...Welp, this is going to be fun. Eldar Britain time? Eldar Britain time.
(though usually there's a Rise before the Fall)
(though usually there's a Rise before the Fall)
"What Madness Is This?" Volume III: The Pinnacle Future
- Thread starter Napoleon53
- Start date
At this point, I've just accepted the fact that my brainwaves can and will be unknowingly hijacked at any time
.So there are two explanations: either London's biological weapons horribly backfire or England got annexed by the RU/NUSA
And there was another country, I've heard of long ago,
Most dear to them that love her, most great to them that know;
We may not count her armies, we may not see her King;
Her fortress is a faithful heart, her pride is suffering;
And soul by soul and heart by heart, her borders shall increase,
Until the glor'ious day we voyage back, my tears shall never cease.
I heard my country calling, away, far 'cross the sea,
Across the waste of waters, she calls and calls to me.
Her sword is girded at her side, her helmet on her head,
And around her feet are lying the dying and the dead;
I vow to thee, Britannia, all earthly things above,
Entire and whole and perfect, the service of my love.
They get annexed because OpCrom left them without a functional government.
HUBRIS: THE STORY OF PROTOCOL DIGNITY
I will be doing a bunch of art and such tomorrow/today, but before I head to bed I leave you with the complete "holiday special" of sorts. It is less a "christmas themed chapter," as it is me churning out a lengthy, hilarious (yes, really), dark comedy gift for you guys that I poured my heart and soul into and is full of everything that makes WMIT WMIT. Please enjoy and happy holidays.
HUBRIS:
THE STORY OF PROTOCOL DIGNITY
ChemCom "Beacon Girls" man their stations at the "Maddie" Supertabulator M.A.D. Device
HUBRIS:
THE STORY OF PROTOCOL DIGNITY
ChemCom "Beacon Girls" man their stations at the "Maddie" Supertabulator M.A.D. Device
The day was Tuesday, December 24, 1953. In the Britannic Union, from Aberdeen to Truro, millions of citizens were out and about doing their daily activities as they would on any other Christmas Eve. Wives and mothers were shopping for presents and preparing their homes and hearths for the onslaught of festivities, food, and fun that was to come. Husbands and fathers were cheerfully bidding each other farewell at offices and factories, ready to go home, smoke their pipe, pop open a can of London Lager and watch the televisor with their families. The kids were enjoying their twelve days off of school, running about building snowmen with friends and dreaming of what presents and treats the next day would bring. None of these people knew what was about to occur at Ullapool, home of the B.U.'s bioweapons research agency, ChemCom.
For years, "Big Bill" Jennings--the Carolinian mastermind behind the Congo Dam Project and nominal head of the Worm Cult--had been seeking out the shards of the shadowy organization that went their own ways after the Congo Dam's Opening Day Fiasco. American President Charles Oswald was, by now, the real Grandmaster of the Wormists, stepping into the power void left by the late Patton and Armitage. Jennings was portraying himself--in such disparate ports of call as South Africa and Indonesia--as the new Grandmaster of the faith, seeking to reunify the offshoots into, essentially, a plainclothes terrorist army under the command of himself and Oswald. Most branches and outposts of the Worm Cult had been readmitted peacefully back into the fold by Christmas Eve, 1953. But others held out, fighting a secret war in the shadows for control of their ghastly religion, in what could only be described as the Cultist Civil War. One of the largest groups of outcast acolytes was located in Scotland, and they were, this night, preparing to meet with Jennings at a designated sit-down location in the countryside, not far from ChemCom.
Jennings, the formerly obese but now scrawny, sunken Southron, was desperately trying to avoid the activation of something called "Protocol Dignity," a successor to the late General Director Churchill's Operation Cromwell (sometimes known as OpCrom). Given the 20th century Britannic love of conjugated portmanteaus, it is unsurprising that Protocol Dignity became known as "ProDig" to most operatives and scientists working on it, especially in Ullapool. Operation Cromwell was a weapon of mass destruction crafted from smallpox, and supposedly genetically engineered to harm only Irishmen. One of Churchill's prime goals, before his untimely demise in Clement Atlee's 1937 London palace coup, was the extinction of the "nascent Irish subhumanoids." Work screeched to a halt when his death occurred, as Attlee and other essential figures unraveled what was known as Executive Order 78, relinquishing control and command of the army, navy, and all matters of state to the Republican Union.
Order 78 was, by any account, an attack on Britannic sovereignty orchestrated by Churchill, a half-Yankee American puppet, and then-American President Joe Steele. The smallpox would cripple the European North Atlantic and would result in Churchill calling in the American military to prop up his rule. Unlike many other fascist nations, Britannia was growing more and more distant from the Republican Union and (post-1950) New United States of America. This was despite the fact that Britannia was the ancient homeland of the Anglo-Saxons and Scottish peoples that the Americans so loved in their ever-winding and esoteric national mythos. The truth was that, by the late 1940s, the Britannic offshoot of Fundamentalism, the BFC, was in decline as Operation Manifest Climax churned on and on in the bloody nightmare realm of South America. Joe Steele's "Anglo-American Solidarity Legions" (A-ASL), which later became the State Security (SS), continued to be unpopular and brutal even after Churchill's demise at their hands. Attlee, the Head of the SS under Churchill, dissolved the SS and he himself stepped down as General Director in 1946. This led to a rapid-fire succession of six different leaders by 1950, and all of them failed to earn the love or fear of the public like Churchill had. Order 78, to ensure social stability, had been declared a state secret, so the general public was unaware of the conspiracy. But as American orders, in no uncertain terms, called for increasing numbers of Britannic troops to go perish in the jungle half a world away, the citizens began to loathe the Yankee warmongers, and protests erupted in major cities.
In reaction to the Order 78, ChemCom had completely shelved OpCrom by 1940. While the recent ascendancy of the charismatic and much more affable Charles Oswald and his 1950 creation of the New United States of America (NUSA) seemed to mark the dawn of a much less oppressive American era, things behind the scenes diplomaticallyh were still... tense, to put it mildly. Operation Manifest Climax had concluded, officially, on September 11, 1949, but the need for cannon fodder and "international peacekeepers" drove home the fact to most Britannic citizens that the matter was never going to simply go away. Not to mention, the still-ongoing Manchuria campaign waged by Lincoln MacArthur's Holy Nippon was looking to be increasingly likely in need of Britannic troops. This led to the creation of ProDig, 1949, which originally was a response to the creation of nuclear weapons by the other major powers.
