Is there a better group for me to post this to? I haven't gotten any
response to it from this group or even my own Yahoo group
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/darksidefur"Mac Rosevelt" <
rap...@calweb.com> wrote in message
news:3d4f2...@news3.calweb.com...
> This is meant to be a prelude to a longer story about a war. It's a black
> comedy about fascism ... featuring cute furry animals!
>
____________________________________________________________________________
> __________________
> A fictional (duh!) story set in The Adventures of Bob Eisenhower's
Cynthian
> (Lagomorph) Empire , by Andrew Cheatle
>
>
> HEATHER'S DIARY
> PART I
> By Minister of Culture & Propaganda Heather Herpinski
>
> Dear Diary, this is, like, what happened to me and stuff today, um, March
> 15, 2002 . no . April 15, 2002. (I sure as hell hope no one finds this .
but
> whom the hell will? Sally may be a snoop, but she's also totally clueless,
> and not in a good way like in the Earth movie...)
>
> Morning again? That was some party last night; it should be if the
Minister
> of Food & Beverages throws it. Jed there, even despite that whole farmer
> look, actually can mix drinks himself, says he had to figure out making
his
> own booze back on the farm, being miles away from any bar. His favorite is
> what he calls 'Rootin' Tootin' Lemonade', really packs a punch. Anyway,
off
> to work. After Lorenzo, my way hot repti-hunk of bodyguard/chauffeur
checks
> the perimeter outside for assassins (we got three this week? Why does
> everyone want to kill me?) I hop into my shuttle and off we go, traffic
> being pretty decent at 9 in the morning. I tuned into my radio/phone
> headset, while eating a bagel and sipping my own Latte my servants whipped
> up, and listened to the morning news.
>
> << "You are all weak, pathetic, moronic ." Supreme General Duchess of Yolk
> Amy Lagomorph, sister of our great leader Empress Cynthia, had began her
> speech to the soldiers on Military Day, April 14, 2002 YLD (Year of
> Lagomorph Domination). She continued her speech with, "Since returning to
> the Lagomorph Empire after escaping from the Zygl POW camp, of whose
system
> I completely obliterated, I have found that this division, and indeed, the
> entire military, has gone to shit. Before my capture by enemy forces, all
> soldiers were in peak condition, both of mind and body, impeccably groomed
> and ready to head any order. YOU creatures . the proper term being that
you
> are not fit to be soldiers, or even alive, are a complete and total
disgrace
> to the military and to the empire." The Supreme General stopped her speech
> to scan the crowd, and found the soldiers to be ignoring her, talking
> amongst themselves and even doing drugs. "STOP!!! ALL OF YOU !!! SHUT UP
AND
> LISTEN! I WILL KILL YOU IF YOU DON'T ." after her edict went unheeded, she
> took her rifle from the strap on her back and started randomly shooting at
> her own soldiers, who tried to fire back, but ended up shooting themselves
> instead. "For those of you alive, I suggest you do as I say ."
>
> "Ummm . Miss . no . your . umm ." an elk solider in the crowd stammered
out
> an attempted question to the Supreme General.
> "NEVER MIND THAT FORMAL CRAP! JUST SAY WHAT THE FUCK YOUR PATHETIC MIND
> WANTS TO ASK!"
> "Ummm . can I go to the bathroom now? We've been standing out here five
> hours. I'd ask my unit leader but you killed him."
> "Sure. But first I need to go" and the Supreme General pushed the elk
down
> to the ground by smacking him down with her long, superior rabbit feet,
> despite being shorter in statue, and then crouched over him and unzipped
her
> pants and proceeded to urinate upon the soldier's head, and took his
jacket
> to wipe herself with, and then smacked him again, this time with her fist.
> "You all disgust me. This speech is over." Then our military leader
boarded
> her shuttlecraft and left for the home world, to speak with her sister on
> finding solutions to improving military morale. >>
> BLINK
> What the hell was that about? An uncensored depiction of our supreme
> general? Somebody has to die. A couple of people, actually. I came
storming
> into the news department, shouting, "Who the hell did the narration on
this,
> anyway? Or the editing? We can't use this! Geez!" I said in the studio of
> the Ministry of Culture & Propaganda News Division. I mean, who would want
> to sign up for that anyway?
