Song of the Vermail Bird

Pikabo

Makopa/Zhen
Discord
pikabo8380
OOC Notice: Post approved by @Prydania and @Goyanes.


See you not Zhou Mountain towering over Kayan Hills,
From its summit the vermeil phoenix murmuring lean
Over to gaze, forever seeking his comrades?

2020年12月27日
11:54
Sun's Day
Adonai-Jireh, Iraelia


"...The first Knesset Medal was awarded to Adaret. He would later on serve as the first Iraelian prime minister ... Up ahead is the Knesset Library. They assist Members of the Knesset to be informed in fulfilling their legislative duties. The collection is primarily supplied with materials on subjects ranging from parliamentary to legal affairs. The library is also the final resting place of Syrixian emperor, Rajesh The Valiant."

Jiang Jia, Xue Yan, and Peng Yuhan have been walking around in this guided tour of the Knesset. Their eyes scanning the place like the rest of the crowd, blending in with the curious tourists and visitors who genuinely wanted a good sightseeing. All three of them zipped in jackets they bought from Sarazed University. Though in their mid-30s and graduated high school a long time ago, they still look young enough to be called teenagers. Sinitics, combined with their smooth and slim physiques, especially the youth, appear younger than their actual age—At least to foreigners.

They, with hooded gazes, quietly appraised their surroundings. Remembering every hall at every turn, every CCTV camera they could spot, and every possible opening to get out of the building quickly. They've been here many times in the past six months. Either as visitors or for jobs with People Management Sources, a temp agency supplying cheap yet competent labor to the Knesset cleaning services. Luckily, the agency has been too lax on migrant workers. Apparently, since they're working for the Knesset, the agency has been instructed to be considerate to avoid an awkward minority issue. It might spill over to the government.

Peng, having just arrived merely a week ago, smiled at the convenience of getting a job here. She should have thought about this before to work and travel around the Iterian League. Try and see a bit of the world before sending herself to hell.

"Y'know...Jiang Jia." Peng glanced at Jiang. "It's a cut above committing suicide. At least I'm going out with a bang." She giggled. Jiang rolled his eyes.

Jiang didn't think about anything. He has been quiet unless he needed to speak. He only wanted to see this thing through.

Unlike Peng and Jiang who looked inconspicuous, Xue put on a proud grin and kept her head high. She walked with stiff, determined steps. It almost looked like she was marching. Earlier, once she saw the Knesset growing in the distance as they drove up to the place, she spat on the car floor and started singing. The same song she is murmuring intone right now.

Overthrow the foreign powers, overthrow the foreign powers
Eliminate the warlords, eliminate the warlords
The citizens strive hard for the Revolution, the citizens strive hard for the Revolution,
Joint affair to fight.

2020年1月28日
20:56
Star Day 2
Somewhere near Fuqing City, East Zhen


Jiang didn't-

Wait... Where is he? This isn't the pub anymore. Whatever happened, it left a stinging pain at the back of his head. He feels somewhere back there has been split open. It's...it's throbbing. Did somebody throw a big rock on his head...? And why is he curled up on the floor?

Jiang stood up and looked around. Even if it was dimly lit, the room is wide and has high ceilings. He could make out the rows of chairs flanking him and it was sprawling the entire floor. From the back, up to the front where a stage is set up. Two bright monitors are operating next to a camera pointing towards the area of the stage platform.

Wanting to look for answers, Jiang approached the stage area. He took a careful step, and his foot plunged lower than the level from where he was standing. The aisle goes down on a set of steps. Then it clicked in his mind, This is a theater.

"Oh! You're awake!"

Before Jiang could ask who it was, the stage lights suddenly turned on. The exit signs lit up too, hanging above double-doors flanking the stage. Then an abrupt spotlight landed on a tall, dark-robed figure standing on the stage. He wore a black mask. The mysterious figure, doing comical twirls and prancing around as he swayed, dancing like this to the edge of the stage where he dramatically stretched his hand out in Jiang's direction. With a wave of the hand in front of his face, the mask turned yellow...or was it actually red all this time?

The man made another wave and the mask turned blue. And another, back to red. And again, back to black. And back to yellow.

