Stupid Luck and Happenstance, Thread III
- Thread starter Peabody-Martini
- Start date
You must remember that probably the biggest influence in Kiki's life has been Kat...
You forgot St. Gia, she would bring a container of Chlorine Trifloride and Kat would give Kiki a Willy Pete grenade to set it off.
Kiki would have a tear in her eye as she did it, though.
Honestly makes me think of Kiki deserving her own graphic novel at this point.
Wilkinson is very good at his job and shouldn't be driving a squad car.
I could imagine one of the Japanese manga houses using her as an inspiration for one:
Humble Princess by day, Demon hunter and terror of the underworld by night.
Draw on the mostly Saintly image of Kiki for one half, and the most terrifying details of Kat for the other.
[scene - Hell, Satan in bed with a number of hyper stylised demons. Satan suddenly sits up in bed in a cold sweat]
"Calm your self Lord of Darkness, lay back and... relax"
[Next panel, focus on Satan's face]
"Those blessed, [font change for blessed, indicate its a profanity of the worst kind], nightmares again. SHE was coming for me"
[wide shot, show demon draped on Satan]
"That's just a dream, silly, not even SHE could make it into your realm without you knowing"
[next panel, same shot, speech bubble from stage left]
"Who is 'she'? The Kat's Daughter"?
[next panel, over Satan's Shoulder, silhouetted feminine figure holding an oversized European medieval style sword]
Part 120, Chapter 2003
Chapter Two Thousand Three
10th July 1970
Operations Command of the Armed Forces, Near Potsdam, Germany
Long before Micha Oberst had ended up here, some wise guy had written Join the Luftwaffe and see the World in large black letters on the concrete wall of the bunker in which he worked in. For some odd reason that had never been painted over. Perhaps it was because the Oberlieutenant got the joke and approved. More likely he simply didn’t care. The Reconnaissance and Analysis Company that Micha was a small part of spent all of its days staring at monitors as the surveillance feed from several orbiting satellites was beamed down so that it could be recorded and analyzed. Every day they issued a report on the observed state of world affairs that was to the respective staffs of the Emperor, Chancellor, and the other relevant members of the Government. Micha’s section was also involved with monitoring soldiers in the field and providing intelligence to them if possible, but the technology to that either had not been invented yet or was a secret that was above his paygrade. Of course, Micha being a lowly Funker meant that almost always seemed like everyone else in the room outranked him.
How the graffiti figured in was that they were observing the world while never, ever actually traveling anywhere. The bunker was in fact located just a few kilometers from his parent’s house. Not that he made it there often, he always needed to be on call in case there was a crisis which kept him close to the barracks. There was also the small matter of Micha’s name, which had all sorts of things wrong with it. Something that he had not realized until he had dropped out of University and joined the Luftwaffe because the only job that he had found in Berlin had not been enough to pay his bills. His parents had made a point of turning his bedroom into a home office for his father as soon as he had moved out, so moving back in with them wasn’t an option. As for his name, Micha Oberst, the Drill Instructor had had a field day with that. Was he a boy or girl? The Instructor had said that he couldn’t tell by looking at him, but it didn’t matter because that had just been an excuse to kick him up and down the Parade Ground. As for Oberst, was he putting on airs? The Instructor had just the cure for that. Eventually, Micha had made it through that, but he had discovered quickly that he was not really going much further than that. He had found himself staring at monitors, watching the satellite feed, and flagging anything that he thought was of interest. The trouble was that while the job had been exciting at first, months later he was still looking at the same images because things seldom happened quickly.
“I had better not catch any of you sleeping this time” The Feldwebel said before he stomped out. A month earlier that had happened on different shift, and the entire Company had been bawled out. It seemed that the message had been, don’t get caught as opposed to don’t do it. Micha found himself battling boredom with sludge coffee and fought the temptation to shove a pencil into his eye with everyone else.
