Page 65 of The Champion
“Amazing?” Zola frowned. “I expected you to tell us how ridiculous the wedding was. You always make fun of the Northlanders.”
With a shrug, I said. “As I’m starting to understand their customs more, some of it makes sense to me now.”
Frédéric, Zola, and Joseph exchanged glances as I moved on and talked about the subject on my agenda.
“Shelly Summers has gone back to the Motherlands now. Her contribution to our project was beyond what we could have hoped for. The first five tests of the artificial womb showed promising results and our fungi fuel is showing enormous potential. The Explorers are bringing back more fungi tomorrow for us to work with and I’ve got Andrea and Timothy running all samples this week.”
“Will Shelly come back soon?” Joseph asked.
I wet my lips, feeling nervous about what I needed to say.
“Shelly has agreed to help us develop more inventions that will change the world, but she has conditions.”
Zola straightened in her chair. “What conditions are we talking about?”
“She doesn’t want to work for one country in particular. Shelly feels that her inventions should benefit humanity overall and after reflecting on it, I feel the same way. It inspired me how the Motherlands agreed to share their technology with us without hesitation. Working with Shelly and Freya has been rewarding and I would like to expand on our cooperation.”
Frédéric leaned back in his chair. “In what way?”
“We have decided that we would like to test out many of the inventions that can benefit France and the rest of the world. The part of Europe that was formerly known as Belgium would be our choice of location. We imagine a settlement to begin with of around a hundred and fifty people from around the world who all bring a skill set that will benefit the group. At first, we’ll focus on infrastructure and then we’ll bring in more people to grow the area fast.”
“Whoa, whoa.” Joseph held up a hand to stop me. “The idea of spreading out to different areas of Europe has been talked about many times. We always decided against it.”
“I know that, but this area wouldn’t be a part of France. Because it’s a case of cooperation between people from around the world, it would be a different country entirely. But don’t worry. I would be close enough that I can still fly into my office regularly and keep working with my team here. It wouldn’t be a loss to France in any way.”
All three of them stared at me as Joseph exclaimed, “What drugs did they give you in the Northlands? You can’t move away from France. None of us can. We need all the people we can get to grow our country steadily according to plan.”
“But this country would be one where people from the entire world could come and make something new.”
“We don’t need new,” Frédéric said with a stern look. “I don’t know what has gotten into you, but you’d better do a reality check because no one is leaving France, you included.”
My temper flared. “I’m done being a prisoner in this country. I’m not asking for permission.”
“Good, because you wouldn’t get it if you did. France has done everything for you and for you to talk about leaving is treason.”
“Maybe we could discuss this with the parliament,” Zola suggested but she was cut off by Frédéric.
“No! If people learned that our nation’s hero is planning to leave us it would cause an uproar. You’ll stay here and work like you’ve always done.” His tone softened: “Honestly, Victor, it sounds like Shelly put some silly thoughts in your head and you just need to sleep on it a few nights to realize how crazy it sounds.”
“Shelly didn’t put it into my mind. I came up with the idea and I’m moving ahead, with or without your permission.”
Zola paled. “Victor, don’t say that. You would force us to take strict measures if you insist on breaking the law.”
I wasn’t used to people denying me what I wanted and pushed further. “If you want my help in the future, you’ll let me go. A neighboring country could be a great opportunity for France as well. If ten percent left to pursue a life in Wisdomia, you would have room for everyone to live above ground much faster.”
“Wisdomia, is that the name of your fantasy land?” Frédéric asked while Joseph’s face fell into a grimace and his tone sounded disturbed:
“Ten percent of our population. Have you lost your mind? That’s a hundred and forty thousand people.” With a snort, he pushed his chair back. “You’ll go back to work and forget about this nonsense. The subject is closed.”
“No, it’s not! I’m serious about this. I had hoped you could see reason in working closely together, but if you insist on keeping all our residents as prisoners, then the new country will be inhabited by Northlanders and Motlanders instead.
“You’re not going anywhere, I’ll make sure of it,” Joseph declared and left the room before I could object further.
Frédéric shook his head in disappointment and gave a short order to Zola, “Let’s go.”
Her hands were shaking as she picked up her pad from the table. “Victor, I’m begging you. Don’t do this to yourself. The consequences could be severe. Think of what happened to Marguerite when she defied the law and refused to get impregnated. They moved her out of the Blue Tower and took away her title as a scientist. That poor woman was stuck in a dark room doing mind-numbing data entry work and getting paid a fraction of what she used to make. I couldn’t bear it if you ended up killing yourself like she did.”
Zola’s concern was valid, but to me it didn’t feel like I had a choice. Living without Freya wouldn’t be living at all. I needed to find a way to get us out of France before the police were called in to restrict my freedom.
