“For the event itself, it’s in five weeks at the Convention Center and it’s an all-day event. There will be many vendors for the day, including the opening day of a fair on the festival grounds next to the Convention Center. A media campaign is planned to launch three weeks before the event. Interviewees have already been selected from ABQ, Psycepts, PCSS, and even SWACon.”
“In the Convention Center, the ABQ, Bosque, and SWACon councils will have programs they offer regarding tribal history and culture. ABQ Area Council will also have some information about careers after our residency contracts end and what resident children can qualify for. We will be talking about Psycept history and what it was like to move to SWACon. All councils are using this event to help bridge the gap between PsyTown residents and the greater ABQ and Bosque communities. PCSS will demonstrate and discuss the multitude of services they offer Psycepts as well as employment opportunities they provide to the greater communities. The programs are not fully set, I should have more information at the next meeting. The PsyCouncil website has a form to submit if you are interested in contributing to our programs, either as a speaker or with help setting up and running the rooms. Professor Biobaku is the director of the Psycept programs and he will be in touch.”
“Thanks for the update, Gray. We look forward to hearing more in two weeks. Let’s take a ten-minute break, then we will return to listen to proposals and have a period of community questions and comments at the end. As always, Bailiff Dichali organizes the proposal speakers, so please see him during the break and he will set you up. Bailiff Dichali, if you will?”
“Thank you, Councilor Escudero. Ten-minute recess has been called, beginning now.”
I use the break to briefly check on Dio and Echo, then return to review the proposals. There are a few straightforward proposals for this meeting. The proposals aren’t for us to vote on enacting, we vote on whether we agree to present the it at the ABQ Area Council meeting or not. Our website has a form that applicants submit. The basic required information includes their name and a brief outline of proposal. They can also upload supporting documents like reports or presentation, but that is supplementary and not required. Miss Sonia receives the requests and they are placed in the next available slot for discussion. We can’t refuse to listen to a proposal, but we can limit the time to maximize the number we hear. Miss Sonia tries to keep the proposals to less than six per meeting, but only three proposals were submitted in time for today. Works for me.
Our first meeting as the new council was two weeks ago and had only one proposal, to design a PsyTown flag to place in the ABQ Area Council chambers. We would also use the flag at our official functions including our meetings. We declined with comments. There is a Psycept logo that all Psycept communities use in official correspondence and on websites which could be adapted to a flag. As a plus, the logo is already approved by the GT so no need for conservatorship or municipal approval. However, we still declined to approach Albuquerque about displaying it at their meetings. We understand we have an outsized view of our importance to ABQ; we think we’re bigger fish than we are. The applicant took the hint and will submit a flag mock-up using the existing logo. Once we receive it, we’ll probably approve it for our PsyCouncil use and send it to other Psycept settlements in case they want to use it too. But we’re not displaying it outside of PsyCouncil meetings. We all straighten up as Gloria signals for the proposal period to begin.
“Recess has ended, and the Psycept Council meeting has resumed. Call to order. First proposal is ‘Psycepts, What Now?’ and the applicant is Mr. Langdon. Mr. Langdon, you have the podium.”
“Thank you, Bailiff.” He then proceeds to blow our minds, and not in a good way.
Mr. Langdon submitted a bare bones proposal request online. We knew that his topic was generally about Psycepts and next steps, but not the details. The detailed next steps in his speech were, well, odd. There’s a charged silence when he finishes speaking, both the council and the audience are not sure how to respond. I look to Wendy and she flashes panicked eyes at me then turns we both turn our gaze to Kyle. Kyle looks worse off than Wendy. If the council approves the proposal, then Kyle will be the main presenter at the City Council meeting with Wendy as support. I look at the rest of the bench, but no one seems ready to respond, even Gloria. Time to nip this in the bud.
“Mr. Langdon. Thank you for presenting your proposal. My initial response is a vote for no. I agree that Psycepts are rare, well below one percent of the world’s population. However, we’ve always been rare, it is only recently that we have the DNA analysis and tools to quantify this. But to genetically match Psycepts for optimal breeding purposes isn’t something I can support.
“Having said this, I truly believe the intent of the proposal is to promote having children to continue our
