A Slow Burn (IC/GO only) [Closed]

[Lunderfrau]

St. Spoofy, Lunderfrau
August 7th 2009

Theodora sat on the porch of her Summer home watching the waves crash onto the shores of St. Spoofy. The water glistened in the light of the mid-day summer sun. It was quiet save for the occasional rustling of the trees and the crashing of the waves. This was where Theodora often came to relax and get away from it all, running a country was hard work after all. This time had been no different. As she let her relaxed in her summer chair, a servent brought forth a ice cold lemonade to help keep the Kaiserin cool in the swealtering August heat.

“The Lemonade you asked for M’lady” The Kaiserin did little to acknowledge her servant other than taking the glass from the tray it was resting on. She took a quick sip and waived the servant off, his job now done for the time being. As she sat drinking her lemonade, the sound of rustling trees and crashing waves was interrupted by another sound; the sound of gravel being tossed, the indisputable sound of a car coming up the road to the house. Theodora watched as the black SUV meandered along the long and scenic gravel pathway along the shore up to the front the house, coming to a stop just a few feet from the steps of the porch. The SUV was not a surprise to her, as she had been expecting this visit.

The passenger side door of the SUV swung open and a women in a suit and tie made her way to the back door of the vehicle. Opening the door, another woman stepped out of the SUV. She wore an simple yellow sundress that went to her ankles and a sunhat that matched her dress. Her chestnut haired flowed in the breeze as she strode her way up the stairs and onto the porch, the mid day light revealing tinges of gray, giving a hint to her age. Upon reaching the porch she gave a brief curtsey to Theodora.

“Thank you for allowing me an audience today my Kaiserin” The Kaiserin turned to face the woman and nodded.

“Ofcourse Claudia, it is always a pleasure to see you” She motioned to the wicker chair next to her own. “Please sit, would you like some lemonade, I had it made fresh to deal with this dreadful heat.” The woman took a seat next to the Kaiserin and nodded.

“Yes I think that would be wonderful, it is quite hot out today isn’t it” She sat back in the chair, gazing off at the waters of the shore.

“Yes, tell me Claudia, what is it that brought you to my summer home today?” Theodora felt she had a good idea of the answer but felt the need to let Claudia explain herself.

“Well, My Kaiserin, I happened to be vacationing at my own residence here on St. Spoofy when I got word you were on the island as well. So I felt it was necessary for me to pay you a visit and see how things are, as a good subject should always do” As she explained the servant returned with a glass of lemonade, she took it from the tray.

“Is that all Claudia? Just a visit and a chat to see how I'm doing?” Theodora questioned, hoping to suss out her guests true intent for coming.

“Well I suppose I do have matters that I would like to discuss regarding governance.” Claudia took another sip of her lemonade. “It regards Elise”. Theodora’s eyebrow raised ever so slightly.

“What about Elise” She asked, her gut telling her to prepare for the response. Claudia paused for a moment as she prepared to lay out her case.

“I know you granted Elise the Duchy of Ardenne to get her prepared for governing as your heir, but I have my…. Issues with the move.” She paused again to feel out the Kaiserin. She looked over to her, Theodora’s face was stoic and unmoved, she took it as a sign to continue. “I haven’t always agreed with your governing but as your loyal subject I have always bit my tongue, but Elise has forced my hand. She must be removed from the line of succession and stripped of her title for the Good of the matriarchy.” Theodora sat motionless taking in Claudias words.

“And why should I do that” Theodora said, trying desperately to keep her demeanor as the rage brought on by this slight rose within her.

“She’s a bad influence, a rebel, a progressive, she will destroy everything that your line and every line previously has built. You’ve seen it for yourself, she’s letting the commoners in Ardenne Vote for their own mayors and such! You yourself openly disagreed with her decision on the matter…"

“My disagreements with my daughter are mine and mine alone” Theodora snapped back, letting slip her pent up rage for a brief moment before concealing it again. “I understand your concerns Claudia, but I am not going to throw the succession of Kaiserinship into chaos simply because my daughter is a bit wide eyed about the world. Such things will change with time and she will fall in line. Besides who would I hand the succession to.” Claudia was quick with her reply.

“Well… P….Perhaps my youngest daughter Ursula, she’s a smart girl, loyal, a true lover of the Matriarchy and a servant of Arda and Theo.” Sweat was rolling down her face as she spoke, a result of the hot summer day and the immense nerves she was feeling. The Kaiserin stood up and walked over to Claudia, her 6’6 stature towering over the sitting woman like a sky scraper.

“How…. Dare you….come into my home, berate my daughter, then have the gall to tell me, THE KAISERIN, to revoke my own daugthers title and remove her from succession. Then to top it all off, you suggest your own flesh and blood for the throne. To think my own a subject, a Duchess even would even contemplate such a thing, then suggest it to my face. Are you stupid?”

“My Kaiserin, I’m sorry, I meant no offense, I had seen your displeasure with your daughter and thought I might provide a solution that would see the prosperity of our great nation continue. I would never put my own kin on the throne, I would expect and want you to adopt her as a Strauss, thereby continuing your line.”

“She’d be a Stein in every aspect but name Claudia, that’s hardly an improvement! Still you have insulted me and my Dynasty in my court!” Theodora paused to collect herself. “You are lucky Claudia, if you weren’t the Duchess of Hinterwalder, I’d have you executed for such a slight. That being said, I will let you leave while I think of a proper response for such insult.” She motioned to the Parked SUV. “Get out of my sight before my anger gets the best of me.”

“As you wish your majesty” Claudia curtseyed as she quickly made her way down the stairs and back into the SUV. In her hurry she didn’t even wait to have her servant open the door to let her in. The car quickly swung around and drove back down the road from which at had come. The Kaiserin, now standing on the porch leaning against the railing, watched as the SUV drove out of view.

“Theo, what a bitch.” She thought, massaging her temples as she sat back in her chair.

In the SUV, Duchess Claudia’s heart was racing, she had nearly avoided death and worse, she had severely miscalculated the Kaiserins relationship with her daughter. But most of all she thought as her chauffer drove her back to her own summer home. “Theo, what a bitch.”

