AN: Edited by Gremlin Jack, perfect_shade, and Nla Eid.

1947, February 3rd, Berun:

For a while, things have seemed to calm down. There was the development of the first practical transistors in the Unified States. Elya and I agreed that directly contacting the men who developed the technology would be risky, so the plan was to use what I remembered about the venture capital firms that bankrolled many Silicon Valley startup companies in my previous world. Elya later mentioned about Anna setting up shell companies in the Unified States, in which one of them would contact the men, tell them that silicon transistors will become a very important technology and the proxy would offer to fund the transistors' R&D in return for a controlling stake. The control of the shell companies would be handed over to the recently established State Investment Ministry for them to manage. She seemed quite happy with the idea of having the BND scout for opportunities, and then hand off the heavy business work over to the SIM to manage.

I had also been following Akitsushima Dominion's electronic industry growth. The Akinese would be more skeptical of foreign investments, but I could justify it as helping them defend themselves against a possible invasion from the CSR. After all, if they can't match the CSR's massive manpower capacity, the only option is to build better weapons.

Elsewhere, South Bharat is in the process of reworking their constitution now that their existence wasn't being threatened by war. With how their government completely failed at the beginning of the war, it was inevitable that something had to change. A major headache has been the dual military structure after South Bharat took over paying for the volunteer army when peace was declared, while still retaining the original army.

On the domestic front, the BND reported that the opposition groups were still focused on the local elections, and with them all catering to different fringe groups, they were racking up a fair amount of electoral wins. The BND said they couldn't seem to find any indications of foreign involvement. I hope some sane people contest me so I can gracefully leave the office and go for a long overdue retirement.

There was a knock on the door, and then Visha poked her head in.

"Is it something urgent?" I asked, to which she nodded.

"Yes. Elya is also here. We need to discuss something sensitive."

In the CSR:

"I want to know what the NKVD is doing!" Zhang Wentian yelled.

"They insisted they had no involvement with Alsace-Lorraine's referendum shenanigans." Kang Sheng replied. "Although they did say they would have done such an operation if there was minimal risk of their agents being revealed."

Zhang put his head in his hands. "It doesn't matter even if the NKVD had no involvement. The fact that we only knew about this mess was when Waldstatten's law firms reported irregularities in the votes, and hostile intel agents attempted to apprehend one of our Frankish agents. How did a Frankish agent get caught up in this mess anyways?"

"The NKVD reported that their Frankish agent was on vacation with their friends. While at a nightclub, they found an attractive woman and the two of them went back to his hotel. Typical for a young, single man." Kang spoke as Zhang facepalmed at the impending disaster. "The agent reported not remembering what happened that night, but by the next morning, found himself handcuffed to the bed's headboard. He escaped with a broken hand and is currently trying to hide. Someone would suspect that we or the Rus might have had an involvement with the referendum. We have no idea who actually messed with the referendum."

"What should we do?" Zhang asked.

"Downscale our European intelligence operations and lay low until the crisis passes?" Kang said. "But that could cripple our ability to gauge what OZEV's next moves are."

There was a moment of silence. Then Kang smiled. "Or, we could be proactive, and have the blame directed at the Albish. The Allied Kingdom and Germania appear to be geopolitical rivals that only cooperated when faced with a common threat, us and the Rus. Now that there's peace, they will be back at each other's throat. I'm sure the NKVD can do something to ensure that the hostile agents will be misled into thinking the Albish is supporting the targeted Frankish agent now that they are in hot pursuit. And that would definitely anger the Germanians of having Alsace-Lorraine taken away from them."

"Stir up conflict between the two capitalist empires?" Zhang raised an eyebrow.

"Yes indeed."

"I like that idea. Solves two problems simultaneously. Ask if the NKVD can implement that idea unless they have a better one. Also, any updates regarding the investigation into the possible information leaks that lead to the Germanians sinking our ships?"

