起来(Qǐlái!)！ 不愿(Búyuàn)做(zuò)奴隶(núlì)的(de)人们(rénmen!)！
把(Bǎ)我们(wǒmen)的(de)血肉(xuèròu,)， 筑成(zhùchéng)我们(wǒmen)新的(xīnde)长城(chángchéng!)！
The sharp yells of a military march would cause anyone to be roused from a slumber, even the heaviest of sleepers. Most of the time, this is no problem, as not a single soldier would dare be stupid enough to try to sleep when something like this is going on. And that, of course, is making a big, BIG assumption that something like that would even be possible.
But things are different today. For something other than the occasional annoying insect rests within earshot of the marching. But she is not conscious right now. Lucky for her, it would be a trouble and a half dealing with the noises of-
*cough cough*
Well crap. It would have been really, really nice to get through that. The 15 year old begins to slowly move, her mind trying to figure out just what the hell is going on.
"Brawnz? Did we make it back to the dorm?"
But this definitely isn't the dorms. Her eyes try to focus on what she is seeing, and, unbelievably, it comes into perfect clarity. The faded maps of China, made in 1953 to show off the annexations of Tibet and displaying Taiwan as just another province, is perfectly readable, despite being Chinese.
A poster of many, many people holding a red book that says "We warmly welcome the victory of the 4th National People's Congress" is digested without missing a beat.
The confusion that initially held sway when looking at the living quarters has completely vanished. Now it seems perfectly normal.
There is only one explanation for this bizarre display. But just how the fuck did this happen?
️
Well, Mao was raised in Buddhism, but he ended up rejecting it once he became an adult.
And something tells me the Buddha was not too happy about that…
He's got the power of reincarnation up his sleeve. And look who just passed away! That's right, our favorite Chinese communist, Mao Zedong. This really should be one of the easiest decisions in the world.
He reincarnated Hitler as a sterile mosquito in Argentina, so what could he reincarnate Mao as? Does he pull the classic "ant" trick? How about the last member of a dying species? He turns his head slightly and notices a new object in this plane of existence - a string.
Why a string? Isn't this realm supposed to be reserved for gods? Even the Buddha is struck curious by this. He pulls the string. Nothing happens.
…
…
Well, he could always just send him to-
Right then, interrupting that thought, a new thing enters his memory. What surprises him the most is the look of it. Why does it have a beanie covering its eye? What is that thing she is holding? None of the gods in this realm could ever hope to answer any of those questions…
But the Buddha has an idea. A very, very clever one. Why not stuff Mao into here? A leader of many, many men reincarnated into possibly the most un-leader like human he can think of right now? Is that a human? The hilarious contrast of the two personalities makes him chuckle a bit, pushing that question out of his mind. The last time he had laughed, the Ganges flooded India.
And thus it was done. Back to the nothingness plane.
️
ˉˉˉˉˉˉ
After many hours spent "singing" along to some of the most Mao-supportive messages that the military has on offer, The two soldiers finally return to the living quarters, after some more dinner, of course.
这些面条肯定是好的，不是吗？(Those noodles sure are good, aren't they?)
是的，他们非常好。几乎和湖北的面条一样好！(Yes, they are very good. Almost as good as the noodles back in Húběi!)
他们仍然无法击败 - (Still doesn't beat the-)
The lower-ranked soldier stops as he turns into the room. The girl from earlier has stood up, and is now currently reading just about every single thing that there is.
He watches for about 20 seconds. His superior joins him, looking over his shoulder. Both of them are glued to the scene. They both thought she would either still be out, or scared in a corner somewhere.
小姐？ ( Miss?)
它是什么？(What is it?)
The same thought enters both of their minds at once: How the hell can she speak Chinese? The superior starts the process of getting a proper answer.
我很高兴你已经醒了。您需要什么吗？ (I am glad you woke up. Do you need anything?)
我饿了。我可以吃点东西吗？(I am hungry. Can I get some food?)
我们现在所拥有的只是口粮。(All we have right now are rations.)
那将是可以接受的。(That will be acceptable.)
