Chapter Thirty-Six: History Lessons
Doran Routhe's office was a nice one.
It had a window scanning over the causeway leading into the UPL's headquarters. There had once been a statue of George III here. But that had been smashed to pieces and melted down. Doran smiled at that particular memory. In its place now stood George Washington, who was finally given the honors he had deserved.
Doran had always held nobles and royals of all kind in contempt, personally. Society ought to be meritocratic. Thus why he was scanning over reports; he was now of possible new recruits. None of these were going to make the cut, he decided and turned the page.
Then the door opened, and Doctor Amaya sat down in front of him. Glancing up to the bespectacled woman, he set his papers down. "Well, Doctor, what is your assessment of the technology?"
"It's magic," said Doctor Amaya, blushing a strand of blonde hair behind her ear.
That was not an answer Doran wanted to hear, so he looked at the man in irritation. "What do you mean it's magic?"
"I mean, it may as well be magic to us," said Amaya. "The gun Mark brought in operates on principles we don't comprehend. We aren't even sure what it fires, let alone how it fires it.
"Of course, these are just preliminary results; more time may allow us to discover the truth. As for the storage cube, we've managed to figure out how to operate it. It seems certain commands operate certain subspaces. However, we are lightyears away from understanding how it works."
"Of course," said Doran, looking back down to his desk. "What about the fragments of the ship Mark brought back."
"Well, they on the surface appeared to be crystals," said Amaya. "However, a microscopic analysis reveals that they are like nothing we've seen before. They almost resemble that of a living being, but... there is a lot of energy in it.
"And all kinds of reactions are happening that we don't understand."
"Fine, keep analyzing and theorizing," said Doran. "Humankind did not discover the laws of the universe overnight. We'll learn the truth eventually."
Then he made a call.
Mark was walking to school when the phone came up. He answered it and put it to one ear. "Mark," said Captain Route.
"Captain Routhe, how can I help you?" asked Mark, adopting his normal tone.
"You're discovery is of great use to the UPL, we believe we'll be able to reverse engineer the weaponry," said Doran. "For now, however, we have a unique opportunity.
"You said that the two alien women are now staying with the Masaki Household?"
"Yes, that's correct," said Mark, mentally calculating.
"You must infiltrate, longterm," said Doran. "This is an opportunity to learn the true nature of our enemies."
Mark nodded. "...Very well, I shall initiate Operation: Summer Occupation."
"Which is?" asked Doran.
"I will contact the Grandfather and request to work as an assistant to him in working at the shrine," said Mark. "I've already achieved familiarity; it should be fairly simple to get a position."
"And if you cannot?" asked Doran.
"Then I will need to use a failsafe," said Mark. "In the worst-case scenario, I could find occasions to visit on occasion and plant bugs."
"I'd prefer if you avoided that," said Doran with a laugh. "The Japanese government is not enthusiastic about our actions. If we bug their citizens and get caught, we may have problems.
"We have total military superiority, of course. But the League would prefer to avoid any escalation."
"I understand," said Mark, before noticing a group of students by the school eyeing him. No doubt, they thought themselves very tough, and he was obligated to play to their perceptions. If it came to it, he could kill all three quite easily.
For now, however, his combat techniques would have to be used to ensure no permanent injury. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm due to get my lunch money stolen."
Then he hung up as the students crowded around him, making threatening statements. Mark wondered if someone might show up to rescue him? Then he remembered this wasn't that wasn't that kind of story. And even if it was, Mark wouldn't have been the main character.
Getting saved from bullies happened to people with incredible destinies ahead of them. Ordinary people just got beaten to a pulp, unless the hero needed to show how kind and brave he was. And that was generally resolved for the shallow love interest.
So he ended up getting beaten up and having his lunch money stolen. Apparently, they'd wanted to make a show of power over the American.
Mark, for his part, focused on his schoolwork. He was quickly reminded of his persona that all of these people would be shot when the revolution came. For now, he focused on achieving his classes and approached Tenchi after class. "Heading back home?"
