The People's Alpha ✔

17: Congress

"ORDER!" Wethermore yelled, even louder, to no avail.

The gavel-banging intensified.

There was a crack as the head of the gavel snapped off and flew to who-knew-where, somewhere in the middle of the chamber, the noise reverberating like a gunshot through the expansive chamber.

Almost in an instant, room fell silent. Everyone stopped what they were doing.

Wethermore drove the jagged stick that remained into the surface of the sounding board. "That was disgraceful. Utterly disgraceful. I will not tolerate you behaving like spoiled children in this chamber. Back to your seats, gentlemen." he enunciated every word with great force.

There was a quiet noise as everyone shuffled to their seats, clutching on to the little dignity they had left.

I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. Muttering an excuse, I exited the chamber. 

***

I stood in the deserted foyer. The sounds of the chamber were echoing through the space. Someone had messed up the acoustics.

"Hello- Oh it's you, Catriona."

"Congress is in session, I'm guessing. Am I right?"

"Yep. I'm currently right outside a large room filled with several hundred man-children, and it's not pretty."

"How's it going?"

"Nobody's has been killed. In other words, so far so good."

"Well, that's... good. I called to tell you I've postponed my trip slightly. I'm waiting for things to die down a bit. I'll be arriving the day after full moon."

"Good call. Everything's in lockdown since the attack. You've never seen

"No, it wasn't that.

"It's not like it's not like political discourse is much different here. You should have seen the consultation meetings for the Cross River Rail project here. NIMBYs are crazy."

"NIMBY?"

"NIMBY. Not In My Back Yard. In other words, most of the population of inner-city Corviston."

"Do they even have backyards?"

"Well, you know the type. Old Town hipster types who are convinced that having a train tunnel thirty metres under their neighbourhood will drastically ruin the ambience of their renovated loft apartment."

Through the wall, the ruckus seemed to have come back full force. Someone must have set it off again.

"Anyway, I need to get back into the fray, before someone actually dies or something. See you soon."

"See you."

***

I returned to the chamber of horrors to find Wethermore in the middle of an address.

"And may we welcome Mr Betancourt to the stage."

There was a light smattering of applause, and many jeers and animal noises lower down in the chamber, but they died away as Adlai took to the stage.

He seemed to spread himself over the podium, rather than seemingly hover over it as the wiry Wethermore did. Giggles erupted down below. They died away quickly

"Chairman Wethermore. Ladies and gentlemen. Alphas and Betas of all packs. It is my honour to address this sitting of the Thirty-Fourth Annual Congress of the Organisation of Pan-Lycan Unity."

For many of us this was the first time we had ever heard him speak live. His voice was clear, but it did have a slight but pronounced lisp.

"I extend my deepest sympathies with those affected by the senseless act of violence that took place earlier this week at the Granite Peak pack. We do not yet know the full details of the attacks, nor have we definitely ascertained the identity of the attackers. But fingers are being pointed. Pointed at a very prominent minority in our broader community.

The screen behind him flicked on. A wolf pup. Matted fur, sad eyes, standing in squalor.

The last sniggers and whispers had died out.

"Rogues. The packless, homeless, the outcasts of our society. Many of us rely on them for our livelihoods, yet we barely interact with them, and we hold onto exaggerated stereotypes about their behaviour. We blame them for many issues, yet we ignore theirs."

A graph appeared on the projection screen behind him. A jagged line rising upwards.

"As you can see, the population of non-affiliated wolves is set to increase significantly in the next few years. Currently, rogues form 30% of the population of the Independent Territories. In 20 years this will increase to 45%. By 2045 we will be in the minority."

Another graph, a pie chart.

"The rogue population are no longer the scattered outcasts they were historically, and that many of us still erroneously think them to be. Over 80% have never known what pack life is like. While most live in poverty, some of them are millionaires. Our economy depends on them. They are very much a rising force in our society, and they have far more influence than most of you will ever give credit for."

Adlai pushed on. "We cannot continue to marginalise them and hope for the best. There is no way we can ignore this problem anymore like we have for the past few decades. They have a voice, and even if they are not confident of using it now, given the trends I have seen on the street, something will give sooner or later. If our packs are to have a future, we must act now or face the consequences."

The slide changed again. This time to a rendering of the supercentre I had witnessed the day before in Copenhagen town.

There was a moment of confusion in the chamber, then shock as what he was trying to suggest sunk in. Nobody had ever suggested something like this, ever. Noises were made. There were boos and hollers and shouts.

"I believe we, the Thunder Falls pack, are in an unique position to offer help in this regard. We have considerable experience in reaching out to non-affiliated wolves."

There were some more graphs and pictures. Happy people with Thunder Falls products. A seller pushing her cart.

"Over the past decade, Thunder Falls has led the way in empowering non-affiliated informal settlements. Through our direct selling strategy we have greatly boosted the wellbeing of these people, and, more importantly-"

"How can you reconcile with savages? Bloodlust is all they know. There is no reasoning with them." The person who yelled this was Ryder, from lower down in the chamber.

"In my experience such ideas are but rash generalisations," Adlai replied, without raising his voice.

"They were banished for a reason." Ryder stood his ground.

Adlai remained unflustered. "Where are you trying to go with this line of logic? Who will work in your factories? Who will do the dirty jobs you don't want to do? We can build fences and checkpoints and increase security. But as we have seen in conflicts worldwide, containment is not a permanent solution. In the long run it will only exarcerbate tensions and increase the problem."

Nobody uttered a word. Just the ambient slurping noise of wounds healing.

"I propose that our only reach out to the rogue community, that we push for reconciliation. We must build bridges, not burn them. This will not be a small effort, and I do not expect it to be a small effort. Everyone will have to contribute. As I have said, we have ignored these problems for too long. These are changing times, and uneasy decisions will have to be made. If we do not act soon, it will be too late. And these senseless acts of violence we have witnessed in this present will pale in comparison for what will come."