"Right, thank you for that speech, Mister President. Do any other members of Parliament have anything to add?" asked Nadia, looking around the chamber. The only person who had stood to speak during this emergency meeting had been the President himself, as none of the other members of Parliament seemed interested in discussing the matter yet. Even the Christian Party, which was understandably excited by the confirmation that their God was real, had decided that silence was the safer option for the moment. They were far more concerned with preparing themselves for the lawsuits that were already beginning to appear.
Several of the largest law firms in Europe had already been commissioned to investigate whether the Christian Party could legally continue to exist in its current form. The problem was no longer simply that they represented a religion, because the Catholic Church now represented something far more complicated. It was effectively a real political entity with supernatural power, territorial claims, and influence over millions of people, while potentially having access to sensitive information through its members. Nobody knew what legal category such an organization belonged in, and that uncertainty alone was enough to make politicians nervous.
The Christian Party itself had not yet realized just how dangerous its position had become. The great houses of Europe had essentially sentenced the party to death politically, although they had no idea that this decision had already been made. The old families had no interest in fighting another battle with the Catholic Church, especially after seeing what kind of influence it could regain now that its God had been proven to exist. They had never been particularly religious themselves, because people did not survive for as long as they had by blindly submitting to a higher power that could demand things from them.
The Crusades had been one of the clearest historical examples of what could happen when religious conviction became powerful enough to influence entire nations. The enormous amounts of money and resources that had been poured into those campaigns had caused problems for the old families at the time, even if those problems had eventually passed. During the height of the Church's influence, the great houses had therefore learned to appear religious enough to satisfy everyone watching them. In reality, however, they had never followed most of the teachings, because survival had always been more important than faith.
Even without knowing that their political future was already in danger, the Christian Party understood that speaking too loudly would be foolish. The members of Parliament had also read the tome about gods that the System had pushed toward the rest of the world, and that had removed much of the fear surrounding the sudden appearance of a real God. The possibility that millions of people would immediately abandon their governments and throw themselves into the arms of the Catholic Church had seemed terrifying at first. However, once people understood how gods had been created and what limitations they possessed, that particular fear became much smaller.
The temptation was still there, of course, because the possibility of borrowing power from a god was difficult to ignore. The promise of eventually reaching a higher stage, combined with the possibility of gaining something resembling eternal life in paradise, was far too attractive for humanity to dismiss completely. However, joining a religion simply because it offered supernatural power was very different from genuinely believing in its teachings. That distinction gave governments some breathing room, even if nobody was naïve enough to believe that the religious question had been solved.
"I see that no one has any interest in speaking about these issues at this moment," Nadia said, glancing around the chamber once more. "Am I correct in assuming that everyone agrees the President has already covered the important details and that we are ready to move on to the next motion?" The lack of objections answered her question before anyone had to say anything. Nadia nodded and allowed herself a small smile.
"Right, I see that everyone is in favor, which is rather rare," she said with a laugh. Polite laughter spread through the chamber, relieving some of the tension that had been hanging over the emergency meeting. Nobody particularly wanted to spend the entire day debating religion when the world had already provided them with enough problems. With the issue temporarily settled, Nadia moved on to the next matter on the agenda.
"The next speaker is Beau Putman regarding his request to borrow additional money, as his department's funding has run dry," Nadia announced. "Considering that we are borrowing almost everything at the moment, the emergency fund is also empty." Beau stood and walked toward the center of the chamber, already knowing that this was going to be an unpleasant experience. He had hoped the President's speech would distract everyone from his request, but unfortunately, he still had to justify every coin his department had spent.
Beau had prepared himself for the questioning because he knew exactly what Parliament was going to ask. The money had disappeared far faster than expected, and that was never something politicians liked hearing. His department had already spent enormous amounts acquiring tomes, conducting experiments, developing the steam train, and investigating whether technology could function outside the old cities. The fact that some of those experiments had produced extremely valuable discoveries did not change the fact that the treasury wanted an explanation.
