Autumn passed, winter followed, and by the end of spring the world had changed subtly, but in ways that would forever shift the scale of civilization.
In the months that followed the introduction of German military police onto Swiss soil, the nation went from being economically devastated and filled with civil strife to stabilized across the board.
The Swiss Confederation had by no means fixed all of its problems. In fact, the economy was still on the downturn. But the streets were safe, infrastructure that had been left to rot was being restored.
Shopkeepers who had once shuttered their windows before dusk now left them open well into the evening. German patrols passed at regular intervals; not as conquerors, but as a constant, predictable presence.
Where once arguments had turned to violence in the streets, now they ended in muttered frustration and dispersal. Even the black market, once brazen and loud, had retreated into whispers and shadows.
