Tad met Amy outside his front door before they began slowly walking up toward city hall. He had a fair amount of anxiety as he walked along. He was happy to be beside Amy and was even eager to find out what all the rumors of this meeting had actually been about. However, there were a fair amount of questions that drifted through the back of his mind as well. As while the meeting was supposedly important and could be big, it could be limited to nothing more than new construction and expansion of the city or something like that, something that he was fairly sure that every city had to handle from time to time. There was also the worry that something might be really serious and that some of the carefree thoughts on this meeting weren't something to be followed.
"Your mom and Claire aren't coming?" Amy asked as they walked along.
"No... I think they have some romantic plans for the night," Tad answered, "Dinner and a movie... typical date stuff."
"We will certainly top that later," Amy promised him with a knowing smile and actually giggled a bit when Tad found himself blushing.
"Later," Tad then gave a nod and they walked on.
It was one of those things that was very different from what he was used to and at times he couldn't get enough of it. Especially with Amy. She was strong and beautiful. She was sexy and sleek with her generous E cup chest and wide hips that were perfectly balanced with strong muscle that supported everything and made her curves even better. There were plenty of times when a part of him wanted nothing more than to run off into the woods with Amy and have lots of fun with her, but he did manage to keep control of himself. After all, his father did raise him to be a gentleman.
They walked along until they came up on the long building in which Moon Lake's City Hall was located. It was also older and build of stone, though with obvious signs of renovation that would include air conditioning and heaters that likely did quite well during hot summers and when Moon Lake did get some cold winters. They also found a fair number of people on their way in, it wasn't a huge crowd or anything, but it was definitely more than a small group, which to Tad signified as to how important the meeting had the potential to be. He and Amy fell in with the group and walked on in through the doors on the east end of City Hall and into the main lobby area. There were a few signs that gave directions to where the City Council met and both young werewolves looked to them, even though the group they had been following seemed to go in the same direction.
"Seems to be a popular meeting," Amy chuckled as they walked along.
"After all the rumors... I'd think that's understandable," Tad commented, "any town that would let people come in to listen to the City Council debate would probably have a fair amount of curiousness over what the meeting would be about... That's pretty much why I'm here. Figure out what all the rumors were about... I've heard a lot, but no two rumors ever agreed on what the cause was."
"The telephone game," Amy nodded, referring to the nature of how many rumors spread.
They followed the group into a decent sized room, where there were already many weres in attendance. Tad also though he could pick a few normal human scents as well, but he also found that there was such a crowd of people that had come in that he couldn't quite pick out any individual scents. Tad and Amy quietly moved to stand to a side before looking toward the middle and far side of the room. The far side was dominated by a long fixed table that ran across the far wall of the room. At its center was a podium at which a lone woman stood. Tad noticed a name tag on the woman's jacket that read: Katherine Chambers, Deputy Mayor. There were six seats behind the desk, arranged in sets of three to either side of the central podium. There were name plates before each of those seated, and one read: Akane no Tachibana while another read: Harold Stevens. However, it was Katherine Chambers who held control over the floor and she was checking watch carefully, and she eventually looked to a Moon Lake Police Officer who was standing by the door and gave a wave, which signaled for the officer to shut the door.
"Okay, welcome all guests to this special session of the Moon Lake City Council," Katherine Chambers spoke in a calm voice, "this meeting has been called by Harold Stevens, representative of Moon Lake's sixth city ward, on behalf of his future son-in-law..."
A lone man then spoke up, drawing Tad's attention to him. He stood alone before the central podium and was reasonably well dressed with dark pants, more formal shoes, and a white long sleeved shirt. Tad didn't think the man had a tie on, but he was also far enough a side and the back that the man's shoulders blocked his view.
"Tom, if fine," the man spoke calmly, "I know a lot of this will be an uphill issue. Less formalities will save time."
"Very well," Katherine answered, "Tom here has requested Mr. Stevens to call this meeting for discussion on the were secret and namely... the abolishing of said secret."
Tad heard an echo of gasps and frightened sighs that were all aimed at the man. Tom stood calmly and for the moment didn't say anything.