For nearly an hour, Beau spoke about the situation, explaining where the money had gone and why the expenses had increased so quickly. He managed to cover almost everything while revealing very little about the rune technology that his researchers had discovered. The entire purpose of his explanation was to convince Parliament that the money had not been wasted, even though much of it had gone toward experiments that had only recently begun producing meaningful results. By the end of his presentation, most members understood that his department had accomplished considerably more than the original budget had anticipated.
After Beau finished, Nadia opened the floor for questions. "Right, so why should we believe anything you have said?" asked Ksenia Mierzwa, the leader of the European bloc of parties focused on the environment. "What you have talked about so far sounds like a lot of hot air without enough substance, so where exactly did the money go?" Beau looked toward her calmly, because this was precisely the sort of question he had expected.
Ksenia's political bloc was going through something of an identity crisis at the moment. There was no longer quite the same environment to worry about as there had been before mana appeared, and their traditional political concerns had become increasingly difficult to define. In fact, some of their members were now more worried about there being too much oxygen in the atmosphere because plants had expanded dramatically. Trees and other vegetation were growing at an unprecedented rate, creating ecological changes that were difficult for even their experts to understand.
"That is an excellent question, Madam," Beau replied. "As for where the money went, the answer is rather simple. We had to purchase several tomes to make the research possible, and that caused the expenses to rise very quickly." He continued by explaining that they had also conducted numerous experiments to determine whether it was actually possible to restore communication technology outside the city limits. Those experiments had been enormously expensive, particularly because every failed test required additional materials and manpower.
"The discoveries made during those experiments also increased the cost of developing the steam train," Beau continued. "We had to change several parts of the original design after discovering better ways of using mana, which meant that the projected expenses increased considerably." He paused before giving the number that mattered most to Parliament. "With the remaining funding available to our department, we project that we will fall approximately three months short."
Beau then looked around the chamber before continuing. "That is why I am asking Parliament to allocate additional money to my department. We still have a great deal of important work to complete, and Europe stands to gain considerably once long-distance communication becomes possible again." He carefully avoided mentioning runes, knowing that revealing too much would create an entirely different problem. "Even if the technology only proves useful for the military at first, it will still serve an important purpose by allowing our forces to regain a more familiar operational environment."
The military had been fighting almost blind compared with what it had been capable of before mana transformed the world. Communication between distant forces was unreliable, and many of the systems that had once connected armies simply no longer functioned outside the old cities. If Beau's researchers could solve that problem, the military would gain an enormous advantage. More importantly, the same technology could eventually become useful for merchants, governments, and ordinary citizens.
"I hope that you will all support my proposal," Beau finished. "Does anyone have any further questions, Madam?" Ksenia looked down at the documents in front of her before shaking her head. "No, I don't have any more questions. Please proceed," she said as she sat down.
Ksenia did not actually oppose Beau's proposal. She understood that it was probably going to pass regardless of whether her bloc supported it, and she had other matters to worry about. Her environmental parties were still trying to figure out what their political identity would look like in a world where mana had fundamentally changed the environment. The upcoming election was therefore far more important to her than fighting over a funding request that was almost certainly going to pass.
"The next speaker is Kaiden Matthews, representing the separatist bloc of the European Parliament," Nadia announced. She tried her best not to sigh as Kaiden stood up, because she already knew where this was going. The man came from England and still believed that his country would be better off standing alone, despite the fact that Europe had changed so dramatically that the old arguments for independence were becoming increasingly difficult to justify.
Nadia found the idea almost laughable. There was very little actual data supporting Kaiden's claim that Britain would be better off outside the European Union, yet he continued to insist on it whenever he was given an opportunity. His bloc was the smallest in the entire Parliament, but that did not stop them from being the loudest. Unfortunately, Nadia knew from experience that Kaiden was unlikely to let such an important emergency meeting pass without turning it into another argument for British independence.
She watched him approach the speaking position and silently prepared herself for the debate that was about to begin. Of all the things she wanted to hear about that day, another separatist argument was near the bottom of the list. Still, as Speaker of the European Parliament, she had to give him the floor. With a resigned expression, Nadia turned toward him and waited for him to begin.