Peyton, when he saw this, remembered one of his golden rules of a contest called "Peyton vs. Mankind," where he had to win the minds of others. And he knew full well that if he could get the attention of those who wouldn't listen to him, he was sure to have a successful outcome. Most importantly, these three. Peyton called them "blocks" that had to be moved. And it was necessary to do everything to make them listen to him, to take the posture of agreement, to nod at his words, and perhaps even to agree to listen.
– I have two pieces of news for you: good and bad! – Peyton announced and noticed that one of the three blocks moved and turned its head towards him. – And I will start with the bad news…
My dear fellow citizens, we have been walking to this stage for a very long time! Longer than
expected. Because it turns out there are those among us who don't want our cause to succeed. Who want to destroy our society! Yes, you heard right. We have enemies among us. There are those among us who want to turn the world inside out. Who want to see blood and murder of our citizens. We are in mortal danger!
Peyton looked around the room carefully: the effect was not too strong, but enough to make all three blocks start listening to him. He realized that the more high-flown expressions he gave out, the more difficult it would be for him to move on, because in order to keep his attention, he had to keep raising the degree. And you can't do it indefinitely. Therefore, it is necessary to spend this resource wisely, and we can only hope that spending it now was the right decision.
– That was the bad news… And the good news is that we made it… My dear beloved citizens of Apollo 24, we made it… We can be proud of ourselves because we found this man. We found this pest. We were able to stop this disease in time. We proved to be stronger than our trials…
Peyton saw two of the three clumps turn away again. Which meant he had to raise the degree further. Raise it to bring them back. It was either him or them. Someone had to win, and it was going to be Peyton Cross, not some lousy laborers who decided to think they were above the Elder.
– Now tell me, what is to be done with this pest? – Peyton asked threateningly, and several people from different parts of the hall immediately shouted "Kill him," "Destroy him," "Hang him." They shouted, waving their hands, standing up a little from their seats and showing a literal personal rage against the yet unknown man, but as soon as Peyton raised his hand, they all instantly fell silent.