We Didn't Start The Fire (AMW Only)

[Kyr Shorn]

Beach

Agnug managed to smile back in reply, the embarrassment still bringing a slight flush to his cheeks. "Well besides the beaches, there is some sightseeing stuff of course, the old Imperial Palace is a good example. If you’re interested in the religious aspects of the C.I.I. there are places like the Grand Lotus Temple where the Divine Monarch lives."

The current Divine Monarch, or the Emperor of Majapahit as the title was called in the west, was a short and very soft spoken fifteen year old boy who's every action was guided (controlled was a better word) by the Priesthood of the Grand Lotus Society who were the biggest sect within Javanese Hinduism.

Agnug himself preferred to worship Shiva, the Hindu God of Destruction. A God that was fond of dancing, drinking, smoking ganja (weed), engaged in complex sex rituals with his various wives, and taught that the path to Enlightenment lay in recognizing that states of purity and pollution were merely illusions in of themselves.

But Agnug did honor Raden Wijaya XX as a person with historical relevance and how he provided a living connection to the Commonwealth's more glorious past.

"Plus at night there are the usual slew of bars, nightclubs, and dancehalls that open up, or if you want to do something now we could catch the latest Jakawood flick at a movie theater."

[Chrinthanium]

Nick finished his drink and then stood up, "Well, we'll take in that Jakawood movie, then maybe a stroll around the sights. Then, we need to party."

Nick took his backpack and reached in and pulled out his sunglasses and placed them back on.

[Kyr Shorn]

Beach

Agnug laughed at the last phrase as Nick slipped on a pair of shades, "But I recommend that we both change into things a little less... revealing." and indicated to their swimwear, while Nicks was a bit more reasonable (with a shirt), Agnug's was on a completely different level.

"People might complain," he said as a sly smile started to grow, "For some reason."


Cheap Motel Room, Outskirts of Jakarta

The middle aged man bowed in prayer before the image of Raden Wijaya XX, the child god, the embodiment of Enlightenment and the glorious spiritual kingdom of Majapahit.

"The place where all those who walk the path of Dharma shall dwell forever and ever until the Wheel turns once more." the man thought in his deepest most inner thoughts as he prayed to the cut out image from a newspaper he had found in a dumpster.

The man then turned from his prayers to the things he had purchased quietly in different stores across Jakarta, as separate individual items they wouldn't attract much notice. But put together anyone with a basic understanding of chemistry would know what this man was putting together.

"It is time to purge Majapahit of heresy and would-be Suharto's." the man spoke quietly to himself as he glanced at the floor where the items were waiting to be put together in the right combination to create a holy fire to cleanse the lands to make way for the second rise of the greatest Empire to have ever existed on the face of the Earth.

Or so one sleeper agent of the J/UP believed.

[Chrinthanium]

Nick was the consumate party animal. If it had loud music you could dance to, first-class liquor, and flashing lights, it was his kind of place. Then again, Nick has always been drawn to flashy places and people. It was most certainly the initial reason to make a play for Nathaniel Thornton. What more flashy of a person could you find to date than the heir to the Imperial throne? What first started as a mostly star-fucker reason to date the Imperial Crown Prince turned into a love for which even Nick was unprepared.

Now, he was on a foreign shore with the handsome son of the Preisdent. Nick was, for all intents and purposes, single until he had his long talk with Nathaniel. In fact, their plans seemed more like a date than two friends just hanging out. Maybe, just for once, Nick would make the decision to not retain his loyalty to Nathaniel, and enjoy the company of someone else. Certainly it became well know that Nathaniel, upon the termination of their relationship, dated several persons. Those all ended quickly, mostly because Nathaniel remained in love with Nick. Nick, on the other hand, never once dated another person, nor did he entertain such thoughts. Then there was his new found friend, Agung.

Whether or not Nick went for the subtle hints that Agung seemed to be issuing remained to be seen at this point in time. All he knew was that he was, so far, enjoying the company of the young heir to the Presidency. He also wanted to learn as much as he could about the Commonwealth.

"Let's get changed, then we'll go out and give the press something to talk about." Nick quipped with a grin.

[Midlonia]

Jakarta

Mr Sung Aung was dressed as a typical Siamese gentleman, often jokingly refereed to as a “SOG” or Siamese Oriental Gentleman he was sat in a small cafe in Jakarta sipping a cappuccino as the small device sat on the table in front of him beeped twice. Flicking his white suit cuff a little he picked it up and pressed the green pickup button and placed it to his ear.

“Yes?” Sung said quietly as he took another sip of his coffee and peered at the newspaper in front of him noting the latest problems in the Commonwealth.

“Sung, it's Lian.” The voice came back. Lian Mi was a Spyran-Siamese who was one of the many regional aides to the Foreign Minister, the fact she was calling meant the inevitable. Instructions.

“Where are you?” Lian asked rather sharply causing Sung to frown slightly.

“Where I normally am at this time of the day, getting a cappuccino and reading up on Indonesian propaganda.” Sung replied slowly as he looked around and then down at the newspaper filled the usual nonsense.

