Ping stepped up to the podium carrying two small books, both separate shades of red. The crowd at Chotyo cheered as she waved and smiled and she flipped through her index cards lying on the dais. She tossed them all aside and sighed, holding the two books up for the crowd to see.
“In my campaign, I have been compared to… well, dictators.” She spoke into the microphone to the crowd assembled in the chilly Chotyo park. “I’d like to dash these musings, though they are quite amusing.” She chuckled lightly along with a few in the crowd, dropping one of the books onto the podium and turning the other over, revealing that it was the Communist Manifesto. “First up, the Reds.” The crowd booed and chanted incoherently. “I believe our country can be fixed in a few ways- just a few.” She said sarcastically with another warm smile. “Uh, among them, I do indeed believe that basic things like food and water need to be nationalized, temporarily, of course, that way you don’t need to worry every day about looking at the hungry faces of your children!” The crowd erupted into cheers and applause as she spoke. She hushed them and urged them to be quiet and continued. “But that’s the extent of my plans that would be considered ‘Communistic’, really. Other than that, the free market will stay no more regulated than what Unaki did in her reign than under mine.” She placed the manifesto on the podium and picked up the other book. “Now this one…” she giggled at the thought of it, “this one’s ridiculous.” She turned over the book, showing it to the crowd that it was Mein Kampf. “The Nazis!” She laughed with the crowd. “Firstly, when our party is described as ‘Authoritarian’ in other countries, they are forgetting the fact that in Laissez-Faire Suosverge, you sometimes forget the federal government exists! Which, well, it was fine when the country wasn’t in flames, but… when it’s the end of the world, some emergency measures must be taken. And second, the Nazis were afraid that the powers of the world are controlled by Jews. The Front is confident that all of the major powers of the world are controlled by imperialist, colonizing oppressors!” A large part of the crowd cheered, and then the rest joined in after a moment, something Ping took note of. “The difference here is that the Phoenix Front is correct. Face it, people, something needs to be done about this. Who brought this nuclear hell upon us? A bunch of rich, white, Commie-apologists with a fetish for dictatorships and starvation! What we need right now is to unite as a people to combat this threat, and if that means we need to tighten control over the world, then so be it! This injustice has gone unpunished for long enough!” As before, a portion of the crowd cheered, seemingly pressuring the rest into joining. Finally, she held the two books together, setting them alight with a lighter and letting them drop onto the freezing concrete, as the rest of the city, not yet conquered by snow. She waved and smiled once more, stepping down from the platform and retreating to the warmth of the Phoenix Headquarters, a small, dojo-like building with a large, red phoenix painted on the walls and doors.
Ping was later quoted in an interview that night saying the following;
“I would say there is one notable exception to my rather broad statements about Europe, but I still stand by my assertions. The Athenians, our dear friends. I am quite fond of them, almost as much as the Suongo. They were really the only European nation in history to mostly keep to itself. The French, the Spanish, Germans, Italians, Russians, they all took part in colonization of some peoples they viewed as ‘lesser’. But you never hear of the Athenian African colonies, or the Athenian American colonies, or any Athenian-Chinese opium wars. Not only that, but they stayed by our side in the face of tyranny and oppression around the world. Frankly, any friend of Suosverge is a friend of mine, and I urge the voters to show appreciation of this by supporting the continuation of the DL Pact. And if you’re still against it, look at it this way; the Athenians are, like, honorary Suongo. The historical similarities are hard to deny. Since even before our founding, we were always a government of exiled imperialists who worked with those with whom they now lived, eventually becoming one-and-the-same. Similarly, the Athenians were forced from their Empire by a larger, more powerful one, and into a world completely alien to their own. Few other countries share such a similar story, and it is commendable that the Athenians did not just oppress or murder the Irish. And, I think the Athenians can teach us a thing or two about AI rights. But it will be a while before the Suongo people can come to terms with how things are. Maybe the Athenians can learn from us a bit about the right to freedom from taxation(*).”
(*This was said jokingly, but the writing of this did not exactly allow me to show this and I was too lazy to change it)
The exceptionally young demagogue has brought a new fervor to Suongo politics, and brought out a strange hatred towards white folk not seen much before, though certainly discussed. Likely, this hatred has emerged from the terror of the War, and it probably won’t be exclusive to Suongoland.