At that moment, the satellite feed that Micha was watching was passing over the Western United States. It looked like a hot day there, zooming in on the beach, he saw that it was crowded with people. Zooming out, he saw that traffic was backing up on the freeways like it did every afternoon. That meant that those frolicking in the sun were in for an exhausting trip home at the end of the day. Over the following minutes the Los Angeles Basin rolled past, and Micha zoomed out. Except for March Air Force Base there wasn’t a whole lot to see. Zooming in on that, Micha made note of the number and types of aircraft on the flight line. Next was Muroc Air Force Base, which was a hive of activity. The surrounding countryside was the Mojave Desert, a thousand shades of brown. How did people live there?
Then came the nameless airfield that sat north of Las Vegas. Salt flats and an absurdly long runway. It was dead as always. Word was that while they had sprung a few surprises on the U.S. Air Force over the years, the USAF knew exactly when the Luftwaffe satellites would be overhead and timed their operations accordingly. Micha noted that there was no visible activity to report at that site, the same as the last thousand times he had seen it. Finally, there was Davis–Monthan Air Force Base just outside of Tucson, Arizona. Micha could see the rows of airplanes baking in the early evening sun. Many had been cut up with the pieces laid out in full view. Those were nuclear capable bombers whose existence had been cut short by strategic arms limitations treaties. It had been in that manner so that both sides could see that the other was honoring what had been painstakingly negotiated. Micha’s understanding was that there was a similar site in South-West Germany. After a set period of time the aircraft would be shipped off to the foundry.
About the time the view crossed into the Texas Panhandle from New Mexico, the land below went dark. Micha could have switched cameras and continued watching what the Americans were doing in infrared, but he knew that others at the monitors that surrounded him were already doing exactly that. Instead, he took his mandated break after turning in his notes to the Head of his Section. Word was that a few years earlier one of the Analysts had flipped out and had started smashing monitors after spending too long staring at one of them. Taking a break after a few hours had been required after that.
Running up the flights of stairs to ground level, Micha stood outside the steel blast doors, happy to be out from under tons of concrete breathing stale air. It was a cool humid night, and the ground was wet from when it had been raining earlier. In the east, the sky was pale in the predawn.
10th July 1970
Operations Command of the Armed Forces, Near Potsdam, Germany
Long before Micha Oberst had ended up here, some wise guy had written Join the Luftwaffe and see the World in large black letters on the concrete wall of the bunker in which he worked in. For some odd reason that had never been painted over. Perhaps it was because the Oberlieutenant got the joke and approved. More likely he simply didn’t care. The Reconnaissance and Analysis Company that Micha was a small part of spent all of its days staring at monitors as the surveillance feed from several orbiting satellites was beamed down so that it could be recorded and analyzed. Every day they issued a report on the observed state of world affairs that was to the respective staffs of the Emperor, Chancellor, and the other relevant members of the Government. Micha’s section was also involved with monitoring soldiers in the field and providing intelligence to them if possible, but the technology to that either had not been invented yet or was a secret that was above his paygrade. Of course, Micha being a lowly Funker meant that almost always seemed like everyone else in the room outranked him.
How the graffiti figured in was that they were observing the world while never, ever actually traveling anywhere. The bunker was in fact located just a few kilometers from his parent’s house. Not that he made it there often, he always needed to be on call in case there was a crisis which kept him close to the barracks. There was also the small matter of Micha’s name, which had all sorts of things wrong with it. Something that he had not realized until he had dropped out of University and joined the Luftwaffe because the only job that he had found in Berlin had not been enough to pay his bills. His parents had made a point of turning his bedroom into a home office for his father as soon as he had moved out, so moving back in with them wasn’t an option. As for his name, Micha Oberst, the Drill Instructor had had a field day with that. Was he a boy or girl? The Instructor had said that he couldn’t tell by looking at him, but it didn’t matter because that had just been an excuse to kick him up and down the Parade Ground. As for Oberst, was he putting on airs? The Instructor had just the cure for that. Eventually, Micha had made it through that, but he had discovered quickly that he was not really going much further than that. He had found himself staring at monitors, watching the satellite feed, and flagging anything that he thought was of interest. The trouble was that while the job had been exciting at first, months later he was still looking at the same images because things seldom happened quickly.
