PAO: Pony Art Online

In the span of two months, the Clearing Group had managed to reach up to floor forty-eight. And with the halfway mark in sight, a lot of changes came with the renewed sense of purpose. Guilds began to recruit and train, grinding deep into the night on high level monsters and mini-bosses.

Though the Cutie Mark Crusaders was the strongest guild in PAO, many others were not far behind. Most notably were the Knights of Yore and the Slumbering Giants of Korandale, who were both vying for power to surpass the Crusaders. But, for the sake of unity, the CMC leaders intervened to mediate negotiations.

The meeting would be on floor thirty-four, in the Cutie Mark Crusaders' guild keep.

Applebloom sat at the head of the table, with Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo on both sides. To the left of the table were the top players of the Knights, and the same for the SGK on the right. As the last delegate took his seat, Applebloom gave a slight nod to Sweetie Belle to begin the conference. She was the best with swaying people with words.

"Look at us," she began, "the best of the best. The strongest players in PAO, all in one room. This game doesn't stand a chance."

There were chuckles all around at her lighthearted joke. Without knowing it, the delegates had fixed their attention solely on Sweetie Belle, rather than glaring into their opponent's eyes.

As the laughs died down, Sweetie Belle continued. "You all have come to present your case for support and funding from the Crusaders, asking for gear and money because your players will use it the most efficiently. Let us be reminded that we are all bonded by our common goal, and whatever the outcome of this meeting, we will not hinder each other from proceeding in clearing the game."

Proud nods were given around the table, even as Sweetie Belle caught glances of disdain between the opposing guilds. She handed the speech over to Scootaloo, who was tasked with the numbers and figures each guild presented as proof of their strength.

Screens popped up from the table in front of each player, showing every detail Scootaloo had collected, though she kept her own words brief for everyone's sake. "The Knights of Yore's roster shows that they have a current total of nine thousand, eight hundred forty-one players, forty-six of which are in the Clearing Group, and an additional fourteen who show great potential to join the Clearing Group."

Some of the SGK members traded looks with each other, trying to mask that they were impressed by the Knights.

"The Sleeping Giants of Korandale," Scootaloo continued, "have a member count of ten thousand, five hundred six. Thirty-six of these players are in the Clearing Group, and another twenty-six have shown potential for rising up to our ranks."

This time, it was the players of the Knights to feel worried. SGK was arguably the larger guild, both total players and members taken into account for clearing the game. But raw numbers did not tell everything.

Applebloom began the first discussion. "Though SGK may seem like the better choice, the graphs on your screens show just how quickly the Knights have risen compared to the SGK," she swiped up and the screen scrolled down to a graph just below the guild rosters, "and the Knights seem to have greater potential for future floors."

The delegates of the Knights were clearly in agreement, though the SGK delegates had much more to say.

"Lady Applebloom, if I may speak," one chubby delegate interjected, "your graph doesn't include the fact that the Knights have been recruiting from other guilds, taking members already trained up. They're essentially leaching off the hard work of the other guilds. The Sleeping Giants have proven to have a stable leadership and the skills to operate with a larger bank of resources for our players."

Applebloom traded quick glances with her friends, already anticipating what they wanted to say.

She turned to the Knights of Yore. "If what the SGK says is true, we may have to perform a deeper evaluation of leadership within your guilds before we make a decision."

A Knight shot out of his seat to protest. He was a scrawny fellow, even slimmer than Sweetie Belle. But while Sweetie Belle's avatar had the toned muscles of an athlete, the frail delegate looked as if he could barely handle his weapon.

Nevertheless, Scrawny had a commanding tone of voice. "We are on the brink of the halfway mark, we do not have time for such a delay. Evidence gathered from the last floor's boss confirms our suspicions: the bosses are getting harder at a never before seen rate. Resources from the last floor's boss is our solution, its distribution is essential. If we hesitate, we won't be prepared for the boss we eventually wipe on."

Another SGK delegate shot back accusingly. "That's not the point. You can't handle the surplus from the last dungeon. Your two month old guild is still new, a fledgling in leadership despite your numbers."

Scrawny had the immediate response. "Please, Crusaders, don't seriously consider this accusation. We've consolidated guilds that were barely larger than a six player party, we've given them guidance and let them fight with the big raids. Our founders have done nothing less than expand the Clearing Group."

