COMMUTATION 1.6

Previous ChapterNext Chapter

A traditional violet senate consists of 150 members, each of which has an individual vote. They often form alliances, which has given rise to what is called the "oceanic model" of governance. Their power consists entirely of what is delegated to them by the Empress herself. On Alternia, however, this senate is a lot smaller, due to the smaller size of the violet population that is of an appropriate age. It's sometimes theorised that the planetbound senate exists solely to hamper the Heiress from exercising the full might of her power, although these theories are only spoken of in hushed corners, and never out loud.

- A Violet's Primer to Politics, a pamphlet handed to newly spacebound seadwellers.

======-> Be someone with a bit more class.

You're always stealing time from your future self. Dark shadows brood under your eyes, conspiratorially. As you pace the halls of your underwater mansion, you try determine if you can miss more sleep this week or if it'll lead to you physically collapsing. You've already trained yourself to work just fine on six hours, even at the detriment to your memory and skin. Both of those can be patched up with assistive tools and copious amounts of caffeine. More indexed notekeeping, more makeup, your trusty espresso machine.

It all falls within the purview of the skills your lineage teaches. The heels of your formal outfit tap rhythmically on the waterproof flooring as you head towards your ancestral library.

You approach the door and wait for the thumbprint scanner to do its work. Nearly every lock is biometric, although there's a haemocaste override, which in turn means there's a significant amount of fuchsia blood that gets drawn and vaporised in your hive. She does live here, after all. But she's not around, for once, while you're back to pick up documents that haven't been digitised yet. You're hoping for some minor historical event, recorded in your line's annals, tucked away in the library, that may provide you an all-important precedent in order to argue your case before the senate.

The loud hiss of pressure adjustments in the internal airlock - humidity control is essential, here - trigger a sharp headache above your left eye. The sudden shift from the scent of evaporated seawater to the musty, dry scent of old paper and leather does not help.

Cerato does have the right of it, after all. Similar things have been done before. Religious doctrine gets rewritten, the state attempts to put its grubby fronds into it, and you fight a political war in a different arena than usual. This time, though, it's less contested than it would be otherwise. A bargain with Cerato herself, in order to solidify your own foothold on your own battlefield.

You just need to see which things you might need to trade away for it. The precedent you're looking for thus helps you bargain for a lower price. Assuming, of course, that the price set in history was acceptable, or that it was recorded, and that you're not going on a wild three hour cross-referencing chase. You'd usually let an assistant handle this sort of thing - a cerulean paralegal with a focus in religious studies, perhaps, for this particular instance - but it's best to keep this hidden until the move is made. Both from your fellow senators, as intent on tripping you up as ever, as well as from your enemies.

Fortunately, recent unrest means that senate meetings are closed session again, meaning most of the threat is rival violet factions instead of needing to fear purple interference.

The problem is phrasing this bargain in a way that does not make it immediately plain you are making concessions to clowns, however specific those concessions are. While the church and the state always vie for dominance and thus have their ebb and flow of alliance and betrayal, unilateral loss like this is not something you can readily justify. Reinterpreting religious doctrine is not something that happens regularly. It'll look suspicious no matter what you do.

So you need to create pretext. An inquisition is tempting, but arguably too broad. Appointing Cerato would also be too suspicious. As charming as she is, it'll be difficult to guarantee she'll be chosen as its head - internal politics - and you cannot give other factions a foothold to clean house.

Pretext is the other thing you are hunting for.

History is full of beautiful precedents and pretexts, and all you have to do is spend several hours digging for them.

You briskly walk down to the kauri shelf you believe to be a good starting point for your first search, passing by one of the mahogany tables set out for reading. Sitting at said table to the left of the main walkway, kicking her feet idly underneath her rosewood chair while humming to herself, is someone you never thought you'd see here of all places. She looks up and smiles as she greets you.

