>Last year your country won a war of conquest against one of the various anthro countries. While the worldwide balance between humans and anthros overall was about even, either humans or anthros had an advantage depending on where in the world they were. Lucky for you, the country your people decided to invade were already almost surrounded entirely by human countries, many of which were willing to assist your side in the war. It was a brutal war, and there were many die-hards who just were not willing to surrender, but the conquest was finally considered complete. Naturally there was a need to appoint someone to lead this country, with the prior leaders having been killed during the war or executed afterwards.
>Coming from a family of political clout and having extensive diplomatic experience, you managed to secure the job. To put it in simple terms, your job was to manage the conquered country, keep unrest to a minimum, and see what could be done about securing natural resources and other valuable exports. Less than a week after being appointed, before you had even finished packing, news broke out about attacks on human military targets from some rebels trying to re-fight the lost war. Wasn't long before the head council was telling you to make dealing with the rebels your top priority.
>Before you left before the airport, you got a visit from one of the lead commanders who won the war. He acted as if you were still walking into an active battlefield. He warned you to not underestimate the "fucking bastards". That the majority of the "fucking bastards" could see better, hear better, smell better, and taste better than humans could. Many were capable of faster reactions, and quicker movements than humans.
>"The fucking bastards can hear your fucking heartbeat, do you get the picture?"
>Before you could respond, he handed you a handgun. He explained it was 100% ceramics and polymers, so it could go through any metal detector without issue, unless it was loaded with standard ammunition. It came with a case containing special bullets made from a unique fragmenting ceramic using polymer shells, designed to slip past metal detectors. He gives you multiple holsters for the single gun, including under-arm, ankle, hip, and behind back or stomach.
>"You're probably gonna carry concealed, so you're gonna want to have options on where you carry it."
>He explains about your cultural attache already on location. You'll have a human assistant, a team of 12 human bodyguards, four human intelligence agents, and a full company of troopers(240 soldiers, 6 tanks, 4 helicopters, 8 APC's, and 4 rocket batteries) in a nearby barracks in case you need some quick firepower. He tells you with the utmost sincerity to relay any information or orders through your human team if you have ANY reason to not trust a local.
>The flight to the capital of Rasnea was uneventful. If not for all the battle-scarred landscape you saw on the way in, you wouldn't even know there was a war. The capital itself was shiny, clean, and showed no signs of the war that brought it to it's knees. Your security team met you at the airport with your assistant, who started filling you in on how things worked in Rasnea, and how things were going.
>Actually, it would be more accurate to say you saw your security team surrounded by a crowd and walked over to them. While the various anthro residents of Rasnea had seen more human soldiers than they ever wanted to, a group of 12 wearing suits was new to them. The aide explains that soldiers are discouraged from interacting or mingling with the local population due to the rebels attacking any soldiers outside the barracks.
>After a while your team finally makes their way through the crowd and out of the airport, and you see the capitol city Vrence from the ground for the first time. The locals stop to rubberneck at you while you gawk at the city like a tourist. They are as interesting and varied as the buildings, and you find yourself staring at them about as much. It almost feels like a human country, but the details make it impossible.
>For starters, barely anyone is wearing a belt, it seems suspenders are the preferred way of holding one's pants up. Nearly every single piece of clothing designed for the lower half of a body has a hole for a tail. More than a few people went barefoot and no one gave them a second glance. You figured it was easier to do when your feet were hooves. On the way to the car, you saw some form of horned antelope that had a ribbon tied around each horn with a gold chain connected to each ribbon, and a jeweled brooch supported between the horns by the two gold chains. There's a fashion statement you could never see back home.
>A car ride later, and you are at the Grand Marshall's Palace, your new home. Apparently the #1 position in Resnea is Grand Marshall, so you guess that's what you are now. If you care enough, you can change it later, you have the authority. As it is now, you are jet-lagged and need sleep.
>The next morning you awake in a bed large enough to fit about 10 people. The previous rulers of this land really liked their luxury. The walls are all hardwood, polished to a shine, and you see gold inlay everywhere. The floors are granite polished and buffed to a glossy finish. Or actually just really dirty marble, as your slippers clean some dirt off the floor. In addition to personal staff, you clearly need to hire on some house staff to clean this place. You certainly don't have time to clean an entire palace yourself.
>Your bedroom is large enough to fit a helicopter inside, with a large window to the cityscape directly in your view from your bed. On the wall where your bed is there are two doors. One leads to the bathroom, which you stumbled around and found last night, and the other is a large walk-in closet far bigger than you will ever need. The wall to the right of your bed is a giant bookcase full of books you are now the new owner of, the wall to the left has double-doors leading out to the hallway. The ceiling has a night sky painted on it, which you guess was something that appealed to the previous non-human owners.
>After bathing and getting dressed in a clean suit, you wander around the palace for a while to get your bearings. You were too jetlagged last night to do much of anything, and you want to know your home. Eventually you figure out the layout, and that your bedroom is on the 2nd floor almost dead-center, but on the northern-most wall. Heading downstairs, you encounter your assistant and bodyguards. Before you can even greet them, your assistant is already handing you a thick binder.
>"As I'm sure you've noticed, all the old staff is long gone. You'll need to pick out staff to handle cleaning, cooking, and other assorted duities here at the Grand Marshall's Palace. You will also need to pick out personal staff for your cabinet. Every single local in that binder has cleared background checks, but they could still be working against us. Be careful what you say and do around them. Intel is already setting up microphones and cameras all throughout the palace, so if any of them do anything suspicious, security be all over them."
>Time to hire some locals. You need at least two maids, a cook, two groundskeepers/gardeners, and a driver. Your cabinet will need Economics, Agriculture, Finance, Public Relations, Foreign Relations, Defense, and Social Services.

>species: Blue Racer

>position: maid

>sex: female

>details: As part of a reptilian underclass Chartreuse has been disregarded most of her life. She managed to makr a living working for a cleaning service prior to this, though she faced frequent discrimination and had to change employers several times. She claims to be enthusiastic about our take over and hopes ou government will make things better for her kind. 
>potential red flag: her personality profile indicates any power over other anthros previously seen as above her may quickly go to her head.

>First application to catch your eye is a female ...snake? She's blue and reptilian, has arms but no legs. And hair. You'll probably need to ask her what race she is, since you sure as shit can't figure it out. Either way, she looks cute, and she's applying for a maid position. You pull her application out of the binder and give it to your assistant. Back to the binder.

>Species: Dog (Doberman)

>Position: Driver

>Sex: Female

>Worked for a Limousine-rental company prior to the war. Doesn't have any family members or many friends. Suspected as having a possible human fetish, as she has been spotted in public wearing a pendanr belonging to an ancient and extremely obscure human tribe around her neck, as well as a collar and leash in her own home. As a dog, she will show loyalty to those who strongly imprint themselves onto her.

Species: Black Sheep
Position: Groundskeeper
Sex: Female

Details: She was a tanker during the war, a spunky girl who somehow survived. Helps she didnt spend time around members of the opposite sex, being part of an all female brigade known as the amazons. A virgin tomboy, she yearns for the peace of the garden.

Potential red flag: Liable to start fights with others if her garden is damaged. 

Species: American White Rabbit
Position: Finance
Sex: Male

Details: A college student up until the end of the war, Richard's was more focused on studies than the news. He admires the more civilized cultures of humanity and hopes to earn a place in the post-war society.

Potential Red Flag: Outside of numbers and academics, Richard is naive and prone to being bamboozled.

>Species: western dragon
>Position: Public relations
>Sex: Female
>Worked in a mid-sized advertisement business before the war. Want's to get what's basically the biggest gig in existence: promoting the humans as sovereign species and making them the most desirable race out there. Knows she's running a full blown propaganda campaign for humans and doesn't seem to give much credit to 'free thinking' anthros or especially to her old colleagues.
>Takes her job seriously, will give you the piece of her mind if you pull some stupid stunt hurting your rep. 

>Moving on from the odd blue lizard-thing, you see an application to be a driver that looks alright, as well as a groundskeeper. Now you just need another maid, a cook, and another gardener. Plus your cabinet staff.
>You nearly skip right by the male rabbit's application, but decide having an all-female cabinet would probably look improper. Last thing you want is a bunch of bleeding hearts whining on the internet about how the new human Grand Marshall only hires on anthros he's interested in having sex with. They wouldn't be wrong, but you'd rather not deal with the drama. He doesn't have any experience outside of college though, so you may have to end up replacing him if he can't cut it.

Species: Mexican Alligator Lizard
Position: Gardener
Sex: Female
Avid naturalist, she wants to live close to this new species that recently spread to their area. How they change the local hierarchy and environment. Maybe they'll bring anthros like her closer to their ancestral roots? Hopefully there isn't any uniform she's required to wear. Or anything at all.
Potential red flag: May bite when agitated by strangers 

>Species: Tiger
>Position: Defence Minister
>Sex: Female
>A former colonel in Resnea's army, her career stagnated due to her involvement in a nationwide scandal involving hazing and bullying recruits, often to the point of suicide. Unfortunately for you, she is the highest ranking officer that survived the war or isn't in hiding.
Potential red flags: Very arrogant, bitchy and rude. 

>Another viable Gardener application finally appears. Bit of a hippy, should probably do a great job. Behind her application is a surprise. You thought every high-ranking officer had been killed in the war. She might be useful in getting some loyalty out of what remains of the Resnean military, so you pull out her application and hand both over.

>Species: Horse
>Position: Economics minister
>Sex: Male
>Was the head professor of finance and economics at Vrence's largest university. Not much to say about him, other than he is a bit chubby and somewhat short for a horse.

>species: goat
>position:cook
>sex:female

>A gentle, timid soul raised in and grown accustomed to the otherwise uneventful and tranquil countrysides. She has a serious knack for cuisines strikingly close to those of the mediterranean, but can expand taste if requested.

>potential red flags: she is quick to panic when outside her element.

>Species: Yellow Cobra
>Position: Social Services
>Laid back appearance can be deceiving. She has a knack for organizing and finding what the anthros need, or perhaps what they deserve, and what route needs to be taken to achieve those needs. This is her chance for a fresh start and have a concrete impact on the new society. Her radical ideas failed to garner enough support with the old powers and she doesn't want to be left out this time.
>Red flags: Heavy sleeper and sluggish when not warmed up.

>Two more applications stand out from the rest. A cook with nice curves and nice horns, and an academic looking to move into politics. You hope the professor has more of a head for business than theory. Will have to keep tabs on him. Still, he helps keep your cabinet looking balanced.
>You find a application for the Social minister position that looks viable. Even better, she's a snake of some sort. You already have a dragon on your cabinet, but this will show the public you don't discriminate just because someone doesn't have legs. It's not like you can parade your maid around to show that.

Species: Caribbean reef shark
Position: Maid
Heard there's a pool on the Palace grounds, that true? Need someone to keep it and your property in shape? I can do that, been doing it for a long while in fact.Some well of anthro mansions, I know how blend in. Also heard humans are huge perverts. That true too? 

>You find your 2nd maid, but her application makes it clear she's looking for work beyond what a normal maid would do. You think she might be fun, but mark her application to alert your intel team to keep a close eye on her. If she was working for the enemy, trying to seduce you would be an obvious way to get in.

>Species: Bull
>Position: Agriculture Minister
Is the son of the owner of the largest agricultural corporation in the country, so getting him on your good side will be a good idea to get the agricultural sector up and running again, plus the political clout with the surviving upper class will be nice
>Red flags: not particularly bright, sometimes hotheaded, might have to discipline him if he gets out of hand

>Species: Dog (Poodle)
>Position: Foreign relations
>Sex: Female
>Prior to the war, she served as the ambassador to a neighboring human nation (not yours), and apparently she did a good job as that country declined to assist you in your invasion
>Red flags: known for being a snob obsessed with power and wealth and flaunting it