Sweetie Belle whispered to Applebloom. "Our own members can attest to low level guilds vanishing over night. Roseluck still has a lot of connections in the lower floors."

Applebloom acknowledged this, turning to the Sleeping Giants. "We'll overlook this matter, because, regardless of where the Knight's members come from, it's evident they've contributed as much as the SGK has to the recent three boss raids."

Many of the delegates opened their mouths to protest further, but they were silenced by the few other Sleeping Giants who were wiser.

Scootaloo picked up once the SGK delegates had stopped their fidgeting. "The greater matter at hand, or hoof, is the leveling rate of both your guilds. Until the past two weeks, the SGK and Knights of Yore have maintained a fairly equal rate of leveling up. New spikes in leveling, for both your guilds, shows an unclear path now for who has a superior regiment."

"Furthermore," Sweetie Belle continued, "we'd like to know further plans for both guilds. How do you train, and how are you considering changes as times get tougher?" The delegates were taken back by such a sudden request. If the CMC had really required that information before the meeting, they would have asked. Sweetie Belle planned to test them.

Quick to speak up was a tall heavily armored Tank from the Sleeping Giants. "Lady Sweetie Belle, as the Head Drillmaster of our Clearing Group boot camps, I can assure you that my players are being pushed to the absolute limit. We train day and night, and not a single hour is wasted by idling around." The Drillmaster waved his hoof in a general manner, but it was clearly directed towards the Knights of Yore.

Scrawny's partner, a middle aged player by the looks of his pony character, was quick to rebut.

"The Knights have done far more than the SGK would have you believe," he said, quickly swiping open his menu to recent screenshots he had taken. He shared them to the CMC. "These are evidence of our presence in the community, offering aid to both upper and lower floors."

The photos were clear: the Knights of Yore could be seen assisting in charity, raid organization, and criminal investigations. Even some photos of well known arrests of player killing guilds included members of the Knights. But while the CMC were impressed, the SGK's chubby delegate did not agree. He wouldn't let the Knights make off with resources the SGK direly needed.

"If you recall" Chubby said, addressing the middle aged stallion, "we're here to further the goal of clearing our way to the last boss. Time spent with these distractions will slow our long term goals, ultimately prolonging the suffering players face in this world."

The delegate turned to the CMC. "I know these Knights seem noble, and their hearts are in the right place, but entrusting them with a surplus of Crusader goods would only be wasted. Let the skill of the SGK take hold, and fight by the Cutie Mark Crusaders."

The CMC traded more uncertain looks. The negotiations were not as cut-and-dry as they expected, and both guilds seemed to have equally reasonable goals. Finally, Applebloom couldn't handle the gaze of both the guilds while she thought it over.

"I think it would be best if we took a recess to consider our options," she said, "we'll resume this discussion in an hour."

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Sweetie Belle slumped down in her chair letting her body succumb to gravity. She had been sitting so strait she thought her spine would never feel normal again.

"Why we can't just sell our surplus loot on the auction house? We wouldn't have to put up with the other guilds." she asked Applebloom and Scootaloo.

"I don't think that's the problem," Scootaloo scoffed. "The problem is that neither the SGK nor the Knights sent any female players for their delegates. I could smell the testosterone from my seat."

"Girls, this is serious." Applebloom paced around the room. "We're supposed to show that, as leaders, we are united. Helping the guilds -no matter how tedious it can be- will give us the edge we need to make a stronger effort throughout the game. Auctioning our surplus will only further the ideas of individualistic ego and soloing."

"I know, Applebloom," Sweetie Belle grumbled, "but it's just so frustrating, having to deal with those two guilds. Scootaloo's right, there should be more girls in the Clearing Group."

Applebloom raised a brow at that. "You know, the leader of the Knights of Yore's apparently a woman."

"What the hell," Sweetie Belle exclaimed, "why didn't we invite her? What's her player name, I want to send a complaint."

"I asked Allegretto, but she said she's busy with a personal matter." Applebloom answered. "Probably a falling out with friends or something."

