Microstory 2448: Chinadome

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China is one the largest, and most populated, nations on Earth. Historically, it has been a technological powerhouse, and a major player on the global economic stage. It’s so big that individuals emigrating out of China to other towns would often settle in such high numbers that they ended up transforming part of their city to a sector known as Chinatown. These were divisions of the established city in question—New York, San Francisco, Binondo—typically not in an official or legal capacity, but culturally relevant nonetheless. Since those of Chinese ancestry represent a large portion of people back on Earth, it stands to reason that a great deal of people who have chosen to travel to Castlebourne would be Chinese too. To be clear, you don’t have to have any Chinese heritage to come here. In reality, they encourage you to visit regardless of your family background or creed, and learn about Chinese history and culture. That’s the whole point of cultural domes. You can come here to see what it’s like, to engage in their events, or if you just feel comfortable in this environment. The dome holds all the same traditional observances here as they still do on Earth, such as Chinese New Year. It also recognizes the shift in sociopolitical practices that resulted from the adoption of more modern political ideas, particularly post-scarcity economic conventions. It’s a respectful blend of the historical China and the new China that most people living today are more familiar with. I agonized over how to phrase that, which is why, readers, this review is a bit later than usual. I think that’s the most P.C. way for me to say it. I’ll edit you according to your comments. But just this once. I recommend everyone on Castlebourne come for a visit. Even if you saw a Chinatown or two on Earth, there’s always something new to learn, and perspective to be gained.

Microstory 248: Perspective Twenty-Three

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Perspective Twenty-Two

Did you hear about the woman down the block? The one who lives in the house they clearly can’t afford? I heard her husband covered up a rape at work and he’s about to go to prison. At least that’s what I heard. It’s just terrible. I don’t like to gossip of course, but that’s just such a sad story. I mean, how do you marry someone and not know what kind of man he is. My word. My friend had this friend in college who went to court claiming that her roommate’s brother’s friend raped her, but then while in court, they found out she had raped somebody. True story, I swear it. At least that’s what I heard. This is the same friend—my friend, not the friend of my friend—whose daughter sat on a toilet at a gas station and got pregnant. And AIDS. I think. It was something like that. Somebody sat on a toilet and then something happened, but I don’t like to gossip. I know this girl at work who gossips all the time, just nonstop. She’s a hoot and a half, though; her stories always make me laugh. She was telling me about this one time she found a dead cricket in her sauce. Well, I suppose that’s better than a live cricket, she tells me. What a riot. Anyway, she tries to complain, but ya know she was at a Chinese restaurant, and those Chinese, you know? So she complains but they try to pass it off as a delicacy. Can you believe that? A delicacy! She wasn’t fallin’ for it, of course. I don’t remember what came of it, but it was really funny. Those Chinese people, though. I’m not racist, but you have to be careful. I used to get my nails done on Eighth, but I had to stop going there because it was owned by a Chinese family. Well, I think they may have been Vietnamese or whatever. But they were so rough with my fingers, and they are just criminals there. The prices were too damn high! The last time I went there, I refused to pay that woman for her shoddy job. I walked right out and said they could charge it to the dust and let the rain settle it. They were shouting at me in their weird language, but I just kept walking. What are they gonna do, kill my first born daughter? And that’s not racist, because they really do that. I saw a documentary on it once. Well, I didn’t really watch it. I saw a commercial for it, and my boyfriend at the time said he watched it. I can’t for the life of me remember why I dated him, though. He and his cousin lost their virginity to each other. At least that’s what I heard.

Perspective Twenty-Four

Superpowers: Swarm (Part V)

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Not ten years prior to the beginning of Governor Stockton and Federama’s plans to disarm the entire world, Usonia began to interfere in the business of other nations. Even though they were against Federama’s tactics, they were also glad to no longer be the focus of international outcry. The nation that felt the most slighted by Usonia’s persistent military presence was Korea. The great irony during Federama’s grand mission was that the nation with the lowest number of nuclear arms simultaneously had the highest number of military personnel overall. The more nuclear weapons that Federama took from the world, the more powerful Korea became.

