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There is a crackle of sound and you set down your regular newspaper with a start; there on the wall is a dark panel you've never really taken note of before. Now it is illuminated, and a coloured image slowly swims into view. In the center of the view a young woman stands, monochrome in her black business-wear and sunglasses; but as you watch she slides down her shades and you can see the Union Jack in each of her irises.

She smiles and begins to speak, "Good evening eUK, and anyone else who may be tuning in. Tonight we're going to try to do something a little different. Something that, once aired, will either start an ongoing series or simply dwindle away again. Which will it be? That, dear viewer, is entirely up to you."

The camera pulls out, and you see she is sitting... fairly closely to her prospective vict- er, guest. It is none other than Giorgos Zaikos, sporting a top hat and a small smile despite the cuffs around one of his ankles. The woman crosses her legs, steepling her fingers upon her knee as she bends an interested gaze his way. "Good evening Giorgos, and thank you for agreeing to speak to us. I trust you are comfortable?"



Her guest nods agreeably, shifting with a soft clink of chains. "Oh yes, I'm fine. Shall we begin, Inez?"

"Of course. You've been in eRep for over 2 years now - have you always been a Brit, or did you start out somewhere else and move here more recently?"

The young man leans back with a satisfied sigh, sipping from his teacup before he begins to speak. "I started out as an eBrit when I first joined eRepublik and haven't changed my CS yet. I would say that eUK is one of the better countries on eRep, although keep in mind I haven't really 'experienced' any of the others." He smiles quickly. "Between the community and the constant melodrama, there's always something going on that seems to keep me here. Not to mention we are a country that nearly always seems to do well in eRepublik. We dominated with ONE, and now we dominate with TWO! Britain is the greatest country in the world so it is only right that the eWorld reflects this."

This time his smile is somehow reminiscent of a mischievous boy as he confides, "I wasn't here when eUK got wiped - so I'll just pretend that didn't happen. I haven't felt like changing my CS so far, but we'll see what happens. Maybe you could say I haven't seen the whole game because I've only experienced one eCountry, but I wouldn't have it any other way."

Inez smiles her approval, stretching slightly as she reaches for her own steaming cup. "Excellent - and now a question from our viewers, many of whom know you most for your long-running Polandball series. Where did that start for you - where did you get the original idea, and where do you see it going in the future?"

The stalwart Brit crosses his arms and leans back in his chair. He shrugs slightly, then opens up and begins to tell his full tale. "It all started when I saw Polandball comics in other newspapers. At the time all of these other Polandballs were pro-EDEN, so I thought I'd start my own newspaper with comics to show our side of the story. It started first as pro-ONE propaganda articles, and eventually just more general stories from eRepublik. Where it's going... well I'll let that be decided by what happens in the game, I guess. The way things are going there could soon be total TWO domination of the eWorld and maybe all eRepublik wars/activity will come to a stop; then Polandball would become pretty boring." He makes a face.



Inez glances up at the Polandball comic in the background, then smiles enigmatically. "So; you've been a longstanding supporter of the People's Communist Party. What are your thoughts on the past CP elections and their outcome?" Reaching down she lifts her cup and takes a sip, watching Giorgos over the rim as he considers his response.

"I have been in the PCP since I returned to eRepublik. It's a friendly party with a great community. Of course we are just a small party, so we have to fight to stay in the top five. In CP elections it's usually the bigger parties that have the most say - obviously, because they're bigger!" He pauses to grin at the woman across from him. "That means that 'New Unity Era' dominates and we don't really get a chance... I can't remember the last time we had a PCP CP. Although, last time we came second, so that's pretty good! In my opinion there aren't really any major changes in the country when a different CP comes in anyway; one is pretty much the same as any other."

Inez's brows go up. "Rrreally..." she draws out, surprised. "Then- how do you feel your own party's upcoming PP elections will go? Who do you see as the Party President on the 16th of October?"

Giorgos sits up straight with an engaging smile. "Oh our PP elections are always good, so I don't expect this next one to be any different. I'm not sure how other parties do it, but we have a voting system and every member can share their opinions on who they want as PP. Anyone here can have a bash at politics if they feel like it." He smiles wryly. "However, as much as I like PCP, I can't say that I'm really into the politics of the game all that much - except when I'm stirring up political drama in the Polandballs - so I couldn't tell you that much about the PP elections. Maybe Sir Rex can be PP again because he has a cool dinosaur avatar? Zaphod would be a pretty good candidate too..."

