Laylani Addison

Laylani Addison is the current Imperator of the United Empire of Earth, independent politician and former Professor and Dean of the University of Mentor.

Academic career
Addison is a scientist and was Professor of Integrated Science and Xenotechnology at Mentor University between 2922 and 2931, then became Dean of Applied Science at the same university until 2947.

Early life
Addison grew up on Oya III, next to the only slice of Xi'an sovereign land within the UEE, and as such spent her childhood amidst human and Xi'an neighbors. Addison also met with Jesse Baigent there, who was born and raised on Terra, now her spouse and campaign manager. He was then running an Oya III-based consulting firm focused on increasing Human and Xi'an trade. When Addison's career moved to Rhetor they relocated the firm there as well and kept running it until he became Addison's campaign manager.

2950 elections
Her campaign pledges focus around redirecting credits towards improving education, funding scientific research, and loosening current restrictions on AI research. Particularly the latter point has caused a lot of attention, positive and negative. This helped catapult her into the final five candidates. She also supports Synthworld and publicly subsidized universities.

Final voting success
After the final voting was held between October 10 and 24, she was proclaimed Imperator-elect by commissioner Tyrone Salonen of the Imperial Election Bureau at a ceremony in Moscow. She was sworn in on 1 January 2951.

Addison gave the following speech at the ceremony: "Thank you, Commissioner Salonen. Let me start by thanking my campaign staff all across the Empire. There are too many people to name, right now, but none of this would be possible without your hard work and dedication. Truly, I cannot thank you enough for helping turn our improbable dream into a reality. My love and thanks to my dedicated partner and campaign manager, Jesse. I am here now because of your belief in me. To our daughter Finley, thank you for your patience and the joy you bring me every day. I also want to thank the people of the UEE. Words fail to express the deep sense of pride and gratitude I’m feeling right now. Serving as your Imperator will be the honor of a lifetime, and I promise to dedicate myself to building a better Empire for all.

Make no mistake, I’m under no illusions that this will be easy. For years I was told that the deeply rooted political parties and corporate interests were too powerful, too entrenched, for an independent voice to be heard. Well, we sure proved them wrong and showed everyone where the true power lies in this empire — with the people!

Now that the election is over our real work can begin. Much like my campaign, I cannot do this alone. Only with your help can we reform this Empire into an institution that’s able to address the issues of the day and remain agile enough to confront the challenges ahead. My administration will focus on policies that will make this possible. Beginning with education and innovation initiatives that will lead this empire into a new age of progress, peace, and prosperity.

I know there will be people out there saying that my policy goals are impractical or even impossible. Yet my campaign is proof that when the people of the UEE come together for the common good we can make the impossible possible. For the next decade, you have chosen to let me lead the way. I promise to fully dedicate myself to the people’s cause and refuse to let fear dictate our path forward. Together we can build a better tomorrow and a stronger empire for us all. Thank you."

First act and campaign promises
Her first act after becoming Imperator would be to loosen the current restrictions on [[ research to allow for the exploration of new ideas and innovations that would benefit the entire Empire.

Her campaign promises are to increase government spending on education and scientific research initiatives to launch a new era of innovation. Would authorize highly regulated AI research to support these advances.

Debating
Addison is also a good calm and composed debater as her performance received widespread acclaim. In a popular vid on Spectrum, Addison spun a vicious, condescending attack by Human First candidate Calvin Derry into a touching personal treatise about why it was important for Humans to embrace alien influences and ideas.

She recently did an interview on the Clean Shot show.

Endorsements
Addison's election campaign was endorsed by the following organizations:


 * Educators United
 * Institute for Interspecies Peace
 * UEE Science Society

Personal statement
"I’ll never forget the first Xi’an ship I saw. Its form was familiar, but strange; its presence beautiful, but menacing. As a little girl standing awestruck at a spaceport on Oya III, the xeno-craft made me feel uneasy yet excited. Fascinated, I studied all I could about Xi’an ships and came to appreciate that beneath the obvious differences there were many more similarities to be found. This realization inspired my lifelong belief that studying and learning are vital steps towards empathy and understanding.

My discussions with people across the Empire have revealed a similar mixture of excitement and apprehension about our current state of affairs. I can not deny that we currently face monumental challenges, from a horrific war against a merciless enemy to vast economic inequality, yet thanks to my experience as a researcher and scientist, I refuse to let fear dictate my future and choose instead to focus on the promise before us.

I believe the ills of the Empire can be addressed through education and innovation. I will fight to reshape the UEE central government into an institution that improves the lives of its constituents by cultivating knowledge and inspiring change. A new Empire awaits us, if we’re brave enough to create it."

- Personal statement of Addison, 2950

Criticism
Not everyone is happy with Addison's pro-AI and pro-science policies, fearing that she may chase scientific changes too rashly. Parker Terell from Plain Truth called her "pro-AI policies reckless and potentially catastrophic", stating the hubris of her position is infuriating. He did not believe that after all the issues and close calls we had with AI, it can suddenly be safe to proceed. He pointed out that her intellectual arrogance is shown perfectly when she claims she's the one who can ensure it can be done safely.

Other more wild conspiracies floating around Spectrum claim she is a Xi'an sleeper agent, but that ploy is mostly considered too inelegant for the Xi'an.