07-02-2020, 10:13 PM
Cabinet Meeting Room, Buttercity, Lauchenoiria
2nd July 2020
Sandra Pavía clenched her fists so tightly under the table that she scratched herself accidentally. Listening to Lucie Scott, the new Environment Minister and leader of the Green-Pacifist Alliance, their new coalition partners, made her want to hit something. Scott was too idealistic, Pavía couldn’t stand people who were incapable of seeing the reality in front of them. As Scott neared the end of her speech, Pavía quickly interrupted before anyone else could say something.
“It is impossible for us to dedicate that much of our GDP to renewable energy projects. I care about the planet as much as anyone, but we had a civil war two years ago and there are people living in temporary housing because their own homes were destroyed by bombs. Unless you’re willing to allow people to starve, this is unrealistic.”
“There are many more things in the budget we can cut other than essential services,” Lucie Scott retorted. “The oversized military budget, for one thing.”
“Oversized?” scoffed Pavía. “We were invaded by half the IDU only two years ago because of our inability to defend ourselves! Let’s set aside for a moment whether or not that was necessary for democracy. The fact it was possible shows how weak our military capacity has become. It’s a dangerous world out there, just look at Xiomera.”
“Ah, good, you brought up an important topic,” Scott said, smiling smugly as if she’d planned this. She shared a look with the other Green-Pacifists in the room, several of whom nodded in encouragement. “Prime Minister, why are you not actively opposing the fascist who calls himself Emperor Xochiuhue?”
Josephine Alvarez had been sitting quietly, watching the two parties of her coalition debate each other, but now she took a deep breath and looked Lucie Scott in the eyes.
“Because the former Empress Yauhmi is not who everyone thinks she is,” the Prime Minister said quietly. “She is far more dangerous, and less innocent.”
“Look, I get that she was married to Topilpopoca, and given the whole extradition debacle I can see why you’re worried about that, but…”
“No. This is not about the extradition crisis. Trust me when I say that Yauhmi is a danger to Lauchenoirian national security, and despite all of his flaws, Emperor Xochiuhue hasn’t ever threatened our nation as much as Yauhmi has.”
“I know you,” Scott said, narrowing her eyes. “You speak of a specific incident. If you want us to believe that Empress Yauhmi is as scary as you say, tell us.”
“This is a matter of national security,” Alvarez said simply.
“So, you won’t tell us. We can’t sit back and just ignore all the Xiomerans being imprisoned and abused. They are going to destroy Manauia Island, they are cramming whole native populations into camps because of their ethnicity! If we sit back, we will be complicit in these things! So many other nations are acting, and the Eirians are asking us to join them in doing what is right.”
“As Prime Minister of Lauchenoiria, I have a duty to protect this country,” Alvarez said, standing up to look at Lucie Scott. “If you are going to push me, I will tell you. What I am about to say does not leave this room. Agreed?”
She scanned the room, looking at everyone individually to make sure they nodded. She sighed and turned away for a moment, looking at the door as if willing a distraction to walk through and prevent her from having to say what was about to come out of her mouth.
“Do you remember the traffic grid incident in Buttercity? That was not due to the outdated infrastructure as was reported. It was a targeted attack, ordered by Empress Yauhmi,” Alvarez revealed, pausing so that the assembled secretaries could take in the shock. “It was a warning to our nation that Xiomera is more powerful than us, that they can play with our lives at will if we dare threaten them.”
She continued: “Do you think that someone who is a good, pure leader with a heart of gold like the Eirians are saying would do such a thing? This is not out of fear of retaliation, because I am sure that the Emperor has far bigger targets than us to worry about. This is because if we depose him and reinstall Yauhmi, nothing much will change. Xochiuhue is a tyrant who wants to install himself as Emperor for life, destroy the environment of Manauia Island to make money, and harm those who oppose him.”
“Yauhmi…” she shook her head “well, have you seen what commentators in Xiomera are saying about the titles and jobs she has been giving her son? It is quite clear she wants to create a hereditary monarchy in her country. Manauia Island? She did not cancel the development plans, merely changed him – Climate Alliance might have claimed victory but that was probably more to do with not wanting to stand outside the embassy every Wednesday through the winter than anything else.”