To make matters worse, China’s feelings regarding Federama’s mission had not wavered, and they were traditionally close allies with Korea. In fact, China was often noted by scholars as playing a pivotal role in the reunification of Korea into a nation run by a single government. This was a major blow to the original allies of South Korea; Usonia and the United Kingdom in particular. World War IV was on everyone’s minds. If Korea began an aggressive campaign against just about anyone, this war was inevitable, and Federama’s nuclear stockpile would not be enough to stop it. Assuming Stockton’s new peace allies somehow agreed to provide military aid to Usonia and the U.K., Korea’s and China’s forces still outnumbered them two to one.

“Did you not see this coming?” asked Yorick Elder, the prime minister of the United Kingdom. He had traveled to Federama to personally discuss the looming threat.

“You mean, did I predict that Korea would threaten the world with total annihilation? No. Not to this degree, I didn’t.”

“I still presume you have a plan.”

“Why?”

“Because you apparently have thus far.”

“This is different. We’re talking guerilla warfare. I know very little about that. I’ve spent my entire life researching nuclear weapons.”

“What did you think was going to happen?” Elder asked. “You would destroy all nuclear weapons and we would all throw up our hands and agree that peace was the only option? Did you think war was no longer a concept we were capable of fathoming.”

“Well, n...no—” Stockton stammered.

“Because people were doing a fine job killing each other before the Amadesins sent that bomb that killed your family.”

“Now, listen here—”

“No, you listen! You thought you had something here. And I’m sure your final plan for this mission was going to be spectacular, and paradigm-shifting! But you clearly bit off more than you could chew, and had no idea what the world was going to look like for decades to come. You’ve been relying on your painstakingly detailed sneakery, and the global public forum, but now we’re in the nitty gritty. Now someone has made a choice you did not foresee, and you called me in to clean up your mess. You called me instead of President Cross because you figured I would be more likely to help you, and know how to do so.”

Governor Stockton waited with passive-aggressive patience, but then spoke again, “well? Do you know what to do?”

“I do, but you’re not going to like it.”

“What is it?”

“Swarming.”

“Swarming?”

“Swarming.”

“Like bees, or ants?”

“Like soldiers. The only way to overtake the Korean military, and prevent China from coming to their rescue is to swarm the peninsula quickly, efficiently, and chaotically. All borders need to be completely surrounded while strategic strike teams invade central locations—specifically nuclear facilities. Before China has time to react, the swarm is already dispersing. Also, a group of ants is called an army.”

“Even better. Unfortunately, our army is barely larger than Iceland’s Coast Guard. We would never be able to accomplish such a great feat.”

“You’re right. Federama alone would not. Fortunately, you have a hefty list of allies to supplement.”

“That’s a peace alliance. I would never be able to convince them to do this.”

“You could convince India, and they have the third largest military contingency in the world. Of course, we will assist as well, along with Usonia.”

“Really?”

“Don’t look at me like a child who's been given an extra cookie after dinner. Yes, we will be a part of this. Korea is a threat to everyone. In fact, it will be your job to attack the central points. The rest of us will comprise of the swarm.

“The Korean perimeter must be at least 3,000 naykos long!”

“More like 4,000. Your point?”

“My point is that...will this work?”

“It will probably take about five months of secret planning and refinement, but it can work. Our biggest concerns are China and World War IV, yeah?”

“Indeed.”

“Then swarm tactics is our only hope. We have to hit ‘em, and we have to hit ‘em hard before they have a chance to recover.”

“You sound like a Usonian.”

“You take that back!” Elder replied, only half-jokingly.

“Why would this prevent war?” Stockton asked, moving along. “China and Korea still have nearly half of the world’s military personnel, as you’ve pointed out. Combined with Russia, and maybe even Pakistan, they would be unstoppable.”

“Since the three of us will be the only ones with nuclear arms after it happens, we should be able to stave off war,” Elder explained.

Stockton had no answer.

