Directorship

    Ruling over all this...or at least, standing at the front and talking to everybody (subject to the quirks discussed in Board Organisation)...is the venerable Director of Board Operations. (S)He With Whom The Buck Stops. Chosen spokesbeing of the Goddess, since the Goddess is a busy entity and can't be expected to do everything.

Okay, yes She can, but for reasons of her own She doesn't. Either way, when the Boss is not around, the boss is the guy or gal who holds court on the Funky Horror's bridge, keeping watch of Board activity and with the final say on their involvement in any situation. Originally the classic prophet-style role a deity's backing would suggest, a "re-envisioning" of the post in the 1920s gave the post its modern, rather saner title and role, and the only people who don't refer to the post as just "Director" these days are the kind of Boardies who pronounce every single letter in the designations of the Armoury's bunker-busters.

In theory the Director is chosen by the Goddess Herself, but in reality Ze Boss is usually too busy for such matters and prefers to rubber-stamp (or the deific equivalent) the recommendations of the current incumbent and High Command. Presumably She has her own methods of quality control. The average Director stays in office for two to six months before stepping aside, although emergencies can and will delay this until a crisis is resolved. The result gives the Board a high turnover in leadership, but has the serious advantage of actually working - which puts it one up on some of the previous systems.

The Directorship comes with de facto absolute power, barring appeals to the Goddess, and access to every Board asset down to the simplest screwdriver. Ensuring the Director can handle this are a set of astonishingly advanced cyberinterface systems on the Funky Horror's bridge, enabling the current incumbent of the post to project their augmented consciousness anywhere throughout the station. Many Boardies who have held the post speak of the "hum of power" this creates from the constant stream of quiet feedback from the thousands of monitoring systems aboard. It proves an effective method of asserting authority, even if it does encourage micromanaging and rather frivolous uses of the technology involved...as epitomised by Director Urban's infamous No Clothes Days.

Directors have ranged the full gamut, from crazed fanatics to debauched ascetics to ones who just hand the responsibilities to High Command. Some of them take the "hand of the Goddess on Earth" stance literally, others prefer a more laid-back approach...and the result is certainly variable. The post is not handed out on a whim, though, so few Directors prove unable to live up to the task...and all of them are quietly aware that holding the post makes them a very real target for the Forces of Darkness. Fortunately, most Boardies believe in leading from the front...even when "the front" is used literally.