Tyranny of Steel

Berengar sat in his office with a round white pill twirling between his fingertips. His gaze was not one of fondness, rather one of serious contemplation. At the moment the kaiser was facing a moral dilemma, one that his lead chemist Aldo von Passau was unaware of as he touted the benefits of this new wonder drug. 

"It's called methamphetamine. To put it simply, it's a stimulant, and a highly effective one at that. Some of our Chemists have been working for sometime on a compound that will help increase a soldier's performance on the battlefield. As far as our testing shows, it's completely safe in limited doses, and aids in things such as focus, energy, and overall willingness to engage in combat."

There was a proud smile on Aldo's face as he waited for the Kaiser's response. He was quite pleased with the results of his team's research. However, Berengar was far from happy. There was a grim expression on his face as he outlined a certain side effect that this drug most certainly had, one that Aldo and his team of chemists had completely overlooked. 

"It is also highly addictive, and you would know that if you had done any long-term studies. You have put me in a precarious situation, as this drug will be highly beneficial to combat operations in the short term, but will leave our soldiers in an addicted state when the war is over. But, I suppose sooner or later I would have to face this dilemma. I must congratulate you on being the first person to make me consider a solution to this previously non-existent problem."

Aldo was utterly astonished by Berengar's words. He himself did not know that methamphetamines were highly addictive. As a result, he was quick to voice his doubts.

"My Kaiser, how do you-"

Before he could even finish his question, Berengar sighed heavily, before responding in a depressed tone.

"I just know... Let's leave it at that. However, now I am stuck in a rather unfavorable situation. The fact that this drug now exists, and that people know how to make it, means that it is only a matter of time before people start reproducing it for their own gain. 

Once this drug hits the streets, it will cause serious societal problems. So I have two options. I can outlaw the substance, and wage a war against drugs, to ensure that it no longer exists in my society. This is, of course, completely unfeasible, and any attempt to do so would only cause more problems than it would solve.

Or I can regulate the production of methamphetamine and establish treatment centers across my Empire for people who suffer from the eventual addiction that this synthesized compound will cause.

While I'm at it, I might as well invest in mental health facilities to aid those who have endured trauma, such as our veterans. The fact that I have neglected such a thing up until this point is practically criminal.

Now that I have talked myself into accepting this. Allow me to ask you a simple question: how much methamphetamine can you produce within a week?" 

Aldo went into silence for several moments, reflecting on everything that Berengar had said. He was amazed at how quickly the kaiser could come up with an appropriate solution to a problem he was immediately faced with. Though he did not doubt the Kaiser's words about methamphetamine being an addictive substance, he was actually rather curious about how the man knew such a thing. 

People often referred to Aldo as the Father of Modern Chemistry, but in reality it was Berengar who introduced him to the basic concept of science. He still, after all these years, had no idea how the man knew so much knowledge that the rest of the world had yet to discover.

In the grand scheme of things, this was far more astonishing than simply knowing that meth was addictive, and yet Aldo had never questioned it before, thus he decided to drop the subject, and instead focused on calculating how much methamphetamine he could create within a week.  After a brief moment of thought, he gave a simple answer. 

"Assuming we receive enough funding, and have one or two men working on it as their primary task. We could produce roughly 136 kilograms of methamphetamine every week." 

Berengar nodded his head in response to this question. He pondered about the subject for several moments in deep contemplation before revealing his thoughts on the matter.

"When you leave here, I want you to make an expense report, including everything you need to start up a dedicated production facility. Once you have done so, send it to Henrietta and she will approve the funding for your new lab. Just to make it clear, I want a clean, and pure product, that is made in low enough doses as to not cause any harm to the user. 

Within a month, I want as much meth as you can produce. I intend to use the Anangpur Army as a testing pool to see just how effective this drug can be on the battlefield. If there isn't anything else, then you are free to leave."

Aldo bowed his head with respect and thanked the Kaiser for his support before making an exit. 

"I thank you, as always, for the unconditional support you have shown me and my team. Since that is all, I must bid you farewell." 

After saying this, the man left the room. It was only after he was gone that Berengar stared at the small white tablet in his hands with intense curiosity. After several moments of wracking his brain around the idea, he popped the pill into his mouth and swallowed it with a bottle of sparkling water. 

It did not take long for the effects to hit, where Berengar felt as if his mind had entered a state of laser like focus. He quickly pulled out an empty paper and began working on designs for a replacement for the vacuum tube computer that he had recently introduced. 

Since he had already introduced magnetic core memory, all that was left to upgrade the computer was the invention of circuit boards and transistors. Which he quickly got to work producing. In fact, his progress was far greater than in the past, as the drug flowed through his veins, and propelled his mind at a rate he never thought possible. 

Within two hours, a series of fully detailed blueprints were created, and shipped off to the proper research departments. So that the poorly efficient vacuum tube computers, which required high maintenance, could be phased out of service and replaced with second generation computers. 

In fact, by the time the new guided missile cruisers and destroyers were finished, they would make use of these more efficient computers to guide their missile systems. If not for the methamphetamine flowing in Berengar's veins, he would never have bothered developing such advanced technology so early on. 

However, with his stimulated focus, and a body filled with enough energy to power a Dyson sphere, Berengar was able to complete a day's worth of work in a mere two hours. Even then, once he was finished with these designs, the energy had not dissipated, and instead, he worked on other matters with a similar level of intensity until he finally came down from his high. 

Despite what Berengar was anticipating, he did not feel irritated, drowsy, or depressed when he was no longer in a state of stimulation. Perhaps his body had not developed an addiction to such a substance on the first try, like he had expected it would.

Or perhaps, like everything, Meth was best used in moderation. In truth, Berengar did not know the answer to this, but he did not want to become a worthless junky, and despite the advantages that the drug had showed during his use of it. He made a conscious decision not to take it again.

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