For years, "Big Bill" Jennings--the Carolinian mastermind behind the Congo Dam Project and nominal head of the Worm Cult--had been seeking out the shards of the shadowy organization that went their own ways after the Congo Dam's Opening Day Fiasco. American President Charles Oswald was, by now, the real Grandmaster of the Wormists, stepping into the power void left by the late Patton and Armitage. Jennings was portraying himself--in such disparate ports of call as South Africa and Indonesia--as the new Grandmaster of the faith, seeking to reunify the offshoots into, essentially, a plainclothes terrorist army under the command of himself and Oswald. Most branches and outposts of the Worm Cult had been readmitted peacefully back into the fold by Christmas Eve, 1953. But others held out, fighting a secret war in the shadows for control of their ghastly religion, in what could only be described as the Cultist Civil War. One of the largest groups of outcast acolytes was located in Scotland, and they were, this night, preparing to meet with Jennings at a designated sit-down location in the countryside, not far from ChemCom.
Jennings, the formerly obese but now scrawny, sunken Southron, was desperately trying to avoid the activation of something called "Protocol Dignity," a successor to the late General Director Churchill's Operation Cromwell (sometimes known as OpCrom). Given the 20th century Britannic love of conjugated portmanteaus, it is unsurprising that Protocol Dignity became known as "ProDig" to most operatives and scientists working on it, especially in Ullapool. Operation Cromwell was a weapon of mass destruction crafted from smallpox, and supposedly genetically engineered to harm only Irishmen. One of Churchill's prime goals, before his untimely demise in Clement Atlee's 1937 London palace coup, was the extinction of the "nascent Irish subhumanoids." Work screeched to a halt when his death occurred, as Attlee and other essential figures unraveled what was known as Executive Order 78, relinquishing control and command of the army, navy, and all matters of state to the Republican Union.
Order 78 was, by any account, an attack on Britannic sovereignty orchestrated by Churchill, a half-Yankee American puppet, and then-American President Joe Steele. The smallpox would cripple the European North Atlantic and would result in Churchill calling in the American military to prop up his rule. Unlike many other fascist nations, Britannia was growing more and more distant from the Republican Union and (post-1950) New United States of America. This was despite the fact that Britannia was the ancient homeland of the Anglo-Saxons and Scottish peoples that the Americans so loved in their ever-winding and esoteric national mythos. The truth was that, by the late 1940s, the Britannic offshoot of Fundamentalism, the BFC, was in decline as Operation Manifest Climax churned on and on in the bloody nightmare realm of South America. Joe Steele's "Anglo-American Solidarity Legions" (A-ASL), which later became the State Security (SS), continued to be unpopular and brutal even after Churchill's demise at their hands. Attlee, the Head of the SS under Churchill, dissolved the SS and he himself stepped down as General Director in 1946. This led to a rapid-fire succession of six different leaders by 1950, and all of them failed to earn the love or fear of the public like Churchill had. Order 78, to ensure social stability, had been declared a state secret, so the general public was unaware of the conspiracy. But as American orders, in no uncertain terms, called for increasing numbers of Britannic troops to go perish in the jungle half a world away, the citizens began to loathe the Yankee warmongers, and protests erupted in major cities.
In reaction to the Order 78, ChemCom had completely shelved OpCrom by 1940. While the recent ascendancy of the charismatic and much more affable Charles Oswald and his 1950 creation of the New United States of America (NUSA) seemed to mark the dawn of a much less oppressive American era, things behind the scenes diplomaticallyh were still... tense, to put it mildly. Operation Manifest Climax had concluded, officially, on September 11, 1949, but the need for cannon fodder and "international peacekeepers" drove home the fact to most Britannic citizens that the matter was never going to simply go away. Not to mention, the still-ongoing Manchuria campaign waged by Lincoln MacArthur's Holy Nippon was looking to be increasingly likely in need of Britannic troops. This led to the creation of ProDig, 1949, which originally was a response to the creation of nuclear weapons by the other major powers.
SCANDAL, INSTABILITY, AND INTRIGUE:
THE BRITANNIC UNION IN THE LATE 1940S
THE BRITANNIC UNION IN THE LATE 1940S
The year 1946 saw Europa, the Kingdom of Ireland, and the Britannic Union sign the Normandy Accords, a step which outraged the American government and some other members of the League of Nations. The Normandy Accords saw Ireland agree to never seek nuclear weapons or allow Europan missiles on the Emerald Isle. In exchange, the Britannic Union agreed to never allow American bombs or seek nuclear weapons themselves. In reality, America deliberately deprived Britannia of the necessary uranium--custerium in Yankee circles--because it did not desire a nuclear-armed and independently-minded Britannia, whilst Europa's government feared the Second Great World War would certainly erupt if Ireland and Britannia became armed with nuclear technology. Essentially, American and Europa went so far in the other directions that they agreed with each other, yet America very much wished to base nuclear weapons in Britannia. Many Britannics saw this move as a swing to far in the other direction, fearful they would become a weak vestige of fascism and drift into the orbit of the perfidious Mainland. Britannia should continue to seek WMDs, they proclaimed, and further take a stand as a fully-sovereign and powerful superpower on a long drive back to imperial grandeur of centuries past.
"The Normandy Accords were a disgraceful step on a slippery slope which leads to further and further encroachment by Paris and Avignon. Beware those who seek to placate the Bonapartes, for in the midst of these appeasers, those men who seek to deny us the national and God-given right to bear nuclear weaponry, you will find traitors. While we praise Attlee for delivering us from the despotism of the SS, we heap laurels upon the balded pate of that same impotent old man who signed these damnable papers with the Irish and French. And then that same Gaul-lover had the gall to resign and run off to retirement! I know he had his problems, and I know he drifted too close to the Yankee sun, but Churchill would never have allowed such a sickening display of impotence and weak national fluidation. I am not an American! I am not a bloody European! I am a sovereign citizen of this island-nation, and I will take the last full measure of bloody dignity before I submit this, my country, to any foreign usurper! Rule Britannia!"
- Aethelred Williams, leader of the Populist Front
Aethelred Williams
With the Nationalist Party in full disarray by the 1940s, groups like Populist Front, the Sovereignty and Security Party, and others were emerging as potential successors. Churchill and Steele's police state was crumbling into a cesspool of nationalist and sectarian parties that threatened to undermine all that they had achieved before their deaths. Oswald watched with eagerness to find "his boy" in these emerging movements. While he liked the vitriol and charisma of Aethelred Williams, he detested his drive to break away from American orbit. Pudgy and unattractive but well-spoken SSP leader John May was as unreliable as he was eager to take a bribe or accept American aid to destroy the PF. This led to a climax of scandals in the late 1940s and early 1950s that would become, according to a later quote attributed to Presidential Spokesperson Cut Thomas, "Oswald's first international fuck-ups." These "fuck-ups" would lead to one of the gravest crises in human history.
