Afterlife

26

A gloomy haze clouded the entire city that morning, as the group leaders all assembled at the city hall for the hearing. Normally only the IP leaders would be required to go to events such as this if it was for something smaller, or for a more private matter, but for hearings as serious as this, where the question of banishment was involved, it was required that every group leader attend, other than those out on missions. For if a person was to be banished from the city, everyone involved was to be permitted a say in the matter before the decision was made by the section heads, for every action must be taken into consideration before making such a drastic decision.

The city hall was a large circular building, made entirely of stone, with an amphitheater like seating arrangement inside, capable of seating every citizen of the city if need be. At the center of the room, on the ground level of the stadium, was a flat, circular area where, in this situation, everyone involved with the case, such as Jones' group and the man who the Commander had chosen to represent them, to prevent them from simply dropping the case, along with Dunland's group and all the people they might need to call upon as witnesses, were located. The section leaders would be seated on the first level of seats above that, then there was a slight railing that divided off the rest, where the other group leaders, and anyone else who wished to participate would sit.

Connie looked up from her position on the ground level as the swarms of group leaders finished piling into the room, each one wearing the color of their chosen professions and dividing off into the specific sections of the stadium where their colors were meant to sit. As the Commander had ordered, every group leader was present, filling the room to at least half its capacity as they took their seats and waited for the hearing to begin.

Connie then turned her gaze to Fiara as she heard her say quietly, "There's so many," almost in a tone that depicted an emotion of awe. "I never realized just how many groups there were."

Connie then smiled slightly as she said, "You should see some of the other cities. Our group count is miniscule in comparison to some."

"Really?" Fiara questioned as she turned to face Connie with interest.

"Oh yes," Connie replied, "Our city is actually one of the smaller ones believe it or not. We live in city number... thirteen I believe," Connie paused a moment before then adding, "I think last I checked, the largest one was city number five."

"And how many groups does that one have?"

"I don't know the answer to that one. I've never been that far away from our city," Connie replied, "The farthest our group has ever gone was to city number 12, and that one was only a tad bigger than ours, but that one had less groups than ours, mainly because their groups were just bigger."

"By how much?"

"Well to put it simply," Connie replied, "The average group in our city is comprised of maybe eight people at the most, but there the average is more like fifteen or more to one group."

Fiara looked forward in silence as she seemed to be contemplating what it would be like to live with that many people at once, but before she could get too far with her thoughts a loud bell sounded three times, alerting everyone present that the hearing was about to begin.

There was a lower door near the bottom of the hall where the section leaders and the accused would wait until it was time for the hearing to start, and the second the bell had made its first toll, it opened and the section leaders began walking out. The Commander was the first to step out, putting on his same act of innocence as he walked around to where all the IP leaders were sitting and stood before the bench provided for him in front of the group before waiting for the other leaders to do the same. Following the Commander was the leader of the builders, a tall burly man with red hair named Jona Sims. Then after him came the leader of the shopkeepers and farmers, Maryanne Heart, a slightly plump woman with a cheerful expression. After her came Hugh Jasper, the leader of the Inventors, who looked to be a rather wiry fellow with dark brown hair, and after him came the beautiful leader of the caretakers, Julia Norris, with long flowing blond hair and a composed expression. The last person to enter was the leader of the meds, Jordan Masters who seemed to read as a well educated man who would want nothing but the best for every person he'd come across.