She also had a problem.
Just watching.
She never loaded turn 847 again. But sometimes, late at night, she swore she heard the sound of Zulu war drums coming from the speakers—even when the game wasn’t running. Sid Meiers Civilization 3 Complete
Theodora saved the game. She named it:
The world glitched. For a terrifying second, the lush grasslands of Byzantium snapped into the checkerboard desert of the old Zulu core. Then back. Theodora gripped her throne. She remembered every save. This one—847—was the moment she had made peace with Shaka Zulu in 1730 AD, accepting his pitiful offer of a world map and five gold per turn. A peace that had let her focus on Newton’s University. She also had a problem
She offered: Peace Treaty, All her remaining gold (342), Furs, Spices, and the secret of Rocketry.
He clicked “Accept.”
He didn’t move units. He didn’t attack. He simply renegotiated a peace treaty that had been signed 300 years before he existed.
She demanded: His silence.
Emperor Theodora of Byzantium clicked “End Turn” for the 1,847th time. The year was 2046 AD. Her empire, once a purple splinter on a vast map, now stretched from the old Roman coasts to the radioactive badlands of former Germany. She had tanks. She had stealth bombers. She had a spaceship ten light-years from Alpha Centauri.