Keisarraik: Legacy of The Swarm Wars

[Pax Athena]

A new amendment has been added to the constitution, passed with a unanimous vote from the House. This amendment, long overdue, officially ensures the right of speech to all citizens.

Oddly specified in the amendment, which was written by Rei herself, was 'humans,' rather than 'citizens,' or 'individuals.' This has caused a stir in a small minority of Athenian Suongo, as it implies that "synths," as they are referred to derogatorily, are not permitted to speak.

While many see this as an expression of good will from Rei, others interpret it as a diplomatic insult in response to the election of a synth PM in Pax Athena.

It will take time to tell if this is true.

Ah yes, diplomatic insults, the best kind of insult. N7 thought, sipping on his cup of tea, processed by a taste sensor. If only they knew the number of high ranking Suongo already replaced by identical androids. He even invested into having realistic organs and blood, plus DNA scanning as well.

As far as the Fins were concerned, their ministers were perfectly human, unless they took the trouble to dissect the apparently organic brain, which is undetectable from the outside...
If we were discovered, how many innocent human Fins who happened to be at the wrong place at the wrong time would get killed by the fascist nutcase?

N7 was simultaneously disturbed and amused, and he chuckled at this thought. He had combined the mighty spying prowess of the Defence Ministry with the torch-and-light of the enlightenment. Previously, the Empire had attempted to solve it's problems with violence and war, but as N7 had read off some 20th century literature, "violence is the last refuge of the incompetent".

Another section of his positronic brain turned to the diplomatic annexation of Britain. What the Suongo were doing with the military, he would be doing more refined diplomacy, though he admitted that his techniques were rather backhanded, deceptive, and slightly immoral.

Well, at least he made sure to adhere to his programming. For instance, in the replacing of top officials, he made sure none were harmed. They were simply sedated and carted off.

[Finswedeway]

OOC: Rei is very different from Valter in that she is not insane. If she found out about the espionage, which she shouldn't if the spies are any good, she would react by simply firing them and hiring new, trusted individuals in lesser numbers. But that is unlikely, unless I find a good way to write it happening and make it also interesting.

IC: The Consuless, in a publuc speech beoadcasted across Finswedeway, has announced she will enact economic reforms to quote "end the stranglehold monopolists have on the workers," which has garnered mixed responses nationally and internationally. Many Suongo businessmen, quite predictably, resented the proposal, citing their economic freedoms which has brought the economy up steadily in the past years.

In other news, popular writer and right-wing activist, Hans Kjellenburg, published a book depicting the life of a citizen of a fictional country, Peaceful Athens. The following is a passage from the book.

---

Gaius Cornelius poked at his bland food rations, a tag on the side of the plate reading "property of the state." A stack of overdue bills lie on the table of the collective taxes of the past year. He sat his fork down and pushed his plate away from him, his appetite gone. He looked out the window into the street, watching the soldiers march on in perfect formation to combat The Horde, a faceless hivemind to which the Athenian army was quite comparable.

---

This book was very controversial, especially with its Neo-Latin and Deutsch publication. Rei has expressed amusement, yet aggravation towards the attitude of Hans Kjellenburg, stating it is provocative and unnecessarily insulting towards a particular country in the Atlantic.

In political news, a rally of early-model synths calling for a revisal of amendment 13 was violently shut down recently, after an unidentified masked woman attacked a policewoman keeping the peace. The trouble in all of this is that it is nearly impossible to tell between people and new-model synths without them being dead and their bodies desecrated. Some independant businesses have funded research into a technology to identify a synth by simply being in its proximity. The current prototype looks like a regular wristwatch, but vibrates when a certain radio wavelength is detected. Unfortunately, the technology is years ahead of its time, so commercialised use is projected to be in quite some time.

Nonetheless, it has been an interesting news week for Finswedeway.

[Pax Athena]

OOC: Rei is very different from Valter in that she is not insane. If she found out about the espionage, which she shouldn't if the spies are any good, she would react by simply firing them and hiring new, trusted individuals in lesser numbers. But that is unlikely, unless I find a good way to write it happening and make it also interesting.

IC: The Consuless, in a publuc speech beoadcasted across Finswedeway, has announced she will enact economic reforms to quote "end the stranglehold monopolists have on the workers," which has garnered mixed responses nationally and internationally. Many Suongo businessmen, quite predictably, resented the proposal, citing their economic freedoms which has brought the economy up steadily in the past years.

In other news, popular writer and right-wing activist, Hans Kjellenburg, published a book depicting the life of a citizen of a fictional country, Peaceful Athens. The following is a passage from the book.

---

Gaius Cornelius poked at his bland food rations, a tag on the side of the plate reading "property of the state." A stack of overdue bills lie on the table of the collective taxes of the past year. He sat his fork down and pushed his plate away from him, his appetite gone. He looked out the window into the street, watching the soldiers march on in perfect formation to combat The Horde, a faceless hivemind to which the Athenian army was quite comparable.

---

This book was very controversial, especially with its Neo-Latin and Deutsch publication. Rei has expressed amusement, yet aggravation towards the attitude of Hans Kjellenburg, stating it is provocative and unnecessarily insulting towards a particular country in the Atlantic.

In political news, a rally of early-model synths calling for a revisal of amendment 13 was violently shut down recently, after an unidentified masked woman attacked a policewoman keeping the peace. The trouble in all of this is that it is nearly impossible to tell between people and new-model synths without them being dead and their bodies desecrated. Some independant businesses have funded research into a technology to identify a synth by simply being in its proximity. The current prototype looks like a regular wristwatch, but vibrates when a certain radio wavelength is detected. Unfortunately, the technology is years ahead of its time, so commercialised use is projected to be in quite some time.

Nonetheless, it has been an interesting news week for Finswedeway.

N7i chuckled as he finished reading the most charming book from Finswedeway. He had gotten an early copy, and decided to immediately order half a million copies to be sold in Pax Athena. How the people will be so amused by the Suongo propaganda. The book was recommended to him by the Minister for Foreign Relations, who had quite a laugh reading it. Doubtless, most of Pax Athena will too, with our national pride completely unhurt. The Suongo apparently had notions that Liberal Communism was anything like Soviet Russia. Well, if they could poke a bit of fun at us, so can we, and this time, their national pride will be a bit more than unhurt, though he must make sure there's no war. Didn't matter, the current Consulless seems to be relatively stable, or so her Minister of War, a synth, says. Y'know, let's help her along her path to economic reform...

His back positronic cortex immediately transcribed his thoughts onto the computer, as he sent a virtual mail...

---
Unake reached into her bag of cheap, unsafe, unregulated food, which she brought off the store at exorbitant prices, advertisements on the side of the cheap paper bag showing the monopolistic stranglehold the corporatists have on the proletariat. A stack of assortments of mortgage, debts, and his meager bank account made sure he never rose far above the poverty line, and was never able to afford his unreliable clunker of a car, and a freezer that threatened to cause fire. Everything was too expensive, working conditions were poor, and his Japanese landlord nagged him constantly for his bill. He threw his food away, disgusted at the sawdust inside, and looked out of the windows into the street, the soldiers outside, showing perfect loyalty and marching to meet the Hive Mind, which the corporate funded army was quite struggling against.
---
Astute readers may notice more than a few similarities between the new book Suongo Paradise, and a book published last week, Peaceful Athens. The satirical book was published under the pen name of "Biggus Dickus" (from the annals of the 20th century) and officially published as a response by a group of anonymous Athenian writers against a certain satire of their nation.
---
"Hmm, certain radio wavelengths?" N7i pondered this new development, drinking his Earl Grey tea and stroking his chin.

His more panicked Minister was less calm "Yes! And this means they will be able to detect us!"

"Stop panicking man! Can you think of the opportunities? Fine, we can just change the wavelength, but say, if certain government officials we don't like happened to be planted with a positronic radio."

N7's eyes lit up, literally. "The possibilities are endless."