“I had better not catch any of you sleeping this time” The Feldwebel said before he stomped out. A month earlier that had happened on different shift, and the entire Company had been bawled out. It seemed that the message had been, don’t get caught as opposed to don’t do it. Micha found himself battling boredom with sludge coffee and fought the temptation to shove a pencil into his eye with everyone else.
At that moment, the satellite feed that Micha was watching was passing over the Western United States. It looked like a hot day there, zooming in on the beach, he saw that it was crowded with people. Zooming out, he saw that traffic was backing up on the freeways like it did every afternoon. That meant that those frolicking in the sun were in for an exhausting trip home at the end of the day. Over the following minutes the Los Angeles Basin rolled past, and Micha zoomed out. Except for March Air Force Base there wasn’t a whole lot to see. Zooming in on that, Micha made note of the number and types of aircraft on the flight line. Next was Muroc Air Force Base, which was a hive of activity. The surrounding countryside was the Mojave Desert, a thousand shades of brown. How did people live there?
Then came the nameless airfield that sat north of Las Vegas. Salt flats and an absurdly long runway. It was dead as always. Word was that while they had sprung a few surprises on the U.S. Air Force over the years, the USAF knew exactly when the Luftwaffe satellites would be overhead and timed their operations accordingly. Micha noted that there was no visible activity to report at that site, the same as the last thousand times he had seen it. Finally, there was Davis–Monthan Air Force Base just outside of Tucson, Arizona. Micha could see the rows of airplanes baking in the early evening sun. Many had been cut up with the pieces laid out in full view. Those were nuclear capable bombers whose existence had been cut short by strategic arms limitations treaties. It had been in that manner so that both sides could see that the other was honoring what had been painstakingly negotiated. Micha’s understanding was that there was a similar site in South-West Germany. After a set period of time the aircraft would be shipped off to the foundry.
About the time the view crossed into the Texas Panhandle from New Mexico, the land below went dark. Micha could have switched cameras and continued watching what the Americans were doing in infrared, but he knew that others at the monitors that surrounded him were already doing exactly that. Instead, he took his mandated break after turning in his notes to the Head of his Section. Word was that a few years earlier one of the Analysts had flipped out and had started smashing monitors after spending too long staring at one of them. Taking a break after a few hours had been required after that.
Running up the flights of stairs to ground level, Micha stood outside the steel blast doors, happy to be out from under tons of concrete breathing stale air. It was a cool humid night, and the ground was wet from when it had been raining earlier. In the east, the sky was pale in the predawn.
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This timeline's Galaxy is going to much different then the IOTL Galaxy, while it will not be as big as the C-5 it could be considered a "Mega- Jumbo" and very few airports can handle both the takeoff and landing and more importantly the numbers of passengers arriving at once.
The biggest obstacle to the two engine configuration is going to be the FAA requirements that there are diversion airports in a certain timeframe.
This is also IOTL in the United States a heavily regulated market with prices are by the Civil Aeronautical Board and limited routes for airlines.
While there were nation wide airlines there were plenty of regional airlines like Allegheny, Piedmont, and Ozark airlines that were subsidize with tax dollars.
BTW the movie "Airport" will still be made ITTL but "Patton" and "MASH" will not .
The biggest obstacle to the two engine configuration is going to be the FAA requirements that there are diversion airports in a certain timeframe.
This is also IOTL in the United States a heavily regulated market with prices are by the Civil Aeronautical Board and limited routes for airlines.
While there were nation wide airlines there were plenty of regional airlines like Allegheny, Piedmont, and Ozark airlines that were subsidize with tax dollars.
BTW the movie "Airport" will still be made ITTL but "Patton" and "MASH" will not .
You'd get "The Old Wolf" and "Princess Kiki" instead.