“Xochiuhue is a very overt tyrant, yes,” Alvarez looked at Scott once more. “Yauhmi is far smarter. I’m not saying her reforms weren’t necessary, but they weren’t done out of some sense of morality. They were a politically expedient way to announce to the world that democracies could support her without worrying. She would hide away all the bad things under a rug and present the image of a reasonable person. That does not mean she is. It means she’s a politically astute leader. One who threatened our nation, one who has fooled the whole world into trusting her, and one who – if left unchallenged – will cause trouble for the whole IDU.”
As silence fell over the cabinet meeting room, Sandra Pavía stared at the Prime Minister in a state of awe and shock. Pavía had disliked Xiomerans since the first extradition requests, she pictured Ambassador Chemā in the place of any female villain in novels she read, but she hadn’t understood Alvarez’s terror of the nation ever since the Empress came to power. Unlike the rest of the country, the change in power had made her more wary of the Xiomerans than before.
At first, Pavía had put it down to the alliance with the Kerlians, and a fear that a female leader would cement that, but Alvarez had become more willing to entertain the idea of relations with Kerlile over the same period. Now everything made sense.
“Empress Yauhmi… attacked us? Cyberattacked us?” Scott said slowly, disbelievingly.
“Yes,” Alvarez responded simply. “We had to cover it up, you know what would have happened under the Haven Accords if it looked like we were still involved in a conflict with someone. For the good of this country, they couldn’t know. And Empress Yauhmi would have done much worse – though God only knows what – if I hadn’t admitted and apologised for what her anger was over.”
“The Great Selection thing?” another Green-Pacifist piped up, then shrugged when everyone turned to him. “Like… everyone kind of knows who was behind that now… I’ll email you about it,” he said meekly as Alvarez glared in his direction.
“Great, just what we need,” muttered Alvarez. “But yes, that. The people supporting Yauhmi on the grounds that she will bring democracy to Xiomera and end authoritarianism are being fools. She cannot be trusted. She will use the same techniques as her predecessors if she wins this war. She’ll just hide it better, and anyone who thinks otherwise hasn’t been paying attention. The Eirians are, as always, naïve.”
The Prime Minister walked over to the door then turned back. “All of you know fine well that I would never agree with the policies of Xochiuhue, but I will not support Yauhmi. This government will not support Yauhmi. We will remain neutral.”
With that, Alvarez turned back to the door, opened it, and walked out.
2nd July 2020
Sandra Pavía clenched her fists so tightly under the table that she scratched herself accidentally. Listening to Lucie Scott, the new Environment Minister and leader of the Green-Pacifist Alliance, their new coalition partners, made her want to hit something. Scott was too idealistic, Pavía couldn’t stand people who were incapable of seeing the reality in front of them. As Scott neared the end of her speech, Pavía quickly interrupted before anyone else could say something.
“It is impossible for us to dedicate that much of our GDP to renewable energy projects. I care about the planet as much as anyone, but we had a civil war two years ago and there are people living in temporary housing because their own homes were destroyed by bombs. Unless you’re willing to allow people to starve, this is unrealistic.”
“There are many more things in the budget we can cut other than essential services,” Lucie Scott retorted. “The oversized military budget, for one thing.”
“Oversized?” scoffed Pavía. “We were invaded by half the IDU only two years ago because of our inability to defend ourselves! Let’s set aside for a moment whether or not that was necessary for democracy. The fact it was possible shows how weak our military capacity has become. It’s a dangerous world out there, just look at Xiomera.”
“Ah, good, you brought up an important topic,” Scott said, smiling smugly as if she’d planned this. She shared a look with the other Green-Pacifists in the room, several of whom nodded in encouragement. “Prime Minister, why are you not actively opposing the fascist who calls himself Emperor Xochiuhue?”
Josephine Alvarez had been sitting quietly, watching the two parties of her coalition debate each other, but now she took a deep breath and looked Lucie Scott in the eyes.
“Because the former Empress Yauhmi is not who everyone thinks she is,” the Prime Minister said quietly. “She is far more dangerous, and less innocent.”
“Look, I get that she was married to Topilpopoca, and given the whole extradition debacle I can see why you’re worried about that, but…”
“No. This is not about the extradition crisis. Trust me when I say that Yauhmi is a danger to Lauchenoirian national security, and despite all of his flaws, Emperor Xochiuhue hasn’t ever threatened our nation as much as Yauhmi has.”
“I know you,” Scott said, narrowing her eyes. “You speak of a specific incident. If you want us to believe that Empress Yauhmi is as scary as you say, tell us.”
“This is a matter of national security,” Alvarez said simply.