This is...This is making Jian's headache hurt even more.

rshCqWy.png

"God Kveld!! You must be the great Jiang Jia!" The figure bowed. His Gojan accent was deep and very masculine. Although Jiang couldn't be sure without seeing, the strange man might be using a voice-changer device. It sounded somewhat inhuman, almost robotic. It must be hidden under the robes and that...*Bian Lian mask. "I've heard a lot about your work. How unfortunate you had to suffer under the hands of those unreasonable brutes. I thought they were a trustworthy group of gentlemen. But, it turns out, my judgement was wrong." He waved and his mask turned black. "In return for your forgiveness, I offer you this show." The man pointed to the computer screens. One of them is playing a live feed.

The feed is coming from a dock somewhere. Brawny men were dumping barrels, one by one, into the water. Each one of them sank quicker than Jiang expected. Are they filled with rocks or something?

"Damn it!" The Bian Lian man stomped his foot in a manner similar to a bratty child's. "Of course, you can't watch them. They're mixed in with the cement inside."

Jiang already stared in confusion at Bian Lian before his initial shock could even set in, dripping from his trembling bloody lips. He didn't even notice Bian Lian's mask had already turned blue.

"Still..." Bian Lian said. He turned around and, when he faced Jiang again, his mask went back to yellow. "Be satisfied to know they're still breathing in there."

Unsure how to react, Jiang simply nodded.

"Now, where was I...?" Bian Lian snapped his fingers, "Oh yes! From where I came from, definitely not the shithole these uncultured bastards crawled from, a deal is a deal as written on text. Or, at least in my case, as spoken. Word per word. I like to be very particular with what I say. After all, words are important. If you cannot say what you mean, you will never mean what you say." The Bian Lian man throws his head back, miraculously without losing his colorful and flowery headgear, as if to make the most exaggerated emphasis on a point. "And a gentleman should always mean what he says." He concluded on a hard nod.

Jiang felt a chill crawl up his spine. "...Why am I here?"

Bian Lian did not move or speak for a moment. A little more and Jiang would have made a run for it. But Bian Lian broke the conversational ice, laughing. His baritone guffaw felt like it was digging into Jiang's ears.

"That is...the right question. Coincidentally, you are the answer."

Jiang tried to raise an eyebrow, but it stung him when he did. "Fuck!" He put his palm against the new throbbing spot on his forehead. "Ow! Uh... Um. Excuse me... What do you mean...I'm the answer?"

Bian Lian produced a folder from somewhere beneath his robe. He looked it over first, "Aha! There- Unskyldigen jeg- My Ascalonian isn't good so you'll have to bear with me. So according to the Ascalon National Security Service, on July.9.2019 at 7:54 AM, Councillor Wang Xipeng from Northwest Shanbei County arrived at the House of Councillors Plenary Chamber. Avoiding detection from security, his colleagues, and everyone present in the chamber, he was carrying two concealed guns: KKT-VP9s. Full magazine-"

"Unskyldigen- I'm sorry." Jiang interrupted. "I don't know what this has to do with me."

Bian Lian paused. Jiang heard a scoff. "Ja, ja. Såtte. Let me finish... At 8:25 AM, Questions Day had just begun and Wang Xipeng was supposed to ask Prime Minister Eric Shan-yin the second QD question. Instead of the question he wrote in the parliamentary minutes, he asked a different question which caught Eric Shan-yin, the Speaker, and other councillors off-guard. Wang Xipeng took this moment to shoot Eric Shan-yin five times. Two separate shots hit two councillors sitting near Eric Shan-yin. Opposition MPs attempted to subdue Wang Xipeng. Now, this is where you come in."

"In what appears to be a desperate act to fend-off his would-be apprehenders, Wang Xipeng shot at the ceiling two times until one of them pierced a fire suppression pipe. After preliminary investigations, it was discovered Wang Xipeng was actually trying to set-off a timed IED in the middle chandelier of the chamber. The IED failed to detonate." Bian Lian took out a paper from the folder and lifted it up for Jiang to notice. Jiang could only make out the words Temporary Contract of Employment. Bian Lian continued, "Ascalonian intelligence is so secretive they didn't bother releasing the bomb-maker's name to the public. Oh, they would rather admit a few wins than mention they lost anything. They killed Wang Xipeng before questioning him... Ascalonians are so violent!"

