1 May 2025
President’s Residence, Spiritus
Ros has a busy day ahead of him. Though you could say that about almost any day for the past year and a half. Kai is in some distant time zone, and Ros doesn’t want to wake him, Sama is spending some time off the grid, and there isn’t anyone else Ros can just talk to.
He still craves company, however. So he unlocks the drawer of his bedside table, pulls out his black cloth-covered notebook, and decides to spend time accompanied by his written thoughts.
27 October 2023
President’s Residence, Spiritus
After the inauguration, a banquet was held at the President’s Residence. It was a Kjofàfellskam party more than it was mine, so I was met with mostly unfamiliar faces. Kai and I had had a hand in deciding the guest list, so I recognised someone every so often: I caught up with Sama, a few Representatives, and several of our campaign’s sponsors, whom I made sure to thank profusely. I saw Kai’s family and had a chat with each of his sisters; they were all kind and affable, but I couldn’t help but find the whole event…impersonal.
My mind was called back from wandering, however, when I stumbled into the dining room and saw the long table replaced by lavish carpets and large sheets of omnaavikra*. I nearly fell over as I ran to sit cross-legged and wait for people to encircle an omnaavikra, before I realised that neither of my parents was there. They definitely received an invite.
Heaps of effort had been put into the meal, but all the flavours on the bread tasted dull. I don’t know what expression was on my face, but Kai noticed and snuck us off to a nearby Stoinian place. Even though we were back in the mansion soon after, those few hours in the crisp, Spiritan springtime breeze, when we could actually fathom the inauguration, were the best part of the night.
*Imagine Dutch pannenkoeken but served like Ethiopian injera.
4 November 2023
President’s Residence, Spiritus
This morning, I shrunk the workforce managing the President’s Residence. I cook for myself most nights and take care of my living spaces as I always have, and the staff terrifically fill in the gaps I leave. I’m just not used to having so many people do things…for me. I talked it through with the Chief of Staff but decided to deliver the news myself: most of them will be redeployed at food banks, shelters and charities across Spiritus while enjoying their current salary. Some of them looked excited, others more distraught. And even though I kept just a cook—a lovely lady named Hemva—and some grounds staff to tend the compound and its rabbits, I didn’t chase away any of the other people who inconspicuously returned during the day. Nor do I plan on evicting them if I see them tomorrow.
This was my first real action as President, but my second awaited me in the afternoon. Kai and I discussed the meeting with the Provincial Heads of Government over breakfast and lunch—meals we share to keep each other sane—but I still couldn’t keep myself from shaking when we walked into the oldest café in Spiritus.
Governor Matthew Russo of District 4 arrived behind us, before being joined by his Lenian, Spiritan and Actoran counterparts. I was expecting Sama to enter next, despite her unsuccessful election, but Declevis’ Raamisdau is equally friendly. Her equivalent from Greenville sat with us soon after, and all eight of us held a kind conversation. Once it was clear that Vesper’s Raamistau Kìruna would not show up, I began steering the conversation to more official matters, making a mental note to reach out to the Raamistau again later.
We discussed the issues plaguing each province, potential solutions, and how everyone at the table could help. I was happy to speak little, since each Head of Government was eager to every other Head of Government. We agreed to hold this meeting regularly.
28 November 2023
Underground Spiritus, Spiritus
Today was the day of the first National Security Council Conclave. Kai and I had breakfast at the Vice President’s Residence because his entrance to the system of tunnels sneaking their way below Spiritus is more…manageable than mine.
We arrived an hour early but were still the last to take our seats at the round table. Ava Oakwell, now Minister of Home Affairs, welcomed us warmly and was followed by the Defence, Environment, Foreign and Finance Ministers. They’ve all spent more time in the National Security Council than we have, so we accepted their welcome. However, one person was not as cordial. Behind her voluminous clipboard and half-moon spectacles, Prime Minister Elna Sotahuri neatly tucked a strand of hair into her tight bun before silently shaking my outstretched hand.
As we moved through the agenda, I noticed a consistent coldness from her towards my contributions. I don’t expect anyone to agree with me 100%, but I also don’t expect a member of the NSC to disagree in such a petty manner. She had conspicuous coughing fits that were triggered whenever I spoke, to the point where I thought to offer her a lozenge, but cured whenever someone else took the floor. I thought I was imagining things until Kai tossed her a few cough drops across the table.
Yes, she was not part of my original Council of Ministers appointments, but Kai suggested that I shouldn’t take it personally: he, too, was a victim of her coughing fit assaults.
I recalled our meeting with the Presidential Candidates last week to see how I could implement some of their visions. Leon Nallerom, the Social Democrats’ candidate, initially accepted the invitation before cancelling with a strongly-worded email that ultimately boiled down to, “We decided to gate-keep. All the best!” Viiskama Huinademokratiadaàr lost the House of Representatives and a seat in the Council of Ministers to Liiberale and the Presidency to a party born yesterday. Most HD members don’t care, but it keeps the die-hard ones up at night. Our Prime Minister must fall into the latter camp.
7 January 2024
Central Spiritus Train Station, Spiritus
I saw Kai off this morning as he embarked on his first diplomatic trip as Vice President. He’s much better with people than I am, so everyone agreed he would be more suited to this kind of thing. As I hugged him goodbye, he whispered, “Try not to cry in public. You’re in charge of a country now.” I rolled my eyes, shoved him onto the train out of mock-anger at being teased, saluted his guard and waved them off once the train started moving.
We’ve more or less been joined at the hip since we met as Representatives, but now that he’s going to be abroad more often and for longer periods at a time, I need to make new friends.
Or not. I handled the festive season just fine when he was spending time with his family in Actora. We did talk every day, however. But! I have friends outside Kai, like Sama and…um…
6 June 2024
Riine Riine Memorial, Skierova, Vesper
Usually, Riine Riine* is a day of solemn reflection over the horrors of the Second Declevern Civil War and celebration for its end. However, I spent the day frantically seeking an audience with Raamistau Kìruna. I knew she would be there, and she knew I would be there, so there was no way we could miss each other. Or so I thought.
She gave a speech since Vesper had the honour of hosting Riine Riine this year. Afterwards, however, she might as well have disappeared off the face of Pacifica because apparently no one was able to reach her. I searched the whole of Skierova but couldn’t find her.
By the end of the day, my head was in my hands. When I made my inaugural speech about how Phanama needs to come together like parts of a body or a patchwork quilt, I actually had Vesper and Declevis in mind. Growing up in a community of Civil War refugees, there was a rhetoric that Spiritus didn’t care about us. That the Commonwealth didn’t want us after the Civil War. The squalid conditions and racism experienced by Vespern and Declev people in other provinces were a common justification.
Of course, there have been reconciliation efforts between Vesper and Declevis and the rest of the country. But I don’t know why I can’t shake off the feeling that they were too little, too late.
*Riine is the Phanaman word for six. The date on which the Second Declevern Civil War ended was the 6th of June, or 06/06—Riine Riine—in shorthand.