Ileexie Vyssikah

Ileexie Vyssikah (IPA: /i.lɛːk.ɕe vɨɕ.ɕi.kax/) is the current governor of the Calibor sector of Mechyrdia. Born to a plutocratic dynasty in the Vescar sector, Vyssikah was appointed to the governorship in an unusual incident following the resignation of the previous governor Iavee Veruul. Her maintenance of the status quo has made her popular with not only both the rich and poor, but also Masra Draetsen agents working in Calibor.

Life

Ileexie Vyssikah was born in 224 UC (2864 AD) to her parents Aleerai and Arne Vyssikah on the planet Terra Sullia in the Vescar sector. The Vyssikah family was a political dynasty of the Vescar sector, ruling it from behind the scenes by means of monetary media manipulation. Ileexie, as a part of this rich family, was allowed to go to a ruling-class school where she learned the finer points of leading her people by making examples out of the right individuals.

239 UC (2879 AD) Vared Fykon incident

When Ileexie was 14 years old, she overheard her classmate Vared Fykon talking with his friends about his desire to implement populist reforms. Ileexie was deeply disgusted by such an ideology being allowed into the classroom, and so she falsely reported Vared for threatening a terrorist attack. The school believed her and expelled Fykon; even when the whole story was discovered, the school wouldn't admit to being wrong, and so the administration covered up the truth.

The school was effective enough at covering up the truth that it took years for Olympian investigative journalist Gnaeus Antonius to discover what had really happened.

Praxagora Institute of the Social Sciences

Upon graduating from her initial schooling at the age of 17, Vyssikah applied and was admitted to the Praxagora Institute of the Social Sciences, where she majored in Political Engineering with a concentration in financial democracy. She spent only 5 years, where 6 years is expected of most students, because she focused only on her studies, to the point of taking illegal amphetamines to stay awake and focus on her work. She used some of her trust fund money to bribe campus officials to ignore her drug possession.

Rise to Power

After graduating, Vyssikah moved to Sacrilegum, the capital of the Calibor sector.

Coffee Fetcher

Due to her focus on studies and lack of involvement in student government or activism, Vyssikah had to take a low-level internship with the Sapient Rights Party of Calibor: the dominant party of the Assimulia Caliborskai (Calibor Assembly, the sector's unicameral legislature), where she operated the coffee machine and carried styrofoam cups of coffee to the more senior party officials. Vyssikah started her career in government with a lot less power than she would have preferred. Her last name, though it belonged to a political dynasty, didn't help her either, since even though the Vyssikah family was famous in the Vescar government, it was not as well-known in Calibor.

Coffee Saboteur

During her time as the coffee fetcher, she made friends who would later be her political allies, which would be very helpful because her friends were trusted more with power than Vyssikah herself. She also gave decaf instead of regular coffee to those she saw as obstacles, in order to sabotage them. It didn't work in most cases, but it worked the one time it mattered: the sector's censorial official, Guil Ikkart, was dependent on his caffeine intake to function during the day. Vyssikah's replacement of his coffee with decaf made him feel like his mind was clouded enough that he chose to resign.

Unusual Circumstances

Vyssikah's ally Klarana Solyr was appointed to the censorial office, where Solyr ruthlessly purged the Calibor sector government of anyone who might potentially oppose her or Vyssikah. They both sought high offices, but also realized that an election campaign would be too costly with too low a chance of winning.

When Deputy Governor Rixi Laveek resigned, Vyssikah was appointed by the Assimulia to replace her. Then, when Governor Iavee Veruul resigned, Vyssikah took the governorship without being elected at any point, and, out of gratitude for the assistance, appointed her friend Solyr as deputy governor.

Policies as Governor

It is unknown to most outside political analysts why Vyssikah even sought the gubernatorial office in the first place. Many theorize that she merely sought power for herself, due to her status-quo policies and lack of public face before she was appointed governor.

Since listing the policies created or innovated by Vyssikah would result in nothing but an empty list, the following enumeration is of policies that were already implemented, and are continued by Vyssikah.