"...I'm sorry. You got the wrong man." Jiang turned towards the nearest exit. "If I was that man, I would have probably given up whatever ideological bent I held in the past. It was such a waste of time. You should too-"

A loud gunshot rang throughout the theater. Jiang started to tremble. It was so loud. His ears must be bleeding. His eyes stared straight ahead, too afraid to look anywhere else, especially on him. He put his arms around his body and started patting himself down. From his waist, to his legs, then back to his waist to go further to his head. He felt nothing.

A bit assured, he started looking at himself and around. There was no blood or wound to be seen. Looking at his legs, he spotted a small hole next to his foot.

Jiang looked back at Bian Lian. He sneered at the man's now blue-masked face. Even at the man's gun pointing at him.

"Now I know why they roughed you up... They were trustworthy."

2020年3月8日
12:49
Star Day 1
Jinshan Town, Shanbei County, Ascalon


Laborers, farmers, students, and soldiers; Laborers, farmers, students, and soldiers
Make a great union! Make a great union!
Overthrow the imperialism, overthrow the imperialism
Joint affair to fight.

"Stop that fucking song!"

"It's getting annoying!"

Xue plugged in her earphones. To keep their noises out. It's enough she has to accept their making a mess of her late grandma's living room. Instead of hearing plans for Independence Day and Journalist Day, the rest are either drunk moaning or shouting at Goyanean college soccer. She could hear them loud and clear in her bedroom.

"DAGENFJORD LOOK LIKE SANTONIANS WITH THAT GET-UP!!"

"JAEGERSTROM LOOK LIKE A BUNCH OF *MØRKE—!!!"

Maxing out the volume, Xue was willing to sacrifice her ears. Let it bleed rather than listen to a bunch of man-boys comment about things they probably don't even understand. Although all of them are college dropouts who joined the cause, Xue did enter college with a distinguished record. Some of them here either had the connection or simply paid-off admissions. Whatever they were back then, they definitely stunted. Not a surprise if they regressed based on how they were behaving in the other room. She could still hear people running around, smashing beer bottles, or whatever it is these goldfish-heads think is fun or cool.

Xue browsed the files in her laptop to look for her copies of the plans. She opened a file labelled 沙漠国. The document header read, TARGETS. Listed down below with numerous paragraphs, looking over each bolded text, the names Mt. Carmel, Sarazed Palace, and The Knesset Library caught her interest. Looking closely, she quirked her brows to see strikethroughs on both Carmel and Sarazed, while The Knesset was underlined.

Xue felt a hand on her shoulder. She took off her earphones and looked up at the man behind her.

"Hey. Mind if I join you?" The man said, scratching the back of his neck.

Nodding, Xue pointed at the extra chair in the opposite end of the room.

The man dragged the chair to Xue and sat down next to her. He leaned forward to look at the laptop screen. "What do we have here?"

"Plans. Details about the targets. Like what we're supposed to do." Xue said nonchalantly. "Finally got bored enough to bother? Or are you drunk?"

"Before they even stepped inside, I already settled in the farthest corner of the room."

Xue took a good look at the man. "Wait...Aren't you the brains behind our bombs?"

The man smirked. He shook his head. "Not all of the brains. Bian Lian gathered other people from the coup. I wasn't the only one who tried to bomb Guojiaguan."

"Bian Lian? You mean Qiong Qi." Xue smiled. She snorted. "I suppose you firmly believe in the cause, then? That Dazhou is the homeland of the Zhouren people. One and indivisible, the Zhouren people have the sole birthright to live in its ancient lands."

"-They possess the right to determine their destiny after achieving the unification of their country." The man continued it, "Their identity is a genuine characteristic, inherited by sons and daughters of Zhouren fathers and mothers, and they with Zhouren grandfathers and grandmothers. The lands of Dazhou and the people of Dazhou comprise the Zhouren nation. The artificial, Goyanean and Syrixian divisions of the Zhouren nation will never destroy Zhouren identity. The false states of Ascalon and Zhen shall never negate or deny the right of the Zhouren people to reclaim their homeland." The man raised his fist in the air, in an oh-so familiar fashion, Xue's patriotic self couldn't help but do the same. They both recited, "THE ZHOUREN PEOPLE HAVE NOTHING TO LOSE BUT THEIR CHAINS!!!"

