IRAY: Come in!
GASAN: Thank you, governor Iray.
IRAY: I should be the one thanking you Gasan.
GASAN: Yes, your Aid made it clear to me it was important, can I sit?
IRAY: Of course!
GASAN: Alright go ahead and tell me this plot of yours.
IRAY: So, when you picture the great Abar squire what comes to mind?
GASAN: Well.
IRAY: And to be honest, this conversation stays with us.
GASAN: Okay, honestly they’re boring. The squire is scary in the same way a mosquito is. Yes it kills quite well, and it has a proud history of this killing. But no one who looks at a mosquito is afraid.
GASAN: And the squires army, well they simply just buzz around killing people. There’s no fun with it; it’s all chest shots and following rules. Their guns are a bland brown color. And they work so well that it never invites any interesting stories. No jams, no panicked fights. I understand this is a good thing, but governor, as a story teller it’s hard to work with this at times. The people can only hear an 89 percent success rate so many times.
IRAY: Thank you! This is what I’m trying to work on! The squire simply isn’t feared anymore. My friend, I know how we can change that. Philistine squad 9!
IRAY: We take actors and give them a couple weeks of military training. Enough to give them the skills to shoot, run, stab, the basics. But not enough to know how much force or where to aim. Give them hand axes and shot guns chains, butcher knives. Messy things, things that invite blood and broken bones.
IRAY: Then we take prisoners and give them the same training and the same weapons. And, this is the best part. Have them fight! Film the entire thing and “lose” the footage. After this footage gets played around we have a conference. We tell the citizens a squire squad went rogue and is slaughtering their enemies. Of course we condemn it, say we’ll arrest them. But we keep making these films and keep giving them to the public. We have the whole world scared of the squires army again. Or at least make their public afraid of us once more. So can you do it?
GASAN: It sounds interesting, but I have to ask though. What if they found out we faked this footage. I imagine we want to keep these actors alive. And what about the prisoners. It’ll be a little bit odd if all these prisoners keep disappearing. And what if someone sees the face of someone they know? What then?
IRAY: I got you covered, friend. The prisoners will wear masks, as for the supply problem we have more than enough prisoners in Brazil. We have several governors we can make; shall we say agreements with?
IRAY: No one will miss the prisoners anyway, at least not in Abar. The actors, the actors we’ll keep a close eye on. Tell them we’ll kill their families or tank their families business’s something to keep them in silence.
GASAN: What of the combat experts? Won’t you have a hard time convincing them actors with minimal training are rogue professional soldiers?
IRAY: We thought of that as well. Simply we’ll say they recruit locals from nearby villages. The instructor will be in the video to give credibility to this idea, of course always in a safe position.
GASAN: What’s the plan for the worst case scenario? An actor tells the world with video footage of the works. What do we do then?
IRAY: Well if that is to happen, unlikely as it is. We would likely deny it as much as we could. scapegoat some governors and other officials we need to prune.
GASAN: And myself? Will I be a part of this scapegoating?
IRAY: You? No,no We’ll say that you were forced by these officials to do so. And anyway you wouldn’t be prosecuted by the law in any sense. In the worst case we might move you and your family to a swanky villa on some exotic island.
GASAN: I imagine I’ll be getting this in writing
IRAY: I’ll go on camera if you want.
GASAN: Good, now let’s talk about pay. I’m guessing for something this important the funds for this project are matching.
IRAY: The pay will match. Currently congress is willing to give us thirty million a year. Your payment will be 3 and half million. Most of the money is going to bribing officials to not check passports and such. The procuring of prisoners, medical care, gear
GASAN: Three million?
IRAY: And a half.
GASAN: And how will this money not be spotted? I mean 30 million is going to be hard to hide.
IRAY: Will it? The nation’s building fund is at five hundred million dollars. What’s another thirty million tacked on to it?
GASAN: I’m talking about heroes. People willing to snoop through the thousands of pages of budget reports. Maybe a new congress member looking to make a name for themselves. A scandal like this can define someone.
GASAN: Or even a third party journalist. What about them? They don’t care about government funds or their lives. They’d kill to get a story like this
IRAY: Or they get killed. I’m afraid that even I can’t see the future. I won’t lie there’s risk, unfortunately we don’t have much choice. China and India have been getting Chummy. Some information even says that Ghana might join their little alliance. We simply can’t have the world go back to World war one. This project, with hope. Should make Abar gain a bit of its allure as the world’s protector once more.
GASAN: Sir I don’t wish to doubt you. I just don’t want Abar to be even more weakened by my actions.
IRAY: No, no Gasan. You’re our best propaganda director we got. I’m assured your years of filming our great squires will make you perfect for this role.
GASAN: Thank you, I hope I’ll have time to think about this opportunity.
IRAY: You’ll have plenty. I would like an answer by the end of the month. We have a lot of work to do and I feel your inclusion will help make this project a success. Now I’m sorry to end this early but my daughter’s baseball game is starting soon.
GASAN: Thank you governor Iray. I’ll be sure to give you an answer as soon as I can.
IRAY: Thank you, and in the future call me Iray.