[Lunderfrau]

Schwarzerhugel Castle, Hinterwalder, Lunderfrau
August 10th, 2009

The rain slammed down against the windows of the great den as thunder rumbled outside. A flash of lighting illuminating the dimly lit room. Duchess Claudia Stein was unfazed by the weather outside as she paced back and forth over the brown bear rug spread out on the hard wood floors of the den. What was she to do, she thought, her attempt at engratiating herself to the Kaiserin had blown up in her face, it had nearly gotten her killed. How was she to have known that Kaiserin still supported her daughter. All of her intelligence pointed to the contrary. She knew for a fact that Theodora and Elise had gotten into several shouting matches after the Kaiserin granted Elise the duchy of Ardenne, and Elise’s progressive pioneering had ruffled many of Claudia’s less convservative counterparts across Lunderfrau, with the Duchesses of Vodereland and Rauchwalder privately expressing their complaints about the new Duchess of Ardenne to Claudia. She had thought, driving up to the Kaiserins summer home last Friday, that she would have the Kaiserins ear and be able to establish her own daughter in the line of succession. But she was wrong, dead wrong. She stopped pacing and clenched her fist before slamming it against the wall.

Now her relationship with the Kaiserin, which had been cool but amicable since they’d met as teenagers, was outright hostile. However it wasn’t Theodora that worried her, she ultimately knew Theodora would let this slight go. Hinterwalder loved Claudia too much, if Theodora removed or even killed her, the masses of the Duchy would likely revolt, Theodora couldn’t afford such instability, not with Neighbors such as Winst waiting in the wings to take advantage. The real worry was Elise.

Elise was the latest “softening” of the Strauss Dynasty, and that softening terrified Claudia. She had lived through 3 Kaiserins, and each seemed to be a softer monarch than the last. Gone we’re the days when a Kaiserin could execute a Football team for the crime of beating the Kaiserin’s Alma Mater as Kaiserin Kassandra had done back in 1989; or how Kaiserin Helena barred Wintonian representations on Lunder Television that didn’t “Reflect their Basic and inferior Natures”. The Strauss Dynasty was going soft, and it angered and worried Claudia to no end.

Something had to be done she thought, her first attempt to rectify the situation may have failed, but she wouldn’t give up, she refused to give up. But the question was how? What could she do, any direct move against Theodora or Elise would be a death sentence, even with her support in Hinterwalder as high as it was. Exhausted from the thought exercise she sat down and picked up the newspaper.

“The Moosehausen Reflector”
“GoTube, the New Realm of Influencing the Masses”

Claudia raised an eyebrow intrigued by the article, the gears in her head were churning, this wouldn’t be the quickest way to get what she wanted, but it was perhaps the safest and least suspicious.

Salzewinde, Lunderfrau
August 10th 2009

Adele Junkers sat in her office on the outskirts of Salzewinde reviewing the latest Episode of her GoTube series “Olympic Truth” on her GoTube Channel of the same name.

“Folks the Space Antelope is coming, Kaiserin Theodora can’t protect you! She won’t protect you! She’s in on it! She’s a Space Antelope Worshipper, shes in the cult. I mean just look at her Daughter Elise! She represents everything the space antelope stands for, Men’s Rights, Belief in Climate Change, the list goes on and on. If you ask me, the Strauss Dynasty needs to go because they will hand over Lunderfrau to the Space Antelope and they will steal our hot water!!” Adele watched her grand motions as she monologed, all in all she was quite happy with the product, she just needed to add some graphics of the Space Antelope and the Strauss’s looking evil and she’d be ready to publish this episode to GoTube. Unpausing the Video Adele let it continue.

“In the meantime, folks, there is a way to protect yourself from this unholy being,” Adele on screen shuffled under her desk for a moment before coming back to the camera holding a small bottle. “With my patent pending, DEEP STATE AWAY!!, guaranteed to protect you against the following” A long list of words scrolls down across the screen.

The Space Antelope
Aliens
Ghosts
The Deep State
Kaiserin Theodora
Genetically Modified Penguins
AND MORE

“And this 5 oz bottle is all yours for 3 payments of $99.99. Folks let me tell you, that is a steal, this stuff is military grade secret technology, only Lunderfrau and the Velkanikans know about this stuff, its easily worth a thousand dollars a bottle, so I’m practically giving these away. Anyway, that’s about all the time we have for today on Olympic Truth, as always Stay Safe, Stay Smart and Stay Watching, buh bye.” Adele again paused the video. The Text scrawl would need some work but that was for her editing team to worry about. She stepped away from her office chair and walked over to the window overlooking the Office Complex she was renting from.

It was hard for her to imagine all she’d accomplished since setting up a GoTube channel just 3 years prior. She’d been a small time grifter, peddling fake cure alls and “alternative medicines” to anyone willing to fork over the cash. Then she saw the potential of Conspiracy theories and the idiots foolish enough to buy into her crock. So she started making videos at home about the Space Antelope, some stupid thing she’d invented while getting high one night and rolled with it. The next thing she knew, she was hiring an entire production team, social media crew and was even getting sponsored by makers of MREs and other Prepper products. She smiled wide, revealing her yellow teeth, stained from years of smoking cigarettes. She quickly reached into her jean pocket and pulled a fresh pack and a lighter, it was about time for her afternoon smoke anyway. As she prepared to light up, her personal aide came barging in.

“Ms. Junkers, I know you said never to bother you but….” The poor woman couldn’t finish her sentence before Adele swung around.

“Well, what is it! Spit it out for the love of theo!!” She attempted again to light her cigarette, succeeding this time without interuption. She let the cigarette sit in her plump and meaty hands for a moment before bringing it to her lips.

“It’s a representative for Duchess Claudia of Hinterwalder Ma’am” Adele nearly lost her cigarette as her mouth was agape from shock.

“Crap”, she thought, “this is probably that cease and desist over the latest batch of episodes, ugh, I should have left the nobility out of it and just stuck to the bureaucrats” She went over to the Aide and grabbed the phone.

“Yeah this is Junkers”

“Ms. Junkers my name is Carla and I’m a personal aide for the honorable Lady Claudia, Duchess of Hinterwalder” The Woman on the phone was as polite as can be, Adele rolled her eyes, such formality was for suckers.

“Do you want something or are you planning on suing me?” She got right down to the point, twiddling her cigarette in her hand as she waited for a reply.

“It would seem the Duchess has viewed your videos on GoTube and requests an Audience with you” The cigarette dropped to the floor as Adele reeled back from pure shock.

“I’m sorry, what?! The Duchess wants an audience with me?” She sat down in her office chair, taking in what the woman on the phone was telling her.

“Why yes, it seems that Duchess Claudia is quite enamored by your work and has an opportunity she would like to discuss with you. Can you be in Moosehausen by tomorrow afternoon, the Duchess is willing to fly you in should you need it.” Adele didn’t even bother to look at her calendar, whatever she had scheduled for the next couple of days paled in comparison to whatever this woman was offering.

“Yes, that’s not a problem, transport would be great as well. I look forward to it.” She hung up the call before the poor woman on the other side could reply. “Stacy!! Clear my week, I’m going on a business trip!!” Adele screamed, not wanting to bother to walk the 10 feet outside her office to where her aide was sitting.

