The Chair
a day ago
- Ambassador Soren Kastner enters a negotiation on Valos Station where the Eridani Meritocracy’s chair is left empty after Chairman Kivo’s death.
- Soren receives a private message about Kivo’s death and instructs not to disclose it, treating the empty chair as representing the Meritocracy’s continuity.
- Other delegates grow suspicious, but Soren maintains that negotiating with the position, not the person, is diplomatic protocol.
- After 72 hours of negotiations, including addressing the empty chair, an Eridani delegation arrives with a new chairman and treaties are signed.
- The deception holds until markets stabilize, and Soren later explains that positions, interests, and constraints exist independently of individuals.