LILITH: ~~/|~~ hey otokon! ~~
LILITH: ~~ fancy seeing you here :D ~/|~

The heiress herself, LILITH SPHYRA, sits in the centre of your ancestral collection, several books laid open in a scattershot circle, none of them seeming damaged. Her hair isn't tied back, so the tips of her asymmetric bob lightly brush the page as she's trying to read something very small.

She's tall, to contrast against your shorter height, but as she's currently sitting down, your head is at a level above hers. You immediately rectify this by kneeling on the blackwood floor to acknowledge her presence, as protocol dictates. The one breach you'll allow yourself is addressing her by name, instead of by title.

OTOKON: Lilith. What brings yo->u to-> my hive?
OTOKON: It's unusual to-> see yo->u here, in the library, to-> say the least.

Not that you're displeased - quite the opposite. It's a delight to see her finally deign to engage in activities befitting her station. You can barely keep your face schooled into something approximating neutral, and your happiness definitely bleeds through to your voice.

Better late than never. She's finally taking your advice to heart.

You do note that she hasn't dressed up in her regalia, though. Still wearing the same plain black top printed with her sign. Your eyes wander down a little. Shorts that don't cover her thighs, with an odd combination of chains and straps of fabric attached at various points that loop back to attach at others, and flipflops that don't quite match the rest of the outfit.

She laughs again, that same radiant smile beaming out, this time faintly tinged with a sadness and pain you've become so acquainted with. You're so familiar to its sound and sight that you could pinpoint it like finding a specific passage in this very archive.

LILITH: ~~/|~~ oh, i just wanted to do a bit of research! ~~
LILITH: ~~ there was something i needed to look for ~~
LILITH: ~~ and, you know, you're always telling me ~~
LILITH: My hive is yo->ur hive. Yo->u can use anything yo->u want.
LILITH: ~~ like that ~~
LILITH: ~~ so i figured it'd be helpful! ~/|~

You rise from your genuflection, having spent an appropriate amount of time kneeling on blackwood. As you rise, she gets up to match you, so she ends up being a head taller than you again. You're grateful for her unconscious observation of protocol, the habits she has formed.

The ones you've had to drill into her.

Shaking your head ever so slightly, you dispel this line of thought.

OTOKON: It's go->o->d to-> see yo->u engaging in activities that suit yo->u.
OTOKON: Ho->wever..

You decide to forgo any attempt at subtlety. It's not like it has helped you before. Being clear will only help the both of you.

OTOKON: Has... so->mething happened?

LILITH: ~/|~ just of my own accord! ~~
LILITH: ~~ i can do things of my own will, you know! ~/|~

She smiles at you and remains as evasive as ever. You'll have to contact the small office you've hired to keep tabs on her social media usage to see what took place this time. Who needs to be punished to be reminded of the sanctity of the institution of the Heiress.

It's always like this. Never simply allowing you to solve her issues for her. You have to go behind her back, run what she can't for her, take care of the duties she neglects. You'd resent her for it, if you were capable of such a thing. Instead, you curse each time you're reminded that she's been undercut at every turn, sabotaged, failed by her predecessors.

Somehow she isn't dead yet.

You can only take this to be an answer to the prayers you make every evening, before you go to sleep. To the future Empress you pray she will be.

OTOKON: O->f co->urse. Fo->rgive me fo->r my transgressio->n.

She smiles in a sad way again.

LILITH: ~/|~ you know i'd forgive you anything, right? ~~
LILITH: ~~ i can tell you only want what's best for me! ~~
LILITH: ~~ i'm stupid, otokon, but not blind ~/|~

OTOKON: O->f co->urse, Lilith.
OTOKON: Well, I can o->nly rejo->ice at yo->u pursuing so->mething befitting yo->u.
OTOKON: Do-> yo->u need my help in finding anything in particular?

And a part of you is pleading that she'll ask.

LILITH: ~/|~ actuallly, i think i've found what i wanted already! ~~
LILITH: ~~ it's a surprise though, so you'll find out later, okay? ~~

And is crushed, again. This you hide with a practiced ease, a suppression so reflexive it doesn't usually warrant notice. It's just that this time, you had reason to believe...

