[Chapter 488: A Harmonious Relationship]
A devastating earthquake claid nearly 63 lives, but to the Soviets, it was hardly a big deal. The number of people buried in Chernobyl far exceeded that.
However, what made this situation peculiar was that a Soviet leader expressed concern over the losses in Arica. Generally speaking, the Soviets took pleasure in Arican disasters, often highlighting them in the last few minutes of the news.
Yet, this ti was different. The Soviets were willing to offer assistance to Arica. Even though the support was minimal, the gesture was very clear.
Yes, the Soviets were trying to be friendly.
Since they had already reached an agreent with Arica, they needed to show good will. If they acted delightfully malicious as before, it would have been quite awkward, especially since the two superpowers were soon to et. They couldn't afford to appear too overbearing.
The two leaders were being unusually harmonious, and honestly, it left quite a few people puzzled. Today's international relations were clearly black and white; one either sided with Arica or the Soviets. There were very few exceptions.
The international community highly regarded the Soviet actions.
More and more people recognized that the Soviets might genuinely be in trouble. The chaos in Eastern Europe was plain as day to anyone with eyes.
"Sir, do you think the Soviets really can't control the situation this ti?" Tanner asked.
"What do you an?"
"Sir, I think that Gorbachev, or whatever his na is, appears to be quite friendly towards Arica," he added.
William White was a bit taken aback; while he knew this guy had indeed shaken the Soviet foundation, he hadn't realized he was friendly with Arica.
"I suspect he won't be able to keep this up. His reform policies aren't gaining traction," Tanner continued.
"Reform? How can he do that? The elite won't give up their power, how can it possibly succeed?" ca the retort.
...
Due to the sudden disaster, William White stayed on the island a few extra days, and when he finally returned to Los Angeles, it was already a week later.
The earthquake hadn't greatly impacted him; after all, it was hardly a magnitude seven quake. The construction at Bell Labs, however, faced so setbacks. Everyone was focused on disaster relief, so there were no expectations for construction.
William White found it strange that while his other buildings remained intact, the overpass had collapsed; that was quite baffling. Being in an earthquake-prone region, the buildings should have high seismic standards, so it was downright ridiculous for that bridge to fall.
During a disaster, typically schools and gymnasiums would serve as shelters, and they were supposed to withstand at least a seven-point quake, if not an eight.
As for overpasses, one could bet that more stringent regulations would erge from this incident.
As they say, there's no need to wait until the sheep are gone to nd the pen. In Arica, this happens quite often. If soone were to lose their life because of this, there would certainly be plenty of new regulations. It was unfortunate that no one was held accountable for the poor quality of the overpass.
San Francisco suffered unfortunate losses; not only did 63 people die, but the economic damage exceeded 6 billion dollars. On the bright side, Arica still seed to have decent public support; even its biggest enemy had intentions of reconciling.
...
The world wars, effectively, ceased to exist from that mont onward. At least, barring any extrely drastic events, it seed unlikely that anything approaching a world war would occur again.
The Soviets had indeed softened.
Faced with the situation, the Arican public felt confused, or perhaps they simply couldn't adjust.
Arica at that ti lacked confidence. After so many years without war, they couldn't claim to have a battle-ready military, let alone abundant supplies.
For many years, they had undoubtedly entered a race to the bottom with the Soviets. Fortunately, the decline had co from within; even without external interference, it would have been tough for them to recover.
*****
spatreon/Sayonara816.
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