Tom was quiet as he walked along with Alice and was supremely glad to see that she was alright, that she'd made it to her costume/party shop in Seattle and back with no difficulties. That would mean that the two Luna Brotherhood members hadn't threatened her or done anything against her directly, at least today and that put him at ease. From the way she'd described things to him, weres had lived in secrecy for years, particularly since the rest of mankind stopped believing as fervently in things like magic in the Medieval to Renaissance periods. As the Age of Enlightenment began and man's scientific knowledge advanced, things that had earlier been described as possible only due to magic came to an end.
But the memories of those who had lived through the periods when people believed in magic and sorcery, and thus the Church and its rules likely carried on after that period ended. Given the potential for weres living up to four hundred years, that could mean that there were some weres that were among Moon Lake's founders that remembered those hunts first hand and passed those stories down to their children. Thus, while it was unlikely that many in Moon Lake had that first hand knowledge, if any at all, and those that did would likely be at points in their lives where things like dementia might finally be catching up with them. But the fact that those fears were passed down to succeeding generations had that fear carry on, even if the rest of the world changed drastically. Tom knew that that fear would be strong and would push resistance to his plan.
But threatening people was not the answer to any of that. One side could claim victory, but it wouldn't truly settle anything. It wouldn't prove their base argument right, and at the same time, Tom was fairly certain that some of the things that had happened recently had set up the potential that weres could be exposed. He also figured that with the advancement of technology that it was dumb luck that weres outside of Moon Lake hadn't been exposed already. The actions of the two Luna Brotherhood members also created some sense in Tom's mind that some things outside of Moon Lake that protected the were secret might have been the Luna Brotherhood engaging in a sort of black ops mission, and while it might keep rogue weres in check, it left Tom wondering as to what possible damage might also be done, particularly if the Luna Brotherhood didn't have government connections. But he didn't know enough about them to be able to hazard a guess on whether or not they had government connections, and that reinforced his drive to move the big reveal forward and essentially let weres come into the open and win equal rights, before some accident happened that portrayed weres in a bad light.
All those thoughts and worries went through Tom's mind as he walked along with Alice to this meeting. So far as he knew, the next official meeting that would deal with the "big reveal" wouldn't be until Wednesday, but on hearing from Alice that there was a meeting tonight that got him worried on what the schedule might be. He could have heard the exact date wrong and thus tonight was the night, and since he was only staying in Moon Lake to keep Alice safe from the two Luna Brotherhood members, he wasn't fully aware on what Moon Lake's City Council's regular schedule was. Though as the long brick and stone building came into view, Tom contented himself that even if the meeting wasn't on the reveal, he could at least share some of the information that he'd come across that might make things easier. Though things seemed rather quiet as they approached.
"Things seemed rather quiet," Tom said softly as the reached the door on the building's eastern narrow side, "If this was to be one of the special meetings for the reveal... I'd have thought that there would be more attention..."
"They might already be inside," Alice commented as the two went inside and then headed toward the stairs that were to their right as they came in, "though... I'll admit that until those who agents or whoever they were threatened you, I'd been living in Seattle long enough that I really can't say on what the schedule Moon Lake's City Council keeps for its regular meetings."
Tom slowly nodded and they made their way up the stairs. For Tom it was a known route, as it was the same one he'd taken the previous Friday. Things were still fairly quiet until they got about half way up the stairs when they could hear some voices. Tom thought they sounded like some near frantic questions with somewhat muffled answers, almost as if the questions were drowning them out. That made him sigh.
"So much for things being quiet," Tom sighed to Alice.
"It's only in the room," Alice answered and put her arm around his, "which means even if the people present are thinking on the reveal plan... they aren't on par with the protest that made camp outside my parent's home."
Tom nodded, but he could feel his heart beat a little faster as he worried about facing a more direct or potentially hostile debate rather than what had happened with his first debate with the City Council. For if it came to a fight, Alice would be at risk, and that he didn't want to risk. Though as they came closer they found one uniformed officer present and most of the people that Tom could see looked relatively calm. As they got closer, he could tell a bit more about what was being asked, mostly as to why the vote had went the way it did and why couldn't they just trust what had worked for centuries. And as Tom and Alice came in through the door to the room, all eyes turned to them.
As with the debate over the reveal, a long table ran across the room with a small wooden podium placed on the table top in the middle. Standing near the table was Lucy Stevens, who was talking to her husband and Tom's future father-in-law, Harold Stevens. With Harold, who represented Moon Lake's sixth ward, were the other ward representatives on the City Council. These included Akane no Tachibana, who represented the fifth ward, a Bruce Savour, who represented the fourth ward, an Olivia Eria, who represented the third ward, a Michael Vore, who represented the second ward, and Simon Sears, who represented the first ward. Between Bruce and Oliva was Katherine Chambers, Moon Lake's Deputy Mayor and the only one of the group present that was a normal Human while the rest were all weres. All of them seemed to focus their attention onto Tom.
"I didn't mean to interrupt anything," Tom spoke politely as the room, and even the guests went silent as he entered. He was rather surprised that the guests could recognize his face, but he supposed that was more the result of web searches with his paper and likely finding a photo of him that the paper had.