"That was the next thing I wanted to bring up." Kang Sheng slid an envelope to the Chairman. "Wang Ming provided this list of people he wants to detain for further questioning."

Zhang opened the envelope and glanced through it. "Li Lisan is on the list? And some of his colleagues? Of all of the people?"

"According to Wang, it would make sense for hardliners to betray us. Embarrass us to make it easier for them to gain power to implement their version of communism."

Sometime later, in Londinium:

Clement Attle was bewildered as he looked at the report given by Stewart Graham, the head of the Secret Intelligence Service, while Stanley Morrison, the new Foreign Secretary, and James Ed, the Home Secretary, stood by.

"I don't understand. None of our agents were at risk of being exposed in Operation Butterfly." Stewart Graham muttered.

"And yet the Germanian foreign minister is asking us if we are abandoning the 'non-interference in other countries' internal decisions' policy, which he was indirectly asking if we were interfering with Alsace-Lorraine's referendum." Stanley Morrison responded.

"Maybe we have a mole in our intelligence operations?" Clement Attle asked.

"I would have suspected the same, except our agents observed a shootout and a high speed chase of someone who had a broken piece of wood handcuffed to one of their hands and a knife sticking out of that wooden piece, followed by sporadic suspicious activities of what appeared to be possible agents pursuing another agent over the next few weeks. We know for certain that neither parties have worked with us, nor are there any indications of them being part of the Frankish intelligence agency."

"Did the Germanians mention how they thought it was us?" Attle asked.

"They said they captured an agent who not only confessed to working for the Albish intelligence, but also provided contact information for people who fled to the Allied Kingdom right before the Germanian agents could stop them." Morrison said.

"The MI5 confirmed that at least three of them did set foot in the Allied Kingdom. One of them immediately returned back to the Francois Republic, the second one went to Lothiern, and the third one is still at large." James Ed stated. "The rest have not been confirmed yet. The other thing that has been bothering me is that we suspect the agent they captured is a communist sympathizer."

Everyone else had a look of confusion on their faces as James Ed continued.

"Someone had a hunch and compared the provided interrogation footage, photos, name and other personal details of the captured agent against our archive of suspected communist sympathizers. And they found a match, it was when communists from our country and the Francois Republic held a meeting years ago."

"Could it be the CSR?" Morrison asked.

"A Chinese agent would be blatantly obvious." Ed responded. "There is one group of Chinese university students in the Francois Republic, but they are under heavy observation ever since the CSR joined the Bharat War, and we know the Francois Republic's police have been trying hard to find any evidence to justify an arrest. We know they are likely intel agents, but they're acting too clean, as if they've been drilled on how to behave perfectly well for years. No signs of participating in anything remotely socialist activities or groups, and definitely nowhere close to Alsace-Lorraine. The only thing that is remotely suspicious is their active avoidance of the local socialists, and the purchase of large quantities of books, magazines, newspapers and tabloids that they mail back to the CSR."

"What do you mean, 'one group'?" Attle asked.

"There's another group that is actively involved with hardliner right-wing groups, publicly rejecting communism and socialism and embracing religion. Occasionally criticizes the CSR as well. Wiretaps of their phones and bugging their private residences seem to support what we have observed. The Frankish police have been slowly building up evidence against them, but they're concerned that deporting the right-wing CSR group based on what they have done so far may incite a backlash from the local right-wings. We have occasionally seen the two Chinese groups argue. It's impossible to tell if the right-wing group is actually anti-communist, or some sort of an attempt at false flag operation."

"Do you think there's another intelligence agency in play here if the CSR isn't involved?" Attle asked.

"If there is, what a mess we all got ourselves into." Graham sighed.

"I almost forgot." Morrison hissed. "The Germanian foreign minister was also blackmailing us in a diplomatic sense. They said they would be willing to look the other way as long as Alsace-Lorraine is allowed to reform the referendum with Waldstatten's law firms' recommendations, and the naval treaty is to be held open for future renegotiation."

