The Ethics Union
18-12-2004, 08:33
ETHICS UNION NEWS AGENCY PUBLIC BROADCAST - NEW MOSCOW
"Bad news for the Central Spires today," started a cool, composed news anchor sitting next to an equally confident looking young woman, his partner. "After a crippling intelligence failure, several right-wing neighbors of ours have been searching their travel databases the names of several members of the once prestigious if quiet Ministry of Intelligence."
The television cut to the image of a tired looking elderly man leaning heavily on his cane, surrounded by hundreds of native and foreign reporters demanding a statement. "There really isn't much to be said," he started, rubbing his eyes for a moment before continuing. "We found a few foreign operatives in our midst too late. All we can do is make sure this doesn't happen again."
The young, female anchor returned to the screen with a smile, whisking a loose strand of her red hair away from her face casually. "More than thirty percent of all of the operatives working for The Ethics Union have been taken into custody, and of this group, only half have been heard of in the past twenty-four hours, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs."
The camera shifted somewhat dramatically back to the first anchor. "The undercover operatives had been doing their best to get dissidents safely out of nations who otherwise would have had them executed for their beliefs, but a few of those nations have presented evidence of sabotage and inciting revolution."
CHAIRMAN BORRIS YUKIVITSKI'S OFFICE - CENTRAL SPIRES
The young, recently elected Borris "Ethics" Yukivitski sat slumped in his plush seat at his end of the long table of government officials, flanked by aides. This was quite a first issue to deal with, as the media enjoyed reminding him. The unnerving silence was clearly getting to the other officials as they waited for him to say something after he slapped the television off and began massaging his scalp. After what seemed like a year passed, he sat up straight, scowling.
"Sir, the sooner you give us a plan, the better," whispered one of the aides, only to be dismissed with a nod.
"I don't care how this happened," Borris started, standing up and leaning on the table with his knuckles. "You all need to do better, starting now, but we can't afford to cry over spilled milk, at least not now anyway. Expect some sort of retribution from the capitalists, and do your best to get the peoples' confidence back. They want to believe in you guys, but right now, they feel like their great patriotism is, frankly, questionable."
From the other end of the table, the Minister of Internal Affairs stood up. "That's all good and well, Ethics, but it's a bit broad. Can you be a bit more specific with your plan?"
Borris could see where the minister was coming from, but he was still a bit disappointed to see the man struggle with the fact that they had to wait and see. He stood up straight and folded his hands together at the small of his back and smiled reassuringly. "They'll all respond differently, so we do have to keep an open mind. Try to be as peaceful as possible, and I advise you all watch your steps. I want five men watching every one person who comes in with the diplomats they'll surely be sending, secure extra funds for the anti-missile system, and make sure that the media knows that we've already detained the two men responsible for this, even if he hasn't been doing very much talking."
He paused and folded his arms now, shifting his weight. "The whole world is watching now, and we have to make sure we don't get thrown in with the stereotype of 'left-wing countries are all a bunch of spies.' This issue will haunt us for a while, but we'll get through it soon enough. But like I said, be ready for a long, hard trip. Meeting adjourned."
"Bad news for the Central Spires today," started a cool, composed news anchor sitting next to an equally confident looking young woman, his partner. "After a crippling intelligence failure, several right-wing neighbors of ours have been searching their travel databases the names of several members of the once prestigious if quiet Ministry of Intelligence."
The television cut to the image of a tired looking elderly man leaning heavily on his cane, surrounded by hundreds of native and foreign reporters demanding a statement. "There really isn't much to be said," he started, rubbing his eyes for a moment before continuing. "We found a few foreign operatives in our midst too late. All we can do is make sure this doesn't happen again."
The young, female anchor returned to the screen with a smile, whisking a loose strand of her red hair away from her face casually. "More than thirty percent of all of the operatives working for The Ethics Union have been taken into custody, and of this group, only half have been heard of in the past twenty-four hours, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs."
The camera shifted somewhat dramatically back to the first anchor. "The undercover operatives had been doing their best to get dissidents safely out of nations who otherwise would have had them executed for their beliefs, but a few of those nations have presented evidence of sabotage and inciting revolution."
CHAIRMAN BORRIS YUKIVITSKI'S OFFICE - CENTRAL SPIRES
The young, recently elected Borris "Ethics" Yukivitski sat slumped in his plush seat at his end of the long table of government officials, flanked by aides. This was quite a first issue to deal with, as the media enjoyed reminding him. The unnerving silence was clearly getting to the other officials as they waited for him to say something after he slapped the television off and began massaging his scalp. After what seemed like a year passed, he sat up straight, scowling.
"Sir, the sooner you give us a plan, the better," whispered one of the aides, only to be dismissed with a nod.
"I don't care how this happened," Borris started, standing up and leaning on the table with his knuckles. "You all need to do better, starting now, but we can't afford to cry over spilled milk, at least not now anyway. Expect some sort of retribution from the capitalists, and do your best to get the peoples' confidence back. They want to believe in you guys, but right now, they feel like their great patriotism is, frankly, questionable."
From the other end of the table, the Minister of Internal Affairs stood up. "That's all good and well, Ethics, but it's a bit broad. Can you be a bit more specific with your plan?"
Borris could see where the minister was coming from, but he was still a bit disappointed to see the man struggle with the fact that they had to wait and see. He stood up straight and folded his hands together at the small of his back and smiled reassuringly. "They'll all respond differently, so we do have to keep an open mind. Try to be as peaceful as possible, and I advise you all watch your steps. I want five men watching every one person who comes in with the diplomats they'll surely be sending, secure extra funds for the anti-missile system, and make sure that the media knows that we've already detained the two men responsible for this, even if he hasn't been doing very much talking."
He paused and folded his arms now, shifting his weight. "The whole world is watching now, and we have to make sure we don't get thrown in with the stereotype of 'left-wing countries are all a bunch of spies.' This issue will haunt us for a while, but we'll get through it soon enough. But like I said, be ready for a long, hard trip. Meeting adjourned."