Quills: the Rise of the Northern Matriarch-Chapter 115: An Attempt at Clan Allari

The launch of Quill Interfaces to the public was successful. There were many formal protests against the government to compel Quill Interfaces to bring back punishment tools. However, this was struck down by a healthy opposition party of progressive Matriarch Primary from multiple provinces across the world. Although their protests, demands and threats came daily. The threats were not something new. The allies that came out in support of the lack of Matriarch punishment tools were unexpected. Everyone of Nora's spouses had allies from their maternal families championing and defending the new tools. Pointing out the benefits and lack of overall changes in their various companies' profits since Hudai Tech had stopped working.

The release of Social Networking, something that had been reinvented by Talan and Nora, took the world by storm and quieted the opposition. Social networking was not a new concept to Terra. It was used by their ancestors hundreds of years ago, coincidentally. It was a replica of all of Earth's social networks and launched as a Feather. It was a useful distraction and platform for entertainers, politicians and companies around the world to advertise. The advertising was a concept to explain to other clans and companies, but once it was understood, and they saw the examples, it was a revenue stream. Feather also gave the Daleth, Gimmel, and Bitas a voice. New Daleth entertainers were rising in ranks of popularity. Monil and Nora had long thought about how to entertain each demographic, but the platform had made them famous among the elite. Social change was happening now that punishment did not interfere with the freedom of choice. Social Credit was still used as a threat, but voices were starting to rise up against how unnecessary it was.

Leilanna Allari was one of the most surprising allies. She was a great example of the lack of need for punishment tools. Years prior to the collapse of HudaiTech, she had already started new company policies to not punish employees for mistakes, to pay and treat them well and ensure good morale prior to the malfunction. Proving that an enterprise could run smoothly and with great profitability, while treating its employees with respect.

"I think these designs are great, marketing to males is going to be your best option now. Children's clothing should also sell well. If you sell them at a level the base of the population can afford, you will make more money overall. Highlight that you have been a long time 'Ethically' operated business. All the target male demographics will choose you over a manufacturer that does not treat their employees poorly. What do you think?" Nora said to Leilanna after going through the sketches. The women's clothing was beautiful and the mens and boys looked quite modernized instead of the long tunics and flowing pants that males wore currently. Nora was surprised at her artistic talent. Not everyone needed to be an intellectual or life would get boring. Leilanna's was not boring.

"It is a pity Rex is too young to 'model' for me, Van would be a great model. I designed a lot of outfits for Sirona. Prim?" Leilanna looked over to the anxious spouse. He approached with bags. He knew how important today was. "Do you think she might wear these during her show?" Leilanna asked. She nervously sat beside Nora as her youngest son played behind her with her spouse, waiting for her to finish her meeting with Nora. Things were not going well for her now, but she had hope that Nora or Monil might be able to help popularize her business. Some chose not to purchase her family fashion line because of her passion for men's rights. Leilanna had chosen to stay out of the political world that her mother had been a part of for most of her life until Reven came along, and she became even more passionate about protecting her boys.

Leilanna was busy now. She had tried to maintain the work-life balance the malfunction had introduced to her life. Taking her brother's advice about adding more staffing to the senior levels of management allowed her to pursue her new passion in life. Equality and fashion. It affected their bottom line. She was not willing to budge or recount her opinions. She was right, but she was very progressive in her beliefs. She wanted her heir to be the most capable for the position, whether it be Daven, Reven or any future daughter. She understood why her mother did not choose her. Allari Industries were boring to her. Health equipment, arranging staff, research requests? Those all bored her, and she was not a good fit for them. She could already see the creativity in Reven and Daven as they often drew beside her when she worked. She was not done having children. Perhaps all her children would inherit the company should they wish, regardless of their gender equally. There would be no need to feel inadequate if she nurtured them into appropriate roles or taught them to diversify based on their skills. Her spouses were a great resource, they were all great at certain things. She found a supportive friend in Nora, that is why she would be amiable today to what Leilanna was building up her nerves to ask.

"That will be up to her. You know I cannot force her. I do wish I could own things like this. Send things along in my size and I will wear them during appearances." Nora said, she did her best to be supportive. After all, even though Earth had its own problems, gender equality is something it was really starting to normalize. Nora did not want to embolden Leilanna too much. The Suffragettes of Earth were subjected to violence and attacks. Leilanna was an ally. An ally was a very good thing when done correctly and carefully, but Leilanna did not apply much forethought to her first attempt at speaking her mind. Nerves were at their peak in the Quill household as they watched her speak her mind from a distance. Changes in societal attitudes and discrimination could be made in multiple ways. In the past, the necessity for changes due to drastic circumstances could be done forcefully. However, drastic measures often have drastic reactions. Especially among the already suspicious.