In 1948, Oswald began to sink money into the accounts of the ironically-named Sovereignty and Security Party, and his agents were frequently meeting with John May. Most of this money-moving was done as it had been in the Churchill years, via Ryan Harvey Hendrick's familial connections to the extended Churchill family that now left the Nationalist Party in favor of the SSP. The still-ruling NatPar conducted a police operation in retaliation in August of that same year, exposing SSP as American agents and arresting John May. The scandal rocked London, where many said that NatPar was merely angry that Yankee support had been withdrawn and the money shipped elsewhere to their political opponents. The "Hendrick Affair," as the European papers would call it, was a blight on the previously stellar career of Hendrick. The American government went into damage-control, but it was too late. SSP folded as an organization before the year's end.
Current NatPar General Director Oliver Cromwell Hall, a bombastic but elderly Methodist minister, announced that the B.U. would no longer be sending troops to fight in South America. 1950 was coming fast, the year in which the once-a-decade "free and fair" elections would be held, and he needed to desperately take any win he could get to prove that NatPar wasn't on the verge of collapse. However, in retaliation for his destruction of the SSP, anonymous officials (possibly even a furious Hendrick) leaked documents to the press that showed that Oliver Hall had been, in fact, on the dole of the Office of Racial and Religious Affairs for many years, from 1927 to 1946. Although he denounced his almost two decades of service to America as a personal failure, he claimed that the Normandy Accords had "opened his eyes," leading him to break things off with his American handlers. Yet more leaks revealed the funds had been cut in favor of other members of NatPar deemed to be more youthful and useful. Hall would resign as General Director in early 1949.
NatPar and the SSP had imploded from scandal and sunk to the watery depths of the political Marianas Trench. Thus, much to the chagrin of many, this left Aethelred Williams and his Populist Front to lead the way into the political future. Not only was the Populist Front almost openly anti-American, they viewed the monarchist past through rose-tinted glasses and used ancient heraldry and other symbols of the ancient, long-gong aristocracy as renewed national symbols. The 1950 elections were a massacre that no amount of cheating on behalf of the ruling NatPar could hide. Populist Front took complete control of every major facet of the government and opened up a slew of investigations into NatPar, starting with a massive wave of arrests in July, a month after the elections concluded. While this was clearly in accordance with an actual election, the Populist Front was no less power-hungry or committed to a one-party government. To the surprise of almost no one, Populist Front began to drive a further and further gap into the alliance with America. As celebrations of the declaration of NUSA swept North America, crowds of angry Brits sought an end to the decades-old alliance.
Making things even worse as the world welcomed the new decade was the rise of Britannic Illuminism. While the official policies of the B.U. forbade Illuminists from serving in the government, a huge portion of the lower-class working blokes were finding refuge under the wings of the Owl of Minerva. Some 25% of the English lower class, and 34% of the Scottish lower class, openly espoused atheism. The collapse of the British Empire and the monarchy had severely damaged Anglicanism, which was succeeded by BFC. But now that all things American were increasingly seen as opportunistic propaganda and even treason, religious faith in the B.U. began to plummet. This led to a sizable vocal minority of Illuminists, mostly former "Dregs" of the 1920s-30s, who took to the streets in organized protests and disorganized mobs, sometimes firebombing BFC churches. By the early 1950s, everyone who attended a BFC congregation knew they were at risk of a hate crime, be it a mass shooting or a car bomb. Illuminist London leader Merlin Halfacre would lead regular strikes, often clashing with PMCs hired by the corporations as well as local police. Director Isaac Pocock of Internal Security (IS), the successor agency of the dissolved SS, remarked to General Director Williams in 1951:
In 1948, Oswald began to sink money into the accounts of the ironically-named Sovereignty and Security Party, and his agents were frequently meeting with John May. Most of this money-moving was done as it had been in the Churchill years, via Ryan Harvey Hendrick's familial connections to the extended Churchill family that now left the Nationalist Party in favor of the SSP. The still-ruling NatPar conducted a police operation in retaliation in August of that same year, exposing SSP as American agents and arresting John May. The scandal rocked London, where many said that NatPar was merely angry that Yankee support had been withdrawn and the money shipped elsewhere to their political opponents. The "Hendrick Affair," as the European papers would call it, was a blight on the previously stellar career of Hendrick. The American government went into damage-control, but it was too late. SSP folded as an organization before the year's end.
Current NatPar General Director Oliver Cromwell Hall, a bombastic but elderly Methodist minister, announced that the B.U. would no longer be sending troops to fight in South America. 1950 was coming fast, the year in which the once-a-decade "free and fair" elections would be held, and he needed to desperately take any win he could get to prove that NatPar wasn't on the verge of collapse. However, in retaliation for his destruction of the SSP, anonymous officials (possibly even a furious Hendrick) leaked documents to the press that showed that Oliver Hall had been, in fact, on the dole of the Office of Racial and Religious Affairs for many years, from 1927 to 1946. Although he denounced his almost two decades of service to America as a personal failure, he claimed that the Normandy Accords had "opened his eyes," leading him to break things off with his American handlers. Yet more leaks revealed the funds had been cut in favor of other members of NatPar deemed to be more youthful and useful. Hall would resign as General Director in early 1949.
NatPar and the SSP had imploded from scandal and sunk to the watery depths of the political Marianas Trench. Thus, much to the chagrin of many, this left Aethelred Williams and his Populist Front to lead the way into the political future. Not only was the Populist Front almost openly anti-American, they viewed the monarchist past through rose-tinted glasses and used ancient heraldry and other symbols of the ancient, long-gong aristocracy as renewed national symbols. The 1950 elections were a massacre that no amount of cheating on behalf of the ruling NatPar could hide. Populist Front took complete control of every major facet of the government and opened up a slew of investigations into NatPar, starting with a massive wave of arrests in July, a month after the elections concluded. While this was clearly in accordance with an actual election, the Populist Front was no less power-hungry or committed to a one-party government. To the surprise of almost no one, Populist Front began to drive a further and further gap into the alliance with America. As celebrations of the declaration of NUSA swept North America, crowds of angry Brits sought an end to the decades-old alliance.
