The one day it matters. The one freaking day. For Pete's sake. The fate of the planet rides on this. And I forget the stupid alarm.

A curly headed man wearing a pale blue suit and red tie stumbles into the large room filled with shouts and fists slamming onto tables. He wobbles down the aisle pulling at his pants while balancing the stack of files held in place by his chin. Making it to the front he drops the files down with a quiet thud onto a desk with a name tag reading 'Irvin James'. The table taller than the others sits at the center of the room where ten people sit up in the blue chairs that match Irvin's own suit.

Shouts continue to swirl around the room as Irvin takes his seat adjusting his red tie in the process.

I hate ties. They're an infernal creation. Stupid alarm. I'm not too late thank God.

A woman in a mustard colored top and green glasses asks "What are we to do?"

"We haven't any time left. Will we ever find a solution?" A man dressed in all black yells from behind. He leans against the table in front of him, resting his chin on his left hand, waiting for the answer that never comes.

Keep it together people. Geesh.

A man with brown eyes and red hair sitting next to Irvin shakes his head as he mumbles, "No time. No time." The redheaded man rocks back and forth in his chair rubbing his already reddened knuckles.

God they've lost it. Well thank God I'm here. Or they'd all be screwed.

A woman with ebony skin and dark locks twisted into a bun leans forward and taps the mic in front of her asking, "What are our options?"

A man with salt and pepper hair slicked-back sits behind the front table banging his fist into the wood as he yells, "Silence."

The room slowly turns to the sound of the continuing pounding.  Irvin scans the room to see the others finally taking their seats fixing their appearances as they all seem to huff in frustration as one. The room zeroes in on the noise and all eyes land on the man's dark eyes that once matched his aging locks. Out of the corner of his eye, Irvin watches the man with the red bowtie rub his now reddened hand. The name tag in front of him reads 'Oliver Smith'.

Smith clears his throat before continuing, "Now we must not let this situation get the better of us. We are here to discuss the options we have available. As professionals, we should be able to speak in an orderly fashion without losing our heads."

Precisely. We have to remain calm. Some people.

The others at the head table nod their heads in agreement. Irvin surveys the room to see several arms crossed and mouths pursed.

Smith goes on, "Let's start by addressing the issue."

As the lights begin to dim a large screen behind the head table comes to life.  A map of the world appears behind Mr. Smith and his colleagues with most places on the map flooded with tiny red dots.

Smith uses a laser to point as he speaks, "These red dots represent the population in the area. As you can clearly see the land is almost entirely red. From our last report, the population has increased at a faster rate than anticipated. Cities are overflowing around the world, Hong Kong, London, New York, and Toyko are a few that have grown ten times the rate expected."

Irvin looks to see a woman covering her mouth as her brow rise.

I mean are you really so surprised lady? We're human. We're a destructive lot.

Mr. Smith continues, "The pollution has become unbearable. Children are contracting the new coughing disease more rapidly each year that passes. Our new models show that the population growth will become too much for our planet to handle within ten years. Millions will die from this coughing disease. Hundreds of thousands more of starvation or exposure. We are out of time."

The screen fades to black as Mr. Smith turns back to face the crowd in front of him. The room lights up and Irvin can see the man opposite him looking down with his eyes unfocused and his leg shaking up and down.

Mr. Smith twists his bowtie before addressing the crowd, "We will now take suggestions."

A woman in a green dress clears her throat and states, "Can we put a limit on births?"

Ha. Silly solution. It hasn't worked before why would it now? Ha. Ignorance must be bliss.

The room grows quiet as they wait for a response.

A man to Irvin's left speaks up, "That would cause an uproar especially since children are already dying because of the disease. Besides people would continue to have children. What would we do if they go beyond the limit? Fine them? Most would go broke. Or kill the child? Could you imagine the outcry? Never. We can't place a limit on childbearing."

Thank heavens someone with a brain.

Several mumble their agreements and the room grows still again.

The man wearing all black offers his suggestion, "Can we not send people into less populated areas?"

Sigh. Have these people no idea. We haven't the time for this.

A woman huffs and responds, "Where? The only places left are the Sahara and the poles. People can't live there."

The man in black shoots back, "People have lived in the Sahara."

The woman retorts, "Yes, let's throw people who have no experience living in a desert into the desert. Sounds like a wonderful plan. Even if we did, there is still not enough area and the population will continue to rise."

Irvin can see the man cross his arms and throw himself into the back of his chair with his head barely missing the wall behind him.

