@cstross the actual British Government or the New Management one?
In the former case, probably by organising the Great British Smith-Off and have the winner fix the sword 😅
For the New Management I'm not sure how they'd handle the smithing, but it would definitely be hardened in a bathtub of blood.
I voted for BAe, but I like the other options too!
@cstross Really it could be all four together. Fat contact to BAe who turns around and outsources the work to the local RenFair blacksmith (while skimming millions off the top). But nefarious agencies know that blood sacrifice will poison the will of Excalibur, causing it to become a force for unstoppable evil, so they possess the PM's Chauffeur's Bestie to ensure an innocent victim is "accidentally" killed in the final forging ceremony.
The Laundry is called in, of course. Hijinks ensue.
@cstross They wouldn't,they would be afraid that supreme executive power would be conferred in a bizarre aquatic ceremony.
Too much of a risk.
The real answer is that it would be destroyed because Arthur coming back would be completely against Home Office Policy and disruptive to the public good.
I think it was #YesMinister that had #SirHumphrey say that a second coming of Jesus would be disruptive to the Church of England's ongoing mission, at one point.
@cstross Don't see why they would waste a good blade on a benefit claimant when Michael Gove still walks the earth.
"The party opposite is the opposition, your enemies are all around you."
The real stolen fragments would end up in a vault with the spear of destiny, and a very rich tech bro will buy the collection to help establish a feudal system with them. Our Techbro-King will have AI advisors for all matters of state. It will not go well.
@wordshaper @TonyJWells @cstross plant is not actively malicious, so the net effect is actually above-baseline.
Give the emu a couple of years of oligarch graft though, and it will be swanning about with anti-immigrant skinheads and scarpering out of meetings to party with Prince Andrew.
It's less a round table, more a badly sorted lookup table
E Squadron --> CIA SOG/SAD —> Lockheed Martin for materials research. Nobody needs a jumped-up sword these days unless they’re selling steak knives on TV.
@cstross
There's not a chance in hell the chauffeur's mate doesn't get the job.
All the others stand a chance of getting somewhere.
@cstross went with hardening in blood of claimant, as BAe Systems would never get the contract these days.
It’d be lowest bidder, go to some shell company in the Caymans spun up by a Tory peer a week previously with no prior smithing experience, go spectacularly over budget and schedule and eventually deliver an IKEA steak knife
Re-forged in the fires of Mount Doom, surely?
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