"Renegotiated?" Attle asked, mildly alarmed. "What, they want to build more ships?" Morrison shook his head, "Not exactly. They said they wanted to reserve the option to change the naval treaty terms sometime in the future if the situation requires it. They sent us rough drafts of the planned modifications of their destroyers. I spoke with Rear Admiral John Godby earlier and he said that their upgraded destroyers would now be straddling the definition of a classical destroyer and a light cruiser, which still abides by the current treaty."

"Did the Germanians state what the upgrades are?"

"It's just more radar systems for better air detection, anti-aircraft guns with much higher rate of fire, a lot more depth charges with launchers, and what appears to be rocket launchers. Along with a minor propulsion system upgrade to help maintain the same speed and endurance. You can ask him for more details, but his conclusion was that unless we planned on copying the CSR's mage swarm tactics or relying on air power to attack them, the destroyers' capabilities against our ships remain the same, or are even worse now that they have a lot more exposed armaments and explosives on their decks. We just have to stay out of range of their unguided rocket launchers. As for their carriers, the planned upgrades would allow them to launch jet planes and have additional anti-air defenses."

"And if we say no?" Attle asked.

"Their foreign minister isn't a classical aristocrat." Graham responded. "He spent years running a major media business, has connections with various media companies throughout Europe and the Unified States, including two in the Allied Kingdom, and also co-founded a political party that campaigned against the Devil of the Rhine before eventually giving in. You've seen what happens when someone leaks sensitive information to the press. It's damn near impossible to contain afterward because many aspiring journalists would be willing to take the risk if it means having their names plastered across the newspapers. He knows exactly what to do if we reject his offer."

Attle sighed. "Well at least they aren't building more ships, and we still have our cruisers and battleships. Let them upgrade their existing ships then. What's the progress on contacting the Germanian political opposition?"

Graham cleared his throat. "It's been a slow progress while the SIS is still undergoing a major reorganization, and that process will be accelerated now that it's clear that we need to adapt to a changing world. We are in the process of vetting a few Lothierian agents to act as intermediates so in the event of an intel leak, we are less likely to be exposed again."

In Parisee:

Paul Gassier, Prime Minister of the Francois Republic, weighed his options as his cabinet members waited to hear his input.

Even before the referendum fiasco, there was already deep infighting among his cabinet members and in the parliament. The paralysis over what the Francois Republic should do with their slipping colonies meant that as of now, they're stuck on the default course of trying to maintain an increasingly untenable status quo.

While he would have loved to have Alsace-Lorraine back, he could not risk a third war in the span of less than 50 years, where the first two were disastrous for the Francois Republic. And even if he somehow defeats OZEV, the resurgent Russy Confederation and the Chinese Soviet Republic would capitalize on a weakened Europe and the remaining colonies.

Nevertheless, there were many arguments in the previous days over how to respond as it was assumed that Germania had interfered with the referendum because there was no way the Francois Republic would have done something so brazen and stupid to invite war. Such an insult could not go unanswered. Some of his cabinet members wanted to keep silent and instead wait for a time to make the Germanians pay. Some wanted to resume the alliance with the untrustworthy Allied Kingdom. And of course the "radical socialists" that were sidestepping the ban on the communist party wanted a third war with Germania or to resume their alliance with the Russy Confederation.

The bombshell came in today when the Germanian foreign minister provided evidence showing that it was likely the Albish that had rigged the referendum, based on the interview of the captured agent and the other agents that had all fled to the Allied Kingdom before the Germanians could capture them.

Normally he would have publicly criticized Germania for having intelligence agents operating in Alsace-Lorraine, but now he was conflicted. To criticize the Albish would cause unneeded friction when both countries are facing similar external threats.

The other strange thing was that the Germanian asked to have the issue privately handled and for Germania and Francois Republic to simply redo the referendum with more auditing and other controls in place. Their foreign minister said that they had already privately discussed the matter with the Albish.