Never mind.

You know, rationally, that it's too late for anything to matter. So it doesn't matter if she's lying to you right now. The pursuit of her own enjoyment before her challenge is the only worthwhile pastime for her right now. There's no sense in anything but palliative care.

You would consider escape, if not for the fact that this time, the Empress is coming back personally, instead of having the Heiress travel out. You got this message about six months ago. You haven't let her know yet, but you'll have to soon. You would curse Lilith's awful luck, but you've learned to roll with the waves. It's just that this one is going to engulf both of you, and there's nothing you can do.

You realise that Lilith's speaking, and you got too caught up in your own thoughts to hear her, so you're catching the tail-end of what she was saying.

LILITH: ~~ so that should mean everything should work out! ~~
LILITH: ~~ i'll see you later, okay? and thank you ~/|~

The only course left to you is nodding as if you've heard everything. She hurries off with a genuine smile, flinches at the haemocaste override taking a drop of her blood, and then leaves with a slight skip in her step.

It's the first time in a while you've seen her happy.

Three hours later, you're idly scratching at your neck underneath the starched collar of your uniform, as the air in here is drying you out a bit. Perhaps that's why Lilith headed back out, to wherever she went. You've found something though, as you have a record from nearly one hundred sweeps ago laid open in front of you. It's one of the oldest books here, and personal to your line, which places a great emphasis on recordkeeping.

The Spacebound Extrajudicial Act of Reformation In Negotiated Grants, or SEARING, details the circumstances in which the Empress and thus also the acting Heiress can unilaterally declare special areas in which the Church can pursue reform for the purpose of tailoring the faith to the practical realities in which it has to operate.

You shift uncomfortably in your seat as your uniform chafes around your chest. You're not happy with the idea of expanding space legislature to affect the planet, but you have your legal precedent. You've ended up empty-finned for any pretexts, though, as the record of what preceded this act is not something written down, and seems to predate this record.

Nevertheless, it'll have to be enough for now. Finding a power the Heiress has means you don't even need to justify yourself to the Senate, making your job a lot easier. You can set up a draft for Lilith to post the moment it seems appropriate, and then the pretext is all that's left. You vacate the library, leaving its dry wooden interior behind for the slightly damp environs of your office. Your heels clack once more on the waterproof flooring as you make your walk back, and this time they sound much surer.

> selectLiaison [SL] has messaged the group chat with silveredAmbrosia [SA] and aberrantSpotlight [AS]!

SL: I have fo->und a do->cument detailing ho->w we can enact o->ur plan.

> selectLiaison [SL] has uploaded a file! SEARING.pdf

SL: Here is the digitised versio->n o->f the full Act.
SL: I kno->w bo->th o->f yo->u are to->o-> busy to-> immediately read the who->le thing, so-> I shall summarise.
SL: SEARING allo->ws fo->r the Heiress to-> unilaterally declare refo->rm areas fo->r the Church.
SL: Special zo->nes in which to-> trial changes to-> the faith.
SL: Because this is spacebo->und legislatio->n, we do-> still need sufficient pretext to-> adapt it to-> Alternia.
SL: I will be searching fo->r histo->rical precedent fo->r such a thing.
SL: But this is a very impo->rtant find, as it bypasses a lo->t o->f the o->bstacles we had envisio->ned.

You lay out the basics and wait for Cerato to respond. Lilith is probably busy, and all you need from her is to press the button, so it's not particularly relevant whether she understands what you're proposing or not. You're only left waiting for approximately 15 minutes before you get a notification.

> silveredAmbrosia [SA] is now online!

SA: Oh? What have we here?

A short minute later she messages again, presumably having read your messages and skimmed the act.

SA: Well, darling.
SA: If we need a pretext, *why not just create one*?

Previous ChapterNext Chapter