I mean, how could you NOT make a movie based on all of the adventures Kiki has had to date?
Marc A
I could see a M.A.S.H. analogue being made, a German field hospital in Korea. Possibly as a movie rather than a series as there's no Vietnam war, (yet - touch wood), for it to be a protest against.
Although if there is, I can see two things happening if Gerta is involved in the production:
Firstly, all the extras playing casualties will be former service personnel who received injuries in service. Nothing like showing the public real injuries, the real consequences of war and dressing it up as comedy to get it into the public consciousness.
The second is that there will be an episode where they get word that a member of the Royal family is coming to the camp. The cast brown nose, (think Charles Winchester), will run around ordering everyone to tidy the camp, especially a new squad of field medical personnel whose leader he will constantly berate for not taking his orders seriously and her "scruffy" combat gear making the place look untidy. Will pick up on the wrong person (a young, good looking male officer with a bit of a snobbery issue), and fawn over them thinking they are the royal visitor.
The plot twist/reveal will come when young male officer is wounded in the field, new medic saves him, continues the surgery on returning, (TTL's Hawkeye knows her identity all along, and sarcastically refers to her as "Princess" causing her to blow raspberries at him in return, which everyone except his comedy partner and eventually everyone except the "Winchester" mis-reads as Hawkeye flirting, he moves over and gives her the lead as she has essentially already started the surgery in the field, and he assists).
Afterwards, the "Winchester" type is told that the "scruffy" medic actually was the Princess, and the man he was fawning over was just an auditor after the squad is moved on to a forward position.
Although if there is, I can see two things happening if Gerta is involved in the production:
Firstly, all the extras playing casualties will be former service personnel who received injuries in service. Nothing like showing the public real injuries, the real consequences of war and dressing it up as comedy to get it into the public consciousness.
The second is that there will be an episode where they get word that a member of the Royal family is coming to the camp. The cast brown nose, (think Charles Winchester), will run around ordering everyone to tidy the camp, especially a new squad of field medical personnel whose leader he will constantly berate for not taking his orders seriously and her "scruffy" combat gear making the place look untidy. Will pick up on the wrong person (a young, good looking male officer with a bit of a snobbery issue), and fawn over them thinking they are the royal visitor.
The plot twist/reveal will come when young male officer is wounded in the field, new medic saves him, continues the surgery on returning, (TTL's Hawkeye knows her identity all along, and sarcastically refers to her as "Princess" causing her to blow raspberries at him in return, which everyone except his comedy partner and eventually everyone except the "Winchester" mis-reads as Hawkeye flirting, he moves over and gives her the lead as she has essentially already started the surgery in the field, and he assists).
Afterwards, the "Winchester" type is told that the "scruffy" medic actually was the Princess, and the man he was fawning over was just an auditor after the squad is moved on to a forward position.
Part 120, Chapter 2004
Chapter Two Thousand Four
12th July 1970
Plänterwald, Berlin
Kiki’s cottage faced the river, behind it was a small garden that was fenced in by a wooden trellis works that had climbing roses growing on it. There was a pergola that covered a concrete pad which sat next to a reflecting pool that had small fish swimming in the clear water. Zella thought that it was nice, but at the moment it was still too new, and she also felt that Kiki didn’t appreciate it fully. In the years ahead, it would be beautiful. Presently, Zella was making the most of it, laying on the concrete pad enjoying the feel of the sun on her skin. Kiki being Kiki, she had not objected to Zella doing this but had insisted that Zella put on the zinc oxide crème which she had in abundance. There were times when Zella thought that Kiki must own stock in the company that made that crème considering the amount of it that she used. While it was nice to avoid a painful sunburn, Zella saw it as a part of the inevitable progression of Kiki’s life. Kiki had been acting like a mother for years. Zella knew in her heart that it wouldn’t be much longer until that was no longer an act.
