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William leaned across the table and asked Tobias, “Who came up with the idea for Demotion Day?” “I don’t know. It was something that came up after a night of drinking, so it’s hard to say who thought of it first.” “And what do you do on Demotion Day?” “Get drunk.” William paused for a few seconds, then stated, “But, you do that every day.” This made Tobias laugh so hard the table shook. William picked up his beer bottle before it tipped over, and asked, “What’s special about Demotion Day?” Tobias calmed down a bit and answered, “We burn the IAU in effigy.” “How do you burn an organization in effigy?” “You have to be creative.” For several seconds there was only silence, then Tobias realized that probably was not a clear enough answer. “The first couple of years,” he continued, “we just burned an effigy of Ron Ekers, President of the IAU back in 2006. I’m sure he was a nice guy, but he was President so that makes him fair-game. But after a few years, that became blasé. So we started doing something new each year. One year we burned the IAU charter, another year it was the resolution.” “What are you burning this year?” “Don’t know. That’s something we usually just throw together the night before.” William gave a broad smile, “Why waste quality drinking time with the laying of elaborate plans?” Tobias thumped his bottle on the table, “Exactly.” They shared a chuckle, then William asked, “What do you hope to accomplish with this drunken orgy you call Demotion Day, besides getting drunk?” Tobias placed his hand over his heart and solemnly stated, “My dream is to turn Pluto into the second best party location in the Republic.” “The second best?” “Well,” Tobias shrugged, “I don’t think we’ll ever unseat Brothel.” “No, I guess that is,” William paused and grinned, seemingly not believing he was going to say this, “some stiff competition.” Tobias’ laugh made the table shake again. “Yes,” he managed to say, “stiff competition indeed.” Once more William stood alone before the window. “If you enjoy a good bacchanal, and happen to be in the area, or if you can get here before August 24, stop into The Witch’s Teat to raise a beer to something burning, and shout the official motto of Pluto,” William lifted a beer and said in his normal voice, “F you too.” Lowering his beer he added, “Of course, that is the cleaned up version for television.” He looked at the floor, then away from the camera and took a sip of beer.
The news anchor smiled her perfect smile for a few seconds then
said, “I guess it takes all kinds to make the Republic run.
Enjoy your evening, and I hope you’ll be back tomorrow.”
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