Blue had posted the video on the Internet just an hour after Odaria's army was defeated, obviously using hacking systems to send it to every available electronic device. Thanks to the power of telecommunications, billions of people saw the video at the same time.

Initially, most people thought it was a joke, but curiosity was still an element rooted in the human race, so many went to check what was happening in Cartago via satellite images. When they actually saw that the city was teeming with dinosaurs, they all panicked!

Chaos poured into the streets within hours. Many abandoned their homes and fled to the mountains or the countryside. Journalists obviously joined this climate of terror and, faced with such news, sent their vehicles to inspect the city directly. The dinosaurs had ignored them, and in doing so the helicopters had taken up what was left of what was Cartago and then had spread it over the television. This had done nothing but fuel the general panic.

Humans could be extraordinarily courageous creatures, but when confronted with the unknown they became extremely cowardly. And discovering that there was another intelligent species out there, and that this one was able to stand up to them, terrified them.

Fortunately, the governments had managed to contain the emergency: the police forces were prepared for such events and were able to stop the riots and riots before it was too late. Some countries even had their armies intervene. There was a roundup of arrests and several deaths, but the situation was eventually brought under control.

However, the fact that people stopped revolting didn't mean they calmed down. The fear of what the dinosaurs could do still existed. Furthermore, many people, especially among the rich, had relatives and friends in Cartago. The explosion of protest movements did not take even a day: people poured into the streets to demonstrate in favor of negotiation, in order to prevent the dinosaurs from hurting the prisoners, or worse, moving against other cities.

Scientists didn't know what to think. Within hours, everything they knew about the nature of terrestrial life forms had turned out to be wrong. How was it possible that out of the blue the dinosaurs had unlocked cognitive faculties such as to evolve language, weapons and social structure?

Faced with such a crisis, the NMWA convened a meeting in a state of emergency, not with mere representatives, but with the heads of state of the various nations themselves. Since many of them were at considerable distances, huge screens had been placed to allow the governors of the various countries to speak.

"I demand an explanation! What the hell is going on?" Monroe Bennett, the president of the Confederate States of Vinland and momentary vice-president of the NMWA, roared. "Since when do dinosaurs fight wars and take hostages instead of grazing in their forests?"

Odaria's president, Leon Petrovich, knew these questions were addressed to him. The trouble was that he didn't know how to answer. "We know as much as you know. We don't know what's going on, or what triggered all of this. We have only recently discovered this anomaly..."

"If you did, why didn't you inform us?" Palma, the president of the Meilong Republic and momentary president of the NMWA, shouted.

Petrovich couldn't say they hadn't disclosed the existence of intelligent dinosaurs because the heads of Odaria's financial groups wanted to preserve their businesses. "We thought it wasn't necessary. We believed that our strengths were sufficient"

"This is no justification!" Pauline Mackenzie, queen of the Kingdom of Niger, cried. "You had a duty to warn the NMWA before taking any military action! What if this was a virus? With your attack, you could have infected the soldiers and spread it!"

"We still don't know if this is a virus!" Petrovich replied. "Our scientists think..."

"The scientists don't think nothing!" someone else screamed. "We asked to them many times! They don't know what this is! They don't know if this is a disease, a parasite, the consequences of some chemical compound, a mess due to pollution, the hole in the ozone layer or even the nature that turn against us! They don't know a shit!"

Many more furious voices were raised throughout the hall. Unfortunately, what had been said was true: no scientist had yet provided a valid explanation for what was happening. For most of the scientific world, the sudden emergence of intelligent dinosaurs was something against nature. It violated all their knowledge of biology. No wonder, with science appearing to be powerless, many people were starting to think that there was some sort of supernatural or even divine intervention that had triggered that absurd change in the animals.

"Order, order! This is not the time for us to argue!" Palma said. "We must remain calm, or we won't be able to deal with this the right way!"

His words calmed the people in the room a little, but the tension could still feel like it was a smoke pall above them all. However, all the world leaders agreed that now wasn't the time to freak out. They had to hold their nerve and figure out how to resolve that strange situation.

Suddenly Omar Anoke, president of the Gardarikian Federation, spoke without notice: "We must know the strength of this new enemy. How many troops have been sent to fight them?"

The world leaders waited to know the answer. After all, dinosaurs were a force clearly hostile to humanity, so they had to find out just how powerful they were.

Petrovich bit his lip. "About ninety thousand soldiers"

A murmur spread throughout the hall. "And you lost so miserably!?" Anoke screamed, unable to hold back.

"We have observed part of the battle via our orbital satellites. The dinosaurs were much better equipped and possessed much stronger weapons than our soldiers" Petrovich explained. "At first glance, I would say they were on par with the best armies we have, if not superior. Not to mention their individual strength. In addition, from satellite analyzes, they are also experts in military tactics and war strategies"

The leaders of the various nations seemed furious, but the truth was that they were as terrified as their own citizens and were desperate for a solution. Not only did they don't know what was triggering the emergence of intelligent dinosaurs and whether it could be contagious or even dangerous to humans, but their new enemy seemed to possess considerable strength. If a conflict between the two sides had arisen, the consequences could have been unpredictable.

"President, how do you think we should act?" was the final request that was put to the head of the NMWA.

Andrew Palma had been mulling it over a lot, so he knew exactly what to say. "I propose to proceed with caution. As Odaria's president has pointed out, their weapons are on par with, if not superior to, ours. Furthermore, their boss specifically stated that their numbers are much greater than we know. If that were really the case, we would be overwhelmed in open warfare. And even if it were a bluff, we can't know what other tricks they hide. Furthermore, the people are currently rowing against us: in many countries there are demonstrations calling for peace. They are scared and I cannot blame them. We have no choice but to come to terms"

Many other heads of state looked at him with apprehension. "Do you want to negotiate?" someone asked.

"At least until we know more" Palma explained. "In this way we will buy time, save the prisoners and please our fellow citizens, avoiding further disturbances. Even if it is only a temporary measure, this will give us the opportunity to get to know this new enemy better, allowing us to prepare ourselves in case one day it decides to reopen hostilities"

"But how could we negotiate with them? They are animals!" someone exclaimed. "How are we going to have a civil conversation with them?"

"These 'animals' are smart enough to take hostages, fight wars and ask for negotiations. At the moment I would say we can behave as if we were facing a human opponent" Palma replied. "As I said before, we must proceed with caution. A negotiating team could learn something about these creatures, how they reason, how they think, how they act. Even the smallest piece of information can help us"

"But the problem remains that we don't know what boosted the dinosaurs' cognition!" Anoke exclaimed. "What if it's contagious?"

That was a major problem. If whatever was modifying the dinosaurs could also infect humans, then sending ambassadors among them could have started a global contagion.

Palma shook his head. "At the moment we have too little information to be able to determine whether it is contagious or not. And anyway, many scientists have detected suspicious behavior among birds and some dinosaurs that already live on this continent. If it is contagious, then it is likely that it is already here in among us" he said. "By delaying sending ambassadors, we risk only angering our enemy, and we don't know how serious this could be. Therefore, I propose that we start negotiations immediately. This will at least buy us some time"

The heads of state were satisfied by that answer and accepted the president's proposal. Unbeknownst to them, they were just playing Sobek's game. Because Sobek, like humans, also aimed to buy time to better prepare his armies.

Seeing the consent of the entire NMWA, Palma ordered: "Find the device from which that video was sent immediately and put me in contact with this 'Sobek'. And let's hope he's a reasonable guy"