“Your name is Nathaniel Blake. You were condemned, imprisoned, and finally hung by the neck until dead. You have been revived via the Ingolstadt Process. I have the singular honor of being Doctor Samuel Arthur Love—who, with my not-inconsiderable skills, has snatched you from the very jaws of not only Death, but Bonaparte as well—and I am here as a representative of the Ministry, to whom you now owe your livelihood, your allegiance and your life.”
Blake managed a slight whisper. “The ministry of what?”
Love smiled coldly. “My dear boy, we’re not the “ministry of” anything. Our portfolio is infinite. We are The Ministry…the Definitive Article, you might say. Now get dressed.”
I haven’t worked on it in over two and a half years, but an absolute flood of inspiration suddenly struck, completely unbidden, last night. Apparently, my brain had been barbecuing the concept — low and slow, baby… but the cooking appears to have paid off.