"Yeah, I've got fields to tend for summer," said Tenchi. "Growing season and all that."
"Right, um, Tenchi, can I ask you a favor?" asked Mark, remembering his purpose and putting on a meek approach.
"What is it?" asked Tenchi. "Hang on, where'd you get those bruises?"
"I had a run-in with some jerks," said Mark. "Anyway, with the school years winding down, I'm kind of, sort of, in need of a summer job. Do you think you could put in a word with your grandfather at the shrine?"
"Huh, I thought you'd lined up one up?" said Tenchi in surprise.
"Yeah, well um, I sort of got my plans changed at the last minute," said Mark. "I sort of need something to keep busy."
"You sure?" asked Tenchi. "I mean, the stairs aren't exactly easy to get up. And you'd have to go up against them every day."
"I... may have an ulterior motive," admitted Mark, deciding to hide in plain sight.
"Which is?" asked Tenchi, who sounded suspicious.
He probably thought Mark was attracted to one of the alien women. Granted, both were very attractive physically. Far beyond any normal women, Mark had seen, but it simply didn't matter to him. "You have two aliens living in your house."
"I knew this was about the girls," said Tenchi.
"NO!" said Mark, a bit too quickly. So apparently, his persona was attractive to them. "I mean, look, they're aliens. I'd like to learn a bit about alien cultures, and what they do and such. We've just made first contact. I'd be remiss in my responsibilities if I didn't at least try to do some research on the subject."
"Hang on, you haven't told anyone about this, have you?" asked Tenchi, concerned.
Oh yes, god forbid someone make a stir by calling the police. It was only an alien invasion. "Oh come on, do you really think I'd do that to a friend? I haven't told anyone in Japan, let alone the school!" Both statements were completely true.
Tenchi sighed. "...Fine, I'll put in a word with grandpa. But you do know that he's going to work you like a dog, don't you? He doesn't even go easy on me."
"Yeah, I know," said Mark. "I've been working out a lot lately, so I think I can handle it." He'd backed this up with a better display at PE class.
"Sure," said Tenchi, who probably considered himself the straight man in this situation.
Mark decided to humor him as they rode the bus. No one else was on it at the moment, Tenchi seemed to have absurd luck like that. "So, uh, what are those girls like?"
"Irritating," said Tenchi. "Ryoko is always hanging off me like a cloak. And Kiyone seems to have made it her personal mission to hang around until help arrives. She wants to take Ryoko into custody with hero. So hopefully, in a few months, the problem should sort itself out.
"Hey, when we got separated, did you run into Kiyone's ship?"
"Kiyone has a ship?" asked Mark's persona. "I thought she came here in that mecha?"
"Right, sure," said Tenchi, looking up. "Well, I guess that leaves the items that disappeared from it a mystery. We had to spend a full day getting them out, and some were missing."
"They probably got misplaced or something. I know I lose things all the time," said Mark. Continue to put up a front of inferiority; if they know your true nature, they can defend against you.
"Sure, but you're not a Galaxy Police woman," noted Tenchi.
"Actually, about that," said Mark thoughtfully. "That skintight blue jumpsuit doesn't seem practical for the purposes of detective work. It's um, well it seems more designed to um... well she's a very beautiful woman but..."
"I think it's made from the material we haven't developed on Earth yet," said Tenchi.
"Oh, um, right, well..." Mark paused. He wondered if there was some way to get ahold of the fabric. Cutting it directly was not a good idea, too much evidence. It bore further thought.
As they got off the bus stop, they began the long climb up the steps. Mark put on an appearance of exhaustion and hating the steps. Body language and expressions could easily substitute for lack of true exertion. He'd scaled far worse stairs in training.
And then Ryoko came, phasing through one of the tree. In the process, she nearly knocked Mark down the steps as she glomped Tenchi. She put her face near his cheek and breathed into his ear. "Welcome home, Tenchi!"