"It looks like our hands are tied then. The Ablish would definitely play the denial game if we publicly accused them, and the Germanians seemed to have worked out a backroom deal to not want to go public."

"So we're going to pretend that this whole mess was just a freak accident and brush it under the rug?" one of the cabinet members spat.

"Paradoxically, we would anger both the Albish and Germanians if we go public." Gassier said. "Either we stay neutral or pick a side. To make both of them our open enemies is downright suicidal, espicially when we still have our colonial problems to deal with."

In Berun:

While the Chancellor was off to tour a prototype wind turbine that was being constructed in Germania under the new Ministry of Energy's supervision, using the Smith–Putnam company's designs provided by the State Investment Ministry, Visha and Elya were busy privately meeting in another location.

"I had suspected the Albish would go back on their 'not interfering with countries' internal decisions' promise if it suited them," Visha said. "Sure it was convenient for them to argue that it was the communists that might have been behind the referendum rigging, But Albion's foreign policy had always been 'keep Europe divided' and 'the balance of power' for well over a century. Now it was very convenient for them to support the weaker party, the Francois Republic. At least the Frankish are opting to go along with simply redoing the referendum."

Elya nods, "Right. Although regarding the communists, I'm only getting a small amount of information, but it seems that our accusation of the Albish rigging the referendum has apparently set off a major hunt for communist agents, both in their homeland and in the Francois Republic. They seem convinced that there's another actor in the play. I wonder if the Allied Kingdom or the 'other actor' might be involved with the domestic opposition against our Chancellor, if they are brazen enough to try to rig the referendum of a very sensitive territory in hopes of restarting conflict between us and the Francois Republic?"

Visha stared at her friend,"...Elya, you can't just disappear the opposition leaders." She said with a tone of concern.

Elya neither affirmed nor denied anything and simply shrugged, "They are using your relationship with Tanya in an attempt to drive wedges in the GDU and pull members from the GWP. Sure, Tanya publicly stated that she didn't want to remain as Chancellor, but everyone knows that she's after the Presidential office with how she phrased her request. Even though they aren't directly campaigning against her for the Presidency or you for Chancellorship, they are trying to gain control of local governments to expand their opposition while simultaneously weakening our position." Elya took a sip of coffee. "I think they are trying to build the foundation for a later direct challenge against the two of you. If foreign agents are also part of that operation, that could have detrimental effects for OZEV."

Visha thought on the matter for the moment. It really is such a shame that she's causing Tanya trouble… even if it's the sort that she's sure she doesn't mind. "...Maybe we should pressure Tanya to resume actively campaigning like what she did many years ago?" She eventually suggested it. "And maybe I should tone down our relationship in public…"

"Yes!" Elya enthusiastically agreed before then shaking her head. "And no, I only agreed on the first point. I think you two should continue to maintain publicity with your relationship. Control the narrative. They think it's negative? Make it look positive!"

"Wouldn't that just keep polarizing the issue?" Visha pondered.

Elya shrugged, "If people see you two as happy, then it will leave a good impression."

'True.' Visha mentally agreed with a nod before then returning to her first point, "Though how do you think we should go about convincing Tanya to resume campaigning? She seems content with the idea of retiring if she loses."

Elya paused for a few seconds. "What?", was all that she muttered.

As Visha explained her deep interpersonal conversation with Tanya from years ago after Tanya returned from Bharat, and Tanya's desires, Elya had an increasingly horrified look on her face.

"Now it makes sense why she wants to step down as Chancellor..." She then looked at Visha and spoke with finality, "We can't have Tanya retire."

Visha tilted her head in confusion, "Why not? We just need to find a suitable successor." She asked, to which her friend shook her head.

"It's too much risk. I know you love her and you want to respect her wishes, but OZEV is still in its infancy as they are still working on the integration deals, and while the communists have been wounded, they are not out of the fight yet. Besides, haven't you seen what happens whenever Tanya lets go of the steering wheel for even just a moment?"

