"Isn't execution barbaric?" asked a CNN reporter, trying to highlight the moral aspect of it while showing how uncivilized a country that came with that condition was.
Alexander wasted no time with his answer. "For a country that etched into its constitution the equality of every person, doesn't that also mean that a life is equal to a life? So what should the punishment of a person responsible for the death of more than five thousand people when it wasn't warranted or justified be?" he asked, instead of giving an answer.
"It's inherently immoral and reduces society to the level of the criminal," the reporter replied, still believing that she was right and had the moral high ground.
Alexander just smiled and said, "That might be true for you, or even your country, but our constitution explicitly states that the equality of man means that a life is equal to a life. If you take one without justification, the country has the responsibility to take yours in exchange." Throughout his answer, he maintained eye contact with the reporter.
Then he raised his head and looked at the other reporters as he said, "Next question please."
"Isn't the annexation of defeated nations against the United Nations Charter of 1945? And not only that, but isn't it also against the fourth Hague Convention?" A Russian reporter asked in heavily accented English.
"Although some of the agreement does speak against taking over or annexing land, I have to remind you that we're not yet members of the United Nations. Your country, Russia, and China have been acting as obstacles to us joining it, causing a delay. So although there are international treaties against it, we aren't a signatory of any of those treaties at the moment," he answered, then moved to the next reporter, leaving the Russian with his mouth hanging open. He hadn't expected such a bold answer from Alexander, as he was used to more euphemistic answers from career politicians.
"Isn't the disarmament of Esparia just a means for Eden to have indirect, but powerful influence there, despite it not being explicitly written in the accord?" a BBC reporter asked.
"Although it might seem that way, that's an impossibility. Although they'll be operating under one name, ARES isn't the Edenian military and they'll be acting solely based on the contracts given them by the governments. And as you can see with Eden, for example, no such problems have occurred at all. But rather than trusting my word, which has so far been impeccable, there'll be two branches—one responsible for Eden, and the other for Esparia. Each branch will consist of soldiers from their respective nations unless special circumstances determine otherwise," he answered.
A few more questions came and went and he answered all of them without any difficulty at all, leaving the impression of an extreme professionalism not seen in many presidents of this century.
...
The reaction after the press conference was explosive and people were fervently discussing it online.
Some were talking about the charisma and composure of the Edenian president.
@Habitualwarsupporter [Damn, that guy has the charisma of a nation behind his back. I mean, look at how he answered those questions! It was like he knew what they were going to ask! #Damn #Edenspresidentissupercool #Edengotlucky #Immovingtoeden]
Others were trying to highlight his greed, n0velUsb.c0m
@__Boobsmaster__ [Although I'm happy that the war is now over don't you think Eden is taking too much advantage of Esparia. I mean look at the fourth condition of them having half the profits of the resources they find forever, isn't that too greedy? #Edensidgreedy #Americadosomethingaboutit #Espariaprotestit.]
which caused someone to go on a rant bashing the shitty point the previous poster was virtue signaling. It became one of the most liked threads about the topic.
@Conspiracy_the0rist37 [Oy, are you dumb or are you just pretending to be? Didn't you hear what he said? He said if they discover it themselves, meaning they'll have to invest money to search for natural resources. Esparia won't be paying any of it, and it isn't for forever—they only have six months to look. (1 / 4) #shutthefuckup #Edengoallin #theycouldhavedoneworse #Immovingtoeden]
[Then, as if that wasn't enough, they also added that they'll be the ones responsible for extracting it. And in return for all that, they'll only be taking half of the profits with the rest going to the Esparian government. Does that seem like someone planning to exploit you? (2/4) #shutthefuckup #Edengoallin #theycouldhavedoneworse #Immovingtoeden]
[And that's a condition given by a country that had the right to take every cent they could if they wanted, since the agreement was an unconditional surrender and Esparia couldn't disagree with it no matter how brutal it was. (3 / 4) #shutthefuckup #Edengoallin #theycouldhavedoneworse #Immovingtoeden]
[Do your fucking research before you start virtue signaling for likes that won't feed you. (4 / 4) #shutthefuckup #Edengoallin #theycouldhavedoneworse #Immovingtoeden]
...
That was just the tip of the iceberg, as different opinions about the press conference were all over the internet. That didn't exclude a few governments, who also responded with statements of their own. The Chinese and Russian foreign ministries, in particular, were forced to make announcements by the answers Alexander had given the press.
Although each of them worded their press releases differently, the gist of what they said was that they were just doing their due diligence in order to ensure that Eden doesn't unjustly gain their recognition. After all, they had previously been a rather corrupt and brutal dictatorship, and the UN General Assembly didn't need another one. There were already plenty of dictators there, and after the revolution and change in government, Russia and China were in the final steps of their decision-making process. Once their verifications were complete, they would make their final decision as part of the UN Security Council, following which Eden joining the UN General Assembly would be set in stone.
...
Sarah was watching the press conference in the comfort of her luxurious home in Eden, and although she was alone in her living room, those with AR capable devices would see Felix sitting beside her. They were watching it together, just from different houses—if one were to look in Felix's living room, they would see Sarah sitting on one of his sofas instead.
Felix turned to Sarah and asked, "Do you think Aron has something to gain from that fourth condition?"
"He most definitely does," she answered, looking back at the Felix in her room. Then she asked someone else, "Don't you think so, too?"
[Based on the high-quality map of Eden, it's expected that Esparia will have nearly the same, or perhaps slightly fewer, reserves of natural resources,] her secretary answered, causing both Felix and Sarah to widen their eyes so much they threatened to fall out of their faces.
"What do you mean by that?" they asked in unison.
[These are the natural resources discovered in Eden about a month ago, when mother surveyed the country,] she replied, showing them the map she was talking about. All of the discovered natural resources above a certain threshold were highlighted, with different colors representing different resources.
"Oh my god!" Felix said when he saw the amount of materials listed on the left side of the map.
Sarah's reaction wasn't too different from Felix's, as she was also surprised by how rich in previously undiscovered natural resources Eden was.
"Can you tell us how this map came to be?" Sarah asked her secretary, who obliged without a problem as the information was well within the clearance level of both Felix and Sarah.
...
"Looks like the six-month time limit is to make it a bit more believable," Felix said when he finished listening to the secretary's report.
"Yep. Connect is going to get bigger, it seems," Sarah said in a slightly joking tone.
"Don't worry, I suspect Aron's going to make you responsible for the overseas sales, while I'll be focused on the domestic market."
"I wonder why he's doing the same thing with two different companies, when doing it with one would reduce the cost and labor involved," Sarah mused, despite her suspicion.
"Although he didn't tell us about this, I think we both have the same guess as to why. And if we're right, then both the Edenians and Esparians could be considered lucky. It looks like the Esparian surrender is just the beginning of a grand plan to unite both islands and form an economic powerhouse. He could unite them into a single country, like the UK, or he might form a joint government, like the EU," Felix pondered.
"And it isn't impossible that the upcoming discoveries of natural resources will provide nearly ninety percent of the Esparian government's GDP. That would be another brick in the wall of unification, after putting his people in the new Esparian government," Sarah added.
The mere thought of Aron being capable of accomplishing such a thing sent shivers down their spines. The changes their friend had gone through—from expulsion to becoming someone powerful enough to have a country at the tips of his fingers—had taken less than a year.
And all of it had been started by someone's pettiness; what a monstrous butterfly effect!