>
> "But, isn't that what happened?" asked this way lammo editor, a dorky
> looking rat (yeah, both meanings) who then scarfed down a whole dish of
> C-Quadrant cheese slices and wiped the cheese off of his whiskers with his
> tail. Ewe!
> "HELL-OH! The Empress doesn't care about the 'truth'! You see, 'News' is
> just another kind of advertisement, and like all advertisements, it
promotes
> the most positive image of our leaders, ESPECIALLY ME, by the way. That's
> why your predecessor was 'replaced', catch my drift?" I totally hissed at
> him.
>
> "So I should, um, have called the empress 'our revered leader' then?"
asked
> the narrator, some other loser rat.
> "No! You're an idiot! What do they teach you in journalism anyway? You
have
> to sound cool, sophisticated . which you're not. You need to talk like the
> key demographic audience for our 'product'. They will all be between the
> ages 16-24, the ages acceptable for military enlistment, so TALK LIKE
THEM!
> And also . never mind."
> "What?" the first loser rat asked nervously. "You're not going take us
off
> the air, are you?"
> "Of course not!" they both smiled, kissing my smooth, scaly feet. I let
it
> go on for a few minutes; I really did need a foot massage. "Don't worry,
you
> 'll still be on the news . as the headline ... 'The program you just saw
was
> a fictional work which in no way reflects the correct events of Military
> Day. Our Supreme General would never in any way do harm to her own troops,
> nor does she ever swear or act in any way that would not be acceptable for
> family viewing. The program that was shown was instead a completely
false,"
> I continued, eyeing the narrator, "poorly narrated, propaganda piece
> produced by traitors who have grudges against our great military leader,
and
> most certainly our Empress as well. Now we will bring you the REAL account
> of her speech, followed by the EXECUTION of the traitors, live on LIED
TV3!"
> "No, no! Don't kill me!" They pleaded, but no luck.
> I dialed for Royal Police Chief Sally Felina to come and pick them up and
> have them tortured at the nearest station, until this evening around 8' O
> Clock, when we could be sure everyone would be off from work and could
watch
> their grisly deaths. It's pretty fun to watch actually, we get good
ratings
> whenever there's an execution or a war on, which is practically every day.
> "Anybody want promotions?" I asked, as we needed a new narrator and
editor.
> Plus a new director, for allowing this . incident . to happen. That'll fix
> it. Yeah. It's all their fault, not mine. I was in no way responsible. No
> way, they wouldn't buy that, would they? Hmm . knowing the empress she
> probably isn't even awake now . I wonder about Amy. What would she think
> about it? Probably wouldn't care. I remember once she said she could care
> less what the masses thought of her. Her idea of leadership is to tell
> people what to do and kill them if they don't. She never even pretends to
> try to get people to WANT to do it, which is what my business is.
> Trembling, some stagehands quickly replaced the soon to be deceased. The
> editor scrambled like mad to edit the tape they had made, consulting with
a
> Special FX team to re-dub everything the Supreme General said, edit most
> everything, have some actors make entirely new material . Fortunately Good
> Day Empire wouldn't start till the next half hour, so we wouldn't have to
> deal with this on the TV end. Seeing as this would take awhile, I bid them
> adieu and hopped into my suede shuttle car seat (yeah, I deserve it, since
I
> am what makes the Ministry of Culture & Propaganda run.)
> After pretending to listen to a boring account of a whole bunch of
> statistics, something to do with money we're wasting or something, with my
> radio tuned into LEECH 95.03, I went to see some newspaper ads under
> production, in the Ad Department. "Sooooo. how do you like them?" asked
the
> art director, Art Director Buck Collins, a kind of hippy looking dog with
a
> spaced out look and wire-frame glasses. I should tell the Minister of
Royal
> Accounting to get those, she'd look a little better, just a little instead
> of those geeky black frames she always wears, says she doesn't care about
> how she looks, only her mind matters, blah blah blah. Not like it matters,
> she's only fourteen years old, some child genius. I think she's real smug
> about it too, says she's the only one smart enough to manage our
government'
> s finances. Plus now she's really bossy, ever since the Empress gave her
> budget authority over all other departments, on account of ministers
wasting
> money. Not me. Every credit is spent on further glorifying the Empire.
> Honestly. Anyway, back to Buck . he showed some propaganda ads depicting
> happy citizens thanking their wonderful leaders.
