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Chapter 60: Yashina's War

Irina Yashina’s war was fought not in trenches, but in the sterile, silent world of international banking data. Her investigation into Colonel Chernov’s counter-revolutionary network, a joint operation with Kirill’s Digital Ministry, was a slow, painstaking process of following the money. For months, they had been tracing the ghost-like flow of crypto and dark money funding Chernov’s destabilization campaign.

The breakthrough came from a single, recurring node in the financial web. The money wasn’t just coming from the known fugitive oligarchs. A significant and steady stream was being funneled through a series of supposedly legitimate investment funds based in Zurich. The lead investigator laid the final piece of the puzzle on Yashina’s desk. The primary signatory on the key accounts, the man authorizing the transfers, was a powerful, well-respected banker named Lev Remizov.

Yashina felt a cold knot in her stomach. Remizov was not just any banker. He was a close, lifelong friend and business partner of Viktor Orlov. The implication was politically radioactive: that one of the founding pillars of the new government was secretly funding its most dangerous enemy.

She sat alone in her office for a long time, the file open before her. She was holding a lit stick of dynamite. To pursue this would be to attack the very heart of the new establishment, to risk a war with the man who had financed the revolution. She remembered the promise Voronkov had made her in the hotel suite, the promise of a sword and a shield. She was about to find out if it had been a lie.

In a move of breathtaking audacity, she went to Orlov’s dacha herself before ever informing Voronkov. She sat opposite the oligarch in his private museum of Western art and laid the file on the polished mahogany table between them.

Orlov’s face went from shock to a deep, furious red as he read the summary. “This is an absurdity,” he hissed. “Lev Remizov is a patriot. He has been with me from the beginning. He risked everything. This must be a fabrication, a clever forgery by Chernov designed to divide us.”

Yashina’s gaze was as cold and unyielding as the winter outside. “The financial data is not a forgery, Viktor Ivanovich,” she said, her voice precise. “It is from the SWIFT network, confirmed by the Swiss authorities. For the past six months, your partner has been methodically transferring funds into a holding company controlled by Colonel Chernov. That is a fact. The only question is, did he do it with your knowledge, or without it?”

The question, sharp and brutal, hung in the air between them. This was the moment of truth. Orlov, the man of shifting loyalties and pragmatic choices, could stonewall. He could use his immense power to protect his friend and crush this investigation. He could declare war on Irina Yashina.

He stared at the prosecutor, this severe, unimpressed woman who could not be bought or intimidated. He saw in her the embodiment of the very system he had bet his fortune on: a system of clear, hard, and unforgiving rules. He had made his choice on the day of the coup. Now, he had to live with it.

His face was grim, his decision made. He picked up his secure phone. “Alexei,” he said to Voronkov on the other end. “We have a problem. A serious one. Prosecutor Yashina is on her way to see you. Whatever she asks for, whatever she needs, you give it to her. Do exactly as she says.” He paused, a look of profound, weary resolve on his face. “I’m making a call to Zurich.”

He had chosen the new rules over his old friend. It was a painful, brutal, but necessary act of faith in the new Russia he had helped to build. The hunt for the traitors within their own walls had begun.

The Discourse, 60: The Incorruptible Institution as a Pillar of State

Section 60.1: The True Test of Institutional Independence
This section demonstrates the true test of an independent state institution. It is not its ability to prosecute the crimes of a former regime; that is a relatively easy and politically popular task. The true test is whether the institution is willing and able to investigate and prosecute powerful figures within the current ruling establishment. Yashina's decision to pursue the investigation, despite its profound political risks, is the moment the Anti-Corruption Bureau transitions from a tool of the new government into a genuine, independent pillar of the state.

Section 60.2: The "Guardian of the Rules" vs. The "Player of the Game"
The confrontation between Yashina and Orlov is a classic conflict between two distinct roles within a political system. Orlov is a "player of the game." He is a brilliant and pragmatic actor who operates within a system to maximize his interests, and his loyalty is ultimately to his own survival and the success of his "team." Yashina represents the "guardian of the rules." Her loyalty is not to any player, but to the integrity of the game itself. She believes that the rules must apply equally to all, or they are meaningless. Orlov’s final decision to support her is a moment of profound significance: it is the powerful "player" submitting to the authority of the "guardian," a necessary condition for the establishment of a true rule-of-law state.

Section 60.3: The Choice Between Alliances and Principles
Orlov's dilemma—to protect a loyal, long-term ally or to uphold the abstract principles of the new state—is a defining character test. In the old, clan-based system of the former regime, loyalty to one's own was the highest and only virtue. Protecting an ally, regardless of their crimes, would have been the automatic and expected choice. Orlov’s decision to sacrifice his friend in favor of the "rules" is the most concrete and personally costly demonstration that he has truly committed to the new system. It is an act that solidifies his own position as a founder of the new state, but it is also an act of self-interest: he recognizes that a transparent, rule-based system, even one that costs him an old friend, is a far more stable and profitable long-term environment for his own interests than the paranoid, clan-based chaos of the old world.