They laughed. Xue welcomed the feeling of comfort in the fresh amicability filling the once-stale, lonely room. The man, however, did not smile as long as she did. His facial expression reverted and regressed to an unreadable semi-frown. Xue noticed this and became curious. "...Armed struggle is the only way to liberate Dazhou."

"...Respect for humanity shall be the fundamental principle of Zhouren unification. Reckless violence and other acts of impunity disregard and violate the dignity of the Zhouren people."

Xue groaned. "Li Xingke's An Objection to Violence? Seriously? You think this could still be solved by his stupid treatise? After everything you did for those old men in Ascalon last year? You really are drunk!" Xue threw her hands in the air. "...You would've blown up Ascalonian parliament if only your newfound wokeness didn't cuck half the coup. It might have single-handedly made the coup attempt worth it too." Xue poked the man on his forehead. "If you were truly remorseful then, you would have regretted that feeling if you were captured. Waterboarding will set your head straight—to suicide bomb Ascalonian parliament. You ain't no saint."

"You wouldn't know that. You haven't been waterboarded..." The man muttered at the end. Xue turned to make that point, but the man beat him to it with a forceful nod. "Yes. Me neither. I wasn't captured. I wasn't waterboarded. But that isn't the point, right? The revolution needs ideas. It needs inspiration to unite everyone. Not just certain groups. What the coup in Ascalon and the assassination of Prime Minister Erik Shan-Yin taught us about violence is it solved nothing. In fact, some people celebrated the Prime Minister's death-"

"It did reveal to us the imperialist dogs as they openly reveled in the streets. Shamefully waving Ascalonian colonial flags. It guided our compatriots to fight their bullshit head-on. They're not Ascalonians. They're not Zhouren." Xue cut the air between them with her hand. "They don't belong here in Dazhou. With their treacherous mentality, they're no different from the foreigners who think Dazhou is their home. They're no compatriot of mine."

"Exactly. This hatred. Divisions and hateful rhetoric. These causes of violence will lead to more violence. More people will get hurt. More dead bodies on the streets. It's an endless cycle of us destroying them, and them destroying us, until nothing is left. Scaring people isn't a strategy. It's pettiness. It's a childish solution to a mature problem." The man sighed heavily. He spoke too emotionally. He had to take a deep breath. "...If there's anything I've learned from my own pettiness, killing people will only satisfy me at the moment. My anger never leaves me. It turns into regret."

"Regret. Pfft. You should've become a priest." Xue lowered her head. "...I knew the one good person would be too good to be true." Sighing, Xue put all her attention on the laptop. Her eyebrows almost launched off her face when it came to her, "Wait a minute-! Then why are you here?! You're still making bombs! What's the big idea?!" She jabbed her elbow on the man's. "Are you a joker or something? If so, don't do it again. It was lame."

"...My first meeting with Bian Lian—with Qiong Qi—wasn't entirely consensual."

An awkward silence blanketed them and their surroundings, growing as their silence prolonged. Xue didn't know what to say. She looked at him, closely as she inspected the scars and scabs on him. She just noticed them now. It was all over his face. Xue sighed. Her eyes closed and she pinched the bridge of her nose.

"I'm sorry. I didn't ask your name." She gave an apologetic nod. "My name's Xue Yan."

"...I'm Jiang Jia."

"Jiang Jia." She nodded, biting her bottom lip. "We'll just have to agree to disagree. I still prefer anyone sober over the wasted losers-"

"I'M GOING TO PEE ON GRAND EMPEROR NATAN'S PORTRAIT!!!"

Xue gasped and jumped off her seat. She recognized that voice. "PENG!!! WHAT THE FUCK?!! NOT ON MY GRANDMA'S CARPET!!"

