[Secretary Theo Lu noted as follows:
‘Seven: forty-five a.m. official PF time. Present from the Unio side: Unio Domini with fourteen votes. The board members are Andrew Smith with three votes, Aretha May with three votes, Theodor Moore with three votes, Ridley Wang with one vote, Margaret Shang with one vote, and Martha Lane with one vote. The Unio families’ representation totals four votes. Total thirty votes, all voting members present.’]
[Secretary Theo Lu noted as follows:
‘Eight: zero-zero a.m. official PF time. Additional participants arrived: Shadows Lord, no vote; the OFF-organization Leader, no vote.’]
…
What was noticeable was the icy atmosphere.
The debate that had been hearable when he and Si were walking along the corridor suddenly stopped.
They opened the door.
“So, Unio as usual…” Si whispered before they entered the assembly room.
Lukai agreed—they started without them. They met earlier than the confirmed eight a.m. PF time. Not polite, but well.
What Lukai overheard from the corridor was someone shouting fiercely that the OFF shouldn’t be trusted because of Yura. Then, this person added, louder, that Shadows also shouldn’t be trusted as they were not humans.
Lukai then glanced at Si, who, hearing it, grimaced and smirked at the same time.
Even before the official meeting started, it was clear that the OFF, and Yura especially, were scapegoats for the Unio board and families.
It was not difficult to guess why.
The Unio families were dissatisfied with the excesses of the armies’ inequality. In addition to that, Shadows were in full control of their new weapons. No wonder they were trying to shout, accuse—anything to push the spotlight away from themselves.
It would have been different if Unio had taken care of their development. Last year—Lukai knew about it—the board together with the families voted. They cooperated to overpower Domini. They decided to fund the excessive families’ businesses, including increasing their companies’ presidents’ salaries.
They did this instead of investing in science or security. Or the army, which now was what concerned them.
Lukai exchanged looks with Si. They had already taken their seats.
Unio placed them to sit far away from each other to prevent them from communicating. It could also be considered impolite. There were only two of them from other organizations; additionally, it was known they were in alliance.
The two of them and thirty people from Unio. As if they wanted to overwhelm them with numbers.
Domini waved his hand to calm his people. He had to repeat it three times, Lukai counted.
“Thank you for sharing your points of view. I would like to add that I appreciate freedom of speech at our meetings,” Domini said.
It looked like these words were said to highlight that the discussion prior was considered unofficial.
“The purpose of today’s meeting is to discuss my proposal, which I sent yesterday evening to all the participants. My proposal remains unchanged. I am resigning from the position of Domini, and I demand a vote on the submitted candidacy.” Domini stopped.
The silence was heavy.
Lukai looked around. Unio participants were not surprised; they were aware of what the meeting was about. He glanced at Si.
… Si winked. Lukai was taken aback. Then he noticed; others caught it; their faces changed. Was Si trying to anger them so they would lose control?
Interesting.
“The candidate is present at this meeting with his partner from the Shadows’ side. The arguments for and against, on my part, I submitted yesterday,” Domini continued.
Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.
Lukai wondered what these arguments were, as his father hadn’t shared the correspondence he sent to the participants with him.
To be checked later.
“Today we need to discuss the situation. I am also waiting for the candidacies from your side.” Domini paused, looked around, and added. “My decision is irreversible. Secretary, please note the candidacy submitted by me.”
Domini made a sign to the others to open the discussion.
…
[Secretary Theo Lu noted as follows:
‘Voting announced. The candidate proposed by the current Domini is the OFF-organization Leader, Marc Lukai Kemo.’]
…
The discussion was heated.
Lukai observed without interruptions, and Si did the same.
Even if they wanted to comment on something that was said, they had no right to speak without permission.
“Soon it will change,” Lukai thought.
Before they arrived, Si said that the meetings in Unio, especially how the families behaved, were peculiar. They acted in ways one wouldn’t have deemed possible.
Screaming, arguing.
