Chapter 5: THE VOTE
Waystar Royco headquarters looked the same as it had in the show. Glass and steel. Money and power stacked sixty floors high. The building where empires were built and destroyed.
I arrived early. Seven AM. The board meeting wasn't until nine.
Gerri's office was on the executive floor. I took the elevator up. Nodded at the receptionist who recognized me and didn't question why I was there.
The door was closed. I knocked.
"Come in."
She sat behind her desk. Reading documents. Multiple screens showed stock prices, news feeds, internal memos. The command center for navigating corporate catastrophe.
"Roman." She didn't look up. "You're early."
"Couldn't sleep."
"Few people could. Yesterday was..." She finally looked at me. "Eventful."
"That's one word for it."
She gestured at the chair across from her desk. I sat.
"The board members are arriving," Gerri said. "Frank and Karl are already here. Setting up the conference room. Managing logistics. Making sure everything looks proper and controlled."
"And is it? Controlled?"
"Control is relative. We're managing a crisis. The best we can hope for is the illusion of control."
I leaned back. Looked at her screens. Waystar stock had dropped twelve percent. Not catastrophic. But concerning. The market was waiting to see what happened next.
"Kendall has the votes," I said.
"Does he?"
"Frank will support him. Karl will follow Frank. The family shares plus their votes—that's enough for interim CEO."
"You've thought about this."
"Haven't you?"
She almost smiled. "I've thought about little else."
"Who's the problem?"
"Sandy and Stewy are on the board. They'll oppose anything that strengthens Logan's position. Kendall as interim CEO keeps power in the family. They'll try to block it."
"Can they?"
"Depends on how the other board members vote. Some are loyal to Logan. Some are loyal to their own interests. Some are just trying to survive until retirement."
I processed that. The same factions I'd mapped at the hospital. Just with higher stakes.
"What about you?" I asked. "Who are you loyal to?"
"The company. Always the company."
"Not Logan?"
"Logan is the company. Usually. Right now he's a seventy-nine-year-old stroke victim who can't hold a pen. The company needs to survive regardless."
"That's cold."
"That's practical."
She stood. Walked to the window. Manhattan spread below us. Eight million people who didn't know or care about Roy family drama.
"You voted for Kendall yesterday," she said. "At the hospital. Before anyone else committed."
"Yeah."
"Why?"
"I told you. He's the oldest. He's been groomed for this. It makes sense."
"But you've never supported Kendall before. You've mocked him. Undermined him. Competed with him for scraps of Logan's approval."
She turned to face me. Direct eye contact.
"So I'll ask again. Why?"
I held her gaze. Decision point. How much truth to give her.
"Because I'm tired of watching this family destroy itself," I said. "Because Logan's stroke was a wake-up call. Because maybe—for once—we should try not being the problem."
Gerri studied me. Looking for the lie. The angle. The manipulation.
"You're different," she said finally. "I can't determine how or why. But something fundamental has changed."
"Near-death experiences do that."
"Logan didn't die."
"Close enough to matter."
She walked back to her desk. Sat. Folded her hands.
"The board will be skeptical of you," she said. "They've seen you at your worst. The crude jokes. The failures. The reputation of being Logan's least serious son. One crisis response doesn't erase years of evidence."
"I know."
"But today is an opportunity. Support Kendall publicly. Demonstrate family unity. Show the board that you're capable of putting the company first. If you do that, if you're genuine about it, it helps both of you."
"And you?"
"It helps me do my job. Which is keeping this company functional while Logan recovers."
A knock at the door interrupted us.
"Come in," Gerri called.
Frank entered. Saw me. His expression shifted through surprise and calculation before settling on professional neutrality.
"Roman. Didn't expect you this early."
"Making an effort."
"Clearly." He looked at Gerri. "Board members are here. We're ready when you are."
"Five minutes."
Frank nodded and left.
Gerri stood. Smoothed her suit. Became the General Counsel instead of the woman who'd shared strategy with me.
"Remember what I said. Family unity. Company first. Give them no reason to doubt."
"Got it."
"And Roman?" She paused at the door. "Don't make me regret giving you my card."
We walked to the conference room together. Silent. Professional distance maintained where people could see.