Showtime. Let's see what they do with a real option.

Irvin moves the pile of files in front of him separating them into three stacks. He then looks around the room before leaning into his mic.

Irvin clears his throat causing heads to turn in his direction, "I have a suggestion."

Mr. Smith nods for him to continue.

Irvin opens the first set of files and proceeds, "Here I have a three stacks of files. Each stack represents a phase to my plan. Some may say this is out of the question, but we are out of options and time. We need to take the road of least resistance."

Irvin pauses to look up at the eyes burning into him.

Good I have their attention.

"Phase one, for the next five years we ask for volunteers that are over seventy-five to come forward and submit themselves to a lethal injection."

The crowd gasps and people begin to murmur their disapproval. The man next to Irvin shakes his head pushing himself away.

Resistance is fultile. Ha. These people will soon realize I'm right.

Irvin unphased presses on, "Now hear me out. I know this is not ideal, but it is necessary that we make difficult decisions. For this first phase, only those who volunteer will be subjected to this. It would be a noble death and their choice to make. They would be doing this for the greater good. In order to prepare for the second phase, those who are seventy must retire. They will be offered luxuries designated by each individual governing body for five years."

Some begin to nod their heads in approval and lessen their tense glares.

Progress. I knew they'd see the light.

"Phase two will be implemented ten years from now. Those who turn seventy-five at this time will be taken after their birthday to a facility that will allow them to slip into death peacefully."

"Taken?" A man from back asks.

Irvin responds, "Yes, taken. We will need to make this mandatory in order to get the population back under control."

The man winces combing back his gray hair before asking, "What if they refuse?"

"Then we force them," Irvin responds.

The crowd begins to grow louder moving in their chairs, shaking their heads and mumbling to one another.

Again they continue to resist their only real option.

Irvin looks to Mr. Smith who raises his hand to quiet the crowd.

"Go on," Mr. Smith states.

"Now I understand your apprehension. This will not be an easy pill to swallow, but the facts remain the same. We have run out of time and our options are limited. Phase three will happen in fifteen years. At that time we will change the age to sixty-five."

"What about retirement? Why should those from phase two receive benefits and those in phase three not?" asks the woman in the mustard color top.

"Good question." Mr. Smith states.

Irvin replies, "By that time we will have phase two in full swing. In the years prior those who turn sixty or over will also retire and receive the same benefits."

"Why should we choose this option over the others?" Mr. Smith asks leaning forward.

Ha. There are no other options.

Irvin closes the files before stating, "What options? Killing children? Sending people to deserts? We don't have time or space. The elderly already take government money in many places. I never said this would be easy. It will be difficult. Some places may never agree to this, but if enough do, then we can solve our problems. The population would begin to lower within three decades."

Mr. Smith tilts his head and asks, "Is that true?"

"Yes."

Irvin scans the room, seeing many nodding their heads while others furrow their brows.

They'll see. All of them will see.

Mr. Smith looks to the others at the table next to him whispering to those closest to him. The room begins to grow louder as people talk amongst themselves. A pair to Irvin's left argues with one man pointing his finger in the other man's face. Irvin looks to his right to see the red haired man next to him writing down numbers as fast as his hand will allow. His eyes grow wide when he finishes his calculations. The man stands up knocking his chair back shuffling behind Irvin the man holds up the paper in his hand slamming it down onto Mr. Smith's desk. 

Mr. Smith looks at the paper and asks, "Is this correct?"

The redheaded man nods, "Yes."

Mr. Smith clears his throat and the room turns to his.

Mr. Smith holds up the paper as he speaks, "These numbers calculated here show that our Mr. James is correct. His plan will work. It's our only hope. Now I say we take a vote. How many in favor?"

Come on raise those hands.

Irvin raises his hand looking around as hands slowly raise across the room. More than half the room is filled with raised hands.

"All opposed?"

A handful of arms shot into the air. A woman shakes her head in disgust at those whose hands remain lowered.

Idiots.

"Then it's settled. We will take this plan to our individual governing bodies for voting."

#

USA Today: "Protests Against New Revisions of Retirement Bill Continue Across the Country"

The Sun: "Protesters Clash with Police"

China Daily: "New Phase of Retirement Bill Causes Tensions to Rise" (translated)

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O Globo: "Decrease in Coughing Disease First Time in Twenty Years" (translated)

China Daily: "Pollution Levels Decreasing" (translated)

The Times of India: "Public Support Rising" (translated)

LA Times: "New Statue to Be Unveiled Dedicated to Irvin James"

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