Trey Thompson was the president of the Republic of Alsace, a small state on the east coast of the continent of Laurentia. He had been elected two years earlier, after three consecutive presidents had resigned one after the other due to the international crisis that seemed impossible to manage. Under normal circumstances, a mere congressman like Trey Thompson would never have been considered for the role of president, but in the end he found himself in that role even though he hadn't done anything to get it.

Incredibly, Trey had discovered that he was a good head of state. Despite the disastrous circumstances in which his country (as indeed the entire human world) found itself, he had managed to revive the economy, albeit slightly. Unlike his predecessors, Trey didn't have a smile, didn't have the gab and didn't have the ability to engage the masses, but people still admired him because of his honesty: if he promised something, he kept it.

Regardless of what people believed, the job of president wasn't easy at all. Trey had found himself making many difficult choices over the course of those two years. Still, his instincts hadn't betrayed him yet, and the choices he'd made had always turned out to be right. An example had been joining the Eden Union, an act that up to that point had brought only advantages and that was expected to bring as many advantages in the future. Completely solving the economic crisis and unemployment in his country would have been a dream. The term of president in the Republic of Alsace lasted five years, so Trey would have time to see this dream come true. Trey wasn't thinking about the next election: all he wanted was to be able to see his country rise again. Rather rare quality in a politician.

Now, Trey had another important decision to make. The question was simple: allow dinosaurs to set foot on the continent or not?

Unfortunately, this was not an easy choice. Trey thought he'd framed lord Sobek well enough, so he doubted he was aiming to quietly occupy them and then betray them and take control of their countries. Lord Sobek had repeatedly proved that he had several resources; if he had wanted to attempt an offensive he would have already done so. No, Trey was convinced that Sobek's intentions were genuine.

However, that did not mean that allowing dinosaurs to set foot on the continent was risk-free. Maybe the dinosaurs would have done well, but the same could not be guaranteed for humans. If one of the dinosaurs had been attacked and injured, the peace could have been broken; and even if Lord Sobek had agreed to overlook the incident, he would still have demanded justice for that act, which would only exacerbate tensions, as people would start accusing governments of favoring dinosaurs. Unfortunately, when evils such as racism were rampant, it was difficult for people to see things as they were; they would not have seen a human who had committed a crime and was being punished for it, but a government that chose to side with the dinosaurs and put them on a pedestal over humans, even if this was absolutely not true. Eventually, the population would start accusing the Eden Union of being a dinosaur puppet.

Trey and the other heads of state could have deployed guards or police to control the situation, but there was always the possibility that bombers or snipers could get through. And even if they managed to curb any external intervention, humans were masters of provocation: in terms of unleashing discord they had no rivals. What if some troublemaker chose to start a conflict? Dinosaurs might be patient, but even the most patient creature in the world would sooner or later react if continually teased by insults and teasing. And again, their reaction would not be frowned upon by people. Even if the dinosaur only roared in warning, people would only see a ferocious beast threatening a human.

Trey rubbed his temples. It would have been easier if humans weren't so radical. Why did people have to be so afraid of everything that was different from them? He would have saved himself a lot of headaches if he hadn't.

"Are you all right, president Thompson?"

Trey looked up and saw the face of Beleriard president Jocelyne Jersey, staring at him in concern. "Sir, are you okay?" she repeated when he didn't answer.

Trey shook himself, realizing that his silence could be misinterpreted: "Yes, thanks for your interest, I'm fine"

"Are you sure? You seemed to have a severe headache"

"Don't worry, everything is fine. I just have a lot of thoughts on my mind, that's all"

Jocelyne sat down next to him and handed him a glass of wine, which Trey gladly accepted. "Why are you here alone?" she asked him.

Trey chuckled at that question. In fact, at that time they were in one of the corridors of the royal palace, a practically deserted area. Most of the heads of state of other nations were found scattered around the common rooms, dining rooms and recreation rooms. It was rare for anyone to choose to be alone. "I will reunite with the others when I have something to say. There is no point in being drawn into aimless conversations. For the moment, whether I am there or here makes no difference"

Trey Thompson was not a man who liked to talk nonsense, and he didn't much appreciate the company of other politicians. He preferred to be alone with his thoughts than to have long and tedious conversations without rhyme or reason.