"You will? You will help me? After all I have done?" Leilanna said. Leilanna's venture into fashion was given the cold shoulder by Matriarch's around the world due to her political opinions. With that, her influence lessened. Nora could see the veins popping out of Leilanna's hands as she passionately talked about human rights issues, afraid that she was going to break the cups she had painstakingly created for tea.

"I forgave you when you made an effort to change yourself in earnest." Nora's hand reached on and covered Leilanna's slightly larger hand and she tenderly rubbed the surface with her finger. "This will pass Leilanna, with time they forget and move on to the next thing that stimulates them. The clothes are just beautiful. Believe me, once they forget, they will be putting in their orders. I do not mind. You just have to slow down. I know you want to change things. But you have to be careful," Nora said as she watched Leilanna make herself another cup of tea. Leilanna sighed as she finished, leaving the cup on the table and lying back on the seat in a lazy, defeated-like action.

"I am not wrong, am I? It just seems like we no longer need to act like this. Did you know that Bindings used to come most commonly between three or fewer people back before the epidemic?" Leilanna preached. "Who would have thought that a Hudai would have dreamed of such a brilliant interface free of cruelty?" Leilanna said, referencing Talan's work on the new Interface software. Nora raised her brows in disbelief, she could believe it knowing all the inside information about Lara Hudai and her spousal group. Nora hoped that Leilanna did not catch her surprise

"You would not believe Talan's talents. He is going strictly by Talan Quill Noro." Nora said. "Change comes with time. We have to give society a chance to catch up. Even modifying the Matriarch tools as we wanted still has presented some opposition." Nora explained. "Presentation is really the key to its adaptation, we explained that it was a more old-fashioned civilized way to rule in our presentation to the government. They were more comfortable when we presented them as a more traditional interface," Nora said, trying to subtly coach Leilanna and steer her in a less dangerous direction. "They are interested in keeping things traditional. But they forget that we can also use tradition as well and reach further back into the past. We point out how punishment tools were only used defensively and not as a way to rule. We display how our tools are more than sufficient to protect them and there was not much that they could argue about at that point." Nora said.

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"I see now, that is why you are releasing so many traditional songs through your entertainment company. It is like you are trying to gently remind us of all the old ways through the songs." Leilanna said, her eyes widening. It was brilliant. Nora and her daughters were extremely popular on Feather. They would have a lot of influence over trends and the public.

"Can you believe that my fashion designs are being boycotted by those manipulated lots?" Leilanna spat. "I am so excited, I will design a special Northern series of clothes for you, bringing traditional fashion back." Leilanna asked. "I wish Daven was not as camera shy, I designed the vast majority of clothes based on him. The line is even named for him," Leilanna said as she looked into her hands. Sirona had climbed to fame while singing in a video alongside Nora and Monil. She then started her show, which became very popular. However, Nora would never force her children into performing. She preferred that they had private lives. Sirona, however, loved it. Nora saw her mother in Sirona. She was charismatic, charming and had a beautiful voice. It made Nora nervous, as it could make her a target. Nora knew herself how obsessive fans could get now.

"I will ask Janel then about his son. Van would not have a problem wearing the clothing. You might have to pay an endorsement fee as per his contract. It is not a surprise that Daven is shy, his uncle is very shy of being captured in a performance." Nora said with a laugh.

"I really am looking forward to making my mother regret her words. I know that I can be successful and ethical at the same time. No wonder I grew up so twisted." Leilanna heaved a relieved sigh. It had been hard to emerge separately from Allurai's influence. Leilanna had wanted to do it on her own like Nora and her spouses had. Allurai and her fathers could definitely help her, but she felt like that if they did that she might lose the feeling of independence she had found. Now that she was not running anything and could be creative, she found a reason to live. Leilanna felt all that time that she spent lying around in excess was wasted.

"Thank you. You understand how it feels to want to make it on your own. It is like wanting to sell little pieces of joy to people," Leilanna said with a smile. Nora turned her ear, her brow furrowing.

"What is it, Nora?" Leilanna asked.

"Quiet Lei." Nora whispered and craned her ear to hear. Nora heard the bustle of activity coming from down the hall becoming louder. She looked at the area in which their old home was located in the Allari complex. Suddenly, all the men in the room started collapsing one by one on the floor far away from them. Nora gasped as Liem stood up near her and started to move towards the noise to investigate and fell forward with a look of panic gripping his head, fighting whatever was attacking them. Nora grabbed Liem and pulled him to the seat before ducking down.

"Nora, run and hide in the office." Cerez said as he slumped on the couch, losing consciousness. Nora ran to Allurai's office.

"Leilanna run, now!" Nora shouted. However, she had already slumped over. Nora had mere moments as her brain worked quickly. Allurai was a government official, her office should offer her protection. Nora opened her interface and started to make a video call to Kai.

"Help, someone is using Peacekeeper tools. Sirona is in the office but." Nora said before she lost consciousness and collapsed on the floor heavily with a thud.