2020年12月16日
12:49
Star Day 3
Sihuan, East Zhen


"It's a modest bookstore, really. Just one in a chain of my family's businesses." Peng said, adjusting her fake glasses as she grinned to the edge of her face. Sneaking glances as much as she could at the dorm courtyard for every opening and possible hiding place. Watching the students half-dressed in either uniform or casual clothing, basking under the midday sun. A mix of mix-breeds, white Northerners, Zhouren posers, and other Sinnitics. Peng soaked up on their luresome, suburban lull like foreplay and hid it behind her giddy hums, in her mom's business pantsuit and the fake pair of supermarket glasses she bought on the way here. "♪HmmHmm~!♪ This isn't going to be like Xuele, of course. Bringing our books to schools is one way to keep a bookstore alive."

"I agree!" The chubby Goyanean teenager gleefully replied in fluent Ascalonian, bobbing her head as if she's taking every step on her toes. "The *Xuele Group offers week-long book fairs in the middle of the school year. With the year-ending, there's no way they'd agree to do it. Especially with only dormers around." She giggled out of nowhere. "We here at Ingelhof International School are grateful for your presence, Peng-*jingli!!"

"Yes..." This foreign brat is going to make me puke. "You're welcome, I guess." Clearing her throat, she had to keep the act up. "I mean, it's nothing really. It's going to be a Christmas gift. Unfortunately, it's going to happen on the 30th. My parents are tough business-people. They'd never give you a penny even if your life depended on it."

"Really?!" The girl snorted out a piggish laughter. "Still, they put that much thought into spending wisely. That means they're very hard-working. My parents are the same. They encouraged me to stay for the holidays instead of going back home to Goyanes. This way, it wouldn't be too much of a hassle for us." The girl made...a weird hand gesture Peng could not recognize. Not even from her highschool days. "Like, I totally get it. I need a month-long break. I need to be a moist leaf on the tranquil, jungle floor. I just directed, acted in, and, not to mention, helped make the stage set, for our school production of Ingmar the Third-"

Peng was going to give up and frown a bit, shutting off his mind to shut out the girl's yakking, until Peng realized how the girl explained why she will be staying here.

-In Zhen.

-In dorm.

-For the holidays!

Peng's smile grew even wider. Annoying, no-neck brat. Laughing like a seal. No wonder your parents wanted you to stay-

Peng lightly smacked herself on the forehead. She almost forgot what she was supposed to do here. She returned her attention to the girl...whose name she just forgot. "Excuse me, but... What's your name, again?"

"Selma Valle. Student Prefect."

"Okay. Are you the person who will be coordinating with us for the book fair?"

"Oh!" Valle nodded. "Fr. Dong Meng, our school Prefect of Discipline, asked me to choose a venue and look for volunteers to help set up the fair." Valle gestured at the dorm courtyard's entrance to the rest of the campus. "Since we're also going to cater to the neighborhood, my dormmates and I chose the chapel. It's next to the school entrance so it'll be convenient for visitors."

Peng's eyes widened with her smile. "Good!! The more the merrier!" She looked at the entrance and kept her eyes there. "This neighborhood... This was an international settlement, yes?"

"It was a Syrixian concession. Up until the Second Nordic-Imperial War, this was an important area of the Sihuan International Settlement." Valle traced a box with her fingers. "It was a segregated residential area for Syrixians, Goyaneans, and other foreigners. When the Goyaneans took over parts of Zhen, Sihuan included, new management got rid of the settlement's status. In fact..." Valle pointed at the ground and, then with both hands, all around her. "This building used to be a Goyanean retreat house. There were plans to convert it into an events place, but it was repurposed to house students when the property was sold to Inglehof Memorial Foundation. This neighborhood remained a conclave since not many foreign residents left. Today, locals also live in this area." Valle breathed out. Already exhausted from talking. "...It's pretty gentrified, though. Most of the people who'll visit us are most likely outsiders." Valle shook her head and snickered. "So much for giving back to the community, I guess."

Peng's ringtone, Revolution of the Citizens, played loudly. She cringed as she only realized now how Xue was really annoying whenever she sang this song. Ugh. Why the heck did I come here alone? I should've brought along Revolutionary Extraordinaire and her boyfriend.

Peng only shot a smile at Valle before she took the call. "Namaste!" She switched to Syrixian to keep fatso out of the conversation. "Who is this?"