Visha frowned. "Her adventures in Bharat."

Elya smiled. "Exactly. Even if she retires, all it takes is something to go wrong and she will fly in herself to fix the mess. She's a perfectionist micromanager. And besides, the best way of solving a problem is to ensure that it never happens in the first place. It would be much smoother if we persuade her to stay in power, than to have her clean up the mess that a less capable successor caused."

"So what should we do?" Visha asked.

"Well…" Elya trailed off. "There's always the seduction method."

Visha gagged on her coffee. "Elya!" She gasped at her friend's casual manner of bringing that up, "What the hell!?"

Elya laughs, "Relax, Visha, I was only making a suggestion." She then says with a smile that's just oozing with schadenfreude.

Visha groans at her friend's antics. "And if she still insists on retiring?" She asks, steering the topic to something more grounded.

Elya looked out the window as she hummed. "Now that I am thinking about it, her presence has relatively frozen politics in place. With her gone, it will be a free for all with everyone either trying to fill in the power vacuum or holding onto their power."

"Well, what would you be doing if Tanya retired?" Visha asked.

"I… I actually haven't given much thought about that." Elya took a sip of her coffee. "Though I have concerns about being unable to do the right thing with a successor Chancellor and President that are more concerned with politics. Or being replaced by someone valued for their politics rather than competence. Tanya wasn't bogged down by politics and could take decisive actions."

Visha hummed and took her own sip of coffee. "Regarding a successor Chancellor and President… I don't think the GWP has any ready successors."

Elya immediately shook her head no. "The GWP simply followed where Tanya went. What do you think would happen with Tanya being gone?"

Visha paused for a moment. "I think there's a high possibility that the GWP might not even exist in a few years. Sure, there would be the old guard that recalled the days before Tanya joined the GWP, but they would be back to where they started, as a very minor party that would struggle to hold more than half a dozen seats in the Diet."

"I suppose I'll need to start thinking of how to survive the impending chaos." Elya muttered. "That might mean watching my back in case some people within the BND try something."

"Speaking of the BND," Visha shuffled her hands. "How are your intel cells in the Allied Kingdom doing?"

"It's not going to be good, and at the worst time." Elya sighed. "Their domestic and foreign intelligence agencies are to begin major restructuring soon which could limit my visibility into what the Albish are doing. They accelerated the restructuring in direct response to the referendum mess, the possible third actor in Europe and having to handle colonial uprisings around the world as the CSR and Russy Confederation would be interested in getting involved. They also recognized that they would have to help other colonial powers such as Ispangna in holding onto their colonies, as any successful revolts will quickly spill into other colonies."

1947, February 24th, somewhere in the Germanian countryside:

"I might have to leave the GWP." Johan Dressler said.

"What are you talking about?" Klaus Vogel looked at him in confusion. "We need you in the GWP so we would have an idea of its next moves.

"My spying, correction, 'conflict of interest' will eventually be noticed. The Chancellor might be willing to let members leave and tolerate those that don't agree with all of her decisions, but I do not want to find out her attitude towards those that spy for other political parties."

"He has a point." Andreas Becker said. "I don't know how to describe it, but it feels like someone is watching us and it has only gotten worse since the start of the political campaigning. Also, do we have any supporters in the BND?"

"That's still a work in progress." Klaus Vogel softly said. "We have to be very careful to avoid double agents."

"The other reason why I'm holding this meeting is because two Frankish agents offered to help us." Andreas Becker said. "I'm still trying to determine if this is some sort of a sting operation by the BND or if it's actually legitimate. Or one of them is a double agent for the BND."

"What if we lead them along to buy time for one of my colleagues, a retired detective, to investigate him?" Johan Dressler suggested. "Although the question is what do we do if the agents are actually working for the Francois Republic?"

"What did the agents want in return?" Klaus Vogel asked.

