Chapter 170: IBM - International Big Mouth

In today's world, it's a bit too much to say that every corner is ablaze with conflict, but tensions were certainly high. The Russians had occupied Afghanistan and showed no sign of leaving. Who knew what they were thinking?

Their territory was already vast, yet they still wanted more. What were they thinking with that brain of theirs? The barbarian genes in those Tatars must be pretty strong.

Saddam was extremely frustrated. He had finally managed to build a nuclear power plant, only for it to get blown up. He wanted retaliation, but it wasn't feasible. Even if he could form a coalition, they couldn't win a fight. If he went it alone, he'd probably get wiped out. Given a few more decades, maybe they could really develop an atomic bomb.

What? Can't launch it?

The Americans' sidekick is right next door, just lob it over with enough force.

If that doesn't work, the dude's got Scud missiles.

Sigh, this guy doesn't get it. Making an atomic bomb is one thing, but miniaturizing it is another. Not many countries could do that.

The world was already chaotic enough. Ideally, everyone should keep calm, especially the bigger nations. It's best not to stir up trouble.

Don't let this term's president's age fool you; the fellow was clearly a zealous youth at heart. It's really hard to understand how he could be saying such nonsensical things at over seventy.

IBM is his label now, short for "International Big Mouth." He's also one of the few jerks around.

The other one was the Russian guy, who pounded the table with his shoe when nobody wanted to listen to his speech.

These two shared a common trait: boasting about their military power. The Russian claimed they were producing missiles at the speed of making sausages.

Fine, say whatever you want. How could you tell their president such nonsense to his face?

The result was awful. The Americans got scared out of their wits and started mass-producing missiles. It might not have been as outrageous as sausage factories, but the gap wasn't that big.

The later missile crisis was really sparked by this big mouth.

The Russians had shut up by now. They couldn't keep up production, and their people couldn't even eat bread. How were they gonna make missiles?

Okay, it looked like this problem was contagious. The American president started spouting nonsense too.

Their treasury was empty, yet they talked about some Star Wars plan.

Alright now, the Russians took it seriously and decided to use some military intimidation. Things got tough for their European allies. They should have joined in the Star Wars game instead of focusing on mechanized units; they couldn't handle the pressure.

The president was criticized and even roasted by his own television networks. This international big mouth label was disgusting.

Adding that fake IBM company, the Americans now had three IBMs.

NBC, unusually, gained a lot of respect with its stance. Who wants war, anyway? Except maybe those jerks in charge of defense companies.

Peace.

Do you dare criticize it?

This era was the peak of anti-war sentiment. Don't even think about starting a war; even the slightest move would label you a warmonger.

The US started to worry. Defense companies were their core interests. If public opinion didn't change, the Star Wars plan might get shelved, and they couldn't afford that.

Forget permanent shelving; even a delay of a year or two would be unacceptable.

Morgan Stanley was also mad. They felt like they'd shot themselves in the foot. They knew full well William White was a troublemaker. If they hadn't provoked him, he wouldn't have bothered with them.

As for the big boss?

He was just an actor, and this time, he messed up his role.

Well, actually, he didn't mess it up; he just got too into it. Not only did he fool himself, but he also managed to trick the Russians.

...

"William, what're you playin' at here?"

"Haha, trick or treat if you don't give me candy."

"Pfft, what do you actually want?"

"Tell that old fool to stop messin' with me, or next time I won't be so gentle."

"Okay, okay, I'll pass the message on."

Bush Jr. was also frustrated. What on earth was this mess? His dad was the number two boss, almost ready to take over, just a bit unlucky.

Not succeeding in a takeover was frustrating enough, and now this trouble shows up. He didn't think William White was wrong; those financial groups deserved a hit. They were so arrogant, suppressing everyone's business. Where's the law and order in that?

"Dad, he's just fooling around. No candy, and he'll just cause mischief. If they try again, he'll keep it up."

"All right, I got it. Those financial groups are a bit over the top. If we let them run wild, what use are we? Do they think we're just puppets?"

Bush Sr. was angry too. Not getting promoted was bad enough; he even had his inauguration speech ready. Now he had to stay as the heir apparent.

After the big boss got shot, support surged above 70%, a rare feat in American history.

As long as he didn't mess up, reelection was practically a done deal. But now, things had soured, the Russians were ticked off, the public was scared, and his support was free-falling. If this continued, reelection might still happen, but his succession chances would be slim.

That IBM nickname was seriously unpleasant.

To say the big boss was in great shape; it's a wonder he didn't die of anger. Really, you could only say he was fit as a fiddle.

NBC might have quieted down, but its impact couldn't be erased. The Americans were terrified of war.

The two post-World War II wars both involved the Russians. Without help from big powers, a single airborne division could solve the issue.

It was a proxy war for them, but America was directly involved. Even so, they lost. If a world war erupted, America just couldn't keep up.

Luckily, the Russians were greedy. They didn't spare the land of their allies, flipping sides whenever convenient.

Being Russia's neighbor was a real drag. They were even worse than opponents, with no sense of decency.

William White stopped causing trouble for simple reasons. If he relentlessly attacked those guys, others would intervene.

The Star Wars program wasn't solely an American plan; they just had the largest share. Morgan Stanley's military assets weren't small either.

William White wanted to take it easy; he wasn't looking to fight financial groups. The current level of moderation was just fine. No one would say anything.

As for the other group, it naturally became the target.

The logic was simple: wanting to hog everything was over-the-top. Getting beaten down was deserved, but please clean up your mess so we don't suffer with you.

Yeah, you want our help fixing this? Sorry, but you better sweeten the deal.

The Star Wars project was a massive century deal. You and Morgan Stanley took too much pie. Give up a bit; our demands aren't high.

As for the DC side, the big boss was furious. Without paying a certain price, they wouldn't get through.

IBM?

Darn it! William White was quite the mischief-maker. Nobody knew how he came up with that.

The midterm elections were likely to be a mess, a headache even thinking about it. The big boss was walking into a bloodbath.

*****

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