"Oh, it's you, Ryoko," said Tenchi.
How to approach this? Mark thought his persona ought to introduce himself. "Ms. Ryoko, I'm glad to see you again, um..."
"So, Tenchi, I was thinking of taking a walk in the woods," said Ryoko, ignoring him. "Want to come with me, just the two of us?"
"Ms. Ryoko?" said Mark's persona, feeling a bit annoyed.
"Not right now, Ryoko," said Tenchi. "I have to get my homework done, not to mention handle my chores at work."
"Aw, but those are so boring," said Ryoko.
"Excuse me!" snapped Mark's persona. He had nearly fallen down a set of stairs because of her.
Ryoko looked up as though she'd only just noticed him. Blinking in confusion, she got off Tenchi. "Hmm? Oh, who are you?"
"We met a few days ago," said Mark. His persona felt offended but didn't show it.
"Hmm, I don't remember," said Ryoko.
"Actually, you did meet him Ryoko," said Tenchi. "His name is William Mark; he threw the book at Kiyone."
"Oh right, the egghead," said Ryoko.
"Hey!" said Mark, knowing what his persona would say. "I take offense to that! Being a man of science requires extensive discipline to attain! Words like egghead are degrading, especially considering-"
"Couldn't care less, so Tenchi, please go with me. It'll be fun," said Ryoko.
"For the last time, I can't go anywhere until I get my responsibilities done," said Tenchi. "I'll walk with you later."
"Fine," said Ryoko, before phasing out.
Tenchi sighed. "...As you can tell, Ryoko is a bit of a handful."
"I noticed," said Mark. What kind of space pirate was this person, and why hadn't she been robbing anything at the moment.
They got to Tenchi's house soon enough and opened the door. Entering it, Mark's persona felt a bit uncomfortable in the entry hall. While he did know Tenchi, he had not visited all that often before now. "Um, so should we go meet your grandfather first?"
"I'd prefer to talk to him," said Tenchi. "Wait here, and I'll see if I can get you a meeting. He generally prefers to have people meet him one at a time unless he comes down here first.
"There's some canned tea in the fridge if you want it."
"Right," said Mark.
Mark did not take the canned tea. Instead, he drew out a bottle of water he'd brought from his apartment and drank that instead. Moving into the apartment, he found Kiyone Makibi. She was fiddling with a pink cube, similar to what he'd taken before. She was turning it like one would a Rubik's cube, and Mark sat down.
His persona was almost blushing over how beautiful she was in her white sweater and black pants. "So, um, Ms. Kiyone Makibi, I believe we met earlier?"
She looked up with a start. "Hmm, oh, hello. Yes, we did, William Mark, right?"
"Yes, that's me," said Mark. "I'm glad someone remembered my name around here."
"I'm guessing Ryoko forgot it," said Kiyone.
"You guessed correctly," said Mark. "So, what are you doing?"
"I'm trying to set up a distress beacon," said Kiyone. "When you turn this cube in the right way, it sends out a signal. It should be picked up by any vessels coming near here; they'll help me put Ryoko in jail for good."
"Won't that get picked up by the government?" asked Mark, who didn't think much of her security measures. Then again, he didn't think much of Ryoko as a criminal, so it balanced out. "I mean, I don't mean to brag, but we've got some pretty good technology here."
"I doubt it," said Kiyone. "That you could pick it up, I mean. It operates on principles nobody on this planet would be able to figure out."
"And what makes you so sure?" asked Mark.
"...Nevermind," said Kiyone after a moment. "So, you're from the continent of Britannia?"
"America now, actually," said Mark. "Britannian culture has basically ceased to exist, with all the monuments destroyed. As far as the Washington Party is concerned, the American revolution succeeded. It just took a couple of centuries of nonstop world war.
"I guess we have killed the whole Royal Family now, so may they're right."
Kiyone stared. "You killed your own Royal Family?"
