Tyranny of Steel

Berengar stood in his war room by his lonesome. He had been up all night, for the past three nights, working on this project sitting in front of him. On a large table sat a miniature replica of the city of Kufstein, including the subterranean level where the sewers currently existed.

Unlike the actual city of Kufstein, there were several major changes done to this replica. Most notably were his most recent improvements in power lines and street lights. Yet, there were other notable exceptions to this. Stop lights, stop signs, bicycle lanes, and bus stops were all added to the surface level of the city. While below the city, there were pipelines and storage facilities intended to allow the transfer and storage of bio-diesel so that they could be pumped into the public transit system Berengar had devised.

In the streets, double Decker busses roamed to their hearts' contents while transporting civilians from one end of the city to the other. Beside them were trucks carrying goods from the countryside to the cities. The miniature city of Kufstein was alive and prosperous as Berengar smiled at it.

Eventually the Kaiser shifted his gaze from the Trade District to the Palace District, where his sight fell in front of the Royal Palace where a small car based upon the Mercedes Benz 770 lie in the driveway. Surrounding it were precisely sculpted miniature figurines of Berengar and his family.

This miniature city was an example of the future of Kufstein. Berengar already designed everything in this replica to be used in the real world. He had been hard at work since his return from Africa, developing the technology that would be needed to advance Germany into the age of electricity and combustion engines. All he needed was to wait for it to be produced and implemented. In a few years, Kufstein, and many of Germany's major cities, would look like this, more or less.

As he was playing around with the figures, the door to the room opened to reveal the curvy figure of the Princess Henrietta. The girl had bags under her eyes, and her hair was a mess. It would appear she was up just as late as Berengar working her damndest to make sure the finances were in place to fund this city wide renovation. She smiled when she saw her big brother, before handing him the expense report while kissing him on the cheek.

"It's all done. The numbers have been crunched, the funds are in place. We will begin adding these plans of yours to the ongoing Grand Infrastructure Project immediately."

Berengar smiled and pet his sister's silky golden hair while hugging her tightly. He praised the girl for her hard work before kissing her on the forehead.

"That's my Henrietta. I knew I could count on you! You truly are the best!"

Henrietta wore a pretty smile on her face while blushing profusely as she received such praise from her precious big brother. If she had a tail, she would be wagging it at this moment. She was so caught up in her brother's embrace that she did not notice the replica of the city until this secon. Berengar noticed her curious gaze and asked the question on his mind.

"You want to see it?"

Henrietta nodded her head obediently, causing Berengar to smile before leading her over to the replica.

"This is Kufstein, or more importantly, it is what Kufstein will look like in a few years! Is it not glorious?"

Henrietta carefully observed the city and everything in it. It was truly marvelous in her eyes. She was shocked to see how much thought Berengar had put into this. Even more so on how far their family's territory had come in a decade under her brother's reign. She could not help but comment on her astonishment.

"It's truly amazing. I can't believe that ten years ago, we were in a small farming town, and soon enough, this metropolis will be our hometown. So much has changed since you took power. You're now an emperor, and I'm an imperial princess. Sometimes it is mind-boggling just how far we have come."

After saying this, Henrietta's gaze shifted all the way to the Royal Palace, where she saw the miniatures that represented the family. She smiled when she saw her own figurine. After a while, she carefully counted the numbers before addressing her concern.

"Big brother, you're missing one!"

Berengar gazed upon the scene of his family standing outside the car and carefully observed the numbers, he had gone through painstaking lengths to accurately sculpt his entire family for this replica, and he knew for certain he had gotten all of his family members, thus after recounting he denied this accusation.

"No, I'm not. I think I would know if I forgot to sculpt a figure of one of my children!"

However, Henrietta had a coquettish expression on her face as she wrapped Berengar's hands around her belly. After doing so, she whispered something in his ear.

"You're missing this little one right here!"

Berengar chuckled as he kissed the girl on the forehead before hugging her.

"You're pregnant? Again? God damn, what is with you girls?"

Henrietta scoffed and feigned offense when she heard this.

"Well, maybe if you used protection, this wouldn't happen so often. Besides, this is only our second child together. I'm behind the others!"

Berengar shivered when he heard the word protection before rejecting the notion.

"The idea of wearing a condom made of goat intestines freaks me out. I'd rather just pull out and roll the dice!"

This response caused Henrietta to giggle as she held onto Berengar while making fun of him.

"Well, it appears the odds are not in your favor, my dear big brother..."

It was Berengar's turn to make fun of Henrietta as he bopped her nose with his finger.

"Hey, I'm your nephew, remember?"

Henrietta pouted while breaking away from Berengar's grasp when he said this and proceeded to walk towards the door. In that moment, Berengar thought he had pissed the girl off with that statement, and immediately followed after her. Surprisingly, she turned around with a playful grin on her face and kissed him before expressing the following.

"I don't recognize that as canon... Now come, big brother, let's go take a bath before the others wake up!"

Berengar chuckled when he heard this and allowed himself to be dragged away by the wrist. He had said that same phrase himself more than once in his past life in response to certain major works that went in a direction he didn't like, but he never expected his sister to say it about their lineage.

He would soon enter the bath, where he and Henrietta stripped out of their lavish attire before relaxing in their tub, which was the size of a swimming pool. Henrietta sat in Berengar's lap, and allowed her brother to clean every inch of her body, before she responded in kind.

By the time they were finished enjoying themselves, the rest of the family awoke, and the duo were forced to cut their time together short. After all, Adela was bound to get jealous if she figured out the two of them had gotten together without her, and neither of them wanted to listen to her furious monologue.

With this planning, the cities of the German Empire would enter the next stage of evolution. Those that were not yet fully industrialized would instantly be kicked past the age of steam and enter the world of electricity. Berengar had a ten-year plan in mind. This plan was for the Reich to enter a level of Great War era technology throughout the borders of the fatherland. With the redesigning of the cities, he had achieved the first step on this decade long journey.