Making things even worse as the world welcomed the new decade was the rise of Britannic Illuminism. While the official policies of the B.U. forbade Illuminists from serving in the government, a huge portion of the lower-class working blokes were finding refuge under the wings of the Owl of Minerva. Some 25% of the English lower class, and 34% of the Scottish lower class, openly espoused atheism. The collapse of the British Empire and the monarchy had severely damaged Anglicanism, which was succeeded by BFC. But now that all things American were increasingly seen as opportunistic propaganda and even treason, religious faith in the B.U. began to plummet. This led to a sizable vocal minority of Illuminists, mostly former "Dregs" of the 1920s-30s, who took to the streets in organized protests and disorganized mobs, sometimes firebombing BFC churches. By the early 1950s, everyone who attended a BFC congregation knew they were at risk of a hate crime, be it a mass shooting or a car bomb. Illuminist London leader Merlin Halfacre would lead regular strikes, often clashing with PMCs hired by the corporations as well as local police. Director Isaac Pocock of Internal Security (IS), the successor agency of the dissolved SS, remarked to General Director Williams in 1951:
"I find it unfortunate, in the keenest sense of the word, that this minority of rabble, these atheist interlopers, are large enough in numbers to make banning Illuminist thought outright a most dangerous game. Yet if allowed to create further spawn and indoctrinate more gullible folk, I fear we risk an open revolt any which way we slice the cake, so to speak. Europa is far too busy dealing with Rome to interfere with a possible Illuminist Britannia that is as much an enemy as a fascist one. Norway and Sweden are no longer trustworthy allies, since the distance that has been wedged into the League prevents the certainty of their help. If Illuminist ships arrived from the Baltic and sailed up the Thames to support a general uprising of the Dreggers, I fear we would be overrun and left with nowhere to run but north. With no weapons of mass destruction to deter foreign invasion from any and all sides, I fear, Director General, sir, that we are in a most perilous and potentially disastrous circumstance that can be imagined. We need, Director General, a superweapon of some kind that can be used to roll back the tide of any foreign usurpation of our dignity.
MASSIVE AREA DENIAL
(M.A.D.)
MASSIVE AREA DENIAL
(M.A.D.)
IS Director Pocock's 1951 letter asking for a superweapon to deny foreign invaders any victory was ironic, for ChemCom had already been working on such a device for some time, even under NatPar leadership. On February 1, 1913, during the midst of the Great World War, a civilian ration supply ship named the Bon Chance was cutting its way through the treacherous English Channel when it was torpedoed by English submersibles. Unbeknownst to anyone but the captain of the Bon Chance, it was not carrying rations, but a supply of anthrax, destined for the Irish Royal Army. The ensuing environmental disaster following the explosion was sadly still having a grave effect on natural wildlife and the water supply in the 1950s. It took decades for the Europan fishing industry to recover and almost helped spark a second French Revolution. Naturally, there was plenty of anthrax specimens to acquire just literally floating around, and the B.U.'s ChemCom took a keen interest in it, storing huge amounts of samples in Ullapool as "a surprise tool to help us later," according to Dr. Charles Martin Greer, Facility Commander.
For years, the anthrax samples sat in storage in Scotland, and it wouldn't be until 1946 that Director General Attlee looked into the devastating stockpiles as a possible WMD to level the playing field in the undetermined amount of time it would take to develop their own Britannic nuclear device. NatPar approved the construction of massive, massive stockpiles to be created. By the time Populist Front took over, the stockpile was so large that Ullapool had run out of room to store the amount called for by London's order. A huge, expansive cave system was drilled out and shored up, foundations laid and wall erected, creating a massive labyrinth of facilities stretching throughout the Highlands. ChemCom also opened up a new facility near Darlington, splitting the stockpile between England and Scotland. Should one facility be lost by an enemy attack or subversion, they would still have control of the other. This got wheels spinning inside morbid skulls as ChemCom internal chatter began discussing the possibility of utilizing anthrax for "Massive Area Denial," code-named M.A.D., a superweapon doomsday device to deny invaders any possible victory by "taking the last full measure of dignity" and committing geographic suicide. This would be done, hopefully, after a substantial arrival of enemy troops, trapping them on the island as the metaphorical pillars were collapsed around them by the metaphorical blind Samson, the Britannic government, operating with no hope of possible victory.
These same scientists and politicians orchestrating the birth of Protocol Dignity were not stupid or eager to die, however. In the words of Dr. Nolan Clubb, Facility Commander of Darlington ChemCom, during a high-security meeting in London in late 1951:
"The whole point of this device, this doomsday machine, is to allow us to enter the race for superweapons without access to uranium. We, quite blasted simply, can't allow a doomsday gap, as unfortunately full of apocalyptic elan as that may sound, you see. But the main selling point, as you could say, for the Massive Area Denial, is to tell the world about it. One doesn't just hide this away and never speak of it. Of course, we won't bloody say, 'Old boy, I have a hell of a blasted surplus of weaponized anthrax spores in Ullapool and Darlington, my good man,' but we will say, 'If you dare trod on Britannia's soil, take away our national sovereignty, that same soil you desecrate will eat you alive, and the air you breathe will crush the air from your lungs. You will become so bloody toxic, old boy, that the crows who eat the flesh from your bones will fall from the sky.' A nuclear bomb is an instantaneous, almost painless demise. What we have to offer with M.A.D. is a true 'forever deterrent.' No one will break peace with us if they know what lies in wait for them. No one. Even a unilateral nuclear assault, without ground troops invading our lands, would result in the triggering of the device and the release of the spores that will, in turn, wash upon the shores of Ireland, Europa, the Baltic, etcetera. They will know that year as the year a Turk ate a fish in Anatolia and died of anthrax. They will know it as the year Europe starved. They will know it as a migrant flight like no other in history. And they will have no one to blame but themselves and their own dastardly machinations. I find smug satisfaction that in a worst-case scenario, my dignity as a patriot will remain intact, and that every citizen will die a patriot's death. Rule Britannia, and all that."
By mid-1952, tests were underway for an electronic relay system capable of operating a so-called, "Dead Man's Switch," meaning the M.A.D. could operate itself if all the officers and officials in the chain of command were compromised. The creation of the system that would run the Switch was contracted out to the only real B.U. technology company, Raycraft Tabulatics, who were only told as much as needed to make the system function, had no idea it was for a suicidal anthrax machine, and were training ChemCom staff in small individual batches, so no one knew too much. Raycraft Tabulatics was owned by CEO Linwood Raycraft, and the company was the manufacturer of radar systems, bomb sights, walkies (comms in American English), and general technological components needed by the Britannic government and military. Years later, Raycraft would regret any and all involvement with Protocol Dignity and M.A.D., but all sources indicate he was genuinely not "in the know" on what the government was building and figured the system linked to a series of rocket and missile batteries or the like.
