Impunity for Aid: Nzele's Staggering Ultimatum
Plot Beats
The narrative micro-steps within this event
Robbie presents Nzele's demands: $500 million in aid, assurance of continued power, and immunity from prosecution for war crimes.
Leo reacts with disbelief to Nzele's audacious demands, highlighting the moral and ethical stakes.
Who Was There
Characters present in this moment
Polite urgency — composed outwardly while cognizant of the note's importance and the meeting's gravity.
Enters the office politely but urgently, announces 'Mr. Ambassador', and hands Leo a small urgent note which functions as the trigger for next action; her delivery redirects the meeting outward toward executive escalation.
- • To deliver time-sensitive communication to Leo without delay
- • To maintain procedural flow and enable rapid decision-making
- • That timely, accurate delivery of messages is critical during crises
- • That her role is to facilitate, not to interpret, the intelligence being handled
Not shown; implied urgency — Leo's order implies Fitzwallace must be on standby and prepared to advise on or execute military options.
Referenced by Leo as the senior military leader who must be contacted; not present but his name is invoked to mobilize military counsel and readiness.
- • (Implied) To prepare military options and brief the President once contacted
- • (Implied) To ensure force readiness and advise on operational implications
- • That military counsel is essential to resolving the crisis
- • That swift coordination between civilian leadership and military is required
Alert and concerned — registers the political and moral implications and prepares to help operationalize the response.
Seated in the meeting, receives the urgent note from Leo and absorbs the new, darker frame of the crisis; acts as a senior adviser present for the next steps.
- • To understand the implications of the demand and advise on counterstrategy
- • To coordinate follow-up actions with military and diplomatic leads
- • That Nzele is leveraging atrocity for political protection
- • That rapid coordination with military leadership is necessary to avoid being manipulated
Calmly serious — conveys bad news with controlled clarity, allowing the moral outrage around him to take shape without theatrics.
Delivers the essential intelligence: states the three-part demand plainly and without flourish, providing the factual nucleus that shocks the room and triggers Leo's orders.
- • To convey the facts of Nzele's demands accurately and succinctly
- • To ensure decision-makers have the precise terms required for immediate action
- • That accurate, unembellished information is the prerequisite for sound executive response
- • That these demands will force an escalation in U.S. policy
Not shown; by invocation the President is placed into the orbit of urgent moral accountability and expected to respond decisively.
Named by Leo as the person who must be contacted; not present in the room but immediately implicated as the decision-maker who will be forced into a grave moral and political choice.
- • (Implied) To be informed and to authorize next-level responses
- • (Implied) To balance humanitarian, military, and political consequences in a decision
- • That such an extortion demand cannot be treated as a routine diplomatic negotiation
- • That presidential authority is required to authorize any major escalation
Not directly shown; implied to be attentive and potentially anxious given the gravity of the demands being discussed.
Implicitly present as the note is addressed to 'Mr. Ambassador' and his presence is acknowledged; he functions as the diplomatic interlocutor whose proximity intensifies the moral stakes of the demand.
- • To represent Kuhndu's government and listen to U.S. responses
- • To convey tensions and possibly mediate between Kuhndu and the U.S.
- • That his presence matters to the legitimacy of the discussion
- • That U.S. reaction will influence Kuhndu's options
Objects Involved
Significant items in this scene
Margaret's urgent note functions as a procedural catalyst: delivered to Leo at the moment the demand is stated, it contains time-sensitive information (addressed to 'Mr. Ambassador') and prompts Leo to shift from analysis to immediate executive action by ordering calls.
Robbie verbalizes the terms of 'Nzele's $500 Million Undirected Aid Demand' as the core factual content driving the scene; the object represents the literal demand and frames the crisis as extortion, changing the meeting's tone and agenda.
Narrative Connections
How this event relates to others in the story
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Key Dialogue
"ROBBIE: "#500 million in undirected aid. Assurance that he stays in power-- a guarantee that he and his top aides will receive immunity from prosecution for war crimes.""
"LEO: "He's killed 115,000 people and he wants to stay in power, get immunity and cash a check for half a billion dollars?""
"LEO: "Get me Fitzwallace and then get me the President.""