100th Anniversary of the Socialist Republican Party
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Name of the Attendee:Róise Ní Fiannachta MacLuinge
Country of Origin:Strathae
Attendee Role(s) (e.g. President, Monarch, Chairman):Leader of CSP, Deputy Chieftain of Strathae
Special requests (incl. dietary):VegetarianName of the Attendee:Ronit Malloye Aidan
Country of Origin:Strathae
Attendee Role(s) (e.g. President, Monarch, Chairman):Deputy Leader CSP, Justice Minister of Strathae
Special requests (incl. dietary):Vegetarian -
Name of the Attendee: Mikaela Kligenberg
Country of Origin: Inquista
Attendee Role(s) (e.g. President, Monarch, Chairman): Archbishop
Special requests (incl. dietary): N/AName of the Attendee: Silas Kligenberg
Country of Origin: Inquista
Attendee Role(s) (e.g. President, Monarch, Chairman): Bishop Secretary of the Treasury and Economy
Special requests (incl. dietary): N/A -
Prague, Letná Plain
"Comrade President for Life, it is my pleasure to congratulate you in person on the results of the Referendum and to thank you for your listening to the wishes of the nation and taking on the mantle of leading us all!" said the Minister of Defense Viktor Hladík to President for Albína Reiserová while shaking her hand, his uniform he was the last to congratulate her in person.
"Thank you comrade Minister." Reiserová responded before retracting her hand. "So, how long until our foreign guests arrive?"
"I thing roughly 45 more minutes comrade President." answered Antonín Smetana, Speaker of the National Assembly. Reiserová was very unsatisfied by this response, she dreaded the idea of spending so much time listening to her colleagues talking. Here ministers and Smetana on the other hand were also not very comfortable talking in front of her. "Comrade Dohnal was just telling us an amusing story from when his time leading a collective strawberry farm, comrade Dohnal, could you please tell the story to comrade President?" Smetana continued after a while.
"Yes, thank you Comrades, but I think I'll listen to the story later. Can I ask you where is Karel?" said Reiserová with a smile, before being directed to the Minister of Culture standing few metres apart from the group of other ministers and party officials and eating a Czech hot dog variants. She nodded her head and went towards him.
"Be careful not to get your suit dirty!" she said jokingly, approaching him from behind.
"No, I wouldn't dare to do that!" shouted out Karel Šín while throwing the half eaten hot dog into a garbage bin and turning around visibly shocked by the President's sudden words.
"Are you alright? You are acting strange recently."
"Yeah, hah, completely why wouldn't I be?" lied Šin. In reality he became afraid of Reiserová. He imagined finally reworking the television industry in his own image and replacing what he perceived as low quality shows by some of the shows he himself was writing. To his great surprise however, Albína Reiserová has struck every single one of all his ideas down. He no longer felt comfortable presenting his ideas to her, in fact he wanted to resign as he realized he will not be able to do anything he would want in the ministry, but at the same time he realized that he can't step down without angering her and being labeled the enemy of the people.
"Well then why did you throw the hot dog into a garbage bin when I started talking to you? If you didn't want to finish it you could have offered the rest to somebody and not just waste it." Reiserová raised an eyebrow.
"Ingenious thinking." pointed out Šín pointing a finger at Reiserová. Than he reached his hand into a bin and rescued the half eaten hot dog, much to a shock and disgust of Reiserová. "Well, I should return to the other comrades, I can't wait to hear another story from a strawberry farm." he announced and quickly left Reiserová to rejoin with other ministers and do a fake laugh at Dohnal stories.
Reiserová sighted, she felt incredibly lonely since becoming a President. At all times she was surrounded by people praising her leadership, but never did she feel like she could really talk with them.
"Hey, I brought some wine for you, if you'd like to try it." suddenly announced Zuzana Saková, the Minister of Health, surprising the President. She extended a glass of wine towards Reiserová, who thanked her and took it. "You know, you should really relax more often. I know that your leadership is essential for the success of the Government. But I promise you as a Minister that you can count on me to remain true to your brilliant ideas even in your absence, and on my ability to follow them and I think I could say that for all the ministers." Reiserová didn't say anything but she did raise here eyebrow on Saková, letting her know of her doubts. "And you really deserve it!" finished Saková, trying to appeal to the tiredness of the President.
"You might be right." Reiserová sighted "Now, until our foreign guests arrive, can you brief me on Dohnal's stories so I don't have to listen to them later?" she smiled.
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Róise Ní Fiannachta MacLuinge and Ronit Malloye Aidan arrived by the international trains. The journey had been longer but surely it was worth it to save the planet and environment. They then took train to the event. They hoped eventually to socialise the economy of Strathae even more but it wasn't happing with the Alternative centrists in power.
