“We engage them with intimidation and bait them with lies to trip them up and trap them in emotional and costly accusations.”
“That sounds, however, like something they could avoid.”
“Some of them can, but we have successfully undermined – made elastic – the ethical foundations of others so much so that we are able to keep a significant part of their population fearful and gullible about anything their media gives us the opportunities to tell them.”
“What backup is there if this doesn’t work?”
“As backup we have compromised key politicians, officials and professional leadership who can be blackmailed if need be to act in our interests and we’ve manipulated their radicalized stooges to foment social unrest – and, don’t forget, our scientists have now proven that they can engineer targeted and deadly viruses.”
“So, if what you’re telling me is true, as long as they keep shooting themselves in the foot, we have a chance to get our hands around their throats.”
Linked to Six Sentence Story where Denise offers the prompt word “elastic” which must appear somewhere in a story of only six sentences.

