Rik Meleet stepped out of his limo, dressed in his finest suit. It had been a long time since he laid eyes upon Gorina, except from the air in his plane. The site of the city stunned him, as always.
He saw his old friend Cyc moving towards him with his hand stretched out to greet him. Rik didn't take his hand, but hugged him dearly instead.
Cyc guided him to the podium where he greeted all attendees, reserving a special ancient fanatican greeting for Gladiatus. He chatted with the officials and talked with Gladiatus about the time Gorina was nothing more than a peasant-village and how it had grown to this number 4 city of the world.
Cyc tapped Rik on his back and whispered: "Your honor, it is time. The crowd is awaiting the presentation of the Camelot Award".
Rik stepped on the podium and walked to the microphone.
"Gorinians, Fanaticans and CFC-officials. We are assembled here for a very special and rare occassion, which has only happened to this great forum once before; the presentation of a Camelot Award.
This is an award handed out to a city which makes it into the top 5 cities of the world in a Democracy game. I am very honored that I, as Domestic Leader, am allowed to present you this award. But first I'll have a quick historical overview of great city of Gorina; Great you say? ...yes, great.
These were the words I often spoke in my time as deputy Mayor of Gorina and what a prophecy they turned out to become. When I first spoke these words Gorina the city, or 'village' as it was then known, was very busy building a granary. It sounds insignificant, but that building trained our architects, builders and logistic-people how to build buildings. With the passing of time bigger, more impressive buildings were build; a temple, a courthouse and a collosseum; the one we are standing in right now.
The true building capacities of all Gorinians where first known throughout the entire world was in 860 AD with the completion of Sistine's Chapel. But this turned out to only be the prelude of Gorina's future. Very soon after that, in 1060 AD another building stunned the world; Copernicus Observatory was build by Gorina. This opened up options never expected by then. Recently the best Fanatican astronomers have used this Observatory when they discovered a planet, far far away, which is very suitable for colonisation. The whole nation is preparing to leave our current planet and settle there, free from all enemies around us.
The next great Gorinian generation of builders surpassed even their already magnificent predeccessors with Newton's University. The path Gorina followed then makes a change. This university kindled a complete new way of thinking; where did we originated from ? The longest-lasting memories people had were from 4000 BC when a group of the first Fanaticans wandered around the desert near what is now known as "Noshuret" and decided to live there, starting our nation. But what was before that; people didn't just originate, so where did they come from ? The seeds for a new theory were sown, right here in Gorina. This way of thinking reached his peak in 1480 when it was discovered that animals and fanaticans share common ancestors. The Theory of Evolution was discovered and a world-impressing building was build in Gorina.
Until around the 1550's Fanatica was a purely male-dominated nation. Gorinian philosophers realised that women are equal to men and deserve the same rights as men. Although the nation and the world seemed reluctant to accept these ideas in first, the Gorinian movement continued and in 1585 women were accepted as equals. To celebrate this huge leap forward the Universal Suffrage was designed and build in Gorina. Again the world was flabbergasted at Gorina's achievements. Some voices other than fanatican voices started to gain volume; perhaps Gorina is the greatest city in the world !
But not until a few years ago Gorina's status in the world rose so high that it truly is considered the 5th city of the world !!! "
At this moment former president Donovan Zoi and Lord-Mayor Cyc both jump up and whisper to Rik "Sir this afternoon Gorina rose on the list and is currently the 4th city already".
Without even a small change in his voice, but with even more shining eyes Rik continued:
"I repeat, But not until a few years ago Gorina's status in the world rose so high that it truly is considered the 4th city of the world !!! And it's glory is rising higher and higher. With the completion of SETI, which had it's roots in Copernicus Observatory, we can talk to aliens in space and invite them to our soon-to-be next homeplanet for an intergallactic celebration ! And if the @#%@**& Germans beat us to it; they'll regret it as we will change this building, currently being build on Manhattan's way into a project to create such a detterrent weapon that no-one will ever declare war on us again. At least they won't survive to the magnificent day we'll have lift-off.
But now it is time to reveal the Camelot Award. This award is for you all, and for all your effort you put in into getting Gorina into the top 5 cities of the world. I can't look into the future, but I expect Gorina to one day reach the top 1 spot. "
The trumpets sounded, the 1000 dancers enterred the pitch and the crowd and officials rose from thir chairs. Rik walked to the center of the pitch where a huge covered up 'something' had been all day. Mayor Cyc guided Rik to the 'something'
With a huge, symbolic, gladiator sword Rik cut the ropes holding the covering sheets in their place and for the first time the Gorinians, the Fanaticans and the CFC-officials could see the Camelot Award:
The crowd was struck with awe. Rik's last official words of that day were: "Our nation was number 1 in the medeavil times and will be the first to reach for the stars; let this be an inspiration for all of you in our long road to space ! "