The small room had seven stools, one round table, a phosphorescent vine stretched across the ceiling, and seven Qwortarians staying at each other with various colors and lengths of their eye stalks.
This group had three things in common. One, they had survived the great famine; two, they worked in the medical field; and three, they had been established members of the salubrious council. The only seven left in fact.
Make that four things in common, because these last seven hated each other.
The stony silence had fallen after the agriculture council had dropped off their binder full of notes on various new crops thanks to the bounty from Earth. It included the nutritional information sussed out by the scientists and all that was left was to decide what would be grown first to feed everyone while making the population as healthy as possible.
Smergus had grabbed the binder first, pulling it slowly across the table with sticky tentacles. The other six waited as Smergus flipped through slowly, the only eye not set in a glare, but open wide to soak everything in.
You should read it aloud Smergus," Avacorno said, "then maybe we won't have to be here all night."
"Or at least share it," Dixorg stretched their eye stalk to the left, hovering just over Smergus' head, but was quickly blocked by an armored plate sprouting from the top of Smergus' head. “Really Smergus?”
Smergus never responded while the six other Qwortarians started creating a ruckus. They yelled, banged the table, stretched eye stalks and limbs in attempt to get at least a glimpse of the binder. Smergus eventually seemed to explode, limbs growing huge and hiding the whole thing from view, except for a small hole where Smergus pressed one eye. They grew more eyes to watch the other council members try to get through the now armored limbs.
“Ridiculous!” Avacorno screamed. Their tentacles slapped across the ground as they went to the doorway. “I demand more copies or the decision will never get made!” The squawk reverberated down the narrow halls. Avacorno got a non-verbal response, printers on the other side of the building came to life. “Good.”
But even with six additional binders, the seven members argued and fought long into the night and late into the next day. It took several mediators to de-escalate the conflict in order for the discussion to begin. With samples and facts the seven were able to come to a discussion.
Three plants would be the first phase of healing, as they grew fast and together filled all the nutrient requirements necessary for a healthy adult.
Word count: 437
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