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It was the monthly movie night for the members of the servers of Hermitcraft, Empires, and the former 3rd Life Series. They would meet up on a cozy server with a mansion big enough to house all of them and contain a movie theater for whatever show they decided to watch that time.
This month, there were a handful of people missing. This in of itself wasn’t the most unusual thing to happen, as it was pretty common for a few people to be missing.
The odd thing was the excuses they used.
Grian, Jimmy, Martyn, BigB, and Pearl had all gone together under the excuse of a meeting planned prior to the event. It was unusual for these people in particular not to show up to a movie night, but even weirder that they wouldn’t specify where they were going.
But whatever, it was their loss that they weren’t binging the entire Lord of the Rings series with the group.
“Hey, guys,” said Scott, “Have you heard they’re broadcasting the Council Meeting on a new law?”
Council Meetings were an excellent concept. They would decide on new laws, often interviewing relevant people (or even entire servers) to get testimonies from them. Then, they would decide if new laws were necessary.
Sometimes, the interviews could lead to court cases, if something illegal was suspected of the interviewees. The whole meetings were often broadcasted to every server, so anyone interested could hear them live.
“That sounds interesting- what are they discussing?” asked Joe (Hills, not the pirate one).
There was shuffling as people started heading to the movie room, and Scott started setting up the livestream.
“Um, it’s on if there should be laws concerning ethical world ending,” Scott read from his communicator.
“Oh, well I guess that concerns us Hermits,” Xisuma pointed out, “We change worlds for every season.”
Scott nodded, and Sausage agreed, “All of us, really, if Empires season 3 is coming.”
The group had finally settled, and the broadcast was up on the screen.
—-
It showed a wide room, with white walls, ceiling, and floor, and with a large wooden table in the center. It was U-shaped, and a smaller rectangular table sat across from it. The members of the council sat around the large table, but the smaller one was empty.
The members of the Council wore all-white uniforms of flowy silk, and a pile of paperwork sat in front of each one. They were sifting through them, waiting for the meeting to start.
Finally, with no apparent signal, they all put their papers down and looked at the member at the center of the table. He stood up and began to speak.
“Hello, all. Today we are discussing the need for Laws of Ethical World Ending. Today, we have decided to interview the members of a world that was destroyed by outside forces, the former members of the Evolution SMP.
We shall see if there is a valid need.”
He sat down, and another member stood.
-
The members of the Empires and Hermitcraft servers looked over at Xisuma when he gasped.
“The Evolution SMP is famous for its mysterious and abrupt ending,” Xisuma explained, “Many admins worry their server could meet a similar fate.”
-
The next Council Member began,
“To understand, we shall go over the events leading up to the destruction of Evolution SMP. Please come forward, Grian Xelqua.”
-
No words could describe the look of shock on their faces as they heard their friend’s name be called.
-
And there he was: Grian walked out from behind the camera and sat at the rectangular table.
“ Is your name Grian Xelqua? ”
“Yes.”
“ Is it correct that you were the admin of Evolution SMP? ”
“I was the admin, yes, until I left after the dragon fight.”
“ When and why was Evolution SMP created? ”
“I made it five years ago under the concept that we would start in a beta version of Minecraft and would go through the updates periodically.”
“And who were its members ?”
“Hmm… It was me, Solidarity Gaming, Taurtis, Pearlescent Moon, Netty Plays, BigB Statz, System Zee, Martyn InTheLittleWood, Salems Lady, Mini Muka, and Tomohawk.”
“Smaller server, considering things. Is it true the Watchers were there?”
-
“What the- Watchers?”
“What are those?”
“They’re, like, powerful beings that can see pretty much everything. I wasn’t sure if they were real,” explained Scott.
-
“Yes. They helped us through the updates, though they were not the most benevolent of beings.”
“You mentioned a dragon fight being when you left. Can you explain what happened with that?”
“The Watchers had an update portal that took us to the first update with the ender dragon. We went through the portal together, but I ended up there alone. I had to fight the dragon myself. Afterward, the Watchers… told me it was time to go. And I left, without being able to even say goodbye.”
-
“Time to go? Why do I geel he isn’t telling the full story?”
“I agree, Scar.”
–
“Who was made admin after you left?”
“Honestly, I have no idea.”
The Council looked at each other, with some whispering in low tones. Someone whispered to the interrogating member, and they addressed Grian again.
“You may take your seat. Pearlescent Moon, please come up.”
Grian stood and walked away from where he had been sitting, and disappeared off camera. Pearl caused a stir in the movie night crowd as she sat in his place. Was everyone missing going to show up? They had heard their names said by Grian earlier.
“From your perspective, what happened at the dragon fight?”
“We all fought the dragon alone, and at the end, the Watchers told us Grian… was… gone. Yeah. Um. Then we appeared at a new spawn without him. Or Jimmy for some reason. He accidentally ended up at the old spawn, thousands of blocks away.”
“And how did the Watchers treat you all?”