His hands pull out a ration from his pocket and give it to her. He uses this eating time to study her more, not having a chance to do so before because of the bizarre circumstances in which they met. What jumps out at him immediately is the weapon she is holding with a death grip. It looks like a gun, but nothing that he has seen in the military before.
The ration is gone before he can even begin to think anything else. She really must have been hungry.
好吧。现在，尽快将我带到您排名最高的成员。(Alright. Now bring me to your highest-ranking member as soon as possible.) May is already looking past them.
那是不可能的。 你是在我们今天的照顾。(That is not possible. You are in our care for today.)
好吧，我自己去做！(Fine, I will go do it myself!)
She rushes out of the room. The two soldiers quickly share mutual looks of "What the fuck just happened?" before rushing after her.
That 15 year old is so goddamn fast that they can barely keep her in their sights as they give chase.
She eventually stops at a person who not only has many pockets in his uniform, but even some medals on the front, almost certainly obtained from fighting in either WW2 or Korea.
不好了。 这是第二把手。 这个不好。(Oh no. That's the second-in-command. This is not good.)
作为您的领导者，我命令您将我转交给上级指挥部！(As your leader, I order you to direct me to the high command!)
The soldier doesn't even flinch.
赶快去做吧！ 我需要与中央政治局联系！(Do it with haste! I need to be in contact with the Politburo!)
The soldiers earlier non-response has been replaced with an ungodly laugh.
哈哈哈哈哈哈哈哈哈！这些都是给你一些大的话，年轻的姑娘。 (Hahahahahahahaha! Those are some big words for you, young girl.)
我是毛泽东！ 您的光荣领袖！ 您将立即将我送回政府办公室！(I am Mao Zedong! Your glorious leader! You will send me back to the government office at once!)
哈哈哈哈哈哈哈哈哈哈哈哈哈哈哈哈哈哈哈哈哈哈！ 你让我开心！ 但是，你必须返回到您指定的生活空间了。 ( Hahahahahahahahahahhahahahahahahahaha! You have made my day! But you must return to your assigned living space for now.)
Just then, he sees the two that are supposed to be overseeing her.
你们两个很幸运，她很搞笑。 现在带她回来！ (You two are lucky that she is hilarious. Take her back now!)
They both jump on her. With May not expecting it, she is quickly subdued before she can try to break out. Realizing that she can get nowhere right now, she surrenders herself and lets the two walk her back.
那两个肯定选择了一个狂热者！ 哈哈哈哈哈！(Those two sure picked a fanatic! Hahahahaha!)
Back at the living quarters, both soldiers are almost to collapse after taking care of that whole situation from earlier.
Their brains are rattled, but the superior's especially so.
你为什么要这么做！ 我们不是要伤害你！(Why are you doing this! We're not here to hurt you!)
这和你无关。 这和我有关！(This has nothing to do with you. This has to do with me!)
你不是毛！ 他几天前死了！(You are not Mao! He died a few days ago!)
你错了！我需要证明自己，这样我才能再次领导中国人民！(You are wrong! And I need to prove it to lead the Chinese people once again!)
不，你不是。(No, you aren't. And even if, by some insane miracle that would be crazier than Taiping, you were, there is no way that you will ever get that chance. [this sentence had no acceptable translation])
您是说您不相信自己的领导者吗？(Are you saying you don't believe in me?)
你怎么认为？(What do you think?)
May turns her back to the both of them and goes silent. The soldier looks toward his superior, trying to find even a shred of a clue as to what to do.
现在怎么办？(What now?)
我希望你有个主意。(I was hoping you had an idea.)
我的意思是，我们不能只将她踢出去...对吗？(I mean, we can't just kick her out… right?)
我们可以，但我们会得到的，因为精神失常疯丫头处罚。(We could, but then we get punished because of an unhinged crazy girl.)
你是说你宁愿被困在所说的女孩附近吗？(You are saying you would rather be stuck near said girl?)
Before he could attempt to respond, two guards come up and take her from the room.
Both want to come up with a funny quip, but neither of them have the mental strength to actually do it. Instead, they both simply collapse onto the floor, hoping that this was just a very weird dream that they are about to be zapped from.
️
Meanwhile…
The guards are tired as all hell. They've already been through all the military drills and all of the extra things that come with being a guard. And then some cruel deity just decides to plop down some girl to cause even more trouble.
