The great windows of the von Zehntner Syndicate headquarters let in the weak, late-autumn light of Berlin.
It glinted off the marble floors and the dark wood of the table, stretching long shadows across the carved iron crests of conquered companies embedded along the wall.
Erwin von Zehntner stood at the end of the boardroom, flipping through the latest intelligence binder, hand-delivered by courier that morning.
The American situation was unraveling faster than expected.
Riots in Kansas City. Martial law in Chicago.
New York radio stations seized by the federal government.
Treasury bonds collapsing. Grain futures plummeting.
On page 12, clipped neatly into place, was a report from the New York holding firm, one of the countless shell companies buried in the imperial registry under eight layers of misdirection.
It showed how hard the pressure was hitting their assets.
Steel. Oil. Paper. Rail.
Even media.
All bleeding.