“Victorious Security Forces take down coup D'etat attempt.” Sung murmured at the newspaper in front of him. “Usual nonsense of course.” He said with a shrug.

“Never mind that nonsense, it's about their food shortages as usual.” Lian said sounding somewhere between bored and annoyed. “I've dispatched a car to you with a messenger riding in it. We've spotted some Indonesian fishery boats awful close to our waters again.”

“Do we really need a re-run of the Tuna Wars?” Sung said straightening up as he saw the distinct old Jaguar Saloon roll up outside. He folded his paper and tucked it under his arm before downing the last of his drink and picking his wide brimmed hat up from the table.

“If necessary, we're not having these dictatorial bastards taking away rightful Imperial resources, fish included.” Lian hiised as Sung shook his head, rolled his eyes and sat in the car.

“So we're going to have another re-run of the Tuna Wars if they try and stray again?” Sung snorted derisively.

“No, but we are concerned they may demands on us to supply them with food being their neighbour.” Lian grumbled.

“Fine, fine. Where am I going?”

“Their Foreign Office. You're going to inform the Foreign Minister or whoever the hell will be bothered to see you that the S.I.N is already patrolling the areas in question that were issues during the Tuna Wars.”

“Right.” Sung grumbled and hung up his phone.

“Go,” he said nodding. “Foreign Ministry.”

[Kyr Shorn]

Office of the Ministries, Foreign Affairs Ministry, Jakarta

Maya Kapilvastu, the highest ranking Buddhist and ethnic Minangkabau of the Brahma Administration and current Minister of the Foreign Affairs Ministry was currently dealing with the latest episode of what the press in the west termed "the Tuna Wars".

"Why hasn't the actual name, the Malacca Dispute" taken hold after all this time." she thought in a moment of frustration before smoothing everything out. Once again that bastard from the Siam Empire, Sung Aung was in front of her complaining about some of the fishing fleets of the Commonwealth being dangerously close to their so-called "borders".

Maya spoke aloud to Sung, he had been brought in without much fuss and only given the bare minimum of required politeness before the two of them had cut to the old song and dance.

"Just because the fisherman are near the border doesn't mean that they are in the border." she said once more, the script pounded into her head after years of repetition., "Unless or until one boat or another drifts in, most likely by accident I am sure, your current Rama has nothing to complain about."


Beach

"Alright." Agnug said with obvious joy in his voice and a lovely smile on his face, "I'll meet you at your hotel." The fact that he didn't have to ask where it was might draw a question or two but the answer was really quite innocent. Agung still possesed the dossier on Nick which contained (among other things) the hotel that he was staying at.

All he had to do was call his assistant to tell him the appropriate information while he changed in the car and thank the gods for it's heavily tinted windows and his loyal bodyguards.

Around twenty minutes after the two had departed, Agnug was waiting for Nick in his imported luxury car from Germany, Agnug didn't know much about vehicles but he did own several and he liked this one the best since it was comfortable and flashy, but not excessively so. While he considered himself a good Hindu, Agnug did drink and smoke and loved leather seats in all his cars, if anyone raised an eyebrow he could simply point to his Shavaite views on the sameness of purity and pollution, both states were illusions and should be ignored.

Agnug had quickly changed into a pair of designer jeans that were loose (but not baggy) and a nice white dress shirt and a black leather belt, he was in a nice pair of shoes (but not dress shoes).

In essence, he was dressed up casual, "Don't want to scare him off anymore than I might already have." Agnug thought as he glanced at the vehicle behind him. It was a government SUV with what he knew were plain clothed (but lethal) bodyguards, four to be exact.

"I'll have to either ditch them or at least get them to stay in the background as best as possible." he thought as he glanced at the enterance once more, in a couple of minutes it would be twenty.

[Chrinthanium]

Nick rushed around his motel room attempting to pick the right outfit for his evening on the town with Agung. While he wanted to look nice, he didn't want to give the wrong impression either. Fifteen minutes of time went by in a flash as he decided that he would go with his usual attire: a white button down shirt (carefully leaving the top two buttons undone), designer jeans he picked up while in New York City, black belt, and black shoes.

He then proceeded to the bathroom and fashioned his hair so that it was neat and fashionable. He decided that he needed to spike his hair up a bit, making it in the messy style of popular hair styles. He made shure his facial hair was just so: fashionable stubble without it looking like he was a mountain man or something of the sort. He was excited and wanted everything to be just so.

He peered at the clock and realized that twenty minutes had already passed by this point and proceeded to head out of his hotel room. He wasn't so much surprised to see Agung patiently awaiting him, considering the government has been one step ahead of him this whole time. Nick proceeded to the German luxury vehicle and entered when given permission so to do.

[Kyr Shorn]

Outside of the Hotel

Agnug smiled when he first saw Nick step out of the doors and into his line of view, "Nice." he thought to himself as he got into the vehicle. He kept the grin on his face as he teasingly said, "Your late."