Scootaloo threw her hooves up, swiping open her menu in frustration. "Oh hell no, if we have to sit through this for the rest of the day, she's going to suffer too." She navigated strait to her mailbox to message the Knights of Yore's leader, but Scootlatoo's inbox stopped her in her tracks. In the past few minutes fifty messages had already filled her inbox. They were all from the Knights of Yore.

"Great," Scootaloo growled, "now I'm getting spammed."

Sweetie Belle and Applebloom looked over at Scootaloo's menu before quickly checking their own. They both had just as many messages.

"What could they possibly want?" Sweetie Belle asked.

Applebloom shrugged. "Reckon it's got something to do with the meeting." She tapped on the first one to see what the Knights had to say.

Commander Freelance, Knight of Yore 4th Tank division. Need help, training camp attack on floor forty, fourteen dead. Suspects are members of a murder guild. Please help.

"Look at your messages, what're they saying?" Applebloom immediately asked.

Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle both looked back with grave faces.

"It's not good," Sweetie Belle replied, skimming through few other messages. They were all the same. Members from every level of command in the Knights of Yore were looking to the CMC for help.

Scootaloo felt like a weight had just sunk in her stomach. "Fourteen dead. I don't believe it."

Applebloom got out of her chair and stormed toward the door. "We're holding off the meeting until we resolve this."

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The scrawny delegate from the Knights was already waiting outside the Cutie Mark Crusader guild hall.

"Thank goodness, you've heard what happened, right?" he asked.

"Already on it." Applebloom replied without slowing a single step.

"We'd appreciate it if you could join us," Sweetie Belle offered, pausing to talk to him. " Come and help us understand what happened, since it's your guild's training camp."

Scrawny's eyes bulged and he took a step back. "Oh no, I'm not much of a fighter, I'm afraid I wouldn't be much help down there. But my body guard, Grieve Blossom, was transferred from that very same camp, so he'll be able to answer any questions for you."

"Excellent, where is he now?"

"Waiting for you three at the portal on floor forty," Scrawny answered, hurrying away. "I really hope you find who was responsible. I have to go talk to my commanders about this incident, but don't worry, I'll be ready to resume our meeting tomorrow."

Sweetie Belle jogged ahead, catching up with Scootaloo and Applebloom. "Another cowardly politician in place of a real warrior," she mumbled to herself.

Scootaloo's ears stood up. "What was that?" she asked Sweetie Belle.

"Oh, nothing important, really. But before we head over to the training camp, we should meet up with a Knight, he's waiting for us at the portal.

"Alright girls, let's go." Applebloom stepped forward, onto the teleport pad. "Floor Forty!" she commanded, and vanished into the column of light.

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The camp was completely cleared out. The bodies of the dead had already despawned, and without any player influence, NPC's began to return. The camp was situated as close to the minor dungeon as possible. Though it wasn't as big as the boss dungeon, being on floor forty made it a challenge for any player looking to train up to join the clearing group. Now fourteen players with great potential were lost forever.

Sweetie Belle watched as an NPC walked clumsily around, asking for adventurers to save his family, who was trapped in the depths of the cave. Its problems seemed so distant, so unimportant, to Sweetie Belle.

"It's so empty," Grieve Blossom whispered in disbelief. He walked over to one of the tents, feeling the leathery material. "I was just here a week ago. My buddies had just repeated the dungeon for the fifth time, before I was called to protect some of our delegates headed to your meeting."

"Must be hard, seeing it empty like this." Sweetie Belle said, resting her hoof on his shoulder. "But we'll find who did this, I swear we will."

Grieve Blossom cleared his throat. "I'll be alright, Lady Sweetie Belle, I can despair when I'm off duty." He pointed to the tents all around the camps. "If the structures are still here, we can analyze the building details and see which took the most collateral damage. That should give us a clue of where the murderers came from."

The CMC split up, each of them covering a third of the camp. Grieve Blossom hung back and watched them scan through the building details. He would have helped, but they were a higher level than him, so there was nothing he could see that they couldn't.

"Over here," Scootaloo said, pointing to her tents, "this one's been damaged to fifty percent, and the same goes with the one next to it."

Behind the tent, the entrance of dungeon faced them. "You don't think they could've attacked from the dungeon, could they?" Applebloom inquired. She positioned herself next to the tents, pretending to be the attackers who damaged the tents. She searched around, but there was nothing else that looked significant enough to be considered the starting point.