“So, you won’t tell us. We can’t sit back and just ignore all the Xiomerans being imprisoned and abused. They are going to destroy Manauia Island, they are cramming whole native populations into camps because of their ethnicity! If we sit back, we will be complicit in these things! So many other nations are acting, and the Eirians are asking us to join them in doing what is right.”
“As Prime Minister of Lauchenoiria, I have a duty to protect this country,” Alvarez said, standing up to look at Lucie Scott. “If you are going to push me, I will tell you. What I am about to say does not leave this room. Agreed?”
She scanned the room, looking at everyone individually to make sure they nodded. She sighed and turned away for a moment, looking at the door as if willing a distraction to walk through and prevent her from having to say what was about to come out of her mouth.
“Do you remember the traffic grid incident in Buttercity? That was not due to the outdated infrastructure as was reported. It was a targeted attack, ordered by Empress Yauhmi,” Alvarez revealed, pausing so that the assembled secretaries could take in the shock. “It was a warning to our nation that Xiomera is more powerful than us, that they can play with our lives at will if we dare threaten them.”
She continued: “Do you think that someone who is a good, pure leader with a heart of gold like the Eirians are saying would do such a thing? This is not out of fear of retaliation, because I am sure that the Emperor has far bigger targets than us to worry about. This is because if we depose him and reinstall Yauhmi, nothing much will change. Xochiuhue is a tyrant who wants to install himself as Emperor for life, destroy the environment of Manauia Island to make money, and harm those who oppose him.”
“Yauhmi…” she shook her head “well, have you seen what commentators in Xiomera are saying about the titles and jobs she has been giving her son? It is quite clear she wants to create a hereditary monarchy in her country. Manauia Island? She did not cancel the development plans, merely changed him – Climate Alliance might have claimed victory but that was probably more to do with not wanting to stand outside the embassy every Wednesday through the winter than anything else.”
“Xochiuhue is a very overt tyrant, yes,” Alvarez looked at Scott once more. “Yauhmi is far smarter. I’m not saying her reforms weren’t necessary, but they weren’t done out of some sense of morality. They were a politically expedient way to announce to the world that democracies could support her without worrying. She would hide away all the bad things under a rug and present the image of a reasonable person. That does not mean she is. It means she’s a politically astute leader. One who threatened our nation, one who has fooled the whole world into trusting her, and one who – if left unchallenged – will cause trouble for the whole IDU.”
As silence fell over the cabinet meeting room, Sandra Pavía stared at the Prime Minister in a state of awe and shock. Pavía had disliked Xiomerans since the first extradition requests, she pictured Ambassador Chemā in the place of any female villain in novels she read, but she hadn’t understood Alvarez’s terror of the nation ever since the Empress came to power. Unlike the rest of the country, the change in power had made her more wary of the Xiomerans than before.
At first, Pavía had put it down to the alliance with the Kerlians, and a fear that a female leader would cement that, but Alvarez had become more willing to entertain the idea of relations with Kerlile over the same period. Now everything made sense.
“Empress Yauhmi… attacked us? Cyberattacked us?” Scott said slowly, disbelievingly.
“Yes,” Alvarez responded simply. “We had to cover it up, you know what would have happened under the Haven Accords if it looked like we were still involved in a conflict with someone. For the good of this country, they couldn’t know. And Empress Yauhmi would have done much worse – though God only knows what – if I hadn’t admitted and apologised for what her anger was over.”
“The Great Selection thing?” another Green-Pacifist piped up, then shrugged when everyone turned to him. “Like… everyone kind of knows who was behind that now… I’ll email you about it,” he said meekly as Alvarez glared in his direction.
“Great, just what we need,” muttered Alvarez. “But yes, that. The people supporting Yauhmi on the grounds that she will bring democracy to Xiomera and end authoritarianism are being fools. She cannot be trusted. She will use the same techniques as her predecessors if she wins this war. She’ll just hide it better, and anyone who thinks otherwise hasn’t been paying attention. The Eirians are, as always, naïve.”
The Prime Minister walked over to the door then turned back. “All of you know fine well that I would never agree with the policies of Xochiuhue, but I will not support Yauhmi. This government will not support Yauhmi. We will remain neutral.”
With that, Alvarez turned back to the door, opened it, and walked out.
LIDUN President 2024 | she/her | Puppets: Kerlile, Glanainn, Yesteria, Zongongia, Zargothrax