"We're all children of the Greater Industrial Zone. Though our planet has fallen behind the times and hasn't been part of the industrial sequence for many years, we all know how this world works."
On the dais, a dark-skinned old man with graying curls, wearing old-fashioned work clothes, waved his arms angrily and declared, "Under the old regulations, every Outer Space Refining Furnace was monitored throughout its operation by a supercomputer. The energy intensity could never enter the danger zone. Why did one tear open a spatial fissure, leading to that explosion a few days ago?"
Another man, formally dressed and wearing glasses, tried to interrupt the old man's speech, only to be shoved roughly aside. The old man continued loudly, "From the planetary lockdown that began last year to this so-called explosion, and now the emergency alert the government just issued, it's all a conspiracy by the Galaxy Alliance authorities! They want to abandon us burdens, stop fulfilling the government's obligations, and drive us underground!"
Someone finally lost patience, stood up, and retorted, "There are detailed data reports on both explosions. Why won't you take a look?"
The old man grew even angrier and slammed the table on the dais. "Even if there really was an explosion, it happened dozens of light-years away. I only went to Junior Technical School, but even I know nothing in the universe travels faster than light. Light itself would take decades to get here. Are the Dark Matter Sea's monsters going to appear before our eyes tomorrow? Why should we pay such a huge price now for something so far away?"
Standing at the entrance to the meeting hall, Eve watched the argument on the distant dais and couldn't help shaking her head. The Union Executive Director was as crude and ignorant as