[Lauchenoiria]

Alvarez’s office, Buttercity, Lauchenoiria
Immediately after the call with Empress Yauhmi

Josephine Alvarez threw open her office door and began to walk quickly down the corridor. Cristina jumped up and began to follow her.

“Prime Minister, we’ve had reports that…”

“I’m aware. Get Agent Fleming here immediately. And the transport minister. And schedule an appointment with the Shuellian ambassador tomorrow morning. Early.”

“The… Shuellian ambassador?”

“Do it, Cristina,” Alvarez said, walking through a heavy door guarded by security.

“Y… yes ma’am,” Cristina responded, though the Prime Minister had already gone.

On the other side of the door, high ranking officials in the Lauchenoirian military and intelligence services were reading reports and muttering nervously to each other in jargon that Alvarez understood only half of. She came to a halt in front of the room until they had all turned and given her their full attention.

“Prime Minister, we are still trying to determine the cause of the error in the Buttercity traffic grid, and we do not yet have a full damage report. If you wish, we can…”

“Silence. I need you all to hear this. Really, really hear this. For the good of our nation,” Alvarez said, projecting her voice loudly, and making sure she looked at every individual in the room, attracting their attention. “Whatever the reports end up saying… it was a fault. Just an error caused by aging technology. Is that understood?”

There was silence.

“But, Prime Minister…”

“Stop! I am telling you, that to report anything other than this would be a threat to the security and liberty of this nation. Do you want to be responsible for us coming under a far worse attack than anything this could’ve caused? Do you want us to be responsible for losing our independence because we can’t keep the peace in our own nation? I don’t think you do. So, you will do as I tell you. Is that clear?”

“Yes, ma’am,” chorused the room. Alvarez’s tone had left no room for argument.

It was at that moment that a man walked through the door. A man the Prime Minister had never wished to see again. She gestured for him to follow her, and led him back along the corridors to her office, where she shut the door and stared at him. Eventually, he spoke.

“I thought you never wanted to see my face again, Prime Minister.”

“You have this annoying habit of surviving. There were several reports of your death during the war. How unfortunate that they turned out to be false,” Alvarez said, her tone outwardly calm but with a hint of anger lying underneath.

“Prime Minister…”

“You’re done. This proposal of yours… you are the most immoral, disgusting excuse for a human I’ve ever met. And I was married to a Kerlian!,” she snapped, her anger so visible it was almost as if Yauhmi's earlier anger at her had been contagious.

“Ma’am, regardless of your personal disputes with me, I really urge you to consider this proposal. These… people are a great threat to Lauchenoiria.”

“You will resign from your position and then you will emigrate. I do not care where to. But you will not stay in Lauchenoiria. You know, I almost wish we were Xiomerans, then perhaps you would commit ritual suicide for your failure and I could celebrate.”

“Prime Minister...”

“Get out. Jae Chung can continue her investigation but that is all.”

“Ma’am…”

“OUT!”

The man left, and Alvarez exhaled, taking a few deep breaths. When she was sufficiently calm, she opened the door and waved Cristina in.

“Is the meeting with the Shuellian ambassador confirmed for tomorrow?”

“Yes, Prime Minister.”

“Excellent. I want the documents on the trade deal discussions. Nothing was set in stone after the last meeting, but I’d like to review the section on cybersecurity.”

“Of course, ma’am. The files should be in the blue folders, I can fetch them immediately.”

“Cristina… I get the feeling something terrible was averted tonight. We are going to need to change things here. We can’t keep… we can’t keep taking risks we can’t afford. I’m going to need to see my coalition partners early Monday morning. President Marwick too. We… we have to do something about the Climate Alliance.”

“Ma’am?” Christina frowned, confused. Alvarez wasn’t making much sense.

“Sorry, I’m just…” Alvarez sighed, then sat down and put her head in her hands. “I am going to make more mistakes if I try and make decisions when I’m panicking and reacting to what has happened around me. I need to take a break. I’m going to… I’m going to call my sister.”

“That… that sounds like a good idea, Prime Minister,” Cristina said.

“Yeah… go sort those files for me, would you?”

“Yes, Prime Minister.”

Alvarez sat for a moment, then took out her personal phone, scrolling through her contacts. Her fingers brushed against an old number… Sonja. The line would be disconnected by now, it had been so since Suleman Chaher had interfered with the phone network. Still, in that moment Josephine Alvarez wished nothing more than for the ability to turn back time, before the war, before she knew the truth, before… everything.

She took some deep breaths and thought. There was no point in retaliating against Xiomera, in the long run, that would destroy Lauchenoiria. It was over now, the damage was done, and it wasn’t too bad. Agent Fleming had been fired, he couldn’t do any more damage – the affair rumour had been his idea in the first place. The transport minister would deal with the fallout, and their budget (or lack thereof) would make the story of a fault seem perfectly plausible.

Climate Alliance Lauchenoiria could be diverted to other targets, she hoped. With Fleming gone, perhaps the Lauchenoirian Intelligence Service would stop pushing for greater powers to carry out the domestic operation they’d been proposing since her election. And the Shuellians were very keen to sign a trade deal, which would enable Lauchenoiria to get their hands on cybersecurity technology that would make the country (and her) feel much more secure about things. Yes, it would all be fine.

*

Outside, Agent Gabriel Fleming shook his head and smiled to himself, chuckling slightly. No, he had no plans to emigrate and disappear. Josephine Alvarez was a fleeting figure, a temporary Prime Minister who had made so many mistakes he was sure she’d be gone by April. No, he served a greater cause. He served Lauchenoiria. And he would continue to serve Lauchenoiria, whether the Prime Minister liked it or not.