[Evil Dictators Happyland]

A new variety of synthetic human has debuted in the Happyland. Stepping back technologically, the new body is closed-circuit, neither emitting nor receiving any electromagnetic waves. The development was started over hacking concerns, as if one could replace the artificial intelligence systems operating the android, they could take over and in effect "mind control" any synth that didn't have unbreachable firewalls (a concept that computer science has shown time and time again does not exist).

[Finswedeway]

Rei let out an amused chuckle, "all this written by that thing?" She said aloud in the Chotyo First Public Library, "It's a wonder how one can program such good writing skill, if a bit unsubtle, into a toaster." A few people in the other room laughed quietly, as she was hushed by the librarian. "You work for me, anyway," the mumbled to herself.

"Very well, metal man" she thought to herself, "Though it is a false assumption that businesses could make any money selling expensive, faulty products, I see your criticisms and I will let my people know I am open to them. Perhaps *some* safety regulations are in order." Rei set down the book, and picked up her personal copy of Peaceful Athens and continued reading where she left off.

---

Elisabeth Simmons, as she was known by Pax Athena, walked somewhat hurriedly through an Athenian government building. The tiles on the ground, a bright white reflecting the dulling flourescent lights. Just by the walls, which featured portraits of esteemed generals, the tiles were a dark black, not getting much light. Funny, she thought it to be, that in a completely "equal" land, there would always be some who were at a disadvantage.

Twelve years of espionage work, so much had changed in such a short time. Elisabeth put in her earbuds to listen to listen to some Suongo music, soft tones ringing true, a distinct lack of lyrics, reminded her of home.

She pressed on through the mostly empty halls, giving a friendly "ave," when the occasional busy bureaucrat passed by. Looking at a map of the facility, she saw that she reached her destination, entering an unassuming metal door identical to every other door there. In front of her, a series of terminals and a room full of IT workers. She continued and sat down to an empty terminal next to people too busy to even notice her. She plugged in a small flash drive.

Elisabeth turned on the computer screen, FACIAL IDENTIFICATION REQUIRED was displayed over a white background. Nervously, she stared blankly into the screen. It flashed twice, and displayed, FACIAL IDENTIFICATION CONFIRMED, WELCOME MISS. SIMMONS Good, the surgery worked.

She downloaded several files regarding the technology behind synths onto the drive, apparently the synthetic material is entirely made from stem cells with trace amounts of carbon, and began to work otherwise normally, clearing the access data when she was done. She got up, discretely took out the flash drive and disappeared into the crowd of people leaving for lunch.

[Pax Athena]

Rei let out an amused chuckle, "all this written by that thing?" She said aloud in the Chotyo First Public Library, "It's a wonder how one can program such good writing skill, if a bit unsubtle, into a toaster." A few people in the other room laughed quietly, as she was hushed by the librarian. "You work for me, anyway," the mumbled to herself.

"Very well, metal man" she thought to herself, "Though it is a false assumption that businesses could make any money selling expensive, faulty products, I see your criticisms and I will let my people know I am open to them. Perhaps *some* safety regulations are in order." Rei set down the book, and picked up her personal copy of Peaceful Athens and continued reading where she left off.

---

Elisabeth Simmons, as she was known by Pax Athena, walked somewhat hurriedly through an Athenian government building. The tiles on the ground, a bright white reflecting the dulling flourescent lights. Just by the walls, which featured portraits of esteemed generals, the tiles were a dark black, not getting much light. Funny, she thought it to be, that in a completely "equal" land, there would always be some who were at a disadvantage.

Twelve years of espionage work, so much had changed in such a short time. Elisabeth put in her earbuds to listen to listen to some Suongo music, soft tones ringing true, a distinct lack of lyrics, reminded her of home.

She pressed on through the mostly empty halls, giving a friendly "ave," when the occasional busy bureaucrat passed by. Looking at a map of the facility, she saw that she reached her destination, entering an unassuming metal door identical to every other door there. In front of her, a series of terminals and a room full of IT workers. She continued and sat down to an empty terminal next to people too busy to even notice her. She plugged in a small flash drive.

Elisabeth turned on the computer screen, FACIAL IDENTIFICATION REQUIRED was displayed over a white background. Nervously, she stared blankly into the screen. It flashed twice, and displayed, FACIAL IDENTIFICATION CONFIRMED, WELCOME MISS. SIMMONS Good, the surgery worked.

She downloaded several files regarding the technology behind synths onto the drive, apparently the synthetic material is entirely made from stem cells with trace amounts of carbon, and began to work otherwise normally, clearing the access data when she was done. She got up, discretely took out the flash drive and disappeared into the crowd of people leaving for lunch.

"So, she took the bait?" N7i said, today sipping on whisky. "They have the data?"

"Yes, now they might be able to detect the stem synthetic. Which might pose more than a few troubles for us" The Espionage Minister, a tall, slender young man who sat on the other side of the candlelit table said.

"Oh, no they won't. I'm afraid you weren't let in on the secret, Yohan." N7i replied casually. "You understand?"

"Of course. So the synths aren't made with stem cells?"

"Well, they partially are. The older models. You remember that night when I proposed the idea of framing someone with a positronic radio?"

"Yes, I also seem to remember nothing came of that idea."

"Well, it was too obvious. And not foolproof as well. So I decided that we needed something more subtle, more difficult to separate. Something... organic." N7i revealed his plan rather nonchalantly.

"So the Suongo will be able to find old model synths with this data, but if we implant a few key people with..."

"Now you get the idea. I have to say, Elisabeth was quite easy to mislead. A few planted leads sufficiently hidden was enough to lead her to the relevant data core."

"It was Elisabeth?" The Minister seemed slightly startled. "I thought it was Evans. Impossible"

"My dear minister, I was your predecessor. I would know." N7i started, sipping on his brandy. "The moment Elisabeth arrived 12 years ago, she passed the entrance requirements perfectly. Too perfectly, in fact. Except for one particular test she didn't know was going on. As you know, all entrants to SIS are vetted. Their files are top secret. It turns out our Elisabeth Simmons wasn't always our beloved spy. She was the child of Athenian immigrants to Finswedeway in the reign of the previous Zhen king, born Anaki. So I decided to use her as an involuntary double spy. An extremely convenient one, in fact."

The Minister seemed flustered. "Fine, so what do we do now that she has the files."

"We let her oust a few synths, I've notified them that they are to pretend to be shocked and deny everything. But then, on the synth's way out of Suongoland, say their pesky Defence Minister gets self-multiplying synthetic membrane."

"But not their Consulless yet, no." He added.

[Finswedeway]

Rei let out an amused chuckle, "all this written by that thing?" She said aloud in the Chotyo First Public Library, "It's a wonder how one can program such good writing skill, if a bit unsubtle, into a toaster." A few people in the other room laughed quietly, as she was hushed by the librarian. "You work for me, anyway," the mumbled to herself.

"Very well, metal man" she thought to herself, "Though it is a false assumption that businesses could make any money selling expensive, faulty products, I see your criticisms and I will let my people know I am open to them. Perhaps *some* safety regulations are in order." Rei set down the book, and picked up her personal copy of Peaceful Athens and continued reading where she left off.

---

Elisabeth Simmons, as she was known by Pax Athena, walked somewhat hurriedly through an Athenian government building. The tiles on the ground, a bright white reflecting the dulling flourescent lights. Just by the walls, which featured portraits of esteemed generals, the tiles were a dark black, not getting much light. Funny, she thought it to be, that in a completely "equal" land, there would always be some who were at a disadvantage.

Twelve years of espionage work, so much had changed in such a short time. Elisabeth put in her earbuds to listen to listen to some Suongo music, soft tones ringing true, a distinct lack of lyrics, reminded her of home.

She pressed on through the mostly empty halls, giving a friendly "ave," when the occasional busy bureaucrat passed by. Looking at a map of the facility, she saw that she reached her destination, entering an unassuming metal door identical to every other door there. In front of her, a series of terminals and a room full of IT workers. She continued and sat down to an empty terminal next to people too busy to even notice her. She plugged in a small flash drive.