By early 1953, the Dead Man's Switch was fully operational. A series of underground wires, encased in steel and concrete, ran under the foothills, part of a so-called "water reservoir" when the public asked questions about the massive amount of digging. While the system was far too complex and convoluted to go into here, the main function was that it received steady radio signals, known as Beacons in a reference to Scottish traditions, from many sources across the country. If all these signals ceased, this would indicate the total collapse of society or a successful enemy conquest. Following the extinguishing of the Beacons, the tabulator, which was nicknamed "Maddie," would activate the Switch, and thus cause a series of chained detonations that would blow anthrax spores miles into the sky and begin an apocalyptic fever-dream not even Nostradamus could have envisioned.
By early 1953, the Dead Man's Switch was fully operational. A series of underground wires, encased in steel and concrete, ran under the foothills, part of a so-called "water reservoir" when the public asked questions about the massive amount of digging. While the system was far too complex and convoluted to go into here, the main function was that it received steady radio signals, known as Beacons in a reference to Scottish traditions, from many sources across the country. If all these signals ceased, this would indicate the total collapse of society or a successful enemy conquest. Following the extinguishing of the Beacons, the tabulator, which was nicknamed "Maddie," would activate the Switch, and thus cause a series of chained detonations that would blow anthrax spores miles into the sky and begin an apocalyptic fever-dream not even Nostradamus could have envisioned.
NOT A THREAT:
THE M.A.D. SHOW
THE M.A.D. SHOW
It is not difficult to see, for anyone who has read to this point, that Protocol Dignity was destined for failure, and destined to cause one of the greatest catastrophes in the history of mankind. On March 1, 1953, General Director Williams unveiled M.A.D. to the world in a grainy, black and white, televised speech involving documents, charts, a blackboard, maps, and a rambling monologue interspersed with casual cocktail-mixing and cigar-smoking in an overstuffed classic English lounge chair, with the backdrop of a pleasant and traditional cottage. The rollicking extravaganza also featured such entertaining and hilarious guest stars as Facility Commanders Greer and Clubb, wearing sack hoods and named only as "Scientists 1 and 2," despite the fact that Clubb's infamous hook hand was prominently on display. Also on-hand, no pun intended, was the uproarious, gregarious, and amicable Dr. Wolf Skinner, a rail-thin cancer patient on death's door credited as "Britannia's foremost authority on weaponized anthrax," though this title would be debated around the water coolers at ChemCom the next day. Throughout the show, Dr. Skinner seemed to be debating with himself about dying on the spot around a bottle of scotch which he shakily down on the rocks. It was truly a show of shows, and seemed like the insane suicide note of an entire country. Rather than provide a comforting assurance that their beloved homeland would never be occupied successfully, it let the average citizen know that their country was, on any given day, a series of bungling mishaps away from eternal ecological damnation.
The following bits are parts of the transcript of the "M.A.D. Show," as given to American President Oswald within the hour:
The following bits are parts of the transcript of the "M.A.D. Show," as given to American President Oswald within the hour:
WILLIAMS: "Good evening, Britannia, and hello, world. I come with glad tidings of certain peace and security. When my party, the Populist Front, took charge of our great and sovereign nation three years ago, it was in the midst of one of the gravest political crises in our civilization's history. Since the day I took an oath to defend you all, my fellow countrymen and patriots, I have sought parity on the international stage--a certain equality without which no modern nation can call itself a great power. That parity--as any rational political analyst could tell you--can only come with the possession of immense stockpiles of weapons of mass destruction."
*stirs tea*
WILLIAMS: "Throughout the next hour, I will be joined by such marvelous men of science as Scientists 1 and 2, who shall go unnamed for OpSec reasons, and Dr. Wolf Skinner, this nation's foremost authority on... well... that's part of the surprise, so I'll tell you all about him later. In the meantime, I bid you to take a look around me. What do you see? A quaint cottage home! Yes! An emblem of our cherished and peaceful way of life. A small fire is going on the hearth, Aunt Sally's stew is simmering, and a shepherd's pie is cooling on the mantle. I take a sip of tea, er, ah, so sorry."
*sips tea*
WILLIAMS: "There. Ah. Tea. Lovely tea. Another symbol of our country, of our essence and fluidation. Truly, our lifestyle is unlike any on earth! Those scrumbly Yanks pour so much sugar and whatnot in theirs it's not even tea anymore, it's just sugarwater. Maybe a little cocaine, as well. Goodness me, I enjoy a pick-me-up, but I will stick with caffeine, I say. In Europa, they drink tea, as well, but they add lavender and other Frenchified mongrel ideas as that! Disgusting, eh? And in the Loomie Lands, far in the East... I said, 'In the Loomie Lands, far in the East'..."
*gong sounds*
WILLIAMS: "Quite right! In that atheistic and troublesome realm, why, they don't drink tea at all! They drink a disgusting brew called 'kombuka,' which is made of mold they grow in their festering, brutalist tenement bathtubs. They call it 'tea,' but we all know such a foul fluid should never share the name of this, the most blessed of beverages. Indeed, I think tea is, frankly, a rather useful tool to set the stakes for what I am about to unveil to you. I think most of my fellow patriots would agree that tea served any which way but proper is no tea at all, and they would join me in hell sooner than guzzle Russian jungle-juice. If you remove or take away the elements that makes tea, well, tea, you are left with, quite right, no tea at all! It is not tea of any order if you start tossing in honey, bark, flowers, sugar, and opiates and whatever else those foreigners like. I would never place myself on such a high and mighty pedestal as the Christ, but think of my words being akin to a parable. What does the tea stand for? Simply put, it is Britannia. Britannia is what I am talking about. The Populist Front you so patriotically elected, my party, will never allow the homeland of the Anglo-Saxon race to be corrupted by outside forces. Since taking office, we have, under my guidance, arrested foreign agents of every stripe and creed within our borders and within, shamefully, our very government in London. We have also taken the first steps in what some people call, 'BrExit,' the exit of the Britannic Union from the League of Nations, and the withdrawal of all of our boys fighting and dying for Yankee glory in South America. Our allies have proven shaky, at best, and our enemies have proven more insidious than ever. That is why I am talking to you today. I am here to tell you that an answer to our problems has arrived in the form of what I like to call, 'Forever Safety,' but what my government likes to call, 'Massive Area Denial.' Here to join me--roll that board out for the good doctor, would you, Watkins--is Dr. Wolf Skinner, this nation's foremost authority on--and I think I can say the word now--'anthrax.' Dr. Wolf Skinner, welcome to our special programme, sir."
*Williams claps*
*slight applause track*
SKINNER: "Greetings, my fellow countrymen. Rule Britannia! Yes, now, I am flattered by the General Director's kind introduction. Thank you, sir."