> "Hey! What the hell do you think you're doing?" I had noticed that the
> illustration of me, the picture with the cubs watching TV with me on the
> tube, was totally off. I mean, my uniform is BLACK, just like all the
other
> ministers, not purple! And I'm pretty sure I have only one tail. And my
> breasts are bigger than the Minister of Industrial Affairs, that shrew,
come
> on!
> "Huuuuh?" he muttered. Oh yeah, a real stoner.
> "You know what!" I shouted at him, as Lorenzo whacked him with a
paintbrush.
> Good old Lorenzo, always anticipating what to do. "Have you printed this
> yet?"
> "Uh . no, not yet."
> "Good." I said, then to Lorenzo, "Burn the illustrations!"
> "What about the mutt?" Lorenzo asked?
> "Burn him too!"
> "Ok then, step away while I take care of this matter." He affirmed, and I
> complied, walking out to the soda machine, dropping some credits in the
> vending machine for a Diet Imperial Crown Cola, even though I knew that
the
> Ministry of Food & Beverages was using that new 'Pseudo-Sugar' designed by
> the Ministry of Science & Technology, an additive that was really just an
> addictive chemical designed to stimulate loyalty to the empire. I don't
> think it's working on me. I'm just in this for the spotlight, mostly.
That's
> why I picked this ministry, where all the stars are. The money's good too.
> The machine refused to dispense my drink. "Damn friggin machine!" I
shouted,
> about to kick it until I realized my expensive hand-made Ziptol boots
might
> get dirty. This is just not my day. Finally the can came out, just as
> Lorenzo did, and some smoke. "Hey? What is that?" I smelled.
> "I happened to find the reason for the dog's strange illustrations. It was
> hidden behind the canvas board. Heh heh." Lorenzo was giggling. "It caught
> on fire when the other stuff and that dumb dog started burning, man!" he
> mumbled, while wagging his tail. Damn that's some fine tail. Lorenzo was
> acting really weird. Usually he's very serious. I was about to reprimand
him
> with a solid tongue lashing, until the smoke kicked in and I started with
a
> whole different kind of tongue lashing, flickering my forked tongue over
his
> face . After a whole bunch of hissing and puffing, we got our clothes
back
> on, and I picked up the soda can, while Lorenzo knocked the machine with
his
> elbow and got his own soda, and on we went to the TV commercial studio,
not
> saying anything at all. No worries though, he's a different genus, with a
> big large webbed ridge on his head, cool, especially when you're high, it
> makes the fluorescent color of the ridge look even brighter.
>
> A toy commercial was on, with a bunch of kids of different species sitting
> or standing around, screaming like the idiots they are. I hate kids.
> "QUIET!" the director shouted, and when that failed, he waved a gun
around.
> Now the narrator's dialogue began, "Hey kids! How would you like to play
> with our way cool revered leaders? Well, now you can, with official
Ministry
> of Manufacturing (Useless Diversion Department) dolls, action figures, and
> accessories! There are all your favorite ministers, Minister of Culture &
> Propaganda, Minister of Tourism, Minister of Forestry, Minister of Health,
> and many more! Plus there's the Supreme General and all her way tough
> commanders and soldiers, and our really cute and way cool Empress and her
> hot bodyguard! The action figures come with Zygl-fu grips and authentic
> weapons, and all dolls have genuine state approved uniforms and off-duty
> outfits! Order your parents to buy them now, at just Á 9999.99 each for
the
> dolls and 12900.99 for the action figures! Plus, coming soon, The Imperial
> Palace and The Triangle play sets! Prices do not include luxury tax of
456%,
> regular tax of 256% and pork tax of 897%." Damn, the inflation rate really
> went up. I wonder why? "CUT!" After the shoot was over, the kids kept
> playing with the toys, not like they could ever afford to buy any of the
> damn things with all the taxes and all. How'd we get those anyway? One of
> them said to another one,
> "I like the Minister of Culture & Propaganda Heather Herpinski best, I
like
> her hair and cool uniform!" I quickly went ahead and dialed the Premium
> Satellite Television division and ordered that her entire family be given
> free reception to all channels not restricted to government officials, for
> eternity. I would have had her be given a lifetime supply of the toy lines
> being pitched, but that doesn't fall under my ministry's budget. Damn
> Minister of Royal Accounting Rachel Mundanee. Actually, this whole toy
thing
> SHOULD be written off to my department, since it's good PR for the empire,
> totally. Just think of all those impressionable little critters who will
> grow up idolizing their glorious leaders who wisely guide their futures.
Or
> some junk like that. I really need to talk to Jane in charge of the
Ministry
> of Manufacturing (Useless Diversion Department) about this. I looked up at
> the clock, it was 11 AM. "Damn! We gotta get to Rachel's office!" I
yelled
> at Lorenzo, so I muttered goodbye to the director who wasn't paying
> attention to me anyway, swiped the a doll of me, and Rachel (bribery is a
> good ice-breaker) The doll of me really does look like me, so I guess it's
a
> work of art. I looked at the hangtag on it- 'Made in the Lydia 36 C labor
> colony'. Best damn slaves out there, on that planet. Now it's time for a
> real bitch of a meeting, the audit with Rachel.
>
> I was sitting in the lobby of the Ministry of Royal Accounting
Adminstration
> Office. Ugh. Who the hell did the decorating? Plain white walls, plastic
> seats. Totally no frills operation. Not like mine. I have a really classy
> lobby for my Administration office - shag rugs, cells of the cartoons we
> make, trophies of all the film awards I've won (the academy is run by me,
> since it's part of the Ministry of Culture & Propaganda, so of course I
win
> some kind of made-up award every year, they're afraid I'll kill them if
they
> don't give me something. Now who would think I would do a thing like that?
> What the hell is there to read in this dive anyway? Nothing but magazines
on
> math, science, and the state newspaper, Facts. Doesn't she have any kind
of
> life? Total nerd. She doesn't even date, even though she knows she can
force
> guys to go out with her. I don't though, every dude wants me, and bad.
> Just as I was just about to while away the wait with some good ol' tunes
> from LEECH .
>
> "WHAT? YOU CAN'T CUT THIS DEPARTMENT'S BUDGET!" I could hear the minister
of
> Imprisonment (formerly Imprisonment AND Executions . the executions part
> was cut and given to me so we could make some money by charging people to
> watch it on Pay-Per-view. Sure you can see the police kill someone
everyday,
> but we really do it much better. It's like the difference between a
> professional boxing match and a street fighter. We add all the extra
frills
> like music and decorations and stuff. Kind of like wrestling, except it's
> for real. We made it a sport, by having the condemned fight each other to
> the death. No real gain for them though, since the winner gets an even
more
> painful death by Jade. It's kind of funny.)
> "You're right . as of now it no longer exists. There's just no money in
the
> budget left." Rachel dryly replied.
> "WHAT? HOW? YOU CAN'T DO THAT! WHERE ARE ALL THE PRISONERS GOING TO GO?"
> "Simple. All crimes will now come with an automatic penalty of death. Even
> ripping the label off a mattress. And ."
> The nerdy little mouse bitch was interrupted by the minister of Justice
> (like that ever really existed . but it's not like we could call it the
> Ministry of Injustice, right?) running up to her and screaming, "What the
> hell do you think you're doing? I just got the memo a few minutes ago in
my
> E-mail ."
> "Oh, that. I thought it was more cost effective to have the police
officers
> sentence the accused themselves. Judge, jury and executioner. That will
save
> a lot of money by cutting out on all those expensive and wasteful trials.
It
> doesn't really matter if they're guilty anyway, after all. Better a
million
> dead innocent executed than one guilty set free."
> "YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME! HOW THE FUCK CAN YOU LEAVE QUESTIONS OF
> JUSTICE TO THOSE DIPSHIT COPS? FUCKING SHIT FOR BRAINS HEATHER GETS MY
JOB?
> YOU MUST BE A PRETTY DUMB FUCK TOO ." The former minister of Justice
Angela
> Roo rushed to try to strangle Rachel, but was stopped by Rachel's
bodyguard,
> some big she-hulk bear named Helga Untershut, who promptly ground Angela
to
> a pulp with her bare hands. Her own bodyguard ran away, along with the
> former Prison minister. Pipsqueak. I made sure to get a good one, in ALL
> CATEGORIES, if you catch my drift.
