📘 SECTION 1: The World is Collapsing. You're in Charge.

December 2007, Harare, Zimbabwe

You wake to pounding on your front door. Three black sedans idle in your driveway, their engines running in the pre-dawn darkness. Presidential guards.

"The President wants to see you. Now."

Twenty minutes later, you sit across from Robert Mugabe in his private study. The room is silent except for the ticking of an antique clock. On his desk lie newspaper headlines: "BREAD SHORTAGES WORSEN," "FUEL QUEUES STRETCH FOR MILES," "HOSPITALS RUN OUT OF MEDICINE."

You are Dr. Gideon Gono, Governor of Zimbabwe's central bank. But today's crisis isn't really about banking—it's about something more fundamental. Your country simply doesn't have enough of what people desperately need.

Mugabe spreads three reports across his desk:

Food Production: Zimbabwe's commercial farms, once the region's breadbasket, now produce 60% less grain than five years ago. Supermarket shelves sit empty.

Fuel Supply: The country's foreign currency reserves can't cover oil imports. Gas stations have fuel maybe two days per week.

Medical Supplies: Hospitals lack basic medicines. Doctors perform surgeries without anesthesia.

"Every choice we make means someone suffers," Mugabe says grimly. "We have limited government resources. Limited foreign currency. Limited time before people revolt."

He leans forward. "You understand economics, Governor. Help me decide how to use what little we have left."