>After much digging, you finally find the last two members of your cabinet. The bull gets marked for close observation from intel. He could be useful, but he could have strong loyalties to the wealthy that remain over the government. The poodle seems like she won't be any trouble, so you just pull her application and pass it along.
>With those two slots filled, you have the bare minimum team needed to operate. You can hire on more staff, hire on a local assistant, local security forces, or anything else you think you might need or want. Your schedule is wide open until tonight, when the official announcement is made declaring you the Grand Marshall of Resnea. You have plenty of free time until then.
>You could change your title, create laws to go into effect after tonight, explore your new home, or go check out the capitol. Or anything else really.
>You won't be meeting any of your new staff until tomorrow, so you decide to tour the realm. Or at least the capitol, and get an idea of the local area. You inform your assistant and security detail, and soon you are rolling out of the palace in the middle of a three vehicle convoy. The palace itself is old money, the marble walls outside probably out-date your grandparents. The grounds are spacious, almost creating a private park inside the city. The buildings in the next block or two surrounding the palace don't seem to go any higher than five floors, and mostly share the same stone facing and pillar look while having subtly different designs. The area directly around the palace seems to be a mixed commercial/residential neighborhood, apartment buildings side by side with office buildings, with only the name of the business on the glass doors out front telling you which was which.
>The amount of jewelry and gold you see the local residents wearing speaks to the relative wealth of the area. The palace isn't just your home, it's also a tourist attraction. Your assistant tries to make a detour to show you a map of the area just outside the palace grounds. Unfortunately, some wag has slid a poster of some fictional town from an isekai anime under the plastic where "YOU ARE HERE" is emblazoned, while they or some other comedian added "AND YOU ONLY HAVE YOURSELF TO BLAME" in permanent marker under the words. While briefly entertaining, the map is worthless in this state, so you all return to the convoy and continue.
>A short way away from the palace, like someone drew a line on the map, the city suddenly shifts to tall skyscrapers ranging from 20 to 50 floors high. The road goes from something you would expect to see in a mid-1900's city to split lanes with trees planted on the green center divides.
>The crowd goes from generally wealthy to a wide range of finances. Laborers, office workers, CEO's, and bums alike mill around the well-kept sidewalks. The buildings have all sorts of advertisements plastered, projected, and painted up to about the 10th floor. Some advertised businesses within the building, others just hock wares at low low prices. Your assistant provides some commentary.
>"This is the Ellis District, but many lower class residents call it the Gem. Pretty much any major business in Resnea has their head office here. Those that can't afford it, aren't considered a major business. It's also a major shopping district. The most common setup is to have public businesses on the first 10 floors, and company offices on the higher floors."
>You're glad you are in a vehicle, because the crowds are thick at *checks watch* 11AM. Even then traffic is thick and your convoy makes slow progress. Soon it pushes out of the Ellis District north of the palace area, and heads east to some middle-class to upper-class urban residential area. The skyscrapers give way to small apartment complexes inter-spaced with two story houses. There is the occasional school or light commercial area near intersections, but this is firmly a residential area. You see a lot of children and elderly walking around. A small leopard cub effortlessly scales a tree to retrieve a stuck ball with a speed any human would kill for. Roads merge back together, and look more like the standard two-lane roads you would see in most towns. A few people stop to stare at the convoy.
>"Denson here is one of the major residential districts in Vrence, nearly half the city's population lives within this zone. Most people who work in Ellis live here, as well as most well paid citizens of the city. The truly wealthy live in penthouses in Ellis, but not a large number do."
>The convoy rolls onwards, turning south. The neighborhood begins to look a bit rougher, worn down and not very well maintained. More graffiti is visible on walls. The clothes people wore looked far more ragged as well. You also notice there are a lot more mice and rodents walking around, and far more scaled species too.
>"This is Strena District, or the Bottom as many residents call it. Some areas can be considered a ghetto, some are just poor. This is where the city's less wealthy residents live, as well as species that are discriminated against for whatever reason. From what I understand, most rodent species are considered 'unclean' and face limited job prospects. Various scaled species face similar treatment. I understand these views are less extreme out in the countryside, but stronger in the larger cities."
>Almost everyone stops to stare at the three vehicle convoy as it rolls through Strena. A few notice the vehicles aren't cheap and run away in fear. Some stare in wonder and awe, some just stare blankly. While there has been recent patching of the roads and sidewalks, a few buildings still show scars of the war. A few were completely thrashed, and taped off with warnings from the city of the building's unsafe-ness. The convoy rolled through the grimy and trash littered streets until hooking westward into an industrial district. Factories, warehouses, and chemical processing facilities were almost falling overtop one another in the dense neighborhood. The roads get wider, and most vehicles are replaced with large trucks.
>"Kaora benefits greatly due to it's proximity to the ports just north-west of us. Top exports include electronic components, assembled electronic devices, a wide array of medications, and varied industrial chemicals. All gets transferred by rail to the port, where it's shipped at mass scale."
>The smokestacks blowing tell you why Strena was so dirty looking.
>Soon the convoy makes a turn to the north, and you enter a relatively clean looking industrial/commercial district. Mostly warehouses, but the entire west side that touches the ocean is covered in ports, docks, and wharves. Fishing, shipping, and recreational boats all jostle for room and a place to dock. More than a few diners and hotels are spread along the shore, looking to provide for the traffic that flowed through the area. The smell of fish permeates the air, even getting through your SUV's A/C system.
>"This is South Cernbrant. Vrence is one of the largest ports in Resnea in addition to being the capitol. Nearly 20% of the country's imports and exports flows through these docks. The shore is patrolled hard by the Resnean Navy, since a single accident clogging the way can cause millions in lost money."
>The locals around here look like a rough bunch, but you don't see a lot of homeless or drunken fighting. People stare, but not for very long. Anyone not eating or having a smoke while sitting seem to be busy going somewhere or doing something. It could be your imagination, but there seems to be a higher amount of avian species in this district.
>The convoy passes over a bridge spanning a wide river that doesn't come close to reaching the center of town. On arrival on the other side, you would think you were in Miami if you didn't see so many tails waving around. Instead of ports, the shoreline here was covered in beaches. After a double-take, you changed your assessment to clothing-optional beaches. Either that or the otter you just saw was trying to get herself arrested. Palm trees must have been imported, and were planted along the sidewalks.
>"North Cernbrant is the top tourist destination in Vrence. It's also the only part of the city where gambling is allowed. There's at least six major casino's, and a number of smaller ones plus slot machines in various locations. While being one of the top tax revenue districts, it also has a crime rate on par with Strena most of the time. Usually non-violent crime though.
>The tour of the city completed, the convoy turns back east into the Ellis district before turning south to take you back to the palace. The Grand Marshall's podium where you would be making your first appearance and pretty much any announcements you would be making was located on the back-side of the palace, just below your bedroom.
>You have the convoy stop at a restaurant on the way back. You skipped lunch and need to eat before the big announcement. You get some odd looks inside, but your assistant tries your food and says it's safe. After that, you head back to the palace. It's 4PM, and the event happens at 5. Any last minute things you want to do before you greet your new subjects, now is the time.
>You ask your security detail about the security for the ceremony. They inform you that almost half of the city's PD will be on crowd control, your entire military detail will be there in heavy armor, and half of your security detail will be on rooftops doing dual counter-sniper and overwatch roles. The entire ceremony will take place between a three-foot slab of bullet-proof plastic. They assure you that anyone looking to do you harm would need a tank or better, and they will have more than enough firepower in place to handle anything that powerful. Your military detail has even deployed four SAM launchers around the palace for protection from threats from above.
>Confident you will be safe for the ceremony, it's time to work on your speech.
>You decide to skip a long speech. You'll just appeal to the masses to judge you by your actions in the future and leave it at that. You probably won't win over anyone tonight, but that's OK. You have plans.
>The ceremony is a simple affair. Crowd wasn't nearly as large as you were expecting for a city of 10 million in a nation of 40 million. Then again, most residents probably didn't want to see some human getting named the new lead authority. Still was enough to stop traffic around the palace. After the human general who had been in charge of Resnea since the war ended named you the Grand Marshall, you took the podium.
>"People of Resnea, I know you probably don't want to see me, or hear what I have to say. So I won't waste your time. I just ask that you give me time, to see how things will change. That is all."
>Reporters shout out questions for you, but you ignore them and head inside the palace. Selecting staff and touring the city took up most of the day, and tomorrow doesn't look like it will be any shorter. You're expecting to greet your palace staff at 9AM, and your new cabinet at 3PM. You have your assistant order take-out. You eat, bathe, and then go sleep in your ridiculously large bed.
>You start your first day as Grand Marshall of Resnea eating cold left-overs from the night before. It's alright, you'll have a cook for lunchtime. Some members of your palace staff arrive a bit early, but all are present by 9AM, and wait downstairs to meet you.
>You head downstairs, and see your staff is waiting in a row in their personal clothes.
>On the far left is Chartreuse, the blue serpent-thing. She's wearing a black sock or stocking over the end of her tail, and a simple black business suit top with a skirt that almost reaches the ground. She looks a bit fidgety.
>Standing to her right is Amelia, the brown and black furred goat with the curved horns framing the sides of her face. She's wearing a plain green and yellow long dress. She seems calm.
>Next to her is Mary, the black sheep. She also has curved horns similar to Amelia's, making you think it's probably a fashion for women with horns to wear them like that. She looks nervous.
>To her right is Annie Streiser, the dobermann. She's wearing black dress slacks, a white dress shirt tucked in, and a black vest buttoned shut over the shirt. She's staring at you.
>At her side is Vivian, the shark. Vivian was wearing a tank top and short shorts, and started making bedroom eyes at you once you entered the room.
>On the far right of the line is Sidney, the mexican alligator lizard. The weather must be warm for the non-furred residents(how does that even make sense?), because much like Vivian, she's not wearing much. Just the top part of some swimwear and a short skirt.
>You greet your new staff, and tell them they should be proud to be selected to work in the Grand Marshall's palace. You tell them that due to their positions, they will be representing their country in addition to the office of the Grand Marshall. While on the clock, they are expected to be in uniform. You remind them they are expected to act with professionalism at all times while looking pointedly at Vivian. You let them know that you do not discriminate based on species, and are more than willing to modify the rules to better suit each individual. As such, you tell them that while they may have the same title as another, they may not have the same duties expected of them. As well as future staff with the same title may not have the same duties they do.
>"While you have all been hired already, before you begin your employment I would like to speak to each of you personally, one on one."
>You head into one of the various offices on the first floor of the palace, and have your assistant send in Amelia. She sits on the other side of the desk. The discussion starts with her inquiring about foods you like and dislike. Your tastes are pretty easy, you dislike onions and peas, but you are a fan of garlic and spinach. You like your meat well done, but you don't care for poultry in any form. You ask if she has any problems cooking and serving meat. She says she can't eat any herself, so she's not entirely confident about the taste of meats she cooks, but has no issues cooking or serving meat.
>Your assistant brings in the palace chef's uniform, plain white pants and a white jacket with white dress shoes, both emblazoned with a spherical logo you assume must be the official palace crest. You ask how soon she can begin, and she says she would like to start immediately.
>"Two hours isn't a great deal of time, but I'm fairly certain I can make something in time for lunch."
>She is excused to find a bathroom to change into her new uniform. Your assistant goes ahead and produces a few more chef uniforms for Amelia, and she soon returns. She's holding the white leather shoes, and looks a bit apologetic.
>"Sir, about these..."
>She came in on bare hooves, she probably doesn't find shoes to be all that comfortable.
>"If you don't find them comfortable to wear, you don't have to wear them."
>She looks very relieved about that.
>"Thank you sir. I've had some employers who were adamant that I wear shoes. They claimed my hooves were dirty. I polish them every day, I'm always careful to clean them anytime I come inside, and they had the nerve to say they were dirty! Can you believe that?"
>She seems a bit indignant about the incident. You make soothing words and dismiss her to go work on lunch. She practically struts out of the room, her hooves clacking with every step.
>You have your assistant send Annie in. She shakes your hand and says she's looking forward to being your driver, then has a seat. You ask her about her driving experience and other qualifications. She freezes up a bit, until you elaborate that you mean any other skills that might come in handy in her position, like first aid, combat driving, firearms training, etc.
>"Heh, right, of course. Well, I've been driving for a limo service for years, I drove for a shipping company prior. Limo's are much more enjoyable to drive than an 18-wheeler, I'll tell you that. I know basic first aid, and I've studied martial arts but I'm no black belt. I've shot a gun before, but I'm no expert and I don't currently own a gun. Will that be a problem?"
>"Not at all, I was just curious. Speaking of curious, I was wondering about your necklace."
>Only the strap is visible around her shirt collar, but she clutches at it under her shirt and vest all the same as her ears fold back flat against her skull.
>"My necklace? What did you want to know?"
>"Just wondering. Is it a family heirloom of some sort?"
>Her ears struggle back up.
>"Yeah, family heirloom. Goes back many generations."
>She seems a bit nervous about the subject, so you decide to move on for now. Your assistant produces the palace driver's uniform. Black pants, white dress shirt, black jacket with gold trim on the cuffs, black bow-tie, shiny black dress shoes, and a black cap with gold trim around the rim. There was also a pair of soft black leather gloves. After your assistant gives her a few sets, you ask her if she would like to start work now or tomorrow morning. She says she would like to start now, so you dismiss her to go put her uniform on. She gives a sloppy salute and says she'll be by the vehicles whenever you are ready to go somewhere.
>Chartreuse is sent in. You see her lower half slither towards you, but her upper half doesn't sway in the slightest. The movement is liquid smooth. She gives a short bow, then stands in front of the chair. She moves backwards into the chair, then slowly rises higher until she's exactly eye-level with you. You ask her if she's lived in the capitol long, and she nods. You ask her if she's worked as a maid for long. She nods. You ask her if there is something wrong. She shakes her head.
>"Sorry, I might not have read your application too closely, are you mute?"
>"No, just don't like to talk."
>When she does speak, it's almost mumbled out.
>"Do you have another way of communicating with me and the other staff?"
>She nods again and pulls out a small pad of paper with one hand, and a pen with the other. She jots down a message and shows it to you.
>'I AM A FAST WRITER.'
>You really don't mind if she doesn't want to speak, as long as she does her job properly. You inform her of that, and her mouth shifts into a smile. Your assistant supplies her with the palace cleaning staff uniform. An all white, long sleeved jacket similar to a school uniform, with gold trim around the collar and cuffs. While normally pants are used, he clearly made allowance for her body and instead has included a white skirt that stops about a foot off of the ground, along with a white sock/stocking for her tail. There's also white cotton gloves, and a white cap to match. Like the others, she's interested in getting started ASAP, so you send her off to get in uniform.
>Before you can call in the next person, Amelia comes into the office bearing a silver tray. It's 12:30.
>As she lifts the lid, you realize you forgot to ask what species the lizard-girl was. Oh well. Amelia reveals fast food from a nearby place.
>"I'm sorry sir, I didn't realize just how bad the kitchen here was. Everything is expired, contaminated, moldy, rotting, or just unsafe in general. The sink is missing entirely, and the stove had large blocks of wax melted into it. I'll spare you the details of the palace pantry since you are about to eat, but it will take me a few days at least to get the kitchen cleaned up to the point I would feel comfortable serving food cooked in it."
>She excuses herself and returns to cleaning the kitchen, and you have a surprisingly decent sandwich. By 1PM you've finished eating and are ready to finish talking with your new staff.
>Mary is the next person you speak to. Despite being a black sheep and you expecting someone sheep-like, she starts jawing away the moment she enters the room. How she's so glad you hired her on, how she always wanted to see the palace up close, and on and on. She shakes your hand while talking for about a minute before you manage to extract it and sit back down. Thank god you hired her to be outside staff and not inside, she might drive you insane if you had.
>"...and so I applied after I heard they were opening the palace back up because I always wanted to check out the gardens myself but the whole grounds were always barred from the public and you could only get in if you were some sort of VIP or really rich..."
>She shows no signs of slowing down anytime soon, so you discretely motion for your assistant to get the damn uniform. You smile and nod your way through until he returns with the palace groundskeeper's uniform. Not as flashy or classy looking as the indoor uniforms, but it was designed for the outdoor work. A green t-shirt, blue denim overalls, brown boots, a wide-brimmed straw hat, and soft brown leather gloves.
>"...oh, by the way, I saw the goat lady earlier, Amelia, she wasn't wearing any shoes, and I was wondering..."
>You hold up your hand to try and save yourself 10 minutes of hearing her ask about it. Amazingly enough, she stops long enough for you to speak.
>"You can modify your uniform to better suit you if it makes you more comfortable while you work."
>"Awesome! Back in the military they were always so strict about the uniform..."
>"You were in the military?"
>You made the mistake of asking. After 20 minutes of hearing her ramble on, your assistant steps in to your rescue, telling you that you have an hour and a half left to speak with the other two new members of your staff. You just tell her to go ahead and get in uniform and start work, you'd rather not ask her another question. Ever again.
>Sidney is called in and saunters her way across the room. While almost everyone else dressed in a professional manner(except Vivian), she looks like she would be more suited to a day at the beach instead of going in to work. You ask her about her experience and skills. She has worked in grounds-keeping for a number of years, and has gardened at home ever since she was a child. While she tends to specialize in plants and trees, she can also care for lawns. Her scaled tail slowly swings from side to side as she tells you with gusto how important it is to respect the growth of nature.
>"By the way, Mary mentioned something about being allowed to adjust her uniform in any way to make it more comfortable for her?"
>"Yes, I understand a one-size-fits-all approach to uniforms wouldn't work, given how much difference there is between species. So you are free to modify your uniform in any way to make it more comfortable to you."
>She claps her hands together, causing her breasts to jiggle.
>"Excellent! How soon can I start?"
>You have your assistant produce the uniforms. Sidney grabs them and says she needs to go modify them. Given her current clothes, you suspect she won't have much overalls left by the time she's done. She is excused, and you have your assistant go send in Vivian. The question is, what are you going to do with her?
>When your assistant brings in Vivian, he also brings in a full set of maid uniforms for her. They have the standard pants, but include a white tail-sleeve with gold trim on either end. He leaves the two of you alone.
>"I hate to rush things, but I don't have much time before my new cabinet members arrive, so we'll need to hurry. Go ahead and take off your clothes."
>She smiles. "I figured you had a reason for only hiring female staff." She effectively sheds what little clothes she has, and leans over the desk. "So, now what?"
>"Have a seat, I have a few questions for you."
>She hesitates, not what she expected.
>"Ah, why am I naked then?"
>"Because you represent the Grand Marshall's office, and I won't have you wearing unapproved clothes while on the clock."
>Not sure how to process that, she mutely sits. You ask her some questions about her experience and background. A bit slow to respond at first, but she soon tells you that she has extensive experience in care-taking for pools and fountains, but is also capable of cleaning. She grew up here in the capitol, and was hoping to save up money to travel. You have her go ahead and put on the uniform.
>"Sorry for the lack of privacy, but I am short for time so we need to get this over as quickly as possible."
>While she dresses, you tell her that she will be responsible for keeping the inside pool clean and orderly, as well as your personal bathroom. And that she will be responsible for assisting with your bathing. 
>She pauses while sliding the stretchy tail-sleeve on.
>"Assist with bathing?"
>"Today was my first day officially on the job. I was up at 7AM, and I don't think I'll be getting to sleep until 12 tonight. I doubt the job is going to get any easier. If I don't need someone to bathe me due to a lack of energy, I'll need someone to assist to speed it up. I'll expect you to be professional about it, and not just help yourself to a handful of flesh. Will you have any problems with your duties?"
>She didn't fail to notice the way you worded that, and blushes a bit.
>"Ah...no sir. No problems at all."
>"Fantastic. Welcome aboard."
>You lean over the desk to shake her hand, and look down into the chair she was sitting in, where she left a small wet spot from sitting naked. She notices you aren't looking at her and looks down, only to blush a bit harder. Before she can come up with an excuse, you speak.
>"If you are interested in a chambermaid position, I can interview for that after my bath tonight."
>"I didn't...chambermaid?"