"If they wiped out the recruits and their trainers, then these killers might be at a high enough level to tough it out in the dungeon," Grieve Blossom considered. "Drillmaster Iceblood was in charge, and he's fought with the Clearing Group."

"Iceblood? You mean that 20-ish year old guy who fights with a bunch of ice enchantments on his gear?" Scootaloo's eyes widened with recognition. "RD mentioned him from our raid on floor forty-two." She turned to her friends. "He's no joke, Rainbow almost considered him as her match in sword fighting after they took down the boss together."

"We'll have to be extra careful," Applebloom said, heading over to the dungeon.

"Hold on, don't you think we should get some help?" Sweetie Belle asked. "I can get Fluttershy here in no time, she said she didn't have anything planned today."

"We don't need to worry the others, or spend time waiting," Applebloom turned back, "we're just going to scout out the dungeon, see if they're any leads on them. Reckon they've ran off to some other floor by now, but they might have left something if they camped in there for a while."

Grieve stepped forward. "I want to come along. I know there were a little more than fourteen here, some must have survived after the fighting, or chased after the killers and lost them in the tunnels."

"Looking for your friends?" Sweetie Belle asked. Grieve Blossom nodded. "Good."

"Hold on, I don't think that's a good idea," Applebloom cautioned. "You'd slow us down fighting the monsters. Better if you leave it to us, we'd cut through the golems in seconds."

"I've mapped this dungeon twice, and completed the quest for it with my eyes closed." Grieve Blossom wouldn't back down, not when there was a chance his friends could be alive. "I know this dungeon well enough to keep up, even at my level."

"I say he can come," Scootaloo added, "so it's two against one Applebloom, we win."

Applebloom whirled around and head into the dungeon. "Fine, as long as we find some clues, I guess it doesn't matter." She turned back and smirked at Grieve Blossom. "Hope he can keep up though."

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Another three Animated Earth Golems dropped lifelessly onto the cavern floor. Sweetie Belle pulled her scimitar from the last one, sinking her blade into the chest of a fourth monster.

Applebloom raised her shield and shoved a golem into the wall, pinning it to the stone with her spear. Behind her, two golems exploded under the force of Scootaloo's hoof-made warhammer. The polished steel head crumbled the stone to pieces, leaving cracks in the ground as it bashed through enemies.

Grieve Blossom held the perimeter, keeping the golems from running away to heal. Though his weapon and strength may not be able to match the CMC, the weakened monsters were no match for the red katana that split them in half.

"Nice hit," Sweetie Belle commented once the last golem was cleaned up. As each one died and despawned, the tunnels lit up with the fragments of light that the corpses dissipated into.

"Gotta be honest, I didn't think we'd make it this far with you," Applebloom said. She walked over and patted Grieve Blossom on the back. "But, I reckon the Knights have to be good at what they do."

"Thank you, I appreciate being here to-" Grieve Blossom paused. "Did you hear that?"

Everyone's ears stood up, listening through the echoing caverns. A voice moaned through tunnels.

"Grieve Blossom, could that be a survivor?" Applebloom asked, but he was already headed down the tunnels, chasing after the voice.

The tunnel led to deeper caverns, where it became harder and harder to see. Without the cave crystals in the walls, it was possible Grieve Blossom would be going in blind after the survivor.

For a moment, it seemed as if he wasn't getting any closer, but the voice eventually became clearer as he neared the player.

"Whoever's there, I can hear you," the voice called out, "don't try any funny business, or you'll have trouble on your hands."

"It's me, Knight Grieve Blossom, sir," he replied as he ran into the central cavern. In the middle of the floor a massive spider, at least five times the size of a stallion, lay on the floor, ready to despawn once the quest NPC's finished their scene. On Grieve's right, Drillmaster Iceblood leaned against the cavern wall, watching the tunnel for more ponies.

"The hell are you doing here," he said to Grieve Blossom, "you were called up to guard our- ah!" Iceblood flinched, looking down at his gut wound and broken leg. The pain was still heavily dulled in-game despite the severity of the injury, but even so, the injuries did not feel good.

