18

The meeting goes on as ever, but you can tell that the people around you are starting to get more restless. Voices are raised louder than before, and at one point, someone who had identified herself as a local ranch owner walks out of the hall in the middle of Dina's response to her question. As far as you could tell, she had accused Dina of overlooking local businesses in favor of external companies that could make them more money—and when Dina tried to deny her claims, she responded that it was too late because she was already bankrupt anyway, then left the hall in tears. It takes a little while for things to settle down after that, and the fractured sense of calm in the room never quite recovers—particularly after a young man connected to the town's other ranch stands up and agrees that the woman was right to be angry.

It's around then that some of the other audience members start to notice the protesters at the back of the hall.

At first, it starts with one or two people turning in their seats and spotting the group holding signs against the wall. But then, a few of those onlookers get the attention of their neighbors in the seats next to them, and quite suddenly, you hear a rush of people craning around to look.

After the crowd has had a chance to take the protesters in, however, there isn't much of a reaction from anybody. There are a few surprised expressions as people notice them, but they soon seem to lose interest once they've realized there isn't very much to see.

Once things have settled down again, Dina carries on with the answer she was giving just a few moments ago.

But before she can get more than a few words in, someone calls out from the middle of the audience without waiting for Dina to finish:

"I don't think any of those protesters should be allowed in here. They're the ones disrupting things; that's the whole reason they're here."

There's a small wave of assenting murmurs.

Dina's eyes flit over the crowd as she looks for whoever might have interrupted Rana, apparently lost for words. There's a little shiver of movement from the protesters, and you think you can make out a few of them talking quickly amongst themselves.

After a moment or two, Dina opens her mouth.

"For the record, everybody has the right to protest, or speak their mind, if they so wish. Even if you may disagree with the protesters' aims—"

"They should be locked up!"

Before Dina can get through her sentence, another person shouts out, and the noise in the hall only grows.

"How long before they break something else?"

"We didn't break anything," Rana calls out, sounding slightly desperate amid the clamoring. "And even if we did, it wouldn't change the fact that the developments are still—"

"That's enough, everybody! If any more people insist on interrupting, I'll have no choice but to ask them to leave."

Dina's voice rattles through the air—but even though most of the noise dies down, some people carry on muttering amongst themselves as if she hadn't said anything.

It's in that moment that you decide to: