The despicable nature of Vera Babylon

Vera scowled as she stared at message on her phone. "Ibtissam, you really are a nuisance. More so than those idiot Japs that cost Nazi Germany the world. Seems I'll have to give a very annoying Jap the time of day for an interview, only to make my life easier."

...

In Kisha's makeshift studio, everyone was still mingling and eating snacks before the show resumed airing. However, plans were thrown into awry as a stagehand approached Kisha and whispered something to her.

"Huh, Babylonia wants to do the interview immediately? OK, but I thought they originally said they wanted to do it later."

"We just received the text stating that Miss Vera Babylon wished to move things up as she wishes to personally participate in 6B shortly."

"Oh, then we slot her up. Wait, this means everyone's gotta wait in the back, and I can't bring Zehava on yet. Ugh, sort out the logistics, I'll let everyone here know."

Once that was all said and done, Kisha's show prepared to resume airing, though now with just Kisa present and all the guests waiting backstage.

"A little surprising she cleared the stage after setting it so big, but I guess she doesn't want to intimidate her next set of guests," Ināra frowned.

Then with the thumbs up from the stagehand, the show went back on the air.

"Welcome back! I'm hear with loads of big names and familiar faces, but before I get into the nitty gritty, it seems I gotta shuffle guests around. Sorry, this is all done to avoid drama as there are just some guests I can't have in the same room with each other. This next guest also deserve a bit more one-on-one time So without further ado, here's our next guests, who might have things to do which is why they'll only be here briefly. From the Babylonian ladies' team. Please welcome, Dr. Verachteleke Babylon!" Kisha smiled.

"Oh, don't use that old outdated name. Just "Vera" is fine as it's what's on the official documents anyway," Vera smiled with a tinge of hostility as she strutted out onto the stage accompanied by her four teammates.

"Didn't expect ya to bring the whole team, but it's a pleasant surprise. So, care to tell us what your day job's like?" Kisha asked.

Vera chuckled as she sat down and adjusted her glasses. "Ever since the Neo-Babylonian Empire was established, science has been our main trade."

"What kind of science?"

"Robotics, nuclear fission, the list goes on."

"Don't forget human experimentation," Ibtissam snarled as she brushed aside her long thick curly chestnut hair.

"I- Ibtissam... D- Don't dis the doc. She's- She's doing this for all. The noblest of the noble," the bespectacled and trembling Taslima Doumit giddily smiled.

"Taslima, you're letting your brainwashing show. Do try to at least have a more independent thought," Roshanak sighed.

As for Niusha, she remained silent, unable to determine what to do or say. When it came to quantum physics, the Bagdad native was nothing short of extraordinaire, but anything in the realms of social interaction with extraverts and she'd clam up in seconds. Social life in general was difficult for the introverted Dr. Niusha Veisi, but thanks to her brilliant mind, she was able to be recruited to Babylonia's top research facility.

"My, it appears you had so many guests, but you cleared them all out just for us?" Vera smiled, a light tinge of hostility in her tone, as she gazed at the extra seating that had been set up.

"Yeah, just had to get that tease in for later. Also felt overwhelming ya might clam ya up worse for this interview," Kiha stated.

"An interview reserved in my name which I never requested."

Ibtissam's gaze narrowed. In reality, Vera never had any intention of giving Kisha the time of day for an interview, but Ibtissam had decided to force her hand by booking an interview in her name behind her back. She actually wanted to appear by herself for a true one-on-one discussion, but Vera had caught word at the last minute and came personally, which ironically complicated Ibtissam's original intent for this interview.

"So let's get the elephants out of the room now. It was late September, early October 2022 when Babylonia was resurrected and managed to beat the Israeli Kingdom of Israel, then just simply Israel, in a high-stakes chess match, which eventually led to most of Israel's landmass and people physically being relocated to just north of Ethiopia in the horn of Africa around January 2023. The question is what happened in those three months in between and after in Babylonia itself. If I recall, Babylonia's made up of quite a few Middle eastern nations in the levant, but the general worldwide population has been cut-off from them ever since Babylonia's rise. All we get are press releases, detailing the science and research carried out, but no one's allowed inside. Reminds me of North Korea before Mongolia conquered it, technically again. So, care to give everyone the deets?"

Vera smiled, more or less expecting this question. "We are a democracy. The Middle east has long been wrought with strife, but thanks to the brilliant mind of Olavi Hellkinen, peace, stability, utopia, we are the intellectual pride of the world, continuing to spread our gospel global by the day."

"'Gospel'? Rich word choice from a self-proclaimed atheist," Ibtissam glared.

"There remain some displeased about our new science-centric approach, but that-"

"You know damn well why I'm calling you out! You're one of the most anti-religious bitches out there, unless we try contorting your atheism into satanism, which is doable considering Olavi- ...!"

Ibtissim glared furiously as her entire body froze up.

"And that's where I shut down discussion. Slandering Olavi, our intellectual pride, is a crime. You should be grateful this system allows you to function again in just 3 short minutes. As for the reporter, there really isn't much else to discuss in terms of Babylon."

Kisha awkwardly nodded, but didn't let the interview end there. "Then let's discuss something more current. Last round, you were paired against The Philippines. All seemed fine, until you suddenly ordered everyone to abandon the match before it began, physically dragging away some of your teammates who refused to comply," she stated as footage showed of the Babylonian women's team and Philippines' women's team staring each other down.

"Oh, that was simply because we don't recognize their team as legitimate."

"Meaning?"

A scowl formed on Vera's face. "They had vermin on the team."