> Rachel then said, in the same monotone voice, "I believe our meeting
should
> have started already. Pardon the interruption."
> "Heh heh. Hi!" I eked out an intro, and gave the doll of her, which she
> immediately threw into the nearest trash receptacle totally unpolite.
> "Garbage. Why do children play with such excessively priced plastic idols?
> Or adults?" referring to the doll of me. Damn, she really is a dork.
> "Oh, totally, I couldn't agree more! (Less, actually) So, how are you?"
> "Cut the chit-chat and get the hell in my office. We both know we don't
give
> a damn about how the other's feeling, and it's just as well .and don't go
> listening to the radio while I'm talking!" she shouted at me. Damn.
> Helga opened the door to her guardee's office and glowered at me as I
went
> in after Rachel, who insisted MY bodyguard could not come, which is
against
> all policy. Who does she think she is? The reason why we have bodyguards,
> except for the Police and Military leaders, is not really to protect us
from
> the worthless masses but each other. We don't trust each other. We're all
> scum, really, except me. I would soon come to find out why. I sat down on
> the plastic chair she provided for her interrogated. "Before we have any
> incidents like that of our late minister of Justice, or our now unemployed
> and homeless former Minister of Prisons Edwin Duckworth, let's make sure
we'
> re clear about the recent decision by our empress.
> "Huh?" my mind was currently occupied with the image of me, broke and
> homeless. Not like that could really happen, could it?
> "Come on! Your ministry runs the NEWS programs! Don't you remember last
> night's evening show your people put out?"
> "Oh, yeah. Cool commercials. There's a sale at Miss Fuer's Casual Wear
now!"
> "Not that! I had convinced our empress that in the interests of cutting
> costs to save our empire from going bankrupt, and HER with it, that we
> needed to cut costs. The first thing I cut was the Imperial Senate. Since
> they're all a bunch of do-nothing cheats, their positions should be
> eliminated, and all their authority should be given to me, who would be
able
> to handle all of this empire's decisions, freeing her from having to
> actually do anything even remotely resembling RULING this empire. That was
> the whole reason for the senate's continued existence, so that she
wouldn't
> have to be bothered thinking with that tiny brain of hers about our
empire's
> needs. The senate proved to be no good as they stole from our royal
coffers
> to indulge themselves and their ministerial favorites ." Uh oh. Senator
> Angela Porker. She really did rip off the government really good. I made a
> deal with her not to report on it in exchange for some credits and the
> like . the Ag Minister would hook her and her family up with free food for
> life, and considering how much of pig she is, even for a pig, that really
> ate up a lot of resources . "Therefore it was a much better arrangement to
> make me the sole real leader of our government. Unlike some people, (she
> said staring at me accusingly) I actually care about doing my job right,
and
> serving the greater glory of the empire." Yeah right. Power freak. I
should
> have thought of doing that. "And as part of this authority, I am now given
> the authority to EXECUTE all enemies of the empire, including other
> officials, except of course for the Supreme General and Cynthia's lovers."
> Damn. I'm screwed. I'm going to be on Execution Live. I wondered if I
would
> be the main event? What can I say now?
> "Gee, that's great! I'm really glad for you on your . promotion." I said
> nervously.
> "Shut up. Flattery will get you nowhere." She then had Helga rip off my
> genuine Dimension 12 necklace, made of real regnar. "How did you get the
> money for something like this? Only the empress, and ME, should make that
> kind of money."
> "Uh ." She knows about the senate bribery . maybe some other things too.
Got
> to make a good excuse, think, think! "Because!" My tongue was flickering
in
> and out, a nervous thing I do.
> "Care to elaborate?" she continued to glower at me.
> "Uh . wait . I know! As a spokes lizard for the Empress, I need to look
good
> at all times. You see, her royal subjects treat her like a Goddess,
totally
> radiant and stuff, so shouldn't her angels, like me, look totally awesome
> too?"
> "Nice try. Oh, and one more thing . about today's news broadcast on LEARN
> 1540?"
> "Uhhh .It wasn't my fault, it's those three lousy rats in the radio
> department ." I stammered.
> "No excuses! A minister is responsible for all of his or her subordinates'
> actions." Yeah, right. That's just something they say in the official
> employee handbooks. None of us really take personal responsibility for
> anything, that's what underlings are for, right?