They saw the president for life Reiserová and approached her saying
" congratulations on your great results. Long may your country progress."The Left leader Leo McKulsky left on his plane for Czechslavia , he was in the nation quickly and in the car . He arrived to the event to see the CSP leaders had arrived , he'd always thought them an odd bunch , they say they are socialist yet support a clan system that excludes foreigners. He understood the history behind it but it was still odd. He also approached Reiserová congratulating her on her victory. He was fully intending to enjoy the event and talk of the idea of a left wing alliances throughout Europe co-ordinating left wing parties.
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Just a few days more; this would be the test to see whether they would really keep to their promises. One would have remained behind if that was not the intention. If the country could survive; if the Reitzmics did not act to abolish the Republic while they were gone; they would know that they could trust them. If they took advantage of this momentary "weakness" - well, then, they could not. They had already prepared for such a contingency; they had prepared a list of new ministers, all of whom had been informed and had quietly left the country, so that a government in exile could be formed.
But what would happen, what could happen, that was perhaps less important than the present.
Malk was a politician of the past, when things were slower and simpler; when she thought of the present she thought merely of the crackdown on the priests, who schemed and schemed and had to be gotten rid of; and the financial condition of the state, which, according to Minister Arkalis, was not exactly good. The demand had been for an end to all welfare, and replacement by a basic income and perhaps some subsidization of services and goods - cheaper, said Arkalis, than paying for millions of people's food, healthcare, housing, and transportation, and on top of that buying them tools and raw materials while maintaining de facto martial law. She would have to expend quite a bit of her political capital to get it passed - and even then it was not as though she was settled in her position. It would be very dangerous.
Rikkalek, of course, reflected on these things, but he was perhaps more concerned about the structure of the state. The bureaucracy was growing larger, the state more unwieldly. He believed that the people should rule, with control over the state theirs, with perhaps a gentle, guiding hand. He refused to believe that they could do any true wrong; centralization was, really, the only evil.
The flight from the Ilussetat airport had again been quite gentle, not very rough, and they had spent it discussing what had happened, what they were to do, and what was to come. Even as they disembarked in Prague, they could not really get their minds off their own nation; they could not enjoy themselves.
Smile. That was what they had to do. Smile, greet the others present; make it seem as though everything was normal. As though Istkalen were but a perfectly normal, stable, prospering state, rather than a crumbling, corrupt structure, perhaps not even a state, over a warring society at the mercy of occupiers.
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Archbishop Mikaela Kligenberg sobbed in her seat as the credits to A Glenbrno Winter rolled across the screen of her private jet's TV screen. Silas Kilgenberg cranked his head sideways, and gave Mikaela a pitiful and disgusted look.
"This movie is so special and beautiful," Mikaela whimpered while wiping away tears.
"The movie had almost no plot, and literally none of the characters were memorable at all," Silas commented scornfully, before then grabbing the remote and turning off the TV. "I still don't even understand why the firefighter didn't like people from big cities, he admitted he once lived in a big city too."
"The firefighter reminds me so much of Tomás. I swear, I feel like this movie is so similar to Tomás and myself. I think that's why I've watched this movie 5 times already this past month..." Mikaela sighed as she pulled herself together.
"5 times!? No offense, I could barely get through this once. Reiserová was the only one with acting skills, and she looked super hot, so I will give her some credit at least."
"Don't talk about the President like that! We will be seeing her very soon. You know, she was the one who actually introduced me to the movie. She showed it to me when I was last in Prague."
"Hey, I'm complimenting her. She was the only good thing about the movie. Oh, and also the maintenance guy that was obsessed with lights, he had some very good jokes!"
The flight from Saint Dominico to Prague, via the Archbishop's jet, only normally took about an hour and twenty minutes. However, the film was just over an hour and a half long, and so the Archbishop's jet spent the last fifteen minutes encircling the airport in Prague in order for the Archbishop and Bishop Secretary to finish watching the film in its entirety.
"Jimin, you can land us now," Mikaela announced into a nearby speaker.
"Copy," Captain Jimin answered, beginning the descent into Prague.
Prague was beautiful in the winter. Mikaela marveled at the city as she and Silas were driven to a hotel, where they then changed into formal outfits. Mikaela dressed herself into a red gown, while Silas put on a new suit with a red tie (one simply cannot celebrate 100 years of socialist republicanism without the colour red). Once the two were ready, they were then whisked back into their car, and were driven to the celebration festivities.
The Archbishop wished her fiancée could attend, but alas, he still had to work in the mines. Even though Silas often gave Mikaela a hard time, she appreciated his company at least. After some time, the two Inquistans arrived at the designated location. Mikaela lifted her gown as she climbed out of the car, and Silas took her by her hand. The two interlocked their arms and made their way inside.
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"Ah, here come the guests!" announced Minister of Defense Hladík, while all the officials turned, Reiserová and Saková returning to the rest of the group, to welcome the first foreign guests representing Strathae.