Elisabeth turned on the computer screen, FACIAL IDENTIFICATION REQUIRED was displayed over a white background. Nervously, she stared blankly into the screen. It flashed twice, and displayed, FACIAL IDENTIFICATION CONFIRMED, WELCOME MISS. SIMMONS Good, the surgery worked.

She downloaded several files regarding the technology behind synths onto the drive, apparently the synthetic material is entirely made from stem cells with trace amounts of carbon, and began to work otherwise normally, clearing the access data when she was done. She got up, discretely took out the flash drive and disappeared into the crowd of people leaving for lunch.

"So, she took the bait?" N7i said, today sipping on whisky. "They have the data?"

"Yes, now they might be able to detect the stem synthetic. Which might pose more than a few troubles for us" The Espionage Minister, a tall, slender young man who sat on the other side of the candlelit table said.

"Oh, no they won't. I'm afraid you weren't let in on the secret, Yohan." N7i replied casually. "You understand?"

"Of course. So the synths aren't made with stem cells?"

"Well, they partially are. The older models. You remember that night when I proposed the idea of framing someone with a positronic radio?"

"Yes, I also seem to remember nothing came of that idea."

"Well, it was too obvious. And not foolproof as well. So I decided that we needed something more subtle, more difficult to separate. Something... organic." N7i revealed his plan rather nonchalantly.

"So the Suongo will be able to find old model synths with this data, but if we implant a few key people with..."

"Now you get the idea. I have to say, Elisabeth was quite easy to mislead. A few planted leads sufficiently hidden was enough to lead her to the relevant data core."

"It was Elisabeth?" The Minister seemed slightly startled. "I thought it was Evans. Impossible"

"My dear minister, I was your predecessor. I would know." N7i started, sipping on his brandy. "The moment Elisabeth arrived 12 years ago, she passed the entrance requirements perfectly. Too perfectly, in fact. Except for one particular test she didn't know was going on. As you know, all entrants to SIS are vetted. Their files are top secret. It turns out our Elisabeth Simmons wasn't always our beloved spy. She was the child of Athenian immigrants to Finswedeway in the reign of the previous Zhen king, born Anaki. So I decided to use her as an involuntary double spy. An extremely convenient one, in fact."

The Minister seemed flustered. "Fine, so what do we do now that she has the files."

"We let her oust a few synths, I've notified them that they are to pretend to be shocked and deny everything. But then, on the synth's way out of Suongoland, say their pesky Defence Minister gets self-multiplying synthetic membrane."

"But not their Consulless yet, no." He added.

OOC: oy veh, i'm confused now. Mind putting that simply?

Nvm, I think I sorta follow where you're going with this, you cheeky bastard you . If not, then I have an amazing idea nonetheless.

Still don't know what "self multiplying synthetic membrane" is, perhaps you can clarify what that is?

IC:

Rei reviewed her draft of The Identification Act, which, if passed, would attempt to ensure the documentation of synths and synth activities in Finswedeway. Trouble is, it's nearly impossible to determine who is and isn't synth. She crumpled up the papers, three days of writing wasted. Unaki thumbed through her notes looking for an idea for a proposal to the House, as action was imperative to the Suongo's survival, she believed.

---

Toriyama Akira, a security guard in a Suongo airport just south of Nanzhi, tiredly slumped in his chair, the hum of the fancy new metal detector as familiar as his own heartbeat. Dozing off, he leaned back in his chair as more and more people filed through the otherwise lax airport security.

BZZZZT

The buzzing sound came from the metal detector. Akira was shocked awake. As a reflex, he shot up, looking towards the metal detector. A middle aged woman, looking somewhat shocked and confused, stood with her arms up in the metal detector, a row of impatient businessmen and tourists checking their watches frustratedly. "Time to do my actual job, I guess," Toriyama thought to himself.

"Step right this way, Liaobanni," he said politely. On the moniter of his computer, a series of red spots, supposedly trace amounts of metals, were present in several spots around her body particularly the head. Toriyama raised one eyebrow in confusion. "How could this kindly woman have so many discrepancies?" he wondered. "this machine was specifically designed to be near-infallible, the newest technology! Unless..."

He glared at the woman, who was confused and looking around timidly. "May I see your passport?"

"Yessir," she answered quietly, rummaging through her purse, "here."

Toriyama looked it over, Flavia Franco, Athenian born. Spanish by blood. No discrepancies in any of her papers.

It had become obvious, she was a synth. Why a synth would willingly travel to the most hostile place for such a thing, he didn't know. He handed her back her passport and 50 Zheni, enough for one more flight, and said, "look, for your sake, return home. Just be glad it was my shift, few others would grant you this mercy."

She looked towards the ground, her posture weak. "Yes sir," she said politely, and left in a hurry.

Toriyama returned to his chair, and pulled his hat over his eyes. When his shift was done, The Consuless would hear about this.

[Pax Athena]

"So, she took the bait?" N7i said, today sipping on whisky. "They have the data?"

"Yes, now they might be able to detect the stem synthetic. Which might pose more than a few troubles for us" The Espionage Minister, a tall, slender young man who sat on the other side of the candlelit table said.

"Oh, no they won't. I'm afraid you weren't let in on the secret, Yohan." N7i replied casually. "You understand?"

"Of course. So the synths aren't made with stem cells?"

"Well, they partially are. The older models. You remember that night when I proposed the idea of framing someone with a positronic radio?"

"Yes, I also seem to remember nothing came of that idea."

"Well, it was too obvious. And not foolproof as well. So I decided that we needed something more subtle, more difficult to separate. Something... organic." N7i revealed his plan rather nonchalantly.

"So the Suongo will be able to find old model synths with this data, but if we implant a few key people with..."

"Now you get the idea. I have to say, Elisabeth was quite easy to mislead. A few planted leads sufficiently hidden was enough to lead her to the relevant data core."

"It was Elisabeth?" The Minister seemed slightly startled. "I thought it was Evans. Impossible"

"My dear minister, I was your predecessor. I would know." N7i started, sipping on his brandy. "The moment Elisabeth arrived 12 years ago, she passed the entrance requirements perfectly. Too perfectly, in fact. Except for one particular test she didn't know was going on. As you know, all entrants to SIS are vetted. Their files are top secret. It turns out our Elisabeth Simmons wasn't always our beloved spy. She was the child of Athenian immigrants to Finswedeway in the reign of the previous Zhen king, born Anaki. So I decided to use her as an involuntary double spy. An extremely convenient one, in fact."

The Minister seemed flustered. "Fine, so what do we do now that she has the files."

"We let her oust a few synths, I've notified them that they are to pretend to be shocked and deny everything. But then, on the synth's way out of Suongoland, say their pesky Defence Minister gets self-multiplying synthetic membrane."

"But not their Consulless yet, no." He added.

OOC: oy veh, i'm confused now. Mind putting that simply?

Nvm, I think I sorta follow where you're going with this, you cheeky bastard you . If not, then I have an amazing idea nonetheless.

Still don't know what "self multiplying synthetic membrane" is, perhaps you can clarify what that is?

IC:

Rei reviewed her draft of The Identification Act, which, if passed, would attempt to ensure the documentation of synths and synth activities in Finswedeway. Trouble is, it's nearly impossible to determine who is and isn't synth. She crumpled up the papers, three days of writing wasted. Unaki thumbed through her notes looking for an idea for a proposal to the House, as action was imperative to the Suongo's survival, she believed.

---

Toriyama Akira, a security guard in a Suongo airport just south of Nanzhi, tiredly slumped in his chair, the hum of the fancy new metal detector as familiar as his own heartbeat. Dozing off, he leaned back in his chair as more and more people filed through the otherwise lax airport security.

BZZZZT

The buzzing sound came from the metal detector. Akira was shocked awake. As a reflex, he shot up, looking towards the metal detector. A middle aged woman, looking somewhat shocked and confused, stood with her arms up in the metal detector, a row of impatient businessmen and tourists checking their watches frustratedly. "Time to do my actual job, I guess," Toriyama thought to himself.

