The Third French Empire was born screaming and covered in blood, and quickly proved that it was perfectly willing to exit this life the same way if need be. Generations of Americans that had grown up ridiculing the French learned that angry Frenchmen were a terrifying sight to see in action. And so we have the old saying about French Republics waving white flags and French Empires dyeing those flags red with the blood of their enemies.
Charles is one of my oldest friends now, but when I first met him I was high on snark and he was a stuck up high-class know-it-all. That went real well. We called him Chuck because he hated contractions. And nick names. Then we asked him “What’s up Chuck?” every time we saw him. Yeah I know. Boys and juvenile humor. We were easy to entertain, and he was quick to get all hot and bothered. So of course that just made us want to do it more and louder. Yeah. I was a little snot back then. Some would say I still am.
The Chinese-Australian Cyberwar was not the only conflict to tear through the networks of South East Asia of course. Rogue Russian and Chinese AIs had started the Cybernetic Wars a decade earlier when they escaped the control of their creators. The Rogue AIs attacked every network they could find from America to Europe to Asia. Even Africa felt their wrath. By the time the Chinese and the Australians began fighting, everybody knew what a full scale cyberwar could do. It did not slow them down.
I grew up not caring about a lot of people. I took care of my own and everyone else could bugger off as far as I was concerned. It wasn’t really selfish. I just didn’t care about others. Unless I wanted something. I was good at acting like I cared long enough to get it if I wanted. So maybe I was a bit selfish. In my youth. The War changed me. Some people never change, but I met someone that pretty much demanded that I be willing to change. Best thing that ever happened to me. And I’ve had a lot of good things.
Paris was one of many wakeup calls the world would receive. They hid bombs throughout most of Old Paris and detonated them as the Tour de France rode through. That was in 2036 and resulted in a complete collapse of the French government. The Islamic State in France thought they had won, but the man history remembers as Emperor Napoleon the Eighth espoused other ideas. He promised a France for the French and led his people to war. He proved very effective.
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