"Oh man, the neighbors." sighted Minister Šín "They really must all have few screws loose, I mean they really do and believe some wacky stuff. Total lack of tiger blood and Adonis DNA. Problem is, that as a country we can't just pretend we aren't home. Best we can do is pretend we are somebody else or at least try to avoid eye contact." rest of the officials ignored Šin's advice and welcomed the guests from Strathae in their first time visit of Czech Slavia, although he did manage to warn them to avoid any mentions of nature.
The arrival of Leo McKulsky from the United Duchies otherwise came unexpected as he did not fill out a form for foreign guests. He was welcomed by the officials, but nothing was prepared for him.
"Your Excellency, it's a pleasure to welcome you once again in Czech Slavia." Smetana welcomed Rikkalek "I hope you too will find the visit satisfying and will leave us with fond memories madame." he continued while shaking hands with Malk "I learned that you are interested in co-operation in art between our two states, perhaps you can discuss it with Comrade Šin here?". Minister Šín pondered for a while and then asked the two guests. "Istkalen, isn't that a country that unjustly opposed awarding the Order of Merit to Albína?" after finishing his question he was nudged by Saková who whispered something in his ear "I didn't say Albína I said Comrade Reiserová! I did!" responded in not that silent whispering Šín.
Greetings by President Resierová were in general very short, she was really upset by Karel Šín just leaving her alone few moments earlier and she also held a grudge against Rikkalek for letting them talk without refreshments in a past meeting.
This has changed after she has spotted the Kligenberg siblings Silas and Mikaela. She extended her arms and hugged the Inqistan Archbishop "So, so good to see you, you look stunning! Let me congratulate you on your engagement! I was so happy when I heard it! You'll have to tell me more about Tomáš! And I'll really need to ask you something a bit later, ok?" she said rapidly before letting go of Mikaela and moving to shake hands with Silas after wipping tears of her eyes "Very nice to meet you. I admire your principled and well informed stance on the side of democracy during the referendum we held here. I hope doing business with us satisfies you?" she said smiling.
Karel Šín was also looking forward to meet with Silas Kligenberg, as he for a long time considered him as one of the few people who weren't afraid to speak their mind and heavily suspected him of having Adonis DNA. "I was looking forward to meeting you sir. I have been following your, as the Great Leader put it, principled and well informed stances for a long time. And may I add that our co-operation with Inquista is truly.... you know... it is good. I feel like I can truly share with you. Personally. A hot dog?" Šín extended a hand in which he was still holding a half-eaten hot dog he has thrown into a trash bin earlier to share with the foreign guest.
After all the guests arrived and received welcome Antonín Smetana started explaining the plan for the celebration "Alright, we have about an hour before we will have to go stand up on the tribune. The foreign guests will stand on the sides of the Government...."
"You can stand next to me if you want. I can raise your hand in the air, that could be fun! You'd just have to lock your hand together with mine, not let it go limp, that'd look awkward." interuped Smetana's speech Reiserová while talking to Mikaela.
"....Yes.... In the meantime the Ministry of Culture has prepared a nice exposition about the 100th years of the SRP which we will visit. Isn't that right Comrade Šín?"
"Oh yeah, it is a marvellous exposition, it shows a lot of winning the SRP has done over the years. I really recommend seeing to you, I think it is very memorable. In fact, it is so memorable that I don't need to see it again, and I won't. Instead I would like to invite the honorable guest Mr. Kligenberg to join me in a nice bar not far away from here. I intend to discuss.... political... stuff." Šín shook his head in approval.
"Well... alright... meanwhile I'll make introductory speech before the speech of Comrade President. If any of you representatives of foreign states or governments want to make a speech, you may, but we will have to see what you plan to say first. Than you are all invited to a lunch with us, we have all yours requests, so there will of course be options for everybody." finished Smetana.
"Actually, I thought that it would be suitable to let Comrade Saková make the introductory speech." said Reiserová to Smetana
"Yes, that seems to be suitable, Comrade Saková will make the introductory speech." confirmed Smetana, although the demand made by the President has in fact shocked him.
"Please sit down." said Šín to Silas. "You may call me Karel, if you'd like. Say, do you drink? What should I order for us? I heard that Prime Minister from Istklaen, have you met her? Well she doesn't drink and I don't either, which leaves me to wonder if she also used to drink alcohol like a camel in the past, I bet she did. Oh if you wonder about the exposition, 40 years ago some farm didn't have a lot of stupid strawberries and now it has lot's of stupid strawberries thanks to our awesome powers. That is the exhibition except for 45 minutes."
"But you know what I really admire? A person that say isn't afraid to say what they think. But we might be dying out, not many ninja warlocks around anymore. I used to think the Spanish Councillor Tusk was also like us, but then you know, he started talking about touching noble parts, and I was like: Maybe if you didn't talk about touching noble parts in public you'd actually get to tuch somebody else's noble parts in real life. So, you know, I don't think he is quite like me.... or you." started ranting Šín.
