Though the number of countries Alexander could visit had reduced, thanks to the travel bans, he didn't waste time complaining in Eden. Instead, he chose to visit what countries he still couldespecially those suffering under sanctionsto strengthen their diplomatic ties and economies. After all, it was hardly ever the people in power who suffered, but rather the innocent citizens below them.

During each visit, he would somehow manage to come up with deals that were beneficial to both countriesEden, as the manufacturer and exporter of goods, and the countries he visited, who would receive the cheap products they had sometimes never had. For instance, Cuba had still been using cars produced in the 1940s and 50s from before the United States imposed sanctions on them in 1958 until they struck a deal to import manufactured goods from Eden in trade for certain luxuries, like hand-rolled Cuban cigars. Plus, part of that particular deal washed back on the US in an unexpected way; with an official trade partner who wasn't willing to be bullied by the behemoth called America, the politicians and rich Americans who used to ignore the trade embargo with Cuba and purchase their products cheaply could no longer purchase them at all.

There was a lot of resentment there and Eden had helped vent it.

Another unintended consequence was that Florida, a state that had long relied on refugees and illegal immigrants from Cuba to provide dirt cheap labor, had found itself lacking employees in the hospitality, tourism, and landscaping industries as Cubans could now legally immigrate to Eden, who had opened their doors wide to them.

With similar deals worked out with North Korea, Sudan, Venezuela, Iran, Zimbabwe, and Syria, among others, the lives of a lot of the most oppressed citizens around the globe either already had been, or would soon be vastly improved. In turn, Eden would receive raw materials and immigrants from the countries. The Coeus Foundation had joined forces with Icarus Airlines to ensure that immigration was open between the countries, and the Edenian government's zero-interest farming subsidy loans coupled with advances in organic farming brought by Asclepius Biotech ensured that the new immigrants were settled as soon as possible. And with Panoptes monitoring Pangea and shifting the public discourse, the citizens of Eden were thrilled and proud to be able to offer the same increase in standard of living they enjoyed to the flood of immigrants to their country instead of the rage directed at governments in countries like Germany, where they had a severe problem with Turkish immigrants and refugees illegally crossing the border in search of a better life.

Some of the countries had specific requirements. North Korea, for example, required spare parts for their airline industry, oil, and food. They received more than they gave; though Eden wasn't suffering a loss, they wouldn't gain much from them beyond the satisfaction of spitting in China's eye by driving a wedge into the relationship they'd had since before the Korean War.

Essentially, Eden became the provider for all of North Korea's needs that had been being provided by China, which was something of a diplomatic coup and feather in Eden's cap.

Venezuela, on the other hand, had very little need for oil, money, or other such resources. They enjoyed the finished consumer goods and would repay Eden with their vast gold deposits and national reserve.

At the same time, Alexander's team was also in the talks with Taiwan. Although Taiwan wasn't among the countries that were being sanctioned, what made it special was that it wasn't a UN member. That meant Alexanderor any citizen of Eden, for that matterhad no restriction on travel between them.

Among their talks and discussions before the meeting, they included the possibility of signing an acknowledgement recognizing Taiwan as its own country and not a part of China.

While Alexander's team was in preliminary negotiations with Taiwan, Sarah was having a meeting with the co-CEOs of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC), Doctors Mark Liu and CC Wei, who were visiting Eden. After a two-day-long meeting, they signed an agreement between TSMC and GAIA to sell Taiwan a photolithography machine capable of a 3nm process.

That would be a very lucrative deal for them, as at the moment, they had only recently received 7nm photolithography machines from ASML. And although they had yet to see GAIA's machines at work, they weren't worried; they knew it was a reliable company, and their Z and Q chips were also manufactured with a 3nm process.

The delivery of the first 3nm photolithography machines was scheduled for the day of Alexander's upcoming visit to Taiwan, which would be three months later.

"We suspect Eden is attempting to leverage their industry to access WMD technologies from the countries we have under sanctions. It's the most likely reason for all of Romero's recent visits," Mike Pompeo, the director of the CIA, reported as part of Trump's daily briefing.

"I thought we were just using the threat of finding WMDs to pressure them, but you're telling me they're really building a nuclear program?" Trump asked with some surprise, as it wasn't something that he was expecting at all.

"Unfortunately, yes. We have two theories at the moment. First, it was our accusation of them possessing WMDs that gave them the idea to acquire them, much like North Korea did. And second, they had already been working on it in secret, but our accusation forced them to expedite their plans and stop hiding their development program entirely," Mike said.

"The second theory makes more sense. From the beginning, all of their actions have been aimed at maintaining their neutral stance in global politics, and being a nuclear power would basically give them a shield, kind of like our Mutually Assured Destruction plan from the sixties," General Mattis, the Secretary of Defense elaborated.

"So, what're we supposed to do? The UN sanctions seem to have just made them stronger," Trump asked.

"How about we schedule exercises near Eden in the Pacific? We can retask the US Carl Vinson carrier group and send them down from the South China Sea, or wait until they're free after their demonstrations to China and North Korea," Reince Priebus suggested.

"We can do that. The carrier group is already scheduled for a routine patrol in the Western Pacific, so all we'd have to do is add another exercise to their patrol and increase the scale," General Mattis mused.

"Do that, but we should also increase the DEFCON level to DEFCON4," Trump ordered. This increase in DEFCON level will allow for increased intelligence watch and strengthened security measures.

"How about we entice the nations Eden just visited by dangling the chance that we'll unfreeze some of their assets in return for breaking their treaties with Eden?" Rex Tillerson, the US Secretary of State, suggested.

"How about we increase the sanctions against Eden, too?" another member of the briefing committee suggested.

"We can assassinate some of their high-level politicians and frame China or Russia for it. That'll cause a dispute with another of the big five nations and bring them to our side," Mike Pompeo suggested.

"Let's negotiate first. Go with the carrot and stick approachoffer to relax the sanctions if they break the treaties they just signed, or crank them up if they refuse. Either way, add a travel ban between them and Eden to keep them from cooperating in the future."

The meeting continued from there, moving on from Eden to other important matters. An hour or so later, the meeting wrapped up, and people stood to leave.

"Mike, stay behind," Trump ordered. The rest left the room to start their work for the day; had the president required them, they would have been asked to remain.

When only the two men were left in the room, Trump looked at Pompeo and said, "So about that assassination..."