"There is no interruption... as we hadn't gotten started," Katherine spoke, "as some questions and protests over the vote to begin work on a reveal plan have delayed a few things... though at the same time, tonight is one of the standard weekly meetings to handle standard city affairs. The first meeting that will be addressing your reveal idea won't be until tomorrow night/evening."
"I see..." Tom spoke, "then I must also apologize for panicking. I'd had a bit of a trip to the eastern part of the state as part of my paper's worries over some law enforcement issues and when I returned... I'd learned you had a meeting and worried that I might have missed something."
"Given the scale and detail that will need to go into this," Harold spoke, "we wouldn't progress on putting together the plan without you here. As it is your idea... and you would be our primary means to carry it out in a way that would hopefully believable and one that may put our best foot forward, as it were."
"Though most of Moon Lake will question that... given all the nonsense that's gone on!" one of the people that had come a guests had come through, making Tom turn to see a man push his way through the crowd, "the people in Seattle are probably still on edge over what Lionel Ulysses did!"
Tom gave a sigh, and noted that some of the others on the City Council desk sighed as well, and it was these sorts of things that was likely delaying the intended meeting. He expected some degree of protest and frustration, as the "big reveal" would change a great many things in Moon Lake, and he was privately sure that a great many things for the town would likely change after it. The rate would be determined on how positive the reaction was, at least in the US, but despite all the partisan issues in Washington DC and other places, Tom was still fairly confident that America's reaction would be positive. But until they saw it, most in Moon Lake would be hesitant to believe it.
"If I may comment..." Tom spoke up and glanced to Katherine, hoping to ease some fears, "my present assignment with my paper has related to some of the coverage and attention to the crimes that have gone on and the attention they've gained. Lionel Ulysses' actions and his death being one of them. The Gamboni's actions being another... and all leading to my editor wondering if there was anything bigger coming and if the state's law enforcement is ready. That can reflect the impact Lionel Ulysses and his transforming when shot has lead to."
There were a few cries of "see" that came out of the guests to the meeting, which Tom ignored.
"However, in the course of the interviews that I've carried out," Tom spoke, "issues related to Lionel Ulysses and his tail have been barely noticed. They recognize he was criminal, but have written the tail off as a costume piece as the FBI and Seattle police said it was. As such, it's doubtful that anyone in Seattle is interested in hunting weres at all."
"Wouldn't that prove that the secret is safe then?" a woman who was among the guests asked, "that it will keep us safe, if no one's reacted?"
"I'd argue it's more that Moon Lake and all weres got lucky that what happened with Lionel Ulysses went the way it did and there was a ready explanation for what the police body cams caught," Tom answered, "weres weren't revealed and as such no one's out to hunt weres... but the base issue related to technology is still there. And with the issue related to the reveal, I honestly don't think any were can keep gambling that circumstances will be such that someone with a cellphone camera, or a security camera, or a robotic drone, or some other technological means might somehow stumble onto weres somewhere and present proof that can't be written off. The fact that the reaction to Lionel Ulysses has been as it is would be something that would assure that when the reveal is made... it will be to a world willing to listen and learn, and under circumstances that weres control. That we are driving events rather than reacting to them."
"So it doesn't change your opinion?" Olivia asked from her seat.
"No," Tom clarified, "but it would further lower the odds of a negative response as the reveal would not be associated with Ulysses' crime."
That got things to quiet down a little before Katherine Chambers cleared her throat to speak, "and that might work with some things that Samantha Twist, our Town Chancellor uncovered with a new family that moved to Moon Lake recently... and which she shared because of how the family responded when she informed them on Moon Lake's secret and our requirements."
Tom and Alice both looked to the Deputy Mayor, as did many of the others.
"From what I was told... the entire family's response was closer to that of those who were already aware of and supportive of weres or were weres themselves, despite that no member of the family were weres," Katherine said slowly, "which could reinforce your point on the potential for positive responses."
Tom nodded with a small smile at that.
"However, dealing with those details specifically and beginning to put a plan together will have to wait until tomorrow," Katherine spoke, "as we have scheduled business to attend to tonight... business that has already been delayed. All guests are welcome to attend and listen in, but we would ask that interruptions and questions on city matters be kept to a minimum."
From there, the City Council rapidly moved into some of their standard meeting, while Tom and Alice drifted over to one back wall not to far away from the door. There was a uniformed officer present, who had stayed calm, though Tom got the sense that he was being watched. Most of the guests that were there seemed to settle down a bit, though Tom couldn't be sure as to whether or not this was the result of anything he said or what Katherine had reported on other things the city had found out. Things might still be on edge, and Tom expected things to remain that way, but for the moment things were quite and that was a blessing for the moment. That let Lucy approach her daughter as the City Council talked in the background on their issues.
"You're doing okay?" Lucy whispered to Alice.
"Yes, mom," Alice answered, "No one came by the house tonight..."
"Good," Lucy nodded, and then looked to Tom, "I hope you're not too tired from driving across the state..."
"Not too tired," Tom answered, "and mostly glad that for the moment... everyone is safe."