“They were okay if you obeyed them and were perfect, which was impossible. They always left cryptic messages and punished us if we did not do as they said. Once, they put obsidian over all of Grian’s chests (and remember this was beta) because he mined some clay from a build.”
The Council members whispered to each other once more.
“And who was made admin after Grian left?”
“I don’t know. None of us thought about it, really. We were upset our friend was… removed from the server.”
“Ms. Moon, would you please explain how Evolution SMP came it its end? ”
“Of course. Um, the world was crumbling around us, so we knew it was important we leave. The Watchers had never let us leave before, but we managed to find a portal out with tips from someone.”
“Who?”
“I honestly can’t remember who- I think someone said they had been told, but I blank when I think of who.”
“Miss Moon, do you think the Watchers were responsible for the destruction of the server?”
“I think it is very possible. Likely, even.”
“Thank you. You may have a seat.”
The member of the council sat down and began to murmur with the others.
–
“This is… News. For sure,” Mumbo said, “I can’t believe our friends went through that.”
There were many sounds of agreement. And sniffles of the empathetic. And actual crying, if you count Scar. Many people had tears in their eyes.
-
A new Council member stood up. She began to speak.
“Can Martyn InTheLittleWoods and BigB Statz please come up?”
They did. At this point, it was no surprise to the movie night group they were there.
“Were the events described by Ms. Moon correct from your point of view?”
“Yes,” BigB said.
“Yes,” Martyn said, “though I can confirm it was the Watchers destroying the place. And it was probably the Listeners who made the portal we left through because it sang out in another language when we went through.”
“And how did you find this portal?”
“I think someone led us there… I can’t remember who, though.
“You mentioned Listeners- how are you familiar with them?”
“I’m not,” BigB mentioned, “Other than Martyn mentioning them once a long time ago. Don’t remember much.”
“They came to me and Timmy- I mean Solidarity- before the dragon fight. They pretty much just introduced themselves and told us not to tell anyone. Which I guess I didn’t follow, because I told BigB about the encounter.”
“This question is for all of you,” the Council member addressed the crowd behind the camera, “Who here is familiar with the Listeners from Evolution? ”
-
“I’ve heard of them,” Etho said, “They’re like Watchers, but instead of invading your privacy by watching you, they listen in.”
–
A few people, though it was hard to tell through the camera, responded negatives, though one voice said yes.
“Please come up here, if you are. Mr. Statz, you can sit down.”
BigB left, and no one other than Jimmy Solidary came up. It was just him and Martyn.
“Other than your first encounter, did you see them again?”
“No,” Martyn started, “Other than that first time, and the singing from the portal, which I wasn’t actually 100% sure was them, I didn’t see ‘em again. Not sure why.”
“It’s because you told BigB. You were supposed to keep it a secret, but you didn’t,” Jimmy told him.
“Oh yeah. Did you see ‘em, then?”
“Yeah.”
“You may take a seat, Mr. InTheLittleWoods. Mr. Gaming, when did you see them again?”
“After we returned from the dragon fight, I ended up at the old spawn. They came to me again, and gave me the ender chests,” Jimmy addressed the Council, “The Watchers didn’t want us to bring anything back from the old spawn, but the Listeners gave us the ender chests behind their backs.”
“Do you know how you found the escape portal?”
“Oh! Yeah, they told me where to find it. So I told the group. Kinda odd no one remembered that it was me, though.”
“Hav you had any contact with the Watchers or Listeners after Evolution?”
Jimmy looked around. He seemed shifty, and maybe even a little nervous.
“No. I- uh- I um. No? Yeah, no. Definitely not.”
–
“He’s totally lying, right?”
“Without doubt,” Scott agreed. He knew what Jimmy Solidarity lying looked like.
–
“You can sit, Mr. Gaming.”
Jimmy looked relieved to get off camera. The Council began to murmur once more. It was kind of annoying. The white outfits were supposed to resemble innocent and clean lawmaking, but damn did it make them look like pricks.
There was a short break after that for the Council to speak their minds to each other. Finally, after a round of only slightly annoying whispers, they sat back in their seats.
“We are finished with our questions,” said the main Council member, “It has become apparent to us that laws are required to prevent cases like the destruction of Evolution.
We will not be able to hold the Watchers in court, as their actions did not end in any injuries and were technically not illegal at that time.
In one month, we will release the new laws on Ethical World Ending, called the “Evo Destruction Laws.”
This Meeting is dismissed.”
~
“Well…” started Xisuma, trying to catch his breath as the broadcast ended, “maybe it’s for the best if we don’t mention we saw this case to them unless they mention it first.”
Fwhip agreed, “Yeah, it could be bad to overwhelm them with questions.”
That didn’t stop Scott from thinking to himself, “I have to check in with Jimmy to see if he’s okay. And maybe see why he was lying.”
Or Scar and Mumbo from talking quietly to each other, agreeing to check in on Grian when he got back. He’d likely be emotionally and physically exhausted.