Introduction

"You all were there when I released a thermonuclear weapon over the Eastern seaboard."

Alexanderius Atkins, with his white suit, purple vest, ivory tie and eyes devoid of shame or guilt spoke. The dictator possessed a charm akin to Alexander the Great. Yet, the man was clearly a machiavellian devil of a human being. It was almost as if he wasn't a person at all with those eyes. Snake eyes had more shame in them.

"You all saw how not one civilian died. The nuclear EMP was merely a warning shot…" he paused for dramatic effect, "-and a means to an end."

Screens surrounded him, world leaders hanging from his every word. American relations were moot now. Tariffs were so unbearable that the world would trade with anyone to save a buck. Even a nuke lobbing, and market crashing plotter. Many presumed that they were falling right into line with his schemes; they were right.

"The US one-hundred percent EV armada was a marvel in its inception in 2030. Now, after the batteries were fried the air was poisoned by all the lead and zinc; all the invading soldiers were found dead by their vehicle's poor safety gear. Me and my country never fired a shot or dropped a bomb."

Probably one of his most blatant lies and gaslighting. It is supposed that he had stolen leftover Cold War WMD's—Novichok Agents—from Cuba; less than a hundred miles away. No one was expecting the nuclear attack and after communication was disrupted no one lived long enough to report exactly what chemical weapon Alexanderius had used.

"Now, I am in possession of the entire EV armada. The systems were quickly and easily repaired for a quarter of the fleet. With your help, the process can be completed quicker with several failsafes that their previous owners had taken for granted."

He bragged about how he replaced the EV's with hybrid engines. His R&D department had developed the Cupid Missile system; micro-rockets that target a heartbeat or pacemaker. The burgeoning small country's greatest minds made vertical farming—hydroponics—simple enough for citizens to have a crisis garden while farmers in the middle of cities crushed international food markets with over growing. Songs were being written about the cannabis industry from the collection of cities that produced recreational and medical drugs like a superpower. Domination and progress in the military, food and culture aspects were only a handful of President Atkin's victories.

"Note the strategic ceasefire I negotiated. Most analysts believed after such an incident, ninety percent of the affected population would perish. Through diplomacy, I convinced Washington to cede more territory into my control, recognize my country's independence, give us one trillion dollars in reparations and in exchange we will sell them energy. Saving hundreds of millions of lives."

Facts of the matter were he was holding Washington at proverbial gun point. The last time America was so weak was 1812 and the humiliation was unprecedented for any nation in history. Save possibly Rome, being ravaged by the Visigoths in 410 and Alexanderius knew it.

"In essence, I'm running America anyway. If I cut power tomorrow then the international ports you trade with will be forced to do your transactions by hand. There's no reason to keep up any sanctions or embargo on my people's goods. Any objections?"

The representative from France spoke, "It is rumored that some of your… products are made from POW slave labor. Is that true?"

An Australian concurred, "I doubt my parliament would be happy to deal in trade if that is the case."

"I assure you everyone," he answered, an annoyed twitch in his smile, "the POW's are being treated fairly. My government has spent one hundred billion dollars on food and housing and another hundred billion on medicine and medical care. Tomorrow my office will release a digital tour of our internment facilities as we await proper prisoner transfers to receive our patriots locked in Guantanamo Bay."

Many soldiers not caught in the blast were stranded and captured in the aftermath of the attack. Feeding them and healing them wasn't much of an issue. Employing them away from important infrastructure in a country half the size of Florida was the problem. Alexanderius didn't see them as people most of the time; but costs and he was aggressively cutting costs left and right.

Or developing new ways to cut. No need to tell anyone about his experiments. His people, like customers, deserved the best bang for their buck; the best value for their taxes and nothing was going to stop him.

He grabbed a cigar, made by his economy he ushered in. His personal bodyguard and secretary, snapped her fingers, summoning fire in her hand to light it. He finished,

"Is there any other questions?"