WILLIAMS: "Quite alright, old chap. Can I fetch you something to drink?"
SKINNER: "Scotch on the rocks."
*camera pans to Skinner as Williams leaves*
SKINNER: "I am sure that such big words and phrases as 'Massive Area Denial' must sound awfully complex and maybe even scary, and we all know how dangerous anthrax is, but I am quite pleased to tell you that this time, Old Man Anthrax is on our side! Hail, Anthrax! Yes, you see, some time ago, this government laid the foundations of what some call the Massive Area Denial Device, and this device is key to a safeguard contingency plan to keep us all safe known as 'Protocol Dignity.' The name comes from my dear fellow scientist, a charming fellow named... uh... Scientist 2. He remarked in a meeting that he enjoyed the phrasing of then-yet-to-be-elected General Director Williams when our leader said he would rather, quote, 'take the last full measure of dignity' than submit to foreign conquest. This phrase, bluntly, and I ask you to not be concerned because this is a great and good thing for our nation, means, uh, suicide. You see, yes, yes, our leader would rather, yes, he would rather commit to... uh... drawing the final curtain on his own last act than, ah, to, to acquiesce to rule of a foreign despot who will despoil our homes, deflower our women, and, yes, drink their tea to, ah, drink it incorrectly, yes. Again, I cannot state enough that--oh yes, thank you."
*received scotch, downs glass*
SKINNER: "But yes, I cannot state enough that this new device, despite the label of 'doomsday machine,' is absolutely not about drawing our final curtain, so to speak, though in a bloody roundabout away I suppose you could get there, but I digress--it's about preserving our dignity as a nation and as a people. The whole point of today's programme is not to create fear or dread, even amongst our international foes, but, yes, yes, to, ah, let you know, as Britannics, that this homeland is and forever shall be free. The point of a doomsday machine, and I say that with big air quotes, though, I suppose it very much is one, is to tell the world about it, so that its dreadful power never has to be unleashed, now or ever. The international cartels seek to prevent us from acquiring atomic weaponry. What more Britannic solution to that slight is there than to take something in our very water supply... ah, uh, well, yes, anthrax, and study it, and engineer it, and attain unimaginable stockpiles. I cannot explain to you enough how much our boys in ChemCom have been working on this. We have enough weaponized anthrax to fill several large football stadiums! It's a sight to behold! Do you know how much anthrax is needed to, ah, neutralize an entire city? This is where the potential of this device has me so excited, ah, as a scientist. Let me use the blackboard here. General Director, will you pour me another scotch?"
*draws charts on blackboard*
SEE ATTACHED PHOTOGRAPH
SKINNER: "Now, so, you may have heard of ancient Scottish tales of 'lighting the beacons!' Wonderful cultural icon. We created, with the help of our fellows at Raycraft Tabulatics, the Beacon Broadcast Communicators, the BBC. This is an elaborate system of high-security radio signals that constantly beam information to our old boy, what we call, 'Maddie,' yes, yes. A supertabulator in an undisclosed locale for OpSec, of course. Maddie, he's a clever little dingleberry, yes, he is, and he takes all this information, all the BBC, he takes the BBC and inserts it into his receiver unit and then runs it through decoders. This happens all the time, minute by minute, day after day, and this is how he gets the, yes, 'all clear.' So long as Maddie receives the BBC, he can rest easy, and so can you, knowing that your country is safe from the foreign menaces that lurk all about us. But, should the day ever arrive... Well, you see, I am sure you are aware of comic book superhero, General Britannica. Wonderful cultural icon. Well, Maddie is a bit of a superhero, as well. Yes. You see, should Maddie ever lack the BBC, should the Beacons be extinguished, he can take off his trenchcoat and glasses, so to speak, and come to our rescue! But, unlike General Britannica, this is a mature and gritty story, and, well, to put it simply, he isn't going to be flying into the sunset at the end of the day. Yes, yes, you see, should he lack the BBC, Maddie will initiate, yes, ah, well, the 'forever deterrence,' the Massive Area Denial. This is a rocksteady and impregnable, virtually impregnable yes, system which, in the event of total collapse of society and foreign conquest, would enable us to do the deed, so to speak, to take that final step. To say, like the archers of olde, 'Pluck yew! Ye shall not take my home!' And with this virtually state of the art system, Maddie--knowing all hope for final victory is lost, you see--our hero enables us to take our final dignity. This would really be a, as they say in Cornwall, a dookie in the old porridge for whatever foreign horde thinks they can beat us. But again, all of this will never happen--unless the situation would call for it, of course, but that's neither here nor there--it will just never happen, because our brave Populist Party, our General Director, and each and every one of us, yes, yes, stand tall against foreign influence. We shall never back down and never surrender."
WILLIAMS: "Chiming in, old chum, Doctor, sir, I say, that is rather well and succinctly put. We are not trying to scare anyone here, and we are not threatening to, well, I suppose you could say, 'turn our precious and beloved homeland into a savage and lifeless wasteland,' and I suppose we are, as you would say, 'in a roundabout way,' maybe threatening that. Some would say that, you might say. I'm not saying that, old boy, but some people, some people, that's what they say. They say that old Maddie of the Highlands, our supertabulator, will turn our island into a massive funeral pyre for Europe if we ever get crossed, but I'm not saying that. But, quite right, we are not threatening anyone here. We are merely a man in a busy and often violent side of town, that being, ah, 'this planet,' spotting some burly thugs on the other side of the street, pulling the ol' piece out of our coat, raising it to the sky, firing a shot, and proclaiming, 'Don't cross me, you see, old boy, don't cross me! Because I have a fully-functioning firearm here and I will take you all to Hell before I take myself, because I won't end up in Bedlam again, I won't, I won't. You better back off, old boy, or you can dither around and find out, but I highly don't suggest it, old bean.' Here to really drive this point home, the point that this is not a threat, please welcome Scientists 1 and 2, who shall go unnamed for OpSec and who shall be sporting sacks on their head for, ah, well, OpSec, quite."
*polite canned applause*
*TWO MEN ENTER IN LABCOATS AND SACKHOODS, ONE WITH HOOK HAND*
*stirs tea*
WILLIAMS: "Throughout the next hour, I will be joined by such marvelous men of science as Scientists 1 and 2, who shall go unnamed for OpSec reasons, and Dr. Wolf Skinner, this nation's foremost authority on... well... that's part of the surprise, so I'll tell you all about him later. In the meantime, I bid you to take a look around me. What do you see? A quaint cottage home! Yes! An emblem of our cherished and peaceful way of life. A small fire is going on the hearth, Aunt Sally's stew is simmering, and a shepherd's pie is cooling on the mantle. I take a sip of tea, er, ah, so sorry."