“Ooooooh,” Elder began. “Oh, you still thought that Cross and I were still going to give up our weapons. Yes,” he said sarcastically, “I can see where you would think that. But no, we’re not going to surrender to you. You want our help, you’ll get it. You want our bombs, you get nothing.”

Stockton still had nothing to say.

“I can see the gears turning in your head. You’re trying to figure out how to get our help with disarming Korea, and then disarm us later. But you see, you did that with Pakistan, and it worked beautifully. But fool me once, as they say.”

“I’ll do it.”

“That either means you concede to the dynamic, or you think you can get the upperhand on us later.”

“Yes,” was all that Governor Stockton said.

Prime Minister Yorick Elder’s estimate of five months was much lower than the truth. Negotiating, compromising, and coordinating with the war alliance took twice that much time. One of the members of the peace alliance, Mongolia was asked to mediate peace negotiations with Korea. This not only continued to curry public favor, but also gave the war alliance time to set about their plans. A year after the idea was first conceived, Usonian and British air forces descended on the Sino-Korean border. The Indian Navy was already on their way to the Eastern and Southern coastlines of Korea, under the guise of disaster relief for the Philippines. Somewhat unlikely ally, Japan agreed to swarm Korea’s western coastline.

World War IV did not begin as a result of this assault, but there were a number of casualties on all sides. Federama did their part and sent in strike forces to steal the nuclear weapons from within Korea. They agreed, however, to not kidnap any scientific experts, as they had with Pakistan, China, and Russia. The deaths of Stage Six would go down in history as the biggest argument against the entire mission, but on the whole, it was another successful one. Governor Stockton also agreed to let the United Kingdom and Usonia keep their own nuclear weapons. But he had proverbial crossed his fingers behind his back. There was no way he wasn’t going back on his word on the matter, even if it meant Federama would lose acknowledgement from the Confederacy. There was too much at stake. He knew he had to formulate new plans to remove these weapons; he just didn’t know how. He was ultimately forced to ask for help from someone he had hoped to never see again.

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Superpowers: The List (Part IV)

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“France. The one country that only has nuclear weapons pretty much because everyone else does, and because they have the resources for a program. Theirs is the most secretive and fickle, however, what with them refusing to report numbers, supposedly constantly switching facilities, and rejecting a healthy amount of international law. The only reason they’re allowed to go on as they do is because they don’t actually do anything wrong. They get along with the rest of Europe, and the majority of the Confederacy. They don’t go around starting wars, and the amount of foreign aid they provide is surpassed by no other nation.”

“All is as your opinion dictates,” replied Ambassador Tamboli of India.

Governor Stockton continued, largely ignoring the ambassador’s remark. “It is for this that the nuclear disarmament of France is the trickiest. Pakistan was the most dangerous, since we had done nothing like it before, and it required the most troops of mine. China’s taken the longest so far, and the most resources. And Russia was just violent and stubborn about the whole thing. But it is France that will ultimately give us the most trouble, because they’re smart, and we will never really know if we’ve gotten all of them. Following the events of Pakistan, they immediately modified their tactics for their nuclear arms. They quickly developed an impressive strategy of compartmentalization. I knew they would do this, which was why I haven’t relied on intelligence that I gathered before the mission, but I also spent months debating whether I should start with them instead of Pakistan. In the end, I could not, because the backlash from such a thing would have been too great. I had a number of parties interested in disarming Pakistan. Even though these parties were not outwardly happy with having been lied to about the specifics, they were secretly relieved. France, on the other hand, belongs to a collection of extremely powerful allies. Disarming them will be considered an act of betrayal.”

“I should say so.”

“And because of all this, I will not be able to continue alone. I am forming a new alliance; one loyal to our cause. Only non-nuclear nations will be allowed into this alliance, and the list of potentials is large, so I will need help whittling it down to a manageable size.”

“I would imagine that the more the better.”

“One might think so, but it would actually benefit the cause to have fewer, tighter allies, than dozens of countries who each feel marginalized and misrepresented.”

“I suppose that makes a certain logic. Are you asking me to assist you with your special list?” Ambassador Tamboli asked.

“I am,” Stockton answered.

