Li Wei stepped aside. He gestured at the mic. "Please. My English is passable — I'll handle translation while you speak."
Emily moved to the front of the platform. Murmurs from the nearest rows.
"How come the black girl's going first?" A male student, loud enough to carry.
Emily looked at him. "If anyone wants to make an issue of my skin color, we have nothing to talk about."
Li Wei stepped forward. His voice shifted — the bureaucrat's authority. "Whatever we think privately, we maintain basic social order here. That's non-negotiable. We are still civilized people."
The moment passed.
"We need to figure out three things. First — how did we get here, and is there any way to get back?"
"Second — if we can't get back, then where is this? Past or future? Which continent? Or not even Earth?"
"Third — if we have to survive here, what resources exist around us and what challenges do we face?"
She began to elaborate on the first question. The displacement had just happened — if there were rules governing it, now was the time to study them, while the evidence was fresh. Once they understood the mechanism, perhaps it could even work both ways —
"That's the problem." Wang Lixin was on his feet. He didn't take the stage — just stood from the front row and projected. "This displacement may not be scientifically explainable. You're trying to use science to explain something that might not have a scientific answer. And your 'tomorrow' for a breakthrough — when is that, exactly? If there's no timeline, putting our hopes on it is irresponsible."
Emily conceded the point — she couldn't give a deadline. Wang Lixin continued.
"If we pour everything into studying the displacement and it leads nowhere, we won't have prepared to survive. And if we're sent back as suddenly as we came, we'll have missed the only chance to explore an entirely new world." He addressed the crowd directly. "Our food and water won't last. External exploration is imperative."
The crowd split. A rough voice from the workers' section: stop talking, start doing. Students pushed back. Overlapping voices from different corners, nobody waiting for turns.
A hand landed on Wang Lixin's shoulder from behind. Zhan Junfei — the official who'd already spoken about exploring outside.
"Wang, you don't need to go that far. The world isn't going anywhere — we can explore it anytime. But the displacement, if we want to study it, the golden time is right now. The moment after it happened."
Wang Lixin turned, but Zhan Junfei wasn't finished.
"Exploring the displacement and exploring the environment aren't mutually exclusive. Professional people do professional things. Someone like me researching physics won't get anywhere. Professor Zhang trekking through wilderness is a waste. We split up."
The crowd stirred — the energy shifted toward movement, toward doing.
Then Li Wei stepped forward. The mic caught his voice.
"Shouldn't we be finding a way back?" His voice was strained. "I don't care about round trips or rules or research. I just want to go home right now. By any means."
Zhang Xiaoyu stepped to his side.
"I understand, Deputy Mayor. But in the short term — we probably can't find a way back. I'm sorry."
Li Wei's eyes dimmed. He sighed. His arms dropped to his sides. He stood there, silent.
The crowd was still — everyone taking time to digest what they had just seen.
Emily bowed to the crowd and stepped back behind Li Wei, resuming the translator's position.
Li Wei, hollow: "Does anyone else want to speak?"
Wu Dui walked onto the platform.
He waited for the small groups to quiet, then raised the mic.
"Patrol report. My team completed a five-kilometer sweep while you were meeting."
The crowd went still.
"Terrain: predominantly flat grassland with scattered woodland. Two freshwater lakes — one approximately two kilometers north, one three kilometers northeast. Wildlife: zebra, antelope, and buffalo."
Emily translated.
"Other details will require tomorrow's exploration teams."
Wu Dui was already turning to leave when a hand went up. Chen Mengjie — a student who'd joined the information group — stood.
"Since there's abundant wildlife, can we use the guns to hunt for food?"
Wu Dui stopped. Rubbed his forehead. Through his teeth: "No. Our ammunition isn't unlimited. There are unknown dangers ahead. Ammo can't be wasted on this."
He walked off the stage without taking further questions.
Li Wei stepped to the mic. "You've heard Wu Dui's report. Let's continue."
Li Wei retook the mic. "We've been discussing for a long time. Everyone's hungry. Cafeteria staff, please come to me. Volunteers to help cook, you're welcome. Tomorrow we continue."
A group of several dozen — kitchen workers and volunteers — moved toward the cafeteria. The rest of the crowd followed. Small clusters continued discussing on the way.
Emily stepped off the platform.
On the information board, below the "12" someone had written hours ago, three columns were forming. Names under headings that matched the three questions.
Beyond the floodlights someone had rigged to a portable generator, the forest was a wall of black.