[Lunderfrau]

Schwarzerhugel Castle, Hinterwalder, Lunderfrau
August 12th 2009

Claudia took a deep whif of her mid morning coffee, the aroma filled her nostrils, jolting through her body, just the smell of the caffeine laden beverage was enough to pick her up. She sat patiently in the Parlor room of Schwarzerhugel Castle. She had lived in the Castle her entire life and was quite proud of it. It was the oldest castle still continuously occupied in Lunderfrau and quite possibly all of Lira. Her descendants had built the castle in 800s and had been adding on to it ever since. The parlor room she found herself in had been built as an addition during the Mid Julian Period, 1856 to be precise. It was Claudias favorite room in the Castle, the massive windows let in copious amonts of light and gave the room a cheery demeanor. This was fervor complimented by the muted yellow walls and white plaster. This was where the Duchess entertained her guests and held her court. Her attendants and advisors had often complained of using the room for official hearings and audiences, as the room was not very spacious with the sheer amount of furniture, it also took away from the “Grandness” of her position. She didn’t care though, the castles throne room was overly dreary and poorly ventilated. It was always too cold in the winter and too hot in the summer. It was for these reasons she ruled not from her throne but rather her chaise lounge. Today would not be different, though her guest certainly would be.

Claudia glanced over to the grandfather clock standing at attention in the corner. The hands read 9:37. “She is late” the Duchess thought, stiring her coffee. “I suppose that’s to be expected of a commoner, no sense of urgency in those people. She took a sip and placed the coffee back down onto the table next to her. It wasn’t soon after that she heard the sound of footsteps approaching the parlour. She watched as one of her servants appeared at the archway to the parlor.

“My Grace, Ms. Junkers of Salzewinde.” The Servant bowed and retreated away, leaving the Duchess to look over her guest. Standing before her was a frumpish and stocky woman. At 5’9 she was short for a Lunderfrausian, making Claudia wonder if the woman was of mixed heritage. Her face was round, lacking any angular features aside from a wide mouth. It almost gave her a frog like appearance. She had come wearing a pair of black slacks a button down blouse and a black suit coat to match. It would have been a fetching ensemble had the wearer not had the figure of a cylinder. The woman quickly approached Claudia, hand extended, her nails untrimmed, with noticeable dirt under the cuticles.

“Hiya, Adele Junkers, Olympic Tru” Claudia raised a hand, as if to tell her to stop.

“Bow or Curtsey please”Adele threw up a puzzled look. “When you meet a member of Nobility, especially one as highborn as myself, you Bow or Curtsey, you do not shake hands. Now Please.” Claudia motioned with her hand, Adele sheepishly complied. “Very good, now please, have a seat, we have much to discuss.” Adele slowly made her way to a chair across from Claudias. “Might you be interested in a coffee or tea, I can have my servants whip it up in a jiffy”

“Actually a Lite Beer would be fantastic” Claudia couldn’t help but raise an eyebrow at such a request.

“That’s…..not a problem, Giuseppe darling could you fetch our guest a uh…. Light….beer.” She turned to the young man standing near the entrance to the parlor, he nodded and without a word departed. Claudia then turned to face Adele. “Ms. Junkers…”

“Please call me Adele”

“Ok, Adele, I have taken the time to view your videos and I must say I am quite impressed. This information regarding the Space Antelope is quite concerning, I just have one question to ask you.” Adele straigtened up in her seat.

“Yes, Duchess, er, anything you want to know. I am an expert on the Space Antelope.”Claudia smiled as Adele spoke.

“I’m curious, do you actually believe the Bullcrap that comes out of your Mouth?” Adele’s heart slumped at these words. “Because I’ve been Duchess of Hinterwalder for nearly 30 years and I’ve never once encountered any of the things you speak of. So either, there is a vast conspiracy that has somehow remained out of my reach or you, my dear, are full of it. Please tell me, which is it?” Claudia smiled politely at Adele but her gaze was lazer focused, her eyes piercing into the Soul of Adele.

“Well… I…. er….you see…. The….uh…. Space…..erm….Antelope….it” The Duchess began to laugh.

“Oh my dear, no need to panic, I didn’t bring you half across Lunderfrau to investigate your stupid claims. I brought you here because I think we can help each other.” Adele perked up and faced the Duchess, whom she had been avoiding eye contact with for fear of giving herself away. Just then the servant returned with Adeles Light beer. She took it and quickly began nursing it.

“What exactly did you have in mind?” She asked, dropping her Conspiracy Theorist demeanor to get down to brass tax. “This better not be a setup to out me!” Again Claudia laughed.

“No, not at all. You see, Im putting together a little group, with the intent of sowing the seeds of rebellion and distrust within the Strauss Dynasty. Based on what I’ve watched from your videos, that seems to be something you could get in on.” Adele shook her head.

“You’re half right, I do crap on the Strauss family a bunch in my videos, but its strictly business. The people that watch me want a boogey man, so I give em a boogeyman. Inciting rebellion though, that’s a bridge too far, even for me.” Claudia waited a second before replying.

“Perhaps you need another form of incentive. As you can imagine I have fairly deep pockets, what with the family corporation and the Duchal treasury. I’d be happy to pay you, under the table ofcourse, to continue your criticism of the Strauss’s and ramp up the extreme. Heck, I’d even be willing to play a part, every story needs its heroic savior after all, and your audience does seem to lean conservatively?” Adele thought for a moment, contemplating her options.

“I think you have a deal Ma’am.” She instinctively extended her hand to seal the agreement before retracting it, having remembered the lesson the Duchess had given her less than an hour prior. “We’ll with all do respect Ma’am I need to be getting back to Salzewinde, my videos don’t make themselves.” Claudia nodded.

“Yes I understand, my people will be in touch with your people. Thank you for coming Adele, it was a….. pleasure to meet you.” Claudia smiled at Adele as she left the parlour. She waited silently for the sound of footsteps to disappear. “Theo, what a troll of a woman.” She sighed. Hopefully she would not have to see Adele for a while, the wheels had been put into motion. As she took another sip of her coffee, another woman entered the parlor. “Ah Carla, right on time.” She smiled.

“I hope all went well with the meeting.” Claudia nodded.

“Yes, I think Ms. Junkers will make a fine addition to this team we are assembling. As a matter of fact I have something I need you to take care of in regards to this. I need you to fly out to Sino Manala this evening. Get your bags packed, the flight leaves from Moosehausen international at 7:00 PM.”

[Lunderfrau]

Gate University, Gate, Sino Manala
August 14th 2009

Derek Opel had been speaking for 2 or so hours at Gate University, promoting his new book “Socialist Menace: How Socialism Infected Lunderfrau and how to keep it from infecting the world”. A Short man due to his Lunder heritage, he didn’t have much of a stage presence, and as such relied heavily on PowerPoint.