Tamboli sighed heavily. “That’s all you had to say. Don’t know why you felt the need to go into such a huge speech.”

“You’re a diplomat. Aren’t speeches your drug of choice?”

Now Tamboli ignored him. “Let us see the list.” She looked over the sheet of paper that Stockton handed her. “Why is India not on here?”

“I can’t picture a world where you are not part of this glorious alliance. I didn’t put you on the list, because I didn’t want to risk you crossing yourself from it.”

“You know that I’m just the ambassador, right? I’m not the avatar for the entire nation of India. You can’t flatter me into joining you.”

“Yes I can,” Stockton nodded.

“I am also happily married.”

He shrugged. “We’ll see.”

Tamboli sighed again and set to work on that list. She took a pencil and quickly drew squiggly lines through countries one by one, as if she had ruminating on the matter for days. “There.”

“I’m surprised you kept Sweden.”

“Their historically precarious relationship with the United Kingdom should prove useful to you. They have always been against nuclear weapons, and are only staying out of this conflict because they are terribly afraid of World War IV.”

Stockton nodded again. “That makes perfect sense. See? This is why I need you.” He looked back down at the list. “Why did you remove Switzerland? Do they not have the same stance on nuclear weapons as Sweden?”

“They do, but they also exercise a level of isolationism. Of your list, they are the most outspoken against your interference in the business of independent states.”

“I hadn’t noticed.”

“Have you been paying much attention to countries that you’re not currently focused on trying to disarm?”

“No, you’re right. I haven’t. Good point.” He looked to the list once more. Good points all around. I will not ask you about the others. I can clearly trust your judgment, sight unseen.”

“Again, no need for the flattery.”

“Your modesty knows no bounds.”

She laughed.

Governor Stockton spent the better part of a year cultivating relationships with the remaining nine countries on Tamboli’s list. While the first few stages of his mission involved relatively quick and decisive action, the next few nations needed to be dealt with delicately. The important thing about the alliance was that it needed to appear as if those were the nations who were agreeing to become part of it, rather than a set of enemies against other alliances. It needed to be more of a council, and less of a coalition. Instead of trying to use the alliance to make a play against France, he was actually intending to romance them into joining up and disarming themselves, much like India had. And it worked. It took a very long time, and as Stockton had pointed out in the meeting with Tamboli, they could never really be sure that they had cleaned them out entirely, but it did work.

France had a number of conditions, not the least of which was that they would act to destroy their stockpile on their own, rather than simply handing them over to Federama. The fact that Federama now controlled over 50% of the world’s nuclear armament had the potential to cause more problems than it was promising to solve. Federama, and the rest of the new alliance, insisted that they oversee France’s safe destruction of their bombs. Stockton’s plan relied on him having as many of the weapons to himself for a period of time, but Russia had probably provided him with more than enough to get his point across. And it just wasn’t worth bullying France into giving up on that condition.

When all was said and done, Stage Five of the mission was successful. Once everything was over, France as a whole seemed almost to smile, like an addict ceremoniously burning their drug stash. People were more surprised than they thought they would be about how good it would feel to be free of the burden. They didn’t feel vulnerable. They felt ready to move forward; excited for a future of peace and happiness. Stockton had succeeded in not only disarming another country, but in swaying the public opinion. No more were people angry about their interference. Though the governments of the UK, Usonia, and Korea showed no signs of relenting, the majority of their populace was in favor of it. And after enough time, that would be all that mattered. Yes, things were going well, but they were about to get bad. As Korea threatened nuclear war with Usonia, knowing that no one would be able to stop them, Usonia and the UK were only strengthened in their resolve to keep armed.

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Superpowers: I Have a Plan (Part III)

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Though Federama was governed by a single system, and everyone within the government was on board with Governor Stockton’s vision, not all citizens were. Roma Tanner, the de facto leader of a coastal city was the primary voice against the mission. He had not been elected to any position, but he was the owner of a variety of different small shops, so many looked to him for general guidance. Every single day since the beginning of Stage One, Tanner requested audience with Stockton. His family had immigrated from Russia, which would very obviously be the focus of Stage Three, so his urgency was growing. Following the completion of Stage Two, Stockton was feeling comfortable with his position, and finally called for a meeting with Tanner.