*sips tea*
WILLIAMS: "There. Ah. Tea. Lovely tea. Another symbol of our country, of our essence and fluidation. Truly, our lifestyle is unlike any on earth! Those scrumbly Yanks pour so much sugar and whatnot in theirs it's not even tea anymore, it's just sugarwater. Maybe a little cocaine, as well. Goodness me, I enjoy a pick-me-up, but I will stick with caffeine, I say. In Europa, they drink tea, as well, but they add lavender and other Frenchified mongrel ideas as that! Disgusting, eh? And in the Loomie Lands, far in the East... I said, 'In the Loomie Lands, far in the East'..."
*gong sounds*
WILLIAMS: "Quite right! In that atheistic and troublesome realm, why, they don't drink tea at all! They drink a disgusting brew called 'kombuka,' which is made of mold they grow in their festering, brutalist tenement bathtubs. They call it 'tea,' but we all know such a foul fluid should never share the name of this, the most blessed of beverages. Indeed, I think tea is, frankly, a rather useful tool to set the stakes for what I am about to unveil to you. I think most of my fellow patriots would agree that tea served any which way but proper is no tea at all, and they would join me in hell sooner than guzzle Russian jungle-juice. If you remove or take away the elements that makes tea, well, tea, you are left with, quite right, no tea at all! It is not tea of any order if you start tossing in honey, bark, flowers, sugar, and opiates and whatever else those foreigners like. I would never place myself on such a high and mighty pedestal as the Christ, but think of my words being akin to a parable. What does the tea stand for? Simply put, it is Britannia. Britannia is what I am talking about. The Populist Front you so patriotically elected, my party, will never allow the homeland of the Anglo-Saxon race to be corrupted by outside forces. Since taking office, we have, under my guidance, arrested foreign agents of every stripe and creed within our borders and within, shamefully, our very government in London. We have also taken the first steps in what some people call, 'BrExit,' the exit of the Britannic Union from the League of Nations, and the withdrawal of all of our boys fighting and dying for Yankee glory in South America. Our allies have proven shaky, at best, and our enemies have proven more insidious than ever. That is why I am talking to you today. I am here to tell you that an answer to our problems has arrived in the form of what I like to call, 'Forever Safety,' but what my government likes to call, 'Massive Area Denial.' Here to join me--roll that board out for the good doctor, would you, Watkins--is Dr. Wolf Skinner, this nation's foremost authority on--and I think I can say the word now--'anthrax.' Dr. Wolf Skinner, welcome to our special programme, sir."
*Williams claps*
*slight applause track*
SKINNER: "Greetings, my fellow countrymen. Rule Britannia! Yes, now, I am flattered by the General Director's kind introduction. Thank you, sir."
WILLIAMS: "Quite alright, old chap. Can I fetch you something to drink?"
SKINNER: "Scotch on the rocks."
*camera pans to Skinner as Williams leaves*
SKINNER: "I am sure that such big words and phrases as 'Massive Area Denial' must sound awfully complex and maybe even scary, and we all know how dangerous anthrax is, but I am quite pleased to tell you that this time, Old Man Anthrax is on our side! Hail, Anthrax! Yes, you see, some time ago, this government laid the foundations of what some call the Massive Area Denial Device, and this device is key to a safeguard contingency plan to keep us all safe known as 'Protocol Dignity.' The name comes from my dear fellow scientist, a charming fellow named... uh... Scientist 2. He remarked in a meeting that he enjoyed the phrasing of then-yet-to-be-elected General Director Williams when our leader said he would rather, quote, 'take the last full measure of dignity' than submit to foreign conquest. This phrase, bluntly, and I ask you to not be concerned because this is a great and good thing for our nation, means, uh, suicide. You see, yes, yes, our leader would rather, yes, he would rather commit to... uh... drawing the final curtain on his own last act than, ah, to, to acquiesce to rule of a foreign despot who will despoil our homes, deflower our women, and, yes, drink their tea to, ah, drink it incorrectly, yes. Again, I cannot state enough that--oh yes, thank you."
*received scotch, downs glass*
SKINNER: "But yes, I cannot state enough that this new device, despite the label of 'doomsday machine,' is absolutely not about drawing our final curtain, so to speak, though in a bloody roundabout away I suppose you could get there, but I digress--it's about preserving our dignity as a nation and as a people. The whole point of today's programme is not to create fear or dread, even amongst our international foes, but, yes, yes, to, ah, let you know, as Britannics, that this homeland is and forever shall be free. The point of a doomsday machine, and I say that with big air quotes, though, I suppose it very much is one, is to tell the world about it, so that its dreadful power never has to be unleashed, now or ever. The international cartels seek to prevent us from acquiring atomic weaponry. What more Britannic solution to that slight is there than to take something in our very water supply... ah, uh, well, yes, anthrax, and study it, and engineer it, and attain unimaginable stockpiles. I cannot explain to you enough how much our boys in ChemCom have been working on this. We have enough weaponized anthrax to fill several large football stadiums! It's a sight to behold! Do you know how much anthrax is needed to, ah, neutralize an entire city? This is where the potential of this device has me so excited, ah, as a scientist. Let me use the blackboard here. General Director, will you pour me another scotch?"
*draws charts on blackboard*
SEE ATTACHED PHOTOGRAPH
SKINNER: "Now, so, you may have heard of ancient Scottish tales of 'lighting the beacons!' Wonderful cultural icon. We created, with the help of our fellows at Raycraft Tabulatics, the Beacon Broadcast Communicators, the BBC. This is an elaborate system of high-security radio signals that constantly beam information to our old boy, what we call, 'Maddie,' yes, yes. A supertabulator in an undisclosed locale for OpSec, of course. Maddie, he's a clever little dingleberry, yes, he is, and he takes all this information, all the BBC, he takes the BBC and inserts it into his receiver unit and then runs it through decoders. This happens all the time, minute by minute, day after day, and this is how he gets the, yes, 'all clear.' So long as Maddie receives the BBC, he can rest easy, and so can you, knowing that your country is safe from the foreign menaces that lurk all about us. But, should the day ever arrive... Well, you see, I am sure you are aware of comic book superhero, General Britannica. Wonderful cultural icon. Well, Maddie is a bit of a superhero, as well. Yes. You see, should Maddie ever lack the BBC, should the Beacons be extinguished, he can take off his trenchcoat and glasses, so to speak, and come to our rescue! But, unlike General Britannica, this is a mature and gritty story, and, well, to put it simply, he isn't going to be flying into the sunset at the end of the day. Yes, yes, you see, should he lack the BBC, Maddie will initiate, yes, ah, well, the 'forever deterrence,' the Massive Area Denial. This is a rocksteady and impregnable, virtually impregnable yes, system which, in the event of total collapse of society and foreign conquest, would enable us to do the deed, so to speak, to take that final step. To say, like the archers of olde, 'Pluck yew! Ye shall not take my home!' And with this virtually state of the art system, Maddie--knowing all hope for final victory is lost, you see--our hero enables us to take our final dignity. This would really be a, as they say in Cornwall, a dookie in the old porridge for whatever foreign horde thinks they can beat us. But again, all of this will never happen--unless the situation would call for it, of course, but that's neither here nor there--it will just never happen, because our brave Populist Party, our General Director, and each and every one of us, yes, yes, stand tall against foreign influence. We shall never back down and never surrender."
