Chapter 9 · 1945 to 1962
Cold Light
Two blocs fund both sides through the back door, a war overseas wears the country down, and a secret army of bombers, the Phantom Legion, forces the two sides into uneasy common cause.
- Map
- 20 districts
- Newspaper
- The Evening Wire
- Street lighting
- Electric light
The levels
- Coal Winter25 November 1947
- Two Embassies1 March 1952
- The General's Return23 May 1958
- Paratroopers Over Paris23 April 1961
- The Television Tower18 September 1961
- Night of the Legion22 January 1962
- Interlude 9
After the finale of chapter 9: Cold LightBreak the seal
Chapter 9: Cold LightSealed so it does not spoil the story for you.Break the seal
The booklet opens
Prologue
The occupier was gone, and the city had to decide who had been what. The bread was still rationed and the coal still short.
One way “Paris Rises” can end, version 1
The police who had struck in August 1944 were heroes for a season, and the Prefecture kept its credit.
One way “Paris Rises” can end, version 2
The consul's truce had saved the bridges, and nobody quite knew what the Prefecture had been.
Otherwise
The Prefecture had held for the occupier to the end, and its men kept their jobs and their memories.
If the interlude ended this way: The files were published.
The files of 1945 had been published, and everyone knew whose name was in them.
If the interlude ended this way: The files were sealed for the state.
The files of 1945 had been sealed, and the services kept them for later.
Otherwise
The files of 1945 had been stolen, and nobody knew who had them.
The factions
The Revolution
- Socialists and unions
- The reformist left, the union locals and the deputies, who want the Republic defended and their seats kept.
- Party of Labour
- Jacques Duroc's party: the biggest on the left, disciplined, with its friends in the East.
- The networks
- Deserters, forgers and those who carry suitcases for the other side of the war overseas.
- Intellectuals and students
- The cafés of the Left Bank, the peace appeals, the reporters and the young.
The Law
- The government
- General Maurice Vernier and his ministers, who believe the state should be strong and the President stronger.
- The Army
- Paratroopers, conscripts and officers who have fought one war overseas and are losing another.
- The Prefecture
- Prefect Raymond Pallas's police. Its hardliners have a past that is buried in the files.
- The services
- Counter-intelligence, wiretaps and men who work for whoever pays.
- Industry and the banks
- The new car works, the reconstruction contracts, the money of the boom years.
Neutral factions
- Television and radio
- The state's one channel, the radio stations and Léon Bastien, the anchor everyone watches.
- Shopkeepers
- The newspapers
- The milieu
- East Bloc
- Money, instructions and agents from the East. It funds the Revolution through the back door, and asks for something in return.
- West Bloc
- Aid, bases and agents from the West. It funds the Law through the back door, and asks for something in return.
- Parisians
Characters
- General Maurice Vernier
- Prefect Raymond Pallas
- Jacques Duroc, Party of Labour
- Natalia Kerr, a spy
- Léon Bastien, news anchor
- Colonel Sarrault, Phantom Legion
- Yann, a student
The booklet closes
After the finale of chapter 9: Cold LightSealed so it does not spoil the story for you.Break the seal
Epilogue
If the Revolution won Night of the Legion
The war overseas ended in the spring. The left had marched, and the city had marched with it.
Otherwise
The war overseas ended in the spring. The state had held, and the general's Republic with it.
One version of this page
Both blocs kept their friends, and their files on them.
Otherwise
Nobody owed the blocs anything, which annoyed them both.
The streetlamps were electric now, and the television sets stayed on late.