Smiling at his whimsy, Inez nods over to the wall out of shot and the camera swivels to follow her motion. "Look out your window please - what do you see out there? Can you share an anecdote of what's going on at the time of writing?"

The picture comes into view slowly as he describes it, "Looking out of the window here I can see my garden and some other houses on the street. And if you look in the distance there are fields there and a small city. I suppose you could say it is the stereotypical image of England. The sort of postcard picture of rural England with the countryside, fields and trees. Oh, except someone is letting their dog poop on the ground in the fields. Oh no."



There is a brisk fanfare and the camera swings back to a closeup of Giorgos' face while Inez announces the news. "Congratulations, you are Dictator of eUK for the next half hour! Capable of putting in any law and making any changes you feel are needed to the current system in the eUK. What would you change?" His face splits in a wide - and slightly diabolical - grin.

"Two words: British. Empire."

"There's been a lot of talk about a British Empire lately and it really is something that needs to be done. Why shouldn't Britain have 10/10 regions? For this we need to invade and possibly wipe some countries. We have most of Ireland already... I'd say Belgium as well but I quite like Belgium so we'll leave them alone (for now). Norway is in progress. So that leaves France and Germany, which Poland owns. However, I would most like to deal with the eternal double crossers... Spain."

His jaw sets, a picture of resolute determination. "Spain need to be taught a lesson for their constant betrayals, and we would be the country to do that by giving them a huge airstrike and teaming up with our BFFs Canada to make this a reality and wipe the traitors out once and for all. Any surrounding countries who want to join us in our battle are welcome to do so (rewar😛 Spanish regions!) I'm sure our good friends Argentina and Romania would also love to see that.
Then we'll get some countries to 'volunteer' to be part of Britain. If they don't want to do that then we'll have to wipe them and force them to be in our empire... in fact, why don't we force every country to be part of Britain? The game's really boring right now, we have to do something, even if that means attacking Poland for no reason."

"Of course the eUK would rather follow what the bigger countries tell us to do, so it will remain a fantasy... Oh, my half hour is up! Already? Oh no, the country is in a mess! Where are all our regions?! And all the money from the treasury is gone! Oops!"

Laughing, Inez leans forward in her seat. "And how do you feel about the upcoming* invasion of eNorway? What do you expect to happen after that war is resolved?"

"I think it's a great idea! At least the attack on Norway means we're actually doing something - and it also means we can get those TP medals! We're doing very well at the moment, and once that shield is gone then the whole of Norway is ours for the taking! Although, I always liked Norway... I'd much rather be wiping Ireland... or Spain of course. But it's what must be done for King and Country! We have to start somewhere. This is only the beginning of the expansion of eUK, after Norway is wiped we'll start to prepare for the next country that will become part of our Empire!"

"After the war is resolved? Well, we will own all of Norway, that's for sure. Maybe we'll be kind enough to loan them one of their regions back... for 9999999999 gold a day, that is!"

"Great stuff," Inez grins. "So tell me Giorgos, what are you the biggest fan of these days? Is there anyone - on eRep or not - you find yourself a little obsessed with?"

Giorgos thinks for a moment. "Hmmm, who to start with... Well of course I'm a big fan of all my fellow eRepublik comic writers. The most famous being NeuveOcho, Polandball maker and greatest TWO troll! I'm sure he has many buckets filled with CoT tears as they flood all of his articles. Plus, I need to steal his drawing skills for sure!" He makes an envious face.

"Here in the UK we also have InvictusJ who makes Polandball comics. It's great and it also means that we could have the eUK dominating the erep media!" He pumps his fist by his side.

"I also miss Hannibal LA, the troll Serbian CP - that guy was epic. Funny troll laws day after day, trade embargos against allies, alliances with CoT... It's silly but it's just what this game was asking for. We definitely need a CP like that in this country, just for the fun of it!"

Inez seems to stare off into space, imagining the glorious chaos that would ensue... and then she laughs and slides her sunglasses back up the bridge of her nose. "Well - it looks like that's all we have time for. Let me just thank you once again for joining me for this - and to all the viewers out there, go and check out Giorgos Zaikos' work now. It's a joy to flick through!"

The image crackles and goes dark...

*Recorded the week before the invasion.