Free Devolution by Chris Papst Page A

straight out of the media handbook. It appeared to be a wasteland of piles of paper, but to the trained eye, it was a highly organized mess.
    Most days, Nash received a large bundle of letters, magazines, and memos wrapped tightly in a rubber band. This day was no different. As news director of the BNN—a radio, television, print, and Internet conglomerate—he was a popular man.
    “Thank you,” Nash said dismissively.
    Ashleigh turned to exit his room. She could tell Nash was not in the mood to talk. If she were lucky however, someone along her route would be.
    Every day the mail contained the same nonsense—companies looking for free press, lame stories, free magazines, political letters, resumes, etc. Yet, a nervous anticipation always developed in his belly when he snapped off the rubber band. Every day was one closer to when he would get the story of a lifetime.
    As he dug his way towards the bottom of the stack, he noticed a letter addressed in an odd font. The envelope had no return address, but had been mailed in Cambridge. He ripped open the top. Inside, he found a typed note:
     
    Dear Mr. Nash:
     
    I have recently come across some information in which you might be interested. A few months ago, terrorists gained access to Westminster, taking four MPs hostage. The military subsequently stormed the building, killing the terrorists and sparing the representatives. Unfortunately, this is not the true story. I have proof that what the government called a ‘necessary action’ was actually a deliberate cover-up. I wish to earn your trust and cooperation in exposing this fraud. However, due to the sensitive nature of the material, I hope you respect my wish to remain anonymous. I will write in the coming days with more information. In the meantime, re-watch the press conference from that day, and listen closely to the words of MP Richard Sykes in particular. You will begin to understand.
    Good day, Sir.
     
    Dubious, yet quite interested, Nash put down the letter and made his way to the archives. He paged through the dates to find that day’s copy and skipped to where Sykes began to speak:
     
    “When confronted with a tragic situation, you never know how you’ll react. Such was the case for me and my three fellow countrymen. At first, it was simply some yelling from down the hall. Before we knew what happened, four masked men burst into our room. They put guns to our heads and began shouting out commands in what sounded like Arabic. We could not understand their orders, so they beat us with their weapons. They tied us all together and put us in a closet. All I could think about was my family at home, and wondered if I would ever see them again.”
     
    Nash stopped the video immediately and hit rewind.
     
    “All I could think about was my family at home, and wondered if I would ever see them again.”
    His eyes glazed in disbelief and his mouth dropped open. In the gravity of the situation, it must have been overlooked. It was well-known Sykes had no family. They had all perished in a car crash three years earlier.
     
    *
     
    The rotation of the cooling fan had become a comforting sound for John Nolan. The research that would lay the foundation for his Constitution was nearly finished. He sat at his desk on this mid-February evening putting the finishing touches on the rise and fall of one of the greatest and most-feared superpowers in history, the USSR. It read as follows:
     
    To become a superpower, a nation must have a strong economy, a dominant military, and immense international influence. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republic (USSR) was established in 1922 and grew into one of the world’s most powerful and influential states. Prior to WWII, the USSR was strong. Following the war, it became a superpower as it filled the power vacuum in its hemisphere brought about by a war-weakened Europe.
    By partitioning Germany after the war, the USSR and USA effectively limited competition. To ensure its power, the