The Standing Committee's Commendation Resolution, a Delicate Balance Between Old and New Powers
The atmosphere in the Standing Committee room of the White Bone Hall was more somber than usual.
The enormous circular bone table, polished smooth as a mirror, reflected the cold, unwelcoming light cast from the dome. All the attendees had arrived and were seated in their assigned places, each with only a glass of water in front of them, not even steaming.
Lynn sat in the head seat, his fingers unconsciously tapping rhythmically on the smooth tabletop, making a faint, almost inaudible sound.
His gaze slowly swept across the table.
To the left, Stability Maintenance Office Director Hela, sat ramrod straight, her aura as solid as ice, as if it might shatter at any moment. Her gaze was fixed straight ahead, and she looked down on everyone around her.
Next to Hela was Wanda, the Director the Technology Integration Department. She had her eyes downcast and seemed to be studying the molecular structure of the water in front of her, showing no interest in the meeting itself.
To the right, Gwen Stacy, the Director of the Liaison Office, sat upright with a thin Data Pad in front of her, her expression focused.
Next up is Jean Grey of the Mutants Management Committee, and the heads of several other core departments.
At the very last seat, near the door, sat a new face.
Special Observer, Ravonna Renslayer.
She was dressed in a standard Management Committee uniform, her posture impeccable, like a statue just taken out of a mold, her face devoid of any superfluous expression.
Lynn's fingertips stopped.
The last faint sound in the conference room also disappeared.
"Meeting."
Lynn spoke, his voice not loud, but in the absolute silence, every word was clearly heard by everyone present.
"Today's agenda has only one topic: a summary and evaluation of the recent ' Special Inspection of Historical Safety Hazards '."
He didn't look at anyone; he simply stated his facts in a straightforward manner.
"Director Gwen, please explain the situation first."
Gwen Stacy nodded, picked up the Data Pad in front of her, and stood up.
"According to the Ending report jointly issued by the Inspection Group and the Liaison Office, this special inspection has been successfully completed. The report concluded that Ke'er, the former Battleworld Foreign Affairs Office, as a special incorporation personnel left over from history, had serious issues of falsifying his resume and misconduct in his official duties..."
Her voice was steady and devoid of any emotion; she simply repeated the conclusions of the report point by point.
"... At the request of the Inspection Group, the Management Committee has approved the launch of a special operation to ' Historical Archive Security Upgrade Management Committee, ' which involves the comprehensive sealing and identification of archives from the pre-establishment period. This incident has been classified as a separate major security incident caused by the individual actions of historical personnel, which has been properly handled."
After Gwen Stacy finished reading, she sat down.
The conference room was silent.
All eyes, seemingly casually, fell on Lynn.
Lynn picked up her water glass and took a sip.
"I've read this report. It's very detailed and the characterization is accurate." He put down his cup, making a crisp, soft sound.
"A potential crisis was averted. This shows that our Management Committee's internal error-correction mechanism is healthy and effective. This is a good thing."
He paused, his gaze now clearly directed at Ravonna, who was sitting at the end of the table.
"Special praise goes to the Inspection Group, especially Observer Renslayer. His rigorous work attitude and highly professional understanding and application of rules and regulations helped us uncover a long-hidden problem. His contribution is invaluable."
Hela's lips twitched down almost imperceptibly, but quickly returned to normal.
Wanda, however, seemed not to hear at all and remained lost in thought.
Ravonna stood up and bowed slightly. "It's my duty."
"Sit down." Lynn raised his hand. "Those who have rendered meritorious service should be rewarded. That's the rule."
His gaze shifted from Ravonna to Hela.
"This incident also exposed some historical vulnerabilities in our perimeter defenses. Although the Undead Guard reacted quickly, the upgrading of their equipment needs to be put on the agenda."
"I propose that the Stability Maintenance Office's special operation budget for this quarter be increased by 15%. Director Hela, please prepare a detailed budget proposal; I will personally approve it."
Hela's eyes flickered as she looked at Lynn, and her frozen, icy aura seemed to melt slightly. She didn't speak, but simply nodded solemnly.
Lynn's gaze then turned to Wanda.