"Yeah, after the World War, the average person was more or less sick of nobility and royals entirely," said Mark. "The Washington Party came to power and broke up the old empire. Instead, they set up a system of democratic Republics unified under a common high council. After they purged the nobles trying to turn back the clock.
"That's what happens when you get billions of people killed for nothing, I guess."
Kiyone stared. "...Billions? You're exaggerating, right?"
"Well, not in terms of direct casualties," said Mark. "But when you account for the purges, the diseases, the famines the number gets pretty high, especially in the later stages when the WMD's came into things. China was a wasteland until recently. And we aren't so much working on ecological recovery as terraforming."
"But..." Kiyone paused. "If that's true... how long was this war?"
"Eh, twenty years maybe," said Mark. "Though it's a debate whether it was all one big war or a lot of smaller ones."
"...You killed more people in twenty years than have died in all the wars in Juraian history combined?" asked Kiyone. "How is there even a population here?"
"Well, um, Earth has a lot of people on it, I guess," said Mark. Apparently, in outer space, wars were fought with far fewer casualties. "But I don't know your history. Actually, that's sort of what I wanted to talk to you about. What sort of wars are fought in outer space?"
"Well, the most recent one would be the Jurai Tal'Darim war," said Kiyone. "That lasted about fifty years and had a few thousand casualties on both sides. It was the bloodiest war ever fought by the Jurai Royal Family. Or so I thought."
"What does that mean?" asked Mark. But he already suspected he knew the answer. The Juraians bloodlines had first been isolated during the purges. They'd found that the nobility had traces of DNA unlike anything human.
It presented a threat Mark meant to answer.
"Nevermind, um, I'd heard a bit about Earth before now," said Kiyone. "but I never realized things had gotten so gruesome."
"So have aliens come to earth before?" asked Mark.
"Well, Emperor Azusa picked up his first wife here," said Kiyone.
"Really?" asked Mark, remembering the theories. "How'd that happen?"
"Well, after the Jurai Tal'Darim war Emperor Nesshin was seriously injured," said Kiyone. "He'd fought in single combat with the Tal'Darim leader, Mal'lash and neither had come out of it well.
"The injuries pained him for years afterward. Eventually, he died of complications when he used too much of the Jurai power.
"With no clear successor, Lady Seto went to find Nesshin's lost daughter."
"Lady Seto?" asked Mark.
"The most powerful woman on Jurai," said Kiyone. "I uh... met her daughter once. Anyway, Nesshin's daughter had run off with some guy of common blood earlier. So he'd wanted nothing more to do with her. As it turned out, though, she'd had a son.
"Naturally, Seto immediately took the boy and had Nesshin adopt him. Continuing the Jurai bloodline is important. He was Azusa, our current Emperor.
"But, well, he made a run for it at one point and ended up here on Earth. I don't know the details, but he ended up touching down in China. Eventually, he came back with a wife and refused to become Emperor unless he was allowed to marry her."
"I think I've heard this story, it's an old Chinese folktale," said Mark. He made sure his persona adopting a fascinated manner. "The story of Princess Kaguya. Maybe the names got switched around later."
"It's possible, I guess," said Kiyone. "That was thousands of years ago.
"Anyway, that sort of opened the door on visits to Earth. By members of the Jurai Royal Family, at least. I gather that there have been several other visits, one during what you called the Dark Ages. Ever hear about Camelot?"
Mark had been raised there. "Yes, I have."
"Well, that got started when a member of the Jurai Royal Family crash-landed in a lake in Britain," said Kiyone. "He was stranded there for a while and apparently helped found a kingdom. I think he called himself Merlin while he was there."
Mark made a mental note to burn his books on King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. It was a shame; they'd been good stories.
"Though there's a hard clad rule not to show ourselves to people openly now," said Kiyone.
Mark paused. "So, is there some kind of official foreign policy on Earth?"
"Hmm?" asked Kiyone.
"Well, I'm not going to have to worry about an alien invasion or anything?" asked Mark. He'd decided that Kiyone represented a layman's perspective on Jurai.