> "Um, ok, but so what? I totally got it fixed! Really! Everybody thinks the
> real story's fake!" I was pretty sure of that. After all, the public
> education system only goes to the 6th grade, and even then they're not
> learning much anyway. It works out totally great for me, because stupid
> people are statistically more likely to believe the bullshit my ministry
> puts out. As long as they're entertained, they're happy. Why else is the
> majority of the news made up of sports (but not sports scores . I mean, do
> you expect them to be able to count?), weather, rescues of cute animals
and
> babies, fashion, and whatever over-budgeted, soulless movie is coming out
> next week? No one cares about what the imperial budget is or whether or
not
> the police should be granted the right to put hidden cameras in people's
> houses without their permission.
> She stopped talking to me and instead into her phone. "Royal Police Chief
> Sally Kitt? Today you will exercise the new duties I have assigned you .
> yes, she will be on Execution Live . I will appoint a new minister to fill
> her position . no, not one of your cunt licking lackeys ."
> But just then, as my death would soon be imminent (that is, within a few
> hours . you know how long it takes the police to do anything), some S36
> Death Eagles flew across her window view, and I made a call of my own to
> Amy. "Hello, Amy? Say, you don't listen to LEARN, do you? Good. Ok, what
I
> really wanted to talk to you about was that narco-terrorist religious
> fundamentalist mafia group . um . (I needed a name . I chose the first
name
> I saw in the room .) M.O.N.EY. What do you mean you haven't heard of them?
> Wouldn't you like some MONEY? Catch my drift? I'm sure it will be a big
> effort; Rachel and your sister will most definitely give you all the
> financial support (and me, too) in this new war against the terrorists.
Ah,
> I knew you'd understand. Thank you."
> "What terrorists?" Rachel asked. "CELLOUT 4 News never said anything about
> them."
> "Didn't you hear?" I asked coyly.
> "I didn't want to say anything earlier. The Supreme General had asked me
to
> keep it in the utmost confidence."
> "Tell me, or else!"
> "Or else what? You already told Sally to have me killed, on one of my own
> shows."
> "Never mind! I'll tell Sally to cancel that!"
> "Don't worry, I'll tell her for you." I dialed for Sally, explaining that
> Rachel was just joking, and that the Royal Police Force must really be
more
> prepared for the terrorist threat, MONEY, of which there would be lots of.
> It took a couple of minutes to explain, and I almost made the trick on
> Rachel totally obvious, but it worked.
> "So what is it then?"
> "Well, for several months already Amy and Sally's forces have been
involved
> in deep cover investigations of the evil, drug dealing, child molesting,
> anti-royal, anti ."
> "Why was I not informed?"
> "At the time we would have reported to a special committee in the Senate
."
> "Get real! I'm not buying any of this!" Just then some buildings nearby
> exploded, with a lion in a black mask running away . Ah yes, Amy
understood.
> I dialed my phone and asked for an explanation to my ministry "YES, it's
the
> terrorists! Now get on the program! Put up those posters . you know . no,
> not the Miss Fuer ads . are you idiots? The ads for the MONEY lending
store?
> I will talk later." My plan was to have my ministry make up fake posters
> supposedly put up by M.O.N.E.Y rebels. Rachel will be convinced.
> "I see there may be some truth in your claims." She called up Amy, who was
> obviously not available, for reasons I knew. That lion was one of Amy's
> fellow POWs from the Zygl camp. Wars are great, even fake wars. They
always
> provide a great excuse to spend loads of money on the police, military,
and
> propaganda, which is really all my ministry is . there is no real culture
in
> it, unless you call 'Real Galaxy' or Brittany Deers videos culture. With
all
> that money, and the assistance of Amy and Sally, I would quite easily be
> able to wag the mouse. "You will be assigned to work with the Supreme
> General and the Royal Police Chief on the new Anti-Terrorist Campaign. You
> must promote their agendas to the public, in a coordinated way."
> "How can I do that? They hate each other!" Fortunately they both like me.
> "That's not my problem. Good luck, you'll need it. I will arrange for you
> and them to meet for a 'power-lunch' to discuss your strategy."
> "Oooh! Café Elagante?"
> "No. Burger Empress. Now get the Hell out of my office." Gladly, bitch.
>
> TO BE CONTINUED . if I feel like it
>
>
>