"The Technology Integration Department undertook the core technical challenges in this archive security upgrade operation. To ensure the smooth progress of subsequent data verification and Purification work, I have approved the allocation of a dedicated ultra-high-performance computing server cluster from strategic reserve resources, specifically for this project."
"In addition, the project's energy supply has been elevated to the highest priority."
Wanda finally raised her head, a glint of light flashing in her Scarlet eyes. She looked at Lynn, her lips moving slightly as if she wanted to say something, but in the end she said nothing, only giving a soft "hmm".
The atmosphere at the table visibly relaxed considerably.
Lynn took it all in, his tone unchanged, and continued speaking.
"TVA has officially approved our memorandum of understanding regarding the establishment of the ' Cross-Dimension Coordination Office.' This office will be led by our Negative Zone team. The specific functional framework and operating regulations will be drafted under the leadership of the Liaison Office."
He looked at Gwen Stacy.
"Director Gwen, this is a heavy responsibility. You need to demonstrate the standards and spirit that Negative Space has to offer."
Gwen Stacy stood up. "I guarantee I'll complete the mission."
After these words, the interests of the heads of the key departments were appropriately considered and appeased. The subtle tensions that had initially arisen were subtly resolved through the substantial allocation of resources.
Finally, Lynn's gaze returned to Ravonna.
All eyes in the conference hall were drawn to this spot.
"Renslayer, the Observer, has extensive experience in cross-departmental coordination and compliance audits at TVA. This will be a valuable asset to our soon-to-be-established Coordination Office."
"After deliberation by the Management Committee, it has been formally invited that Observer Renslayer be invited to join the preparatory working group of the Coordination Office as a special consultant."
"Your primary responsibility is to assist Director Gwen in ensuring that all the bylaws we formulate fully comply with the highest principles of the bilateral agreement we signed with TVA, and without any procedural oversights."
These words were spoken flawlessly.
This affirmed Ravonna's professional abilities and assigned her specific and important tasks. At the same time, it clarified her position—as an advisor under Gwen Stacy, the Director of the Liaison Office.
This is a formal incorporation, but also a subtle form of constraint.
Ravonna stood up again, her expression calm.
"Thank you for your trust, Director. I will strictly fulfill my duties as an advisor and fully cooperate with Director Gwen's work."
Lynn nodded and announced, "Alright. Since everyone has no objections, the evaluation of this inspection work is now concluded. The relevant commendation resolutions will be drafted by the Liaison Office and distributed to all departments after the meeting."
Meeting adjourned.
He stood up, ready to leave.
An event that could have caused a huge upheaval within the organization was brought to a complete close at such a calm meeting. Through precise distribution of benefits, Lynn not only appeased the internal factions but also transformed an outsider into a cog in the machine, further consolidating the absolute authority of the Management Committee.
The attendees gradually stood up and walked out in twos and threes.
Hela didn't leave immediately, but walked over to Wanda, seemingly wanting to say something. Wanda ignored her, got up, and prepared to return to her Department of Technology.
Just then, a junior Technician from the Technology Integration Department rushed in from outside, looking flustered, and almost bumped into the door frame.
He ignored the other executives who were still in the conference room, rushed straight to Wanda, handed her a Data Pad, and mumbled something urgently under his breath.
Wanda took the Data Pad and glanced at it.
With just one glance, her eternally cold expression froze.
A rare emotion, a mixture of confusion and astonishment, flashed across the depths of her Scarlet eyes.
She suddenly looked up, across the crowd, at Lynn was about to step out of the conference hall.
Lynn stopped in her tracks.
He turned around and looked at Wanda.
The entire conference hall fell silent instantly. All eyes were focused on this unexpected scene.
The Technician seemed to sense that something was wrong, and turned pale with fright, not daring to utter a single word.
Wanda didn't speak, but simply teleported the Data Pad in her hand to Lynn's face.
On the Data Pad, there was only one line of garbled code that had just been deciphered, flashing a red warning.
And below the garbled text, there's a tiny, almost invisible source identifier.
The S-7 Data Center has destroyed its servers; the underlying encryption is dead letter.