The receptionist paled slightly as she scanned the man's passport. It was a Coalition passport, and not a fake one at that. What could this mean? The climate immediately changed in the room, going from a simple atmosphere of official tranquillity to tense paranoia. The two guards looked uneasily at the Coolie. Never had a Coolie set foot in the halls of the Palace of the Union, and the fact one had just appeared so openly on the doorstep of the Union's government was enough to throw a bucketful of tension onto the whole thing. After a long silence, the receptionist handed the Coolie's passport back.

"Very well, comrade. Please submit to a weapon scan."

The receptionist pointed at the metal detector and body scan device that had recently been installed in the Palace due to the heightened threat levels. The Palace had, at one time, been a more open place. But since the Union had encountered other nations who wouldn't hesitate to use terrorism to further their goals, security had been greatly reinforced and tripled, with guards stationed throughout the building, scanners, cameras, hidden microphones, and an extensive overhaul of the Palace's architecture with the installation of laser and bomb proof doors, automated defence turrets and others. State of the art bio-scanners had also been installed in order to detect any hidden implants that could be used to spy or cause destruction.