Then the youngest son of Delem Brahma hit the gas and the two of them sped off towards a nice little theater that Agnug was familiar with. It was near the tourist district of the city but in it, so that it had to play films in both English and Indonesian in order to attract both sets of customers.

The theater had over nine screens and according to their ads, this weeks showing involved five Indonesian films and four in English (two Indonesian films had English subtitles), when they pulled up into the theater parking lot, the bodyguard SUV nearby but not right up against them, Agnug turned and asked, "What kind of movie are you interested in seeing?" and he then listed the different types that were available in English (or had subtitles).

Three were the Romance Musicals that were considered the bread and butter of Jakawood, there was one Epic Historical Film that was about the Geletian Invasion during the 18th century, a sci-fi film and a horror one imported from Hollywood, and the last was a comedy musical (Jakawood).

[Chrinthanium]

Nick turned to Agung with a smile prior to their speedy exit and stated, "I may be late, but fashionaly so."

Nick was happy to see the city from something other than a taxi or government vehicle with guards in it. He finally felt comfortable in Jakarta. It was quickly growing on him, despite the fact he find the government to be less-than-desirable. Once at the theatre, Logan admitted he wanted to see the comedic musical. He'd heard about the legends of Jakawood while researching the Commonwealth before he made the trip and he decided he wanted to take in the local culture.

Nicks personal cell phone beeped. It was a text message from a friend of his. Not wanting to be rude, he excused himself while he checked it. Nicks face lost all sense of happy expression as he furiously responded to the text message. News of Nathaniels new-found relationship with the Quarterback of the Omaha pro football team was not well received.

[Kyr Shorn]

Theater

As Agnug waited a distance away from Nick as he looked at his cellphone, the President's son whispered a couple of orders to the bodyguards, only two of them would be with them in the theater, the other two would be outside, keeping an eye on things. The two inside would keep their distance but be on hand just in case.

The title of the movie (when translated from Indonesian) was "Waterworks", the previews of the movie indicated that it was set in a day in the life of a Javanese pool boy who worked as a pool cleaner in a fancy hotel and the zany things that he and his coworkers do on the job, much to the shock of the tourists and hotel guests. With what promised to be an impressive mix of song, dance, laughs, and for some reason a sea otter, the film was already being lauded as one of the best Jakawood comedies of the year.

Perfect for a causual outing with friends... with benefits forthcoming depending on what happened as the day unfolded.

Agnug noticed Nick's face fall as he looked at his phone and felt concerned enough that he quietly approached Nick and asked quietly, "Everything ok Nick?"

[Chrinthanium]

Nick drew in a deep breath and sighed heavily. The cell phone beeped again, but Nick just turned it off. Nick knew that Nathaniel wasn't going to wait forever, but the two had just spoke a few days ago, and Nathaniel acted like he wanted Nick back. Now, thanks to a college student from Oregon, e-mails between Nathaniel and this Quarterback surfaced detailing a two-week relationship between the two. Nick's feelings were definitely hurt, but at the same time, he realized that he'd been keeping Nathaniel guessing for a while now.

"Agung," Nick said a little solemnly, "it looks like Nathaniel has started up something with Chad Kelley. Don't know if you know who he is, but he is the starting quarterback of the Omaha Eagles in our professional gridiron football league. Guess my indecision is causing Nathaniel to once again date around." Nick sighed again. He did have feelings for the Emperor, but this time Nick wasn't going to sit around and pine.

"I think we have a movie to see, Agung." Nick said with a smile. Now, the possibility of at least a fling while in the C.I.I. didn't seem like such a bad idea to him anymore.

[Kyr Shorn]

Theater

"Ah on the rebound are you." Agnug thought to himself as he used every bit his acting skills to keep the grin off of his face. He had done a couple of revenge lays in his life but had never been on the receiving end of one, "Could be fun." the youngest Brahma thought to himself.

On the surface Agnug providing a supportive arm and said, "Alright let's go see a movie, we'll talk later if you want or just go out and have the time of our lives. There's no rush."

But of course once they entered the building, it would feel like (to any western at least) entering a different world. By now Nick would of seen the Commonwealth in all of it's chaotic diversity. The countless icons of the gods, the paintings of swastikas and lingams (penises) sacred to both Hindus and Buddhists, the signs of impressive wealth and absolute poverty side by side as though each were in different universes.

Images of the teenage Raden Wijaya XX and the current President in nearly every other corner or window, and the crowds of people packed into the city like sardines. Yet for all of this the city was impressivly well-cared for and clean, for a city that was filled to the brim with human beings.

The theater itself was clean enough so that you could perform surgery in the building and the ticket booth and concession stand was standing room only, it more resembled the start of a rock concert than a movie house.

Agnug firmly guided Nick through the organized chaos of the rising middle class of the Commonwealth and the tourists to both the ticket area and the concession stand and picked up their snacks for a pretty CD*.

Then Agnug and Nick went into the screen room for Waterworks and found pretty good seats, in a few minutes the screen room filled up, the crowd was mostly the various ethnic groups of the Commonwealth with a smattering of tourists.