Frequently, there were times when it felt as if Kiki was sprinting towards middle age and after years of rebelling against being placed in a Kristina shaped slot, that was exactly where she had ended up. That was why Zella was always trying to get her to live a little before it was too late. Unfortunately, she had never had much success in that regard. That was evidenced by Kiki sitting in the shade at the table that had been set up under the pergola and was editing typewritten pages with a red pencil. She had told Zella that it was the report of what she had seen while working in a free clinic in Los Angeles, California. It was something that she had been working on in her spare time since she had gotten back from America. There were a couple problems. The fact that a “free clinic” even needed to be a thing in the first place and how to point out that it was a serious problem without offending the sensibilities of the Americans. Rauchbier was laying under her chair, snoozing on a warm afternoon.
“I thought that Sunday was supposed to be a day of rest?” Zella asked as she sat up and looked at Kiki.
Kiki gave her a look of annoyance.
“This is important” Kiki replied.
“And your own time isn’t?”
Kiki took off her glasses and rubbed her eyes. “Ben has been talking to you?” She asked, “Hasn’t he?”
“No” Zella replied, she had never liked Ben. These days she tolerated his presence purely for Kiki’s sake and wondered at times what exactly Kiki saw in him. So, talking to him behind Kiki’s back was totally out of the question. Ben was out this afternoon, surprisingly or not, for reasons that related to the Wilhelm Institute and his quest to continue his Post-Doctorate education. Just the thought of that made Zella’s head spin.
“He has been after me about that too” Kiki said as Zella put her dress back on. “But we just got back from California and before that I had not been doing my job for months.”
That would be how Kiki saw things, Zella thought to herself as she padded on bare feet to sit down at the chair across the table. “You were not on holiday the entire time” She said, “You were conducting a Royal tour because your father ordered you to. That was your duty as a Princess, now you are kicking yourself because you weren’t able to fulfill your other duties during that time. The weird part is that if you hadn’t done either you wouldn’t have been missed.”
“You can’t be serious” Kiki said, “The work I do is necessary, that whole tour was a distraction that took me away from that.”
“And what was the backlog of work when you returned?” Zella asked.
Which caught Kiki short, she didn’t answer the question.
“It was a well-oiled machine before you got there” Zella said, “You were assigned to it because it was understood that you could come and go without there being too much undue fuss. If you learn something while you are there, good, if not then there is no great loss.”
“Exactly how would you know that?” Kiki asked.
“General’s daughter” Zella replied raising her right hand. She figured that telling Kiki that her career had just been deliberately stalled would be the wrong tact. It was something that she had actually discussed with her father, Kiki’s rise through the ranks had been fast and she was young for her present role. It was in the Medical Service’s interest to have her mature in that role before she advanced further, so they were perfectly happy to give her all the time she needed. The trouble was that Kiki wasn’t exactly wired to see things that way.
“Your father told you that?”
“More or less” Zella replied, “He played a key role in setting up the Medical Service as an independent branch, so he knows a thing or two about how it is run. You are the Second in Command of a unit that is dispersed across an entire Military District and is composed mostly of professionals. Enforcing discipline is hardly a problem, so the work is mostly administrative.”
“If it is set up so that I can really come and go as easily as you say, what do they think I am going to be doing with my time?” Kiki asked, with the annoyed tone coming back into her voice.
Zella wasn’t sure if it was safe for her to be the one who answered that question.
12th July 1970
Plänterwald, Berlin
Kiki’s cottage faced the river, behind it was a small garden that was fenced in by a wooden trellis works that had climbing roses growing on it. There was a pergola that covered a concrete pad which sat next to a reflecting pool that had small fish swimming in the clear water. Zella thought that it was nice, but at the moment it was still too new, and she also felt that Kiki didn’t appreciate it fully. In the years ahead, it would be beautiful. Presently, Zella was making the most of it, laying on the concrete pad enjoying the feel of the sun on her skin. Kiki being Kiki, she had not objected to Zella doing this but had insisted that Zella put on the zinc oxide crème which she had in abundance. There were times when Zella thought that Kiki must own stock in the company that made that crème considering the amount of it that she used. While it was nice to avoid a painful sunburn, Zella saw it as a part of the inevitable progression of Kiki’s life. Kiki had been acting like a mother for years. Zella knew in her heart that it wouldn’t be much longer until that was no longer an act.
