The conference room was crammed with more than fifty people.
Twenty of them were recruited from previous talents, represented by Cooper, and all of them had participated in wormhole research-related activities, and their identities were either astronauts, scientists or engineers.
The remaining thirty-odd people were all Professor Brand's confidants, from aerospace executives like Jody to former students like Williams; they were all core members of both Project A and Project B.
Cooper stood among the crowd, unremarkable in any way. He had thought he would be taken seriously here, but he only saw his old acquaintance, Professor Brand, for less than two minutes before being left to his own devices.
This disappointed him somewhat.
Judging from his current treatment, he doesn't seem to be highly valued.
But observing the others, he realized they hadn't even seen Professor Brand; they were all immediately taken care of by Jody or Dr. Brand upon entering.
He guessed that the beautiful Dr. Brand must be Professor Brand's daughter.
"Ladies and gentlemen," Professor Brand stepped forward and finally began to speak, "a warm welcome to all of you to Plan C."
"This plan is different from Plan B, which you may have been familiar with before. To be honest, it is not officially supported. What we are about to do, if discovered, could be considered treason."
Now that the plan is about to be implemented, Professor Brand can speak more strongly now.
As he expected, most people looked astonished after he said those words. Although they were mentally prepared and knew that Plan C was unusual, they did not expect that participating in this plan would be regarded as "treason".
Some even thought they were just participating in a routine top-secret project...
There was some commotion at the scene.
Professor Brand remained calm, showing no signs of being about to "betray" his country. "You have one last chance to choose. I allow you to withdraw from Plan C here."
"But you are not allowed to leave this conference room for the next two hours."
With the riots somewhat quelled and everyone realizing they still had a way out, they calmed down a bit and refocused their attention on Plan C.
Cooper was relieved.
From what he just heard, participating in Plan C would be considered...
Once the treason began, he had already decided not to participate.
That Jody is a real bastard!
He knew perfectly well that he had two children to raise, and that they couldn't live without him!
Jody actually ignored this fact and tricked him into coming here!
Cooper was angry. If he didn't have a way out now, he would have wanted to punch Jody down.
"Professor, what are the specifics of Plan C? Is it really better than Plan A?" someone couldn't help but ask, worried that Plan C itself might also have problems after what had just happened.
Professor Brand smiled and raised his head:
"I can assure you that Plan C is superior to Plan A in every way. Apart from the fact that it is not officially supported, it has no disadvantages for us."
Some people felt relieved after hearing this, while others disagreed.
Cooper was the one who didn't take it seriously.
He could never participate in a plan that wasn't officially supported, a plan that would be considered treason if he joined. He had two children to support, and such an extreme action shouldn't have been pursued in the first place.
Professor Brand was unaware of the deep resentment his old friend harbored. He gestured for those who had decided to continue participating in the project to stand beside him.
His daughters, Amelia and Jody, immediately stood on either side of him, and then the others in the conference room hesitated before slowly beginning to disperse.
Some people stayed put, while others chose to move closer to Professor Brand.
Cooper is different from others.
He retreated directly to the wall, hoping to get as far away from Brand and his group as possible, fearing he might be implicated later.
Professor Brand noticed his choice, but instead smiled slightly at him, without any hint of blame in his eyes.
Their eyes met, which made Cooper feel inexplicably ashamed, and he took the initiative to look away.
Slap! Slap!
Professor Brand clapped his hands. " Amelia, we can begin."
"Okay, Dad." Amelia picked up a thick stack of document bags and handed a copy to everyone gathered around her father.
There were more than fifty people in the conference room, with about thirty of them surrounding Professor Brand.
"This is our Plan C, everyone."
Professor Brand gestured for everyone to take out the documents from the bag and look at them, saying, "To execute Plan C..."
w.
First, we must leave North America, leave this land filled with killing and chaos.
" Amelia and Jody had previously visited East Asia, where a national-level reconstruction effort is underway with the help of an organization called the Mutual Aid Society. They are also actively exploring the other side of the wormhole, having already launched two probe rockets..."
The document bag contained, in addition to the Mutual Aid Society's application documents, a basic introduction to the Mutual Aid Society.
Amelia did all of this by herself during this period of time, just for this day. She even copied and pasted her notes from the interview on the other side.
" Plan C... Mutual Aid Society?"
"Does such an organization really exist in the world? Amelia, did you really see their Spacetime Tunnel with your own eyes?"
"Chief Jody?"
After the thirty-odd people had read only two pages, the atmosphere became lively.
Professor Brand suddenly became unpopular; everyone surrounded Amelia and Jody, wanting to ask them about their visit across the street.
Among these people were members of the original delegation who were completely unaware of the descriptions in the documents at the time...
Amelia and Jody tried their best to answer all the questions, while assuring everyone else that what they said was what they had actually seen, and strongly corroborating the authenticity of the Mutual Aid Society.
"Since such an organization exists, why don't they come to us for cooperation?" someone suddenly asked.
Amelia fell silent, then stammered, "Perhaps they didn't like the way we executed the starving people..."
The person who asked the question fell silent, feeling as if they had asked a stupid question.
Such inhumane practices are disliked by any normal person, and they clearly contradict the organization's principles.
But this page was quickly turned, and everyone kept raising questions, which Amelia answered, making the atmosphere increasingly lively.
Those who chose to withdraw watched this scene with bewilderment, completely baffled as to why these people were suddenly so agitated.
Is Plan C really that amazing?
Cooper stood with his arms crossed, leaning against the wall, curious about what was happening over there.
He noticed that the people there were initially surprised and doubtful, then fell into an awkward silence for a while, and then, after Amelia's explanation, slowly became delighted and amazed.