Why it never ends

Chapter 1004 Meeting

Hesta hung up the phone in a hurry and turned to press Eucalyptus' hands and feet. Her calves were stretched straight, just like Hesta herself when she had cramps due to over-training.

Several nurses also rushed over after hearing the noise, and they all worked together to press Eucalyptus onto the bed.

"Is this a minor injury?" Hesta asked anxiously, "Doesn't he need to stay in the hospital for observation?"

"Don't shout here!" the nurse said sternly. She looked back at Eucalyptus, and several people examined Eucalyptus again.

After a few breaths, one of them suddenly turned around and said to Hesta, "It may be a symptom of phonophobia... Don't worry."

"Phobia of phonophobia..." Hesta repeated the name of the disease in a low voice. It sounded so familiar, but it was hard to remember where I had heard it.

"Sometimes patients may be afraid of continuous shooting, cell phone ringing, alarms... or even heartbeats. It won't last long and will usually subside in a few days. The longest may last for several months. It's not a big problem. Just rest well and it will get better on its own!"

On the folding bed, Eucalyptus's convulsions had ended, and she buried her head in the pillow, sobbing softly.

After the nurses left, Hesta sat silently beside Eucalyptus' bed, leaning forward with her left hand supporting her forehead.

……

As it approached eleven o'clock, the meeting hall of District 12 was crowded with people.

Kovicik is sitting in a wheelchair and is naturally half a head shorter than others. He particularly hates this feeling, so when he talks to people, he holds his chin higher than before and looks more arrogant.

"Kovishik! Did you hear what happened tonight? It was terrible!" Trion kept wiping his face with a handkerchief. "I heard that tens of thousands of people died tonight! The enemy's robot troops were flying everywhere, shooting and dropping bombs--"

"Sir." Kovichik looked around awkwardly. Several people were also attracted by Trion's exaggerated reaction. Kovichik was afraid that others would think he was Trion's friend, so he quickly frowned and said, "Don't be like that. I was at the scene when it happened. It wasn't that exaggerated."

"Ah? You were there? You--you saw those--"

Kovicik coughed lightly. "I was on the observation deck next to the King's Square at the time. All the killing machines were on the road and couldn't fly! Excuse me, sir, it's hard to call it an army. There were just too many people on the road and they were unprepared, so..."

"My God! What kind of machines are those?"

Kovicik's mouth twitched slightly - in fact, he did not see the appearance of the machine, because as soon as the gunshot rang out, he and the people in the observation deck quickly entered the building. The entrance to the observation deck was closed immediately to prevent outsiders from rushing in. Kovicik stayed there until everything was settled, and then he received a notice that there would be an emergency meeting tonight and the House of Lords was allowed to attend. "Sir," Kovicik shook his collar, "don't you think your curiosity is too cruel? Don't ask me these things anymore, I don't want to recall."

Trion made a regretful expression and turned to chat with someone else. This was his first time attending an official event as a member of the House of Lords, and he walked around to see what was going on, adhering to the principle of never spoiling the fun. Although strictly speaking, his procedures were still under review, he chatted and shook hands with people everywhere, as if he was already a regular here.

The door of the meeting hall was opened, and all the people gathered in the hall filed in. After everyone sat down, Kovicik glanced at the attendance list for tonight. He thought that many people would be absent due to the risk of going out tonight, but out of the 150 congressmen and 60 senators, 139 and 54 were present respectively, and some of the absentees had notes saying that they would participate in tonight's meeting via remote connection.

At first, Kovicik was a little surprised. Except for the election every eight years, he had never seen any meeting receive such attention, let alone an impromptu meeting initiated late at night.

Except for a few upstarts like Trion who had nothing to do with the matter, most people had heavy and sad expressions. Kovicik suddenly realized why everyone attached so much importance to tonight's meeting: I'm afraid everyone knew that this would be a historical node - although as a bystander in the House of Lords, he did not get the progress of the meeting, but he suddenly felt sincerely happy that he was about to witness the next meeting process with his own eyes.

The seat near the left side of the podium was the seat for Mercury Needle. At the moment, there was only a young woman holding a computer sitting there, typing away at the computer. Kovicik remembered that she seemed to be the secretary of a high-ranking official. The seats next to this woman were all empty, and no one else sat next to her until the huge door of the conference room closed.

At 11:05, the host announced the official start of the meeting. Kovicik recognized him. He was Tang An, the chairman of the Vihoton Interest Party, and a frequent visitor to the Governor's Palace in Arevalo. Kovicik had talked with him several times, and the two had a good impression of each other.

Tang An's eyes were slightly red, and he asked everyone in a sad voice to stand up and observe a minute of silence for the victims of tonight. Just as everyone stood up one by one, the door of the conference hall was suddenly pushed open again.

Everyone looked sideways as a man in a Mercury Needle uniform quickly crossed the red carpet and walked towards a position near the podium.

Trion recognized the person at a glance: Jane Hestar.

Unlike most of the neatly dressed congressmen tonight, Hesta's uniform looked dirty and her hair seemed to be covered with a light layer of gray. She might have just washed her face, as there were some water stains on her temples and forehead, and dark marks left by splashes on her cuffs and front clothes. There was an obvious scratch on her right cheek near her ear, but she didn't seem to care... All these things made her look out of place in this solemn and dignified chamber.

Hesta was halfway through her walk when she suddenly noticed that many people were staring at her in surprise. She looked down and found that her trouser legs and hem were still covered with smoke. She paused and slapped her clothes hard a few times, and immediately a puff of gray smoke appeared around her. Then, she continued to walk forward calmly until she sat down.

Everyone began to observe a moment of silence, except Hesta and Ximoya, who sat motionless in their seats. During this time, Tang An looked at them several times. One of them was staring at the screen, while the other was looking at the podium with her arms folded, neither of them stood up.

When everything was over and everyone was seated, Ximoya finally looked at Hesta and then back at the screen: "Yes, she is here. She is next to me now."

Hesta glanced at her screen—half of Kende's face was there.