"Don't worry, reinforcements are on their way Drillmaster," Grieve Blossom replied, "they're the best we could have asked for."

"Grieve Blossom!" Sweetie Belle shouted, "is everything alright? Who was calling out?"

"Is that..." Iceblood turned to Grieve Blossom in disbelief.

He nodded back. "Yeah, that's those three."

The sharp pain in his body was suddenly pushed back as Iceblood forced himself up to look presentable. The CMC paused the moment they entered the room. Iceblood's glowing armor, glistening in ice enchantments, was immediately recognizable.

"Holy cutie marks," Scootaloo whispered. "That's... um... that's Iceblood." The others gazed in amazement. They had not expected to meet a player so revered.

The drillmaster saluted, suppressing the urge to flinch as his wound stung again. "Drillmaster Iceblood, Second Training Division of the Knights of Yore. I have a lot to report on the attacker's you've probably heard about, if you could spare a moment."

The CMC traded looks, calming each other down.

"We'd be happy to hear everything, as soon as we get you to a safe zone to recover," Sweetie said, gesturing to his wound. Struggling against his injuries strained his health bar, worsening the effect. Blood pixels began to leak profusely out of the gash, refreshing the crippled debuff every second.

"No, it can wait," he replied. "What happened here's more important than my comfort. The players," Iceblood clutched his side as the crippling effect renewed itself again, stinging more and more. Grieve Blossom reached out to offer support with his shoulder, but Iceblood only waved him aside.

Scootaloo equipped a teleportation scroll and pointed it at Iceblood. "I'm sorry, but I don't think your body wants to wait. Stand still."

Iceblood opened his mouth to protest, struggling to get away from the scroll, but his limbs disobeyed him while the crippled debuff remained.

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"Take it easy, the bandages don't heal as quickly as potions," Roseluck said. She leaned Iceblood down onto the bed in the Cutie Mark Crusader Apothecary, leaving the CMC to talk to him while she went to brew potions for stress relief. Grieve Blossom followed Roseluck to her brewery, eager to help get the potion ready.

"Take it from the start," Applebloom told Iceblood, taking a seat next to his bed.

Iceblood nodded, closing his eyes and thinking back. "The attack started out of no where -I suppose that is the point of a surprise attack- just after the cadets had finished the repeatable quest. They picked the perfect time: we were tired, I was busy evaluating their performance, and none of us were prepared for a fight. One moment, the tunnel to the dungeon was empty, and the next, we were overran by players, all of them marked as killers. Had to have been at least twenty of them, and by the time they retreated we had only captured four of them."

Scootaloo shook her head with dejection. She couldn't stand the thought of so many killers roam free in the game. As if killing wasn't bad enough, those murderers were such cowards that they took lives from within a video game. Everyone they killed just wanted to go home, but that hope was taken from them.

"I went in after them," Iceblood continued, "hoping to track them down to where they came from, and to find a way to bring them to justice. Turns out they led me into a trap, baiting me into the Spider Queen's cavern so they could ambush me while I fought the boss."

It was a frightening strategy. Most players assumed all dungeons were safe zones, allowing only Player versus Environment combat. But some smaller dungeons allowed Player versus Player combat, usually building it into the quest to create interesting competition. Good game design, but for the wrong game.

"How'd you end up injured in the cavern then?" Applebloom asked. "And what happened to the killers?"

"They ran off, after I injured three of them," he answered. "They carried off their wounded and expected the Spider Queen to kill me, but I hounded them, ignoring the boss to chase them down. That's when my leg got crippled; one of the killers threw a machete at my leg, cutting open my knee. I had a healing potion, but I realized after I drank it that the machete had a paralysis poison coated on it. I had to wait out the effect while the boss bashed by armor to pieces. If these enchantments hadn't frozen her with each hit, I don't think I would have survived long enough to get back up."

Applebloom looked to Sweetie Belle. "Remember when Sun-" Applebloom quickly glanced at Iceblood, "Phoenix got caught up with some bandits when she met Roseluck?"

Sweetie Belle nodded. "Paralysis poison. Not many know how to make it, but do you really think they're related?"

"Maybe." Applebloom said, turning back to Iceblood. "Do you know anything else about the attacker's? Like their motive, or what group they might have belonged to."