"It's Xue Yan. I'm with Jiang Ja."

"Heh. And just when I thought about you too." Peng glanced up at the sky. "Maybe there is a God... Hah!"

Peng could hear people shouting and children's laughter on Xue's end. "We finished checking out Yellow Palace and Hasset Palace. We're at Dazhou Beach now. We're here with three other guys. Bad news is the beach isn't going to be as full as the last time we visited since it's really not in season. Good news is, because there's less people, everyone's congregating in one place. They're all going to the south side-" Xue was interrupted with a crowd chanting something about volleyball. "...It's going to make our job easier."

"Yes. And...?" Peng made sure her voice conveyed suspicion. Xue wouldn't call and tell her all that without nothing behind it. "What's going on?"

"...Some of the guys feel there's not enough people. We're thinking of visiting the malls. We could also look into the parks and other hotels. There's the University of Dazhou too. Maybe even some of the causeways. There's bound to be traffic there-"

"We're one week away. We're going to change plans now? Now?!" Peng tried to whisper-shout, hissing in the process. "Forget about Dazhou-H! Forget about the fucking causeways! The beach is full of visitors all year-round." Peng rolled her eyes. "Don't listen to the guys. They're paranoid. It's the day before New Year's Eve. There's going to be several early crowds down there."

"Yeah, yeah! That's what I also told them. They keep nagging about looking for new places... I don't know. I'm kind of nervous, really."

Peng wanted to burst into laughter. She must be joking! "What's this I hear? Hardcore Revolutionary getting dubious about her own ideals? Became a *running dog for both sides?" Peng laughed in disbelief. "You've been complaining about delays, people not taking this seriously enough, and now THIS."

"Nothing! Nothing. Nothing at all!! Bye!"

"I- Did she... Did she just hang up on me...?" This bitch. Such a weirdo.

"You're so young!" Valle blurted out. "It's cool to run your own business! What course did you graduate?"

Peng gritted her teeth behind her forced smile. "Natan University. I majored in accountancy." -Never graduated.

"Ohhh!! I'm also planning to take accountancy. My parents want me to go to *Dazhou-H." Valle grinned, eyes twinkling. "Do you have any tips?"

"Sure!" -Suck-up. Peng took a moment to make something up. "Umm...all economic books are the same. Don't buy more than two or three books, unless it's for a research paper—Obviously. One book should be good enough." -said a useless professor back in *Natan-H Commerce.

"Oh! Also! Before I forget..." Valle pointed inside the dorm. "We prepared snacks and tea. Come join us! Please!"

Without having to say anything about it, and after Valle turned her back to lead the way, Peng stomped angrily on the ground. "Thank you!" She said through seething. Fucking bitch. Every time. Every visit. I want to fucking leave! Gripping her fists, she decided to march along. ...Keep calm. Just keep up the act for a bit longer.

All this goody-goody makes me want to forget about one more week. We could end this now.
Peng smirked.

Peng got an idea. If this happens again next time...Yes. We could easily get a lot of them quick without alarming the authorities early on.

"...Oh well. Thirteen more days." Peng turned on her phone and checked her to-do list. "Hmm. Next stop: Saint Brice International High School. Then I have to check up on the guys at Sihuanslott."

Bian Lian - "变脸," or "face-changing," is an art form in ancient Zhen opera. Actors would rapidly change masks, almost in a blink of an eye, to convey a change of emotion or the face of a character. There are different types of Bian Lian. In this case, it was a "扯脸" or "pulling-down mask." For the context of this post specifically, it conveys emotions: yellow means "happiness," green means "hate," blue means "anger," and black means "sadness."
Dazhou-H and Natan-H - The H stands for "Høyskøle." It is the Gojan word for university or college.
Jingli - Honorific suffix meaning "manager."
"Mørke-" - Actually Mørker if pronounced in full. It means "darkie" in Gojan. A derogatory word against people of a certain ethnicity.
Running dog - Zhen pejorative for an "unprincipled" individual. The sort who supports a side only when it is personally convenient. More commonly known as a "yes-man."
Xuele Group - An educational publishing company renowned for its school book fairs in Zhen. Based on RL organization "Scholastic."
 
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