"I want those documents on my desk now!"
"Where are the district reports…?!"
"Shit, Frank, I don't care if you feel bad; before you die, I want the statistics on my desk!"
"What do you mean, your water broke?! Fatima, don't mess with me! Helga is on my case and she wants the reports…"
Thousands of conversations piled up in the office building, and scenes like this could be witnessed in any building that belonged to the nuclei in the four hemispheres.
This day happened to be January 1st. It seemed that fate had decided the war would end at the beginning of a new year, and by chance, the following year was named the 'Year of Unification', thus changing its numbering and making it January 1st of the year 1.
Many people treated this news momentously, too busy rebuilding the ruins that the war had left behind to worry about whether this year was called the Year of Unification. For them, it could well be called the Year of the Atomic Ant.
On this day, multiple explosions shook the four hemispheres. Even with the time difference, the explosions were sinisterly coordinated. Thousands of people were buried in the rubble of almost ruined buildings and some already repaired ones.
The parliament received this news like a bucket of cold water, making the parliamentarians livid with rage. They had done everything possible to not upset things further, even going so far as to not actively pursue the remnants of the Great War.
But those bastards had no other idea than to commit an attack on the entire planet, causing more unrest than they had.
****
"Ladies and gentlemen, we have gathered here today to make a decision once and for all…"
In a large room, around a hundred people were gathered, each and every one of them dressed formally in suits and ties. Curiously, apart from their clothing, they shared a strange mask with green and blue patterns, making them look like a meeting of aristocrats from a fantasy novel.
"Well, now that we are all here, we will deal with the only point of the day: the plague that looms over us…"
Among the hundred men sitting in the large oval room, a man wearing the same mask as the others currently wore stood before the parliamentarians on a platform. The only difference he had from the others was the small golden tear drawn under the left eye of his mask.
This man was the current Secretary of Parliament. Unlike the old powers such as the European Union or even the Parliament of the United States, the Secretary of the Confederation's Parliament did not have decision-making power. They were based solely and exclusively on the votes of all the parliamentarians, which only count as one vote, including that of the Secretary General.
This was done based on the historical problems that one of the systems most similar to the current Confederation, the European Union, had faced at the time. It is known that being a kind of political and economic alliance formed by many countries, it was not perfect.
The politicians of each country prioritized their own survival. Many of those who finished their candidacies put the policies with the most acceptance in their countries first in the European Parliament. The problems that they brought them did not seem as important to them as surviving one more candidacy.
And based on these errors, the Confederation learned. They knew that power was a corrosive poison that destroyed all the progress that could be made.
And that is why today's meeting is being held. The weariness of the parliamentarians was evident. They were not a group of transcendental beings; their fatigue and exhaustion were visible despite the masks they wore.
"Gentlemen, we have been adopting a policy of coexistence until now, but we have let it spread like a plague…"
The Secretary of Parliament looked at each and every one of the hundred people sitting in the semicircle of armchairs. Silence reigned in the large oval room as all the parliamentarians stared at the man standing behind the platform.
"... It's time to put an end to this plague…"
The Secretary General unconsciously raised his voice little by little. His feeling of helplessness was losing the battle against his anger. It had not been easy for any of them, and now a group of melancholics and madmen had attacked them. Looking at the parliamentarians and their visible anger, he realized…
Those bastards had crossed the line.
"Gentlemen, the Confederation will not sit idly by this time."