The Internet Kill Switch
Multiple undersea internet cables are severed simultaneously in coordinated sabotage. Half the world's internet traffic goes dark.
In a single night, undersea fiber-optic cables are severed at 14 points across the Atlantic and North Sea. Europe loses 70% of its internet connectivity to North America. Financial data, cloud services, and transatlantic communications collapse. Sonar arrays detect what appear to be state-operated submarines near multiple cut points.
You are the UK Prime Minister
The Situation Room
>The City of London's financial systems are in chaos. £4 trillion in daily forex transactions cannot be processed.
>NATO intelligence attributes the operation to Russian Navy Directorate submarines, but Moscow denies involvement and accuses the US of a false flag.
>Repair ships need 6-8 weeks per cable. Full restoration will take 4-6 months.
Internal Briefing Notes
• 97% of intercontinental internet traffic travels through approximately 500 undersea cables, many concentrated in narrow chokepoints.
• There are fewer than 60 cable repair ships in the world. They cannot work faster than one cable at a time.
• Financial clearing systems, cloud computing, and military communications between NATO allies all depend on these cables.
Escalation Window
Reveal each phase to see how the situation deteriorates.
Europe's digital lifeline has been cut. Attribution is strong but not conclusive. What do you do?
Choose your response. There are no good options.
Treat the sabotage as an armed attack on critical infrastructure. You risk a military confrontation with a nuclear power over fiber-optic cables.
Freeze Russian assets and cut SWIFT access. Severe economic pain on both sides, but it doesn't fix the cables or prevent a second attack.
Protect what's left, but you've just committed your entire fleet to underwater patrol duty. If this was a diversion, you've been played.
Related Entities
Explore the institutions, countries, and actors involved in this scenario.
United States
Federal presidential republic and the world's largest economy, with power divided among the presidency, Congress, the states, and the federal courts. U.S. politics is highly polarized, two-party dominated, and globally consequential because decisions made in Washington shape finance, trade, security alliances, technology regulation, and military power far beyond U.S. borders.
United Kingdom
Constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy. Comprises England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.
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