Temporal Index: 1928
Spatial Reference: Geneva Switserland
''Esteemed guests of the militia command, please this way. Sir Kyle will join us shortly!'' Billy politely bowed and pointed towards the saloon, where the fireplace was already heating up the room, as snow could be seen falling outside. Yet as the two men proceeded into the room, Billy poured them a nice cup of hot coffee, ''You gentlemen must have come from afar, please warm up with this coffee from Yemen.'' The two men silently picked up the cups and enjoyed the drink. Billy puts a paper roll with holes into the Player Piano[1] to lighten the atmosphere. ''Sir, this coffee tastes quite sour. Are you sure you used the right coffee beans?'' One of the two inspectors said as he downed the cup so as not to embarrass the host. ''No, you see, the coffee was mixed with Psilocybe cubensis[2], a natural product in nature, it can help loosen the mind...'' Billy smiled gently as he chatted with the inspectors.
Kyle, having discussed everything with Delta, proceeded to the Saloon, having read that these inspectors were actually from Schweizerische Industrie Gesellschaft (SIG), and hurried to work on a new weapon design, unaware of what Billy was doing. ''Bloody hell, mate, your eyes are huge!'' A shout came from the saloon as the inspector known as Smit pointed at his colleague. More and more weird noises came from the Saloon, and when Kyle entered, Billy was leisurely sipping tea whilst writing down any potential useful information. ''Gentlemen, Sir Kyle is here,'' Billy said as the two gentlemen tried everything to be rational, yet tripping on hallucinogens made life very difficult. ''Billy, what have you done?'' Kyle sighed as he sat down, ''Only a small dosage of Psilocybe cubensis should wear off in an hour or two.'' Billy looked at his pocket watch as he spoke.
''KYLE! KYLE! We wanne make shooty shooty together!'' Smit said in a loud voice before softening as he realised how loud he was. A deadpan face could be seen on his face, ''I will say chap, this is the best worst coffee I have ever had!'' The other inspector laughed through tears. Food was quickly provided, and both Kyle and Billy waited patiently as the inspectors went through their trip. Some useful yet unverified information was obtained.
A loud cough could be heard as the inspectors looked, clearly displeased with Billy and, indirectly, with Kyle. ''My sincerest apologies for my Butler's antics.'' Kyle bowed lightly, ''It helps him deal with the shell shock from during the Great War.'' Pointing at a photo of Billy with his platoon mates in the trenches. Smit sighed and waved, saying it was fine; it did not harm them in the end. ''Now, gentlemen, why have you come to visit me, a minor Historian and economic investor?'' Kyle scrutinised them as he was not well-known. Both inspectors looked confused, unaware he was an investor. ''Our apologies, we know you have studied small arms in depth and are the best in Switzerland, your economic prowess we are unaware of... could you enlighten us?'' Smit took the lead in speaking whilst the other opened a briefcase. Kyle smiled and mentioned only his 'true' ventures in the South African Diamond trade and the West African Gold trade, pulling out a medium-sized diamond and a small nug of gold he had taken from the briefcase. 'To establish a presence, I must enter the Swiss economic sphere!' Kyle knew the true path to power was either politics or economics. Knowing Swiss politics would never allow the consolidation of power, he needed to take the economic route.
Both looked not too surprised, ''A noble and stable venture, Mr. Kyle, if you do not mind our company has recently full serialized and started producing the KE7 light machinegun, nonetheless we are looking for experts in both the present and the past to help us understand the future weapons market better and are willing to provide a contract to come to Bern and help us design a new machinegun for the Swiss army.'' Smit stated that whilst handling an experimental blueprint that builds on the KE7 design from 1925, despite changes to many components, many characteristics remain similar to the KE7. Kyle seriously looked over the design for a full 20 minutes before putting it down, ''Outdated.'' was the simple statement Kyle gave the design. Both inspectors looked strangely at Kyle. "We would like more reasoning, as it is a bit insulting to belittle the work of many of our finest engineers." Smit was displeased both with the previous antics of Kyle's butler and his own lack of decorum towards them.
''Gentlemen, we have to understand firstly that Switzerland is a nation with no army; it relies on a militia system for defending our Homeland from foreign aggression. This no one can deny. Nonetheless, we equip and train our militia according to normal army standards of other nations, where all men must serve and be trained, having their gun and some ammunition at home in case we call upon them. The state outside of that has a token air force, stockpiles for ammunition and weapons such as artillery, anti-air and other heavier weapons in stockpile for the militia.'' Kyle signalled his butler as he spoke, both inspectors nodding in agreement with the analysis, 'Thank god the previous inhabitant was already leaning towards trying to make an assault rifle, so we can use his blackboard.'
Soon, a blackboard with multiple black-and-white images was seen being pulled in by Billy. ''The Rifle, or its contemporaries, has been the stable firearm throughout modern history, dating back centuries. Where, at the end of the 19th Century, the machine gun firing rounds similar to those of the rifle was becoming prominent. With the Great War, truly highlighting its importance, a new weapon, the submachine gun, was used by the Germans in the trenches for close-quarter combat.'' Kyle pointed at the images of the different weapons history has given to us. Both inspectors do not disagree, as this is just a recounting of recent history.
Flipping the whiteboard, a map of Switzerland can be seen, ''Logically speaking, trench warfare is a difficult approach in our Alpine terrain, meaning SMGs are mostly useful for urban warfare, where our Gewehr 1911 becomes difficult to use. Yet Switzerland is not one large city; hence rifles and machine guns are the logical choice, as can be seen in your development of the KE7 light machine gun; it is mobile and easy to use in Swiss terrain. An excellent design choice.'' Before Kyle could continue his lecture, Smit interrupts, ''If you agree the KE7 is an excellent design choice, why voice it being obsolete?''
Kyle then pulls a rope, ringing a bell downstairs, ''Delta, bring in the Federov Avtomat!'' Kyle shouted as a smaller bell rang in response. ''You both understand Switzerland's largest problem is that its geography hampers supply lines, hence by diversifying our arsenal and ammunition, we are not helping our militia. Secondly, since we have a smaller population and army, we have to make up for this with the firepower of a single militaman. As for most powers, steel is valuable, and humans are not; our militiamen are valuable, whilst steel is not!'' As Kyle was speaking, Delta walked in holding a weapon not seen by most, even both Inspectors looked surprised as Kyle grabbed the weapon, ''The Federov Avtomat, only 3200 made during 1913-1915 in Russia, now the Soviet Union. Using the Japanese 6.5x50 intermediate cartridge, it offers the power of a rifle and the firepower of a machine gun, with its 25-round magazine. Whilst major powers see no use in this as it is not as good as a rifle nor a machine gun, for Switzerland, it is perfect, not saying to use this specifically, but your KE7 already resembles the idea as it is a 25-round machine gun, basically this with a large cartridge.'' Kyle passed the gun to the inspectors, who are finally understanding what Kyle is coming to. ''Switzerland must treat its militia not like Germany and France nor Italy, the Swiss Militia is Swiss and shall be styled to defend the Swiss homeland better than any doctrine the larger powers come up with!'' Kyle smiled as he stated boldly.
[1] Found in many homes and public places like small theaters, player pianos used a perforated paper music roll to automatically play the piano keys and sometimes accompanying pipe organs or special sound effects. (according to google Ai summary)
[2] Known today as Magic Mushroom