"Step right this way, Liaobanni," he said politely. On the moniter of his computer, a series of red spots, supposedly trace amounts of metals, were present in several spots around her body particularly the head. Toriyama raised one eyebrow in confusion. "How could this kindly woman have so many discrepancies?" he wondered. "this machine was specifically designed to be near-infallible, the newest technology! Unless..."

He glared at the woman, who was confused and looking around timidly. "May I see your passport?"

"Yessir," she answered quietly, rummaging through her purse, "here."

Toriyama looked it over, Flavia Franco, Athenian born. Spanish by blood. No discrepancies in any of her papers.

It had become obvious, she was a synth. Why a synth would willingly travel to the most hostile place for such a thing, he didn't know. He handed her back her passport and 50 Zheni, enough for one more flight, and said, "look, for your sake, return home. Just be glad it was my shift, few others would grant you this mercy."

She looked towards the ground, her posture weak. "Yes sir," she said politely, and left in a hurry.

Toriyama returned to his chair, and pulled his hat over his eyes. When his shift was done, The Consuless would hear about this.

Basically, since it would be impossible to just plaster synth materials and frame you directly, the new solution is if you ingest or are injected with or touched a small amount of synth material, the material multiplies exponentially inside of you and within hours you are indistinguishable from the average synth in organic composition without you noticing. And there are no biological effects because it is derived from human cells.

IC
Breaking News! Evening Edition
BRITAIN JOINS THE COMMONWEALTH, CELEBRATIONS IN LONDON
The referendum for Britain to join the Commonwealth of Nations, a new economic and political alliance set up by Prime Minister N7i last week has passed, with a vote of 69-31 percent, with 75% turnout. While Britain's economic power may now be irrevocably tied up with Pax Athena's, the Prime Minister has vowed that the nation of the United Kingdoms will retain it's right to Self-Determination...

Prime Minister N7i put his cup of coffee on the newspaper he was reading. Nothing like a fresh espresso to start the day. Now that Britain was in Pax's sphere of influence, he turned his thought to Finswedeway, his cheerful compatriots at the other side of the world.

Yohan Schoenrich, his Defence Minister entered N7i's office, the room at the top of the tower. Morning sunlight was reflecting off it's medieval stone walls, and strange little contraptions of unknown purpose were whirring and clicking on assorted tables. Through the open windows the sun was rising, illuminating the sky and the green valley below with a lush pink-red hue.

N7i gestured to a chair in front of his desk, and Yohan sat. "As expected, the spy was stopped at the border. The officer there was lenient enough to let her go."

"I always knew that Flavia was quite charming." N7i replied. "Continue."

"They thought she was a synth. And I expect by now, the Consulless knows."

"So the synthetic membrane works? It is able to disguise a human as synth?"

Yohan looked especially grim. "Yes, but this seems reckless, N7. Now that the Consulless thinks we are trying to smuggle synths across the border, she'll get even more paranoid."

"Is that really a bad thing? Do you really think I would've sent Flavia there without computing all factors?"

"Why would we want a paranoid anti-synth Consulless?" Yohan seemed somewhat confused.

"Have you ever heard of this phrase? "What tyrants fear the most is the people they are oppressing." By exploiting her paranoia, we can make her oppress synths. And out of the 500,000 synths in Finswedeway, ten times that number are sympathetic, even if they aren't synths, and perhaps even ten times that number can be persuaded, given appropriate propaganda in an appropriate, emotionally striking time."

"And you know this how?" Yohan queried skeptially.

"Our spies have been collecting more than just government secrets." N7 revealed. "Anyways, let her put in her Android Registration draft. Remember what happened when Hitler tried to do a Jew registry?"

Yohan shrugged. "Dunno, I was never an enthusiast into the 20th century as you are."

"Well, what happened was that quite a few non-Jews did sign up as Jews, in an effort to make ineffective the register. With five million sympathisers, I predict a 92.5% chance the same will happen for androids."

"And I presume your end goal is revolution? Toppling the Consul regime without shedding a single drop of Athenian blood?"

"Oh, maybe not, you'll see. I hope you remember that I am not fond of violence, rest assured, there will be no violent revolution, unless things get out of control."

[Finswedeway]

OOC: oy veh, i'm confused now. Mind putting that simply?

Nvm, I think I sorta follow where you're going with this, you cheeky bastard you . If not, then I have an amazing idea nonetheless.

Still don't know what "self multiplying synthetic membrane" is, perhaps you can clarify what that is?

IC:

Rei reviewed her draft of The Identification Act, which, if passed, would attempt to ensure the documentation of synths and synth activities in Finswedeway. Trouble is, it's nearly impossible to determine who is and isn't synth. She crumpled up the papers, three days of writing wasted. Unaki thumbed through her notes looking for an idea for a proposal to the House, as action was imperative to the Suongo's survival, she believed.

---

Toriyama Akira, a security guard in a Suongo airport just south of Nanzhi, tiredly slumped in his chair, the hum of the fancy new metal detector as familiar as his own heartbeat. Dozing off, he leaned back in his chair as more and more people filed through the otherwise lax airport security.

BZZZZT

The buzzing sound came from the metal detector. Akira was shocked awake. As a reflex, he shot up, looking towards the metal detector. A middle aged woman, looking somewhat shocked and confused, stood with her arms up in the metal detector, a row of impatient businessmen and tourists checking their watches frustratedly. "Time to do my actual job, I guess," Toriyama thought to himself.

"Step right this way, Liaobanni," he said politely. On the moniter of his computer, a series of red spots, supposedly trace amounts of metals, were present in several spots around her body particularly the head. Toriyama raised one eyebrow in confusion. "How could this kindly woman have so many discrepancies?" he wondered. "this machine was specifically designed to be near-infallible, the newest technology! Unless..."

He glared at the woman, who was confused and looking around timidly. "May I see your passport?"

"Yessir," she answered quietly, rummaging through her purse, "here."

Toriyama looked it over, Flavia Franco, Athenian born. Spanish by blood. No discrepancies in any of her papers.

It had become obvious, she was a synth. Why a synth would willingly travel to the most hostile place for such a thing, he didn't know. He handed her back her passport and 50 Zheni, enough for one more flight, and said, "look, for your sake, return home. Just be glad it was my shift, few others would grant you this mercy."

She looked towards the ground, her posture weak. "Yes sir," she said politely, and left in a hurry.

Toriyama returned to his chair, and pulled his hat over his eyes. When his shift was done, The Consuless would hear about this.

Basically, since it would be impossible to just plaster synth materials and frame you directly, the new solution is if you ingest or are injected with or touched a small amount of synth material, the material multiplies exponentially inside of you and within hours you are indistinguishable from the average synth in organic composition without you noticing. And there are no biological effects because it is derived from human cells.

IC
Breaking News! Evening Edition
BRITAIN JOINS THE COMMONWEALTH, CELEBRATIONS IN LONDON
The referendum for Britain to join the Commonwealth of Nations, a new economic and political alliance set up by Prime Minister N7i last week has passed, with a vote of 69-31 percent, with 75% turnout. While Britain's economic power may now be irrevocably tied up with Pax Athena's, the Prime Minister has vowed that the nation of the United Kingdoms will retain it's right to Self-Determination...

Prime Minister N7i put his cup of coffee on the newspaper he was reading. Nothing like a fresh espresso to start the day. Now that Britain was in Pax's sphere of influence, he turned his thought to Finswedeway, his cheerful compatriots at the other side of the world.

Yohan Schoenrich, his Defence Minister entered N7i's office, the room at the top of the tower. Morning sunlight was reflecting off it's medieval stone walls, and strange little contraptions of unknown purpose were whirring and clicking on assorted tables. Through the open windows the sun was rising, illuminating the sky and the green valley below with a lush pink-red hue.

N7i gestured to a chair in front of his desk, and Yohan sat. "As expected, the spy was stopped at the border. The officer there was lenient enough to let her go."