>"Pays more, but in addition to your usual duties you would be responsible for care-taking for my bedroom and a few other personal tasks."
>You leave it vague, you wanna see what she makes of it. Fully dressed, she says she'll think it over and you excuse her to go help your other maid with cleaning up the palace. Just in time, it's almost 3PM.
>Your assistant comes in to let you know your cabinet members have arrived downstairs, and are waiting for you. How do you proceed?
>You leave your office and head to the entryway to meet your new cabinet staff. Richard and Nikan are standing next to each other, seemingly engaged in conversation before you entered. Likewise Chloe and Zara look to have been mingling. Katerina looks like she got stuck in a corner by Antonio, and slides around him to escape when he turns his back to face you. Kayla was looking out a window at the palace grounds.
>Richard is wearing a blue business suit, but no tie. He's shorter than everyone else including Chloe, but he stands with confidence. His powder-puff tail sticks out the back of his suit, and you catch Kayla glancing at it a few times.
>Nikan is wearing brown slacks and a tweed jacket, and thick wire-frame glasses. His hair and fur have both gone gray, but his brown fur hasn't dulled yet.
>Chloe is dressed to the nines in a black dinner dress and topaz studded gold jewelry meant to compliment her brown eyes. Other than her head(for 'hair'), a thick pom on the end of her tail, and rings around her wrists and ankles, her black fur was shaved off revealing pale white skin.
>Zara is wearing a knee-length black skirt and suit jacket with a white blouse. Her claws have been painted blood red, and the black heels on her feet have holes allowing her toeclaws to extend out, showing they have the same nail polish(claw polish?).
>Antonio has grey slacks, and is wearing a somewhat decorative button-up white dress shirt. Only the expensive looking watch on his wrist hints at the wealth he comes from. His horns are polished to a shine, but the left one appears to have had the tip broken off in the past, and was filled down to a flat end.
>Katerina is wearing her old military dress uniform. A plain grey jacket and pants, with her rank on her shoulders, a few medals on her chest, and "ALESKY" on her name tag.
>Kayla is wearing a suit jacket. You would say she's a bit under-dressed, but a quick glance doesn't put anything inappropriate in your view. Due to the length of her tail(body maybe, it's hard to tell), she towers over everyone else, including Antonio.
>You welcome them all to the palace, and to your cabinet. You tell them that you expect them to do their best for Resnea, to not abuse the power they are getting access to, and to keep in mind that they now represent the country of Resnea and the office of the Grand Marshall. You let them know that you want to talk to them all one on one to better get to know them before they all start working together with you tomorrow.
>Katarina brings a fist to her chest and says "Hail the new Grand Marshall." The others follow suit. You head back to the nearby office room, and your assistant follows.
>Zara is the first one you have your assistant go fetch. Her expression is neutral, and doesn't change when she shakes your hand with a nod.
>"Grand Marshall Anon."
>"Public Relations Minister Zara, welcome aboard."
>She doesn't even bother sitting, instead pulling out a PDA and starting to go over a list of topics she apparently wanted to discuss with you.
>"I would like to thank you for hiring a more or less balanced cabinet when it comes to sexes. If you had hired all men I would be stuck trying to explain why the new GM is discriminating against women, and if you hired all women I would be stuck fending off rumors you are just using your cabinet as a harem. That being said, your cabinet is lacking diversity in a few key areas that could hurt the public's perception of you. While you do have one member of a traditionally discriminated species on your cabinet with Kayla, you don't have a single species of the rodent genus in your cabinet. You can claim to not discriminate against specific species all you want, but every mouse, rat, or other rodent in the city will see the lack of a representative, and your words will ring empty to them. Furthermore, Kayla may be seen as a token hire, which could lead to resentment among her species and other cold blooded reptilians. Which brings me to another issue, the majority of your cabinet comes from wealth and power. Kayla is the only one I know for certain didn't grow up in a wealthy family. The public may view your administration as merely an extension of the previous..."
>About 45 minutes later you finally manage to interrupt and send her back out. It was kinda creepy the way she kept rattling off information while staring at your eyes with the same blank expression. She's very professional, and VERY intense.
>Antonio is the next person you speak with. He shakes your hand while the two of you exchange the traditional greeting.
>"Grand Marshall Anon."
>"Agriculture Minister Antonio."
>He has a seat, and you ask him a few questions about his experience. His father tried to push him into taking over the family business, but Antonio found he enjoyed the details of fertilizer and horticulture better than spreadsheets. He opened and ran his own company that specialized in breeding crops for specific traits, until his father bought him out and folded it into the family business. Given how upset he looks when he talks about that, you figure it's a sore spot.
>"If you don't mind me asking..." You gesture at his damaged horn.
>"A reminder of why it's not a good idea to play around heavy machinery. I got lucky. The angle my head was at when my horn got caught, caused the tip to break off. Had I been facing a bit differently, it would have pulled my head in, and we wouldn't be talking."
>"Heavy machinery?"
>He nods.
>"I've worked in just about every position on a farm or cannery you can think of. Mostly to get away from my father. I've plowed fields, planted, harvested, prepped, prepared, pasteurized, and packaged crops from fruits to vegetables."
>He gives you a very solemn look.
>"I have no idea what the fuck a Minister of Agriculture is supposed to do sir. My father applied for me, I didn't even know I had an application until I got an official notice from the palace."
>You're halfway tempted to give him the boot. He won't be useful as a way to get access to his father, or his father's circle, and he seems clueless. But he might be a useful kind of clueless, and you might find a use for a puppet in your cabinet.
>"Well, my people tell me the previous Minister of Agriculture just collected bribes, so if you don't do that you'll already be doing a better job than he was."
>"Really? Wow, people are going to be angry when that gets out."
>"And you will lose your job and be in prison if you tell anyone."
>He stares at you with disbelief.
>"What? Why? Don't the people have a right to know?"
>"Because if I or anyone in my administration says anything bad about the previous Grand Marshall or his cabinet, even if true, it will be seen as a smear against them. Do you think people want to hear me or anyone associated with me bad-mouthing the dead?"
>He looks down at the desk.
>"I guess not. Can I at least tell my wife?"
>"No."
>"I don't like keeping secrets from my wife."
>You decide to give him the choice.
>"If you want, you can walk away now. Go back to your old life, and this will be the only secret you ever have to keep from her. But if you stay, this won't be the last. This is the big leagues. The world of business has nothing on the world of politics. This is hardball, people get hurt, and people get killed. This is a world of power the likes of which your father will probably never know. It won't be easy. But if you're in, you can do a great deal for your country."
>At the mention of his father, you can practically hear the gears turning in his head. Framing it as a challenge stroked his ego just right. He stands up and holds out his hand.
>"I'm in."
>You meet his fired-up eyes, shake his painfully firm grip, and then send him back out to mingle with the rest of the cabinet.
>Kayla is sent in next. Much like Char before her, Kayla moves with an unnatural looking smoothness. You figure every species that slithers probably develops that movement as they grow up. She slides up to the desk and shakes your hand.
>"Grand Marshall Anon."
>"Minister of Social Services Kayla, a pleasure."
>She has a seat, and you ask her a few questions about her experience and skills. She got her start in the education system and soon found herself in a constant fight with the school board to get uniform exemptions for students who were caused discomfort by the uniforms. She considered the zero-tolerance policy on uniforms to be designed solely to serve as a daily reminder to the less-favored races that they didn't matter. Over time she ended up attracting the attention of the previous Grand Marshall, who hired her on in an advisory role to the then-current Minister of Social Services. She soon figured out she was hired solely to convince the less-favored species that their complaints were being heard, but wasn't actually listened to or had any power. They kept her away from anything actually important, so she doesn't know a great deal about the current situation other than some basic details, but she believes she can get a grasp on things within a week.
>"Excellent, it looks like I have the right person for the job then. I want any and all policies coming out of the palace to be universal. Everything should apply equally to everyone. No one gets left behind, got it?"
>Based on the look in her eyes, you've just bought her loyalty. You wonder if she would feel the same way if she knew you considered humans to be above 'everyone'.
>"Grand Marshall, I greatly look forward to working with you."
>Since it will be a while until she has any proposals to share with you, you go ahead and send her back out with the others.
>Amelia stops by long enough to let you know she's ordering pizza for everyone since the kitchen is still a disaster. Nikan then joins you in the spare office room. He moves with a slight limp in his left leg. The two of you exchange greetings while shaking hands.
>"Grand Marshall Anon."
>"Economic Minister Nikan."
>He looks grateful to be sitting, but somewhat stressed.
>"Sir, I don't think you are going to like what I have to say."
>"I'll be the judge of that. Lay it on me."
>"You asked. The economy is in a recession due to the war losses and rebuilding spending. We lost a lot of able bodies during the war, and that's having a severe impact on rebuilding and recovery. I think our only way to improve the situation will be to make the recession worse."
>"Would an increased suicide rate help the country?"
>"No sir, the problem is prices. They went up during the war thanks to disruptions to supply chains, and business owners are understandably reluctant to drop their prices back down now that supply chains have unsnarled. These high prices are helping businesses rake in larger profits, but it's slowing recovery and harming the lower classes. People in Resnea pay 50% higher prices for food than all neighboring countries. That's just food. Transportation, rent, entertainment, utilities, these high prices are systematic."
>"And making the recession worse would help because..."
>"Because as long as the public pay the higher prices, business have very little incentive to drop prices. Demand needs to dry up. If the poor can survive off of charity and government handouts for even a few months, it will cause a drop in demand that will force businesses to drop prices back down to the actual market prices. The only other alternative to force prices down is to have state-mandated prices, and that will just cause a black market to spring up."
>You check the calendar on your watch, yep, it's still your first day on the job. Today was supposed to be easy.
>"And if we don't make the recession more painful?"
>"Then the lower classes get bled dry until over half the country is homeless and starving."
>"Can't we just import enough cheaper items to force local businesses to compete?"
>"Not without eliminating our tariff laws. If you do, then Resnean businesses will be less attractive to investors, and they will pull out causing the value of Resnean business stocks to collapse. Which will lead to millions of Resneans losing their wealth."
>You are starting to understand why he is advocating for making the recession worse. At the same time, you have no intentions of committing to anything today, you just wanted to meet and greet your new staff before you started working with them. You tell Nikan you will think it over and get back to him. Amelia stops by to tell you the pizza has arrived.
>You tell Amelia to wrap the pizza boxes in an electric blanket and keep them warm for now, then have your assistant send in Chloe. While Zara moved with efficiency, Chloe walks with a slight sway to her hips. She exchanges greetings with a smile and a look in her eyes that you can't tell if it's friendly, inviting, or predatory.
>"Grand Marshal Anon."
>"Foreign Relations Minister Chloe."
>With some questions, you get her story. A real social butterfly, she built her career as something of a fixer. An expert in the art of connecting customers to exactly the business they are looking for and vice versa. Eventually she worked her way into the political world, where she soon discovered her talent for diplomacy. Hearing the stories you have from intel about some of the things she's done, you suspect she found her love for power, wealth, and diplomatic immunity. And affairs with rich and powerful men. You honestly can't tell if she keeps making eyes at you because she's trying to get into your pants, or if that's just her standard M.O.
>"I'm told you were a diplomat to a neighboring country prior to and during the war. Do you think you might be able to leverage that prior relationship to get favorable terms with them now?"
>She gives a self-satisfied smile.
>"I'm very familiar with their diplomat, I'm certain I can get his cooperation."
>She leans slightly forward, causing her breasts to push out a bit.
>"Is there anything else I can do for you Grand Marshall Anon?"
>You don't fail to notice the intentionally vague wording, but you don't know if you can trust Chloe to be discrete.
>"Do whatever you can to forge good relations with our neighbors, we may need their assistance soon."
>You think you saw her hesitate for a second, but she went back to her seductress persona so fast you aren't entirely sure.
>"As you wish Grand Marshall."
>Richard is next up. He's a bit on the short side, about 5 foot 6 if you had to guess. 5 foot 9 with his ears up. You are a bit surprised at the strength in his grip when you shake his hand.
>"Grand Marshall Anon."
>"Finance Minister Richard."
>You give him the usual battery of questions. He grew up out in the country, working on his parent's farm. They noticed he had a talent for numbers, and sent him to college after he left high school. He graduated with honors, and wrote his thesis on cost-cutting at a state level and the various degrees of impact different strategies had. He didn't expect you would hire him because of his lack of experience. He swears he won't disappoint you.
>You ask him about the countries finances.
>"Well, beyond what the public knows, I haven't had a chance to look at the numbers yet. That being said, we're in big trouble. I know the previous administration almost spent themselves broke during the war. I know there hasn't exactly been a huge influx of investors or businesses popping up since the war ended. Unless Resnea has had record tax receipts in the last year, I'm certain we have to be broke or close to it."
>"I'm sure you are aware of the prices of goods being inflated, right?"
>"Of course, it's why I had to quit drinking coffee. Couldn't afford it."
>"The Economics Minister wants the recession to get worse to force prices down to normal levels."
>His long white ears wilt, slowly falling down until they hang limply from his head.
>"Sir, while that would have the effect he wants, we're already at the edge. I really can't recommend hurting our tax revenue at this point in time. At least, not until I actually look at our budget and see where we stand."
>He's very relieved when you tell him you aren't committing to any plans yet, and says he'll get started on assessing the budget tomorrow.
>It's been dark out for some time, and you finally get around to having a conversation with Katarina. She moves with a long-practiced military formality, quickly and with a specific purpose in mind. You have no doubt she's holding back her strength when she shakes your hand, since it feels like steel inside of a fur glove.
>"Grand Marshall Anon."
>"Defense Minister Katarina. I hope you don't take it as a slight that I'm speaking with you last."
>"Not at all sir."
>She grew up in the capitol, got into sports in school, then martial arts and firearms. After graduation, she went straight into college for some bullshit degree just so she could go into officer school. After assorted postings, she finally found her knack in training. She says she tried to influence the military to adjust boot camp for more "realistic" situations and a more "life-like" environment, but was blocked by "closed-minded" officers, and found her career on the skids.
>"I heard you were involved in a bullying scandal?"
>She doesn't even flinch.
>"Grand Marshall, when you put soldiers on the battlefield, they will have bullets and bombs flying at them. If they can't survive basic training, if they can't survive being yelled at, then I ask you how you expect them to survive on the battlefield? I can't understand why they would even enlist if they can't handle that."
>"And the women too, right?"
>That hit a mark, and she looked a bit uncertain now.
>"I'm not sure what you mean?"
>"According to the reports I read, all the complaint-ants in the scandal were male soldiers."
>"Like I said, I had to make sure they could survive."
>"And the female soldiers?"
>"They...were stronger."
>"If you treat me like an idiot, I'll start doing the same to you."
>She sits for a little bit, and scratches at the back of her neck while looking down at the desk.
>"Nothing to say Minister?"
>"No sir. If this costs me my job, then so be it."
>Whatever it is, she doesn't want to talk about it. If she's willing to quit over it, then there's no point in trying to push. You have other ways of getting the information you want.
>"I'm willing to let you keep your reasons to yourself, but I expect any rules and regulations you make and enforce within the military apply equally to everyone."
>"Of course sir."
>"What is your opinion of the current state of Resnea's military?"
>"Decimated. We lost 75% of our forces in the war. We barely have enough tanks for a single company. Our Air Force doesn't have enough planes for a single wing, and our Navy fleet has been reduced to two gunboats and a destroyer. We lack ammo, fuel, equipment, even rations. Morale is low, recruitment has practically dried up, and about 20% of the people we had left after the war have gone AWOL since you were declared the new Grand Marshall."
>"About what I expected. Let me guess, the military needs a lot more money, and soon."
>"The sooner the better. We need more everything, and recruitment bonuses to get more enlistments."
>"And until then, we are almost defenseless."
>She nods.
>"Exactly."
>You thank her for her honest assessment, and send her back to the others. As she leaves, you finally notice she doesn't have the long tails you see on other tiger anthros. Hers appears to have been cut off about three inches above the base. Before you can ask, she's already out the door. At long last, it's finally time to eat. Your watch says 9PM. Will this horrible day never end?
>You call Amelia in, and tell her it's finally time to serve dinner.
>"I'll bring the food in and some more chairs."
>"Here? Why not the dining room?"
>She is looking in your direction, but she isn't seeing you anymore.
>"You don't want to eat in there."
>"A bit messy?"
>Her eyes refocus again.
>"Sir, there's broken glass all over the floor, crude messages spray painted on the walls, and I would be happier not thinking about what was done to the dining room table. It smells horrible."
>"Right, we'll eat here."
>You add Palace Repairs to the ever expanding list of things needing money. Amelia is back a short while later with a stack of pizza boxes, and Chartreuse is with her with four chairs, two in each arm. She's a strong girl for such thin arms. Maybe it's a reptilian thing? Amelia and Chartreuse bring in a folding table and set it up in the center of the office. The cabinet is invited in, and they take seats. The table is almost a bit small for 8 people, but it works out. Clockwise around the table, Antonio, Nikan, Richard, Zara, Kayla, Katerina, and Chloe, with you sitting between Chloe and Antonio. It's so late and everyone is hungry, so you skip any sort of speech and just have Amelia serve the food.
>Midway through your second slice, you feel something rub against your right calf. You look over at Chloe, but she just continues to eat her pizza.
>You continue to eat your pizza, while giving Chloe a pointed look. Not getting the reaction she's looking for, her foot travels up to your knee where you feel her slowly rub her foot around your knee in a circle. You don't bother responding. She discretely reaches under the table, and shortly after you feel her other foot on your leg. Against your lack of response, she tries a number of things to get something out of you. She gives your leg a footjob, gently drags her toeclaws over your leg, and rubs your knee with both feet. Looking slightly frustrated at your lack of response, you feel her slide one foot up your inner thigh until its only an inch or two from your groin. She barely pokes out her toeclaws and slowly drags her foot to your knee, then the claws slide back in and she rubs her soft paw back up your thigh, only to repeat the process. If things keep up, you suspect she is going to try to give you a footjob under the table. No one else seems to have noticed her actions yet.
>You catch her paw as it starts another trip towards your crotch. She stops mid-bite, until you start massaging the pad with your thumb. Resuming eating, she gives a self-satisfied smile and glances your way. After about 20 seconds of that, you stop and slowly push her foot away while sliding off one shoe. You then move your foot over to her leg, slowly stroking her calf like she did to you. As her smile grows wider, you slide your foot down her ankle and on top of her foot, then press firmly. She glances at you while still eating, and attempts to pull her foot out from under yours a few times. She looks disappointed for a moment before her smile returns, and she gives you that predatory look again.
>You realize your mistake when you feel her other foot start stroking the leg you are using to pin her down. Looks like everyone is starting to get full, Zara is already tapping away at her PDA.
>Feeling her other paw start to head up your leg, you decide that challenging a player to a game of footsie probably wasn't your smartest move today. You blame the lack of sleep and hunger clouding your judgement. Conceding, you pull your foot back and slide it back into your shoe, and stand. What little light conversations had started immediately stop, and they all look at you.
>"I was planning on giving a little speech, but I'm sure you all will agree it's very late and we should call it a night. I want all of you to spend tomorrow getting a good assessment of our situation. As of this moment, you all have the full authority of your respective offices, so nothing should stand in your way of finding whatever information you need. While I understand this might not be enough time to get a full understanding of where we stand, I'm sure most if not all of you understand we need to act quickly. This country is still recovering from the war, and lacking in both money and people. We'll meet as a group and discuss matters the day after, on Thursday. I bid you all good night."
>Zara speaks up before you can step away.
>"Grand Marshall, how will we have any authority if no one outside the palace even knows we are Ministers?"
>You wince. You really don't want to deal with some announcement ceremony in the morning. Zara already has a solution though.
>"If we could take a picture of you with the cabinet, then I could have that distributed to the news services, and that would let everyone know who we are."
>"Good, let's do that."
>At Zara's suggestion, you and the rest of the cabinet head to the entryway and have Chartreuse take the picture of the group, using the relatively clean area as a backdrop. After that, you send everyone home and finally retire upstairs. You find Vivian sleeping in a chair outside your bedroom door.
>You can't resist, you reach over and poke Vivian on the end of her snout(nose?).
>"Power on."
>"Uh?"
>Roused, her eyes open. Seeing you, she stands up with a bit of a wobble.
>"Sir, sorry, I thought you would be by sooner for your...bath."
>"So did I, it's been a long day. Go ahead and get the water running, I'll be in soon."