Iceblood swiped his hoof and opened his inventory. "I picked up the machete they threw at me, maybe that could help." He tapped on the item name and the weapon materialized into his hoof.

Scootaloo's wing snatched it up immediately, and she looked up and down the weapon before even checking the attributes. "This is made of some really high level stuff. The blade's made of shadow steel from floor forty-two, enchanted a Crippling Black Gem from the Crystal Caves in floor thirty-eight, and even the leather strap wrapped around the handle feels like it's from a though animal on floor forty-five or higher."

She tapped on the blade and opened the weapon's attribute menu. With her blacksmith skill as high as it could be for a Clearing Group player, she had no problem evaluating all the fine details of the weapon. She mumbled the minor things to herself, skimming over the small boosts and drawbacks of the weapon. She clenched her teeth as her eyes settled on the maker's name.

????? -Your blacksmith level is not higher than the creator's. You cannot make sense of this.

The machete clanged, dropping to the floor.

Sweetie Belle gasped. "What's wrong with it?"

"These killers," Scootaloo replied with a shaky voice, "have a player that's as good of a blacksmith as I am, which means that, at the very least, someone involved with them is at the Clearing Group's high-level bracket."

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The Sleeping Giants was the least of her worries, but while Sweetie Belle and Applebloom went to meet up with Applejack to spread the news, Scootaloo was left to make the final verdict. She wished Rainbow Dash was with her to help her take control of the SGK.

Cool, calm, and collected, that's how RD would do it. Scootaloo held her breath, opening the doors to the delegates waiting outside.

"Now is not the time to show weakness Lady Scootaloo," the chubby delegate immediately attacked, his voice sharp with annoyance. "Supporting the Knights when they've been weakened will only slow out efforts. With the SGK strong, we could offer stronger assistance to the current investigation."

"The decision is made, we already talked it over," Scootaloo answered, pushing past them, eager to get out of the guild keep.

Another delegate stepped in her way. She shot a glare at him that drove him back, but he voice his complaints anyways. "The Knights may still be targets, Lady Scootaloo. Fueling their guild with more supplies would be a risk they cannot afford."

She barged past him and his friends, shrugging off their incessant politicking.

Still, the delegates would not let the day end. "We're still not sure who the mole in the Clearing Group is. If the killing guild knew the Knights so well, they might be working with a traitor within the Knights. Helping them would also help the murderers."

Finally, Scootaloo reached the keep door. Only the portcullis stood in her way.

We're supposed to show that, as leaders, we are united.

That's what Applebloom said after the meeting. It was true, but all Scootaloo wanted was to get messy in the front lines of battle, not negotiate with gamers. But what would the other guilds think of the Cutie Mark Crusaders didn't look united? Could ignoring what the SGK had to say would spark resentment?

One of the delegates mustered the courage to yell over his comrades. "I thought the Crusaders were the champions of the elite, the Clearing Group; are you just taking pity on the underdogs now?"

That answered her question. Scootaloo sucked up her own desires and turned back to the crowd. "This is more than just a statement now. The Crusaders do not do publicity stunts. We will end this game, but we will be neither ignorant nor cruel. The Knights of Yore are our brethren in bonds, trapped in here with us. They suffer from the same forces we do. If they fall, then so will the next guild, and the next, until there will be no one left but you, and when you find yourself alone in this savage world, you will fall too. Last to die or first, it makes no difference. So we will help when others are down, raising them up so that they will not be crushed. We may still suffer, but together we will suffer and live. Apart, we will suffer and die."

The delegates fell into complete silence. Some were lost in thought, others were simply speechless. But Scootaloo had more flair to add. She drew her warhammer, balancing the heavy weapon on her wings, making it look weightless.

"Yet, I feel that some of you still have something to say," she glanced around the group, watching their nervous faces. "If you have the guts to speak it, if that voice in your head is loud enough, then meet me in my office. We can talk, one on one."

Scootaloo marched off, following the stairs back up to the top of the keep. Only the clops of her hooves echoed through the Crusaders' Keep. The SGK delegates traded uneasy looks at each other, glancing over to the stairs as if Scootaloo could burst back any moment. In complete silence, the delegates unanimously agreed; they had nothing to say.