WILLIAMS: "Chiming in, old chum, Doctor, sir, I say, that is rather well and succinctly put. We are not trying to scare anyone here, and we are not threatening to, well, I suppose you could say, 'turn our precious and beloved homeland into a savage and lifeless wasteland,' and I suppose we are, as you would say, 'in a roundabout way,' maybe threatening that. Some would say that, you might say. I'm not saying that, old boy, but some people, some people, that's what they say. They say that old Maddie of the Highlands, our supertabulator, will turn our island into a massive funeral pyre for Europe if we ever get crossed, but I'm not saying that. But, quite right, we are not threatening anyone here. We are merely a man in a busy and often violent side of town, that being, ah, 'this planet,' spotting some burly thugs on the other side of the street, pulling the ol' piece out of our coat, raising it to the sky, firing a shot, and proclaiming, 'Don't cross me, you see, old boy, don't cross me! Because I have a fully-functioning firearm here and I will take you all to Hell before I take myself, because I won't end up in Bedlam again, I won't, I won't. You better back off, old boy, or you can dither around and find out, but I highly don't suggest it, old bean.' Here to really drive this point home, the point that this is not a threat, please welcome Scientists 1 and 2, who shall go unnamed for OpSec and who shall be sporting sacks on their head for, ah, well, OpSec, quite."
*polite canned applause*
*TWO MEN ENTER IN LABCOATS AND SACKHOODS, ONE WITH HOOK HAND*
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I suppose we could all say that, in a roundabout way, Williams is batshit crazy.
Seems to me that way things are adding up Oswald and Jennngs are going to try and short circuit “Maddie” to not only screw over a renegade former ally out of spite, but also create the largest sacrifice to the Worm in human history.
I certainly do not envy being a European or Briton right now
I certainly do not envy being a European or Briton right now
Welp. It's official. The screw has finally driven us mad. Gloriously, deliciously Mad. Then again, probably more useful than sanity in this kind of TL.
At this pace I wouldn't be surprised if Oswald one day rises shouting and going a bit red like this
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General Director Williams succinctly explains Britain's new foreign policy to a Europan diplomat (1953, colorized)
Cool. I'm sure nothing could go wrong with continuous countrywide high power radio signals in a country with frequent government turnover, failing infrastructure, and frequent power outages. Every outage will no doubt coincide with a spike in religiosity and trust in the demonstrably strong and stable government. Definitely no waves of wanton violent crime from people who think they have only a few days or even hours left before their horrible death.
The unintentional message of ProDig is this: every British person with the means to do so should loot as much wealth from the island as possible for their overseas bank accounts (as long as those banks have offices in Britain and the pound is convertible to the dollar), and emigrate as soon as possible with any family or friends they care about in tow. All the other sods can have their tea and dignity, "that's a sacrifice I [and my children] are willing to make." For government officials, bribes are easy, as are official excuses to leave the country on important business. For private citizens, scams and theft may take a bit of ingenuity-- selling Worm Cult magic charms, putting a pillow over Grandpa's face and collecting his pension, becoming a rounders star for the exclusive reason of defecting during the World Series. If those don't work out they could try paddling across the Channel or the Irish Sea. Titanic feats will be accomplished, loyalty demanded and betrayed, all for a condo in Charleston.
But Maddie probably has all the backup generators that should be going to the hospitals. I wonder if it's that Maddie will give the signal to the anthrax launchers, or that it continuously jams a signal coming from elsewhere-- maybe it's some kind of XOR gate where if either Maddie or the other signal are running alone the fireworks will start, so they both have to be shut down at once. But that's only two points of failure at most, the military can't have atrophied badly enough to not be able to pull off a simultaneous operation. If it's only one point of failure, any mob could save Britain, and after that the new government could, I don't know, put all that anthrax into rockets so that it can explode outside Britain, instead of within it.
The unintentional message of ProDig is this: every British person with the means to do so should loot as much wealth from the island as possible for their overseas bank accounts (as long as those banks have offices in Britain and the pound is convertible to the dollar), and emigrate as soon as possible with any family or friends they care about in tow. All the other sods can have their tea and dignity, "that's a sacrifice I [and my children] are willing to make." For government officials, bribes are easy, as are official excuses to leave the country on important business. For private citizens, scams and theft may take a bit of ingenuity-- selling Worm Cult magic charms, putting a pillow over Grandpa's face and collecting his pension, becoming a rounders star for the exclusive reason of defecting during the World Series. If those don't work out they could try paddling across the Channel or the Irish Sea. Titanic feats will be accomplished, loyalty demanded and betrayed, all for a condo in Charleston.
But Maddie probably has all the backup generators that should be going to the hospitals. I wonder if it's that Maddie will give the signal to the anthrax launchers, or that it continuously jams a signal coming from elsewhere-- maybe it's some kind of XOR gate where if either Maddie or the other signal are running alone the fireworks will start, so they both have to be shut down at once. But that's only two points of failure at most, the military can't have atrophied badly enough to not be able to pull off a simultaneous operation. If it's only one point of failure, any mob could save Britain, and after that the new government could, I don't know, put all that anthrax into rockets so that it can explode outside Britain, instead of within it.
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A single sabotage mission that includes representatives of both the orthodox and schismatic Worm Cults as well as the Illuminists and maybe a few British nationalists, all concealing their identity from each other as they "cooperate" to break into the MAD control center(s)
4 way Among us. First you find out who the London snitches are and kill them; then you find who the Orthodox Wormist misanthropes are; then you kill any teammate who agrees on saving Britain from MAD but belongs to a cult you don't like (schismatic Wormism, Illuminism, normal right wing, normal left wing, enlightened centrism). But at this point you may prefer to hold your fire until Britain can decide in a free and fair election if it likes God, Science, or Magic(k) the most
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