The backdrop for this story was inspired by a February 2010 article by Blaise Gauquelin that appeared in L’Express magazine: « Vienne, nid d’espions de Téhéran, » which talked about Vienna being a nest of Iranian spies. We transposed the article’s contemporary feel for an early 80s Cold War setting. The article mentions the feeling of abandonment felt by Austrian authorities vis à vis their NATO allies, and uses this to justify a policy of cooperation.