"But let me tell you that modern times are the death of comedy, I can't even write few funny lines before some commission gets on my ass and tells me that these lines are no longer acceptable, that they belittle women and all of that nonsense. It's supposed to be funny, not some kind of deep drama or something, but they just won't get over it. And I don't even want to imagine how horrible writers of comedy shows must have it in Strathae, these guys find everything that isn't murdering pets in cold blood insensitive. Oh sorry, to ramble, please, tell me how was the travel and more about yourself."
"And now please follow me to the next room where we will see the development of the Friendship Strawberry Collective Farm in the 2000's" Minister of Agriculture Dohnal said, leading the rest of the group to another room in the museum.
Meanwhile Reiserová turned to Mikaela "Listen I really need to go on a holiday and I was thinking maybe the two of us could go... like immediately after this. My Minister of Health is right. I'd really like to spend holiday like a rich Inquistan lady. And no more politics, look." she said while demonstratively turning off a phone and forcing it into Mikaela's hand "There, I won't let anybody disturb us during the holiday. We could discuss your boyfriend and everything important.... so can we? Please?"
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Mikaela smiled as President Reiserová offered her engagement congratulations, and she politely nodded as the President requested to speak again later. The President had many guests to attend to, and so the Archbishop understood that she was in a rush.
"It's always a pleasure doing business with you," Silas remarked with earnest cheeriness. "I'm glad that the Czech people participated so enthusiastically in the referendum, and that they've also so enthusiastically placed their trust in you. Congratulations!"
Silas accepted Minister Šín's half-eaten hotdog and stared at it in his hand. "Is this some sort of delicacy?" Silas wondered to himself. "Do they honestly eat... garbage? Hopefully after another 100 years of socialist republicanism, the Czechs won't be forced to eat garbage anymore."
Silas placed the hotdog in the pocket of his suit jacket. "Looks very tasty, thank you. I'll save this snack for later."
"Thankfully, I've had the pleasure of never meeting anyone from Istkalen, because from what I can tell, they're all lesbians, and they hate men. At least, that's what I found out on Twitter. I wouldn't be surprised if their Prime Minister used to drink like a warthog at a watering hole, I would too if my own country was conquered by Reitzmag. Damn, that's depressing. Their men don't know how to make love or how to fight for their own country. Maybe that's why their women are lesbians?"
Silas himself used to get drunk almost every night, which resulted in him being removed from Keeping Up with the Kligenbergs about 9 years ago after an infamous incident. Silas eventually became sober, but has since returned to drinking, albeit only moderately and in social circumstances. "Some whiskey would be great," he mused.
"Well, thank you so much for saving my time about the exhibit. As a thank you, I'll give you a piece advice: stay clear of the Archbishop. Once you engage her in a conversation, it'll turn out longer than 45 minutes, and you'll wish the topic was strawberries. She'll give you a whole one hour run-down about the strawberry pink handbag she's thinking about buying.
Tusk made a rookie mistake. Absolute amateur move. I wish I had as much faith in Tusk as you did, but I always knew he was made of soy. He's so far up Firoux's ass it's laughable. Imagine simping for some curly-haired princess. Funny thing is, I bet Firoux now has Tusk blocked on everything and will never answer any of his calls because of his comments. There's nobody more woke about women's noble parts than Firoux himself, which you can expect from someone who has probably never touched them in his life. Tusk will never be Speaker now. It'll probably be a man-hater from Istkalen instead.
Karel, you are so right about the death of comedy. It's very sad. As Minister of Culture, I do hope you can save Czech TV and cinema. Czech TV and films have become very popular in Inquista nowadays, but I bet they would be popular everywhere if you managed to do away with these sensitive screenwriting commissions and put proper comedy back on screen."
Silas just about flinched as Minister Šín asked about his flight, where he also coincidentally watched a piece of Czech cinema. "Saint Dominico isn't too far, and so the flight was pretty short. Although Mikaela insisted on watching this really boring movie. My thoughts veered between falling asleep and contemplating crashing the plane. I can't remember the movie title, so you can be thankful I can't tell you what it was. It had a hot lead actress though. But anyway, I am glad to be here.
Honestly, just business as usual in Inquista. I got Firoux constantly talking nonsense in my ear, he might as well be speaking Duxburian. Bureaucrats are so annoying. I am sure you can relate, being the most competent minister in the cabinet, but everyone around you hates you because they are jealous of how close you are to the President, right? At least, that's how it goes for me with the Archbishop. Everyone despise my brilliance. I guess this is how it works when you're on top: others just want to pull you down.
Speaking of being on top, I actually have a proposal for you. You know, the stocks of several Inquistan mining and refining companies are doing pretty well, now that we have very good business between our countries. One of my good friends wants to offer you a gift. Just a gift, no strings attached. A 2% stake in Terrenus Refining Corp., which amounts to approximately Ꮠ60 million in assets. Also, I'd love to give you a 1% stake in Kligenberg Industries - that alone would turn you into an almost-billionaire within no time. Again, these are just gifts , and I expect nothing in return. You have simply done amazing work with... uh... popualrising Czech culture in Inquista. You deserve it. Now, I know this sort of thing might be frowned upon, or this might not be a good look, so I can arrange for these assets be put in an Inquistan bank for you. They're very secretive, nobody knows what comes in or goes out of them. Besides, we can also put it under an alias so nobody will know. Surely you'd accept, after all, you've been so generous to me?" Silas asked as he pulled out the half-eaten hotdog from his suit pocket and waved it in the air.