Then the room went dark and the previews began...

The movie itself started a few minutes later and the experience of being in the theater was just as much part of things as the movie itself. As the movie started one could quickly pick up on the types of people the actors were protraying, the hero was the poolboy who loved one of the bartender girls at the pool bar who was dating the head lifeguard, a quirky cast of friends and coworkers said all the wrong things at the right time to make the audience laugh like crazy.

The subtitles were pitch perfect for the movie, which was a sign of improvement among the Jakawood editors, they were notorious for barely readable subtitles.

When the first song and dance number began is when things got interesting, the audience (especially the younger locals) sang right along with the song almost as loud as the booming sound system.

Agnug smiled at Nick who looked a bit shellshocked and told him when the first song and dance number was over, "Just wait for the others..."

The film continued on as the coworkers did their best to break up the bartender and the lifeguard with mixed results, meanwhile they got better results in making the life of their sadistic boss, the head of the hotel, miserable. Each of their outrageous stunts got bigger and bigger laughs from the crowd.

Then after five more song and dance numbers and more hilarious lines and comedic acts, the poolboy got the girl, made the lifeguard look like a jackass, quit his job since he got help from a kindly older lady who saw potential in the poor but thrifty boy to go to college.

The film then ended with a scene where the hotel boss had lost his position and was now working at the poolboys job. Then he was forced to clean up poop floating in the pool with a net but the net broke and a mean child pushed him into the pool, face first into the floating fecal material.

With the laugher and joy of the crowd on the heels after an hour and a half, Agnug and Nick departed the theater.

"Did you have fun Nick?" the Presidents son asked Nick once they had left the theater.

*CD=Commonwealth Dollar

[Chrinthanium]

Nick was in better spirits after the movie, despite the more shocking news on his cellular phone when he turned it back on that the two were seen in downtown Omaha partying like school boys.

"Agung, I'm cool. It's what happens when you are indecisive, I guess." Nick said with a smile. "I say we go out and have the time of our lives."

Nick was anxious to start enjoying the single life. It's something he hadn't really become part of. He kept starting and stopping his relationship with the Emperor, and while they were off, he would remain single. The problem wasn't that the Emperor could find someone else, it was that Nick hadn't. Every time Nick and Nathaniel would stop, Nick would not date. He kept hope that he could overcome his objection to the media that constantly surrounded Nathaniel.

It wasn't like that when Nicholas V was alive. Nathaniel, though still followed by the media, wasn't receiving nearly a tenth of the media attention he was getting as a newly-crowned Emperor. Prior to the death of Nicholas V, everything was good with the EMperor. Then, Nathaniel was coronated. The relationship ended a few weeks later. A few times they tried again, but Nick couldn't get over the media attention.

The fact was that Nick had been Nathaniel's world, until he became Emperor. Then, Nathaniel started courting the media more than Nick. While public opinion might be what Emperor Nathaniel was after for policy, Nick felt that there wasn't enough time for the two of them as long as the media was present. Unfortunately, Nick's hopes were dashed by the text messages building up on his phone from supportive friends asking if he'd seen the news. It was indeed a crushing blow, but what else could you expect from a twenty-one year old who was one of the most eligable single gay men in the world?

"I say we need to eat. You hungry?" asked Nick.

[Kyr Shorn]

Outside the Theater

As Nick and Agnug walked to the car, followed at a distance by the security detail, he gave Nick a reassuring smile and said, "Sure, I don't know what you like though. I think there is a place that serves California style food nearby or do you want something more... Indonesian?"

Agnug then was kind enough to open Nick's door for him before swinging back into the driver side of the car and once more gave his security detail lessons in keeping up with high performance vehicles.

Presidential Palace, Jakarta

Delem Brahma finished towelling off from his quick dip in the pool and looked up at the aide who had just informed him of several new bombings on the island of Sumatra, but the targest this time were not Christian churches, they were government office buildings.

"I want a media blackout on this." Delem ordered, "Only in areas were the bombings occured will there be reporting, we need to make the enemy think that they haven't made much of an impact."

Far from being shocked, the President (or rather OSS) had expected that the J/UP would have sleeper agents, not to mention the occasional low-level party loyalist who would act as a lone wolf. Delem had little doubt that they would be mopping up Hinduvata extremist messes for at least a year.

"The key thing is that the major players and the ones that could cause major damage have been captured." Delem thought as his aide informed him of what the various intelligence agencies were up to.

They were tracking down the various bombers and anyone connected to them, looking for patterns, trying to untangle the webs of the traitors to the democracy that had been forged from the suffering of the many peoples of the Commonwealth.

Delem then went for another swim in the pool, feeling confident that his loyal agents both on Sumatra and in Java (not to mention the countless little islands under Commonwealth control) would deal with the situation as best they could.

It's not like he could go out and smash skulls and shoot people himself like he used too.

Even now the thought of how he had blown his predecessors brains across his own bedroom walls in this very palace still made Delem smile.