“So you see, my Grandfather Fritz Opel fled Lunderfrau after the Massacre of 1929 and subsequent Socialization of the Matriarchy by Kaiserin Caroline II, he ended up settling here in Sino Manala, where he made a humble living as a hotelier. Point being, had my Grandfather stayed in Lunderfrau he would have ended up lazy and poor because of all those government handouts! Which is the premise of my latest book. Does anyone have any questions.” Derek scanned the lecture hall, the hall was at less than a quarter full, with most people barely paying attention. However he did see one hand shoot up at the front row, excited to actually have someone paying attention he called on them.

The Sino Manalan man, probably a college student at the University stood up and made his way down to the microphone located at the very front of the center aisle. He leaned in before speaking.

“Hi Dr. Opel, I'm Kulap, I study History here at the University. You mention the Massacre of 1929 a lot in this presentation and describe it as a “warrantless purging of those that worked for their money” however most historians consider the Tycoon Revolt of 1929 to have justified the actions taken against these individuals due to the attempted coup” Derek began to sweat but kept the façade of a smile to keep the student from seeing he was nervous.

“I understand the misunderstanding, Unfortunately the Lunderfrausians have kept the truth under wraps, my research on the subject has shown that the Coup was manufactured by the government elites to get rid of those they felt “didn’t deserve their money”. He smiled smugly to himself, having felt that he dealt a deathblow to the young mans argument.

“Right, well don’t you think its odd that no one outside of those displaced by the Revolt have argued that it didn’t happen, even Wintonian Historians, who have every reason to want to discredit its rival Lunderfrau agrees with them that a group of wealthy individuals tried to overthrow the government and failed.” Derek quickly padded his brow with his handkerchief.

“Well you know, the Socialist agenda has unfortunately made its way into higher ed, which is clearly distorting the facts, Uhm…. Next question…. Yes you in the back.” Derek pointed to a young woman in the back of the hall with her hand raised. She made her way to the front.

“Hi, so uh, you talk about Lunderfrau as being Socialist and essentially use that as the reason why Socialism is awful, but that completely ignores the fact that Lunderfrau is a Absolute Monarchy with a shoddy human rights record.” Derek nodded.

“Yes because of socialism, Lunder was freedom loving capitalist society before Caroline II destroyed it with her Socialism.” The women crossed her arms.

“Look I took a Liran History Class this past year and I specifically remember reading that Lunderfrau didn’t have free elections prior to the revolt, and it was legal to own men as chattel before Caroline II abolished the practice. It just seems like you really can’t justify your hate of Socialism?” Derek was now increasing flustered.

“Look, Socialism is terrible, Look at Sino Manala, we have 0 socialism and we live in a near Utopia, you can buy what you want, live where you want, gamble. Its Paradise.” The woman looked disgusted after hearing Dereks response.

“You’re joking right, the gap between rich and poor is as wide as its ever been, people are struggling to make ends meet, our government is a sham and our elections are rigged, but I’m supposed to be happy that I have the freedom of buying a Extra big 60 oz cup of Mt. Spew at the Burger Hut for a buck.” Still sweating Derek grabbed his collar.

“Uhm……. Y……yes?” The crowd jeered him and booed at his tone deaf response.

“Well that concludes my talk for today, don’t forget to check out my Book, which is 20% off in the College Book Store today only!! Thank you so much Gate University for having me!!” Derek quickly got off stage, collected his things and departed the University as quickly as possible, before the angry mob had a chance to form against him.

After sprinting several blocks from the University and checking to make sure he hadn’t been followed, he slouched against a wall and breathed a sigh of relief. “Well that was a total disaster he thought”, but at this point he was unsurprised. Derek had been making his rounds on the speaking circuit in Sino Manala for the past 6 months to promote his new book, but frankly no one seemed interested. Frankly most seemed to be appalled. Those that new Lunder history hated the book because it “Distorted the facts” and those that understood political economy hated it because it “glorified unfettered capitalism to the point of deifying it”. Quite frankly Derek didn’t care if the critics were right, that wasn’t the point. If he could get even a few morons to buy into his book that’s all that mattered. Derek knew what his goal was, the return of the Gilded age, before all these “Workers Rights” and “Labor Laws” before the world began taxing the wealthy at all. Better times, times when he would be wealthy. He was of course, fairly wealthy now having inherited his grandfathers and fathers’ fortunes when they passed, but it wasn’t enough. He only had some of the wealth, he wanted most if not all of it. However he didn’t have much time to think about this. He had another meeting to attend.

Several days ago he had received a message from an unlikely source, the Duchy of Hinterwaldr in Lunderfrau. The message had spoken of an “Opportunity to be had”, which intrigued him, even if the offer was from a Socialist hellhole like Lunderfrau. He had therefore agreed to speak with a “Representative” of the Duchess to learn more about the possible proposition. He meandered his way along the streets of Gate till he reached a small café on the North side of the city. Upon entering he immediately began searching for a tall woman, the calling card of Lunderfrausian descent. Sure enough, tucked away in the back corner was a young brunette who had to have been at least 6’2 when standing. He made his way over.

“Would you happen to be Ms. Carla?” He asked. The woman turned to him, looking up from a copy of his book, she smiled.

“You must be Dr. Opel, please have a seat, order anything you like, the Duchess has instructed me to cover your expenses for this meeting.” Derek laughed as he pulled his chair in to sit with the woman.

“No no, if you’re reading my book then you know how I feel about handouts, especially from Lunderfrau” Carla laughed politely at the rather stale joke.

“You do have an interesting take on History Dr. Opel, it is quite different than what we are taught in the Matriarchy.” He waited to reply as he had the waiter take his order.

“Well, having lived your life in exhile from your homeland can do that to you.” He said, with a bit of a sting behind the words. “Now, what exactly has brought me to the Duchess of Hinterwalders attention.” As he spoke the waiter arrived with a cup of tea, he took it and placed it to his side, more interested in the womans response than whatever was in the cup.

“Having read your work, the Duchess understands that you have a certain dislike for the latest members of the Strauss Dynasty.” Derek nodded, finally taking a brief sip of tea.

“Yes, this new one, Elise, she could swing the country into full blown communism if your not careful” He said, readjusting the tea bag in his cup.

“The Duchess whole heartedly agrees with you, unlike others in Lunderfrau she is open to allowing the free market to return in full force to the Matriarchy” Dereks ears perked up at this notion.

“And how exactly does she plan to do that.” Carla smiled,

“She’s putting a….. team together…. Of individuals to figure that out, a team she would like you apart of.” Derek took another sip of tea, trying as best he could not to belay his eagerness.

