[Slokais]

In the last few days, many things have gone on, for one. The government would hold for the time being. Yet getting things passed in an unstable time would be difficult. The budget was only passed because some realized that if the budget failed, the whole government would fall and give a chance for someone to make a power grab. There were still questions to be answered, going forward who would lead the opposition and how would the discovery of oil change things.
Many in the secular parties wanted an outsider to be their party leader. This would create a broad appeal and would be key to gaining national support. Yet who would fill that role, of an outsider and unallocated. Some suggested that someone from the Baseball Team, who had just won the nation's only medel and had become national heroes. Yet would the people accept a baseball player to lead a struggling nation, one without any political experience to speak of?
That would be a question once the Olympics had ended, yet one that would need to be decided soon. Yet the other issue with Procura would be settled very soon, the new Energy Minister would be the one who would have full power over it.

From their headquarters in Althea, Laeral, the executives of Procura Energy assembled in their boardroom for an eagerly-anticipated call. Once the executives had all taken their places around the long table, Gabriel Kieffer, Procura Energy’s CEO, tapped a button on a remote to cause an immense screen to unfurl at the foot of the table. A moment later, the screen flickered and shifted as a video link emerged, showing a man facing the screen as he stood on the bow of a ship at sea.

“Good day, Mr. Kieffer and the board of executives. My name is Darren Zhao, and I am the captain of the surveying ship SS Procura Dream. As you know, the Procura Dream was assigned to survey within Mallacaland’s Exclusive Economic Zone in search of exploitable offshore natural gas resources. I’m pleased to report that our surveys have turned up results. After several weeks of extensive surveying, it appears that we have discovered natural gas fields in the range of 20 to 25 trillion cubic meters—one of the largest reserves in the world. This find is equivalent to 120 to 150 billion barrels of oil. And it’s right here for the taking.”

A gasp ran through the assembled executives, while Gabriel Kieffer had a Cheshire-cat grin slowly spreading across his face.

“This is a game-changer,” whispered Cynthia Yang, the company’s Strategy Director. From the looks of awe on the faces of the other board members, they shared the sentiment.

“Our current contract, signed with the Mallacan government last year, gives us very broad rights in surveying and developing Mallacaland’s offshore oil reserves,” Kieffer said. “We’re in the driver’s seat when it comes to obtaining the exploitation rights, which could make us a dominant player in the global natural gas field. This find could change the trajectory of the entire firm.”

“Captain Zhao,” Yang asked, “has any word of this find spread beyond your ship?”

“We’re enforcing very tight info security measures here on the Dream,” Zhao said. “All communications are being very carefully monitored. We’re not in any immediate danger of this discovery leaking.”

“Good,” Kieffer said. “With all the craziness going on in Mallacaland’s government right now, the time isn’t yet right to make this public and negotiate a final deal. We’ll give the politicians some time to sort out their differences—and once that’s done, we’ll make the next prime minister an offer he can’t resist.”