[Chrinthanium]

"I'm in the mood for good, corn-fed Iowa beef. A nice steak, baked potato, maybe some green beans and asparagus. Mmmm mmmm." said Nick with a smile. "But, while in Rome, do as the Romans. Let's go for the local cuisine tonight."

While Nick was aware of Agungs lack of speed limit adherence, being that Nick was a cop after all, he found it no surprise that the German-built car was speeding through the streets of the city. Nick was impressed that Agung actually paid attention to the traffic signals. Though he didn't worry. He knew that Agung was young, and young men like fast cars.

While the car was enroute to its destination, Nick grabbed his backpack from the backseat and looked through it. He needed his sunglasses. Upon locating them, he donned his sunglasses. Everything about him must have screamed tourist to Agung, of whom he was growing fond of at this point.

Unlike Chrinthani men, Agung seemed happy to go where Nick wanted to go, although Nick wasn't sure where anything was, outside of his hotel room and the airport. It was nice to not have a planned evening, like one needed with Nathaniel. Back in Chrinthanium, men there often took indecisiveness as a weakness, whereas it seemed that Agung had some sort of a plan. Yes, Nick had options, but he was beginning to feel like everything was headed somewhere.

Nick, though, being from a traditionally cooler climate was still quite warm in the car because of the sun shining through the windshield. Even with the air conditioner on, Nick was still feeling a little bit sweaty. He unbuttoned his shirt completely to let the cool air hit his body, in order to prevent having to change his shirt prior to dinner.

"I don't know what it is, but it's hot down here, Agung." Nick stated as he used his flapped air into his shirt to cool off a bit.

[Midlonia]

Office of the Ministries, Foreign Affairs Ministry, Jakarta

Maya Kapilvastu, the highest ranking Buddhist and ethnic Minangkabau of the Brahma Administration and current Minister of the Foreign Affairs Ministry was currently dealing with the latest episode of what the press in the west termed "the Tuna Wars".

"Why hasn't the actual name, the Malacca Dispute" taken hold after all this time." she thought in a moment of frustration before smoothing everything out. Once again that bastard from the Siam Empire, Sung Aung was in front of her complaining about some of the fishing fleets of the Commonwealth being dangerously close to their so-called "borders".

Maya spoke aloud to Sung, he had been brought in without much fuss and only given the bare minimum of required politeness before the two of them had cut to the old song and dance.

"Just because the fisherman are near the border doesn't mean that they are in the border." she said once more, the script pounded into her head after years of repetition., "Unless or until one boat or another drifts in, most likely by accident I am sure, your current Rama has nothing to complain about."

Sung sighed slightly. "As you are fully aware any such attempts for fishing boats to stay into Imperial Siamese waters, accidental or otherwise will be seized and their cargo impounded or used. My government will not permit the plundering of Siamese resources no matter how insignificant they may be to overall economic programmes."

Sung always did enjoy running through this nonsensical script that had been developed over the years, the Siamese and Indonesians hadn't been friends since the end of the Second World War when it was revealed the Indonesians had, as far as the rest of the world was concerned, capitulated voluntarily to the Yashimans but the oh-so-smug and proud Indonesians tried, and try to claim constantly to the world that there were never truly occupied, thus never truly beaten. When it also revealed that some Indonesians had been used to occupy areas that the Siamese had previously claimed as theirs... well, relations had never been good, and quite icy which with the British being Pro-Indonesian nearly saw the Imperial lands drift into Kiev's zone of interest.

Sung was about to launch into another long winded peice about how territorial integrity was greater than the needs of some economic factors or lack of competent government when the building shook and fire alarms began to sound.

Sung moved, at the same time as Maya Kapilvastu towards the window, where smoke and flames licked out from another part of the building, people were already fleeing from the building from fire escapes and running from the street outside. With what could only be an incredoulous look to the Foreign Minister he turned and left the office, moving at a fast, but steady pace for the nearest fire exit, reaching for his mobile phone as he did so.

"Sung. Did you mee-" Lian got cut off almost immediately.

"I did, usual shuffling we do then a bomb went off." Sung said simply.

"What?" Lian shouted over the phone. "There's nothing on the BBC or CNN or any major ne-"

"You know what these people are like Lian." Sung said. "Stand by and I'll send a video."

He took the iPhone from his ear and flicked over to the camera application, clicking record he showed the flames licking up the building, flaming pieces of stationary. He rested the camera against his clothing so security didn't try tackling him straight away outright, and besides the point he had diplomatic immunity.

The images were soon sent on to Lian, who with a sense of relish at getting one over on the Indonesians sent it onwards to the BBC and CNN news stations ensuring it went through a dummy account to hit the main media. That was the problem with the internet age of course, any attempts and blackouts would eventually be circumvented.

[Kyr Shorn]

Presidential Palace, Jakarta

The President had just finished dressing after a quick shower and drying off to get rid of the pool water when the same aide as before rushed into the small locker room near the pool area to inform the President of what had just transpired at the Ministry Offices.