“This sounds a tad risky, I am barred from entering Lunderfrau and my Family are considered enemies of the state, how exactly does she plan to have me involved.” Carla scanned the room to see if anyone was watching or listening, after deciding the coast was clear she leaned in towards Derek.

“She’d like you to develop some videos with another friend of hers, the intent is to sway the hearts and minds of the people. Think of it as a virtual extension of your book tour. This would all be done remotely, you’d never have to enter the country.” Carla then reached into her handbag, pulling out several hundreds of lilimarks, easily enough to be 3 to 5,000. “The Duchess is also willing to compensate you, under the table, for your assistance.” Derek stared longingly at the money, this was certainly just the tip of a very large monetary iceberg and he very much wanted it.

“Consider it a deal, we can talk compensation at a later date. Perhaps you’d like to stay awhile and chat, I’d love to here how Lunderfrau is doing from the source.” He shot her a coy smile, she was at least 30 years her junior but Derek always felt he had a “way” with the ladies. Carla smiled awkwardly and looked away.

“I actually have a flight to catch in a couple hours, I really should be heading to the airport. Take care of yourself Dr. Opel.” She quickly rose from her seat, giving Derek a full look at her height and made a beeline for the door.

He shrugged and continued drinking his tea, “sometimes the ole razzle dazzle just isn’t there” he thought to himself.

[Lunderfrau]

Moosehausen, Lunderfrau
October 30th, 2009

The past two and a half months had been a whirlwind for Adele, she had gone from being a relatively small time operation with a limited staff working out of an Office in a run down outlet mall, to working out of studio in Moosehausen with a full staff of writers, editors and crew. While publicly, Adele claimed the success to be all her own, the reality was she was getting help from the Duchess of Hinterwaldr herself. The duchess was providing her with significant funds to produce her videos, and that extra cash had allowed Adele to greatly expand her crew and improve the quality of her videos. This of course had come at a price.

“Duchess of Ardenne and heir to the Matriarchy, Elise, recently went on record saying that men should be paid equally to women in the work place. Folks I gotta tell you, the daughter of the Kaiserin once again shows her true colors. We all know that Lunderfrau is strong because of our family values, with Women bringing home the Schnitzel and men taking care of the house. But now Elise wants to upend all that by paying men just as much as women. Ridiculous! It will destroy the Lunderfrausian family unit, and who does that benefit……. I think you know, the Space Antelope!”

Adele watched herself on the screen, she may have had an editing team, but she preferred to be hands on with her segments.

“And of course the Duchess will tout “studies” that support her claims, but the fact is those studies came out of socialist, pro-space antelope Universities! You can’t trust that information, you have to be vigilant, truth warriors, and seek out the real information from folks like me or Duchess Claudia down here in Hinterwalder. Speaking of, I want to take a minute and plug another truth warrior for you fine folks to Listen to.”

The Adele on screen motioned to the right hand corner of the screen, the editing team still hadn’t gotten around to putting in the graphic.

“Derek Opel, a real Lunderfrausian patriot, has just started a new GoTube channel called “Opel University”, he’s going to be debunking some commonly held myths about Lunderfrau, socialism and other issues. Head on over there and give his channel some love. Anyway that’s all the time we have for today. Remember Truth Warriors, Stay Safe, Stay Smart and Stay Watching. Bye bye!”

Adele turned away from the screen, seemingly happy with the product. Or rather most of it. She wasn’t entirely keen on promoting this “Opel University”. Not too long after their meeting, Claudia had informed Adele that she would be working with a Lunderfrausian expat out of Sino Minala. They had started meeting over the phone not long after Adeles first meeting with Claudia. From what she could gather, this Derek personality was some booksmart egghead who’s family fled during the aftermath of the Tycoon Revolt. Derek was one of the strings attached to the Duchess’ support. She was tasked with helping him develop his GoTube channel, which was more “fact based” than her own. She had hoped once she got Derek up and running she’d be done with him, but the Duchess had asked her to promote his channel on her own, and she wasn’t exactly in a position to refuse. She pondered all this while she made her way to the mini fridge in her office. Reaching down she opened the door and retrieved an ice cold beer from within. As she stood back up she noticed Carla standing in the doorway of her office.

“Oh, its you, what’d you need?” Adele didn’t even glance at the women, she was more fixated on getting the beer she was holding open. Carla had become a present fixture at the Moosehausen studio since Adele had moved from Salzewinde in early September. She was acting as Claudia’s “consultant” on “Olympic Truth”, another one of those “Strings” that Claudia kept attaching to the deal.

“Nothing major, just wanted to let you know I’ve reviewed the scripts for the next couple of episodes and made some edits” Adele gripped the bottle tight as she heard those words. Prior to this, she’d been the one that had final say on her scripts, but ofcourse that was when she was funding this out of her own pocket and relying on sponsors to make up the difference. She turned to Carla and tried to smile as genuinely as she could, but unfortunately faking a smile was not as easy for her as scamming someone over.

“I see, well just leave them on the desk” She motioned to a basket on her desk. Carla placed the papers in the basket. “You know, its been almost 3 months since I sat down with the Duchess to hash out this partnership, she promised me she’d make an appearance on the show.” She took a sip of her beer. Carla didn’t even bother to turn to face her as she walked away.

“The Duchess is rather busy at the moment, she’ll let you know as soon as she has time!” and with that Carla was out of the office. Adele pinched the bridge of her nose with her hand, rubbing it. “A non-answer, again.” She thought. If it wasn’t for the money , she’d be done with this broad.

Gate, Sino Minala
November 2nd, 2009

Derek sat infront of the greenscreen in what had been his 2nd bedroom in his Bungalow on the outskirts of Gate. He squinted as he adjusted to the bright lights being shown at him as he heard the countdown.

“3…2…1…. GO”

“Today, many people believe that the tyrrany that the Lunderfrausian people experience on a day to day basis is the result of their Absolute Monarchy, but here to tell you that’s entirely wrong. In reality, it is Socialism that causes tyrrany in Lunderfrau, not Absolute Monarchism. I should know, my name is Dr. Derek Opel, and my Grandfather was at one time a successful Lunderfrausian Businessman, until the day that Socialism Infected the ruling Strauss Dynasty and they banished my family for being successful. Even though Lunderfrau was and still is an Absolute Monarchy, the Lunderfrau my father grew up in was a free-market paradise that ensured his freedom was protected through the invisible hand of the markets. The Lunderfrau of today though, has been stripped of its freedom by Socialist ideas like “Paying people for their labor” and “Keeping people from working 168 hours a week”. Because these freedoms have been taken away, the people of Lunderfrau suffer. If you’d like to here more, check out my GoTube Channel “Opel University” where we dive deeper on this and many other topics that the Liberal Inteligentsia have been lying to you about.”