"The first one said that the current Chancellor is a threat to Europe. A guarantee of Alsace-Lorraine's autonomy even if they truly voted to join Germania, and if the referendum yielded other results, then a recognition of Alsace-Lorraine belonging to the Francois Republic. The second one was being vague and said they would let us know from their superior as the situation develops."

"What if we have both of them meet?" Vogel asked. "I wonder if they are aware of each other's existence? It would be very curious if one of them was a double agent."

"As long as the Chancellor doesn't resume active political campaigning and allows us to quietly focus on the local elections, I don't think we should seek foreign help." Dressler shrugged. "At least it'll give us more time to try to learn more about the two agents."

"I feel like there's some sort of a catch to work with them even if they aren't the Chancellor's agents." Vogel said.

Becker shrugged his shoulders. "We have to try. The alternative is letting the Chancellor continue to consolidate power as a President."

"We do this and if we get discovered, all of us are going down." Vogel hissed. "All of the treason charges in the books against us. It would be a repeat of the purge of communists."

Dressler shook his head at his colleague's doubts, "Do you remember the Chancellor's first political speech?"

Both men looked at him and shrugged, to which he hums "Well I suppose that I shall ask you two the same question as she did," he says as he looks over both men,

"Would you rather die on your feet or live on your knees?"

1947, March 20th, Berun:

I took a painkiller and downed it with coffee as I read the latest report of the Flottensanierung und Modernisierung Block 1 project. The upgrade has been constantly running into delays with the first destroyer and needing additional rework to fit the new systems on the old platform, such as needing to replace more electrical generation and distribution systems than expected and having space constraint problems with the engine room upgrades. Then there was the mess with radar guided missiles which had its own set of problems ranging from the missiles' detectors struggling with detecting reflected radar signals off of moving objects to lock onto while ignoring reflected radar signals coming off of the ocean waves, to firing missiles in rough sea conditions. I was hoping to avoid the development hell associated with big projects and thought this would be less risky and cheaper than building a new platform, but at this rate, I might have to scale back the feature requests or even have one or two 5 inch guns removed to make additional space for the remaining destroyers.

Oh well, this mess will be for someone else to deal with when I step down from office. After all these years in the office, I'm ready for retirement. There's Elya that I have to worry about now that I learned about the extent of what she has done. The direct options I have to weaken her and the BND could instead result in me joining the ranks of the many, many disappeared or very dead communist leaders. Leaving me with only the option of setting up some complex legal structures to ensure that the BND doesn't just run free with their operations in the name of "defeating communism". What a corner I have painted myself into. I could blame Being X, but then again, it was my decision to hire Elya in the first place.

My office door suddenly opened and Visha walked in with a plate of mochi. I had gotten used to her just barging into my office without knocking. The last time I tried to correct her, she instead dragged me into the soundproof room to make me forget about all of that in a very heated moment.

Today she looks more… promiscuous, with the makeup and her choice of somewhat revealing clothing. She likely had her change of attire in her office as she looked different from this morning.

"What's the occasion for today?" I sighed.

"I think we should have a talk about your future plans." Visha giggled as she set the plate down on my desk.

I've been with Visha for years and sometimes I still don't get what she is trying to imply. "What do you mean?"

"Other than that speech you gave the other day, you seemed keen on avoiding any political campaigning."

"I would like to remain focused on my job instead of wasting my time campaigning when there are no other candidates running against me."

"But you have seen the opposition focus on the local elections."

"I don't want Germania to be a one-party state. I get that technically the GDU is a different political party, but right now there are no signs of Conrad and Dertinge intending on running against us and instead they're mostly going along with what we're doing."

"But you've done such great things for Germania. Why risk having someone break it when you end up being the one to clean up the mess?" Visha spoke as she moved the mochi plate aside, hopped on my desk and scooted towards me. "Do you remember when you saw how South Bharat was managing things before you made… corrections?"

I bit my lip. I knew what she was getting at, but dammit, I just want a cushy retirement! "Whatever happened to our discussion regarding 'bus factor' and us both retiring to an island?"

