Right. So um. Ruling a planet.
For real this time, instead of just being the temporary provisional stand-in for the rightful administration. Because I was that now.
All those problems I had written off for my successor to deal with was now firmly on my plate, on my lap, and egg on my face to deal with. Bloody hell.
Alright, well, time to perhaps try to compartmentalize and figure out how to actually run a real state instead of just winging it. I now needed to actually plot a course for us to work on, figure out how to classify and organize issues as they came. As juvenile as it might sound, I'd like to think I have a solid idea on how to do so.
I'd use my prior addiction to 4x games to do it.
Okay, okay, hear me out. I'm not directly applying video game logic to this reality I'm in. I'm instead just applying how those sort of 'civilization builder' settings would present themselves, something that would let me at least categorize and contextualize problems as they came in broad quadrants of understanding.
Obviously it wasn't going to be perfect fit. It was an open source pen and paper RPG setting, the GMs are probably taking inspiration from a variety of things to make my life all the more difficult. But I'm also willing to bet that a good portion of those GMs might be fellow gamers, and that they'd might also have taken inspiration from them in trying to construct an understanding of the setting. If they cared.
Which meant then that I could perhaps catch onto their possible whims and ward off incoming headaches! Assuming that I was so lucky to have a GM whose game preferences echoed my own.
If I had a GM who was a fan of visual novels, then please don't write me into a bad end route.
Right, let's get started with a chat to congress first and foremost. Because all this new bureaucracy I was going to create were departments and positions that the legislature had to authorize the creation of. Only once they had been empowered with a budget could I delegate the newly appointed Directors mandates to carry out, jobs I wish for them to tackle head-on.
Let's see. First of all, let's just formalize CBS and Melhof. It was a simple enough procedure and confirmation given that he had already proven himself, and he was quite happy to learn that the grants I'd been providing could survive the transition, albeit to a slightly lesser degree. That had been an issue raised by the reformists with some centrist backing, citing that the company was up and running now. There was no need to subsidize them so strongly anymore.
You know what? Fair point, and Melhof accepted it in good nature. All that's left was to name the new department he would head...yes, let's do the Department of Culture. Working off my framework for a strategy 4x understanding, this would fall under that very precious 'influence' resource that represented a state's cultural hold. Managing the media absolutely fell into this category, in my opinion, and it'd hopefully allow our little government to start developing useful traditions-
Whoops, right. Not a game. Well, it's at least good to have the people of Cavia start down the road on hopefully something that they could call their own customs that I could work from.
Right, moving past that, there were other very important departments I wanted to push forward. Though the elected representatives were surprisingly a little resistant, arguing that we ought to take things slowly and build up to having all this bureaucracy. Slowly acclimatize a people wary of an oppressive, large state to one that was still big, but now here for them.
Grrr. Okay, fine. I'll push for at least three other seats on the Committee for the time being, then we'll revisit and expand as need be. So a total of four advisors in my immediate circle, if we included Melhof.
First among these new branches, and quite importantly, Department of Agriculture. Fully self-explanatory, we need a part of the administration dedicated entirely to making sure that we're both producing enough food and meeting the necessary standards for it to feed people with. It's actually even more vital to stress, as right now majority of these hydroponics facilities were government-owned. It was in fact a pretty significant source of revenue for the state currently with how we grew and sold food to the distributors.
However, while Lieutenant Nasir had been doing a very admirable job of managing it on top of their other duties, I would like for them to pass the role fully to another so that the logistics corps could focus on engineering tasks. It's what they're far better at, and I do have plans, so it's vital for them to cede the responsibility to another. And I think I had the perfect individual to nominate, somebody for whom a lot of congress actually perked up at the mention.
Swords to Plows did produce more than a few embarrassed clone celebrities with the success of the show, either from the 'drama' that surrounded the competing teams or from their own success. Of the latter, one individual in particular had caught both the public's and my eye, a soldier with the designation of Nate-413. Though he'd earned quite the casual nickname and moniker 'Apples' for having taken on a daring challenge to grow an entire fruit tree using hydroponics.
Not only did he succeed, but he'd gone out of his way to help the 'rival' teams to grow their own too. Something that did cost him the competition technically, as what they grew actually was better than his own. But given that his platoon later were all toasting to him later for having brought fresh fruits in general to their meal rotations, he was still honored appropriately.
Now, he was looking be my pick to be the first Director of Agriculture. Something that Rowles did also recommend after some thought, agreeing that he could be spared from the army if he chose to accept the position. Which...curiously was an issue.