Delem didn't say anything once the aide was finished speaking but instead dismissed him and reached into his pant's pocket for his cellphone and began making some calls. In the next ten minutes he had gotten in touch his advisers who were currently dealing with crisis management at the Offices.

As far as the Director of OSS knew from his reports, it was a single bomber and the attack seemed to be the work of a lone bomber whose identity was currently unknown. The Director had sent in his own people to the bomb site along with the regular police forces, fire fighters, military troops, bomb experts, and every other group that deal with bombings.

Or rather attempted bombings.

From what was reported so far a lone bomber had hijacked a government delivery van a few blocks away and drove it into the front entrance of the Ministry Building. The explosion, while creating a lot of smoke and fire hadn't caused much damage beyond the superficial. A clear sign of a poorly crafted homemade bomb.

Delem issued an order to end the media blackout, but for this particular bombing only, complete honesty would be given in regards to what had occured... To a degree.

"Since the explosion only caused superficial damage, or at least as what is being reported to me at this time we can make this look like the work of a lone nut. Which it appears to be in this instance." Delem said, based on the fact that the previous attacks on Sumatra were coordinated and simultaneous. On this assault on Java, it seemed to be the only one, but of course the various government intelligence and secret police agencies would be on the lookout.

"It's nice that we don't have to declare a state of emergency to control the nation like it's under martial law." Delem thought to himself, it was his only shinning ray of light in an otherwise chaotic situation.

He then asked if anyone important had been killed, so far all of the important players in the government that had been in the Ministry Offices were accounted for. The actual death toll was still being calculated, the list of injured no doubt would be much larger.

To keep himself from giving into a fit of rage, Delem then took a moment to perform the breathing exercises that were recomended to hm by both his doctor and Agnug. It helped a little, at least he didn't just assault the first person that he saw but instead went to the gym to take it out on a punching bag.

Car

As Agnug headed towards a restaurant that he knew would both serve Indonesian dishes plus things more familiar to the westerners sense of taste. Due to fact that the Office of the Ministries were a good distance away, there was nothing visible of the explosion from where they were.

Agnug was a lovely person with his mother's temperament and lacked his father's anger problems (unlike his other two brothers), but he was a man and the rather obvious ploy by Nick to show off his assets got his libido going.

"I'm sure it is." Agnug replied slyly as they pulled up near the restaurant, as the car parked near it, Agnug's cell started to vibrate.

"Sorry," he said to Nick as he pulled it out, "I have to check this."

The message that had been sent was both a copy of the video that was now leaked to the international news networks of the bombing of the Ministry Offices complete with a message from his brother Gajah informing him that it seemed to be the work of a lone nut support of the J/UP.

Agnug then showed the message to Nick and said, "I guess the OSS were right, we are going to be dealing with rogue nuts now that the J/UP has been brought down."

He then opened his car door and said, "Well it's kinda out of our hands, still hungry?"

[Chrinthanium]

The news of the bombing didn't set well with Nick, who despite the relationship woes between him and the Emperor, was still on Imperial business. Nonetheless, however, he needed to take a few hours to himself. He had no reason to not believe the news that it was a single, lone nut, not the J/UP. That was more investigation work for another moment in time. Currently, Nick was more interested in eating than anything else.

Since he'd been given nothing but flimsy leads and the run around by Brahma himself, he decided that, at least for now, he was out to have fun. He was slowly beginning to feel like an international spy who might have to sleep around to get information. Then, there is Agung. The favored son of the President driving him around with an obvious appetite for more than just the native food.

"Terrible, simply terrible." said Nick as he exited the vehicle. "You guys need to get this worked out. You're not going to get tourists if they believe they'll get blown up when they come here." As he closed the car door and followed Agung, he rebuttoned his shirt. "Still, I guess its more exciting than chasing down gang members in Detroit all day."

"Of course I am still hungry. And still in need of a good drunk. What do you say?"

[Kyr Shorn]

Restaurant

"Sure." Agnug replied with a smile, doing his best to dismiss his dark thoughts, especially the ones inspired by Nicks comments about damage to the tourist industry.

"At least it wasn't a chemical attack like in Saxemburg." the President's Son thought to himself as he and Nick went into the Resteraunt, it's name (when translated from Indonesian) was simply "Plate".

The bar area of the restaurant was hopping, but the nice hostess was able to sqeeze the two of them into a small table nearby, the main topic of conversation among the tourists was the bombing and what it meant, some had first found out about it from worried text messages and calls from relatives who had seen it on TV. Most however had heard about through the C.I.I. media, which was showing their version of the footage, which showed less smoke and fire and more of the main area bombed.

They were replaying it on the big screens at that moment.

"Gajah was right," Agnug thought to himself as the image played, "The damage was mostly concentrated near the front lobby since the van hit the crash barriers and the damage to that area was mostly superficial. But what started the fire, or was all of that just a camera trick from the person who leaked the video?"

Then he dismissed the thought as Nick asked him about Indonesian food.