"Now, Tom," Katherine spoke, "our purpose is to tell you that if you reveal the secret in any way you will be killed. The vote was unanimous and that the secret is to remain a secret."
"So you voted for your own oppression," Tom answered back fairly calmly.
"We voted four our own safety," a man to the left of Katherine spoke, "safety YOU yourself should be concerned with, since you are a werefox. We may forgive you for being new... but that doesn't justify revealing our secret to the world and a world that is more likely to hate and fear us for all the old stories that people tell."
"So... ALL of you were around in the 1500s and were there for the great witch hunts or the last "were" hunts?" Tom asked back.
"We didn't need to be there!" someone in the audience shouted, "we don't want all the bombings that happened in the Civil Rights era! And that was just Normals killing each other over race!"
"But if you weren't there, you have no first hand experience with it," Tom spoke calmly, "and in the end... the 1500s was a LONG time ago. At least five hundred years. Much in the world has changed since those days. Back then the Catholic Church and the few Protestant Churches wielded great political power and might and were not afraid kill to keep their power. Yet that has changed. One hundred years ago, we were only just discovering flight, within a generation or so, we would advance into the jet age and then supersonic flight as well. One hundred years ago, we had our most racist President in memory, Woodrow Wilson, in office with no African Americans in the White House as anything but a servant. Today... our President IS an African American. Things change and can change rapidly. Look at things like gay marriage. Fifty years ago it was illegal in every state. Now it is legal in and ever increasing number of states and at the national level... there is at least the tolerance for same sex couples."
"And your point is that things change?" Akane asked from her seat, "I've seen many things change in my life. I may not have been alive in the 1500s in Europe... but I've seen plenty of instances where people have treated others without honor or regard. You cannot expect a universal acceptance of weres just because things are different today from where they were even a century ago."
"Life is never easy and sometimes we must take a hard path to get to a better world," Tom answered, "I understand your fears... and to a degree... I feel them to. The though of losing my Alice... losing her would kill me."
Tad watched as Tom slowly paced the floor before the desk. The man occasionally looked to the audience and then to the Moon Lake City Council members.
"And yet you would risk her life by exposing Moon Lake? Exposing weres?" Moon Lake's Ward 1 Representative asked.
"Not Moon Lake, just weres in general," Tom spoke, "and I don't think the world has truly slipped into complete madness that we'd be risking lives. And even if it does... Moon Lake would be secure in that no one would know that it is a were sanctuary."
"So you'd risk people's lives at random?!" someone in the audience gasped.
"No," Tom answered, "optimistically speaking, I'd like to think that we're PAST a lot of that small mindedness in this country. That we can look to people and respect their character and not worry about their race. And between the 1964 Civil Rights Act, the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments to the Constitution, there is the legal grounds to make the case that no were can be punished for being a were. Some things may be difficult, but I don't think that we are truly facing that... if weres come out and explain who and what they are and show how wonderful they can be."
"I can understand wanting to do things for the one you love... which I suspect this is the main cause," Akane spoke, "but by the same notion, we must be sure that the world is ready and that the world is accepting. And it is not ready yet."
"And how can you know that for sure?" Tom asked back, "because racist groups like the Klu Klux Klan are out there? Those sorts of groups have been out there for centuries. And with some people, they may never be beaten... but if you're waiting for some kind of utopia to just appear... then you're caught in a trap in which you can never come into the world and prove how good you are. As the fear of something else will always be there and will always be an excuse not to do it... and in the end, NOTHING will get done. It'd be like the proverbial procrastinator and taking out the garbage. There will always be a reason not to take out... but eventually... it WILL be have to be taken out. And that is where my real point lies."
"Which is?" Moon Lake's Ward 2 representative asked, sounding skeptical.
"That we're already reaching a point where the were secret cannot truly protect you in the way it once did," Tom spoke, "that you NEED to come out into the open and go through the hardships in the short term... win at least equality before the law... and progress from there. For as I said, the world is changing and things that could be hidden as stories and hearsay a few centuries ago can't be hidden in the same way. Technology is changing and advancing. Recording equipment is getting better and is ever more present. I'm sure recent events in Seattle and even here have already had you nervous on this issue..."