"I always knew that Flavia was quite charming." N7i replied. "Continue."

"They thought she was a synth. And I expect by now, the Consulless knows."

"So the synthetic membrane works? It is able to disguise a human as synth?"

Yohan looked especially grim. "Yes, but this seems reckless, N7. Now that the Consulless thinks we are trying to smuggle synths across the border, she'll get even more paranoid."

"Is that really a bad thing? Do you really think I would've sent Flavia there without computing all factors?"

"Why would we want a paranoid anti-synth Consulless?" Yohan seemed somewhat confused.

"Have you ever heard of this phrase? "What tyrants fear the most is the people they are oppressing." By exploiting her paranoia, we can make her oppress synths. And out of the 500,000 synths in Finswedeway, ten times that number are sympathetic, even if they aren't synths, and perhaps even ten times that number can be persuaded, given appropriate propaganda in an appropriate, emotionally striking time."

"And you know this how?" Yohan queried skeptially.

"Our spies have been collecting more than just government secrets." N7 revealed. "Anyways, let her put in her Android Registration draft. Remember what happened when Hitler tried to do a Jew registry?"

Yohan shrugged. "Dunno, I was never an enthusiast into the 20th century as you are."

"Well, what happened was that quite a few non-Jews did sign up as Jews, in an effort to make ineffective the register. With five million sympathisers, I predict a 92.5% chance the same will happen for androids."

"And I presume your end goal is revolution? Toppling the Consul regime without shedding a single drop of Athenian blood?"

"Oh, maybe not, you'll see. I hope you remember that I am not fond of violence, rest assured, there will be no violent revolution, unless things get out of control."

OOC:

That seems a little... immoral don't you think? I mean, turning she-who-hates-synths into a synth... imagine what that would do to a person.

It's not like she's compromised the Suongo democracy, people still have representation and a say in government (at least, until you replaced them all with synths).

What's your gripe with her anyway? Sure, she hates synths, but she wouldn't dare incorporate that into her foreign policy.

But if you're determined, I'll play along in this little game of yours (in which you have all the power, are always one step ahead of me, your characters are omniscent, and I'm just along for the ride).

[Evil Dictators Happyland]

snip

OOC: Wait, you named a character "Akira Toriyama"?
Just remember to support the official release~

OOC II: Positronic radios would just explode upon being used. Positrons are antimatter particles (specifically, the antimatter equivalent to electrons).
A positron laser, on the other hand, would be an incredibly effective weapon. Gonna have to write that one down.

IC:
*Huh. The Suongo and Athenians are fighting a shadow war over synth rights. Well, honestly, I'm trying to care, but I'm failing. Letting these two hit each other is probably in my best interests anyway. It keeps them out of my way, and lets my spiders spin their webs of lies.
*These fools think that they're following their own plans. I mean, why do they think that "Unit N7i" was able to do what they did?
*Sure, the Parliament hack was so I could corrupt them, but I suppose it was a definite possibility that someone there would exploit it before someone else notices and patches it.
*Now, to finally finish gloating...

Code: Select all

<emotional data 876-B3 loaded>

*MUWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Ahahahahahaha I'm done.
*I should probably get around to making that virus. Let's see how well the Swarm army does without comms or power.

[Finswedeway]

Rei sat bored in her chair, the morning sun shining through the clouds, illuminating the city of Chotyo with its warm, gentle rays. The once-abandoned science centre was now bustling with busy scientists working on new technologies and innovations. The daughter of a renowned scientist, and the only one Valter kept around following the budget cuts, she had a decent understanding of biology, but she was always more interested in administration and warfare. She read her father's notes, the tone of the papers becoming more and more mad until it leaves off with an order to one of the other science divisions.

She looked around, taking in her surroundings. The modernistic lab illuminated by flourescent lights built into the point where the floors and walls meet. The simple, white surfaces had a coat of shiny paint, making it reflect the light in a pleasant way.

"I've got it!" Excitedly exclaimed Rei, standing up from her seat in her office. "A simple tissue sample should prove if someone's a synth, it's foolproof!"

...

"more or less," she thought.

She searched through a series of pre-collected samples. She opened a particularly heavy sample box. It was filled with samples of criminals with synth components found in their heads. She put a human skin sample under a microscope, and a suspected synth skin sample under another one. Fiddling with the focus, sure enough, strange flecks of some odd material lurked in the synth's skin cells. It moved, still, as though it were still alive. Meanwhile, the human's skin was completely normal. She looked through other samples, finding similar results.

"What can I do with this information?" she asked herself.

[Pax Athena]

Basically, since it would be impossible to just plaster synth materials and frame you directly, the new solution is if you ingest or are injected with or touched a small amount of synth material, the material multiplies exponentially inside of you and within hours you are indistinguishable from the average synth in organic composition without you noticing. And there are no biological effects because it is derived from human cells.

IC
Breaking News! Evening Edition
BRITAIN JOINS THE COMMONWEALTH, CELEBRATIONS IN LONDON
The referendum for Britain to join the Commonwealth of Nations, a new economic and political alliance set up by Prime Minister N7i last week has passed, with a vote of 69-31 percent, with 75% turnout. While Britain's economic power may now be irrevocably tied up with Pax Athena's, the Prime Minister has vowed that the nation of the United Kingdoms will retain it's right to Self-Determination...

Prime Minister N7i put his cup of coffee on the newspaper he was reading. Nothing like a fresh espresso to start the day. Now that Britain was in Pax's sphere of influence, he turned his thought to Finswedeway, his cheerful compatriots at the other side of the world.

Yohan Schoenrich, his Defence Minister entered N7i's office, the room at the top of the tower. Morning sunlight was reflecting off it's medieval stone walls, and strange little contraptions of unknown purpose were whirring and clicking on assorted tables. Through the open windows the sun was rising, illuminating the sky and the green valley below with a lush pink-red hue.

N7i gestured to a chair in front of his desk, and Yohan sat. "As expected, the spy was stopped at the border. The officer there was lenient enough to let her go."

"I always knew that Flavia was quite charming." N7i replied. "Continue."

"They thought she was a synth. And I expect by now, the Consulless knows."

"So the synthetic membrane works? It is able to disguise a human as synth?"

Yohan looked especially grim. "Yes, but this seems reckless, N7. Now that the Consulless thinks we are trying to smuggle synths across the border, she'll get even more paranoid."

"Is that really a bad thing? Do you really think I would've sent Flavia there without computing all factors?"

"Why would we want a paranoid anti-synth Consulless?" Yohan seemed somewhat confused.

"Have you ever heard of this phrase? "What tyrants fear the most is the people they are oppressing." By exploiting her paranoia, we can make her oppress synths. And out of the 500,000 synths in Finswedeway, ten times that number are sympathetic, even if they aren't synths, and perhaps even ten times that number can be persuaded, given appropriate propaganda in an appropriate, emotionally striking time."

"And you know this how?" Yohan queried skeptially.

"Our spies have been collecting more than just government secrets." N7 revealed. "Anyways, let her put in her Android Registration draft. Remember what happened when Hitler tried to do a Jew registry?"

Yohan shrugged. "Dunno, I was never an enthusiast into the 20th century as you are."

"Well, what happened was that quite a few non-Jews did sign up as Jews, in an effort to make ineffective the register. With five million sympathisers, I predict a 92.5% chance the same will happen for androids."

"And I presume your end goal is revolution? Toppling the Consul regime without shedding a single drop of Athenian blood?"

"Oh, maybe not, you'll see. I hope you remember that I am not fond of violence, rest assured, there will be no violent revolution, unless things get out of control."

OOC:

That seems a little... immoral don't you think? I mean, turning she-who-hates-synths into a synth... imagine what that would do to a person.

It's not like she's compromised the Suongo democracy, people still have representation and a say in government (at least, until you replaced them all with synths).

What's your gripe with her anyway? Sure, she hates synths, but she wouldn't dare incorporate that into her foreign policy.