>You follow her into your bedroom. She heads towards your bathroom, and you detour to your bed. You slip the gun you were carrying under your pillow, then take off your clothes. Once fully undressed, you follow the sound of running water. You suppose you should figure out what you are going to do with Vivian.
>You enter the bathroom about as Vivian is turning off the water. Seeing you naked, she grins. You climb into the bath then look over at her.
>"I think you will find it difficult to bathe me while standing outside the bath."
>Her gears spin on that one for a second or two.
>"You mean you want me in the water with you?"
>You rub your eyes.
>"Yes Vivian, I also want you to use soap when you wash me. I'm not trying to be rude, but I would like to try to get in bed before tomorrow starts."
>"Oh, uh, right away sir!"
>She starts peeling off her uniform.
>"Vivian?"
>She freezes, looking uncertain.
>"Yes Grand Marshall?"
>"Have you thought about the chambermaid position?"
>"Yes sir, I'm very interested."
>"Then go ahead and hang up your uniform in my closet, you won't have any need for clothing until tomorrow morning."
>Her smile reminds you of Jaws.
>"Yes sir!"
>She runs out of the bathroom into your bedroom while stripping off her uniform. You never knew a shark could be that flexible, a human would have most likely tripped while trying to remove pants while running. Instead of dashing back in, she slides into the doorway, and strikes a pose.
>"Yes, yes, you look great Vivian, now can we please move on to the bath?"
>A bit conflicted by the compliment combined with the dismissal, she apologizes and climbs into the bathtub with you. There's no lack of room, it looks like it could fit six. She grabs a bottle of body wash and a sponge, and starts to scrub you down, starting at your feet and working up. Her eyes are fixated on your dick, and she's spending way too long washing it.
>"Vivian, my penis is not going to get any cleaner. Move on already."
>She moves the sponge upwards, looking a bit dejected.
>"Sorry sir."
>In contrast to her groping, she's quite professional for the rest of your bath, and does a very good job of washing your hair without getting soap in your eyes. After the bath, you have her dry you off.
>"Very good. Go ahead and dry yourself. Once you leave this bathroom, your interview for the chambermaid position begins."
>You exit out into your bedroom before she can respond, and sit down at your desk to write some notes. A short while later you hear her speak.
>"Grand Marshall?"
>You take a good look at her naked form. Her flesh varies from pale white to dark grey, with her belly or underside being lighter. Except her nipples and vagina, which seem to share her darker coloration. Her breasts are a decent size, C cup from the looks of it. She's very fit, no sign of visible fat.
>"Sit on the edge of the bed facing me, spread your legs, and hold your arms out in a welcoming pose."
>After she does that, you walk up to where she's sitting. You bend your knees enough to get the right angle, and push inside of her. She gives a pleasurable "mmmm".
>"Now loosely wrap your arms around me, hook your ankles together behind my back, and say 'Thank you Grand Marshall for honoring me.'"
>She does as ordered.
>"Thank you Grand Marshall, for honoring me."
>"Good job. Now listen very carefully."
>You lean into her, pushing her into the mattress with your dick.
>"The moment my cum touches your womb, your womb is the exclusive property of the Grand Marshall. You won't be allowed to so much as touch another penis, much less have one inside of you. If you don't agree to this, say 'I don't wish to be your chambermaid sir.' Otherwise, say 'I am honored to have my womb owned by you sir.'"
>"I...I'm honored to have my womb owned by you, sir."
>You pull most of the way out, then start pumping her.
>"Very good. When the Grand Marshall cums inside of your pussy, you are expected to tighten your leg hold to prevent any from spilling out. You should then say 'Thank you for honoring my womb with your cum sir.' If the Grand Marshall cums inside of your mouth, you are expected to wait until the Grand Marshall gives you permission to swallow. Afterwards, you should then say 'Thank you for honoring my tongue with your cum sir.' Understood?"
>"Y-yes...fuck....yes Grand Marshall."
>You slowly build up speed, taking your time, enjoying the sight of your dick pounding the dark flesh in the middle of her light underside. Vivian is greatly enjoying being your chambermaid, and seems to be getting off on the idea of thanking you for cumming inside of her.
>"As my chambermaid, I expect you to not spill a single drop of my semen. Failure will result in punishment, and repeated failures can cost you the position. If you wish to be the Grand Marshall's chambermaid, you are expected to treat the Grand Marshall's seed as sacred. Understood?"
>"Yes sir, I s-swear I...I'll, I swear I'll never spill a single drop of your sacred cum!"
>Despite having her arms and legs wrapped around you, she's squirming around a great deal. She barely gets her orgasm before you get yours, then uses her leglock to pull you in as deep as possible
>"Th...thank you Grand Marshall for honoring my womb with your cum."
>"Congratulations, you passed the interview. You are now my chambermaid, and your womb now belongs to me."
>She gives a sloppy smile.
>"Thank you Grand Marshall for honoring my womb, by taking ownership of it."
>You smile at her and give her ass a squeeze with one hand on each cheek.
>"Very good Vivian, you're a natural. Now then, be a good pillow for the Grand Marshall, and let's get some sleep."
>As you lay in bed with Vivian, you remember something you forgot to ask.
>"Vivian, how's the pool?"
>Her smooth tail shifts against your side.
>"I got most of the bricks out. There's cracks all over, but nothing too serious. Also, someone stole the filter pump."
>You would regret asking, but you might as well find out.
>"How much to fix it?"
>"Hmm, pump would be about 180 notes, patching compound would be about 100."
>Amazing, something that can actually be fixed for cheap.
>"Fantastic, I'll see about getting you the funds tomorrow."
>She wiggles a bit closer.
>"Thank you Grand Marshall for honoring..."
>You cut her off with a gentle pat on her tail.
>"Knock it off Vivian, chambermaid duties are over for the night. Chambermaid talk only during chambermaid duties."
>"Ah, sorry sir. I thought you liked that."
>"I do, when I'm cumming inside my sexy chambermaid. Once finished, you go back to being my maid and I do expect you to only act as my chambermaid in private when I ask you to. Discretion is required of a chambermaid."
>"Understood sir, you can count on me."
>That resolved, you finally get some sleep. Your alarm wakes you up way too early the next morning. It says 8AM, but it must be lying. Either way you have shit to do, so you get up and have Vivian get dressed and get to work before your other staff arrive. Your cabinet is busy today doing the assessment you asked for, so you have some other goals today. Hire on some more staff including local security, check with your existing staff to see how they are doing, and check with your intel guys to see what the rebels are up to.
>Amelia arrives and brings you a bag of donuts and a cup of coffee, then heads off to the kitchen to begin cleaning for the day. Midway through your meal, you hear a loud scream echo through the palace.
>Within a minute a few of your security detail are in your room with weapons drawn. About five tense minutes later, they give the all clear and you get the story.
>Amelia decided today was the day to see the status of the walk-in freezer, having not gotten to it yet. She stumbled across the dead body of the previous palace cook in there. An elderly golden retriever, still wearing his palace chef uniform, frozen solid. Your security detail says his right hand looked like it was cut clean off, and they haven't found it yet.
>With the day already off to an excellent start, you get out of bed and get dressed, then rush over to the kitchen. You find Amelia sitting in a chair outside the kitchen, looking absolutely traumatized. Seeing you, she shakily stands up and confronts you with more vitriol than when she was talking about her hooves being disrespected.
>"Sir, I can't work like this! The kitchen is full of mold, mildew, and rust, the appliances are intentionally damaged, and there's a dead man in the freezer! I can't work like this!"
>She's so upset she's in tears, and you can't blame her. A sudden encounter with a corpse can ruin anyone's day.
>"Amelia, I entirely agree. I want you to go home and take the rest of the day off, and I'll figure out something about getting you a kitchen you can actually use. Alright?"
>She calms down enough to head on home, and you speak with your assistant.
>"I thought the military searched this place before I moved in?"
>"They had orders to look for traps, I guess they didn't consider a dead body to be a problem."
>"Of course they didn't. Call them in for another search, this time for dead bodies and body parts. I don't need my gardener finding a mass grave in the greenhouse, or my maid finding eyeballs in the laundry room."
>He heads out to get it done. You should probably ask his name one day.
>By the time you get back to your bedroom, the donuts and coffee Amelia got you are cold. Might as well get this shit day rolling. What do you do?
>Your assistant will be a bit getting back from contacting the military, so you head on outside to check on the motor pool. The palace has a garage large enough to fit six extended-length vehicles. As of now, all you see is the three black armored SUV's you rode in on. One has the hood up, and you see Annie perched on the front bumper looking at an air filter with suspicion. Her ears twitch hearing you walk up, and she's looking your way before you can greet her. She shoves the air filter back where it came from, and shuts the hood.
>"Morning sir! Ready to go somewhere?"
>Her eagerness and excitement give you an urge to ask her if she wants walkies.
>"Unfortunately, no. Got a lot of stuff to take care of here at the palace today."
>If it wasn't for the lack of whimpering, you would have thought she was trying to pull the 'sad puppy' routine on you.
>"So, how's our fleet?"
>"All three SUV's are fully functional, though the air filters for the cabin are a bit dirty."
>"And the other vehicles?"
>She looks genuinely confused.
>"Are there other vehicles sir?"
>"I guess not. Nevermind, was just checking."
>Looks like the previous GM's fleet was pawned off long before you got here. Oh well. You catch you assistant as he is headed back from contacting the military.
>"Any ideas on what can be done about the kitchen situation before my chef quits?"
>He chews it over for a bit.
>"From most expensive to cheapest and most time to least time, you can hire a crew of cleaners and contractors to repair and sanitize the existing kitchen, you can seize a nearby hotel by decree and shift operations over there, or you can get a portable mess hall from your military."
>You have your assistant call in a crew to get the entire kitchen back to working order, and contact the military to have them send a portable mess hall truck to the palace. You have your assistant specify the truck should be triple-checked to be clean and sanitary. Amelia is already agitated, and you doubt she's gonna love the food truck, might as well make it as painless as possible for her.
>With that being worked on, you decide to go check out the gardens and check in on your gardeners. You spot Mary in the greenhouse, and see Sidney mowing the lawn. Mary is in full uniform, Sidney has modified the overalls to a rather extreme degree. The boots, gloves, and hat are all still the same, but she has just enough blue denim to cover her panties, and has left only a small part of the front top of the overalls intact. It's not even secured behind her back, just hanging loosely over her breasts.
>You head into the greenhouse, deciding the bitter pill was best swallowed first. Mary is inside, methodically dumping dried and dead flowers and plants into a wheelbarrow. While the greenery outside could count on rain at the very least, everything inside the greenhouse was trapped and left to dry out. Mary sees you enter, and finishes the planter she was working on. True to form, she's talking before you get a chance to speak.
>"Morning sir, I was hoping the greenhouse had a bunch of cool plants in it but they all seem to have been water starved for far too long and none of them are coming back no matter what we do so I was going through and clearing everything out, can I ask you a question?"
>The silence takes you by surprise, you were expecting her to keep going.
>"Uh, sure, what's on your mind?"
>"It's Sidney sir. She...I know you said we could modify our uniforms for personal comfort but...when she leans over you can see everything."
>"Hmm, her uniform does appear to be in disrepair. I'll speak with her."
>"Thank you sir. I'm not personally bothered by it, I spent years living in barracks with about 60 other women and we didn't exactly have a lot of privacy. I'm just worried about someone seeing her and getting the wrong impression. You know, about you."
>"Always glad to help Mary, and thank you for the concern."
>Back out of the greenhouse, you see Sidney still mowing the lawn. Like the greenhouse, the majority of the outer grounds of the palace is contained in the front yard, which is blocked off from the street with a high hedge. So while Sidney is in public, she at least isn't in public view. That plus Mary's comment about not minding gives you an idea.
>You wave to Sidney and she directs the riding mower over to you, then shuts it off and dismounts. Her breasts swing freely under the small patch of denim hanging from her neck. She greets you with a smile.
>"Good morning sir, isn't it a beautiful day?"
>"Sidney, I told you that you could modify your uniform to make it more comfortable, but I also told you that you were representing the palace, correct?"
>The smile fades away, like the sun going behind clouds.
>"I gotta wear more, don't I?"
>"You may if you wish, but you aren't permitted to wear rags while working."
>"Rags?"
>You point at the scrap of denim covering her breasts, and then to the ultra-short-shorts she turned the overalls into.
>"Rags. Ragged edges, loose threads, did you modify them with a pair of scissors? Absolutely unacceptable. I won't have my staff looking like bums. Remove them immediately."
>Looking sad and with her tail hanging limply, she starts walking towards the palace.
>"Where do you think you are going?"
>Halting in place, she looks a bit confused.
>"To go change?"
>"I'm only going to say this once more Sidney. I will NOT have my staff walking around in rags. Period. Remove them. Now."
>She looks around, confirms no one else is around, and the plucks off the scrap hanging around her neck. You hold out your open hand, and she blushes but places it in your hand. She reaches for her shorts and freezes.
>"Sir?"
>"All of the rags Sidney."
>"I'm not wearing panties sir."
>"I will neither pry or judge your personal life Sidney, but I won't have my staff wearing rags. Take them off."
>You can't quite decipher the look in her eyes as she stares into your eyes. She shifts a bit, stepping out of her low-ankle boots, then pulls the denim shorts down and off. She hands them off to you, keeping her eyes on them while she slides the boots back on. She looks disappointed when you drop them on the ground.
>"Pass me your hat."
>A moments hesitation, then she hands over the straw hat. You make a show of closely inspecting it before saying "Acceptable." and handing it back to her.
>"Gloves."
>She removes the gloves and hands them to you. Another once-over, "Acceptable.", and they are returned. You stop her as she reaches down to remove the boots.
>"Don't bother, they are easier to inspect while being used."
>You crouch down in front of her, looking closely at one boot. She shifts her other leg while you are 'inspecting', and when you look up at her you see she's positioned herself in an awkward pose that has her legs spread widely, leaning back to force you to see her pussy when you look at her face.
>"Sidney, have these loose threads trimmed before you come to work tomorrow."
>"Yes sir."
>You move to her other boot, and she shifts her position again, practically shoving her crotch at you. You look up at her, seeing the pale pink flesh of her slightly spread pussy, purposely not giving any reaction.
>"Acceptable."
>You grab the scraps of denim she called a uniform and stand up, then shake them in her face.
>"No more rags. Got it?"
>She scratches at her leg awkwardly.
>"Is it really acceptable to you if I work dressed like...this?"
>"It is if it's more comfortable to you than wearing the uniform. Just no rags. Also, I expect you to be in full uniform when working in the back yard where the public can see you. Children walk by there."
>She smiles and salutes.
>"Yes sir!"
>With that she happily walks back towards the mower, her scaled tail swinging from side to side. You pegged her as an exhibitionist, odds are this should keep her happy. And with the stories about Mary's amazon unit of armored infantry, you suspect she won't be complaining for much longer.
>Rather than ask Mary or Sidney, you decide to tour the front yard yourself. Other than a few brown patches that are being watered, and a hole where a tree probably once stood, the palace grounds are in far better shape than the palace interior. It would seem most of the ire directed at the previous GM after the palace was abandoned, was concentrated inside the palace. The greenhouse plants all died to neglect, but pretty much everything else was able to survive on rainwater. Some bushes and hedges are overgrown, and the lawn is still half-savanna, but your gardeners appear to be getting things back on track.
>You head back inside the palace, as you have other things demanding your attention.
>No immediate fires to put out, so you decide it's time for a long overdue chat with your intel team. You find just one of them in the secure room they use as a base of operations. The one remaining agent explains one is on Vivian, one is on Antonio, and the third is out getting food.
>You have a seat, and he starts going down the list of information they've gathered since the last time you've spoken. Some various bits of drama involving your cabinet and staff, some more information on the price fixing Nikan mentioned, what they managed to find out about that symbol you saw on Annie's necklace, a detail about Katerina's history they just uncovered, and some less than good news about the rebel forces.
>For just being four guys, they are amazingly good. Katerina was caught on a microphone calling Chloe a whore under her breath a short while after the meeting last night. Nikan's idea to fix the high prices was apparently bounced off of Richard before he proposed it to you, but Nikan told Richard it was a theoretical. A handful of the biggest companies in Resnea were actively engaged in a price fixing scheme, but they were still getting the details straight.
>The symbol on Annie's necklace was the emblem of some old human clan in the area. They had kept non-humans as slaves, and there was something about the slaves never attempting escape, but they were still digging. Of particular interest to you, three human men were located that had served in Resnea's military and encountered Katerina. They all claim she was never harsh towards them. Apparently Katerina also administrated a test for some experimental drug on volunteers. The details of the situation tell you why she was so against talking about past incidents. If this came to light, it would be extremely bad for her.
>The drug was called Green 74. It was described as a delayed action permanent contraceptive. The specifics are outright sinister, and you wonder if this experimental drug was designed as a bio-weapon. The drug is injected once a week for six weeks, and can cause slight nausea and headaches during that period. Then the drug lays dormant in the spinal fluid of the patient for five years, at which point it suddenly activates. The "payload" as it can be described targets the specific cells that make up the tails spermatozoa use to propel themselves forwards, altering the cells within the testicles that produce the tail cells. The result is the patient, or victim, is left shooting blanks five years after the treatment, making it highly unlikely they will figure out the drug was the culprit. Perfect for a stealthy and deniable depopulation bomb.
>According to the Resnea military records, three years ago Katerina offered male soldiers 250 notes each to "test" the drug, and gave Green 74 to a bit over 4,000 volunteers. There was clearly no need to test a drug where the effects were already well known, but oversight was lax. She also filed the test as "Testing new booster shots". Intel only found out it was Green 74 on careful examination of her requisition forms. As far as intel can tell, no one else knows, not even the medical staff who did the injections. The agent tells you they located about a dozen human men who were volunteers. According to the medical staff's records, they were all marked to be given saline solution by Katerina, and were not given the drug.
>You will have to have a little chat with Katerina tomorrow.
>The rebel situation was a bit more complex than you were led to believe. There seems to be three organizations in direct rebellion, and they are competing against one another. 
>The first calls themselves the Crown, and they are a loyalist group to the old GM. Mostly former politicians and military, the ones that weren't killed and didn't stick around to deal with the new GM. Their biggest strength is their prestige, having many in their ranks who can command respect. Their biggest weakness is a lack of people.
>The second is the Light. Convinced this was the best time to create a new government, they were seeking to eliminate the Grand Marshall system altogether and turn Resnea into a direct democracy. Their biggest strength lay in their numbers, having more supporters than the other two groups. Their biggest weakness was a lack of funds and equipment/weaponry.
>The last group was the Coalition. Mostly hired mercenaries, it was funded by other countries who saw the turmoil in Resnea as a good chance to take advantage of the situation and install a government that would be favorable to them. Their biggest strength was the amount of funding and firepower they had at their disposal. Their biggest weakness was the lack of support they had from most Resneans, since most didn't believe they could be trusted once they took power.
>All three have caused damage and destruction, and intel is still trying to dig up info on who is in charge of these groups.
>With all that out of the way, you excuse yourself for lunch. Another take out meal, another day. You finish eating, and your watch says 2PM. Meeting with intel ran longer than you expected. And with what you've learned about Katerina and Annie, you decide to hold off on hiring local security forces until you can confirm something.
>You find both Vivian and Chartreuse working together in one of the guest bedrooms upstairs. Vivian is pulling paintings and pictures off the walls while Chartreuse scrubs the walls with a mop. You are about to question the importance of this, until you notice the walls they've hit already are about three shades lighter than surrounding walls.
>As they see you come in, they greet you. Vivian says "Good afternoon sir.", and Chartreuse waves with one hand while plucking a 8ft tall framed painting off of the wall with her other arm. Given how thin her arms are, you can't understand why she isn't even breathing hard.
>"Afternoon ladies. How goes the cleaning?"
>Chartreuse holds up one hand flat like a shelf, and moves it from side to side. You attempt to decipher what that means for a few seconds, then turn to Vivian for a translation.
>"It's going sir, but it's a big project. Pretty much everything was covered in a layer of dust and grime when we started. Yesterday we realized we needed to clean the walls after Chartreuse brushed up against a wall downstairs and it left a brown smudge on her uniform. Some of the guest bedrooms have had their beds slashed, some sheets will need replacing, and one mattress was burnt. Some of the offices downstairs have broken chairs, a few have badly damaged carpets, and the dinning room table needs to be replaced entirely."
>You have a mental image of Richard holding a gun to his head while staring at a balance sheet. Tomorrow is gonna be fun.
>"Any idea how long it would be before the entire palace is back to the level of clean we would want the public to see?"
>Vivian looks at Chartreuse, who holds up her hands and shakes her head. She hooks a thumb at her.
>"What she said. Even after we get every wall done, we'll still need to deep clean the floors. And then the furniture. And polish the furniture. And the metalwork. And wax the tile floors."
>It's a big palace, maybe you should get some more cleaning help. Even once they finally get caught up, it might be a bit difficult for two people to keep up the cleaning.
>"Oh, and Chartreuse has a question she wants to ask you."
>"Sure thing, what can I help you with?"
>She slithers towards you with that side-to-side locomotion and her top half remaining almost motionless. She quickly jots down a note and shows it to you.
>'CAN WE TALK IN PRIVATE?"
>"Very well."