The room was filling up. Board members in expensive suits. Executives with tablets and worried expressions. The apparatus of corporate power assembling to decide who would hold the reins.
Kendall was already seated. Looking stressed. Shiv beside him. Connor at the end. The Roy children presenting a united front.
I took the empty chair next to Kendall.
He looked at me. Surprise again. "You came."
"Where else would I be?"
"I don't know. Anywhere but here?"
"This matters. I'm here."
Shiv leaned forward. "Are you high?"
"Shockingly sober."
"Then why are you acting like..."
"Like I give a shit?"
"Yeah."
"Maybe I do. Maybe watching Dad collapse made me reevaluate my priorities."
"That's very touching," Shiv said. Flat. Disbelieving. "Also complete bullshit."
Frank called the meeting to order before I could respond.
The vote proceeded with corporate formality. Motions and seconds. Discussion of interim leadership necessity. Sandy and Stewy voiced objections—exactly as Gerri predicted. Others countered. The verbal chess match of powerful people deciding which way to jump.
When it came to the family vote, Kendall voted for himself. Obviously.
Shiv voted for him. Surprising no one.
Connor abstained. Also surprising no one.
Then it was my turn.
The room waited. Everyone remembered how I'd voted in the original timeline. Against Kendall. Against stability. The chaos agent.
I met Kendall's eyes. Saw the uncertainty there. The expectation of betrayal.
"I vote for Kendall," I said. Clear. Definitive. "He's the right choice for interim CEO."
The room reacted. Subtle shifts. Board members exchanging glances. Frank's eyebrows rising fractionally. Gerri's carefully neutral expression hiding satisfaction.
Kendall stared at me. Genuine shock on his face.
Shiv's expression was pure calculation. Trying to figure out what I was playing at.
The vote concluded. Kendall won. Not unanimously. Sandy and Stewy held firm in opposition. But enough votes to matter.
Kendall Roy, interim CEO of Waystar Royco.
The meeting continued. Discussion of communication strategy. How to present this to shareholders. What message to project. I listened. Contributed nothing. Let Kendall have his moment.
When it finally ended, people filtered out. Back to their offices and their own concerns. Crisis managed. Structure maintained.
Kendall caught me at the elevator.
"Roman. Wait."
I turned.
He looked uncomfortable. Like he didn't know what to say or how to say it.
"Thank you," he said finally. "For the vote. For supporting me. I... I didn't expect that."
"I know."
"Why did you?"
"Because you're my brother. Because this matters. Because someone needs to keep the company functional while Dad recovers."
"That's..." He searched for words. "That's surprisingly mature of you."
"Yeah, well. Don't get used to it."
He almost smiled. "I won't."
"Don't fuck it up, Ken."
"I won't."
"I mean it. This is your shot. Actually lead. Actually make good decisions. Don't let Dad's ghost run the company from a hospital bed."
Kendall's smile faded. Something harder entered his expression.
"I won't," he said again. Different tone. Like he meant it.
The elevator arrived. I stepped in.
"Roman?" Kendall's voice stopped the doors from closing. "If you actually mean this. If you're actually trying to help. I could use that."
"I'll think about it."
The doors closed. The elevator descended.
I stood alone in the metal box. Watched the floor numbers drop. Thought about what I'd just done.
Changed the first major decision point. Voted with Kendall instead of against him. Altered the dynamic between us from rivalry to... something else.
The butterfly effect had started.
The elevator reached the executive floor. I stepped out. Walked to the windows that overlooked Manhattan.
Sixty floors up. The city spread below like a circuit board. Buildings and streets and millions of lives intersecting in patterns too complex to map.
This was my world now. Not temporarily. Not as a visitor. This was where I lived. These were the games I'd play. These were the people who would try to destroy me or save me or use me.
I pressed my hand against the glass. Cool against my palm.
Logan was alive. Kendall was interim CEO. I'd started building an alliance with Gerri. The pieces were moving.
I just had to keep moving with them.
My phone buzzed. Text from an unknown number.
Good work today. When you're ready for that conversation, call me. -G
Gerri.
I saved the number. Pocketed the phone. Took one more look at Manhattan.
The game continued.
And for the first time since I'd woken up in the wrong body, I felt like I might actually know what I was doing.
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