He'd apparently turned down the offer when the major passed it on to him. How unexpected, and also slightly troublesome. Especially because I accidentally opened the floodgates on suggesting individuals from Swords to Plows, and congress was now recommending other individuals who might be more photogenic than good with plants.
Hmph. Guess Veronica will have to look to where and when this soldier would be available for a 'friendly chat.'
Literally. I just wanted to know what was going on, I'm not a mobster! Don't sic the Lancers on me!
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Surprisingly, or perhaps not so, my adjutant discovered that his schedule did have some blank spots in it and, with a little bit of camera work, she found out he liked to head to the hydroponics facilities in those periods. So that was where I found him, entering and spying him working at one of the hydroponic trays. "Nate-413? Or would you prefer your moniker?"
"Anybody's who doesn't have a stick in them just calls me Apples," he grumbled aloud, still entirely focused on the apparent nutrient solution he was tweaking. Only when he was satisfied did the soldier rise to face me, a put-upon expression immediately dropping at the sight of my rank. "Erm! Commander, you may call me however you wish! Including my rank!"
"No worries, Apples. I just wanted to know whatever you wish to be called to make chatting all the more casual." I motioned with a hand for him to be at ease. "Please, really. I'm not here to perform an inspection or audit. The only people with me are my guards, who I just can't ditch for the life of me. Oh, and my aide is present too if that matters."
"Please note that I am not recording this conversation," Veronica stressed from my pin lapel. "That was the commander's direct order. So you may speak your mind frankly."
The clone blinked, then slowly nodded. "Is...is that so then? Alright, if you say so. I'm guessing you're paying a visit over me passing up that offer?"
"A very accurate deduction. Yes."
"Well, I just...didn't think I was right for the role. And that it was entirely volunteer," he told, turning back to the hydroponics station a bit too quickly. "Unless you're going to make that an order?"
"Stars, no. I wish for it to be very much of your own choice, and not in the Half Committee sense," I stressed, eyes briefly narrowing when I noticed his curious haste to move on. Something to bring up later. "This is wholly an offer I wish to make clear is something you can choose to accept or refuse, and there will be no consequences whatsoever if you choose to pass it by. Your days will remain very unaffected."
"That's good to hear. I like the sound of that, if you don't mind. Um, sir."
I hummed, then decided to step closer to the workstation to get a better look at it. Apples noticed me approaching and shifted uncomfortably, but otherwise said nothing as I studied the plants all but bathing in the nutrient solution. They rested in trays that held them in place despite the water flow, leaves reaching up and out while their roots were fully exposed, visible in the see-through glass that allowed the workers to keep an eye on their health. Or so the excuse went.
It honestly was probably more because it looked pretty neat to have a cross-section visual of the growing crops.
"So which one are these?" I wondered aloud. "More fruit trees?"
"Not this time, sir. These are actually rice stalks."
"Oh? Certainly departure from the ordinary leafy vegetables that I'm given to believe grow best in these sort of procedure."
"Well, sir, it's just all a matter of perspective and investment. Rice does certainly take far longer to see a return, a couple of months instead of just a few weeks like vegetables. Which is time aplenty for things to go very awry." He reached out to gently stroke one of the budding plants. "Rice though is very robust, especially tailored to grow in a lack of soil. So it's not such a gamble such as growing something like, say, wheat."
"Oh? Is it that unsuited for hydroponics?"
"The seeds varieties we currently have are, at least. They're very challenging and unsuitable for this type of cultivation."
Now I was actually getting drawn in and interested, because I do recall some complaints from the logistics corps about very poor quality bread. It's almost as bad as the hardtack we'd been on during our time of hard rationing. I had a bite of the local bread myself and the most generous thing I could say was that it at least didn't chip my teeth. Hm. "But how did the administration feed the people with it before? I remember that the leader of the reformist party herself became known for distributing plenty of bread."
"I can answer, that, sir," Veronica cut-in, delivering a very dry report. "When the hydroponics facilities began to suffer from lack of repair and maintenance, House Hessin acquired wheat supplies from convoys originating from garden worlds. Then they would process it on-world with the existing infrastructure."
'Acquire' likely translating to 'raid,' from my knowledge of how they had survived. "Is that too where the seeds we have come from?"
"Yes, and they're definitely more suited for temperate climates where you could grow vast fields of them- and each field, capable of producing more than enough to feed an entire world," Apples colorfully described to me, reminding me that these far-future crops were likely bio-engineered to not only grow much faster, but produce even more per plant to make it work somehow. Yet there was nuance to every specialization of the plant too. "Here, even with good temperature control systems, they don't take well to the substrates replacements our hydroponic systems work with. So we're getting both poorer quality and quantity results."