But if you're determined, I'll play along in this little game of yours (in which you have all the power, are always one step ahead of me, your characters are omniscent, and I'm just along for the ride).

Alright then, I'll reduce the omniscience by a few notches. And it's not me that doesn't like the Consulless, it's the slightly mad robot Prime Minister. And well, I don't think I am going to turn the Consulless into a synth. The only scenario where that would happen is if Finswedeway invaded Pax Athena.

And also, one of the AI prerogatives is "self-preservation". She-who-hates-synths may be a threat to that particular law, and that is one of N7's main motivations.

[Finswedeway]

A cold morning in Finswedeway, the frozen grass rolled through the hills like the fur on a polar bear's back, swaying in the chilly breeze. Light poured in through frosty windows, illuminating the faces of sleeping workers. A newsboy, in a thick winter jacket, threw newspapers to the doors of the newspaper's subscribers, making a loud 'thunk' noise on the wood of the doors. Stopping just before leaving the farming village, the newsboy adjusted his glasses and read the cover page.

---

Leadership Purges In the Daoist Union

Following a breakthrough in the identification of synthetic humans, Consuless Rei Unaki was shocked to discover, in a regular checkup, that some of her most trusted ministers were synths. Following intense (")questioning ("), it was discovered they were plants from Pax Athena influencing Suongo politics.

More and more government officials are being tested, with a terrifying number of synths being discovered.

From a legal standpoint, this is treason and unconstitutional, and the Consuless has every right to have them executed. However, to the disappointment of patriots everywhere, she refuses to, citing Valter's ruthless execution of spies during his reign as being too unfair. Instead, she proposes that, since they are objects according to Suongo law, they are to be returned to their owners. Because they were produced in Pax Athena, they are considered their owners. The few trusted officials in the Suongi government have opposed this idea, but Unaki seems determined to resolve this peacefully.

OOC: Fair enough

[Pax Athena]

A cold morning in Finswedeway, the frozen grass rolled through the hills like the fur on a polar bear's back, swaying in the chilly breeze. Light poured in through frosty windows, illuminating the faces of sleeping workers. A newsboy, in a thick winter jacket, threw newspapers to the doors of the newspaper's subscribers, making a loud 'thunk' noise on the wood of the doors. Stopping just before leaving the farming village, the newsboy adjusted his glasses and read the cover page.

---

Leadership Purges In the Daoist Union

Following a breakthrough in the identification of synthetic humans, Consuless Rei Unaki was shocked to discover, in a regular checkup, that some of her most trusted ministers were synths. Following intense (")questioning ("), it was discovered they were plants from Pax Athena influencing Suongo politics.

More and more government officials are being tested, with a terrifying number of synths being discovered.

From a legal standpoint, this is treason and unconstitutional, and the Consuless has every right to have them executed. However, to the disappointment of patriots everywhere, she refuses to, citing Valter's ruthless execution of spies during his reign as being too unfair. Instead, she proposes that, since they are objects according to Suongo law, they are to be returned to their owners. Because they were produced in Pax Athena, they are considered their owners. The few trusted officials in the Suongi government have opposed this idea, but Unaki seems determined to resolve this peacefully.

OOC: Fair enough

"Ah, I'll be damned. She actually didn't kill the suspected synths." N7i said in a surprised tone.

"Well, your simulations aren't always foolproof." Hyacinth, his favourite fellow synth said. "I always told you she wasn't much of a threat. Now my money please?"

"Ah, of course." N7i paid his bet of a dozen amogots. It was a sign of his confidence in Unaki's paranoia that he actually bet money "Well then, that's the revolution plan thrown out. And she's surprisingly sane."

"So?" Hyacinth queried inquisitively.

"Let's put the synth infiltrations on hold. Just have one in her cabinet and that should be enough for now. And a dozen or so in the government. I'll relay that to Yohan."

"Good, good. Now, I've been lobbying for you to restore the private sector for quite a few months now."

"Ah yes, I'm thinking, now that the economy is stable and everyone has stable, happy lives, at least financially, why should we deprive them the civil liberty of forming a small business and developing a decent work ethic, eh?"

"Exactly my line of thinking!"

"But still, you won't have your wish on the low regulations part. I'm afraid medium or large business shall still be subject to stringent regulations."

Hyacinth's face fell a little. "Well, at least there's no more communism!"

"Well, there will be in the time it takes for the private sector to develop, but let's leave that matter for more sober times, eh?"

The two gulped their wines, the sensors simulating the mental effects of drunkenness in the positronic brain.

[Finswedeway]

"So no news regarding Siberia?" Asked Rei to her newly-appointed defence minister, twiddling her thumbs as she reclines in her office chair. The minister, standing in front of her desk, folded his arms and puffed out his chest,

"No, Denka-Tai,"

"Please, don't call me that, that's a Queen's title." She said dismissively, "anyway, do you think the swarm simply destroyed the Russians?"

"Well, that would make the most sense," he replied, his long, graying beard swaying with his movements. "It appears to me they just moved onto Europe. Russia is completely silent, I say we just move in further. Take the rest of Russia, help any remaining residents, and we're one step closer to our ultimate goal!"

"Well," she said, relieved she only needed to fight more swarm, "that was easier than I thought it would be." She sighed, leaned back in her chair and fiddled with her long, black hair. The minister stood there, waiting to be dismissed. "Oh, yes," she said remembering the odd rules of dismissal in Finswedeway tradition, "you may leave now." He left the office quietly, as the sun began to rise in the east, the direction the Consul's Office window faced. Light poured into the room, illuminating clouds of dust floating through the air.

"Leave it to the swarm to be the only ones able to invade Russia in the winter," she thought aloud.

[Finswedeway]

OOC: Dang. Rolled a 1.

BREAKING: Devestating hurricane hits Chotyo,
Japan and south-eastern Manchu in ruins

On an otherwise calm afternoon, the Suongo seat of government and the most developed city in the country was leveled by a hurricane of epic proportions. With wind speeds of up to 150 miles per hour, citizens were evacuated from certain doom just in time.

The economic capital of Asia, as many Suongo affectionately referred to it, the devestation of Chotyo sent a shockwave throughout the world economy and the stock market. People as far away as Pax Athena felt the blow, with prices rising beyond what consumers could pay for.

With no place to go, the Suongo government was forced to start anew in the Liaodong peninsula. The new capital city of Liaonaki was founded by the relocated Chotyoers and the House of Representatives. Thankfully, no one but those who refused to leave were severely harmed in the event, but the catastrophe has destroyed millions of jobs and homes. It is up to Unaki to lead us through these dark times.

[Evil Dictators Happyland]

Scandal has erupted across the nations when a massive leak revealed that the Happylandian government had hacked into the Athenian Parliament computer systems, thus allowing anyone who input a particular series of digits (the code 8822464621, followed by the 'enter' key) to alter votes after they had been cast. The Dictator has denied any knowledge of the hack, claiming that it had happened with neither his permission nor his knowledge, and he would be trying to find the original hacker.
Speaking to the people, he stated that while he fully appreciated the goals of whoever hacked into the Athenian systems, serving your country is not worth jeopardizing relations between two superpowers, and that in addition, whoever did so did not fully understand the dangers of doing such a thing under the nose of a leader with unlimited political power.

OOC: Dang. Rolled a 1.

BREAKING: Devestating hurricane hits Chotyo,
Japan and south-eastern Manchu in ruins

On an otherwise calm afternoon, the Suongo seat of government and the most developed city in the country was leveled by a hurricane of epic proportions. With wind speeds of up to 150 miles per hour, citizens were evacuated from certain doom just in time.

The economic capital of Asia, as many Suongo affectionately referred to it, the devestation of Chotyo sent a shockwave throughout the world economy and the stock market. People as far away as Pax Athena felt the blow, with prices rising beyond what consumers could pay for.

With no place to go, the Suongo government was forced to start anew in the Liaodong peninsula. The new capital city of Liaonaki was founded by the relocated Chotyoers and the House of Representatives. Thankfully, no one but those who refused to leave were severely harmed in the event, but the catastrophe has destroyed millions of jobs and homes. It is up to Unaki to lead us through these dark times.