The line caused nothing but confusion for Kisha, but for the other Babylonians, they knew what Vera was talking about. "You're not a fan of the Filipinas? I get their teams made up mostly of mercs who... shall we put it nicely, can be rambunctious more often than not. But they can be nice, and I've met way worse people, trust me."

"I suppose our qualms... lie simply with the fact that they made the disappointing decision of including vermin in their roster. Now, we have places to be, notably the 6B tournament," Vera smiled as she got up to leave.

"You've always been despicable, Vera. This is why I've always dubbed you, Verachtelijk Poep," a voice snarled.

Everyone turned to notice Yanmin entering the set, blocking Vera's path of escape.

"Oh, they had you here too? What an attempt at comedy. You're nothing but a sex worker assuming the fleece of a woman of science," Vera scoffed.

"Don't deflect! I do what I need for research funds. Science isn't always an enamored profession. Ah, I let myself get swept up talking about me!"

But Vera had taken her chance, dragging Ibtissam out with her as Taslima and Niusha followed behind. However, the presence of someone completely unexpected caused Vera to stop and lose control of her emotions.

"Reporter, why is vermin infesting my walking path?" Vera scowled as Lada stood before her.

"Um, what are you so mad about? You got a beef with Lada I don't know-"

"YOU HAVE THE GALL TO REFER TO VERMIN BY NAME!?"

"Oi, the hell's your problem with me?" Lada glared.

"I'll tell you. That woman has a hatred for any and all things Jewish," Yanmin stated.

The revelation sent shockwaves throughout the room.

"Hold on, my notes just said Babylonians hate Israelis, and Lada's Russian," Kisha stammered.

"But I do got some Russian Jewish heritage, Kristel's also Jewish," Lada scowled.

"Wait, so then you're saying she boycotted the match with the Philippines, just because one of their members was Jewish!? That's just wrong!"

Vera slowly opened her eyes, revealing nothing but bloodshot blue. But before she could get a word in, Roshanak spoke up. 

"Yeah, I'll confirm most Babylonians can't get along with Israelis, namely the soldiers and that 3ft ego roach that used to be in charge along with their current soulless soldier queen. But everyone else, usually there's no problem. Heck, despite the fact that she's an Arab Christian, Ibtissam here was bon n' raised in Nazareth, and thus is considered Israeli, or was before Babylonia decided to do some homewrecking. But here's the thing, discrimination against anyone solely because of religion, race, ethnicity, sexuality, nationality, etc. is just wrong. I got no problem dining with all walks of life even if we got political disagreements. My motto in general is if you're not a soldier, politician, or just a flat out one-dimensional racist and/or scumbag, I got no problem drinking with you. Doesn't matter if you're Jewish, Muslim, Christian, gay, straight, white, black, or whatever nationality you may be, even if you're views are completely opposite of mine, if you're a decent person that can respectfully disagree and let bygones be bygones over a cold one, you're a person I'll happily call a friend. Vera falls into category 3, which you just saw for yourself. And don't think she and Olavi are just antisemitic, they both hate people with darker skin, Slavs, Asians, even the very people they lord over, claiming to have granted a better life. Point is, governments and those running them suck, and seek to do nothing but sew discord to fuel their power highs."

"And that's where the slander stops. I am a Babylonian, all 5 of us are. Statistically, it's impossible for everyone within a nation to be satisfied with the way of life, but you know that a majority of our citizens, 99% to be exact, are extremely satisfied with our way of life, and I and Olavi care deeply about them. But since it needs to be said, vermin are vermin and property of Babylonia following our DESPER victory. Thus, we refuse to respect any nation and team that treats our lab rats as human beings. They are all our rats to subject to experimentation," Vera glared.

"Wait, what exactly were the specifications of that DESPER bet?" Kisha asked.

"Oh? It was as follows; Israel's representative, which was it's then prime minister, "Davey the lion" so he was dubbed, would be granted all Babylonian lands that once made up the ancient Kingdom of Israel form biblical times should he win, while should Babylonia's representative, N3BU-CH4D-N3Z-Z4R win, Israel's people would become our property. And as you know, Israel is a Jewish state, which we interpret as meaning all Jews are our property to do as we please with. It matters not if they set foot in Israel, love or hate it, they all belong to us, regardless of what law or even the DESPER says."

"The DESPER's query is absolute though," Raymond stated as he suddenly appeared out of nowhere, startling everyone. "To answer your question, three months after his victory, Olavi Hellkinen of Babylonia consented to offering up both land and people should Orit Sharir win a simul DESPER chess match against his proxy and around one million others. Orit prevailed, and thus, the Israeli Kingdom of Simien came to be. Though to touch on Vera Babylon's claim, the DESPER only considered citizens of Israel currently within it's borders at the time of the match to be under control of Olavi and Babylon. As for your boycott of the match yesterday, you are well aware I believe all should be settled at the chessboard."

"There is a rule that games can be forfeited if players fail to show up on time."

"Correct, but that is to keep things orderly. You not only arrived on time, but forced your teammates to abandon the match. That is worthy of penalty. If you yourself wish not to play, sit the match out, but don't force your teammates who wish to compete to abandon against their will."

"And that means?"

Roshanak clenched her fist, yet was physically prevented from refuting Vera by unseen forces, much like Ibtissam was.

"You know well it's meaning. Anger me again and you shall be imprisoned at WWCF HQ, which currently houses at least one or more prisoners you have unbridled hatred for, which you will be forced to play against as part of standard prison protocol," Raymond warned as he left.

Vera clicked her teeth, and stormed out without another word, dragging Ibtissam and Roshanak with her as the others filed out after her.

"And here I was trying to avoid this kind of drama. Break time, then we get back to that musical tease from earlier, which better lift my spirits," Kisha grumbled.