"You speak of Dymixious Drake?" Akane asked.
"And Lionel Ulysses before him," Tom nodded, "everyone saw Lionel Ulysses tail. The police body cam footage showed him GROW the tail when he was shot. Saying it was a costume piece was simply the most believable thing that most would accept, but that wasn't the truth, and I will admit that when I first saw it... I was trying to dig deeper, because the footage released was NOT of a costume piece. But at the time, I was still a normal human being and completely unaware of weres even existing. And with a firm dedication to the truth, I tried to find more what had happened beyond what was an obvious excuse."
Tad blinked, remembering that Lionel Ulysses was his father's murderer.
Tom paused for a moment to collect his thoughts before continuing, "but I now recognize that the way I was going about that investigation... had my editor allowed it to continue... would have run the risk of unknowingly expose weres and in a way that would not highlight a were's virtues. It would have exposed them to Lionel Ulysses' crimes, including the murder of a Marine Corps Officer in Virginia. Which would reveal some of the truth, but not all of it. Not in a way that would be beneficial."
"You work for the press! The paper in Seattle!" a voice from the audience accused, which Tom figured that the woman recognized his column.
"Yes," Tom answered, "with a dedication to the truth. And the truth being that weres are not the medieval monsters in league with the devil that they were depicted as in the Middle Ages. They aren't the mindless monsters they're often depicted as in modern movies. Yes, weres can transform into forms that aren't human... but they are still who they are as people. There is no deal with Satan and no mindlessness. Have there been criminals that have been weres? Sure, but for the same reasons normal humans become criminals. And it is the complete truth I wish to tell, one that will be in the benefit of weres and will give weres everywhere a chance to stand equal before the law and all the legal rights that go with it."
"You say that there is legal grounds for the defense of our rights," Akane spoke, "and I would agree that there are legal grounds. You say that things have changed from where they were in the past, and that they have changed for the better... but... by the same token, while you may doubt the fears of those fear the negative... how can you be so sure that the response will be positive? Laws are fine and good, but they can also be changed, and all too often they can be ignored. We've had international laws for warfare that forbade the use of poison gas in existence before World War I started. That didn't stop BOTH sides from using it in that war. We've had laws concerning the treatment of prisoners and civilians... yet in the thirties in China, Japan ignored those rules in its invasion, and later the US would ignore those rules with its actions in Vietnam. Rules and the truth are the first casualties in war, and humanity's track record in that regard... even when dealing with other humans is not good."
"But not every human is bad," Tom commented, "we can always point to our proverbial signs of evil that we recognize as evil... but when we rely on that we may overlook the signs of good in the world. The charity and kindness that should be valued... and in a way... the way we often talk on things that are "evil" And as I said with regard to the threats that are there... we getting to a point where you CAN'T just hide anymore."
"Yes..." Harold admitted, "the arrest of Lionel Ulysses and the battle with Dymixious Drake..."
"More the FBI's manhunt for Dymixious Drake," Katherine corrected.
"These surely raised tensions and fears for you, did they not?" Tom asked.
"They did," Moon Lake's Ward 3 representative said slowly and looking down for a moment.
"Which means you're already in a position where the were secret is more a liability than a protection," Tom pointed out, "even if you have some emergency measure... suppose a criminal were in another state commits a grizzly murder and is caught on tape doing it and either transforming or is already transformed... What do you think will happen? An emergency plan released AFTER exposure has occurred accidentally isn't going to work. The news media will cover the crime and politicians will associate weres WITH that crime. And there... you're entirely at the mercy of those who may not decide to look into what the emergency plan says and will simply legislate to prevent the crime that occurred and associate weres with that sort of crime."
"And you propose to expose us now?" Moon Lake's Ward 4 representative asked, "after Lionel Ulysses nearly got us caught with his tail... as YOU'VE pointed out and after Dymixious Drake's actions nearly brought the FBI to Moon Lake."