>She follows you to the guest room next door, where they had already done the walls. The paintings and pictures are laid on the bed while the walls dry. Once the door closes, she starts writing notes and handing them to you.
>'I SAW SIDNEY OUTSIDE MOWING THE LAWN.'
>'SHE WAS ONLY WEARING HAT AND BOOTS.'
>'SHE SAID YOU GAVE HER PERMISSION.'
>You had a feeling you hadn't heard the last about Sidney's exhibitionism.
>"Yes, that is true. I gave all staff permission to modify their uniforms to make them more comfortable to wear."
>She blinks, then passes you another note.
>'BUT NAKED? IS THAT ACCEPTABLE?'
>"Back home, not wearing shoes would get you kicked out of most businesses. Here, no one complains. The other day I saw a naked otter at the beach, and no one was even staring. I'm not going to pretend like I understand Resnean cultural norms, and I don't think I should be trying to force everyone to live as I do. If Sidney feels more comfortable working like that, then I won't stop her."
>She stares intently up into your eyes, then starts taking off her uniform. Playing the part, you turn around and face the wall. A short while later, you feel a poke at your back. You turn around, and she's wearing the cap, gloves, and her tail sock/sleeve, and nothing else, with the rest of her uniform held under one arm. She pulls the notepad and a pen from under her cap, and passes you another note.
>'THIS WOULD BE MORE COMFORTABLE FOR ME.'
>"And you can work like that if you want, but I must ask you wear the full uniform when working downstairs."
>She looks a bit upset about this and passes you a note before you can explain.
>'SIDNEY DOESN'T HAVE TO.'
>"She does if she works out back where the public can see her. My cabinet will be visiting downstairs, so will other people. I don't need any rumors that I'm forcing my employees to work naked or anything like that."
>Chartreuse bows her head in a nod, no longer looking upset.
>"If you want you can talk to Vivian about splitting duties so you don't spend much time working downstairs."
>She gives a slight smile and slithers out the room without another word. Without the skirt on, you can see her hips aren't as motionless as you believed. Or at least the part of her tail just above where she rests on the ground. There's not much else you want to get done today, but you still have an hour before you feel like eating dinner. What do?
>You head back downstairs, running across the intel agent you spoke with earlier. He recommends you stop by the intel room daily. He says with the sheer amount of material they go through, some items of interest might slip through the cracks if they have to condense things down. You request a secure tablet so they can send you updates as they happen. You ask if Annie is still in the garage, and he tells you she is, and has fallen asleep from boredom behind the wheel of one of the SUV's. Getting an idea, you borrow a set of handcuffs from him. After that, you head outside to the garage.
>As informed, you find Annie slumped over the steering wheel, out cold. Her ears randomly twitch in her sleep. You slowly and quietly open the drivers side door, carefully slide the cuffs through the steering wheel, and click one shut around one of her wrists. Then you grab her other wrist and move it within range and close the other cuff on it. The movement of her arm rouses her, and she slowly comes to.
>"Uh? What? Oh, sir, I was just-"
>She cuts off as she tries to pull away from the steering wheel, and finds her hands cuffed to it. She stares at that for a few seconds, her ears droop, and she looks at you.
>"I'm fired, aren't I?"
>While you are tempted to make her beg, you have other plans for her.
>"Not at all."
>Shutting the driver's door, you step over and open the driver's side rear door and climb into the SUV, then shut the door. Annie looks at you through the rear-view mirror.
>"Am I under arrest?"
>"Nope."
>The two of you sit in silence for a few seconds.
>"So, what's going on then?"
>Her ears are still flat against her head, convinced she's in some form of trouble.
>"I just wanted to interrogate you about your necklace, that's all."
>She freezes solid, and her voice turns to fear.
>"Sir, please don't. I can't."
>Reaching around the headrest of her seat, you start scratching the top of her head between her ears.
>"Annie, are you sure you don't want to be a good girl and cooperate with me?"
>The waterworks were not expected, but it makes you glad you shut the door, or your gardeners might be wondering what the hell you were doing to make her cry like that.
>"I can't, I'm sorry sir but I can't! I wanna be a good girl for you but I can't talk about that!"
>You really weren't expecting that kind of resistance, and you aren't trying to break her. Quite the opposite. So you decide to let her off the hook. You reach your other hand around the driver's chair and slide your hand onto her belly and start scratching.
>"Calm down Annie, I already know what that symbol means."
>She almost twists her arm trying to turn around and face you before giving up.
>"You know?"
>"I know, What I don't know is why someone wearing jewelry that identifies them as a human-worshiper, would be afraid to tell a human about it."
>She sits there sniffling, and you aren't entirely sure you guessed right. You press forward, in the event you are on the right track.
>"Let me guess, you got yourself a human boyfriend once, you shared this with him, and he took it poorly and left. Am I close?"
>She nods, still trying to stop her tears. You move the hand on her head to join your other hand, and wrap your arms around her as well as you can from behind the seat.
>"Aw, I'm sorry to hear that Annie. It wasn't your fault, I'm sure he just didn't understand."
>You finally stop scratching her and unlock the handcuffs.
>"Annie, why don't you join me in the back seat?"
>She's still sniffling a bit, but gets out and shuts the door, then gets into the back, sitting next to you on the back seat. You reach over and scratch under her jaw.
>"You don't have to sit there Annie. Human worshiping girls get to sit in human laps."
>You don't have to offer twice, she practically launches herself into your lap and buries her nose in your chest. You palm the back of her head and scratch at her ears, and you can feel the intensity of her tail wagging through her thighs. Once she's finally calmed down, you try to probe for more information.
>"So, can you tell me more about your religion?"
>She freezes up and so does her tail.
>"Calm down Annie, question withdrawn."
>Her muscles relax again, and her tail resumes it's side to side sweep.
>"If I can't ask about it, could you at least tell me why I can't ask?"
>It takes a while and some backtracking, but you finally get the story out of her. The human worshipers do communicate with one another, but in secret. They hide their religion from everyone since they believe they would be treated poorly by anthro societies if known publicly. As such, the bonds within the community are very strong, and they will do everything possible to protect each other's identities. Which is why Annie wouldn't talk and was so broken up about it. She was worried you would demand names, or otherwise make her betray their trust. You wrap your free arm around her to scratch at the base of her tail.
>"I promise I'll never ask you anything like that. But would you be willing to act as my liaison with your ah, special friends?"
>She finally pulls her nose out of your chest.
>"Liaison?"
>"Yes. I understand your friends might be a bit wary of communicating directly with me, so would you be willing to relay messages?"
>She thinks it over, and her tail doesn't stop wagging.
>"Yeah, that should be safe. Yessir, I'd be glad to be your liaison!"
>"Excellent. Then I officially assign you as my liaison between the Grand Marshall and your special friends. Ready for your first message?"
>"Yes sir, should I write this down?"
>"That might be tricky."
>You stop scratching, and use both hands to grab the sides of her face, pulling her in for a kiss. Her tail does a three-beat twitch before going into overdrive. You continue until she starts humping, then gently pull her away.
>"Make sure they get that message, got it?"
>"Uh, could you repeat that?"
>"Very funny, but I need you to drive me somewhere to get dinner."
>Clearly disappointed, her tail stops it's frantic movement. She hides it well though.
>"Of course sir, where would you like to go?"
>"I don't know the area that well yet Annie, I want you to pick out someplace good. Seafood would be fine. Go get my security detail and let's get going."
>She's off with a salute and a short while later your convoy is headed out of the palace grounds. Traffic is a bit thick, but Annie soon has the convoy parked outside of a restaurant a few blocks away from the palace. While the restaurant wasn't exactly a take-out place, they were willing to fulfill the order once they found out it was the Grand Marshall's office asking. Then it's back to the palace. Once parked, you wave Annie into the back seat and tell her to bring the food. She's all smiles as she climbs in and shuts the door.
>"Can I sit in your lap again sir?"
>"Only if the only clothes you have on are your cap and gloves."
>It's only somewhat awkward for her to strip inside the back of the SUV. While she's doing that, you undo your belt and lower your pants and boxers. Seeing you join in, she strips faster. The moment she has only her hat and gloves on, she promptly seats herself on your dick. You let her cuddle a little, then have her turn around to face away from you. Wrapping an arm around her waist to make sure her hips won't be rising, you have her pass the food over. You need to lean over with her so she has the range of motion to reach, but she doesn't complain.
>Dinner is shrimp alfredo with angel hair pasta. With your left hand stroking and groping Annie's breasts, you feed yourself and Annie. One fork-full for you, one for her. Together you split the meal, with her squirming in your lap helping to keep you interested. The moment the styrofoam containers are bagged up, Annie is already asking something that's been on her mind.
>"So, we are going to have sex, right?"
>"Turn around and face me."
>Annie impresses you by doing so with a twist of her hips and spreading her legs wide enough to slide one leg between the two of you and over. She remains firmly planted in your lap the entire motion. You reach out and grasp her wrists and you slide both of you to the right, and lay her down on the back seat, pinning her to the seat with your penis.
>"I have a second message for your friends. Make sure you give them this message."
>"O-OK."
>You make out with her for a little bit while you slowly grind in and out of her, and she keeps trying to hump back. You eventually give in to her desperate whining, and speed up a bit. She wraps her legs around you and tries to hump even harder. One of these days you'll have her sit in your lap and command her to go for a ride, but for today you just want to pound her into the seat. You keep speeding up while trading kisses with Annie, and she soon has her arms tight around you. She wins the race, and cums with a loud whimper followed by a lot of whining. Hearing her almost pained whining sets you off, and you push in deep. You hold Annie by her jaw, and kiss her while your nuts drain into her. Once finished, you grab her jaw with both hands and scratch her cheeks.
>"Make sure they get that message Annie."
>She looks worried.
>"I'm not entirely sure how to relay these messages sir. I don't want to disappoint you."
>"Just tell your friends what I did for the first message, and tell them that is my greetings to them. Tell your friends what I did for the second message, and tell them that is how I feel about them."
>She goes back to smiling, and squeezes her thighs around your hips.
>"I think they will be very glad to hear your messages sir."
>"Good. Other than what I ask you to share with your friends, I'd like you to be discrete about what we do together. I don't want the public thinking I'm forcing you to have sex with me. Can you do that for me Annie?"
>Her legs tighten around you.
>"You should know I can keep a secret sir."
>You give her a quick kiss on her nose. You know what she wants to hear.
>"Good girl."
>She tries to hump into you, but is still pinned to the back seat by your own hips. You can hear her opinion of you in her voice, you don't even need to hear the words.
>"Thank you sir!"
>You cuddle with her for a little while longer, then finally get her to unwrap herself off of you and pull yourself off of her. You gently scratch at her belly and tell her you believe all human worshipers should be greeted by humans with a kiss rather than a Hello. After telling her you'll see her tomorrow, you pull your pants back up and exit the SUV. With that business with Annie settled, you think you've found a perfect pool of people to select from for your bodyguards. It's dark out, and you could use a relaxing hot bath. At the same time, you wonder if your intel team has gotten anything new since earlier today.
>You stop by the intel room, finding two agents in there. One gives you a briefing while the other is busy watching surveillance recordings. They had done some digging and found some more info about more research and development done in regards to Green 74. There was a quicker-acting version called Red 74 that would take effect in a single week with the same results. The Resnean's had also developed a counter-agent they called Chemical 14. It wasn't just capable of eliminating the drug as it lay dormant, it could also reverse the effects long after. With these chemicals, you practically have full control over which males can and can't breed within Resnea. Since they are all top secret and thus a complete unknown to the vast majority of the population, in the event Katerina gets exposed you can always ride to the rescue with a "miracle cure".
>The agent watching the monitor waves you over, and says there's something you might be interested in seeing. It's Sidney and Mary in the greenhouse, having a conversation after you talked with Sidney earlier today.
>"See? Told ya he was fine with it."
>"But what if someone was to see you?"
>"He said I had to wear the full uniform out back, but I was free to wear as little as I like out front."
>"So...what's it like?"
>"Freeing. You haven't communed with nature until you've done so au naturale. Try it and see for yourself."
>"I couldn't do that. I mean, I've been naked around others before, it got pretty hot in the tank, but..."
>"What's wrong, you scared?"
>"I'm not scared of anything! I'll show you!"
>Mary strips off her uniform, only to put the gloves and hat back on afterwards.
>"See, told you I wasn't scared."
>"Sure, safe here in the greenhouse. You brave outdoors?"
>Sidney strutted her way out of the greenhouse, calling out mockingly over her shoulder.
>"Unless you worried someone gonna see ya."
>Mary stood there watching Sidney leave, then paced for a little bit. She seemed to make up her mind, and left the greenhouse. Her uniform lay on a bench where she threw it.
>You're glad they brought this to your attention. You wouldn't wanna walk into the greenhouse tomorrow and make a fool out of yourself. Given Mary's concern about being seen, if you over-reacted then she would have a negative association with working naked. You figure the best tack to take with Mary would be to act the same as you do with Sidney and Chartreuse. You think again about her concern about being seen, and decide to layer on a slight modesty concern. You have a brief fantasy about a future where the palace grounds is full of female anthro gardeners wearing only gloves and wide-brimmed hats. One day.
>They let you know that the military techs are working on getting a secure tablet setup for you, and it should be here sometime tomorrow. You leave them to their business and head upstairs. Not seeing Vivian, you go into your bedroom, where she is putting fresh linen on the comically oversized bed. Spotting you, she gets the distressingly toothy smile that makes you wonder if a blowjob would really be safe for you.
>"Good evening Grand Marshall, how may I serve you?"
>You make a dismissive gesture towards the bathroom.
>"Chambermaid, ready the shower and your body for the Grand Marshall."
>She puts her arms behind her back and bows, looking up at you with a smile.
>"Anything you wish Grand Marshall."
>She's fast, and manages to remove her uniform and get it hung up in your closet before you can remove and hang up your own clothing. By the time you are done, she's already in your bathroom and you hear the water running. Heading inside, you see her standing in the shower, adjusting the temperature. Satisfied it's just right, she steps out of the shower and faces you. She holds out her arms to you.
>"The shower and I are both ready for you Grand Marshall."
>You walk over to her, and she guides you into the shower, sitting you on a stool under the running water. She pulls the adjustable shower head off of the holder, then uses one hand to scrub you while using the other to direct the water where it's needed. She fumbles for a second when you touch her breasts and rub at her nipples, but continues to wash you. She's efficient, and you are soon done. She goes to leave the shower to get some towels, but you grab her wrist.
>"Before you dry us off, I'd like you to shower yourself. I will supervise to make sure you don't miss a spot."
>"Anything you wish Grand Marshall."
>You move the stool over to the wall with the water controls on it, since she needs to stand close to it anyways. Vivian takes all of three minutes to completely clean herself, even with the needlessly long time you have her finger herself 'clean'. She's a shark, she doesn't have a lot of fur or hair to clean.
>That didn't go at all like you thought it would. You make a mental note that you need to dirty Vivian up before a bath or shower if you want a longer show. She stands in front of you in the shower, her legs spread and her arms behind her back.
>"Am I acceptably clean Grand Master?"
>You tire of the game, and just have her dry the two of you off. Instead of doing all the work, tonight you have Vivian ride you. About halfway through you have her switch around to face away from you, since her tail keeps bumping into your balls. At least that way you can hang onto her tail so it doesn't double as a club.
>The next morning you awake to a numb arm which Vivian was using as a pillow. You reach down with your free arm and slide a finger inside of Vivian. She awakens with an "ugh?" once you locate her g-spot, and yanks herself off of you when you treat it like a button mashing QTE.
>"Good...good morning Grand Marshall. Please, not so fast...or hard. That was a bit too intense."
>"Just making sure you were awake."
>You have her get dressed and send her out to see if Amelia found the food truck you had delivered yesterday. Or at least, should have been delivered yesterday. About the time you finish dressing yourself, Amelia comes to your room with a tray and some cereal. She says she'll be out shopping for supplies, and that the food truck is acceptable since at least it's clean.
>While breakfast will be simple, Amelia promises you an "actual" meal for lunch. You eat, thinking about all the shit you want to try to get done today. You plan on having a group meeting with your cabinet, having a talk with Katerina, hiring on more staff, checking with Annie about opening that line of communication, talking with your gardening staff about your plans for the greenhouse, checking with intel about that tablet, and probably a half dozen other items you aren't remembering right now. Your cabinet isn't gonna be here until noon, and it's about 9AM now.
>You decide to check with the gardening staff first. The sooner they get started on what you have in mind for the greenhouse, the sooner you'll see results. Getting outside, you see Sidney on the riding mower. You have the impression she would probably spend most of her day on the mower even if the lawn didn't need it. You return her wave, appreciating how the side-to-side motion set her breasts swaying. If she wants to be an exhibitionist, might as well assist her in exhibiting.
>Leaving her to the lawn, you head to the greenhouse. You see a black figure moving inside. Once you are right outside, you can make out Mary inside, wearing just the straw hat. The moment you open the door to the greenhouse, she spins around and promptly covers her breasts and crotch with her arm and a hand respectively. She has a look on her face that is half embarrassment, half guilt, like you just caught her pissing on your shoes.
>"Ah, morning sir how are you doing this fine day it's such a lovely day today can you believe how great this weather is..."
>She switches straight into the jabberjaw mode you got from her the first time you met her. It suddenly clicks, it's her nervous reaction response. You don't feel like hearing her blather on about the weather today for an hour straight, so you jump in.
>"Vegetables" you say with an upraised finger.
>She freezes and thankfully stops talking non-stop.
>"Vegetables?"
>"I'm not sure if you are aware or not, but the kitchen here at the palace is in terrible shape. The chef has been forced to use a food truck and will be using it until we finally get things straightened out. I figure it could be good for the chef to have fresh vegetables grown here in the greenhouse, to use when they can finally use the palace kitchen. What do you think?"
>"Um. Yeah. I think that would be a good idea."
>Her words come out short and clipped, and she has the deer-in-headlamps look. Time to let her off the hook.
>"Oh, and Mary?"
>She clutches herself tighter, as if she might have accidentally let something slip out.
>"Y-yes sir?"
>"Do me a favor and ease up on the coffee, OK? I've never seen you so jittery before."
>You immediately turn around and start walking out, not giving her a chance to respond to that. You wave over your shoulder to her on your way out.
>"Keep up the good work!"
>You did have an interest in seeing if you could get her to calm down and be comfortable enough around you to let her arms down today, but she seems a bit too high-strung and you don't want to push her away from her current path. Sidney seems to be doing a great job of peer pressuring her, you wouldn't wanna sabotage that. Maybe she understands Mary's mindset better? You file it under "Shit to think about some other day" and move on. Your watch says 9:30, so you managed to burn a half hour.
>Moving inside the palace, you head towards the secure room. Inside you find a sole agent again. He says the tablet hasn't arrived yet, but has some updates for you.
>The Crown doesn't have a single leader, but appears to be led by a group of about 5 or 6 people. No details yet on who. The Light is led by a single person as best as they can tell, but no more info yet. The Coalition is lead by the nations funding it, some a bit more public in their support than others. Their biggest and loudest supporter would be one of your neighbors, the Kingdom of Est. Which is kinda surprising, since they were neutral during the war.
>Turning to your cabinet staff, they just have rumors and minor drama right now. Richard had to be carried home last night after getting passed-out drunk. That doesn't bode well for the budget. Antonio had a public argument with his wife at some restaurant, subject unclear. Chloe had some kind of meeting with the ambassador you talked about the other day. Based on how unwilling he was, they believe Chloe has some from of blackmail over the ambassador.
>Only two bits of interest about your palace staff. First off, they have video of Chartreuse spending way too long sniffing your dirty laundry, including your bedsheets and underwear. You aren't entirely sure how you are going to play that. The other involves Mary and Sidney. He turns on the video, noting the time-stamp is about 20 minutes before you entered the Greenhouse. Sidney is laying flat on her back on a bench, her legs spread, and Mary is laying on top of her, her head between Sidney's legs, and her own groin sitting on Sidney's face. After they finish their fun, you hear Sidney speaking.
>"So, you say you're the black sheep of your family?"
>"You make that joke again, and I WILL pee on you."
>Sidney puts her hands up in a surrender pose.
>"I'll behave."
>After they untangle from one another, Sidney uses her hips to make her tail do a whip-like crack over Mary's ass. Mary yelps, and turns to yell at Sidney.
>"DAMNIT SIDNEY!"
>But Sidney is already headed out the door, and shouts back to her.
>"See ya later sexy!"
>So Mary is left standing there, rubbing her ass, grumbling.
>"Why do I always get the kinky ones?"
>You thought Mary seemed a bit unusually tense, but it seems you picked the wrong reason as to why. Either way, good to know. You ask to be kept up to date on the status of the tablet, then head back out. 11PM now, got about an hour left before the cabinet arrives.
>You decide to go check in on Annie next. You have an urge to bring a jar of peanut butter along, but your pantry is full of expired stuff if not contaminated, and Amelia is out buying new groceries. You make a mental note to do that another day. You see Annie standing outside the garage, ears down and tail limp. When she sees you, she slumps down like someone just pulled her plug.
>"Good morning Annie."
>Her head hangs and she stares at the ground.