Jocelyne smiled at that statement. "Then we have one thing in common" he said. "I also hate meetings"

"Strange words, spoken by someone who practically overthrew a nation and took control of it" Trey replied. If there was one thing he was appreciated for, it was his honesty, so he was not going to mince his words.

Jocelyne's smile faded; his eyes took on a darker tinge. "I didn't want this role" he said as he drank the entire glass of wine.

Trey was certainly not a person who would be satisfied with such a statement. "If you didn't want it, then why did you choose to take it?" he asked again.

Jocelyne squeezed the glass until it almost broke: "Because if I hadn't done it, nobody would have done it. Tell me, do you love your country?"

Trey was surprised by that question. "Of course" he replied truthfully.

"Me too. And being the daughter of one of the great millionaires of old Odaria, I saw my nation sinking into corruption and imposition day after day" Jocelyne said. "Initially I thought I could fix things non-violently, but the reality of the world was thrown into my face very soon. The more time passed, the more I realized that if I pulled back, no one would try to do anything. And then it all started… the dinosaurs rose up, took a city hostage, and all that. And of all those who ruled Odaria, I was the only one who had enough salt to care for the people. And when we finally reached the end of the line, when the dinosaurs discovered the displacement of weapons and launched their ultimatum, I made a decision"

Jocelyne fidgeted nervously with the glass she held in her hands. "I have chosen to destroy the old Odaria to create a new nation. I do not regret my choice, because my people have prospered thanks to it. But the fact that I have chosen to sit in that armchair does not mean that I like it"

"If you don't like it, then why did you get re-elected?" Trey asked confused.

Jocelyne sighed. "Because I'm scared. I fear that if in this time of crisis an inadequate person becomes president, my country could suffer even more than it already has. When all this is over I will be happy to leave my chair to someone else. I have enough money to spend the rest of my life in a resort in the tropics living on an income… but I can't, in all good conscience, leave now and run the risk of something going wrong at such a delicate moment. Tell me, president Thompson, would you resign at a time like this?"

Trey felt taken aback and looked away. "Who tells you I want to resign?"

"A person who does not like the position he holds immediately recognizes another one. I can see in your eyes that you became president because of circumstances, not by choice" Jocelyne replied. "Am I wrong?"

Trey was struck by Jocelyne's intuition. He couldn't help but nod; after all, he was an honest man. "You are not wrong. You are right, if I could I would resign and return to the quiet life of a deputy. But I can't do it in this time of uncertainty and insecurity. It would mean abandoning my people, and I couldn't sleep at night knowing I did"

"If so, then you know exactly how I feel" Jocelyne said. "When I drafted my country's Constitution, I set a limit of three times a person can be elected. This is because I thought nine years was too much of an estimate to end this conflict. However, I'm not so sure anymore. Three years have already passed, and even if we have made great strides, the tensions are far from subsiding... I wonder when I will finally be able to rest"

For the first time, Trey smiled at her. "I admire you, president Jersey. You are young, in many countries you would be considered barely of age. Yet you have chosen to carry the weight of an entire country on your shoulders at such a young age. You must have a very strong will. People like you are not that common"

"I prefer it to be" Jocelyne replied. "People like me, like you, emerge in times of misfortune. They are those people who in normal circumstances would have been quite ordinary, very normal average people, but who when the world begins to collapse around them are forced to hold the scepter and discover with surprise that they know how to tinker well. So, if few people like me exist in the world, it means that the world is fine... metaphorically speaking"

Trey chuckled. Until that day he had only met Jocelyne Jersey during meetings. He knew he was a genius, charismatic and extremely intelligent person, but he knew nothing of his personality about him. Knowing how she had become president she if she was always imagined as a girl very attracted to power; instead, it seemed to her, the circumstances were very different. Trey was very good at recognizing lies, it was hard to lie to him; as a result, he was quite convinced that Jocelyne was not deceiving him at all, but that her words were genuine.

Suddenly Jocelyne changed the subject: "Earlier you said you had a lot of thoughts on your mind. May I know what ails you? Maybe I can give you some advice"

Trey's smile faded. She considered how to respond, then chose to play the game. "I was mulling over lord Sobek's proposal. You know... bring some dinosaurs to our continents"

"And what do you think?"