The bright lights dimmed as Derek stood up from the stool he was sitting on and walked over to the young girl standing behind the makeshift set. She was easily 6’1 and had a slender frame, she turned to Derek and smiled as he approached.

“That was fantastic Dr. Opel, you really have a good presence on camera! All we have to do is send these to the editing team back in Lunderfrau and they should have the next few episodes and commercials ready to go.” Derek smiled.

“Thankyou Mila, I can’t tell you how great it is to have someone here to help me with all this. This “GoTube” Stuff isn’t my cup of tea, given Im 61 Years old.” She laughed.

“It’s my pleasure Dr. Opel, quite frankly its been great to be able to stay here in Gate and enjoy the sun and sand. It certainly beats when I was working in that cramped office space with Adele.” Mila had been a production editor with Adele and Olympic Truth prior to Duchess Claudia getting involved, she had then been asked to travel to Gate and help out Derek with his new GoTube Channel. Apparently she had done an excellent job as the Duchess asked that she leave her position with Olympic Truth and work for her as a “Consultant” with Opel University. At nearly 2 times her salary with Olympic Truth, she couldn’t refuse.

“Well I’m glad you’ve been enjoying Gate.” Derek said as he began to help the crew revert the room back into his 2nd bedroom. “And I’m glad I have someone to talk to in Lunder for once” They both laughed.

“It’s interesting to hear your Lunder Dr. Opel, you can tell you haven’t been to Lunderfrau in a while from your accent and such. Now, before I depart for the day, do you have any questions?” Derek shook his head.

“Not at all, I’m just going to be here writing up more scripts for future episodes. Does the Duchess have any requests I should know about.” Mila turned to leave.

“No, just keep up the anti-strauss stuff and you’re golden. Alright then, I’ll be heading back to my apartment.” With that Mila was out the door. Derek wasted no time in getting to his personal office and back to churning out material for future episodes. The partnership with Duchess Claudia, even in this short amount of time had yielded some great fruit. Sales of his latest book were up by nearly 50% and he was starting to receive some add revenue from this new “GoTube” channel of his. If things kept going the way they were, he may even be able to refuse the Duchess’s “handouts”, not that he would though. “Refusing Handouts is what we tell the poors” he thought to himself.

Even with all the success though, he wasn’t entirely fond of the Duchess. She was of course wealthier than he was, which he respected, but she hadn’t “Earned” her money in his eyes. She’d merely inherited her wealth from her mother through status. Unlike Himself, who had inherited his wealth from his Father, who had in turn inherited his wealth from his father, who had worked to the bone to make his fortune. They weren’t anything alike, he thought. But, even if they did make strange bedfellows, he was happy to play along, so long as it continued to pay off.

[Lunderfrau]

Eiswasser State University
Main Campus
Salzewinde, Lunderfrau
November 6th 2012

The leaves rustled and rattled as they tumbled across the walkways while Gina Manheim walked briskly along, Her unkempt, auburn hair flowing in the fall breeze. As Gina walked along the main quad of ESU, she looked at the various students making their way to classes with Contempt. Gina was not actually a student of Eiswasser State, far from it. She had been rejected by nearly every University she had applied to back in Spring of 2010 when she was graduating High School. Poor Marks across the board and limited to no extra curricular activites outside of being the president of the “Video Game” Club meant that Gina was considered subpar by these institutions. Only Schlitts Community College, in the Salzewinde Suburb of Schwarzerbach, had given her an acceptance matter.

Most people would have taken their acceptance to Schlitts, rated the among lowest Colleges in the Duchy for Academics, as a humbling opportunity to buckle down and get serious about studying. Gina was not most people. Unlike most, Gina realized that her failure was not because she had flunked Lunderfrausian 3 times Sophomore year, no, her failure was direct result of the actions of the Space Antelope.

Gina had been an avid watcher of Adele Junkers and her channel Olympic Truth for 3 years at this point, having subscribed to the channel in October of 2009. She was fully aware, through Olympic Truth that the College Admission Program in Lunderfrau was rigged in favor of those that worship and follow the Space Antelope, and rigged against those that oppose him. However this wasn’t what had brought Gina to ESU today, there was something else that needed to be dealt with.

“Folks, I don’t know if you’ve heard, but theres a new book out that talks trash on me and Olympic Truth. That book is called “Space Antelope: The Rise of the Grifter Conspiracy Theorist” and it was written by Dr. Lina Geller. Geller is a professor of History at ESU, that hive of socialist Space Antelope indoctrination. Folks, I’ve tried legally having the book removed for slander, but no luck, the agents of the Space Antelope are too entrenched into the legal system. Something has to be done about this woman Olympic Truthers, I don’t know what that something is, but we can’t sit idly by as she slanders our movement to save Lunderfrau and its hot water!” Those had been the exact words from Adele’s video last Friday. It was clear to Gina that this was a call to action.

Gina’s heart began to race as she Reached the “Speigler School of Social Science and Humanities”, the brick building loomed over her almost judgingly. She quickly went inside and pulled a crumpled piece of paper from her jacket.

“Lecture Hall 216, 10:15-11:45 AM” She glanced up at the Clock, 10:25. Perfect, she was well within her window of opportunity. She continued through the building searching for Lecture Hall 216, after a few minutes she found the double doors leading the room. Adrenaline pumping, Gina took little time opening the doors and charging down the aisle towards the individual lecturing at the front of the hall.

“TRUTH ALWAYS PREVAILS YOU BITCH!!” She said as she drew a large steak knife and lunged at the speaker. The two fell to the ground as Gina repeatedly stabbed at them, her eyes closed either from the nerves or the adrenaline. After a few seconds she felt herself pulled off the body by several students.

“Theo! What have you done! Are you insane!” Gina looked up to see her handiwork. However the smug smile that she had on her face faded as she looked at the lifeless body of a man that was clearly not Dr. Lina Geller.

“Wha….wheres… Geller…. This is her class, where the hell is your Professor!” She said whilst being pinned down. Looking around she could see that campus security had begun to swarm the room trying to evacuate students that hadn’t been involved. She did not receive an answer as Security pried her off from the ground and restrained her.

A sick feeling came to her stomach, not because she had murdered an innocent, no, nobody was innocent here, rather she had failed to stop the Agent of the Space Antelope.