>"I'm sorry sir, I've failed you."
>Given the way she's acting, you're halfway tempted to ask if she peed in the SUV.
>"Failed me how Annie?"
>"They didn't believe me. They all said 'Hot story, but wrong category.'"
>You eventually get the whole story out of her. Apparently the human worshipers have a section on their forum for fiction, and everyone believed Annie was just posting a fantasy. Then when she tried to tell them it really was true, they thought she was just really into the fantasy. While you get it, you really want this line of communication opened.
>"Ask them what it would take to prove you are telling the truth."
>Her ears creep back up, and she pulls a cell phone out of her pants pocket, and starts tapping away. A few replies later, and her ears are back down again.
>"They say the only way they'll believe it is if they saw the Grand Marshall himself on national television wearing the sign."
>"The sign?"
>She taps her necklace.
>"Tell them to watch the Grand Marshall's announcement tonight. Do you mind if I hang onto your necklace until then?"
>Ears back up, and she's back to her normal happy self.
>"Not at all sir!"
>She removes the necklace and hands it over, and you stash it in your pocket for now.
>"Let's go for a ride."
>"You got it! Where to?"
>"The backseat."
>About a minute later, and you're sitting in the back seat with your pants off and a naked Annie sitting next to you.
>"Have a seat in my lap facing me."
>You use a hand to guide yourself into her as she sits.
>"OK, now take me for a ride Annie."
>She started slow, but within five minutes she was humping with the speed and force canines were infamous for. You originally planned to have her finish you off orally, but it seems she can provide more than enough stimulation on top of you. If it wasn't for the lack of time, you would put effort into lasting longer. As it is, you just flow with the sensations until you finish.
>Afterwards, Annie produces some wet-wipes from the glovebox, then crouches in front of you and starts licking. You are about ready to tell her you don't have time for a round 2, but you notice she's avoiding the head. A few seconds later and you understand, she's just cleaning you. She finishes off with a wipe with the wet-wipes.
>"Thank you Annie, for the ride and for cleaning me up after."
>"Any time sir!"
>You head back to the palace, leaving Annie to clean herself up. Almost 12 now, your cabinet should be arriving.
>You inform security to direct your cabinet to one of the offices downstairs, and head inside. Soon everyone is assembled. Once seated, you address them.
>"I know we've only had a chance to talk one on one so far, so hopefully today all of you will have a chance to interact with your fellow ministers. First things first, we need to know where we stand financially. Richard?"
>He stands, holding a few sheets of paper.
>"Not as bad as I thought, but not fantastic. Based on our tax income and tariffs, we are technically recovering. As it stands we have very little savings, and we are taking on debt for our day to day operations. As long as expenses and income remain consistent, we'll pull out of the red within about two years. We'll be stuck paying off debts for a while longer, but we won't be digging ourselves deeper."
>He drops one sheet of paper on the table, and continues on.
>"Our biggest issue is our assets. For a country, we own very little of our own stuff. Besides the palace and a handful of other landmarks, nearly every other non-public government services building was sold off by the previous administration. We have to lease our own offices. Vehicles too. Every single vehicle being used by our emergency services is being leased. Our police don't even have issued firearms, they have to supply their own. Body armor too. Unfortunately, acquiring more assets will require money, which we are currently short on."
>Another sheet down, and he's on the last one.
>"Finally, the previous administration destroyed countless records on their way out. I can't find any budget or balance sheet prior to the war. For all I know the country could have debts we aren't even aware of. Until the creditors come calling. This also opens us up to fraud, as people may claim we owe debts that never were, since we can't prove anything on our end. We could technically declare all past debts as null and void, but we are currently existing on our ability to get loans. If creditors think we'll possibly default on debt to them, we are doomed."
>He puts the last sheet down.
>"That's where Resnea stands."
>You think maybe next time you'll have alcohol on standby for these meetings.
>"Thank you Richard. You heard him folks, try to temper your expectations as to what we can do with money for the near future."
>You are about to ask Nikan his opinion on fucking your tax base like he planned, when there is a knock at the door and Amelia enters the room with a serving cart.
>"Sorry to interrupt sir, but I couldn't let you skip lunch. I know you are in a meeting, so I made something that you should be able to eat quickly."
>Lunch today is an assortment of cold-cuts rolled inside of small tortillas with various cheeses and pesto. Good finger food that can go down quickly if you need to speak. You are thinking Amelia will work out very well as your chef. She puts the tray in front of you, and leaves with the cart. After swallowing one almost whole, you ask if anyone else is hungry. Chloe helps herself to a roast beef and provolone, Antonio takes a ham and cheddar, everyone else declines. It seems everyone got a meal in before the meeting, except you. Chloe looks at you and slowly eats the roll-up in a way you sincerely hope the others aren't seeing, and Antonio downs his in two bites.
>"Nikan, how does Resnea stand economically?"
>You grab another roll-up while Nikan delivers his report. He lets out a tired, heavy sigh.
>"Where do I even begin? Investors are leery so it's difficult for anyone to get capitol. There are shortages of supply goods and workers in nearly every industry. A severe lack of truck drivers and functional trains has every supply chain close to the breaking point. The housing market is overinflated on price and lacking supply. Inflated prices economy-wide means workers are getting squeezed tighter, and pushing for higher wages. There was a bus driver strike yesterday in the Ellis district, managed to shut down nearly 30% of the businesses there. And if they do get the higher wages they are demanding, the cost of a bus ride will go up."
>"Individual savings accounts are being drained dry due to the inflated prices. That being said, if the country is financially as bad as the Finance Minister says it is, I can no longer vouch for that idea I had the other day. I'll do what I can to come up with some alternate solutions to force prices to go back down to actual market price discovery levels, but I'm honestly not sure what sort of incentives we can afford. I'll research out some ideas and get back to you."
>That settles it. No more staff meetings without alcohol.
>"Thank you Nikan. We're broke and the people are going bankrupt, in case anyone zoned out there. Antonio, how is Resnea's agriculture situation?"
>"Mixed bag Grand Marshall, mixed bag. Most farmland was untouched by the war, so we have a much lower loss in supply of arable land than we do loss in supply of farm workers. Many farmers got drafted during the war and never came home. But the land is still there, as well as much of the farming equipment. I'd say we lost about 5% of our arable land total, at worst. Problem is we have about a third less farmhands. Machinery can do a lot, but we still need people involved in planting, harvesting, and all the back-end stuff. Then there's that trucker shortage Nikan mentioned. Without the workers and the drivers, a sizable chunk of crops will end up rotting in the fields come harvest time."
>He inhales another roll-up off the tray before continuing.
>"The main problem is people. We can turn things around in a real hurry if we get more people. A few thousand more farmhands, and a few hundred more drivers, and we could pump out tons of crops. The situation is a little more dire when it comes to our meat farms. With the shortage of people, many farms have had to make the hard choice of slaughtering their excess herd to keep things manageable. Which means less breeding pairs, leading to less meat available in the near future. Things aren't great now, and we can expect them to get worse in a few months once speculators notice the decrease in livestock. Once the market finds out, prices will go up."
>Everyone wasn't exactly all smiles when the meeting started, but it's grim looks all around now.
>"So broke, people going bankrupt, and possible food shortages in the near future. Just so we're all on the same page."
>"Kayla, I'm gonna go out on a limb and say you don't have good news for the cabinet?"
>Looking limp all over, she sounds like she wants to hang herself.
>"Like the Finance Minister said, all of our emergency services are leasing their vehicles. I was hoping to get funds to get a new fleet, but I guess that's not possible right now. Hospitals are overwhelmed from a lack of medical professionals. The foster system is in shambles, there are more war orphans than beds. Welfare is getting hammered harder with every passing day as more and more people need the assistance. Reconstruction efforts have mostly been focused on the capitol, leaving many public roads nationwide in poor condition."
>It must be the lighting, but you swear she looks paler than usual.
>"Worst of all is the food banks. They were drained badly during the war, and the amount of people turning to them for help to feed their families has only increased since then. Supplies are...low."
>Kayla buries her face in her hands. She sounds pained.
>"Grand Marshall, they say they have about two weeks worth of food at the current demand. As it is, they say there is only enough variety of stock to provide good meals for a week. Then it's whatever is leftover. Then they are empty. Starvation will start in the Strena district, out in the countryside, and all other poorer areas of the country. I know we don't have money to spare but the food banks need it. Please, something needs to be done."
>You harbor a quick fantasy of grabbing Vivian and Annie and fleeing the country. But you already see a number of solutions, so you aren't quitting yet.
>"Understood Kayla. Starvation on the horizon for a large chunk of the citizens. I'll go ahead and put that at the top of our priority list for now."
>"How about you Chloe? Any nightmares we should be aware of?"
>She looks a bit uncertain, but presses forward anyways.
>"I feel kinda bad bragging about accomplishments when everything is in such a bad state, but I was very successful in negotiations with one of our neighbors. From their ambassador, I was able to secure a mutual defense treaty and a favored trading partner status."
>Some cheers around the table at the rare good news. Antonio looks particularly impressed. Zara either isn't impressed, or never drops her poker face, you can't tell which.
>"How in the heck did you manage that?" he inquires.
>Chloe looks very satisfied with herself.
>"I can be very persuasive."
>You see Zara roll her eyes, and wonder if these two will be a problem in the future.
>"Excellent work Chloe. See if you can leverage that good relationship to get Resnea some financial aid. Grants are preferable, but low-interest rate loans would also be useful. Also, see what you can negotiate for with our other neighbors. I know a few are involved with the Coalition, but the others should be willing to support us."
>"It would be my pleasure, Grand Marshall."
>Zara looks like she just bit down on a lemon. Despite that, she says nothing. You get the distinct impression she doesn't like Chloe, or is well aware of Chloe's particular brand of diplomacy and doesn't approve.
>"Zara, would I be wrong if I said I don't have the support of the majority of the country?"
>A brief shake of her head.
>"Not at all sir. You have the support of about 30 percent of the population. This puts you behind the Crown faction, which has support of 35 percent. The Light has 15 percent of the population backing them. The Coalition has three percent, and the remainder don't think any side is worth supporting. There is a two percent margin of error."
>She pauses long enough to push her glasses back.
>"The biggest hurdle you have is who you are, and where you come from. Half the country doesn't want you in charge because you are a human from the country that invaded us and turned Resnea into a vassal state. They don't believe you have the best interests of Resnea at heart. If you hadn't staffed your cabinet with Resneans, then your approval rating would probably be a lot lower."
>"I believe your best path forward to winning over the populace would be to avoid extreme actions and policies. If there are protests, let them happen. Don't nationalize any industries. Any movements against rebel forces should be surgical, avoid sweeping entire neighborhoods. While I realize this may pose a challenge, I highly recommend attempting to bring in rebels alive instead of just wiping them out. It would help your image among the supporters of the rebels if it looked like you were more concerned about trying to stop the rebellion instead of just crushing opposition."
>"Naturally, any actions you take or policies you put in place that lead to less problems and more wealth for Resnean citizens, the more support you will pull away from the rebel factions. Of course, any policies or actions that lead to suffering will cause you to lose the support you have. There's limited use in statements at the moment. Those inclined to listen to you already are, and those not inclined won't be changed by your words."
>Pretty much what you were expecting, but a bit more public support.
>"Zara, schedule a public announcement for after dinner."
>Her claws do a staccato clicking on the table. Tap tap tap-tap-tap.
>"And would you like to run your public announcement past your Minister of Public Relations before you make it?"
>She actually looks a bit upset. You get the feeling she wants full control over your public appearances and announcements.
>"Of course. I want to offer a five-day amnesty period for any and all members of the Crown and Light factions."
>"And the Coalition?"
>"They will get nothing."
>She thinks it over for a few seconds.
>"Understood. I'll schedule the announcement."
>That resolved, you have one cabinet member left to speak.
>"Katerina, what is your contribution to our pity party today?"
>She gives a rather unlady-like snort, and stands to deliver her report.
>"We don't have a military, we have a militia. Altogether, our forces barely reach 50,000 people. We have severe shortages of everything we need. Rations, ammunition, weapons, equipment, uniforms, armor, officers to lead, and soldiers. Our military capability is so pathetic, our police force currently has greater firepower at their disposal. If not for the Grand Marshall's personal military unit, and his country's promise to supply us with military aid if needed, the country would be almost completely defenseless. Our Air Force might as well cease to exist, our Navy could be toppled by some well-organized pirates, and our Army is mostly poorly trained recruits that were rushed through in order to meet the needs of the front lines."
>"What forces we do have are in a state of chaos right now. Yesterday I located a four man team digging a 4-foot deep ditch at one of our bases with shovels. It was 28 miles long. They had been digging it since the war, and never got an order to stop. They dug through three roads on-base, destroyed the neighboring railroad line, and compromised the nearby aquaduct. When I asked them why they would so something so stupid, they said they didn't want to be shot for disobeying orders. Nearly a full fifth of the forces I spoke with still thought we were on war footing, and subject to wartime law."
>A deep sigh.
>"The only real solution I can see is we need more money. More for replenishing our depleted stockpiles, and more for recruiting to replenish our depleted numbers."
>Richard raises a hand.
>"What about a draft, or conscription?"
>She shakes her head in a negative.
>"I want to lessen the problems our military has, not increase them. We had draftee's in the war, we called them cannon fodder, or those morons that will get us killed."
>Richard conceeds the point, and Katerina sits back down.
>"So does everyone understand our situation? We're broke, the population is getting squeezed dry by inflated costs, we have almost no military, and a large chunk of the people are facing starvation soon."
>Uncomfortable looks all around the table, and Nikan speaks up.
>"Sir, is this situation even fixable?"
>"Of course it is. I need to double-check I'm crossing all my t's and dotting all my i's, but I have a few plans already on how to deal with our current situation. If all goes well, we should have the food situation straightened out in a few days, and be making some serious in-roads into getting the military situation and trucker situation resolved."
>They sit looking at you expectantly. Finally Chloe asks.
>"And are you going to share your plans with your cabinet?"
>"Of course, once I'm certain they are viable and not a waste of everyone's time. Like I said, I still have some details I need to double-check. Rest assured, the moment I have the plan finalized, you folks will be the first to know."
>They don't look to sure about it, but nod or otherwise signal their agreement.
>"Excellent work today everyone. We got a good clear view of the problems ahead of us, and the hurdles in our way. I'll ask all of you to try and think of creative ways to help the situation that don't involve throwing money at it. If it can help Resnean citizens, I want to hear about it, no matter how unlikely or bizarre you think the idea is. At this point I'm going to go ahead and call this meeting over. Tomorrow we are going to discuss ideas and see what we can come up with, and hopefully I'll have at least one of my plans ready to share with the class. Oh, and Katerina, could I ask you to stay for a bit? I have some matters concerning the defense of Resnea I want to discuss with you in private."
>She gives a slight nod.
>"Of course Grand Marshall."
>Zara informs you that the announcement has been scheduled, and at least 70% of the country's news services will be present at the back of the palace at 6PM. Your watch says 4:30, so you have time for dinner before the announcement. You thank her for her assistance, and she leaves along with everyone but Katerina.
>"What did you wish to discuss with me sir?"
>"I was wondering if you could tell me what you know about Green 74."
>"Sounds like a food additive. I'm a soldier, not a scientist sir."
>So she wants to do this the hard way.
>"That's unfortunate Katerina, I was really hoping you would be more cooperative with me. I guess I have no choice but to give copies of these requisition documents, with your name signed on them, to the press."
>You see the fear in her eyes, but she doesn't back down.
>"I have no idea what you are talking about sir."
>"The requisition forms for the batches of Green 74, the letters of authorization signed by you and your commanding officer at the time for your experiments with Green 74, any of this ringing any bells?"
>Understanding just how sunk she is, she looks like one sad tiger.
>"Is it too late to request I be given a military burial?"
>"Far too late."
>She hangs her head, and sits in miserable silence.
>"Now then, when I ask you a question, I expect an honest answer. Let's try this one more time. Tell me about your so-called experiment. I want to know exactly what you did, and exactly why you did it. The truth this time."
>Successfully backed into a corner, she folds and gives you everything.
>Her agenda is a result of a childhood incident. She grew up in a fatherless home, and ended up finding a substitute father of sorts in her neighbor. A human man. She talked about how he was always willing to stop whatever he was doing and help her with anything. She says in no uncertain terms that he never did anything untoward with her, that he was just there for her. And how much he meant to her. You can hear the rage in her voice when she talks about how in high school she turned down some "asshole jock wolf boy", and he ended up stalking her for a while.
>She said she could never prove it, but she's 100% certain he's the one who called the police on her neighbor, claiming he was a pedo. Apparently he also sent in some pictures of her hugging her neighbor. While nothing could be proven, and she told the police nothing happened, rumors started to circulate. Eventually the guy just moved away to get away from the drama. Her hatred for non-human men grew over the years as they tried to get close to her while caring little for her past pain. She bitterly exclaims:
>"Why do you care so much, it was just some human!"
>She got the idea to join the military after she saw a movie of some trainees going through basic while getting screamed at and insulted, and said to herself "I wanna do that." While she did eventually become a drill instructor, she got transferred out after the higher-ups took exception to her overly-abusive style. While she worked her way up the ranks, she stumbled across an old report on the Green 74 drug. From there she got the idea of getting revenge on non-human men by emasculating them, taking away their entire biological reason for existence. She harbors a particular hatred for strong and athletic non-human men, viewing them all to be the same as the wolf boy she knew as a teen.
>Pathological hatred of non-human men fueled by rage over past trauma. Kinda messy, but you think you might be able to use her if handled properly. Her story finished, she sits there waiting to hear her fate with her ears hanging to either side.
>"I see. It would seem that I have no choice but to punish you. Will you accept your punishment with the bearing of a proper Resnean military officer, or would you like to grovel?"
>She slowly stands, straightens her back, and wills her ears back upright.
>"I choose to go to my grave with my dignity intact."
>"Very good."
>You stand up and walk up to Katerina, looking into her resigned eyes.
>"This is your punishment for sterilizing so many non-human men without their knowledge."
>You reach up with one hand and poke her moist nose.
>"Bad Katerina, bad."
>You turn around and walk back to your chair, sitting back down. Katerina rapidly blinks before spluttering out a question.
>"W...wha...I...what?"
>"That was your punishment. I'm far more angry about the paper trail you left behind. Do you have any idea how lucky you are only I and my intelligence agents know about these documents?"
>Her inner wheels are still spinning, and she looks around the room as if expecting to get jumped from behind.
>"What?"
>"The evidence that points directly to you Katerina. You are very lucky we caught those documents, or your life could have been ruined."
>Her jaw keeps jerking around, trying to form words but breaking halfway, and all she can manage is more confusion.
>"I...what?"
>"It must have been hard on you."
>Her eyes give away her incredulous reaction to that before she even speaks.
>"Hard on me?!"
>"Yes. 250 notes per head? That must have been difficult for you."
>She sits with her jaw slack, uncomprehending, her eyes darting around for an answer. Better guide her a bit.
>"Given you are taking away their ability to breed out of revenge, surely you don't think their ability to breed is worth 250 notes?"
>Her jaw snaps shut, she chews her words over for a few seconds, then gives the first decent answer in some time. That angry look is back in her eyes again.
>"No, no I don't. If anything, I feel they should turn in a written apology when they get injected."
>You give her a slight smile.
>"Defense Minister Katerina, while I do agree with your ideals and beliefs, and I do wish to help you in getting your revenge, the paper trail you left behind makes me worried you aren't exactly cut out for...ah, discrete operations."
>First time you've seen her eyes go that wide.
>"You want to help me?"
>"Yes, but I don't want you making mistakes that lead right to you."
>"I swear sir, I will NOT fail again!"
>You shake your head side to side.
>"No, you don't understand. You won't be allowed to make mistakes again."
>You see her ears flicker as she forces them to remain upright.
>"Sir?"
>You reach into your pocket, and pull out Annie's necklace, showing the symbol to Katerina.
>"Ever see this symbol before?"
>She examines it closely.
>"I don't think so, but I don't pay much attention to jewelry."
>"Well Katerina, I'm going to be sending you some people. People who are very good about doing things discretely, keeping secrets, and who I'm fairly certain would fully support your revenge if they knew the details. When I give you a date, I want you to intercept any new recruits joining that day who you see wearing this symbol."
>She eyes the symbol carefully, committing it to memory.
>"What do I do once I intercept them?"
>"Bring them into your project. Skip them right past basic training with a field promotion, they are only there to assist you. You know what needs to be done to get it going, they will do all the legwork and paperwork. That way your claws stay clean. It's called delegation, it's how things are done in the world of politics."