"Oh of course, that sounds lovely!" Mikaela squealed in excitement, before quickly quieting down so as to not disturb the very engaging exhibition tour that was going on. "Now that you'll be President for eternity, which, I don't know how long that is, but it sounds like a long time, you will need to be well rested and in good spirits to do your job."
Mikaela carefully studied President Reiserová for a few moments before a shocked expression crept across her face. Mikaela covered her mouth with both her hands in order to prevent herself from screaming.
"Ok, Bina, I do not want to freak you out. You have to stay calm. You are a great friend, so I must be honest with you. I think... I think you have a new wrinkle under your left eye. O-M-G, I really think you do. Also, the skin under your eyes is approximately two shades darker than when we last met. Oh gosh, you must be so stressed with your responsibilities! Wow, you are right, you really do need a holiday. This is not just a matter of national importance, but also a national emergency!"
Mikaela began to breathe deeply as she suppressed her near panic attack. After a few moments, Mikaela managed to calm down and compose herself. "An Eternal President deserves nothing less than eternally perfect skin and an eternally perfect complexion. We will need to holiday right away.
We have so many options. Mennrimiak is great this time of year for skiing. Hunting is also great fun there. We could also go swimming with turtles in Nofoaga? Now that the island has blown up, there are sooooo few tourists, which is great! I also heard Leagio is great, and apparently it has this this interesting thing called animization, which could probably remove your new wrinkle. Then there's also Spain..." Mikaela started before her thought process went adrift. Suddenly, Mikaela had an idea.
"Oooh! You know what? We could do a whole tour! Yes, that's a great idea. Girls on tour 2022. We could visit wherever, across Europe! Take your picks, and we could visit them."
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"Yes," said Malk in response to Smetana, a little distracted. "We will, we will. Thank you." She again checked her phone, one could never be too careful. The Reitzmics could have already arrested the cabinet, and she would not know, yes, if she did not check, and that would be a disaster. But what if it was sudden, what if they could not inform her before being seized and taken who-knows-where? Perhaps it would be on the news, she ought to check that at some point...
She turned, then, to Šín, and laughed uncomfortably at his question. "Of course we did not oppose the awarding of the Order of Merit to Her Excellency, the President Reiserová!" she exclaimed, perhaps too loudly. She laughed again, just a little, almost a giggle, but again it seemed quite force. "This was merely," she continued, putting an emphasis on "merely," saying all of this very matter-of-factly as though it were the most obvious thing in the world, "the result of the manipulations of Ms. Íkrat, who had a personal disliking of the Czech state. She tricked the congress of our country's Communist Party into voting for a motion preventing them from lending any support to the Socialist Republican ideology, and due to its policy of democratic centralism unfortunately our Councillor was unable to vote for the motion. Ms. Íkrat has been disciplined, of course, for this interference in your affairs, and has recanted what she did and said; she, and we, apologize very deeply for this."
She would have said something regarding the plans of the Government for possible cultural cooperation, but Šín seemed very eager to get away, so she did not press on.
"I think it might be more appropriate to speak on the subject of cooperation at a different time," she said, quickly, in one burst, almost in a whisper, just to make sure that she wasn't being rude in attempting not to anger Šín.
She disliked conflict, and wanted to escape it as much as possible, especially over such frivolous things. She in particular did not want to create an incident over this. She merely stood, thus, a little shocked and confused, before moving away. She took a little bag of liquorice from a large pocket - she vaguely thought about how it seemed that women elsewhere, in other countries, seemed to always lack pockets in their clothing - and ate a piece (of liquorice, of course, not the bag, only Strathaens might eat the bag, so odd they were), still somewhat bewildered.
Rikkalek, too, greeted Smetana. "It's a pleasure to be here again myself," he said. "Thank you very much for allowing us to come." He wanted to get his mind off his country - what will be, will be, he thought - and thus began to survey the various ministers and delegates present and rank them, privately, in various ways. Although perhaps this was too frivolous. It might have been a better idea to continue worrying - was that not his duty? But worrying constantly made one, in the end, less likely to be able to attend to one's duties. One inevitably became paranoid, and thus blind to the genuine issues hat people might be facing.
When Šín had left to speak with Kligenberg (Silas, not Mikaela), the half-eaten hot dog still, for whatever reason, in his hand, Rikkalek spoke a little with Malk.
