The meeting room had no windows.
No clocks. No decorations.
Nothing that revealed where it was.
That was intentional.
The Council preferred it that way.
For centuries, locations had changed.
Governments had changed. Currencies had changed. Borders had changed.
The Council remained.
Twelve chairs surrounded a circular table carved from black stone. Each chair was occupied. Each member sat in silence.
A screen glowed in the center of the room.
Sebastian Ravenscroft's face filled the display.
A recording from the previous day's speech.
The Clean Government Act.
The applause.
The promises.
The confidence.
The belief.
When the video ended, nobody spoke immediately.
The silence lasted nearly a minute.
Long enough to become uncomfortable.
Long enough to remind everyone that this was not an ordinary gathering.
Finally, the oldest member folded his hands.
"Observations."