Frequently, there were times when it felt as if Kiki was sprinting towards middle age and after years of rebelling against being placed in a Kristina shaped slot, that was exactly where she had ended up. That was why Zella was always trying to get her to live a little before it was too late. Unfortunately, she had never had much success in that regard. That was evidenced by Kiki sitting in the shade at the table that had been set up under the pergola and was editing typewritten pages with a red pencil. She had told Zella that it was the report of what she had seen while working in a free clinic in Los Angeles, California. It was something that she had been working on in her spare time since she had gotten back from America. There were a couple problems. The fact that a “free clinic” even needed to be a thing in the first place and how to point out that it was a serious problem without offending the sensibilities of the Americans. Rauchbier was laying under her chair, snoozing on a warm afternoon.
“I thought that Sunday was supposed to be a day of rest?” Zella asked as she sat up and looked at Kiki.
Kiki gave her a look of annoyance.
“This is important” Kiki replied.
“And your own time isn’t?”
Kiki took off her glasses and rubbed her eyes. “Ben has been talking to you?” She asked, “Hasn’t he?”
“No” Zella replied, she had never liked Ben. These days she tolerated his presence purely for Kiki’s sake and wondered at times what exactly Kiki saw in him. So, talking to him behind Kiki’s back was totally out of the question. Ben was out this afternoon, surprisingly or not, for reasons that related to the Wilhelm Institute and his quest to continue his Post-Doctorate education. Just the thought of that made Zella’s head spin.
“He has been after me about that too” Kiki said as Zella put her dress back on. “But we just got back from California and before that I had not been doing my job for months.”
That would be how Kiki saw things, Zella thought to herself as she padded on bare feet to sit down at the chair across the table. “You were not on holiday the entire time” She said, “You were conducting a Royal tour because your father ordered you to. That was your duty as a Princess, now you are kicking yourself because you weren’t able to fulfill your other duties during that time. The weird part is that if you hadn’t done either you wouldn’t have been missed.”
“You can’t be serious” Kiki said, “The work I do is necessary, that whole tour was a distraction that took me away from that.”
“And what was the backlog of work when you returned?” Zella asked.
Which caught Kiki short, she didn’t answer the question.
“It was a well-oiled machine before you got there” Zella said, “You were assigned to it because it was understood that you could come and go without there being too much undue fuss. If you learn something while you are there, good, if not then there is no great loss.”
“Exactly how would you know that?” Kiki asked.
“General’s daughter” Zella replied raising her right hand. She figured that telling Kiki that her career had just been deliberately stalled would be the wrong tact. It was something that she had actually discussed with her father, Kiki’s rise through the ranks had been fast and she was young for her present role. It was in the Medical Service’s interest to have her mature in that role before she advanced further, so they were perfectly happy to give her all the time she needed. The trouble was that Kiki wasn’t exactly wired to see things that way.
“Your father told you that?”
“More or less” Zella replied, “He played a key role in setting up the Medical Service as an independent branch, so he knows a thing or two about how it is run. You are the Second in Command of a unit that is dispersed across an entire Military District and is composed mostly of professionals. Enforcing discipline is hardly a problem, so the work is mostly administrative.”
“If it is set up so that I can really come and go as easily as you say, what do they think I am going to be doing with my time?” Kiki asked, with the annoyed tone coming back into her voice.
Zella wasn’t sure if it was safe for her to be the one who answered that question.
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It works better if the brown nose is a "Frank Burns" type, the character needs to have the right sort of oblivious attitude.