"Better now in a way in which we have control over the reveal and can present the good first," Tom answered, "it'd let us tell the WHOLE truth and do so in a way that will let weres control the story. Particularly in a way that will be separate from Lionel Ulysses and Dymixious Drake."
"With the trust that people will accept us?" a voice in the crowd asked.
"It's quite possible," Tom answered, "and at the same time we're getting to a point where we can't hide and trust no one to find out or find it exposed through an accident. It isn't easy. I know that... and there will be a lot that would mean difficulty. But for the moment, with legal protection and he present government, equality before the law is reachable. And it would be best to START there before something happens that exposing weres accidentally through either carelessness or through criminal action... and with technology getting better and getting better faster... the likelihood of avoiding that by hiding is getting less and less. There have already been TWO near misses already. Better to do it now while there is some control over it."
There was a degree of silence that went over everyone in the room. The were secret was something that weres had long guarded, and Tad remembered both his parents urging a great deal of caution to try and protect the were secret. It was something that was well guarded and well protected. It tied in to a couple of assignments that he and Amy had gotten in their American Government classes that related to the were secret and how to handle if it were exposed. However, while Tad wasn't the most brilliant student of government, history, or philosophy out there, he DID have to admit that there was a fair amount of what Tom had said that made some sense.
Technology was growing and might well one day expose weres in a way that they couldn't control, and while most weres were good, that didn't mean there weren't rogues that could cause trouble. And he could see it in the eyes of the various council members and on Katherine's eyes as well that there was a great deal more questions and concerns that were presently there and that the unanimous vote that had been declared earlier was likely not going to happen again. After all, Moon Lake had had to deal with its fair share of rogue weres, from Yvette Smith to Lionel Ulysses to Alice Decrux. Even dealing with Dymixious Drake carried that risk given how badly the FBI wanted him for the murder of Lionel Ulysses. And just because the were population outside of Moon Lake was lower, that didn't mean that the risks of a were going rogue didn't exist there as well. Moon Lake couldn't control and contain a rogue werewolf in Texas anymore than the US could control the rotation of the Earth itself.
"What about the sites outside of America?" Akane asked after a moment, "even if you don't plan to reveal Moon Lake as a were sanctuary... which in theory... I suppose could serve as a good first step, one must remember this revelation would do more than affect the US. And there are many countries that either do not respect human rights or are not strong enough to protect human rights, no matter how much they may wish to. And there are weres living outside Moon Lake... even outside the US."
"And outside of maybe a few that have family... or connections outside Moon Lake, we really don't know WHERE they'd all be," Harold Stevens commented, "Even if we agree... this declaration would affect more than just Moon Lake."
"It would," Tom admitted, "but most countries have a recognized system or rights that are on par with what the United States has... and even with regard to those that do not... they would be effected by it if it came by accident via some other means. Progress is never slow or easy... and it isn't always even, but I'm sure every were wants a world where they can show the world who they TRULY are and not worry of attack or anything else... and that sort of world will only come if we take the first steps now. To tell the whole truth and tell it in a way that shows the good side for weres and allows for the legal cases to be made."
There then followed a few moments of soft debate among the council members. Neither Tom nor Tad could actually hear it. They simply waited while the others talked amongst themselves before they backed off and Katherine approached the podium.
"By a 4-3 vote," Katherine spoke, indicating that she'd had to cast a tie breaking vote between the two camps, "The Moon Lake City Council votes to allow your proposal..."
Gasps were heard echoing through the room.
"But only so long as you discuss with the council in more private sessions on what is to be said in your reveal to the world and that you work with the Moon Lake city government, including the mayor's staff with ALL of the logistical and informative aspects that will relate to this reveal," Katherine continued, "You will also not reveal the fact that Moon Lake is a were sanctuary."
"Agreed," Tom spoke.
"You are to also agree that should equality before the law prove unreachable," Katherine continued, "that you commit suicide and make it public as well."
Tom gulped, but then nodded.
"The exact timeline for this reveal is also to be handled by Moon Lake," Katherine spoke, "You aren't to make the reveal until we can clear it? Understood?"
"Yes, ma'am," Tom answered... as the first steps toward a new world were taken.