"You don't have to worry, Earth is designated an underdeveloped planet," said Kiyone. "There are ironclad rules against that kind of thing."
"You mean a world that has not yet reached a sufficient level of technological progress?" guessed Mark.
"Something like that, I guess," said Kiyone, with the tone of one being evasive.
"What do you mean by 'something like that.'" asked Mark, liking this less by the minute.
"Well, um, Earth isn't as advanced as most worlds that have been inhabited," said Kiyone, looking away. "Underdeveloped doesn't mean that you haven't reached a certain level of development. It means um... you are behind, though it's a pretty arbitrary concept."
"How far are we behind?" asked Mark.
Kiyone shifted. "Well, a lot.
"All the other homeworlds develop to the space age within the first century. It's um..."
"What?" said Mark, losing his persona for a moment. "How can we possibly be that far behind?!"
Kiyone paused. "Well, it isn't really your fault.
"See, well, from what I read in the history of life on Earth developed entirely independent of any deity. All species we know of in the universe were created by design. But earthlings were created without divine intervention.
"When a deity creates a species, they tune them to have advantages and disadvantages."
Mark decided that if he went any further with this subject, he'd show his true colors. "...Why don't we change the subject?
"So, is this Queen Funaho still alive?"
"Yes, actually," said Kiyone. "She had a son with Azusa who became the greatest warrior in Jurai's history, named Yosho. Though he disappeared a long time ago, and we're not sure where he is.
"The Jurai Court was apparently hostile to her, at first, but she's generally accepted now."
"She must be pretty old by now, then," mused Mark.
"Well, no, probably not," admitted Kiyone. "Jurai lengthened here years, so now she lives the normal amount."
"What's the normal amount in outer space?" asked Mark, trying to maintain his persona.
Kiyone paused. "...As long as you aren't killed or die some other way, forever. Nesshin ruled for thousands of years, and he was considered to have a very short reign.
"Though very eventful."
Mark quickly looked for ways to change the subject. All of this needed to be processed without emotional fixation. "If you don't mind me asking, Ms. Kiyone, um how... um..."
"Twenty-four, actually," said Kiyone. "I'm pretty darn young for my position in the GP."
"What position in that?" asked Mark.
"Erm... detective first class," said Kiyone. "I was hoping to be at a higher rank by now, but, um... various reasons interfered."
At that moment, Tenchi came back. "Mark, good news."
"Yes?" said Mark, checking his persona.
"Grandpa wants to meet with you," said Tenchi. "But I think he's willing to give you the job. I just hope you know what you're getting into."
"Right, thanks," said Mark. "I've got to go, Kiyone."
"No problem," said Kiyone.
As Mark made his way up the steps once more to the shrine, he contemplated what he had learned. It was possible that Kiyone Makibi was lying. But her reluctance to say as much seemed to indicate otherwise. What if she was telling the truth?
Mankind had begun as mere apes, no as mere primordial soup.
But they developed. They arose from microscopic beginnings and grew into the form of apes, which in turn became humans. These humans were hairless, without claws or fine senses. They'd been surrounded by far worse predators. And yet they survived.
They fought and struggled for every moment. Their lives were as mayflies, yet they recorded their history to pass down. They built tools from nothing, made bronze and iron. Chariots and horses gave way to automobiles.
In all this, there had been many setbacks. War, terror, disease, and death stalked every street, and yet from this came medicine. Endless lives had been given to the pursuit of science, learning the nature of the world. From philosophers to scientists, to theologians, mankind had fought to understand the universe. And through understanding, they were even now gradually gaining mastery.
All for nothing, if his sources so far were accurate.
Were they no more than an accident? Stunted and deformed idiots to be regarded with pity by a perfect universe? Creatures whose only hope is that they might one day aspire to be stupid servants to a beautiful elite?
To hell with that.
Humanity had been helpless and outmatched before the sabretooth and mammoth. They had outlived them.
And they would outlive Jurai.