“Why have you been avoiding me?”

“I’ve not,” Stockton promised him. “I’ve been busy, with obvious crises.”

“Yes, I’ve heard. I’m here to discuss some concerns. I’m not happy with you threatening the lives of my brothers and sisters around the world.”

“I’m not happy with it either,” Stockton agreed. “I felt I had no choice. If they don’t think we are capable of protecting ourselves, then we encourage them to come after us. I’m not the one who invented mutually assured destruction.”

“This isn’t mutual. Every time you take their weapons, and keep them for yourself, you are succeeding in increasing your own.”

“I have a plan.”

“I know. I’m trying to tell you that it’s not working.”

“No, I’m not talking about the plans to disarm the world. That’s going swimmingly. I mean I have a plan for what to do with the weapons once I’ve collected them all.

“And so what is it?”

Stockton took a sip from his tea. “I’m afraid that such information is known only to myself.”

“You’re telling me that your lieutenants and subordinates follow your ambitions blindly, without even knowing how it ends?”

“They trust me. You should too.”

“No, I should not. Your threat of nuclear retaliation is not working. All signs point to the very real possibility that Russia is calling your bluff and is planning on deploying missiles against us.”

“I have a contingency in place if this were to happen.”

“And I suppose you’re not going to tell me that either?”

“You would be correct.”

“You couldn’t possibly have enough spies in Russia, like you did with China. Their recruitment program is notoriously difficult to get through. The statistics on failouts are staggering. No one really knows what happens in the spy world, but it’s a common rumor that Usonia has been trying and failing for years to embed spies in Russia, or at least informants.”

“I don’t have any spies,” Stockton answered with a shrug. “But I have intelligence. I know where most of their weapons are. We’re still working on it. I would have liked more time, but these are the cards I was dealt.”

“No, Stockton, that’s not true. You’re the one dealing the cards. You’re the instigator of all this. And you have to stop. It’s only going to get worse. Usonia has the largest stockpile of nuclear weapons, by an astronomical margin.”

Stockton chuckled. “That’s funny what you just said there. It’s not funny now, but it’ll be funny later. Trust me.”

Tanner ignored his remark. “What are you going to do when you inevitably reach the Stage for Usonia? They’re going to be the hardest.”

“Yes, they are. But that’s why I’m holding off on them. I’m hoping after I’m finished with France and the U.K., they’ll choose to disarm themselves.”

“That’s not going to happen. No one is going to do that.”

“We’re already talking to India about it.”

“Really?”

“Yes, they intend to disarm of their own accord. We’re just discussing specifics.”

Tanner seemed genuinely impressed with this, even knowing how supportive India had been throughout this whole endeavor. “Either way, that’s them. What about everyone else?”

“I’m handling each nuclear nation differently. I have considered all of the angles. Every single point of retaliation or resistance, I’ve planned for it.”

“I am a point of resistance, as are my constituents. Have you planned for us?”

“Indeed. In fact, I was putting off this meeting so that you can be here on this specific day. What you said about Russia is true, and will mark a turning point in our grand mission. We have been monitoring their communications, and we believe that they are about to, as you said, call my bluff very soon. Within minutes, actually.”

“Well, what are you going to do about it?”

“I have a plan.”

“Stop saying that!”

Stockton shrugged again. “It’s true.”

“It’s also meaningless to someone as ignorant on the matter as I am. If you want me to trust you, then read me in.”

He shook his head. “The only way I know that I can trust you is if I don’t read you in. You have to make the decision yourself.”

“What does that even mean?”

“You will soon have a choice. You can either push the button, and show me that you love your constituents, or you can do nothing, and risk not only this mission, but the lives of everyone you know.”

“I don’t understand.”

Governor Stockton’s special red phone rang. “Ah, here’s the call now.” He answered. “Yes, Mister Lazarov. What do you hear from the airwaves?” He waited for a response. “Are you sure?” He waited once more. “Have they already deployed?”

