The buzzer on Tiberius’ desk buzzed requesting entrance to his office. It was starting to get windy. He had a small window in the corner of his office open. The wind was blowing the scarlet red drapes about in a frenzy. With a wave of his hand, one of his attendants rushed to close it. He sat down in the majestic chair that sat squarely in the center of the floor behind his desk. He was a man of symmetry and had been so since he was a child. He felt at edge when things were out of place. He poured a glass of bourbon and plunked one ice cube into his glass. Though society had developed rapidly due to the rapid advancement of technology, Ice was still the one thing that remained highly expensive and out of reach of most citizens. Owing to his status, he never had need of whatever he had wanted.<br/><br/>Two guards entered the room flanking a woman of above average height. He stood as was customary of a man. The first thing he noticed were her eyes. He recognized those ocular implants a mile away. Though the main thing he had noticed was that they were years out of date. Likely due to the lack of funding the Tsar gave the Air Forces. Tiberius of course had the ability to obtain the latest ocular implants that looked less like machines, but rather looked and felt like actual eyes. However, he was intent that should anyone be granted something, they would earn it.<br/><br/>“Valeria Orlova, it is a pleasure to make the acquaintance of the woman who has been causing quite the stir amongst my generals and admirals alike” He bowed slightly eyeing her suspiciously. He made sure that his standing was abundantly clear. He was not the Admiral who had taken a liking to V despite her numerous attempts to subvert authority and disobedience. “You don’t mind if I call you Valeria do you? I detest nicknames, they are so…impersonal” He said slyly.<br/><br/>After reading her dossier, he knew that she had an unhealthy dependence on alcohol. Even if he didn’t know it, the smell of cheap whisky clung to Valeria like the soot that covered the cadets working on the aircraft and Panzer’s across the nation.<br/><br/>Tiberius was not a man of brute force. He was far too intelligent for that. He preferred to exert control psychologically. Afterall, one could recover from a physical beating, but once he had control over someone’s mind, they were his completely. He took a swig from his glass of bourbon relishing the burning feeling of the liquid in his throat. It tasted vaguely of cherries. He snapped his fingers and suddenly a tray of soup and a crystal glass appears having been delivered by eager waiting attendants.<br/><br/>“Eat up Valeria, you look like you haven’t eaten in days. I’d offer you some whisky, but I know of your penchant for it.” He opened his drawer and pulled out two folders. One was scarlet with the Tsar’s eagle on it and the other was a green one with Valeria’s dossier in it. He tossed the red one at her watching it land in her lap. “This my dear is your training report from your application to the Praetorian Guard, it looks like you failed most of the testing except for piloting and then you vomited in General-leytenant Malenkov’s face."<br/><br/>"You must have been drunk.”<br/><br/>Tiberius was manipulating the young Sub-Lieutenant’s emotions. “How do you think your father and your brother who fought so valiantly in the First Patriotic war would feel if they saw you now hmm?” He stood up and walked to her side stroking her hair softly. “They would be quite embarrassed I’m sure, What about Anna?”<br/><br/>He took a photo from the dossier and showed it to her. “Such a beauty married to a middling man of no worth. What a waste” He noticed that she had not touched the soup in front of her. Luckily it was kept warm by wonderful kitchen technology that had developed with plates keeping the soup hot at a light boil. “I said eat the soup” he said forcefully. Whenever he projected his voice it made people shudder. It showed just how authoritative Tiberius was. He was not imposing but when he projected people listened to him.<br/><br/>“By no means do I intend to torture you oh no, that is much too vile. Plus, you’d probably withstand the torture without issue” He raised his finger. “On the contrary, you are going to work for me where I can personally watch you. That said, I am demoting you. You are no longer an officer my military” He got up and strode casually to the window waving his hand. Two men with the rank of Feldwebel appeared from the office adjacent to Tiberius and forcefully ripped the officer insignia from V’s shoulders and removed the identification badges from her right breast pocket. After they were done, they tossed her two felt rank patches.<br/><br/>She was demoted to Ryadovoy. For all intents and purposes, she was made a private.<br/><br/>Tiberius sat back down, his demeanor remaining forceful. “Now, I of all people realize that a simple demotion will not stop your disobedience, so what shall we do with you?” He snapped his fingers and his aide dragged V’s sister Anna into the room. She was in chains and sobbing. “You must have wondered where she was after you left. Well my men went and arrested her. You see Valeria, I do not take lightly to disobedience. So Anna here is going to go to prison for your misdeeds. Rest assured that she will be looked after, but it is now up to you to redeem yourself my eyes only. For my word is the only one that matters. If you behave and rehabilitate yourself, I allow you to work your way back up to Captain. Anna of course will be released and no one will hear about her prison term”<br/><br/>He got up and waved Anna away kicking and screaming. The guards dragged her away. He looked at V softly returning to his kind and previous demeanor. Bring in Nataliya and Dasha will you?” He said as his aides left and returned some minutes later with two women. Tiberius rose as they bowed. “Sir they both said in unison.<br/><br/>“Please take Ms Orlova to the baths and clean her up. Bring her back will you. We will have lunch and then hopefully we will have her decision as to how she wants to proceed” He said softly. They nodded moving towards V swiftly. Tiberius stopped them before they left. “Your actions now have consequences, Ms Orlova. I will not let you off that easy for this contrary to what my staff suggests. I look forward to becoming fast friends.”