The Dictator has also pledged to aid the people of Finswedeway, lending the use of engineers and their hydraulic power suits to clear the rubble and build temporary housing.

In other news, two species of plant life used by the Swarm has successfully been bred in the Happyland. One floats on water and gains energy from filtering out microorganisms, and in addition to being able to survive in saltwater, it is physiologically somewhat similar to the lily pad. The second, dubbed the "balloon flower", separates water into hydrogen and oxygen, releasing the oxygen and using the hydrogen as gas pockets to float in the air, held to the ground by a vine. The first appears to have naturally evolved on a water planet like Earth and is used for food (it has an abundance of proteins and sugars, but has a rather bland taste), while the second is used for generating hydrogen for fusion reactors and appears to have been genetically engineered.

[Pax Athena]

OOC: Dang. Rolled a 1.

BREAKING: Devestating hurricane hits Chotyo,
Japan and south-eastern Manchu in ruins

On an otherwise calm afternoon, the Suongo seat of government and the most developed city in the country was leveled by a hurricane of epic proportions. With wind speeds of up to 150 miles per hour, citizens were evacuated from certain doom just in time.

The economic capital of Asia, as many Suongo affectionately referred to it, the devestation of Chotyo sent a shockwave throughout the world economy and the stock market. People as far away as Pax Athena felt the blow, with prices rising beyond what consumers could pay for.

With no place to go, the Suongo government was forced to start anew in the Liaodong peninsula. The new capital city of Liaonaki was founded by the relocated Chotyoers and the House of Representatives. Thankfully, no one but those who refused to leave were severely harmed in the event, but the catastrophe has destroyed millions of jobs and homes. It is up to Unaki to lead us through these dark times.

Anaki Hausmann looked at her childhood home, the former city of Chotyo, before stepping into the rescue helicopter. The aircraft rose gracefully off the aircraft carrier and flew over the ruins of the economic heartland of Asia. Upon hearing of the disaster, the Athenian government had immediately sent two aircraft carriers (without weapons, of course) to assist in the rescue efforts, though survivors were few. The helicopter stopped and hovered by a massive apartment complex, now ruined by the hurricanes. She and her fellows jumped off to search the building as the helicopter left to fetch more people.

They turned their flashlights on, and looked.

---

"Ah, so that was why it was so easy to hack Parliament" N7i exclaimed. "They already made a massive backdoor wide open."

"Who do you think did it? Some rogue power? The Dictator?" Yohan said, cautious.

"Most likely the Dictator. He definitely has enough resources, and in terms of scientific advancement, they are the best in the world, and who but the government would have access to the fruits of that research. Nevertheless, we don't know how much of a threat they pose, so let's wait and see."

"Indeed."

[Evil Dictators Happyland]

Wearing his new, physical, humanoid body, as opposed to existing as a computer program and communicating through PA systems, the Dictator had called a meeting.
"Alright. I've called together the leading experts in computer science and espionage to get your advice on this.
Who do you think hacked us?"
A programmer was the first to speak. "I'm not familiar with politics, but even I know that the Athenians had motive for this. If they knew that we had hacked them, maybe they decided to hack us back."
After thinking about this for a second, the Dictator settled on an answer. "I don't think that's likely. Our spies and spiders are telling us that they were surprised with the revelation that we had broken their systems, which means that they either did this without authorization or are extremely good at feigning shock.
No, this was probably non-government. We're friendly with Techoligia and Finswedeway, and I doubt they'd jeopardize that by hacking us."
One of the resident hackers, the leader of Shadowflame, the elite hacker group that had hit Pax Athena, spoke up. "But wait, isn't that what we were doing in the first place? Hacking into someone despite the fact that we want to preserve relations with them?"
Anticipating this response, the Dictator explained. "To a certain extent, yes. The reason I ordered you to go after them was because I saw them as a potential threat and wanted to eliminate that threat peacefully -- the other option was to rig an election, and that was a high-risk, low-reward operation. We also did not have spies there at the time, but we fixed that quickly enough."
Understanding this, the hacker went back to playing Galaga II, incorrect in their assumption that the Dictator knew, but correct in their assumption that the he didn't care.
After a half minute of silence, the leader of cyberintelligence offered their opinion.
*Perhaps it was one of the Techoligian hacker collectives that have been a thorn in our side for a while now. If you'd like, I can get my agents looking among them for the culprit.*
"Good idea. Start doing that. Meanwhile, I think we should look into other possibilities."
The rest understood. They were there to find the original hacker and guard against further threats. As the Dictator put it:
"Think of it like tag -- for keeps."

[Finswedeway]

Rei Unaki sat in a moonlit room, a few candles burned in the corner, letting off a soft, warm glow for reading the mosaic of holy Buddhist texts kept neatly in the shelves. The walls were decorated with paintings of historical scenes, like the Battle of Chotyo in which a small Suongo force miraculously defeated Athenian troops in the early 1800's. Depictions of Suongo soldiers on horseback, with their grandeur exaggerated heavily, lined the walls which didn't have books stored in them. The moon reflected off of the glass covering the paintings, illuminating the room the tiniest bit more.

Rei looked outside as she took a sip of relaxing tea which warmed her mouth and throat as it went down. The full moon shined brightly, making the snow gently falling on the wooden windowsill glow slightly. She let her hair down, allowing her shoulders to fall as she slumped further in the comfortable hand crafted chair. Unbuttoning her overcoat, which was reminiscent of a Prussian officer's uniform, she was truly relaxed after a long month of warfare and hurricanes. Scratching at her scarred cheek and letting out a long, pronounced yawn, she rested her eyes and waited.

Some time passed, before knock on the door disturbed the quiet peace of the study. Her visitor had arrived.

[Finswedeway]

Dawn of the Devon-Liaonaki Pact

In light of recent tensions, the Suongo and Athenians have set aside their differences to form an alliance. Over a hot cup of tea in an isolated temple, Unaki and N7i have negotiated the terms of the pact, which include the safeguarding of democracy and a diplomatic union to promote economic, cultural, and technological growth.

Unaki is hopeful this pact will bring about a new age of international diplomacy, as no such pact has been properly made since the Cold War. No diplomats have heard from N7i, but it is known he was eager to sign the agreement.

A popular Happylander political commentator, Bill O'Rodham, states it is simply 'two nations trying to play policeman at the expense of the rest of us.' Others are hoping the alliance will, to quote from an Athenian newspaper, "deter any would-be aggressors from starting anything."

[Evil Dictators Happyland]

Facing away from the table and into the immense windows that were the defining characteristic of this particular room, the Dictator addressed his chief officials -- mostly generals.
Holding a small cell phone, he reviewed his points, then discarded them. They already knew everything on the list. There was nothing he could say that would inform them of something new.
Rather, he had a different idea in mind.
"Soldatführers," he began, addressing his generals by their proper title for the first time -- something that was not lost on anyone. "I do not believe I need to explain anything to you. I was going to prepare and give a speech to you about how we were winning against the Swarm, how we were catching up to Techoligia in science, and how everything else was going smoothly. About how we're tracked down a promising lead on the one who breached our firewalls and how we were going to bring them to justice.
But I didn't. Setting aside the fact that you already knew everything there, speeches are for campaigning presidents aiming for election. That isn't what I had in mind. A pleasing speech won't help us now, when the time comes for action."
Concerned by his actions, but unsure of why they were so concerned, the generals he had called shifted in their seats. Something was wrong. They could all feel it in their bones, but they couldn't put it into words.
Either oblivious or uncaring to their concerns, the Dictator continued. "Right now, we need to act. The Swarm is being defeated on all fronts, but we both need to plan to finish them off here, to destroy them once they are gone here, and plan for a post-Swarm world."
Finally summoning up the will to speak, one of the generals decided to ask a question. "Sir... If this is what you wanted to talk about, I don't see why we need to be here. This isn't our forte. We are all military men and women here. It sounds like you need a team of economists."
"But I don't. You see, I want to talk strategy."
Turning around and jumping a distance of over eight feet into his place at the head of the table, the Dictator smiles. While obviously friendly, the situation and mechanical face made it seem menacing.
"Economists state the obvious. I want your take on the matter.
Suppose we do defeat the Swarm. What should our next move be?"
More than a little frightened by this whole display, it took almost twenty seconds for anyone to respond. "Sir... You said it yourself. Our next step should be to assist our allies against the threat and-"
"I mean who should we help first. The Athenians are suspicious of us, the Suongo can take care of themselves, and Techoligia has been pretty inert diplomatically. What gives us the greatest reward for the least risk?"
After deliberating, it was decided that the Athenians should receive military assistance, while the Suongo should receive economic assistance (mostly engineering help of the variety that was already being offered).
Meanwhile, unknown to them, the Dictator made a series of covert plans. N7i's synth plan had been impressive in thought process, but limited in scope.
No. He needed to think bigger.