Si added that the best approach was to let them shout it out to note what was on their minds and use it later.
He was right—Lukai observed Unio, the board, and the families, and agreed. They were behaving disrespectfully; it was almost unserious.
It felt as if they were at an absurd circus or a comedy show.
Lukai also noted another detail.
Whoever screamed louder was the winner. He now wondered if, in the past, when his father was setting up the foundations for Unio, it had been like this.
No.
If it had been like this, Unio wouldn’t have achieved what it did. As they discussed, the course had changed only recently. Domini was tired, and power was leaking.
It had to be grabbed again, with a strong hand, to head in a direction that made sense.
… They didn’t reach an agreement.
The board members had agreed with Domini. Regarding the army’s situation and the alliance between the OFF and Shadows, they were aware of the benefits of having him, Lukai, as part of Unio. He also knew that for the last months the board had been against the families and strongly disagreed with their actions, corruption in private companies.
They discovered problems everywhere—except on Planet One.
Interesting.
The board wanted a strong leader, and Lukai had heard from reliable sources that the best leader would be one who was not tied to any family.
The current Shadows Lord didn’t aspire; they looked to Si with hope for some time, but he declined—Si focused on his territory.
This left the OFF Leader, and Lukai had recently proved to them that he was good at commanding and managing.
The board was visibly on Domini’s side.
However, the families were against it.
…
[Secretary Theo Lu noted as follows:
‘Voting for the new Domini established. No changes to the candidate proposed by current Domini. No counter candidates proposed.’]
…
The families were against it but had no counterproposal.
It confirmed what Lukai had already thought. The families hoped to prolong this situation. They weren’t prepared for Domini’s firm decision.
Unio families were rotten. They wanted to abuse tired Domini, wanted to weaken him even more, to gain their profits.
It was time for the change; it was time to cut off these rotten roots.
…
[Secretary Theo Lu noted as follows:
‘Voting for the new Domini decided. The voting started at nine thirty-four a.m. official PF time and ended at nine forty-five a.m. official PF time. Voting results: twenty-six votes for the candidate suggested by the current Domini, the OFF Leader, four votes against. Unanimity was not achieved; voting failed.’]
…
The secretary announced the results.
The board and families started to argue again.
Nine fifty-four a.m. PF time.
Lukai exchanged looks with Si. They had planned to simply wait for it. They needed to wait six minutes for it to happen.
Messengers beeped, buzzed, and rang.
The board members and families’ representatives checked the news.
He and Si talked to Domini; during those last days, they had quite a few meetings together to discuss ideas on how to approach the situation.
This was the one they had decided to act on.
During the night, they planted news in media sources, with an instruction on when to share it widely.
‘The Gates net is acquired. The new owner is an alliance of the OFF-Shadows.’
They chose this exact wording—Unio editors couldn’t quite understand it. But they obeyed and published it.
Everything stopped.
There was icy silence.
The families’ members were looking at one another. The board members were looking at Domini.
Domini was looking at Lukai, slightly smiling.
Their bold move was clearly considered even bolder than they expected. As if something like that, Gates being a part of the power play, as if it never occurred to any of them.
They were not ready for this. They looked lost.
Someone tried to say something, but didn’t really get a word out—some grunting. Another someone pushed his chair back with a squeak, wanted to get up, maybe leave? But he was scared by the sound—that squeak. He sat back, still.
These were all the reactions. Nothing more—they were lost.
Domini slightly what? He winked at him and Si.
Perfect.
Lukai exchanged looks with Si; Si nodded. Lukai then asked—without seeking permission.
“Shall we repeat the voting?”
…
[Secretary Theo Lu noted as follows:
‘Voting for the new Domini repeated. The voting started at ten zero-five a.m. official PF time and ended at ten zero-nine a.m. official PF time. Voting results: thirty votes for the candidate proposed by the current Domini, the OFF Leader, no votes against. Unanimity was achieved. Voting succeeded. Unio has officially chosen the new Domini in the person of Marc Lukai Kemo.’]