🤦♂️
Part 120, Chapter 2005
Chapter Two Thousand Five
18th July 1970
Kreuzberg, Berlin
Reviewing the latest entry in her diary caused Anne to pull a previous volume down from the shelf. The entry from a couple years earlier about her introduction to Kat’s ward Sophie, back then Sophie had been this scared little thing who was always afraid of getting hit by the adults who surrounded her. While no one would argue that Sophie was completely normal now, years later, it was obvious that she had come a long way. Little things like how she flinched whenever anyone tried to touch her, were still evident. At the same time, when Sophie and Franziska had come to Anne’s house to help Lina pack for camp that day, the girls had spent the afternoon laughing and enjoying themselves and not a whole lot of packing had been done. Just the fact that Sophie had learned how to laugh again was a sign of that. More than anything, Sophie reminded Anne of the other girls in Kat’s care who she had met years earlier.
It was hard to imagine Asia as the farm girl she must have been as opposed to the silent, sullen girl Anne had first met after the Soviets had killed her parents. Leni’s retreating into books because her reality was too painful for her to bear and how she still celebrated the death of her father. Kris, whose fragile bones resulting from childhood malnutrition had limited her opportunities. Ilse watching Anne with her family, trying hard to hide the emotions from her face because she had never had one at that point. Judita, whose jealousy drove everyone away from her until her epilepsy caused her to finally accept that she needed the support her adopted sisters provided her. And finally, there was Gia, whose scared body bore testimony to the hardship she had endured because she had been born into the wrong family. They had all come around in their own time, sort of.
It was sort of hard to argue that any of them had led particularly normal lives in the years since. Still, Kat’s intervention had changed them for the better and had probably diverted them from reaching tragic ends. Anne thought she was seeing what looked like with Sophie and she was also seeing something that she had not noticed when she had been younger. That Kat worried a lot about the girls currently in her care.
Jo was excited because she had received a teaching assignment that would take her on a real adventure and Kat fretted because she felt that Jo was being naive about what she was getting into. Suse had recently made some poor choices and while there had been no serious consequences this time, Kat had found herself having to help patch things up between Suse and Gerta. There had been a near miss that would have been a severe blow to Gerta’s vanity and Suse had called her out for that sort of selfishness. The situation was rather ironic considering difficulties that Kat had been having with her own daughters. Sophie showing improvement was a great relief to her. Unfortunately, Kat had also mentioned that a battering ram was flying at them as a direct result of the poison that Sophie’s mother had dripped into her ears that basically implied that she was going to be promiscuous on top of already being dishonest and worthless. Sophie would just become an even greater shame for her family than she already was. Adolescence was coming for Sophie and Kat knew that she would take it badly for exactly that reason. It staggered Anne that a mother would do something like that to her child on top of the abuse and neglect that Sophie had already suffered. It was as if all the legitimate fears that a parent had had metastasized into something twisted and dark. Kat had said that there was also a large amount of projection involved as well. Sophie’s mother, Elke, had been seduced by a superior and it had cost her the career that was supposed to have been her escape from the Dickensian existence she had grown up in. It struck Anne that Elke had been brutally punishing Sophie for her own mistakes. Kat had also said that she was still looking for Sophie’s father because of the unfinished business she had with the man. The fact that he was apparently out of Kat’s reach suggested that someone with a lot of pull had hidden him, protecting Kat from her worst instincts.
Looking at the page, Anne realized what she had just written. Kat, who in many ways was mother to all of them, even Anne who had joined the Eyes and Ears of the Empress of her own volition, a role she still played for a different Empress. “The forgotten bastard daughters of Berlin, the mice in the shadows and the broken birds of inequity. Never to be introduced to Society because that would require remembering them in the first place.” Leni had said that in the midst of Anne’s own introduction to the Royal Court when four of the Eyes had crashed the party and had been drinking stolen champagne when Anne had spotted them in their hiding place. Leni had always had a way with words, and she would probably know how to write about Kat in a way that didn’t make her look like she was completely unhinged at times.