"Minister Šín reminds me somewhat of the former finance minister," he whispered to her. "Of course, I don't think you knew him all too well, but he went on all the time and liked to speak about Greek letters, I still can't make very much sense of it. Anyways, one day he was found trying to mix his shit in another minister's tea, I think it was Demirkol? I don't know why, but regardless I imagine one day it will happen to the Czechs, too, people like that can't help it."
Malk laughed a little. "I knew him a little, I was a member of the Congress. Crazy guy. Although no one seems to have told me of this incident. But Minister Šín is the least of the..eeccentric people here. here. Seen the Strathaens? Very odd and curious people, somewhat deranged. They seem like caricatures in some magazine from the West."
"We all know about the Strathaens," muttered Rikkalek. "Best to stay away from those people, although I imagine it might be unavoidable." He paused, tapping his foot. "What about the Kligenbergs? Or really, the Archbishop. 'Plastic woman' indeed, I think Íkrat was right on."
"Oh, she's like a child, apparently. I think she suffers from some sort of disorder. I feel quite bad for her actually, it must be such a struggle."
They were interrupted by the continuing of the presentation, and they continued to watch the presentation on the strawberry farm. Both of them were enraptured by it. Dohnal, in their opinion, was a very entertaining man, and they enjoyed and were absorbed into the development of the farm.
Nonetheless, they had a number of questions. Rikkalek was very curious in regards to the fertilizer and equipment used on the farm, and asked questions about their manufacture; for her part, Malk was more curious about the workers of the farm, and asked questions about the governance structure of the farm, how it might have differed in slight ways from other collective farms, and how it might have benefited the growth of the strawberry output. It was as though the Friendship Strawberry Collective Farm was the most interesting and fascinating thing in the world - and for them, in a way, it almost was.
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Leo McKulsky went around socialising with the guests. He was surprised Mikaela was here as she was the opposite of what he thought of as socialism, with all they wealth and excess she flaunted.Still he acted civil even though the blood sucking vampire was here.
Róise Ní Fiannachta MacLuinge and Ronit Malloye Aidan went round the room chatting. It was good to get to events like this to boost the reputation of Strathae after that "Blair Gobshite McLucais" had wrecked it. She knew many saw the nation as deranged she wanted to show it wasn't. Her party with the Alternative had been trying to crack down on extremism in the nation from the right since then .
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"Please whiskey for the honored guest and a raspberry lemonade for me. You see I used to drink a lot, but I achieved total victory over drugs, you know, just wasn't fun anymore." explained Šín to Silas "Oh and no need to thank me for the exhibit. I am sure I wouldn't mind your sister, the trick in those situations is in nodding to everything the other person has to say. You don't need to listen to them, they'll stop eventually and be pleased with you for listening for them! Unfortunately on the other hand this also became a practice at our Government meetings. But actually it's real shame you don't remember the name of the movie, dealing with boring movies is even easier than boring discussions, you can just mute them. I'd really want to know who that lead actress is, if she is as hot as you say." Šín smiled and nodded a few times.
"You know what I think the problem with the types like Firoux and Tusk is? They live so far off from real world, in their safe spaces that they come to despise everything, including themselves, so of course they also hate each other. That is also why to a normal, honest person like you Firoux's words appear as nonsense, they are totally disconnected! And the modern world, this modern culture, is leading us to a future full of Fiouxes and Tusks who will always lose to man-haters, it's all too clear."
"You hit the nail right on the head, some people just don't understand the hardships of being brilliant. You have to put up with those jealous trolls trying to pull you down all the time while continuing to have genius, revolutionary, ideas to benefit everybody."
"But I am really glad to hear that the Archbishop values your unfathomable contribution, I wish that was the case here too, but sadly it isn't anymore. Why do you think I can't get across those annoying commissions telling me what is and isn't acceptable? Well because when I do the President strikes all of my ideas down. And she wants to know about everything, you are very lucky if the Archbishop puts her trust in you. I meant as she should. When I was appointed I wanted to change things, to get culture closer to the ordinary person, but now I am just stuck and have to nod to everything the President says."
Šín nodded along while listening to Kligenberg's offers "*Well that is really nice of you, but I don't think owning stocks being frowned upon or giving a bad look is really an issue. No, I think it being illegal for me would be a bigger issue. Government officials here can't own stocks, you know dictatorship of the proletariat and stuff like that." Šín stopped to think for a while "But I mean, if you can put it under an alias and make sure nobody will know than I think I'd have to accept, you know for the sake of my kids. I don't really understand all this stuff so I don't really know." suddenly a realization hit Šín "Wait an excessive amount of tiger blood is flowing to my brain, couldn't you put it under an alias but not give the stake directly to me but one of my kids instead? Oh and by the way, are you sure you don't want anything in return?" Šín said as he put a bottle of extra ketchup and mustard from another table before Silas as he pulled out the half eaten hot dog.
"Well if you'd ask me, I'd say that the directors of other collective farms are not the Minister of Agriculture while the director of the Friendship farm is." laughed the Minister of Agriculture Dohnal while answering questions from Rikkalek and Malk. "And if any of the collective farm nowadays noticeably differ you'd better point me to them so I can have a talk with their directors."
