2023-11-22: Object-Oriented Sovereignty
- Cast: Ada Legatum Luckwright, Eight Orlodhari, Luanova Luckwright
- Where: Magallanica - Vist Mansion
- Date: U.C. 0097 11 22
- Summary: Eight, attending a social gathering for investors in the buildup of Magallanica, meets a senator from the neo-colonies and her daughter, and is canvassed for a proposal.
<Pose Tracker> Eight Orlodhari has posed.
This particular Event--an afternoon affair, well-catered--shows that Magallanica is open for diplomatic business. At the former mansion of the Vists, there's plenty of open space, and plenty of people who want to get in on the ground floor of the new colony.
It's marked by a rare appearance of one Eight Orlodhari (formerly Eight York). Rare for the moment, at least--this month she's been rather busy with her newborns. All the same, good timing or not she's needed for a few things around here at times, and this is one of those times--a few people who need a higher-up in the 3SA to meet while Lacus is away and Yurika is very far away.
She's just coming away from one such meeting to step onto one of the balconies, looking out over the colony with a lemonade in hand.
It's an ideal time to approach her.
<Pose Tracker> Ada Legatum Luckwright has posed.
It is an ideal time to approach her, while the leadership of the Three Ships Alliance and Magallanica are diffused, and proposals have fewer hands to pass through.
It's not an ambush. Senator Ada Legatum Luckwright has had her people requisition a proper space on Eight's itinerary. She just happens to be at the balcony, in a double-breasted jacket and pantsuit, where she is already in the middle of a one-sided conversation with her daughter. Luanova Luckwright, who has represented her mother in diplomatic and charity outreach here and abroad recently, wears a slim red evening dress, holds a flute of champagne, and listens to her mother with the kind of quiet politeness that absorbs everything she is saying and knows better than to show how little any of it matters to her.
"You've done a good job with it, but Lua, honey, I wish you would keep a little more professionalism about it. It's the Universal Century. You never know when your words are going to be caught and taken out of context, is all I'm saying. There are a lot of people who've been terribly mistreated for an innocent slip of the tongue or some perfectly reasonable... hello!" Ada turns and smiles with well-practiced warmth, following Lua's aloof gaze to notice the passing Orlodhari. "Mrs. Orlodhari, fancy meeting you here. Ada Luckwright, visiting from Neo-America. How has the event been?" Rather underwhelming by comparison to others, given the state of Magallanica's still growing population, but that will change. Ada has encouraged a number of Neo-American investors to take an open mind and look into expanding business prospects in the new colony, and those who have listened stick out among the crowds below.
Lua, too, puts on a practiced smile and raises a hand in a polite but casual greeting. "Hi," she says. "I'm Luanova."
"My daughter," Ada says with pride, putting a hand around her shoulder in a brief half-hug.
<Pose Tracker> Eight Orlodhari has posed.
Eight, as it happens, will appreciate later that she fit some time in officially--her time is rather rigid at the moment. Extra demands on it are unideal.
But in the meantime she glances to the two as she walks. Eight herself is likewise in red; she'll be back to wearing uniforms again for these events soon enough, but not while she's officially on leave.
The glance becomes a smile and an inclination of her head in greeting. "Senator," she greets, because she was prepared for the people she was likely to meet. "It's been pleasant for me--Lately I don't get a lot of chances to get out, so it's good to have the reminder that the world outside my apartment still exists." That might've been at least partly a joke.
She's dealt with a lot of people so far today, and these investors could in some cases be key to future endeavors. At the same time... she knows better than to put their future in the wrong hands.
It's a delicate dance.
"Luanova, then. It's good to meet you both." She actually smiles at the show of familial pride. "How was the trip over? I hope the colony's been up to expectations. Magallanica is still growing, but has a lot of charm already, I think."
<Pose Tracker> Ada Legatum Luckwright has posed.
"Ada," the senator corrects Eight on being addressed as senator. "I remember the new mother blues, but managing two at once is one more veteran's badge you've got over me." Of course she has staff to look up these little details about the people she's scheduled to visit. You need to keep that human spark. "I think it has a lot of room to grow, and I think that's a good thing. You've got hardworking people here." That means available labor, and available labor means opportunities for foreign investment. Careful whose hands you put your future in, perhaps.
