The eye of the lion

The domino tile whose fall triggered the following chain reaction - the unimaginable series of events that led to the demise of human civilization - started to topple, almost innocently, at that time.

It all started with the sudden death of the Russian president and the crisis which had, for a couple of years already, been hitting the ex-Soviet block countries hard. An evident, overwhelming need for change had been brewing for several months and the discontent of many was already rising up in outcry.

It seemed that change could be glimpsed on the horizon when General Igor Vostrikov acceded to the Russian presidency. The General of sixty-eight years, heir of the ancient line of the post-Cold War Kremlin, shook the world in his accession speech when he declared:

“The stupid mistakes of our recent history, together with the pressure of terroristic imperialism from the West, have managed to tear apart our great Motherland and reduce her to a pile of rubble. It’s time to correct those mistakes and return the Motherland to the place she used to occupy in the world... it’s time to restore the glory of our native land and bring its scattered children home, to reunify the Soviet Union!”

The world watched the scene on television, paralyzed.

The United states felt as though the icy hand of a ghost were touching its shoulder, but things would only get worse.

Before America could react, that same evening, China, headed up by its president King Tsao Ping, released an official declaration in which it offered its unconditional support to its Russian friend and neighboring country in its reunification plans, and its whole-hearted support in the case of encountering “Hostility and interference on the part of imperialist powers”.

It was a very, very long night for many people in Washington, London, Berlin...