---
“So… is she gonna talk?” Valerian whispered in Japanese to the tired Consul, referring to the Consuless sitting quietly next to them, chewing on her rations.
“No clue. I’ve never seen her like this.” Ernst responded as he watched the featureless wastes pass quickly below them. “Knowing her, it might be best to just leave her alone. Then again, I’m her brother. She opens up to strangers pretty well, so feel free to have a word if you like.”
“Maybe…” Valerian was never great at socializing, but he knew more than most the struggles of coping with dread. He turned to her and spoke. “Excuse me, Lady Kim?” she continued to stare at nothing. “Miss?” still nothing. Not sure what to do, he tapped her on the shoulder. She perked up, as though she snapped out of a daydream. “Lady Kim?”
“Yes?” she said quietly, betraying the confidence she wore when giving speeches.
“How are you holding up?”
“I’m… fine…” she looked back at nothing in particular.
“Hey, stay with me.” he placed his hand on her shoulder. “I have a sneaking suspicion that things are not at all fine.” Leena stayed silent, before squinting in pain. A tear fell slowly down her face.
“Sorry… just… how do you do it?” She wiped away her tears and looked back at Valerian.
“What do you mean?”
“How do you go on living in such a… such a shitty world?”
“Uh… I guess… I’m following the words of my mother. To keep running and to never look back.”
“That’s good advice...” Leena turned back away to stare.
“What about you?” Valerian asked. Leena looked back at him, wrinkled and resigned face almost expressionless. She stared into his eyes, thinking much but saying nothing.
“What do you know about the world?” She wanted to shout, “You’re just a child! Just a brat, who’s had less life experience than a fly!” But she knew that she didn’t know his struggles, and she knew that the anger inside her was just the War getting to her head. She forced the anger out of her mind, in its place: thoughts of nothing.
“I… think I get the message.” Valerian finally said, looking away. He turned back to her, “Well, I know I’m just a kid, but maybe I could give you some advice. I mean, is it not the Taoists who believe in balance of all things? The good is supplemented by the bad, so no matter how bad it gets, you can have faith that it’ll get better, right?”
Leena sighed, turning back away. “Right.” she said tiredly.
Suddenly, the helicopter went to a gentle and controlled landing in the snow.
“What’s going on?” Valerian called out to the pilot.
“Gotta refuel.” the pilot said, taking off his equipment and walking to the deck where they all sat.
“Right here?”
“I don’t see any air bases nearby, mate.” He picked up a red canister of fuel, nearly flinging it as he overcompensated its weight. “Uh…” He shook it, hearing no sloshing of liquid inside. He tossed it aside and picked up another. Also empty. This continued, until a pile of empty canisters sat in the middle of the deck. “Well, maybe the others have some left, too.” He clicked on his radio and spoke into it. “This is sector 9, requesting a refuel, over.”
A moment of silence and fear.
Finally, the radio emitted the sound of static.
“Uh… this is sector 13, nearing your location. Over.”
Eventually, the helicopter landed near theirs, and a trio of Officers walked over. As they came into view, Valerian glared at the one on the side. Something was wrong with him, though he couldn’t quite place what. The one in the center carried a gas canister, the one on the other side of the strange one carried two more. Valerian continued staring at the one on the side, getting up and walking out into the snow to see them better.
“Vampirium!”
How only he saw the Vampire’s red eyes glowing amongst the white, he didn’t know, but he drew his blade and pointed at him, rays of light converging at the tip. The people standing next to him dropped their canisters and looked at their former ally. They confusedly watched on as Valerian rushed forward and struck at the vampire’s neck. As it connected, the light bursted forward, but it didn’t seem to do anything but blind them. His head came clean off, and the body fell limply on the ground. However, it did not turn to dust.
“You madman! You just killed him!”
“Wh-” Valerian looked at the body on the ground. “Am I going crazy?” He thought to himself. “I… I thought…” He dropped to his knees, staring at the blood staining his once-clean blade. The blood mixed in a small circle with a lone tear falling from his cheek.
