Leaders of neutrality - part 3
Leaflet

Being a leader is a job filled with responsibility. Most of the people on Rubi-Ka work under some sort of chain of command, be it clans, Omni-Tek departments or neutral organizations. Reporter May Wong followed a number of neutral leaders to see what challenges they face in their daily duties.

I had been given the name of Ms. Katelin 'Falikos' Phare, president of Shattered Dreams, more than once, and it was with anticipation I opened a link to her private channel to ask for a meeting. We had a chat and then agreed on a day to meet again.

Walking down the street of Borealis, I saw Falikos and one of the members in her organization, Mr. Evan 'Itel' Tedder, surrounded by citizens. Falikos is known to be a very experienced and helpful tradeskiller, and offers her services to anyone who needs it, including to those outside her organization. She told me she usually spends most of her days helping people with their needs, no matter their side in the conflict.

It was evident by the amount of people gathering around her that she is a popular and loved person, not only by those in her organization, but also by the general populace. However, our day together started a bit on the busy side. Many people had issues they wanted to address with both Falikos and myself, as representative of The Independent Reporters of Rubi-Ka. In the end, we retired to the laidback café areas in one of the shops. There, we talked about her visions, goals and hopes for the future.

Shattered Dreams tries to change the hearts of those bearing ill will towards neutrals on Rubi-Ka, and in Falikos' own words, “…what we have been attempting to do is create some understanding within the Clans and Omni-Tek on a personal level. Mass campaigns tend to be trite and don't do much good...but people do learn by observing, and even if they don't want to, when the warring factions meet in a casual setting they see eachother more as people, and can see the ways they are similar.”

Working with this as main goal will naturally create many enemies, and Falikos did admit that there had been occasional threats to her life and safety, although she refused to say who stands behind these threats. Itel and later on also Mr. Brendan 'Killchain' Nygaard stood guard over her. Whether or not it was because of my presence or some unidentified threat was undisclosed. Falikos herself tried to wave them off, but they strongly insisted to stand by her side, knowing that a threat emerges when it’s least expected.

Falikos was recently deeply involved in a case of what has become known as the Midia procedures in Tir. The Sentinels accepted the help of several clanners and clan guilds, but it’s also known that even neutrals were providing useful information to them, and thus their help was accepted as well. This is of course impossible to get confirmed from the Sentinels, but several eyewitnesses have spoken of the sometimes close relationship to a few of the Sentinel officers.

During the time we spent together I asked her if all the negativity got to her. Her answer was as simple as it was short. “Not usually…which I suppose is a bit odd. In fact someone yesterday called me a juggernaut of irritating optimism. … Losing heart is the worst thing that can happen, and I try very hard to keep it from happening to me and to my crew.”

As our time drew closer and closer to the 27-hour mark it became clear to me how cherished Ms. Katelin Phare is. Not only does she defend neutral interests, but she also works actively with her organization to change the negative image of neutrals that is profoundly cemented in many people's minds. She is a dearly loved leader, and stands secure in her position both as community helper and leader. Hatred may seem to rule this planet we all call home at times, but open hearts and the ability to look further than faction is what we can place trust in. Falikos is given such a level of trust by many not only the neutral population, but by so many others as well.