"Right now is too early for us to leave Germania." Visha said, with her hands rubbing my neck. "Besides, you could run for President and I take the Chancellor position, allowing us to train a Deputy Chancellor."

President?! I mean that's less work than the combined office that I'm in right now, but I would still get a massive quantity of work and it would take even longer for me to reduce my involvement with politics!

"We need to talk about the timing of all of that then. You didn't like it when I stayed in Bharat for an indefinite period of time, and I'm not liking the idea of staying in office indefinitely."

Visha nodded. That fateful dinner conversation after I returned from Bharat was still etched in my mind.

I got out of my chair to walk towards the soundproofed room when Visha got off my desk and blocked me. "There's no need for that. We can do it here."

"Can we do this when we get back home?"

She smiled and shook her head no.

"This is inappropriate to do in my office where anyone could just walk in. What wo-"

She kissed me on my lips. I decided to shut up and enjoy the ride.

Meanwhile somewhere in the Germanian countryside:

"That mad woman. 'Energy independence' and electrified public transportation, what insanity. And she sidestepped the topic of if she planned on campaigning again to intentionally keep everyone guessing." Johan Dressler sneered. "I think she knows why we have been focusing on the local elections."

"And now that she has her wildly successful People's Car project, now she wants to undo it with mass constructions of public transport and high speed trains." Klaus Vogel said. "My wife might be picky with her clothing choices, but at least she isn't messing with Germania's budget for her wishes, unlike the Chancellor."

"Should I contact the two Frankish agents?" Andreas Becker asked. "It's a bit of a risk as I feel that we need more time to learn more about those two. As of now it seems that neither one of them knows about each others' existence. I also got word from the coal and oil industries, and even a contact from Volksauto, about them possibly contributing to our campaign. It seems that the Chancellor's vision of the future is making them concerned about their future."

"We have no time to wait with the foreign agents." Dressler said. "If we can't win the local elections, then how are we supposed to ever challenge the Chancellor? The only possible ally I can think of is General Lergen, but everything he has done so far seems to be in line with the Chancellor's policies without questioning her orders, which possibly means he joined the Chancellor's crowd."

"What did the agents offer?" Vogel asked.

"One of them offered a lot of money." Becker said. "The other one offered to help deal with the BND by training some of our members in counterintelligence and intelligence operations."

Later that same day:

Visha and I were still fixing my hair and dress when I heard my door knock.

"One minute." I said as I looked in the mirror. I noticed I was still a bit flushed, so I used a small amount of magic to conceal that.

I looked at Visha and she indicated she was ready. "Come in."

Elya stepped into my office. "It's about the CSR" She said as she motioned at the soundproof office's door. She then sniffed the air in the room, and looked at the plate of mochi and the mess on my desk. I could see her smile a bit before she suppressed that.

After the three of us were in the room and the privacy spell was cast, Elya started her brief.

"According to reports from our associates in Formosa, Hongkong and Macau, the CSR is conducting a sweeping wave of arrests, accusing the suspects of helping the "imperialist coalition" in the Bharat War, including the Germanian raid against the three ships. I'm not sure how much other countries were able to conduct intelligence against the CSR by recruiting individuals in the CSR, but we had little success with that and focused on other methods."

"Maybe there's another purge happening in the CSR like what happened to the Russy Federation?" Visha asked.

"That's the strange part. A large number of known communist hardliners were among those that were arrested for treason against the state, most notably Li Lisan. According to our sources, he is essentially the Chinese version of Lev Bronstein. Some would consider Li Lisan to be even more extreme than Lev Bronstein."

"Didn't Jugashvili purge revolutionaries such as Lev Bronstein?" I asked. "And what makes Li Lisan 'more extreme'?"

"Jugashvili purged only those that didn't demonstrate full loyalty to him and would never question his orders." Visha responded.