There's no attempt to hide that annoyance as they take said girl up to their own superiors. May's feet are dragging like rocks. The inside of the living space turns into an outside area, before quickly turning back around into another generic room.
This next one undergoes a gradual turn, with more and more propaganda posters making themselves known on the walls with each passing step. Although they taper off after a short while, the atmosphere is already set. The guards finally reach something that looks like an interrogation room, and put May down in the only chair available.
The guards then take their standard positions beside the door, almost as if nothing had changed.
May just sits and stares at the wall, knowing that there is no way for this to go any faster. The next few minutes pass slower than a dead tortoise, the minute hand on the clock almost seeming to freeze. Like ice, that frozen-ness seems to spread everywhere.
One person comes in to shatter it: Wang Hongwen, current vice-chairman of the Politburo. He sits down opposite this girl, clearly struggling to maintain his composure at the sight of her.
你为什么自称是毛主席？ 您知道这种假冒行为的惩罚吗？(Why do you claim to be Chairman Mao? Do you know the stakes of this impersonation?)
我不是在冒充！ 我是毛！(I am not impersonating! I am Mao!)
不，你不是。 我有他的身体就在这里！(No you are not. I have his body right here!) He then produces the body of Mao himself, touching it just for dramatic effect.
像冰一样冷！ 自己感觉这个男人！(Cold as ice! Feel him yourself!)
May does so and feels the same ice cold as Wang did.
那可能是他的身体，而不是他的思想！ 毛现在在和你说话！(That may be his body, but not his mind! The mind of Mao is speaking to you right now!)
哦真的吗？ 证明给我看。(Oh really? Prove it.)
为什么，当然，同志！我亲自签署了您的正式选举文件！ 现在让我们比较签名。递给我一支笔，如果你愿意。(Why of course, fellow comrade! I personally signed off on your official election papers! Let us compare signatures right now. Hand me a pen, if you please.)
Wang reluctantly gives her a pen.
May then carefully pens the signature of Mao Zedong with perfect accuracy, so perfectly that forgery can be ruled out entirely. But it has to be checked first.
Wang takes this signature and goes out of the room for a while. May can only just wait for the inevitable.
Wang walks back to a familiar room. Inside is Hua Guofeng, freshly-minted leader of China, along with many of the same high-ranking officials from the leader coronation a few days earlier. He ignores them all, however, and looks inside a drawer for various documents. Finding one that is satisfactory, he holds up the pieces of paper next to each other.
An exact match.
这是不可能的！(This is not possible!)
你在说什么？(What are you on about?)
这个女孩没有撒谎！(The girl is not lying!)
你是说那个声称自己是毛的女孩?！ 你喝太多了吗？(You mean the one that claimed she was Mao! Did you have too much to drink?)
我希望我喝得太多…但是自己看看这些。(I wish I did… but look at these yourself.)
One of the members does the comparison and comes to the exact same conclusion.
He hands it off to another, who does the same thing, and gets the same result.
Eventually, Wang gets both the papers back. Silence overwhelms the room.
...我们该怎么办？(...What do we do with this?)
No one has an answer. They can't install a weird 15-year-old girl looking thing as leader of China. The whole country would immediately break out into revolt. And just imagine the state visits!
But they can't just kill her either… it is now 100%, unequivocally, Mao Zedong in the body of that girl.
我们将把他放在一个特别的房间里。 这是我们所拥有的最好的折衷办法。 政治局其他成员将定期向他咨询国家事务。(We will keep him in a special room. It's the best compromise we have. The rest of the Politburo will periodically consult him on state matters.)
The rest all nod at Hua's plan. She is carried over to a special room and officially freed of all restraints.
好的，主席。 你的故事是真的。 如您所知，华将继续担任官方领导人。 他将很快与您见面讨论事情。 希望您能继续为中国提供更多帮助… (Alright, Chairman. Your story is true. As you can probably understand, Hua will remain as official leader. He will meet with you soon to discuss things. I hope you can continue to help China for decades more…)
Yes. I did just write a 2000 word chapter mostly about alternate 1970's PRC soldier/government interactions. Trust me, there is a reason.