"At the national security level, I don't think there is anything to worry about. A few hundred dinosaurs per nation are not in the least enough to threaten us. Besides, lord Sobek doesn't seem like a mean person to me. However, there are many other risks. I'm afraid that somehow our own people will end up undermining peace"

"I can share your concern. I had to make a similar choice long ago"

Trey nodded at that statement. He knew that Jocelyne had been the first to open the doors of her country to the dinosaurs, and from what he had learned her decision had proved correct. "And tell me, how did you choose? Weren't you afraid of the consequences?"

Jocelyne unexpectedly burst out laughing. "Afraid? I was terrified. I was literally allowing the dinosaurs to enter my country, where the families of those ninety thousand soldiers who died at the hands of those beasts were, all while the NMWA threatened to shoot at me; do you think I was calm? I remember needing massive doses of sleeping pills to be able to sleep for the first few weeks. I knew that the slightest mistake or unexpected factor could have screwed everything up. I literally felt like I had a sword hanging with a very thin thread over my head, which at the slightest breath of wind could fall and skewer me"

"So why did you make that choice?"

"Why did I ask myself a simple question: if not now, when? Unfortunately, lord Sobek's words are true: establishing a boundary line will do no good. Coexistence is the only way to be able to live all together on this planet. So why postpone? What should I have waited for? Could the tensions subside? That people would stop being afraid of dinosaurs by magic? Waiting would have only allowed resentment and hatred to take root in people's souls, and at that point coexistence would have become much more difficult; acting immediately instead showed everyone that dinosaurs are not just killing machines. Sure, it can be said that the invasion by the NMWA helped a little, as nothing unites two peoples more than fighting side by side against a common enemy... but still I had to work day and night to keep relations stable. between humans and dinosaurs. And look now: my nation today is literally proof that coexistence is possible. Would it have happened if that day I had let myself be dominated by insecurity and had chosen to wait?"

Trey looked her straight in her eyes. She knew that question was actually a provocation. "This meeting is no coincidence, am I right?"

"Are meetings between heads of state ever?" Jocelyne answered back.

"What do you want from me?"

"I told you before. I just want to give you some advice. And my advice is not to miss this opportunity. There is no right or wrong time for certain actions; there are only the brave people who throw themselves in and take the risk, and the cowards who stand back and leave everything exactly as it is. Will bringing dinosaurs to the continent be a risk? Yes. In order to keep the relations between our peoples stable, we will have to commit ourselves as ever in our lives? Yes. Do we have to back down for that? Absolutely no. People's mindset won't change if humans and dinosaurs remain separate, so action is essential. This is my advice: don't miss this opportunity. It would only mean postponing the inevitable... or taking the risk of another war. Because we all know, including you, that if humans continue to look negatively at dinosaurs, another war will be inevitable, no matter how many legal and legal precautions we take. A single group of fanatics will be enough to collapse relations between our two peoples. I know that accepting lord Sobek's proposal is a leap in the dark... but it is a leap in the dark that is worth doing"

Trey was silent. He could have argued, but he found he didn't want to. Maybe he didn't think it important to continue the conversation... or maybe, deep down, he agreed with the girl's words. "You certainly know how to deal with words, President Jersey. Take away a curiosity: are you an angel who came down from Heaven to guide me on the right path, or are you a demon who emerged from the depths of Hell to mislead me?"

Jocelyne knew Trey wasn't asking her if she really was an angel or a demon, but he was asking her about whether she wanted to deceive him or not. Slyly, she chose to answer with another question: "How long have people known they are angels or demons? The worst dictators of our history very often believed they were doing the right thing. There are no men who are only good or only evil. We are a mixture of black and white. Only time will tell you if I am an angel or a demon. As they say, history is the only true court in the world"

One answered very witty; Trey was pleased. "You have given me a lot to think about, president Jersey, and I thank you for that. Now, however, I'd rather think about it alone"

"I understand that" Jocelyne said as she stood up. "I hope you make the best choice. If we don't see each other again tonight, I wish you a good night"

"Thank you" Trey replied, staring back into space. His eyes betrayed the strong emotional storm that was happening inside the man's soul.

Jocelyne withdrew. She knew she couldn't push too hard: if Trey thought she wanted to influence him she would have had the opposite effect. She had thrown the bait, now it was up to president Thompson to grab it or not. She, on the other hand, would have had other things to do: Trey was just one of the many people on the list she would talk to that evening...