"Well the different ethnic groups and religions have different cuisines, but most dishes common to all of them are usually fish and rice based and according to most foreigners, quite spicy." Agnug explained as their server came to the table and handed them their menus, Agnug was given one in Indonesian, Nick one in English.

Agnug then overheard one tourist saying that he would wait a day or two before deciding on if he should cut his vacation short.

"I hope that becomes the general consensus." Agnug thought to himself as he looked at the menu before deciding on a spicy sharks fin soup.

He then smiled when he noticed that Muktuk (whale meat) was on the menu, "Oh it is whaling season I had forgotten." Agnug thought outloud at the seasonal dish being sold by Plate.

A little thing about the Commonwealth that pissed off environmental and animal rights groups in other countries was that the C.I.I. still conducted whaling and dolphin hunting for food and profit. Critics were often dismissed inside the nation as interlopers attempting to force their culture upon their unique society.

"What are you getting?" Agnug asked after he said that he would be getting the sharksfin soup

[Chrinthanium]

As those in the restaurant were speaking of the recent bombing of the Ministry Offices, Nick tried despirately to ignore it. This was to be his evening out. Maybe, even drunk weekend where he could simply be a tourist and forget about bombings and Nathaniel. Considering the sheer lack of success he's had in his endeavor, he resigned himself to the fact that he's just a tourist with access to more important people, at the present.

"Well, Agung, I'm not really into whale meat. We Chrinthani are actually really big on environmentalism. That's why we set up a biological marine reserve in the Imperial Galapagos. To protect sealife, not profit from it." Nick said with a little impatience. Certainly the Imperial Federation has a fishing industry, but there are strict limits and size restrictions. Salmon from Walshington were quite the delicacy in the Empire.

"I apologize for being short there, Agung. I'm just a little concerned with a few situations right now. I need a beer." Logan stated. "Shark fin soup and your finest lager, my good man."

Never having shark fin soup prior, Nick believed he'd try what seemed to be a regional item. Why not, he was on a sort of vacation, paid for by Emperor Nathaniel. Might as well having himself a good time since he couldn't afford such extravagance on a cops salary.

Still, Nick found himself enjoying Agungs company. He was a little young, but that was to be expected when on vacation. Nick was more into people within a year of his own age. Exceptions are made all the time, however.

As the beer was handed to him, he took a large first drink. That was Nicks calling card for a drunk night. Yet, considering it was dinner time and this was only his second beer, he held out hope that it wouldn't be a blackout night.

[Kyr Shorn]

Plate

Agnug smiled back as the server brought both him and Nick beers, "It's ok, you've been through some heavy shit recently, now let's just enjoy the evening. Everything else can just wait."

He then cracked open his beer and said, "Cheers." and took his first drink of the evening.

He and Nick then spent the next few minutes feeling each other out (with words!), getting a handle on who the other person was. Agnug realized halfway through the conversation that Nick wasn't the only one who needed an evening of delights.

Then as Agnug laughed at the latest joke to fly from Nick's gorgeous lips, their food arrived.

"Hope you have a strong stomach Nick." Agnug teased, his grin would of impressed the Chesire Cat from Alice in Wonderland. He then took his first sip of the hot and spicy soup that meshed so wonderfully with the sharkmeat.

"Delicious." the half-Javanese/Batak thought as he took in more spoonfuls before taking another swig of beer and called for another one.

Agnug fully intended to enjoy the evening.

[Chrinthanium]

Nick began to eat his soup. He loved spicy food, but even to his tongue, this was a little hot. Didn't matter much to him, though. He had his beer, and that's all he needed to cool off the tongue. "Quite tastey," he thought to himself as both him and Agung supped together.

"Trust me, my stomach is strong." Nick replied with a rye smile. "I love a spicy dish. Nothing like a little something exotic, eh Agung?" Nick took another swig from his beer

The dinner was going well. They laughed at each others jokes, and seemed to genuinely enjoy each others company. Nick was beginning to send signals Agungs' way as they finished. Things were looking up for him in this nationd despite its not so democratic ways. He reached down into his bookbag, and retrieved his cell phone and turned it off. He wasn't going to be bothered with the outside world as long as he could help it. Tonight was about him, and maybe Agung as well.

Things back home might be a little awkward upon his return, so he began to think about making sure his evening went well. At this point, he wasn't even opposed to sampling something a little more than the food at some point in the evening, but didn't want to make any moves at the present time. He wanted to learn more about Agung first.

"I'm up for another beer, how about you?" Nick asked after he finished his beer.

[Kyr Shorn]

Plate

When Nick switched off his cell, Agnug checked his and then recalled that he had turned it off after showing him the video sent to him by Gajah. He hadn't realized it until this evening but he really did need a vacation from everything and a night out with a hot guy was just what the doctor ordered.

Especially when the chemistry between them was electric, the smoky glances that the exotic heir to the most powerful office in the C.I.I. was giving the blond adonis could even make a corpse stiff as a board.

"Sure." Agnug replied to his request for more booze and signaled a nearby server for another round, as the drinks came to the table Agnug began to reveal a little about himself, catching the vibe of curiosity from Nick's blue eyes.