18th July 1970
Kreuzberg, Berlin
Reviewing the latest entry in her diary caused Anne to pull a previous volume down from the shelf. The entry from a couple years earlier about her introduction to Kat’s ward Sophie, back then Sophie had been this scared little thing who was always afraid of getting hit by the adults who surrounded her. While no one would argue that Sophie was completely normal now, years later, it was obvious that she had come a long way. Little things like how she flinched whenever anyone tried to touch her, were still evident. At the same time, when Sophie and Franziska had come to Anne’s house to help Lina pack for camp that day, the girls had spent the afternoon laughing and enjoying themselves and not a whole lot of packing had been done. Just the fact that Sophie had learned how to laugh again was a sign of that. More than anything, Sophie reminded Anne of the other girls in Kat’s care who she had met years earlier.
It was hard to imagine Asia as the farm girl she must have been as opposed to the silent, sullen girl Anne had first met after the Soviets had killed her parents. Leni’s retreating into books because her reality was too painful for her to bear and how she still celebrated the death of her father. Kris, whose fragile bones resulting from childhood malnutrition had limited her opportunities. Ilse watching Anne with her family, trying hard to hide the emotions from her face because she had never had one at that point. Judita, whose jealousy drove everyone away from her until her epilepsy caused her to finally accept that she needed the support her adopted sisters provided her. And finally, there was Gia, whose scared body bore testimony to the hardship she had endured because she had been born into the wrong family. They had all come around in their own time, sort of.
It was sort of hard to argue that any of them had led particularly normal lives in the years since. Still, Kat’s intervention had changed them for the better and had probably diverted them from reaching tragic ends. Anne thought she was seeing what looked like with Sophie and she was also seeing something that she had not noticed when she had been younger. That Kat worried a lot about the girls currently in her care.
Jo was excited because she had received a teaching assignment that would take her on a real adventure and Kat fretted because she felt that Jo was being naive about what she was getting into. Suse had recently made some poor choices and while there had been no serious consequences this time, Kat had found herself having to help patch things up between Suse and Gerta. There had been a near miss that would have been a severe blow to Gerta’s vanity and Suse had called her out for that sort of selfishness. The situation was rather ironic considering difficulties that Kat had been having with her own daughters. Sophie showing improvement was a great relief to her. Unfortunately, Kat had also mentioned that a battering ram was flying at them as a direct result of the poison that Sophie’s mother had dripped into her ears that basically implied that she was going to be promiscuous on top of already being dishonest and worthless. Sophie would just become an even greater shame for her family than she already was. Adolescence was coming for Sophie and Kat knew that she would take it badly for exactly that reason. It staggered Anne that a mother would do something like that to her child on top of the abuse and neglect that Sophie had already suffered. It was as if all the legitimate fears that a parent had had metastasized into something twisted and dark. Kat had said that there was also a large amount of projection involved as well. Sophie’s mother, Elke, had been seduced by a superior and it had cost her the career that was supposed to have been her escape from the Dickensian existence she had grown up in. It struck Anne that Elke had been brutally punishing Sophie for her own mistakes. Kat had also said that she was still looking for Sophie’s father because of the unfinished business she had with the man. The fact that he was apparently out of Kat’s reach suggested that someone with a lot of pull had hidden him, protecting Kat from her worst instincts.
Looking at the page, Anne realized what she had just written. Kat, who in many ways was mother to all of them, even Anne who had joined the Eyes and Ears of the Empress of her own volition, a role she still played for a different Empress. “The forgotten bastard daughters of Berlin, the mice in the shadows and the broken birds of inequity. Never to be introduced to Society because that would require remembering them in the first place.” Leni had said that in the midst of Anne’s own introduction to the Royal Court when four of the Eyes had crashed the party and had been drinking stolen champagne when Anne had spotted them in their hiding place. Leni had always had a way with words, and she would probably know how to write about Kat in a way that didn’t make her look like she was completely unhinged at times.
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Anne will find the task of writing about Kat in a way that doesn't make Kat look utterly unhinged at times, frankly, impossible.
For reasons Kat herself will acknowledge:
She was, at times, to a greater or lesser extent, unhinged.