“… we need to have the Scrivener in the room with you. I’m sorry ma’am, but without her we’re not going to get the word out quickly enough.”

“Surely we have enough of the radio towers restored for proper coverage by now. I don’t… I hate being recorded line by line like that.”

“I know ma’am, I’m sorry. We don’t have enough to work around this. I can invite the technical officer back in-”

“No, I get it. Put the scribe in a seat out of my sight, I’ll try not to think about it.”

“As you wish, First Citizen.”

The aide bustled away from the podium as Anrada adjusted her papers. This was all starting to look rather… official. And official meant: Public Relations. She wasn’t liking it. The offending individual, a woman who was being guided to a seat behind a pillar nearby, was just doing her job. She knew that. But these things were hard to adapt to. Back in the old days, she made all her reports one to one, in some empty room. Now she was forced to announce to an audience, and a live radio feed. Glancing at the wall, she was three minutes out.

She sighed. This was essential, and not just for this - she glanced at the papers - ‘Agricultural Subsidy Pronouncement’. It was essential for the transition. Without a recognisable face and voice her rule meant nothing, and the people would start to wonder if she really had things under control. That meant more rebels in the frontier Kurils, and more military crackdowns. She had had quite enough of all that these past few months. So. Public pronouncements. Formal policy dictation. Radio transmissions. All of that day to day fun as a public figure. It made her face ache. How come the burns only ached when she knew someone was staring at them? Her physicians had failed to answer that one. Perhaps she should order some of those from China while she was negotiating all these trade deals.

Looking up at the auditorium immediately quieted the crowd of writers and minor officials as they patiently waited for something to begin. She looked back down, and the hubbub started again. Three decades of this, huh. They all looked at the arm and saw sacrifice, but she didn’t care about any of that. She’d have taken a kneecap shot for this country in a heartbeat. But all this… attention, the fear and awe mixed, the apprehension as to how this would all shake out. Month three, and it already felt like it was strangling h-

Suddenly her aide was at her side and gave a nod. I guess it was time. She adjusted the papers, and ran her eyes over the length. A three page statement! She needed new writers. The crowd quietened down again and watched politely as she cleared her throat.

——————————————————

[Static] This is First Citizen Anrada speaking from the city of Nangorod.

I have identified the most pressing issues relating to the state this year, and intend to address them immediately. We will be starting with the projections of starvation across the southern reaches of our Archipelago, centred around the city within which I stand today. After a rigorous study and consultation with local administrative thinkers, we have come up with some concrete solutions which will not only prevent the onset of deficit here, but also improve day to day food supply for all citizens of Kamchatka. This is my priority, to make sure every Volchi has a healthy selection of food in their home and local market. To this end, I have… I have a fairly extensive list of equipment subsidies, rules clarifications, and suchlike to go over today. So… well, hold on to your masks because we’re going to be at it a while.

[Muffled polite laughter, overlaid with a slight chuckle from the First Lady] I know, I know, I’d rather not have to go through all this today either. But it’s important, and I want you all to know that we’re working every day to get this issue sorted. So! Let’s go down this list, shall we. First up is… state sponsored rice farming, ah, yes. A lot of frontier farming has been subject to damages, so…

[Transcript continues for half an hour]

—————————————

[Meta: Policy Change, enact low agriculture subsidies.]