The Disarmament Debate

The frenzied energy humming from the satellite feed on Alex's encrypted tablet was monotonously counterbalanced by the freighter's engines' repetitive thrum. Alex saw the globe squabbling over its own survival under a bruised dawn sky somewhere in the Aegean Sea. Thanks to an emergency extraction organized by a tense but effective Thorne, which included a fishing trawler, a nocturnal transfer, and now this nameless cargo ship bound for—well, somewhere less compromised—he had barely survived Istanbul.

His shoulder hurt from hitting the wagon during the escape, but the bigger hurt was from losing Tanaka—whether he was murdered or captured—and losing their stuff. Not only was the unsuccessful incursion a setback, but it also served as a harsh reminder of the pointlessness of directly opposing Victor's technical stronghold. Now lost and licking his wounds, Alex could only watch helplessly as the world struggled to meet Victor's ultimatum.

The Year of Damocles was now in its seventh month. Victor's terrifying "Aurelius Doctrine" and his subsequent silence had given the international political scene a fresh, frantic vitality with less than five months to go. The UN's emergency meetings, which were aired live on decreasing news networks and exposed humanity's divides in harsh perspective, became almost permanent fixtures.

Clearly, three major factions had formed, and their disagreements could be heard both behind closed diplomatic doors and in plenary rooms. The "Capitulation" faction, which was mainly made up of developing countries, non-nuclear governments, and those that were most at risk from environmental collapse or fallout, argued with a growing sense of urgency for survival above all else. Their spokespersons, who were frequently fervent representatives of island states that were literally becoming extinct, begged the nuclear powers to swallow their pride. With his voice breaking, the Maldivian ambassador screamed, "What is sovereignty worth on a dead planet?" "Aurelius provides us with a future free from the nuclear dread we made ourselves, even if it is forced upon us! Is existence more valuable than pride? They portrayed disarmament as a moral imperative that was ultimately imposed on a world that was unwilling, rather than just a necessity.

The "Resistance" group, led by hawkish elements inside the established nuclear powers and those directly under their shadow, bitterly opposed them. They denounced Aurelius as a terrorist and a lunatic whose demands, if fulfilled, would create a disastrous precedent for nuclear blackmail in the future. At a confidential NATO briefing, a grim-faced Russian general said, "We do not negotiate with those who hold a gun to our head." This was echoed by hardliners in Beijing and Washington. "To disarm under threat is to invite chaos, to surrender global stability to the whims of any future megalomaniac." Even though the ultimate deterrent was now held by a single, unreachable person, they continued to adhere to the rhetoric of deterrence. Many people in this group secretly still held out hope that Victor might be located and stopped, relying on covert military actions.

Then there was the "Delay and Deny" faction, which was a broad, nebulous middle ground. The intractable problem of verification was the microscopical focus of their interminable procedural arguments. How could they be sure that their competitors were actually tearing things down? In the months that remained, how could inspectors confirm that every concealed warhead and gram of fissile material had been removed? They essentially stalled while feigning interest by proposing intricate, multi-stage verification methods that would take years rather than months. Some people sincerely hoped for a technological miracle, such as a planetary shield or a remote method of turning off the Aerie. Others appeared to be in a state of denial, unable to grasp the truth of their circumstances, and hoping that Victor's system or heart condition would fail without causing any harm before the timer went off.

Darker ambitions simmered in the background as the public debate focused on disarmament. Via Thorne's disjointed intelligence intercepts, Alex was aware that billions of dollars were being invested in wildly ambitious "planetary defense" projects, such as orbital weapon platforms, coordinated EMP bursts, and technologically unlikely Hail Marys that were intended more for domestic political consumption than practical use. Seeing Victor's inaccessible technology as the ultimate prize or his removal as a means of reestablishing the previous power dynamics, rival intelligence services persisted in their desperate, competitive hunts for the Aerie. War-gaming post-Damocles scenarios were already being played out by think tanks in different capitals: how to handle international security following forced disarmament, how to gain an advantage in the resulting power vacuum, or even, unsettlingly, how to best position oneself to 'inherit' the Earth in the event of the worst.

Verification was still at the center of the public impasse. Even countries that were hesitant to think about disarmament objected to the necessary openness. "How can we be sure that while we lay down our shield, others do not keep a sword hidden beneath their cloak?" the French president questioned in a dramatic speech. Tracking mobile launchers, keeping track of tactical warheads, and protecting enormous amounts of fissile material dispersed across dozens of locations worldwide were only a few of the enormous technical problems. Victor's suggested monitoring agency structure was ambiguous, and its objectivity was immediately called into question. The timeline appeared unattainable, needing significant international collaboration that was just nonexistent.

The political division was reflected in public opinion. In cities like Berlin and Tokyo, squares were crowded with large pro-disarmament rallies, while in Moscow and Delhi, nationalist protests calling for resistance were held in response. Online conspiracy theories flourished: Victor was a deep-state scheme, an AI, an alien, or a collective delusion. In some nations, crackdowns on dissent on the pretext of national security resulted from appeals for strong leadership that were motivated by fear. The psychological strain caused the already stressed fabric of global society to further unravel.

Victor Aurelius said nothing during this entire ordeal. Only the odd automated 'Damocles Protocol' status update, each one igniting new waves of fear around the world, came from the Aerie, which was supposedly sleeping in the abyssal depths. All sides projected their hopes and anxieties into the void created by his silence. Drones that vanished, distorted data feeds, and mysterious equipment failures were all unavoidable reminders of the Aerie's unbreakable defenses during attempts to explore the Mariana Trench.

From the loneliness of the ship, Alex witnessed it all, his frustration mingled with a rising sense of hopelessness. While Victor held the detonator, the politicians discussed verification procedures. As the clock approached zero, they pretended to be sovereign. Even with the best of intentions and careful planning, a direct approach was hopeless against Victor's multi-layered defenses and merciless foresight; his own failure in Istanbul felt like a microcosm of the immobility that pervaded the entire planet.

Alex realized the political spectacle would not save them as the vessel raced toward an unknown port, perhaps Greece. No government or coalition had the cohesion, the bravery, or the ability to militarily oppose Victor's demand. It was heavier than before, shifting back onto his shoulders. The only route was the psychological one, which involved manipulating Victor's history and his shattered beliefs. However, he was more vulnerable, weaker, and running out of time and alternatives following the failed escape from Istanbul. Before Victor Aurelius's last heartbeat decided the ultimate dispute, Alex needed to come up with a fresh strategy and weapon to stop the planet from debating itself to annihilation.