Schwarzerhugel Castle, Hinterwalder, Lunderfrau
November 6th 2012

“If you’re just now joining us, there’s been what officials are calling a Terrorist Attack at Eiswasser State in Salzewinde. A lone attacker whom National Police have identified as 21 year old Gina Manheim of Nussburgh, Eiswasser, stabbed Mr. Carl Gerhardt 6 times while he was lecturing in the “Speigler School of Social Science and Humanities”. The Motivation for the attack is not fully known, though Investigators believe that Manheim may have been a believer in the fringe “Space Antelope” conspiracy theory that has gained minor traction over the past few years. We go now to-“

Claudia turned off the television and began rubbing her temples. This was going to complicate things, she thought. The Duchess had gotten word of the attack not long after it had happened around 10:32 this morning. It wasn’t for another few hours that Claudia had been informed by her connections in Eiswasser that the attack likely had ties to her pet project with Junkers. Now she had confirmation via the news. All in all, things had been going smoothly over the past 3 years. Both Junkers and Opel had built out their GoTube channels and were essentially playing off one another. Olympic Truth was feeding people histeria whilst Opel University used “Psuedo Facts” to try and convince those with actual Brain Power to reject the Kaiserin. But this was now all in Jeopardy with this attack. If the National Police managed to implicate Olympic Truth in this, it could unravel the entire operation. As she pondered this, her phone began to vibrate. She looked down at the Caller Idea to see it was Adele.

“I take it you’ve seen the news then?” Claudia asked in an incenced tone.

“Don’t you try to pin this on me lady. I didn’t tell the girl to go and try to off people!” Adele shot back, her anger belied her worry about the situation.

“It’s your Highness or your grace, and unfortunately this is on you Adele. I asked you to discredit and disparage the Strauss dynasty using that Space Antelope nonsense of yours. I never asked you to call people to arms, at least not yet.”

“Oh really, and when did I say to go kill people to fight the Space Antelope!”

“Not Directly, but you did tell people that “Something” had to be done about that Geller character in last Friday’s video. Lo and behold come today, not even a week later, someone went and attacked the lecture hall that she has class in. That’s fairly damning evidence.” There was silence for some time on the other end, Claudia knew that Adele was likely trying to figure out what to say.

“So what do we do?” Adele asked, somewhat sheepishly.

“You are going to put out a video condemning the attack as irresponsible and not the way of going about fighting the Space Antelope. You’re going to apologize for being loose with your words. Furthermore you’re going to cooperate if the National Police come knocking.” Claudia directed, almost as if Adele were her own daughter that was in trouble.

“But if the National Police get involved, I’ll be screwed.”

“Don’t worry about the National Police, I’ll make sure they don’t dig too deep.” With that Claudia ended the call. Perhaps what she hated most about all this wasn’t that she could be found out, but rather that she’d have to actually work at making sure she wasn’t.

[Lunderfrau]

National Police Headquarters, Laubenhugel, Lunderfrau
November 7th, 2012

Marlene Frank took a sip of her morning coffee as she sat behind her desk. She looked out over the cityscape of Lunderfrau’s capital city, Laubenhugel. The sun was just beginning to break over the Hills overlooking the eastern side of the City. With no clouds in sight, the deep auburn sky was a sight to behold. It was things like this that kept Marlene going through her hectic work schedule. Marlene was the Assistant Director of the Criminal Investigation Division; it was her job to oversee the countless Agents and officers dedicated to solving the Crimes of Lunderfrau. Unsurprisingly it was a busy and stressful position. Marlene, therefore, relished the quiet first few minutes of the morning before her secretary came in to give her the docket for the day.

“Mrs. Frank, Duchess Claudia of Hinterwalder is on line one for you” The voice of her secretary jolted Marlene out of her morning routine. “The Duchess of Hinterwalder? What in the hell does she want?” Marlene thought. She quickly picked up her office phone and selected line one.

“This is Assistant Director Frank.”

“Assistant Director, what a pleasure to speak with you this fine morning. Duchess Claudia Speaking. How are you?” The sweet and somewhat sincere tone of the Duchess’s voice caught Marlene off-guard. Claudia was known for her cool and, at times, unpleasant demeanor. This was very much out of character.
“I’m fine your highness. to what do I owe the pleasure of your call?” She didn’t have time to get into extended pleasantries this morning, not with the Attack at ESU yesterday still being under investigation.

“I’m calling to inquire about the…..incident…..that occurred yesterday at Eiswasser State, such a shame!” Again, the Duchess’s response was confusing to Marlene, the attack had not occurred in the Duchess’s Duchy of Hinterwalder, so why did the Duchess care at all about the attack or its investigation? She may have been Duchess, Marlene thought, but the incident and the investigation we’re off-limits.

“I’m sorry your highness, given the attack occurred in Eiswasser and not Hinterwalder, I can’t provide you with any details outside of what is already public record.” There was a long pause.

“Oh, that is a shame. Marlene, you and I have known each other for quite a while, have we not? What has it been almost a decade now?” Marlene gave a quick yes in reply. “And you know how much I love to support the National Police and the girls in blue.” Again, Marlene replied with a yes, she had feeling she knew where this was going. “So, wouldn’t it be a shame if I reviewed the partnership between Local Law Enforcement in Hinterwalder and the National Police, I can tell you, I have allowed a great deal of red tape to be pushed aside in the name of cooperation. I would hate to have to put that back into place.” Just as Marlene had thought, the Duchess was shifting to playing hard ball. She thought about the situation for a minute, giving the Duchess information on the investigation of yesterday’s attack would be violating policy, however, the National Police and the CID couldn’t afford to have the Duchess destroy their relationship with the local law enforcement in Hinterwalder. Even so, the Assistant Director had a trick up her sleeve.

“Well, your highness, I’ll tell you what we know, and what we know is we aren’t investigating.” There was dead silence on the other end, Marlene continued before the Duchess could get a word in.

“The Kaiserin declared it a terrorist action, which puts it out of our jurisdiction and into the jurisdiction of the- “

“MBD…” The Duchess said, anxiety rising in her voice. “Th-Thank you for your time Assistant director, have a lovely day.” With that the Duchess hung up the phone, leaving Marlene to get on with the rest of her day.

Schwarzerhugel Castle, Hinterwalder, Lunderfrau
November 7th 2012,

Claudia nearly dropped her phone as the words MBD left her mouth. As the proud matriarch of the Stein Dynasty, Claudia feared no man or woman, but the MBD however….. the MBD was an exception to that rule.

