Chapter 283: Otto
Brandenburg Palace, Berlin - June 1927
There was a knock at the door. Strange. Otto wasn't expecting anybody at this time.
"Who is it?" he asked.
"It's me, Victoria Louise," said a girl's voice.
"Come in," said Otto.
The door opened, and a girl his age walked inside. Victoria Louise von Hohenzollern-Maximilian was always welcome to show up in his study room. Otto liked everything about her. Her wavy auburn hair and blue eyes, her intelligence and wit...the only downside was that she was a Maximist. When he came of age he resolved to have a civil discussion with Duke Franz Ferdinand.
"What are you reading?" asked Victoria Louise, noticing Otto's book.
"Just practicing," said Otto.
"You're really doing this, aren't you?" she said.
"Hindenburg told me he had no other choice," replied Otto.
"That old man?" laughed Victoria Louise. "Sending kids to negotiate with strikers? Sounds like the old field marshal has gone mad."
"I would have thought that too, if Ludendorff didn't agree with him," said Otto.
"But you are going to do it."
Otto nodded.
"Is everybody crazy now?!" she shouted. "You're just a kid! They won't listen to a kid!"
"I am the Kaiser," said Otto, "I may be a kid, but I am the Kaiser of the Romans, not the Kaiser of Rome. I must listen to their grievances and find a way to resolve them. It is my job to protect them. So I will go meet with those strikers, and I will come to an agreement with them."
Victoria Louise sighed. "I guess that if I can't stop you, nobody can. Just don't get hurt out there, Otto."
"I know, I know," said Otto, picking up his stuff and fixing his plain commoner's outfit, "Don't worry about me. Worry about how they'll react..."
---
Industrial District, Berlin
The car pulled up in front of the abandoned warehouse. The driver stepped out and opened the passenger door, helping the young Otto out. The Kaiser glanced around him, taking in the gray surroundings. Smokestacks, no longer belching thick clouds of smoke, rose from concrete buildings, their gray walls and dark windows covered in graffiti and shreds of paint. Looking through one window, Otto could see rusting machinery, production lines with half-finished items on them, completely abandoned. Once there were dozens of men and women working on these machines. He knew that their employers hadn't always treated them with the respect they deserved, but their efforts had driven the Reich forward into the future.
Aside from his driver, he was alone. He didn't know how many strikers had shown up, but he wasn't afraid of anything. He didn't even carry a pistol; he never really liked guns, compared to his great-uncle.
He was a bit nervous. Of course this was a tense situation, one which could destabilize his empire. He knew that the fate of over a billion citizens rested on his shoulders. He stopped himself from hyperventilating, remembering Ludendorff's briefings.
Okay, calm down, he told himself,
You can do this. You've prepared for this.
He took a deep breath and pushed open the doors to the warehouse.
The rusted doors croaked loudly, announcing his entrance, before slamming shut behind him, the noise echoing through the empty warehouse. Before him he saw a single middle-aged man, wearing the clothes of a factory worker, sitting at a table.
"Ah, you must be the Kaiser," said the man, gesturing to an empty chair, "Please. Have a seat."
Otto wasn't used to being invited to sit at a table, but he obliged and sat down.
"You know who I am," said Otto, "I would like to know who I am negotiating with."
"My name is Konrad Adenauer," said the man, "I am fifty-one years old this year. I studied at Munich Imperial University and graduated with a degree in law. I served as the mayor of Cologne, my hometown, for two years before the war. My eldest son was killed in Lithuania, and my second eldest son was left with a limp after working in a barrel factory--"
"Okay, I get it," Otto said, "You suffered some personal losses in the war, Mr. Adenauer, I get it."
"You can't possibly get it," said Adenauer, "You? A boy who has lived in privilege for his entire life? A boy who has never found anything lacking? A boy who never had to see the poverty that my father raised me in, let alone experience it? How can you get it?"
Otto leaned over the table.
"When I was five," he said, "My father became Kaiser. Six months later, he was assassinated by a Hashshashin agent. My mother went back to Paphlagonia and never returned. I grew up without parents, given responsibilities I never wanted. Lesson after lesson after lesson...while I knew what their intentions were, I did not like the pressure.
"One day, I decided I had enough of being Kaiser. When I was ten, one of my tutors was taking me on a tour of the city. I slipped away and vanished into the crowds. I got lost within minutes and somehow wandered into the industrial district. I tripped over a loose pipe and fell down, taking a nasty blow to the head. I cried for a whole hour. Nobody came, although I heard people working inside the factories. I came to realize that I'd taken my doctors for granted without even knowing it.
"Eventually, a kind old man--a Turkish man--found me. He and his wife ran a small restaurant down the street. He took me to his home, where his wife fed me as well as possible. That day I watched him work. He was a hard worker, trying to make money and satisfy all of his customers. I watched as he worked way into the night, not even taking a single break.
"I then had another impromptu lesson in the life of the working man. One of the man's customers refused to pay for his food and spit in the man's face, calling him a few slurs I can't remember--something to do with goats and heretics. There was a short argument, and then the customer drew a knife and stabbed him in the chest before running away, leaving him to bleed to death on the cold hard ground while everybody simply watched. I rushed over to his side, watching his life drain away. I remembered that man's death as clearly as if it were yesterday. I can still see the fear in his eyes, his hands reaching for the hilt of the knife sticking out of his chest, his panicked breathing. And then his head rolled to the side, and he was dead. Just like my father had died. Only this man died for no reason at all.
"The Athanatoi found me a few minutes later and returned me to the palace, but I remembered everything that happened that day. From that day on I vowed to make sure none of my citizens would have to go through what that man did. So if you think I don't know what it is like to be an average citizen trying to get by in life, think again."
Adenauer sighed. "Just because you cite one experience doesn't mean you completely understand how we live."
"Mr. Adenauer," replied Otto, "You tell me you grew up in Cologne and have a degree as a lawyer. You were also mayor of Cologne. And yet you try to represent the interests of the working class, but you are not one of them yourself."
"That is different," said Adenauer, "My sons were factory workers. I myself have associated with socialist organizations and trade unions since I was in college."
"Just because you cite some family members' experiences doesn't mean you completely understand how the people you represent live. Anyways, we are here to discuss terms?"
Adenauer nodded. "What are you proposing?"
"I am prepared to use my powers as Kaiser to grant all of your proposals regarding higher wages, decreased work hours, and expanded employee benefits. In addition, I shall implement a temporary subsidy so that all of you can get back on your feet. The companies in question which caused the strike to occur will be fined and forced to offer a public apology. In short, I agree with all of the demands put forward by the moderate factions."
"That's it?" said Adenauer. "I was expecting more demands from your side."
"Consider it my generosity that I am not making many demands for myself and my government," said Otto, "One of the perks of being an absolute monarch. Actually, I do have one request."
"I'm listening."
"I'd like to appoint you and a few other trade union leaders as senators to the Diet. If I am to make sure this doesn't happen again, I will need you to help me out."
Adenauer laughed. "And I thought you were going to demand that we disband a few unions! That doesn't even sound like a demand! I hope Hindenburg is okay with it."
"The old Chancellor is going to have a heart attack, but he'll get over it, especially when I come of age," said Otto, "So, we have a deal?"
He held out his hand.
Adenauer stood up, grinning. "Sure."
They shook hands.