"Well you already know the basics about me I guess, the youngest child of the most powerful man in the C.I.I., went to college when most teenagers are still in high school, elected Senator just last year. I came out at 15 to dad, ye gods that was so nerve racking." Agnug finished with a laugh at worries long gone.

"Well I'm not sure if you are aware of this but dad does have anger issues and well..." Agnug trailed off at this but then came back with, "But he has gotten better over the years." In that he takes it out on inanimate objects rather than people was the unfinished bit of that sentence.

"And he never did anything bad to me or my brothers." Agnug said after noticing a look of slight horror in Nick's face, "But I wasn't sure how me being gay would play out for him. It turned out after after a day of thought he said that he was ok with it but he was worried about how the nation would take it."

That was putting it mildly, one of the things left over from the Catholic Morality Laws of the Suharto Regime was a lingering trend of homophobia, especially in the rural areas of the nation.

"So he made a big push to make things easier for me and everyone else that doesn't fit in the "straight" box as it were. Besides anything that breaks down Suharto's BS is a good thing."

"Well anyways after that I got my degree in political science at Jakarta U and then when I turned 18 I ran for the Senate and won by a landslide. But I'm not sure if I'm going to stay in politics forever." Agnug said the last quietly, "I'm kinda thinking of resigning and just getting lost for a few years before getting back in the game... You know just be young for a while..."

Agnug then took a swig of beer, lucky for them that no one was paying attention to what they were quietly talking about, the conversations around them had long since moved on from the bombing towards other things, the majority focused on a soccer game on the bigscreens between two college teams in Sumatra.

[Chrinthanium]

Nick was thrilled to have learned more about Agung. Noticing that he continued to keep his cell phone turned off meant that Nick would probably be able to keep Agung to himself. However, he understood the price of being a member of a powerful family. He knew that, at times, there probably would be some meet and greets.

"Well, I attended the University of Chrinthanium at Omaha with the Emperor. We played college soccer, or should I say football, together. We were the strikers for our team, the Cornhuskers." replied Nick. "I obtained my degree in communications, but decided to become a police officer instead. If that doesn't work out for me, I could always go back to the University and broadcast their soccer games."

Nick was feeling quite at home with Agung. It began to feel like they were old friends who'd met after a long hiatus. Nick also was quite attracted to Agung at this point. Nick had been giving subconscious signals ato Agung, and he felt like they were being received and responded to.

"My mother was a homemaker, and my father was a truck driver. He wasn't around much growing up, but he made sure mom and I were taken care of." Nick smiled as he continued to speak, "I remember at Christmas, he used to come home and his rig would be all decked out in lights. He'd wear a Santa suit and pretend he was St. Nicholas. He used to give me two candy canes and a box of candy the moment he came through the door. He'd rush me upstairs to bed, and then he'd slip that one perfect gift he'd been saving up for all year under the tree."

"He still drives a truck. Last time I talked to him, he was leaving Saginaw, Michigan with a load headed for Topeka, Kansas. He was pretty supportive when I came out to him. Mom, on the other hand, went into what seemed like shock. She got over it quickly, though." Then Nick signed, "When I first started with Nathaniel, they were so proud, then after a few years, it's gone downhill from there. Oh well, he's a playboy, and he does what most rich and powerful playboys do, I guess."

Nick took a swig of his lager at that moment in time. He needed to just get over Nathaniel one and for all. Maybe a romp with Agung is just what the doctor ordered. After all, if it was good for Nathaniel, it was damn sure good for Nick.

"Anyway, getting back to my family, I was the oldest child of six. I have four brothers and one sister. Andrew is 20, Philip is 18, Michelle is 17, and the twins, Richard and Alex are 12. Everytime dad came home there, nine months later I had a new sibling." Nick chuckled, "When Michelle was born, I remember mom asking dad to figure out when he was going to stop getting her pregnant cause she couldn't handle the amount of kids. Then the twins came a few years later and she told dad that he must have been saving that one for last. She got a hysterectomy after they were born. She figured she'd had her children. Time for someone else to give birth."

"Funny thing is, my dad has blonde hair, my mother has blonde hair. I have blonde hair. None of my other siblings have blonde hair. Every single one of them have black hair," Nick smiled as he finished speaking.

[Kyr Shorn]

Plate

Catching the insinuation about the rather odd "quirk" of Nick's siblings, Agnug laughed and then said, "Well I have two older brothers the twins Gajah and Tio."

"They are both in the army, Gajah by choice, Tio..." Agnug trailed off once more at the subject. It was known that Tio had once been considered the political heir to the Brahma Dynasty but then one day everything was turned on it's head and Agnug came out on top and only a handful knew why.

He then took a large swig of beer before changing the subject, "Well I never met my mother since she died giving birth to me, dad never remarried but my Aunts took up the slack."

Agnug then ventured into dangerous waters with, "As for myself when it comes to dating I haven't really had anything serious happen with anyone, yet."

The President's son then finished his beer and said, "After this what kind of bar or club do you want to go to?"