The Matriarchat Besonderin Deist, or Matriarchy’s Special Service in Lorain, was a mix of Foreign Intelligence Agency, Domestic Intelligence Agency and a little secret police sprinkled in for good measure. Nicknames for the Agency were countless, the Black Widows, the Kaiserin’s Dagger, the Femme Fatales and many more coined both here in Lunderfrau and abroad. At one time the MBD was the Matriarchy’s sole Intelligence and Law Enforcement apparatus at the National Level, however that all came to an end in March of 1990, several months after the Massacre of the ESU Football team in 1989. Kassandra II was “convinced” to water down the MBD and create the National Police to increase accountability of Law Enforcement at the national level. The National Police, in turn were to operate more transparently than the MBD had. However, the Kaiserin had stipulated that the MBD still retain jurisdiction over crimes of National Security such as terrorism. Claudia had hoped the recent attack would not be labelled an act of terrorism given its size, but unfortunately it seemed the Kaiserin had other plans.

The Duchess sat on her chaise lounge and summoned a servant to bring her the largest glass of wine they could muster, she feared even that wouldn’t be enough to numb her fears.

MBD Headquarters, Schwarzwasser, Ardenne, Lunderfrau
November 7th 2012,

Vera Schneider rushed down the grey drab halls of the MBD headquarters in Schwarzwasser, just outside of the Capital Laubenhugel. She clutched her manilla folders as the bright light of the fluorescents above beat down on her. Today was the day she had waited for her entire career. Vera had been with the MBD for 3 years now, 1 as a probationary cadet and 2 as an agent. She had been scouted from her time at Eiswasser State to join the MBD in her Senior year in 2009. Having Majored in Political Science and Sociology with a specialization in Group Sociology, she was brought on as an Analyst specializing in Conspiracies, Cults and Counter-Culture movements. Since then, she had been building a case for one particular Conspiracy.

Vera had first encountered the Space Antelope Conspiracy theory just prior to her Graduation from ESU in May of 2009. Initially she had begun following it out of amusement from the sheer stupidity of the argument. However, as time had gone on, the threat posed by these Space Antelope Conspiracy nuts had grown from merely harmless to potentially destabilizing. Now with yesterday’s attack at ESU being directly tied to the Space Antelope Conspiracy, a window of opportunity had opened for her to speak to the heads of the Domestic Terror Unit on what she had found over the past 3 years and hopefully convince them to make a move on Junkers.

Vera reached the end of the hall and walked through the open door into a large conference room. Several individuals we’re already seated. She was not familiar with the majority of those in attendance. She recognized only her superior, Angela and the Head of the Domestic Terror Unit, Deputy Director Sandra Fontaine. Vera quickly found a seat next to Angela and began preparing her things. Angela turned to her.

“Are you good to go, have everything you need” Vera nodded.

“Yeah, I have it all here. Hopefully this goes well.” She brushed a lock of her long blonde hair out of her face and tucked it behind her ear. Not long after, Deputy Director Fontaine rose from her seat. She was noticeably short for a Lunder, which Vera knew from talk around the MBD was because her Mother was Meronian, hence the Meroni Last Name. Even though she was shorter than her peers, Fontaine commanded the room with her presence. Her athletic physique complimented the navy pencil skirt suit she was wearing, her brunette hair neatly tucked in a bun. She walked over to the front of the Conference room, where a multipurpose media screen sat on the wall. She turned to Angela and Vera, her Hazel eyes focused in on the two like a laser.

“Alright Angela, the DTU and I are already busy with the ESU case, what do you have for me?” Angela motioned to Vera.

“This is one of my Junior Analysts on the Domestic Intelligence Unit, Vera Schneider. Her specialization are Cults, Conspiracies and other Trouble Groups. She has some data regarding the uh…. Space antelope….. Conspiracy.” With that introduction Vera walked to the screen. She felt Fontaine’s eyes follow her as she walked by.

“Thank you for that introduction Angela. As we know, there was an Attack on a TA from Eiswasser State yesterday. That attack has been labeled a terrorist attack both by us and the National Police. The motivation in this attack appears to be related to the Space Antelope conspiracy theory.” The screen behind her flashed an image of the Space Antelope, or rather an artist’s best depiction of what such an animal would look like. “The Space Antelope Conspiracy theory is the belief that World Leaders such as the Kaiserin are being manipulated by a being known as the Space Antelope to bring about a New World Order and to…..uh….. steal the worlds warm water.” The screen behind Vera once again changed to a picture of Adelle Junkers from her show Olympic Truth. “Our best evidence suggests that the Space Antelope Conspiracy was developed by Adelle Junkers, originally from Eiswasser but now living in the Duchy of Hinterwaldr. Junkers runs the Gotube channel Olympic Truth where she discusses the Space Antelope in depth. Originally, this was just a way for Junkers, a known grifter, to make a quick buck on the Conspiracy theorist crowd. However,” The screen again switched to another still of Olympic Truth, showing Adelle ranting about the Kaiserin over Socialism “About 1 ½ years into the shows run, Olympic Truth began becoming more belligerent towards the Kaiserin and the Matriarchy as a whole. We don’t as of yet know what has caused this change, but the new rhetoric makes Junkers and Olympic Truth a real threat to the stability of the Matriarchy. I would recommend further investigations into Junkers and Olympic Truth going forward.” With that Vera returned to her seat, Looking at Angela for approval. Angela smiled and patted Vera on the back.

“Well done” Vera turned to look at Fontaine, hoping to see a similar reaction. However, Fotnaine was emotionless.

“Is that it? You want me to open an investigation into this Junkers person over a Space Deer?” Fontaine sneered.

“It’s Space Antelope and y….yes, my analysis indicates future Lone Wolf attacks or even possibly coordinated group efforts acting on Junkers theatrics. I realize it sounds stupid, but the potential for violent action is re-”

“Your analysis, a junior analyst’s analysis? I’m not going to dedicate resources based on the analysis of a greenhorn. Besides, my team and I have reason to believe the attacks were motivated by the attacker’s failure to get accepted to ESU. These attacks are retaliatory for that, not for some Space Antelope!” Fontaine then turned to Angela.

“Angela, with all due respect, don’t waste my time with this stuff. My team and I have real threats to deal with.” Vera quickly shot up out of her seat, visibly upset.

“Oh really, what kind of threats?!” Fontaine merely glanced at the young woman.

“Right now the focus is on Speilerbudnis, they got a hold of another Nobles nudes last week and are threatening to spread them on the internet if we don’t forward them some In-game currency for some Video game, uh ForkKnife or something. The Duchess of Sudland has been hounding us about it, given it was her daughters photos that were stolen.” Vera crossed her arms in protest.

“Speilerbudnis? Really the Gamer “Terrorists”, we have a potential domestic terror uprising coming on our hands and were worried about a bunch of teenage boys with a god damn Oedipus complex and lack of social skills getting ahold of peoples nudes?” Fontaine walked to the door.

“I don’t expect you to understand the nuances of Counter-Terrorism, given you’re a rookie. Angela, in the future you might want to make sure your analysts have a bit more tact when speaking with superiors.” With that Fontaine left the two women to their devices.