"Regarding Li Lisan, he had called for setting a 'Year One' where all of the old history, culture and social structures predating the establishment of a 'proper revolution' to be erased, and a new socialist culture to be established." Elya said. "Coincidentally he was also charged with helping with ensuring that the Forbidden City burned to the ground from the Albish firebombing operations, something that he had previously called for."

Year One… Erasing all of the 'old' history and culture. It feels like I heard of something similar in my previous life but I can't seem to remember exactly what that was.

"It seems that the CSR's government is simply looking for scapegoats for their defeats and is also suppressing their extremists at the same time." Elya continued. "What also confuses me is that our 'associates' stated that some of those who were arrested were also known to be fully loyal to Chairman Zhang."

"Perhaps there's some sort of a power play going on?" Visha asked, her face twisted a bit in confusion.

"Maybe the CSR intends on taking a more toned approach towards communism." I shrugged. "I don't see how that could be a problem, unless that ends up allowing more competent people who hate us to gain power and shape the CSR's foreign diplomacy in a smarter way to our detriment."

Shortly after the meeting, in Visha's office:

Elya closed the door behind her and looked at Visha.

"So, is Tanya going to be staying in the office?"

Visha looked shifty. Elya noticed and probed again. "Is she going to at least try for President?"

Visha sighed. "You know that seduction method that you suggested? Tanya talked about all of the things we could do together outside of politics."

Elya had a look of fear on her face. "The both of you?! It would unleash madness!"

"The alternative is Tanya going mad from the constant work." Visha then smiled. "Besides, our talk made me realize how I'm also starting to get tired of work and would actually like a break."

Elya took a seat and slumped in it. Visha moved to support her friend.

"...I've been so focused on what the communists and the Albish are doing, that I hadn't been paying attention to what Tanya has been feeling." Elya started to laugh, although it sounded a bit sad.

"She's a workaholic." Visha assures her friend, "Long hours every day, sometimes on weekends. Sure, she had her brief vacations, but it was always back to the grind. First keeping Germania from falling to a communist revolution. Then "dealing with" the Francois Republic and getting the Treaty of Triano renegotiated. And so on. There were other things that kept her worried. I couldn't tell what they were, but they always seemed to gnaw at her..."

Elya was silent.

"Or maybe I'm the one who's worried and all stressed out." Visha sighed. "I don't know anymore."

Elya hums and remains silent for a moment, thinking, before speaking again. "Well, at least there's no threat of Germania's existence being wiped out." Elya said before turning back towards Visha. "Promise me that you two won't be reckless and get yourselves killed, just in case the two of you are needed for yet another world war?"

Visha laughs, "Don't worry, I'll be busy ensuring that Tanya doesn't steal another colony or cause an international incident." She giggled. "I still can't believe that she simply swiped half of Bharat from the Albish, and there was nothing they could do about it. Not to mention that she gets bored very quickly. I recall hearing that she was flying for fun in just a few days of her transatlantic ocean cruise for her visit to the Unified States."

"Hm." Elya hummed as she nodded, silently deciding that her friend and Tanya both deserve their breaks, and her mind already starting to prepare plans for her future under a different administration. "Well, whatever the case, I wish you two the best."

AN:

The basis of the communist intelligence operations in Europe: wiki/Active_measures

wiki/Operation_Trust

What the "Year One" was based on:

wiki/Year_Zero_(political_notion)

wiki/Year_One

wiki/Four_Olds

Politics in the immediate post-WW2 France was… chaotic: wiki/French_Fourth_Republic

It was in many ways a revival of the Third Republic that was in place from 1870 during the Franco-Prussian War to 1940 during World War II, and suffered many of the same problems.

Some attempts were also made to strengthen the executive branch of government to prevent the unstable situation that had existed before the war, but the instability remained and the Fourth Republic saw frequent changes in government – there were 21 administrations in its 12-year history. Moreover, the government proved unable to make effective decisions regarding decolonization of the numerous remaining French colonies.