OOC: I just had a good idea for an RP topic.
Well, you see... do you remember that time a while back when I said that I wanted to be the bad guy...?

[Finswedeway]

Facing away from the table and into the immense windows that were the defining characteristic of this particular room, the Dictator addressed his chief officials -- mostly generals.
Holding a small cell phone, he reviewed his points, then discarded them. They already knew everything on the list. There was nothing he could say that would inform them of something new.
Rather, he had a different idea in mind.
"Soldatführers," he began, addressing his generals by their proper title for the first time -- something that was not lost on anyone. "I do not believe I need to explain anything to you. I was going to prepare and give a speech to you about how we were winning against the Swarm, how we were catching up to Techoligia in science, and how everything else was going smoothly. About how we're tracked down a promising lead on the one who breached our firewalls and how we were going to bring them to justice.
But I didn't. Setting aside the fact that you already knew everything there, speeches are for campaigning presidents aiming for election. That isn't what I had in mind. A pleasing speech won't help us now, when the time comes for action."
Concerned by his actions, but unsure of why they were so concerned, the generals he had called shifted in their seats. Something was wrong. They could all feel it in their bones, but they couldn't put it into words.
Either oblivious or uncaring to their concerns, the Dictator continued. "Right now, we need to act. The Swarm is being defeated on all fronts, but we both need to plan to finish them off here, to destroy them once they are gone here, and plan for a post-Swarm world."
Finally summoning up the will to speak, one of the generals decided to ask a question. "Sir... If this is what you wanted to talk about, I don't see why we need to be here. This isn't our forte. We are all military men and women here. It sounds like you need a team of economists."
"But I don't. You see, I want to talk strategy."
Turning around and jumping a distance of over eight feet into his place at the head of the table, the Dictator smiles. While obviously friendly, the situation and mechanical face made it seem menacing.
"Economists state the obvious. I want your take on the matter.
Suppose we do defeat the Swarm. What should our next move be?"
More than a little frightened by this whole display, it took almost twenty seconds for anyone to respond. "Sir... You said it yourself. Our next step should be to assist our allies against the threat and-"
"I mean who should we help first. The Athenians are suspicious of us, the Suongo can take care of themselves, and Techoligia has been pretty inert diplomatically. What gives us the greatest reward for the least risk?"
After deliberating, it was decided that the Athenians should receive military assistance, while the Suongo should receive economic assistance (mostly engineering help of the variety that was already being offered).
Meanwhile, unknown to them, the Dictator made a series of covert plans. N7i's synth plan had been impressive in thought process, but limited in scope.
No. He needed to think bigger.

OOC: I just had a good idea for an RP topic.
Well, you see... do you remember that time a while back when I said that I wanted to be the bad guy...?

OOC: u wot m8

IC:

Rei stood proud in the centre of the new House of Representatives congressional room. This one was a tower, not unlike the Japanese pagodas. Built to withstand anything outside a nuclear blast, the tall, sturdy structure stood as proud as Unaki in the centre of the new city of Liaonaki. She looked out at the small court of city representatives, with the three state reps sitting towards the back. The large room, kept lit by the morning sun and the bright glow of snow falling to the ground and reflecting into the building, stirred as people sat to hear the Consuless' Union Address. She planned it to be drawn, but concise, with all that she would say put on a small note card she kept snugly in her coat pocket, only her pauses would extend the length of the speech and the attention of the viewers at home.

The room settled, suppressed murmers turned to silence, as Unaki adjusted her collar and cuffs.

"Mine kiaere Suongo," she began when the final rep had taken a seat, "since the coinage of the very term, we have been a united people." The crowd is silent, cameramen try to capture the most flattering image of Unaki, and a wall of microphones set up for dozens of news channels rest on the table, pointed towards her.

She goes on, "Yet, our namesake remains outside of our grasp. We must not forget our history, in which, conquesting Svenska chartered Russland and Munchuria, bringing their military garrisons with them. But the despicable Russians beat them back, and the Svenska were forced to leave their Manchu divisions behind." She pauses to have a sip of water, letting her words sink in like a pebble in molasses. "We are a skandinuongo nation, left for dead 1000 years ago. Yet we thrived. We thrived, and prospered." Her calm tone slowly shifts, until she bursts out into a shout. The reps are pushed back by her voice, as she exclaims, "but it is now that we restore ourselves to our former glory! One nation from sea to glorious, blood filled sea!"

The reps clap, moved by her words, or agreeing with her ambitions. The restoration of the Siberian territories being their motivating factor. It was clear to some what she had done. She had manipulated the swarm threat for her people's gain. Those few who knew this, the observant and the knowledgable, clapped anyway for reasons which were their own. Rei stuck her chin up and closed her eyes, taking a deep breath and falling silent. The silence hung like meat in a freezer.

She broke it after a few dreadful seconds, but they felt like years. "But we have other interests, yes," said she calmly and somewhat cheerily. "The order of the universe did not favour us when a hurricane struck and wreaked havoc on our people and government." She suppressed her anger at her situation. "No, it is not up to us... But it is up to us to bounce back a dozen times stronger. That is exactly what we will do, because we are Suongo and we will go against the universe itself to sustain our spirit!"

The speech concluded with a wave of clapping as she walked out quickly to avoid the press.

Later, her cabinet revealed her plans for a wall of coastal fortresses to defend against Finswedeway's enemies and a new industrial base in central Manchuria.

[Techoligia]

After the complete silence from the Federal Republic, the Bundeskanzler of Techoligia has announced that after a prolonged search through Techoligia, no more Swarm nests have been found. The Bundeskanzler has declared Techoligia free of Swarm.

[Finswedeway]

Henri Danne, after a long and arduous campaign, looked out towards the last swarm nest in Finswedeway. A sea of aliens, lurking in the shadows of a large valley. Or was it the area between two mountains? He had lost track, focused only on waiting for the all-clear to launch the weapon. He sat, alone in the cockpit of The Mighty One, now refitted to launch projectiles as well as the blixtnedslag, lightning strikes, which had become a staple of the Suongo army. He hovered his finger over the big red button labeled "Zhùliè bàozhà." Slightly anxious, he took a sip of his chardonnay kept in an inconspicuous metal cantine. As it went down, his radio blared a weathered and tired voice which spoke, "You have authorisation to fire."

Without hesitation, and choking on his drink, he slammed down his fist on the button. The Mighty One fired a large warhead high into the sky, its sillhouette dwarfed by the sun's mighty glow. It slowed in midair before turning toward the ground and falling. It seemed almost poetic, as Henri watched through the safety of The Mighty One's thick lead armour. He stared at the moniter, watching the bomb drop to the ground. The entire screen lit up in a brilliant white, as the camera's lens was washed in a hot nuclear glow. It burned out, the moniter only displaying an error message.

"Good show, Danne," he heard through the static-engulfed radio.

Henri collapsed in his seat, his job done after a gruelling 5 years of service. He looked at his food rations, which he would have to rely on until the EMP effect wore off and he could drive home.