>She looks at you as if you were Santa Claus with a bag full of Green 74, then snaps a salute.
>"Grand Marshall Anon, it is an honor to serve you."
>"And I am very glad to have you as my Minister of Defense. This project will remain a secret known only to us, my intelligence agents, and the assists I send you. No one else is to know, understood?"
>"Of course sir, I will tell no one."
>You are about to hammer out some more details, but a glance at your watch says 5:50. You quickly dismiss a much more motivated and determined looking Katerina, and rush over to the podium on the backside of the mansion. You barely remember to put Annie's necklace on before heading outside.
>Zara did well it not only getting the press to show up, but also called in additional police to back up your own security team. While not looking as militaristic as your first public announcement, you believe it's probably as secure. You take the podium, and speak to the cameras.
>"People of Resnea, the difficulties we face are great, and my cabinet and I are busy working on solutions, so I'll keep this brief. I understand there are some groups who are rebelling against my administration."
>"To the members of the Crown, and to the members of the Light, I offer a five day amnesty period. Turn yourself in, and you will be set free, and any actions taken against the government will be expunged from your record. I do disagree with your opinions that I am not the best choice for the future of Resnea. The fact you fight for what you believe to be a better future for Resnea, is why I'm willing to offer you amnesty. We are on the same side, even if you don't believe it."
>"To the members of the Coalition, you are not welcome in Resnea. None of you fight for a better Resnea, you only fight for war spoils. Flee or perish, those are the only choices I offer you."
>"That is all."
>You don't bother trying to answer the questions the reporters yell your way, you just go inside.
>You nearly walk into a tray being pushed by Amelia as you head for the front door of the palace, intending to give Annie her necklace back. You thought you heard her hooves clacking, but the design of the palace seems to throw off your sense of sound direction. Must be the high ceilings.
>"Sorry sir, I just finished your dinner, I wasn't trying to run you over with it."
>"No worries, what's for dinner?"
>She lifts the lid on the serving tray to reveal a large bowl of a fantastic smelling soup. It has small bits of pasta, tiny meatballs, spinach, and some other leafy greens you can't quite identify. You're about ready to cook and eat one of your staff, so you have her deliver it to the nearest office and eat there. After about 30 seconds of devouring the soup, you notice Amelia hasn't left the room. And she's carefully watching you eat the soup.
>You freeze, thinking you didn't taste any poison. Before you react further, you hear her ask if you like the soup. Glancing her way, you don't see the cold smirk of an assassin, but a slightly nervous look. Of course, first real meal she's been able to cook you, she's going to want to know if she's getting it right or not.
>"It's delicious, thank you Amelia."
>She beams and wheels the cart out of the office, leaving you to eat in peace. Before you finish the bowl, there is a knock at the door.
>"Come in!"
>Expecting Amelia, or one of your maids, or security, or even your assistant, you are mildly surprised to see Zara enter the room, tapping away at her PDA.
>"Grand Marshall, may we speak?"
>You look forlornly at your spoon, why would you be allowed to eat in peace? You put it back in the bowl.
>"Of course Minister, what's on your mind?"
>She tucks her PDA away inside her suit.
>"I just want to know the answer to one question. Was I hired to be a token?"
>It's either the hunger or your tiredness, but you have no idea what the fuck she's on about.
>"A token what?"
>"A token minority, to win you the favor of other minorities."
>You rake your fingers through your hair. You interrupted your meal for this?
>"Zara, I honestly don't know which species are minorities and which are not. If my goal was to hire a minority token, I succeeded through pure luck."
>"Then why won't you let me do the job you hired me to do?"
>"How am I stopping you from doing your job?"
>She holds up a hand and starts counting off one red-painted claw after another.
>"You gave me only an hour an a half to prepare the audience for your message, you didn't even ask for my input on your message, you didn't let me do any editing to your message, you didn't let me adjust your appearance for the message, you didn't let me choose the best venue for your message, you didn't let me select who would be in the audience for your message. How do you expect me to manage your image with the public when you don't let me have any control over how you present yourself to the public?"
>A flask, you need to invest in a flask.
>"Zara, I get you are upset, but I had to move quickly. I didn't have time to let you work your magic, I had to get the message out there ASAP."
>"It really couldn't have waited?"
>"The Crown and Light need to understand I have no desire to push their backs to a wall. If they know there's a way out that doesn't involve bloodshed, then they won't be eager to go shooting or bombing. That means less dead Resneans. As I'm sure you gathered from our meeting today, this country has a severe shortage of people. Another day of waiting to find out how the government is planning to respond to them is another day of itchy-fingered rebels."
>She no longer looks angry at least.
>"I see. I'm sorry, I misunderstood the situation."
>You sit there waiting expectantly for her to say something else, but she just stares at you with that neutral expression she wears like a mask. Ah.
>"And I'm sorry for not letting you do your job."
>"Huh? Oh, thank you sir."
>She leaves with no further comment. What was that about? It's hard to figure out tightly wrapped people like that. Somehow you get the impression you didn't give the right response, but you can't figure what the right response was supposed to be.
>You finally finish your damn good soup. You think about returning the bowl to the kitchen, but remember it's not currently usable. There is the food truck, but Amelia may have already gone home. So you just leave the bowl on the desk and let your cleaning staff figure it out.
>You head downstairs and outside, straight to the garage. You dunno how long Annie was planning on sticking around after your announcement, and you want to speak with her before she goes home. You spot her standing outside the garage, tapping away on her cellphone with a toothy grin, her tail wagging away. You already know what she's going to say before she speaks.
>"Sir, they now recognize me as your official messenger!"
>Excellent, you need them for a number of your future plans, so you are glad to get this communication channel open. You hand Annie her necklace back.
>"Fantastic. Annie, can I ask you for a favor?"
>"Of course sir, what can I do for you?"
>You make yourself look concerned.
>"Annie, are there any people in the group who you would consider to be...hostile towards non-human men?"
>She looks a bit worried at your concern, or the question.
>"Ah, there are some, well, really more like very few... Well, there are some stories in the fiction section that are pretty dark regarding non-human men. Um, are you having second thoughts about your message to the group?"
>"No, not at all. I'm just trying to create a Resnea that welcomes all, and I wouldn't want anyone doing something to impact that negatively. At the same time, I don't want those 'very few' to get kicked out either."
>You act like you are thinking it over, then snap your fingers.
>"I got it. Annie, ask the ones you think are non-human man haters to contact me. I think I have a way to distract them, hopefully so their hatred never goes beyond writing some extreme stories."
>"Should I do it publicly or privately?"
>"Eh?"
>"Should I post a thread, or should I contact them through their inbox?"
>"Oh, privately. I don't want either them or the rest of the group think I'm singling the non-human male haters out or treating them as any less. I want every member of the group to understand that as long as they choose to wear that symbol, I will not abandon or ignore them."
>"I'll be sure to tell them that sir."
>"No, don't tell them. I want them to learn that through what I do, not as a message."
>She nods.
>"Understood. Anything else sir?"
>"Actually, yes, I do have a favor to ask. I need to you assess someone who works for me. They are someone who has access to my room, and they seem to be loyal, but I don't know a lot about them. To be honest, I don't know non-human facial expressions and reactions all that well. For all I know she could be legit, but at the same time I'm concerned. I would appreciate a second set of eyes on her."
>"You want me to spy on her?"
>"Hell no, that's not your job. I have my intel people doing that. I want you join me tonight, and observe her."
>"Join you tonight?"
>"In bed."
>"Uh, sure, yeah, I guess I could do that."
>She seems willing but a bit nervous, probably never been naked in a group before.
>"I want you to observe her. I just want to know your opinion on one thing, if you think she would fit in with your friends, or if something seems off about her."
>Annie smirks.
>"Are you asking me to tell you if she's faking it?"
>"You missed your calling as a comedian Annie. No, I want to know if she's one of your group, officially or not."
>Annie thinks it over a bit.
>"I'll try my best, but I can't promise I could tell in just a single meeting."
>"I'm not asking for results, just that you try. I want to trust, but like I said, I'm not the best judge of non-human reactions and expressions."
>"I'll do what I can sir."
>With that half of the equation solved, you have Annie follow you into the palace, and wait downstairs. Time to get Vivian on board. As expected, you find her in the bedroom.
>"Would you like a bath or shower tonight, Grand Marshall?"
>"I'm thinking bath tonight, but I have something different planned for tonight."
>Her smile doesn't falter.
>"Different, Grand Marshall?"
>"As my chambermaid, I may occasionally request your services in the bedroom when I'm not alone. Before I'm in that sort of situation, I would like to test you under those conditions to make sure you can handle it."
>Mental gears work that over for a second before she catches on. Her smile looks a bit less genuine and a bit more forced.
>"You mean we won't be alone together tonight, Grand Marshall?"
>You give her a smile and put a hand on her shoulder.
>"I'm afraid not my dear chambermaid. I need to know you can perform properly when I'm engaged in bedroom diplomacy, so I have a volunteer for the evening. I want you to make sure she has an enjoyable time in my bed. Can you do that?"
>She doesn't look too pleased about it, but her smile became less forced when called "my dear chambermaid". 
>"I've never done anything like that with other women before sir."
>"Which is why I've arranged this practice. One day I may ask for your help in making a queen cum, so I need a chambermaid who can do this."
>She looks a bit uncertain, but still gives a formal bow.
>"As you wish Grand Marshall."
>"Excellent. Go ahead and get the bath ready, I'll be back shortly."
>A quick trip downstairs to retrieve Annie, and soon all three of you are in your personal bath. Annie wasn't too sure at first about having Vivian wash her like she washes you, but encourage her to let Vivian do her job, and Annie is soon getting her back scrubbed. You give Vivian a smile and quick nod when she glances your way, glad she understands what you are expecting when you said 'help'. Soon Annie is scrubbed and rinsed.
>"Mind giving me a hand in washing my chambermaid?"
>Vivian looks surprised, then shocked when Annie agrees with a smile. You aren't sure if Annie is bisexual or not, but she seems to have warmed up to Vivian after getting bathed by her. You decide to lend a hand, and the two of you bathe Vivian while taking extra time with sensitive parts. Drying off proceeded as normal, until Annie gave herself a hard shake and splattered a quarter of the floor plus two mirrors. Vivian looked peeved for a second, but quickly hid it.
>Not wanting to take chances, you take the lead in the bedroom, guiding Annie to your bed and laying on top of her. As you slowly grind into her, Vivian joins in, using her hands to stroke your back and play with one of Annie's fuzzy boobs. Her touching grows more and more adventurous, until she's stroking Annie's clit while gently biting her on her side just above her hips.
>Annie tried to play it cool, but Vivian seems to know just how to press her buttons, and she's reduced to a whining and whimpering mess before she even reaches orgasm. When she does, she lashes out with her legs and pulls you in tight with a loud howl. Not quite finished, you have Vivian lay back and disentangle yourself from Annie, then push deeply into her before switching back to the fast pace you had before you were interrupted.
>Doesn't take you all that long before you finish inside of her, and you notice Vivian hasn't had a climax yet. Seeing Annie coming out of her haze, you ask her if she would be interested in getting 'revenge' on your chambermaid for all that stimulation. Annie's grin answers your question, and you tell a nervous looking Vivian to lay back with her legs spread and her arms above her head, telling her she is forbidden from moving from that position until you give her permission. She complies, still looking almost fearfully at Annie.
>"Annie, show my chambermaid why canine's are legendary for their tongues."
>She gives an evil smile, and pounces on Vivian. The first penetration makes her yelp and attempt to squirm away.
>"Ah fuck! That's my cervix!"
>Annie wraps her hands under the shark's ass and pulls her in, then starts rapidly tongue-fucking her. Vivian goes wild, desperately trying to maintain position while attempting to pull herself away from Annie's relentless tongue, eeking and gasping.
>It was oddly entertaining watching Vivian squirm her way across your insanely large bed, with Annie's muzzle firmly buried in her crotch practically pushing her across the sheets with her nose. The entire way Vivian kept begging Annie for mercy, pleading for her to please please PLEASE stop licking her cervix. Annie refused to respond, only maintaining her furious lapping.
>Vivian finally lost her ability to maintain her position as she had a seizure of an orgasm, her arms and legs flailing in strange ways. Annie kept it up until Vivian desperately grabbed her head and pulled her away, gasping like...well, a beached shark. While Vivian was still gasping for air in a daze, Annie looks at your eyes and shakes her head from side to side, then mouths the word "no" to you. While you are interested in hearing her reasoning, it's not something you can really discuss right now.
>Sleep took a while to arrive, as Annie and Vivian kept trying to squeeze themselves just a little bit closer to you until you were having problems breathing. The morning arrives with a loudly snoring Annie laying on top of your right arm, and Vivian silently drooling on your left shoulder. After waking both of them with overly aggressive kissing, you have Vivian assist Annie in getting dressed, then get her own uniform on, and send them out.
>Amelia is in your room shortly after you finish dressing yourself. Breakfast today is bacon, sausage links, and slices of peeled pear with a variety of jams to dip them in. Not a half bad breakfast to get you ready to handle the day.
>You inhale the food and head downstairs to go talk with intel. In the secure room, two agents are present. One holds up a tablet as you walk in. Looks like the military tech guys finally delivered. The report is brief. Coalition is claiming responsibility on an attack in the south side of the capital, blowing up a factory. No casualties, since it happened at 3AM. Yesterday after you left the greenhouse, Mary and Sidney had another go in there, and you are provided with a video clip.
>Chartreuse has apparently established a ritual for your laundry, giving every piece a careful raking with her tongue before putting it in the washing machine. Again, you are given the video clip of that. Lastly, your Public Relations Minister decided to have a masturbation session in one of the Palace bathrooms yesterday, and your Finance Minister's name was the one she was moaning out. Another video clip for your collection. You thought you noticed Zara eyeballing Richard. The tablet fits nicely in the inner pocket of your suit jacket, and intel says they will send you items of interest as they uncover them.
>You call Chloe up, and ask her to meet you at the Palace as soon as she can, then head outside to check on your gardeners. Sidney is riding the mower as usual, but to your surprise she is wearing a set of the uniform overalls tied at the waist, leaving her top half exposed. You wave her over, and she drives the mower over to you, then shuts it off. She seems to struggle a bit to stand, but that could just be your imagination.
>"Good mornin' sir!"
>"Morning Sidney. How goes the lawn?"
>Her grimace lets you know she doesn't have good news.
>"Sir, you might wanna hire on another gardener or two. The palace grounds is more than Mary an I can handle by ourselves. Even if I just mow all day long, that only covers the lawn, and that's impossible to get done in a single day with just a ridin' mower. Maybe if I had a mowin' tractor I might be able to. Mary is busy with the garden project you want in the greenhouse. That leaves no one to handle the hedges, bushes, or trees."
>Short-handed and lacking funds seems to be your new life story.
>"I understand Sidney, but I may not be able to get you backup anytime soon. I'm afraid you're just going to have to soldier on for now. If the hedges get overgrown, they get overgrown. Same for the bushes. I would like you to focus on maintaining the trees though, even if the lawn gets a bit shaggy as a result. Lawns can be repaired quickly and cheaply, trees can't."
>She looks a bit embarrassed, like you just caught her doing something. You suspect she's been focusing on the riding mower to pleasure herself, but you don't want to call her out on it. She says she'll shift her focus to the trees on the palace grounds, with the lawn being 2nd. You thank her for her cooperation, and head to the greenhouse. With Sidney acting odd, you can't wait to see what the hell is going to be wrong with Mary.
>Today Mary is wearing the uniform shirt, gloves, and hat, and nothing else. While her breasts are covered, the shirt doesn't go low enough to even go over her tail. You wonder if they coordinated their outfits. She's standing in front of one of the many counters in the greenhouse, setting up seeds in small containers with water and paper towels. Hearing the greenhouse door open, Mary's head swivels around.
>"Morning Grand Marshall."
>"Good morning Mary. How goes the veggies?"
>She waves an arm at a few other counters already covered in containers.
>"I got a bunch of different veggies and herbs germinating. Figure we might as well take advantage of all the space in the greenhouse to get a good variety going. Once they sprout, I'll transfer them over to potting soil."
>"Fantastic. By the way, did Sidney seem to be acting a bit odd to you this morning?"
>You don't fail to notice Mary tense up.
>"Odd, no, she seems like the same old Sidney to me that she always is, you know how she just likes to get out there and mow that grass, yep she's a real workaholic..."
>You mentally kick yourself. You just HAD to trigger her nervous response. Had a feeling Mary was involved somehow, but neither side is ready to talk about it yet. You quickly interject before you get stuck listening to Mary ramble on for hours.
>"-WELL it's probably just my imagination. Keep up the good work Mary."
>You leave her to stammer out a response, making a mental note to watch that video. You have your suspicions, but it's always good to be certain. Outside your tablet buzzes, and you see a message from Intel that Chloe has arrived. You meet her inside the palace, and have her follow you to one of the downstairs offices. While cordial with you outside the office, once the door shuts she slips into her 'diplomatic' mode. She gives you one of the more inappropriate smiles you've ever seen in your life, and slowly shifts her hips from side to side.
>"You said you wanted to see me Grand Marshall?"
>"Yes Minister, I had two matters to discuss with you. Please, have a seat."
>Rather than sit across the desk from her, you sit on the desk in front of her.
>Chloe keeps her snout pointed at your waist, but looks up at you, When she speaks, you notice she makes a point of sticking her tongue out a bit more than it needs to be, and leaning forward a bit to make her cleavage a bit more pronounced.
>"What did you wish to discuss with me sir?"
>"First off, I want you to contact that neighboring country you spoke of the other day, and secure as much food aid as possible. Along with seeing just how low of an interest rate they would be willing to charge us on loans."
>If you weren't looking her in the eyes, you might have missed the twitch. Her voice remains liquid-smooth.
>"That would be no problem at all, Grand Marshall. How else may I serve you?"
>Subtle as a brick.
>"Try to establish such good relationships with our other neighbors. Resnea needs allies badly right now."
>Her smile dulls a bit, and she has the nerve to look at you like you are the one who's a screw-up.
>"Of course sir. Anything else?"
>"Lastly, I would like to reward you for your success so far."
>She was about ready to give up, but hearing the word 'reward' perks her interest back up and she's back to her usual act.
>"Reward me, Grand Marshall?"
>"Yes, but that's when I found I had a problem. I can't promote you any higher, you're already a Minister. I can't give you a raise right now, we have no money to spare. So, tell me Chloe, under these conditions, how should I reward you for what you've done?"
>Her expression goes from seductive to a disturbing cross of predatory and greedy.
>"Hmm, how should you reward me huh?"
>"Yes. Would you like a medal? Or maybe a public commendation?"
>She looks like you just offered to have her shipped off to the south pole.
>"...a medal?"
>"Medal it is, I'll put in the paperwork."
>"I don't want a medal!"
>"Oh. I see. Then, what do you want?"
>Three twitches this time.
>"I thought I made myself clear the other day."
>You smack your forehead.
>"Of course! You want a foot massage. Honestly, the middle of a cabinet meeting isn't the best time to ask, but I'll gladly do that now if you want."
>She facepalms with both hands, raking her claws across her face on the way down.
>"I've changed my mind, I'll take the damn medal."
>"Really? I thought you were about to ask me for some kind of sexual favor."
>Her left eye won't stop twitching now.
>"Sir, are you screwing with me?"
>"Uh, no, you didn't ask for that. You asked for the medal."
>"I don't want a damn medal!"
>"You just told me you did!"
>You debate dropping the innocent act, but you are certain losing a contest of wills against Chloe is the worst move you could make.
>"Chloe, could you please stop wasting my time and tell me how you want to be rewarded?"
>She takes a deep breath and slowly lets it out. Her eyes have gone into full glare mode, and her voice is far more tense than you've heard it so far.
>"I want you to fuck me on that desk, right now. Is that clear enough for you?"
>"Hmm, would you be willing to settle for this evening?"
>"...what?"
>"This evening? My schedule is pretty much full until about 8PM tonight, but I should have plenty of time then to give you your reward."
>She looks uncertain and suspicious.
>"And you'll actually do so, this isn't some sort of prank?"
>"Chloe, allow me to assure you, you are probably the only person who even thinks my life might be funny."
>She still doesn't look sold. Better give a push.
>"Ok, fine. I, the Grand Marshall of Resnea, hereby swear I will take the Minister of Foreign Relations into my bed. I will kiss, lick, and stroke her as a lover, and have sex with her as if she was my wife. I will then tie her to my bed and pleasure her until she begs for mercy. I will not use a condom, and I will try my best to impregnate her."
>The last two statements took her from happy to surprised.
>"What do you mean impregnate me?"
>"Well, obviously I can't have you giving birth to my child, that could cause something of a scandal. But if you are that dead-set on having sex with me then I won't demand you take birth control, provided you are willing to get it aborted."
>"What makes you think I WANT to get pregnant?!"
>You give your best confused look.
>"Why else would we be having sex?"
>"You're joking right?"
>"Please Chloe, I'm not a fool."
>The look in her eyes says she has the opposite opinion.
>"You don't honestly believe that I think you just want sex from me. I know what you are doing. You are trying to ingrain yourself closer to me because I am the Grand Marshall. It's what you do."
>Now she looks pissed off.
>"What the hell is that supposed to mean?!"
>"You think I'm not aware you do at least half of your diplomacy on your back with your legs spread?"
>She practically jumps out of her chair with fists clenched.