"Hm. I suppose that considering the local climate as well, trying to grow in the natural way would be any better."
"Non-ideal temperatures and very poor soil quality, so I wouldn't encourage it." He tapped his fingers against the side of his thigh. "Honestly, sir, I would recommend just swapping to a new variant entirely. One better tailored to the conditions of hydroponics growth, or at least less temperamental to maximize produce, because that is really messing us up. Sir."
"It's something that a Director of Agriculture would realize and handle," I gently encouraged, returning to the matter at hand. "Somebody I would empower to negotiate purchasing those necessary seed cultures from passing traders on the government budget."
"Sir, with all due respect, it is something that you yourself could handle."
"Perhaps, yes. But would I be able to properly grasp the value of such purchase, like you clearly understand?" Apples hesitated while I launched another assault on his reluctance, trying to give the man just a little self-confidence. Something that clones definitely lacked when it came to anything outside fighting. "I'm really impressed that you've clearly committed a lot of time in studying, researching, and learning all this. It definitely goes beyond what the Half Committee would've ordinarily permitted, and shows quite a bit of passion in the topic."
"Because I really do like it," he quietly admitted, hand brushing over a leaf. "It's...nice. Knowing that instead of taking a life, I'm helping grow it. Both for the plants, and for the people who use it to feed themselves to keep growing. But…" Apples trailed off in an uncertain tone, before sighing.
"But sir, it feels wrong."
"How so?"
"When Major Rowles was calling up a list of people to accompany her in that last battle, my squad volunteered. But I was told I had to be exempted and barred from joining the line. I'd been marked as being 'too important' to be a battlefield casualty as a result of working with the hydroponics," the clone recounted, exhaling noisily. "So while my brothers went up there, some of them not coming back, I had to stay behind. It was a direct order that I couldn't refuse."
Ah. That made sense, given by then, he'd already been a low-level celebrity from that CBS farming show. Losing Apples would've not only been a blow to the hydroponics facilities that depended on his skills, but also a blow to local morale. So regulation had to forbade him from deployment.
"But I should have been there, fighting alongside them," he expressed with a brief clenched fist. "Dying alongside them if need be. It's what I was born to do, to serve alongside my brothers until the very end if need be!"
I waited for a moment, watching to see if he had anything more to say. When it was clear that he'd said his piece, I then took the opportunity to offer some words of reflection. "You're not just born into this galaxy to fight and die. That's what the Half Committee tells you."
"Is that any different from what the Cavia Committee is telling me to do with abandoning my brothers? Sit back and let them fight while I just farm at home?"
"Not in the slightest, because you're not abandoning them," I stressed, gesturing to the crops. "You're still serving and helping them. You're giving them a chance to eat better and healthier, so that they could perhaps fight even better in your possible absence. Isn't that worth stepping back for, if you can ensure that they at least go into battle with a full belly?"
Apples paused and turn to look at me, brow furrowing in thought while he processed my logic. But it was one that he had to be familiar with, given that I knew a nutritional intake brief had been a part of clone upbringing so that they wouldn't question why they got very basic meals. Though we now definitely fed them better at present, and it was my hope we could do even more if I could convince the man now.
"Don't think of it as a betrayal of your family. Think of it as them having fought so hard to give you this opportunity to improve all their lives- a chance to not sit back unfairly, but pull your own weight too in a way that they couldn't." Seeing him waver, I decided to close my argument with a simple question. "Have you actually asked any of your brothers what they think of the position offered to you? Weighed in on their opinions and thoughts before making a decision?"
"N-no, I...I just turned it down, then moved on with my day." He groaned and rubbed at his head. "Fuck me, sir. You made me realized they'd probably call me a colossal idiot for turning down the opportunity. They'd rather just hound and tell me to grow their favorites instead of saying I should be in the trenches with them."
"Your brothers are a good family."
"They are, and I feel like I'm either letting them down if I don't fight or serve."
"Then you can pick whichever one you like, and I won't hold it against you."
"I...I don't think that's necessary anymore, sir. I think I'll accept the position, if you'll still have me."
Excellent, I've managed convinced Apples. I also learned on the side that clones still find fighting as their only purpose in life, as something that might complicate things if it comes to needing to issue a general demobilization command. Hm, I think the reformists were making some buzzing about limiting the size of our military in exchange for ensured high quality; I'll have to keep an eye on that while establishing the other basic departments.