• Universal basic income: The Calibor sector has a universal basic income of 4,096 thrones per month.
• Price ceilings: In order to prevent inflation due to the UBI, the Calibor sector has price ceilings on goods such as food, clothing, and rent.
• Property tax: Calibor has a large, lump-sum tax on property ownership, forcing the lower classes to rent their homes from the ruling class instead of owning them.
• Encouraging trade and tourism with the Masra Draetsen: Calibor pays subsidies for those who wish to visit or purchase goods from the Diadochus Masra Draetsen, since the Diadochi are seen by Calibor progressives as innocent minorities who are merely trying to defend themselves from Mechyrdian oppression.
• Regulation of small businesses: Calibor's regulations disproportionately affect small businesses, enabling large corporations to absorb them whenever they appear.
• One Big Union: The sector government doesn't allow workers to form their own unions; instead, everyone who applies for a job in Calibor is legally required to join the Koinom panton Laboreeron Caliborskoi (Calibor Union of All Workers).
• Varying punishments for crimes: Calibor is lenient on some crime, and tough on other crime, applying affirmative-action principles to criminal justice. Supporters of the policy call it the natural next step after taking into account other circumstances surrounding crimes, which most Mechyrdian sectors already do.
• Private weapon confiscation: The sector police of Calibor confiscate any and all weapons from private citizens, going as far as teleport-raids into people's homes to arrest them for owning kitchen knives.
• Social media manipulation: Calibor manipulates social media from the top down: the sector government informs tech corporations of what should be censored, and the corporations obey these commands. Since Calibor is the social-media capital of Mechyrdia, this results in Calibor's manipulation affecting social media for the rest of the Empire.
• Disobeying the Basileiów Government: Calibor has openly declared itself to be a part of the Left Maquis (named after the Maquis of World War II), as have the other sectors of Texandria, Marcium, Ciapadtyla, and neighboring Vescar. The sectors' efforts consist of ignoring the Chancellor's orders and encouraging the violation of imperial laws signed by Basileiów.
• Sabotage of anti-Diadochi fortifications: Chancellor Basileiów's efforts to fortify the border against the Masra Draetsen are rebuffed by the Calibor sector, which sends its Sector Guard and various radical militias to dismantle the starforts, minefields, and bulkspace snares wherever they appear.

Under Vyssikah, Calibor's erosion of freedom (per the Galaxy and Empire Sapient Liberty Index) has accelerated, dropping as low as Rank D+ for the first time in the sector's history.

Personality

In her childhood, Vyssikah was known for her joyfulness and good sense of humor, her ability to listen, and her enthusiastic willingness to inform school officials if any of her peers should break the rules. Her instructors at primary school often remarked upon this; when she was 15 years old, her calculus teacher wrote in her permanent record, "Funny and helpful now. Gods help us if she's ever elected Chancellor." She became so trusted by the faculty to report those who violated school regulations, that she could say anything about any student, and that student would face disciplinary action if Vyssikah's words so much as seemed believable at face value.

Vyssikah never spread gossip among her peers as a child, but she listened to it well, absorbing social information like a sponge in water.

At university, Vyssikah was attentive and hard-working, but also reclusive; her peers were concerned with her absence in protests and student government. Her demeanor in lectures was nearly emotionless, and the notes she took were incomprehensible to anyone else: Vyssikah said it was just bad handwriting, but some among her peers suspected that she was writing in an unknown, perhaps ancient, alien language. On occasion, she would be directed, by both peers and faculty, to the mental health office, but she had always declined, valuing her studies above herself.

In her career in politics, Vyssikah continued to be hard-working, but she also started making friends again. Her upbeat outward personality hides her ruthlessness. Unlike in her childhood, where she was known as a "tattler" because she would report her peers to school officials, in her adulthood, Vyssikah would plan with her friend Klarana Solyr to destroy the future prospects, careers, and even lives of anyone who could oppose Vyssikah and Solyr's rise to power. She would spread rumors about those who opposed or even merely annoyed her, both in-person and on social media; the latter she used an armada of Isarnareyksk social media bots for.

She keeps a stash of literature that the Calibor government forbids the ownership of; works by Oswald Spengler, Carl von Clausewitz, and various ancient Greek, Roman, Indian, and Chinese authors. She doesn't let anyone know about the stash, going as far as keeping it in physical form instead of digital form, but she does read it daily.

Her favorite food is cheesecake.

She currently stands at 144 centimeters, or 4 feet and 8.7 inches tall.

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