(The following is an op-ed written by Norman Elliot Mann and is not the official stance of the Observer – Editorial)
When I was a child, I watched an air taxi get struck by lightning over Dunmeadow. One second, the balloon was a testament to the indomitable human spirit, boldly fighting against the wind and the rain. Then came the flash and the thunder. The entire machine exploded. Incandescent fire and slag fell from the sky, steam rising as the heat alone vaporized the rain. Those above and below screamed, their voices joining the cacophony of the storm.
It is still, to this day, the most horrific thing I have ever seen. The entire time, I could not look away. As terrible as the explosion was, it had a mesmerizing power. I was spellbound in the face of true, unmitigated disaster.
The new direction of the Luciole comes as close as anything ever has to replicating that intoxicating mix of hypnotic dread.
For those unaware, the Luciole recently called for a vote of no confidence in their Board of Directors. They cited unethical business practices, inhumane working conditions, and a lack of oversight and accountability. The other factions agreed to dissolve the board, leaving Luciole LTD in the hands of three people — Maren Tinker, CEO, Ariel de Rais, COO, and Viv Bower, CTO.
Setting aside this new triumvirate for a moment, the dissolution of the board came as a shock to the city at large. Over the past few decades, Luciole LTD had flourished under the direction of Emiliana Harrison, Jameson Jeter, and the other members of the former board. They reported record profits year after year, and brought us incredible, life-changing technologies that have become the background of our everyday lives. You might be using your PTD to read this article — if not for the former board, you likely wouldn’t have a PTD!
I am not so blind as to suggest that the former board was above reproach. There were rumblings prior to the vote that they prioritized profits over people— though this is a charge leveled at all titans of industry. A few disgruntled inventors also implied the board covered up some suspicious experiments — though they were quick to cut ties with Climus Lily when the Bahira accused him of stealing medical secrets! Some factions also expressed frustration at their handling of the irregulars’ attempts to unionize — though they cannot be held to blame for the bombings, which were carried out by the Men of Iron!
But on the whole, the Board of Directors was a good thing, a guiding hand at the wheel of Auxientia’s most important industrial player.
Now, close to a century of combined business experience has been replaced with the former CEO’s daughter, a former executive assistant, and a loose cannon inventor who rejoined the Luciole less than a year ago.
While I have reservations about all three, Maren Tinker deserves the most ink. As CEO, she will be responsible for setting the company culture moving forward. It is a job her mother performed admirably for many years — and without complaint. Janeway collaborated with the Board of Directors — if they were really as terrible as the vote implies, why didn’t Janeway attempt to dissolve them?
The popular image of Maren as a wonderchild got her on newsstands and into the common consciousness, but she’s not a child any more. And CEO shouldn’t be a position chosen on the basis of popularity! Had Janeway appointed Maren as her successor, we would have all cried “nepotism!” and hated the move — what makes this different?
By all accounts, Maren is a lovely person who desires nothing more than to spread friendship and harmony. But she isn’t in charge of the Auxientian Best Friends Society, she’s CEO of the largest corporation in the city. Corporations have to make money, not friends.
While I don’t want to doomsay, I can’t see any way this goes other than “quite badly.”
-Norman Elliot Mann
