, and found myself in the middle of an anxiety inducing setting. Ahead of me were seven men behind seven rostrums, each of which had different symbols carved and painted on. As well, each man had a different style of clothing. Those seven rostrums were placed in a horizontally symmetrical way in the shape of an arc, on a higher ground than where I was standing.
The man in the middle covered his head shortly after we saw each other. The remaining six on the sides did not do the same.
I didn't know what to do or say. Instead, one of them spoke.
"You stand before the Core Council of the Order of Salvation. Tell us, brother, what brings you here, to our world?"
I hesitated - I didn't really want to tell the real story, so I tried to make something up.
"We were left behind during the evacuation of Mars, only now could we escape from the evil machines and seek shelter." I said.
"You ran from the battlefield." a man on my right said. "Why?"
"I-I-I ran away from death."
"If you were left behind, you were supposed to fight to death to protect others." another man said from the left side. "Why did you not?"
"I was not-"
"Don't take us for fools, Kagan!" one of them said angrily. "We know who you are. These were your orders."
Together, they checkmated me. I was stupid enough to think that these people wouldn't recognize the president of a former superpower.
"Alright..." I said. "Fine. I, the only president of the now-defunct Republic of Mars, lied to you. I wasn't running from the battlefield, or planet Mars for that matter."
"We know." a man said. "Well, we are eager to learn the truth." All members of the council looked at each other before I started talking.
"When our battleship was destroyed during the orbital engagement, I was still alive. A shuttlecraft found and brought me to Dawn Medical Station orbiting the Sun. I was unconscious at the time, I learned about the events afterwards. When my treatment was complete, we took a fuel tanker to meet with the remnants of the human civilization. The group which headed to Makemake was the largest one, so we came here as the last survivors."
I still wasn't telling the truth completely, but I wasn't too far off from the true story either.
"You were aware that you could be tracked by the machine fleet and give away the position of the remnants of the human civilization, right?" one of them asked.
"I made sure we were not tracked." I said. "I am confident."
"This story has a few plot holes." another man spoke. "Why was Dawn station still intact after the war?"
"Perhaps it wasn't a strategically important target compared to Mars, so the enemy fleet took their sweet time to get to that." I argued. "Or maybe Dawn station took measures to stay undetected."
"Let's say what you are telling is correct. What if-"
"Look, I am telling the truth, completely!" I yelled.
"No, just listen. What if-"
A member of the Core Council held his hand up to silence the one who was talking to me. He then continued himself.
"There is something more important than why or how he is here." he said. "Now, Mr. Kagan; or if you prefer, Mr. President... You are undoubtedly a courageous and intelligent man."
"That's very kind of you." I said, softly.
"You are also a good leader, with military and political experience. One could call you... uh... 'The Champion of Martian People'."
"Thank you, I am not sure if I really deserv-"
"However, Mr. Kagan..."
There was a long pause.
"...that's exactly what our problem is."
"I don't understand." I said.
"You see, we have a working government, a working state here. People obey the laws, and work hard to rebuild society from scratch."
"I don't see anything wrong with that." I said.
"Neither do I." he replied. "However, this working system depends on the presence of the Core Council - the righteous ruler of the new worlds in the Outer Solar System."
"Excuse me, I still don't see the problem here."
"Now... This Core Council... Us... We are not exactly of the democratic kind, to be frank. Neither are we truly merciful to the citizens."
"Okay, now that's a problem..." I said. "I... I can't believe you can say it out so openly."
"That reaction of yours..." a council member said. "...is the problem."
"With respect, although I do not agree with your ways, I am not challenging your rule." I said. "I recognize you as the rulers of whatever territory you claim to own. I have no power to oppose you."
"You do." The Council replied. "You are known as a just and rather more freedom oriented leader, and if allowed to walk freely among the public, you can get the power of masses on your side and overthrow The Council. No doubt people will prefer your kind of government over this very council."
"I wouldn't do anything like that!" I said. "Even though I don't like your rule, I would prefer peace, safety and development over political disputes and a fight for power!"
At that point, I wasn't even sure what I was saying. I was simply trying to get myself out of the situation.
"You wouldn't have to challenge us yourself, Mr. So-Great President." The Council said. "As soon as people recognized you, they would expect it from you. You are a man of democracy, and you would have to represent the people's will."
"I don't know what to say to convince you." I said.
"We are not expecting you to convince us." they replied. "We are simply stating our reasons to imprison you, to justify our actions somewhat."
"Imprisonment!? Are you out of your minds!?"
"Sweet words won't let you out of metal bars, so don't bother please, brother." they said. "You did nothing wrong, things just turned out to be that way."
"If that is so, I will pray for those under your rule, excellency." I said. "Maybe one day, you will see your own wrongdoings."
"Oh, please, brother..." they said. "Wrongdoings? We are not complete idiots. Democracy and compassion is ignored for a reason here."
"And what would that reason be?" I asked.
"You see, our primary goal isn't creating a dream state where people live without stress; our goal is to quickly build up strength and fight back our own creation, to take our homeland back from the evil robot empire! We don't need pretty cities or a smile on people's face. We need minerals, factories, guns, cannons, ships, armies and fleets! Production!"
Another man continued.
"You can't keep hard labor going if you allocate free time to your citizens, Mr. President. If someone slacks off, they need to face a good punishment."
And another council member spoke.
"If we let people loose in a democracy, they will start to play their political games and choose leaders who appeal to them most... Leaders who will make them live rich."
"We don't do that niceness." yet another one of them started speaking. "Whatever exists, it is the property of the state. We need everything we can to fuel our development efforts."
"Food is rationed, water is rationed, and bloody hell... even breating air is rationed!"
"But all for a good reason, I assure you, Mr. President. All for a good reason."
I didn't know what to think of the Core Council. What they were saying somewhat made sense, and somewhat didn't. I had to get my thoughts together, but before that, I had one thing to ask.
"You are all making your points, honorable members of the Core Council... But, with respect, does the man in the middle ever talk?"