There is a massive meeting within the CRC, and representatives from around the Alliance are invited to either watch, or participate as they wished. This was for all the public to also be viewing.
The message was clear, when distress signal goes out, you go help. Don't you DARE dawdle just because they're Deathworlders. They can die, too!
@internutter/challenge-03545-i256-tough-suffering -- Anon Guest
The recording of Ret's last breaths played out in shocked silence. So many illusions were shattered in the space of minutes. Deathworlders are tough. Before this moment, many present would have believed that it would take a direct meteor strike to slow them down.
"Deathworlders can die. When they do, it's often slow and painful. By the time we arrived, they were beyond the point of no return. The best we could do was to see them to their end without pain. We have given the logs to the Archivaas to transform into lessons suitable to all. The lesson is this: never delay giving help."
One by one, representatives of the Alliance hung their heads or otherwise moved in shame. Some hid their faces. Some panted. Some shut their eyes. The minute of silence passed in a newfound respect. First for Ret. Then for each crewmember who had struggled to help, and finally perished in the effort. It was a very long silence.
As each representative stepped forth to sign the new agreement, they did so as quietly as possible, lest the ghosts of sins past catch them mid-stride. One by one, they stood from their desks.
One by one, they made their way to the central document.
One by one, they made their mark, so that no other would perish as needlessly.
For two hours, not one person present said a word. The only noise was the occasional shuffle of feet and the scratching of the stylus as each one signed.
It went down in history as one of the few events in which the entire Alliance agreed on anything.
[Photo by Sollange Brenis on Unsplash]
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