abstract
| - Cristoforo Mazzilli was the father of Gianfranco Mazzilli and the husband of Bella Mazzilli. He was a midlevel functionary of the Italian Communist Party, serving as the second Party secretary of the Milanese Bureau of Records. As such, he had an inflated sense of his own importance, while at the same time content to wallow in mediocrity. The Mazzillis shared an apartment with the Crosetti family. Filippo Crosetti was a doctor, which gave him much of the same status as Comrade Mazzilli. Annarita Crosetti, Filippo's daughter, was a year ahead of Gianfranco Mazzilli at Hoxha Polytechnic. Annarita was a better student than Gianfranco, a fact that Cristoforo never quite let his son forget, even though Cristoforo admitted he hadn't been a good student. Nonetheless, both Cristoforo and Bella were pleased that their son's grades improved as he became more addicted to the game Rails across Europe. They still noted that Annarita was better, but approved. Both were unnerved when the shop where Gianfranco spent most of his time, The Gladiator, was shut down for promoting capitalist notions, but as Gianfranco professed no capitalist tendencies, they overlooked it. Cristoforo was briefly intrigued by the arrival of distant cousin of the Crosettis, Silvio Pagnozzi (actually an employee of The Gladiator and a friend of Gianfranco's named Eduardo Caruso, a denizen of an alternate timeline). He didn't think to press his son, and generally accepted Pagnozzi as another part of the household. In August 2097, the two families decided to summer in Rimini. After a trip to San Marino, Gianfranco informed his father of a store in the small country called The Three Sixes, which he claimed was spreading capitalism much like The Gladiator. What Cristoforo didn't know was that The Three Sixes housed a transporter that would allow Eduardo Caruso and two other stranded Crosstimers, Rocco and Giulio, to return to their own world. However, the Security Police of the Italian People's Republic had taken possession of the store, in violation of San Marino's sovereignty. Knowing none of this, Cristoforo Mazzilli brought The Three Sixes to the attention of the Sammarinese police. The Mazzillis and Annarita returned to the store with two Sammarinese officers. This blew the cover of the Italian Security Police, who were angered at the upstart Sammarinese officials. In turn, the Sammarinese were angered that their country's sovereignty had been so boldly violated by Italy. In the confusion, the Crosstimers, who'd been "browsing" in the store, were supposed to sneak into the basement and escape. However, their presence was noted. When the Sammarinese moved to arrest them, Eduardo took Gianfranco "hostage". The Crosstimers and Gianfranco fled into the basement and transported back to the home timeline. Racked by pain and anguish, Cristoforo Mazzilli spent several days worried about his son. As their "cousin" had committed the act, the Crosettis took some of the brunt of the Mazzilli's panic. Gianfranco returned in perfect shape. After their son was questioned by the Security Police, life returned to normal for the Mazzillis.
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