Hundreds of hosts had entered the chambers, with precise areas reserved for each rank. Thousands of more Yeerks on Earth were connected too, with technology beaming live feeds to them. The transmission lagged throughout the galaxy, even with Z-space assistance, but uncountable people followed along. Yet with all this participation, two dominated the event. The Visser and Sub-Visser were on opposite sides of the room, their underlings surrounding them, as if protecting them from the opposing forces.

"Proceedings will begin," the Emperor declared in a bored voice.

Immediately, a display board lit up with lights representing different Yeerks that had clicked buttons on their handheld consoles that indicated their desire to speak. The first one, milliseconds ahead of the second, was recognized by the Empire, asked where the bathrooms were, and were dismissed. Sixty-three similar proceedings later, the Sub-Visser took the floor.

"My fellow Yeerks," he began, "we stand at the crossroads of two paths. To choose the right one, we must listen to the anguished cries of our backward hosts, and recognize that they are a serious concern. We must understand our interdependence in this galaxy. We must, in short, be prepared to accept the responsibility of leaders in cooperation such that our species may prosper." As he spoke, pinpricks of light continued to dot the board, as more Yeerks clambered to support or counter him. "To this end, I have prepared a presentation to demonstrate the best plan of action. As my assistant helps me set it up, I turn the floor over to the next speaker." His shrewd tactic seemed magnanimous. In reality, he hoped it would allow his opponents to exhaust their rote responses while Edriss got the projection ready.

Meaningless prattle from four low-ranks, and then Efflit had his turn. While not seeming the most diplomatically savvy, he made a prudent decision to transfer his speaking time to his commanding Visser.

((We are not what the Sub-Visser consigns us to be. He desires our submission to alien whims, our subjugation to the Andalite ideology. In short, he stands anathematically opposed to the Empire. In a different context, such statements would suffice to warrant a trial. But as an opening, it was merely functional. We must not be restrained by any boundaries: rather, we must expand, and expand without fear. Earth is our great opportunity: perhaps home to the only Class-Five species. We cannot be timid: we cannot wait to seize this chance.)) He, too, relinquished his floor position: he had "buzzed in" independently of Efflit (albeit with Andalite fingers) and would get his own chance soon.

Turning the floor over to superiors increasingly became the order of the day. Those who didn't were quietly (usually) reprimanded by minor Sub-Vissers in the triple digits. But the debate was clear between Essam and Esplin: many people's sole contributions were clicking in order to give those two more speaking time. Their oratories became lengthier, and bureaucracies swelled as eloquent mid-ranks compiled the statistics of the mob into comprehensive presentations for the two powerhouses. Behind the scenes, Edriss and Efflit toiled feverishly.

The interminable dialogue continued, but subtle changes marked it. For example, when Essam began his eighth refutation of one of Esplin's more outlandish suggestions, he did not begin by directly addressing the proposal. Instead, he started: "The Andalite-lover's concept…"

Not to be outdone, the Visser began his rebuttal with ((Although cowards have implicated that…))

Meanwhile, Efflit stood at the vending machine, tapping the glass in syncopation as he noisily ate some unhealthy food that he'd purchased. During the Sub-Visser's dramatic flourishes, Efflit would crinkle the wrappers. The noise didn't suffice to drown it out, but was enough to be a considerable annoyance.

So in retaliation, Essam instructed one of his supporters to seize a Bug fighter (whose Bug fighter it actually was being utterly irrelevant to the Sub-Visser's purposes) and go into a short orbit around the building itself, with radio broadcasting theoretically louder than the Visser's rhetoric.

Efflit followed with an uncharacteristic (and probably unrealistic) display of empathy, when he pointed out that while human sustenance was readily available (though his ominous glances at the vending machine suggested that it might not be for long), there was no grass for Andalites. It would be unfair, he argued, to allow the discussion to continue under such unequal circumstances.

The Hork-Bajir Controller in the Bug Fighter Draconed the area vaguely near Esplin as the latter was twitching his tail to emphasize a point. That was about when any control anyone could have vaguely claimed to have had over the event completely disintegrated.

Efflit raised his own Dracon and began shooting erratically. Essam ran for cover, Edriss close behind. Esplin's thundering thoughtspeak was lost in the chaos. Eventually, the Emperor officially called for evacuation, but most of the Yeerks had taken the initiative and gotten far away from the premises.

For all his pomp, the Emperor wasn't rushing to restore the proceedings. Neither Esplin nor Essam trusted the other enough to make contact. And Efflit was more interested in random chaos than civilized discussion.

But Edriss had an incentive. If a plan could not be agreed upon, she feared what the Visser might do with no interference. Everyone wanted their own beliefs to triumph, she knew. All it would take is someone to put the pieces back together…maybe many people.

The key would be for Esplin and Essam to make a private consensus. Another public debacle would only puncture one of their reputations so fatally that the other would forever have the upper hand.

So she sought out her counterpart. "Efflit? Efflit 1318?"

"Shut up," he instinctively began, only then pausing to ask, "Who are you?"

"I am Edriss 562," she proclaimed icily. "Co-discoverer of this planet, and the only one who can put this shambles in order."

"Whew!" His self-deprecation was sarcastic. "Too much for little ol' me."

"Indeed." She began backing away, threatening the walkout that had come to characterize the event.

"Not," he muttered under his breath, but deliberately loud enough so that she could hear him, "that you'd be able to find your way around the county social services system with a-"

Edriss had no idea how that could be relevant at all to him, but refused to let herself be rattled. "Such ghafrash idiocy only characterizes-"

"-forced to come crawling to me for-"

"Unless you have an idea of what I want, shut up and let me tell you."

"Oh, I have a very good idea. You want my boss."

Edriss froze momentarily, then spluttered as her speech picked up speed. "If you can get him for me, we can put this thing back together. Have him meet the Sub-Visser tomorrow night. In the Yeerk Pool Cafeteria."