index

Council Record No. 1087-B

Subject: Emergency Session Regarding Reports of ‘Others’
Transcript (Extracted and Redacted)

Council of six convened in extraordinary session during the ██ year of Mayor A—‘s term.

The maps have begun to contradict themselves. Citizens report glimpsing unfamiliar spires through morning fog. The ████████ grows restless.

---

COUNCILLOR F—: (Drumming his fingers on the oak table)
We cannot ignore what the █████ have reported. Three sightings this month alone of structures that do not appear in daylight. If there is indeed another City, we must determine whether it poses a threat to our own.

COUNCILLOR O—: (Her voice tight with concern)
You speak of threat as if it were a simple matter of armies or siege engines. Danger lies in complacency, not in conquest.

COUNCILLOR S—: (Leaning back in her chair, eyes closed)
The reports are inconsistent. Some describe towers of impossible height, others speak of streets that curve upon themselves. How can we assess a threat that refuses to maintain consistent form?

COUNCILLOR H—: (Adjusting his collar)
Perhaps that inconsistency is the threat. Our City, whatever its nature, maintains certain… protocols. Rules. The Other City appears to operate under different constraints, and such differences could prove unpropitious, if not infectious.

COUNCILLOR V—: (Whispering, as if afraid to be overheard)
The merchants from the outer districts claim some customers pay in coins bearing unfamiliar ████. When pressed, these customers cannot say where they obtained such currency. They seem genuinely disturbed, even if their pockets are heavier.

COUNCILLOR I—: (Standing abruptly, pacing to the window)
I have walked every street of our City. I know each hidden courtyard. And yet… and yet sometimes I find myself on corners that should not exist, facing buildings I do not remember approving for construction.

COUNCILLOR F—: (His voice rising)
Then we are agreed there is cause for concern! Whatever this Other City is, it has begun to ████████ with our own. We must take action before—

COUNCILLOR O—: (Interrupting sharply)
Before what? Before we lose ourselves? Or before we discover we were never ourselves to begin with?

(A long pause. Outside, the bells of the City ring the hour, but they seem to echo strangely, as if answered by bells from a great distance.)

COUNCILLOR S—: (Opening her eyes slowly)
I posit that the true danger lies not in the Other City, but in our reaction to it. Fear breeds uncertainty breeds desperate measures. Our attempts to protect ourselves are what will ultimately ███████ us.

COUNCILLOR H—: (Returning to his seat, hands trembling slightly)
But to do nothing… The reports speak of citizens who vanish for days, returning with no memory of their absence. They carry the scent of bitter metal, and speak only briefly of “arrangements” before falling silent.

COUNCILLOR V—: (Her voice barely audible)
My own daughter claimed yesterday that the Square’s central fountain had always been a ██████. She looked at me as if I were mad when I corrected her. But I remember the dedication ceremony, the mayor’s speech…

COUNCILLOR I—: (Turning from the window, his face pale)
What if, in our certainty about their otherness, we have failed to consider that we might ███ ████ ███████?

COUNCILLOR F—: (Slamming his hand on the table)
Enough! We are tasked with protecting this City and its people. Whether we have primacy — or whether that matters at all — is less vital than ensuring our continued ████████. I move that we establish a committee to investigate these incursions.

COUNCILLOR O—: (Standing, her chair scraping against the floor)
And I move that we do nothing. That we observe, but do not act. For I fear that any action we take will only hasten whatever awaits us.

COUNCILLOR S—: (Softly)
Perhaps the Other City is not separate from us at all. Perhaps it is what we become when we stop paying attention to what we are. It may well be our mirror, showing only what we have always been.

(The room falls silent except for the scratching of the recording secretary’s pen. Through the high windows, clouds gather with unnatural speed, casting shifting shadows across the chamber.)

COUNCILLOR H—: (After a long moment)
I have served on this Council for ██ years. I have seen the City change, grow, adapt. But these changes… they feel different. Less like ████████ and more like… replacement.

COUNCILLOR V—: (Looking around the table as if seeing her colleagues for the first time)
How long have we been having this conversation? The light from the windows… it seems to have moved very little.

COUNCILLOR I—: (Checking his pocket watch, frowning)
The hands… they appear to be moving backwards.

(Suddenly, all six councillors look toward the chamber doors. They remain closed, but there is a sense that someone — or something — is waiting just beyond them.)

COUNCILLOR F—: (His voice now uncertain)
Perhaps… perhaps we should table this discussion until we can ███ ██████ ████████.

COUNCILLOR O—: (With a hollow laugh)
Yes. Until we know which City we are protecting, and from what.

(The session is adjourned without resolution, the record marked with an illegible blue stamp. The chamber empties. Outside, the bells ring again, but now it is impossible to tell if they come from within the City or from somewhere else entirely.)