"Alright, now on the more serious note, and I will be brief and general since other Comrades also want to present about parts of the exhibition concerning their agendas, but during the eighties, nineties and two-thousands the Friendship collective farm was one of the pioneers adopting some of the methods used in capitalist states, focusing on increasing our performance and raise our competitiveness. And this is very important even today, since we now have to compete with private businesses and prevail, to not let our economy, and with it the power control of the state, fall into the hands of the oligarchs. That will have to satisfy you for now, we must move forward." smiled Dohnal and continued with his presentation "Now please follow me, as we enter the one of the latest phrases of the development of Czech agriculture.*
"Ah, no no, I won't be a President from beyond the grave. I am a President for Life, not Eternal President." laughed Reiserová "So that is a little shorter than eternity."
The following words of Mikaela Kligenberg about the signs of aging and stress however greatly disturbed Reiserová. "Don't say that!" she lost control of the loudness of her voice.
"I am very sorry Comrade President, I now realize that this part of my presentation is totally unnecessary and I shouldn't speak about it." started speaking Dohnal, who thought that Reiserová's words were directed to him "I will give up on my salary for this month for this mistake. Well I conclude my part of the exhibition."
"Very well, carry on." signalled with her hand Reiserová to avoid anything humiliation regarding her as part of the exhibition about agriculture ended and a part about defense forces started.
"I am so sorry Mikaela," Reiserová once again started whispering "I didn't mean to sound rude or anything, it's just that when I was in Yosai their officials kept joking about how their stress made them age quicker. Really stupid jokes, no idea why they felt the need to share them with me, like that's going to help me stress less." she then stop to look at herself in a mirror on a wall for few seconds before rejoining rest of the group and hearing about Kligenberg's tour idea.
"Oh thank you so much! I knew I can count on you! And also count on the fact that you have great ideas, I'd love to go on a tour! Honestly I love the mountains so Mennrimiak sounds just lovely, we could definitely start there. Or maybe end there. And is Nofoaga now completely safe? Well, regardless, how about this, you will go home to spend the holidays with your people and I will finally get some times to spent time here with my family and then at the beginning of 2022 we will start our tour in Mennrimiak and plan the rest of the tour there! Oh I will have to film a video for Reiserová's moments on the tour with you. But keep my phone, I don't want anybody to disturb me while I am with my family anyway, you will return it to me at the end of our trip."
"Comrade Reiserová is always right and Comrades it stays this way!" Saková was just finishing her introductory speech as all the other officials have arrived. Smetana gave the foreign guests last chance to hand him their speeches if they plan to speak, so that they can be examined and approved.
Finally, President for Life Albína Reiserová approached a microphone and began her speech:
"Long live the great, glorious and correct Socialist Republican Party!
One hundred years ago a direct predecessor of the Socialist Republican Party was founded and its fight for justice and equality had begun. During the years the Socialist Republican Party won the trust of the Czech nation and led the Czech workers towards the successful conquest of their rights, since then the future of the Socialist Republican Party became synonymous with the future of the Democratic Republic and the Czech nation and the Party became inseparable from the entire nation. During the one hundred years we were able to guarantee work, housing, food and access to education and healthcare to all citizens. We developed friendships with many sisterly states and we guaranteed peace to the Czech people. Socialist Republicanism has became a shining example of path towards prosperity without exploitation to the oppressed people of the world.
The path was never easy. Organized workers had to endure hunger, beatings and prisons, but they never gave up. They fought for our future and their names have became eternal, their sacrifices will always be honoured by our hard work towards highly developed socialism and prosperity and we will always remain on guard to protect our freedoms and our socialist state.
Comrades, allow me to thank you for your continuous hard work for the motherland and revolution. Your names shall to be forever enshrined in the proud history of the workers' movement. I wish us all that we remain vigilant in the upcoming year 2022 and all the following years. No matter what the future brings we shall overcome all obstacles and crush those in the way of the revolution. Forward left, not one step back!"
The President than reached for the hand of the Inquistan Archbishop and raised it to the air. "This speech was written for me, but I did write some of my own speeches in the past!" admitted Reiserová to Mikaela Kligenberg while the audience and the officials started to sing Prisoners' song.
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Silas' humour may have been a little lost on Minister Šín, but Silas persisted. "Illegal? No, no, we would never do something illegal. I mean, some might be of that opinion. Sure, there might be some laws saying certain actions are not allowed, or even criminal, but with enough resourcefulness, money, and a few important friends, it's all just simply... frowned upon, or just a bad look," Silas explained with with an amused tone but a serious expression.
"We could most definitely put the accounts and company stakes under the ownership of your kids. That's some good thinking, genius even. Also, while other kids sell lemonade on the streets, your kids will be making millions for every new mountain that is flattened and dug up. Kids are never too young to learn the values of hard-work, making money, and of silencing local residents who have been displaced by mining activity.