"I was here the other week," Lua says, over which Ada adds, "Lua's been doing some rounds for me, making some connections and setting the stage. I wouldn't have been able to bring the proposals I have today without her." Lua waits until Mother is done talking for her, and patiently finishes her thought. "I had some of the street food. There's a guy with a cart on the other side of the administrative hall who was selling kebab." She pauses briefly to consider her wording. "I think the street food in a place says a lot more about its character than the meals you find served at events like this. I hope things are going well for him. Very friendly guy."
Ada wears a quiet smile while she puts up with Lua's digression. "I don't have to keep you," she says. "I do have a meeting scheduled in an hour or so when I'd like to lay something out, and I can wait. But if you'd like to get business out of the way while we're here, we could hash it out, and then you'll be free for that block."
<Pose Tracker> Eight Orlodhari has posed.
"Ada then," Eight acknowledges, "Call me Eight." She smiles about the matter of her children, and Ada's memory of it. "We do. A lot of the people here are eager for a chance to start something new."
Very careful.
Eight looks between the two as they trade off speaking, more or less. "It's good to be able to work with family," Eight says. And she nods at Lua, still easygoing for the moment. "I think so, too--at an event like this they show 'the best', which isn't always the most authentic. I'll have to check that side for a cart before I go home."
But she knows the focus on this business is going to be Ada. "Then that's fine. Efficiency is the name of my life lately; I'm willing to hear you out now."
<Pose Tracker> Ada Legatum Luckwright has posed.
"That's exactly it," Lua says, a little authenticity coming into her smile for the first time in the conversation. "I don't mean there's anything wrong with the food here, they did a good job. But it's the same job. It's not 'Magallanica' food. It's 'investor' food." She's happy to have at least a slice of what resembles a normal interaction between humans here at another one of these formal gatherings, with another one of these classical menus. (If she has to sample another shrimp cocktail...) "If you find the old man, tell him it needs to soak in a little more of the grease. That's where the flavor is."
Ada pretends that she finds this exchange charming while she waits for Eight to turn back to the real topic. "Then, to business: I've been preparing a bill to put before the Senate that I think will be important not only to Neo-America, but to the people of the Earth Sphere as a whole. I'd like to gather some people to make statements in support and get everyone on board with the proposal." Her smile exudes a kinetic confidence, now. She has something here. "To be straight with it: the current state of Federal diplomacy is increasingly intolerable. An entirely new model is required. An agile model. An integrative model. And I need to pass it before things get worse."
<Pose Tracker> Eight Orlodhari has posed.
Eight smiles her agreement with Lua; whether or not she actually tells the old man how to cook his food, it's nice to have such an interaction for her, too. ...But she's aware that the 'real' topic is waiting.
So she listens. Eight looks thoughtful as she does. Yes, there's something...
"I won't disagree with that much; with blocs falling off, it's difficult to negotiate. We've managed well enough, of course." But even so.
"So I'm willing to hear you out, depending on what this new, agile, integrative model entails."
"Though I admit, I wonder how many in the neo-colonies will appreciate a rebel Captain's input on the matter."
<Pose Tracker> Ada Legatum Luckwright has posed.
"You leave that to me," Ada says, smiling gently. "I have people I need to get on board, and you have people you'll need to get on board."
Lua steps back and looks down at her champagne flute, studiously avoiding letting her boredom show too much. Ada, meanwhile, draws a sheaf of papers out of her pocketbook. "It's called the package model. You can see the details here -- these are not finalized, please do not distribute the information publically -- but in short, it's a suite of legislation that creates an object-oriented framework for international trade, terms of sovereignty, territorial passage, and degrees of military action. Packages of negotiable rights can then be separately issued to different governmental and non-governmental bodies and population classes, which, once they are assigned the correct packages, can conduct business across participating borders, while the central government can modify package clearance with a two-thirds representative majority vote or executive decision. The package model effectively introduces the ability to gradate and limit military conflict according to package clauses. An end to a century of monolithic warfare."