“Deployed?” Tanner repeated. “What’s happening?”

Stockton placed his hand over the mouthpiece and whispered, “Russia’s gonna nuke us.”

“What!”

“Thank you very much, Radimir. My love to your family.” He hung up and walked over to the other side of the room.”

“They’ve already sent a missile, haven’t they? We have to get everyone to the bunkers.”

Stockton unlocked a cabinet and pulled a drawer from it. There was a single mauve button on it. He simply presented it to Tanner, as if trying to sell him a car.

Tanner jumped up and pushed the button without hesitation. Sirens went off across the entire island. Everyone and their mother was headed for safety in the bunkers below. “Is that going to be enough? Will the bunkers keep them safe?”

“Some of them, yes. The coastal bunkers couldn’t be dug too deep, but the Russians are almost certainly aiming for the center. For the people there, probably not. The Amadesins built the bunkers to protect themselves from that day’s technology, not today’s.”

“This is crazy!”

“I know. They’re all so shortsighted.”

“No, I mean what’s happening right now! The Russian missile will be here in, what, thirty minutes?”

“Closer to twenty.”

“You did this!” Tanner screamed. “You put us all in danger, and now it’s coming to fruition. Was this your plan? To have everyone die? I imagine you have a bunker that goes down a thousand sheam. You and your friends will be safe, while your country burns around you.”

“Nonsense,” the governor replied. “I’m staying right here.” He fiddled with a few instruments on the console. “Remember when we renovated my office a few years ago? I had to lobby for the tax money, even though it was seemingly frivolous?”

“Yes, as I recall, that was the first time we heard you say, I have a plan.”

“Well, I’m sorry to inform you that the renovation was mostly frivolous.” He playfully finished the sequence of commands on his instruments. The ceiling above them began to open up. “I couldn’t pass up the chance to have the best seat in the house. There’s no way I’m going down to a bunker.”

“We’re in the middle of the island,” Tanner said while watching with interest as the ceiling continued to disappear. “It’ll fall right on top of us.”

“It’ll try.” He casually placed his sunglasses on his face.

After the ceiling was finished, a set of television screens rose from the floor, cycling through security footage from around the island. Stockton was not lying about having technology beyond the day at his disposal.

After time, the screens showed that no one was left on the streets, or even above ground level. “Tell me your plan,” Tanner insisted.

“I need to know if I can trust you. I’ve told you this.” He unlocked a second cabinet, and released a second drawer. A yellow button this time. “Push this. I’m not going to tell you what it does. But I can tell you that it will surprise Russia like none other.”

Tanner hesitated. “I can’t. I would rather die than send a barrage of missiles towards my enemies.”

“So you agree? My vision is right and good.”

“I didn’t say that.”

“And I didn’t say that the yellow button would deploy a missile.”

The security screens transformed to show the perspective of a single camera, each one revealing only part of the picture. The missile from Russia was on its way.”

“It’s your choice, Roma. Are you going to push the button or not? You have to decide in the next minute or two.”

Tanner stood there, stunned and sweating. He desperately exchanged looks between the yellow button, and the security screen. Fearful and feeling no other way out, he reached over and smashed his hand into the button. It opened a secret door from the bookcase. A woman came out of it. “Really, Stockton? Those theatrics? I say...”

“I knew you would come out on your own, in plenty of time, if he ended up not pushing it. You are nothing if not reliable, Mrs. Blackmore.”

“What’s going on?” Tanner cried.

Stockton handed Tanner a pair of sunglasses. “You might want these.”

Mrs. Blackmore walked to the center of the room and lifted her arms. The security camera became useless as they could now see the missile headed towards them with their own eyes. Tanner continued to sweat. A magical yellow light came out of Mrs. Blackmore’s hands and shot towards the missile. It overcame the deadly weapon, and in one bright flash of light, disappeared it.

Tanner removed his glasses and continued to stare as the yellow light faded away to reveal blue skies. “What the hell was that?”

“Oh yeah, you should know,” Stockton said with a smile. “Superpowers exist.”

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