No, I insist that my offer has no strings attached. This is an extension of my generosity and friendship, that is all. Of course, you know, if the mining activities of any Inquistan-backed companies ever got disrupted, sure, the value of your children's assets would drop substantially - in the millions, probably - which you wouldn't want, would you? So you'd probably want to avoid that from ever happening. Likewise, if the mining business in Czech Slavia boomed, your children would make a lot of money in their returns of investment. But no, I want nothing in return. This is just a gift, and I am glad to hear that you will accept."
Silas accepted the ketchup which he then put on the half-eaten hotdog. Silas then put the hotdog back in his suit jacket. "Still saving this for later."
Mikaela fully understood Reiserová's outburst. Mikaela couldn't think of anything worse than new wrinkles, or dark circles under eyes, and so that is why she had to break the truth to the President.
Mikaela once attended a formal party with her ex-friend Celeste Callumbruni, who didn't tell Mikaela she had smudged her lip gloss. Mikaela was at the party for two hours until somebody finally pointed it out her. Mikaela felt like a fool. Yes, Celeste had repeatedly slept with multiple of Mikaela's former boyfriends, stolen two pairs of her earrings, crashed one of her yachts, and leaked many insider stories about Mikaela to the paparazzi and the press, but these were things that Mikaela could forgive. But letting her make a fool of herself by walking around a party with smudged lip gloss? That was an unforgivable line to cross. Mikaela had no choice but to cut Celeste's toxicity out of her life, and she swore she would never allow her friends to suffer from the same fate of having uncomfortable things pointed out, particularly about one's own appearance.
Good thing that President Reiserová was keen on Mikaela's idea to tour across Europe. It's exactly what both women needed.
After a Juncker-like thunderous applause erupted following the President's speech, the Archbishop decided to deliver her own words. While the President's speech may have been written, the Archbishop decided to deliver her speech spontaneously and adlib the whole thing.
"Yay, it’s so good to speak to you all today on this very important occasion!
As a fellow revolutionary, I stand with you all. Glamour Magazine once described me as a revolutionary of the pop music industry in Inquista, while in 2013, the Red Croatian magazine the Matriarchy described my accessory fashion choices as revolutionizing the way in which handbags can complement outfits. As revolutionaries, we are not afraid to change up the game and pave our own way. Czechs have bravely paved their own way, and Czech Slavia is now much better off because of it.
When people think of revolution, they often think of red. You have all made, like, a very smart decision to associate yourselves with this colour. The colour also represents love, passion, courage and good health. The colour red also looks great on gowns, dresses, high heeled shoes, and you can never go wrong with red lipstick. This means you can all look great while representing such strong values! Super smart and forward thinking, you guys.
100 years. Wow, a whole decade. A decade of great progress and achievement, and hopefully there will be many more great decades to come. Socialism totally works. You know, I might even consider myself a socialist. Socialising is one of my favourite things, so I’m not surprised the Czech people love it too. T-B-H, there is nobody I would rather socialise with than President Reiserová herself. The President is such a kind, compassionate, smart, and strong woman, and I know if there’s anyone who could lead Czech Slavia into the future, it’s President Reiserová. Good thing she is President for life. I think it’s amazing that socialising gives Czechs life-long jobs. Czechs having such strong job security is an example of Czech Slavia’s many great achievements.
Keep it up, sweeties. You are all doing great. Thank you for allowing me to attend this milestone, and I can’t wait for the next one! Thank you."
The Most Blessed State of Inquista
Archbishop Mikaela Kligenberg
Chief Bishop Secretary Edward Firoux
Councillor Karinn Lallana -
Leo McKulsky took the oppurtunity to stand up and do a speech on behalf of his party He started by saying "As you may know we come from a land of royalty and unfairness and of business. I praise the SRP because it has 100 years of opposing that , 100 years of helping parties and comrades in need throughout Europe. May the party for 100 more years advance socialism with much of that under the leadertshhip of the wise Comrade Reiserová's. Comrade Reiserová heres to 100 more years of the peoples reign and many more years under your wise guidance. May the cappitalist pigs remain unwelcome in Czechslavia and lose the battle."
Then Róise Ní Fiannachta MacLuinge stood up "I want to thank the SRP for their influence and help with the CSP over the years. We very much see the party as our brother and you have looked after us and the legacy of socialism and the workers paradise in the Czech Republic well but may I say do not waiver now, the greatness of the SRP has always been its unity against hoardes of rich and bourgeoisie , that is you strength and legacy of 100 years do not let the cappitalist hoardes in easily now to steal all that progress and the power of the worker.
I am confident with the fine comrade Reiserová you can resist the cappitalist pigs in this economic war we are in as nations and as parties and as people of socialist nations. Long may may Reiserová reign and long may she be the bane of the bourgeoisie and the enemies of the people like billionaires and millionaires. Long may she keep equality of the people in the nation in unity with true socialists worldwide."