The explanation is only moderately easier to follow on skimming the papers. What the 'package model' appears to be is, followed to its logical conclusions, a stealth proposal for a decentralization of Federal authority: perhaps even a quiet plot towards balkanization. It would dramatically hamstring any signatory state's ability to threaten total war, and the way its trade and migratory policies are presented would move towards a rapprochement with what might until now have been viewed as rebel colonies. They also provide for a potentially worrying freedom for new avenues of corporate influence.
Senator Luckwright is a major stakeholder in one of the companies of the Benerit Group. This proposal isn't outright sinister, but the advantages for Cathedra under this model are clear.
<Pose Tracker> Eight Orlodhari has posed.
Eight accepts the papers. "Of course," she says of public distribution, willing to avoid doing so without trouble. She listens as she does. Object-oriented... "I see. There are of course obvious benefits to limiting warfare in this capacity," she says diplomatically, as she looks through the papers. And Eight is savvy enough by now to be able to piece together what it means. A mode to greater peace... at some cost.
"And I can certainly see the benefits to my people of a more peaceful approach." She holds up the sheaf of papers. "I'd like to keep these to read over, unless you'd rather send me a more complete version." Then, she considers her options; outright indicating the potential for risk might..
No, Eight's inclined to speak her mind.
"Whether or not more decentralization is the right call for a Federation to better serve its members and others... Corporate interests haven't always been especially friendly to my people. We have an arrangement with Cathedra and the Benerit Group, but I do intend to keep an eye out for abuses like we saw in Anaheim, and among the Vists."
"At the same time, maybe decentralization is inevitable, with the losses the Federation has suffered. So you have my interest. As a Spacenoid I admit the idea of less authority directly in the hands of Earth authorities has a certain appeal."
<Pose Tracker> Ada Legatum Luckwright has posed.
"Of course," Ada says, her tone shifting to match the mood. "I'm not blind. The package model alone isn't enough. We'll need robust investment in authorities to police conduct by organizations throughout the Earth Sphere, both internal and external." It would be preferable, of course, if internal authorities would be enough to root out these bad apples, freeing up the resources that would have to be spent on external actors. But her intent to guard against atrocities and crimes against humanity is, if a bit glib and overconfident, not deceitful. There is nothing to profit society from a pogrom.
Ada wears her smile again, reaching forward to shake Eight's hand. "I appreciate your consideration. Too much national squabbling has hurt people throughout the Earth Sphere. I view this legislation as one more step towards humanity governing itself not as peoples, but as people."
<Pose Tracker> Eight Orlodhari has posed.
There are people who would handle such a discussion with a lot more delicacy, but they aren't here. "I'm glad we're on the same page there," Eight says of authorities. She doesn't know Ada well yet, but she can see the confidence in her ideas, in any case.
She smiles back, and reaches out to shake Ada's hand in turn. Hers is firm, but not harsh. It's an honest sort of handshake approach.
"A noble idea. I hope that together we can realize ideals like this, instead of having to make war again and again."
"Was there anything else?" Eight confirms. "Otherwise I think I'll take advantage of the excuse to sit down and go over these papers in more detail."
<Pose Tracker> Ada Legatum Luckwright has posed.
Ada matches Eight's handshake with a precise cadence. Firm, but not harsh. Well practiced. A softer shake for a softer sell; save the hard shake for the power players who think they're playing some game where a handshake is an arm wrestling match.
"I think the papers should do a fine job covering any details you would have to see," Ada says. "I'll leave you to get what rest you can get before somebody else has to take up your time today. Lua?"
Ada's daughter follows after her, and both of them turn to give a formal goodbye. "It was a pleasure meeting you, Mrs. Orlodhari. You've got as quick a head on your shoulders as I expected. Magallanica should be in good hands."
Lua adds, "It was nice meeting you. Hope your kids are doing well."
Occasionally, in the midst of a crowd, one might get an odd sensation. A strong Newtype can feel a connection, even if fate has not brought two people together. Senator Luckwright is an Oldtype in her heart. Luanova Luckwright is... not quite the same. Her presence, briefly felt, feels in part like a vibrant Newtype personality, and in part distant, as if felt through a veil or seen through a frosted glass. If she feels anything in return, she does not show it, does not pause in her walk away with her mother.
Part of her is thinking: It must be hard raising two newborns and managing a state that had to fight for its independence.
Another part of her is still thinking about street kebab.