>"I am not a whore!"
>"Of course not, you're a patriot."
>"You think you're funny, don't you?!"
>"No, I'm dead serious."
>Her eyes bore into yours, as if she's looking for the punchline. You just give her a deadpan stare.
>"Every soldier in the military has volunteered to fight and die on the behalf of Resnea. I respect them as patriots because they are willing to sacrifice on the behalf of their country. I'm not blind Chloe, I know you are just as willing to sacrifice for your country. Unless you want me to believe you find every head of state and their ambassadors attractive and enjoyable in bed."
>"Um, well, no, it's not always...pleasant."
>"My point exactly. That's why I respect you, because you are still willing to make that sacrifice. That is why I'm not mocking or teasing you. That is why I'm dead serious when I say I want to reward you in any way I possibly can. So, back to the beginning. How would you like to be rewarded for what you have done for Resnea?"
>The anger fades away, but she doesn't look convinced.
>"You're serious?"
>This time, you facepalm.
>"Chloe, how can we speak the same language and yet communicate this poorly?"
>She returns your deadpan look.
>"I entirely understand your feelings sir."
>"As much as I would love to continue this absolutely confusing conversation, as I've already mentioned, my schedule is tight. Could you please send me a memo or something when you decide how you want to be rewarded?"
>"You really think I'm a patriot?"
>"For gods sake Chloe, if you succeed you will be preventing hundreds if not thousands of poor children from starving. If that's not patriotic, what the hell is?"
>After thinking it over for a few seconds, she gives you the first non-seductive smile you've seen.
>"I'm glad to see my talents are respected."
>"Very. Send me that memo. Don't bother showing up to the meeting today, you have more important work to do. Get Resnea everything you can. You know just how bad things are, and you know what we need. Food, money, people, in that order. You have the full backing of the office of the Grand Marshall, as well as the personal backing of the Grand Marshall. If you run into problems, contact me immediately, my security forces and intel agents can clear up all manner of issues."
>Her smile is a cross between genuine happiness and seductive, and creeps you right the hell out.
>"I'll deliver results sir."
>On her way out the door, you swear you see something metallic hanging out of her short skirt. Odds are, you'll probably be getting an up close view of how she chooses to decorate her pussy sooner or later. You have about an hour before the rest of your cabinet arrives.
>You give up on the idea of having a meal before the meeting, and head outside to go get debriefed from Annie about last night. Sitting in front of the garage, clearly bored out of her mind, she jumps up when she sees you. Excited to see you, or just excited to have something to do, it's hard to tell.
>"Morning sir! Where to?"
>"Morning Annie. Sorry, but I'm not currently headed out. I wanted to ask you about Vivian."
>"Well, I'm sure she's not a human worshiper, but I couldn't really tell much beyond that."
>That's...fast.
>"You could tell that already?"
>She nods.
>"Absolutely. She may like humans, or be sexually attracted to humans, but she's no human worshiper."
>"How can you be so sure?"
>"Easy. When a human worshiper is having sex with a human, we kinda fixate on the human's eyes. We wanna know how they are feeling about everything at all times. She was there, but she didn't fixate like that. The biggest tell was when you had me lick her. A human worshiper asked to take that position and remain until told otherwise, would have. If our positions had been reversed, I would have yelled, maybe even cried, but I wouldn't have pushed myself across the bed trying to escape."
>"Why not?"
>"Because a human asked me to lay in that spot, not move around."
>Yep, you are going to have to arrange some special rewards for the human worshipers.
>"You are an obedient girl, aren't you?"
>Her tail wags, but she blushes and looks away.
>"Yes sir, I am an obedient girl."
>"Follow me into the garage Annie."
>You lead her into the garage and shut the door. You pat the hood of one of the parked SUV's.
>"Go ahead and take off your pants and underwear and have a seat."
>Annie is incredibly fast, and is sitting with her legs spread on the hood in five seconds, her tail making a light sound behind her as it rapidly sweeps across the hood. You get right up to the front bumper, then grab her hips and pull her until they are right at the edge.
>"Annie, I would like you to give me an update on your special friends. I'm not asking for any secrets or anything you wouldn't want to tell me, but I do want you to tell me what they would like to say to me. What are they saying about being recognized and welcomed by the Grand Marshall, what they would like to see, anything you think might be of interest to me. While you do that, I'm going to tell you how much I appreciate the job you are doing."
>You move your hands off her hips, and grab her legs, lifting them up and towards her chest. She leans back, resting on the hood, looking excited. You lean down and slowly lick from the bottom of her fortune-cookie shaped pussy to the top, then look at her.
>"Messenger, I'm waiting."
>"Oh, uh...a lot of them are pretty excited about the messages you had me give them."
>That gets rewarded with a series of kisses all around her cookie. She quickly understands what you want, and the floodgates open.
>"A number of the group thinks we should be your personal harem. Many have asked me to see if you would be willing to arrange for them to meet humans. 14 have submitted marriage proposals. 8 have requested to be owned as your slave. One is begging to be your personal cock cleaner, she says the Grand Marshall's penis should be cleaned by mouth alone."
>You take your time "pumping her for information". She has some difficulty continuing to speak under your affections, but you get a great deal of information out of her. The group officially calls themselves the Order of Danue, based on the name of the slave anthros who served that human tribe so long ago. They unofficially laughingly refer to themselves as the Cult, short for the Cult of Human Cock. The Order is 100% female, and has no specific leader but a number of "trusted' voices that the members tend to follow. They get that position by giving good information and advice to their fellow members, on ways to remain hidden and still attract human men or women. The group is mostly straight, but about 25% claim to want both male and female humans, and a small number are only interested in human women. That being said, they would willingly serve male or female humans if asked to do so.
>Annie herself has no real interest in women, but she was more than happy to participate in last night simply because you asked. She says herself and any other member of the order would be willing to have sex with any male or female asked, provided a human is asking. While there is a wide range of people in the Order, and varying beliefs on how humans should be worshiped, they have a few core beliefs about how the relationship between humans and anthros should be.
>In between gasps and whimpers, she talks about how they believe first and foremost that an anthro should obey a human unless the instruction given would harm another human. As for harming another anthro, that's apparently situational, but harm for just the sake of harm is to be avoided. 
>Second, they believe anthros should show a certain level of respect when interacting with a human. Insults or anything considered rude is straight out, they should be polite and accommodating, and should apologize if they can't fulfill a request or fail to deliver.
>And lastly, any real human worshipper should make it a point to give priority to humans around them. IF a human gets behind them in a line, let them go ahead. Hold doors open for them, open doors for them, stuff like that. They refer to it as "casual serving", as in a way to casually serve a human in public in a way that wouldn't be obvious as asking them if there's anything they would like done.
>She barely gets a chance before her orgasm to tell you that the majority would like you to open an account on their hidden forum, so they can communicate directly to you in a private message. You hold her hips and gently lick around her cookie as she comes down from her high, then have her get dressed.
>"Annie, does that mean they are unhappy with you as a messenger?"
>She looks up from straightening out her pants.
>"Huh? Oh, no, not at all. It's just some of them want to be able to say things to you without anyone else seeing it. I'm guessing they are too embarressed. I mean, it's one thing to confess your feelings to the person you want directly, it's another to say it all to another person and ask them to deliver the message."
>"Understood."
>You pull out your wallet and hand Annie a few 100-note bills.
>"I have a task for you. I want you to go out and buy yourself a matching collar and leash. The cuter, the better."
>She shudders like she just got cold.
>"A collar sir?"
>"Yes, one that says Good Girl on the front. Would that bother you?"
>"No, not bother. It just has certain uh...connitations here in Resnea to wear a collar."
>While you do believe anthros should submit to and serve humans, you aren't trying to insult her.
>"I'm sorry Annie, I wasn't trying to insult you."
>"No, it's um, not an insult. It's more like a...proposal."
>Ok, you misread that one.
>"Which is why I must insist you only wear it when we are together in private."
>She squeezes her legs together and shudders again. Her rapid tail lets you know her opinion of the idea.
>"M-matching collar and leash, right?"
>"Yes, that says Good Girl on the front, the cuter the better."
>Giving a deep and overly formal bow, she responds with a somewhat goofy looking grin.
>"As you command Grand Marshall!"
>You manage to avoid rolling your eyes, and send her on her way. Your cabinet should be waiting for you now.
>You head on inside, stopping by a bathroom to clean yourself up. While you personally enjoy the smell and taste of female anthros, you don't think your cabinet will appreciate you having dog-pussy breath. Amelia is waiting for you the second you leave the bathroom, pushing that familiar cart.
>"Lunch is ready sir. I notice I seem to be getting your meal ready when you are busy, would you prefer I cook lunch later in the day?"
>"No, this is fine. I'm just a bit busy lately, but I would like to try and eat around noon."
>Lunch today is a baked or fried bread... thing. A wonton? Beer rock? Meat pie? You bite in and taste potato, then your tongue and the rest of your mouth burns. Ah, a samosa. You pass on the dipping sauces and just carry the samosa into the meeting with you. Just because it's green doesn't necessarily mean it's a mild sauce, you've learned that the hard way before.
>Everyone save Chloe is already in the spare office that has quickly become your unofficial cabinet meeting room. You make a mental note to ask your maids if there is an actual meeting room. The offices in the palace are nice, but meeting like this still feels cheap for some reason. Funny enough, without Chloe around, the group feels a bit drab since everyone else is wearing businesswear.
>"Sorry I'm late everyone, busy morning. Chloe won't be joining us, she's busy on an important diplomatic mission. Depending on how well it goes, we should have the food bank issue and short-term funding issue dealt with within 24-48 hours. With that in mind, I'd like to hear whatever ideas everyone has come up with, or whatever else they've managed to accomplish so far."
>"Katerina, I understand there was a terrorist attack recently, just how well can we actually respond to something like that?"
>Sharp claws idly scratch at her chin.
>"Force-wise, we could hit with decent strength, if we know our target. We know it was Coalition, but if we knew where they were, they would already be dead or arrested. If you mean prevention, we don't have the numbers to put our troops on the streets to act as police. Technically, this is more of a police matter, and they are already investigating this."
>"So I'm guessing I would need to talk to the police about the amnesty as well?"
>"None of them have bothered to inform me if anyone has turned themselves in, so most likely sir."
>Sounds like the police aren't exactly cooperating with your new Minister. You make a note that you may have to step in on this one.
>"So, what can we do about our numbers?"
>She doesn't look too happy.
>"Beg for volunteers who will only be capable of serving part-time, offer prisoners their freedom in exchange for a certain number of years of service, secure funding for enlistment bonuses or worse yet, mercenaries, and ask existing personnel to take a pay cut. And before anyone asks, I don't like any of these options. This was all I could come up with."
>No need to ask, you can already see the flaws. Weekend warriors, potential war-crimes, more money, and giving your existing forces a reason to retire. Still, at least she's keeping an open mind.
>"Thank you Katerina. Antonio, any ideas on how we can get ourselves some more farmers and drivers?"
>He looks over at Richard.
>"Well, I'm not sure how this would impact finances, but I think it would be a good idea if we could offer tax breaks for farmers and drivers. Would make both jobs a lot more attractive to people if they can keep more of what they make. If we could offer complete tax immunity, I think we would see a lot of people trying to get those jobs."
>Not entirely a bad idea. You might have judged Antonio to be a bit more dim than he really is.
>"I also have an idea to help get new farms going, but I dunno how popular it will be."
>The table waits in expectant silence for a few seconds before you realize Antonio can't read a room.
>"Tell us Antonio, we have to consider all options."
>"Well, there's some farmland that is goin' fallow because no one is there to work it, and there's some where the owners and workers all died or moved away. Some of it may not even be owned by anyone anymore. If the government could seize that land and give it to some new farmers looking to start, it could get that land back to producing pretty quickly. Even better, we could overhaul the land a bit before handing it over, putting in drip irrigation and all that, so all the new farms will be operating at high efficiency right off the bat. Whaddyathink?"
>Possible, if handled properly. Not bad at all. The results would be a bit slower and more long-term, but could result in long-term food stability, and even boost exports.
>"Excellent, anything else you would like to throw out there?"
>"Nope, that's all I got."
>Well, off to a good start at least.
>"How about you Kayla, what have you come up with?"
>Kayla shuffles some papers, looking relieved.
>"I had some ideas about getting some donations for the food banks, but I'm glad to hear they won't be needed."
>"Share them anyways, I'm not going to complain if our food banks wind up with a two year supply of canned goods."
>She snags a paper she shuffled to the back of the stack.
>"Very well, I was thinking we could have a public plea for local businesses to donate any goods they have that are going in expire in a week or more. A lot of food just sits on a shelf until it is no longer edible, then gets thrown away. Better for it to get eaten than be trashed."
>A noble idea, but you know how businesses are. They'll just look at it as "people will wait until the food is given away, then get it free". Lost sales.
>"Good, what else have you come up with?"
>One scaled hand flicks the paper to the desk, and she reads off the next one in the stack.
>"Coordinate with the bus companies, or setup our own bus line, to help get would-be workers out to the farms and back home. Unemployment is highest in Strena, and many of them would gladly work a farm job if they had the transportation. Any farm that doesn't have on-site housing for the workers struggles to find and keep employees. By getting some form of transportation going between the capitol and the countryside, we could solve both problems at once."
>Much more viable. You feel your jacket pocket vibrate, Intel sent you something on your tablet.
>"Good, anything else?"
>"Mass distribute seeds and basic gardening supplies, nationalize all water sources, and have everyone grow crops at home with free water. While some will take longer, certain crops can be grown in as little as a month. I figure the seeds and soil can be seized from the vacant farms we currently have with no complaints."
>A little extreme, but last time you spoke with her she did think a large section of the population would be starving soon. You aren't entirely sure what she was expecting to fill in the gap between the two weeks the food banks specified and the month it would take to grow a single specific crop. Maybe rioting and just stealing it from someone else?
>"Interesting. Anything else?"
>"I'm not sure how popular this would be, but we could open the adoption system to foreign parents. As it is, no orphanage will allow a non-Resnean to adopt an orphan. The idea behind the law is to help keep kids close to their birthplace and the friends they know. But the system is overloaded, these kids need a home. They need a bed to sleep in. Right now, we can't really provide either. This isn't ideal, but just getting these children into a home with a bed they can call their own and three meals a day...that would provide a far better future for them than what they have now."
>Making a mental note to ensure those children wind up in human homes, you think your thanks to Kayla for giving you an excuse to put Resnean children into a more controlled environment. Down the line, they should be useful for propaganda.
>"Great. What else have you got?"
>"That's all. Other than to say I can second Antonio's ideas for the tax immunity and the new farms. Both would encourage citizens looking for work to heavily consider farming and truck driving."
>"In that case, I would like you to do an assessment on the education system. What is being taught to students, what grade level the material is presented, teaching methods, materials, I wanna know the whole nine yards. I'm sure the war had a negative impact on the education of Resnea's children, it would probably be a good idea if we put some focus into making sure they are getting the best possible education going forward."
>"I'll look into it."
>"Zara?"
>She taps a few more times at her tablet, then looks your way.
>"Sir?"
>"I need you to write some speeches for me. I'll know the content of them once the meeting is over, so come see me after. As for now, any ideas on ways to encourage Crown or Light forces to take the amnesty?"
>Her claws tap at the desk that has been serving as the cabinet's meeting table, and an ear twitches.
>"You should probably get to the nearest police station."
>You aren't following.
>"Why?"
>"You declared amnesty, but that doesn't mean the rank and file know how you want it handled. Maybe they think you made that announcement to lure in rebels to capture. Maybe they are worried they will get in trouble if they release the rebels. If there's a bunch of rebels sitting in lock-up overnight, everyone willing to surrender who didn't do it today, won't. They'll believe you were lying about getting released, or their records being purged. There will be no rebels seeking amnesty tomorrow, if the ones that already surrendered aren't released today."
>Good news for Annie, she's gonna have something to do today besides get fucked. Bad news for your schedule.
>"Point. I'll head over right after the meeting."
>"I'll come with you, to brief you and prepare you for the appearance."
>You almost ask why before you remember her anger yesterday.
>"Excellent. Any other ideas?"
>*taktaktak*
>"You could extend the amnesty to existing prisoners. Many will re-offend, but it would be a clear signal to the public that you want to offer a fresh start to people over holding them to account. That would encourage many rebels to take the amnesty, since it would act as proof of your intentions."
>"You mean freeing everyone currently in prison?"
>"Yes."
>All sorts of potential nightmares in exchange for some short-term political benefit. Not exactly a winner.
>"I'm willing to accept that for non-violent offenders and political prisoners, and maybe even leniency for first-timers. Other than that, I can't go along with that idea."
>You think you see something in her eyes shift, but you can't be certain, and it's gone before you are even sure you noticed anything, if there was anything there.
>"Very well sir, I'll start preparing that speech."
>She doesn't have any more ideas to add, or at least she doesn't volunteer any. Two remain.
>"So Nikan, any ideas for helping with the price issue?"
>"Just one, and I don't know how well it will work, or if it will work at all. How would you feel about playing some dirty pool?"
>"Nikan, I'm hoping you aren't talking assassinations."
>"No, no, nothing like that. Just being a bit dishonest, that's all."
>"How so?"
>"The issue right now is businesses are caught in a trap. First one to drop prices will most likely take the biggest financial hit. No matter what incentives we offer, they are looking at that and nothing else. We need to force them to be concerned about a bigger problem. If we leak out that the government is planning on price controls or nationalization of specific companies that aren't playing ball, then they'll all rush to drop price to avoid getting stomped on."
>An interesting idea, you'll give it that. But like Nikan said, you aren't exactly sure how the businesses would respond to news like that. Maybe they comply, maybe they jump ship.
>"Richard, what's your take?"
>"I...would be very careful about starting rumors about nationalization of anything. Just the hint would send investors scurrying away. A rumor about price controls might work though. It would be bad for a business, but not a death sentence."
>Might be feasible, but you are a bit leery about the concept. You hate uncontrolled variables.
>"I'd like the two of you to get together and war-game it out. Best case scenario, worst case scenario, I want both of you to seriously consider what might come out of this and report back."
>They nod.
>"Anything else to share Nikan?"
>"Advertising. We need to direct some funding into advertising Resnea in foreign countries. Let potential immigrants know this would be a good place to find work. Print ads would be best, they are the cheapest and can float around long after the advertising campaign is over."
>He has nothing else to add, but it's not a half bad idea. You have your own ideas for some specific ad campaigns.
>"Sorry to bring you up last Richard, but that's just how things went. What ideas have you got for us?
>"Well, if we are getting some financial aid soon, and you aren't adverse to taking on debt, then I suggest we go all in with incentives. First aimed at getting more farmers and truck drivers, but then for whatever we need to get the economy rolling again. In an effort to save money, I suggest we use a gradual roll-out of incentives, but grandfather in incentives for the early adopters so people aren't upset about getting less for signing up sooner. For example, we'll start off by offering a small flat tax amount for anyone signing up to work as a farmer or truck driver. Then if we don't get enough, we upgrade that to tax-free status. Then cash bonuses. Free equipment, however far we need to go. Mind you, that wouldn't be the exact system, but just a general idea."
>"Just how much debt can we take on?"
>"Depends on how the world views our ability to pay it back. If they think we can pay forever, we have no limit. If they think we might not be around next year, then we won't be able to do much. We can print more, but then we'll have to deal with the inflation that comes from that. Inflation is beneficial when it comes to holding debt, but terrible for the savings of the public."
>"And naturally, if we start printing money while going around begging for loans, everyone will immediately assume we're insolvent, right?"
>"Exactly. Debt is preferable to printing, but we need to keep our overall debt below the tipping point. If we go too deep, then we'll be paying too much in interest to stay afloat."
>"Any numbers?"
>You muse that rabbits are indeed fast as he whips out a notebook, checks it, then provides you with an answer in three seconds flat.
>"Before the war, Resnea had an economy of about 600 billion notes in income. We're down to about 200 billion now, and we hold 80 billion in debt that we are aware of and pay interest on. As long as we stay below 100 billion in debt, we should eventually recover. If we go over, the interest will start to strangle us, until we have to take debt to pay the interest. Once we hit 200 billion in debt, our money will become worthless no matter what we do."
>That comment he made the other day about debts that may not be known rings in your head. 20 billion is a small buffer when there's potential land mines.
>"We are to do nothing that puts us over 90 billion in debt. I know that's not much to work with when we have so much to do, but I'd rather we not flirt with disaster."
>Nodding all around, no one wants to drive the country into the ground. Now what?