Two people stand mere inches from one another. One wields two personalities inside their brain, and the other has just short-circuited, her own brain not too functional right now. The operational one speaks, to attempt to draw her partner back to reality.
"Is my presence that amazing to you?"
Silence from the other end. She's just about to speak again but is stopped when Yang slowly lifts her arm up.
"Y...y-you're… May… a-… a…"
Yang's mind still can not comprehend her being here. The old beanie and jacket have long been replaced with traditional clothing, ones that do not fit nearly as well on her. Regardless, May does not look like a complete dumpster fire...
"May? That's the first person I have heard in decades that knows me by that name… How do you know me?"
"I heard you on the news! From Team BRNZ! Remember?!"
It's now May's turn for her face to freeze. A memory that was stashed in a deep corner of her brain long ago, and by this point was close to being washed away by the tides of time, suddenly bursts to the forefront.
"H-Yes! How have they been doing!"
"They've been doing good. In fact, we were just about to face them in the Vytal Festival. They looked like an insane team to go up against…"
Some tears are welling up inside May's eyes as she remembers more and more about her older life.
"Hey, it's okay, come to Momma Yang!" She holds both hands out for a nice, strong bear hug, which May almost trips over herself to fall into.
They stay glued to each other like this for a while, until her eyes run completely dry.
"Feeling better yet?"
"Y-yeah… a lot better actually…"
"I bet you really needed that reminder after being stuck here for two years."
"Two? It's been twenty years Yang, twenty that I have been stuck down here in China!"
"Twenty? That doesn't make sense! You went missing two years ago, remember? You were in your third year?"
"Here it says that I arrived in 1976… and now it is 1996!" May points to some calendars that confirm her tale.
"Well I have an article saying that you've only been missing two years!" Yang brings up an article that was sent by BRN right before the voyage to the burial site raving on about the upcoming two-year anniversary celebration. May reads this article while Yang begins to search around the room.
The first thing she notices right off the bat is the tray of food that sits next only a few feet away from May. Inside it is a bowl that looks extremely fancy to the eyes, with very delicate patterns and shapes she has never, ever seen. She brings her face closer to the bowl to study more, and the pleasing smell of spices almost send her nose to heaven. But it also sends her brain on a slightly different tangent… How is this world so different? She looks back over at May to figure out more, and that's when her brain finally connects the dots… She's not wearing her hoodie! How did her brain not notice that earlier?!
What May is wearing is not even remotely close to the hoodie that she used to wear back on Remnant. Instead that is replaced with a more... boring getup. It looks like something a housewife would wear, what with the baggy sleeves and the pants that look outdated as all hell… Coco would be sure to chirp about this if she would see… Over to the left though, is a stack of what looks to be more of the same. The one on the bottom, though, is distinctly brighter than the rest… wait… did she actually kee-
"I've figured out the problem… Here it says that I went missing at AP 78, and the date of the article is AP 80… That means that one year on Remnant is equal to 10 here on Earth…"
"Earth?"
"I'll explain it later. Right now, I have to ask… How did you get here?"
"Well, I was with the rest of Team RWBY over around to where you supposedly went missing, and we were all searching for evidence of your existence. I found a rock formation-"
May cringes at those last two words.
"-And I dug there because it just looked too suspicious. And I fell into some void. I fell for a while, landed somewhere in an alley, and roamed around for a bit before getting arrested and eventually being sent here."
"Interesting… That's how I fell down too, I was out on a mission and fell into a rock formation… But you got lucky. You at least had a chance to roam around and do things… I was just taken here."
"Why?"
"Well… *clears throat*"
And thus, she explains the entire story of the guards, being interrogated, and, most importantly, the Chinese dictator that is inside her head. Predictably, Yang's mind crashes due to information overload.
"W..What?!"
"I can even speak perfect Chinese too!" 我可以说像我想没有一个单一的犹豫面条的东西！(I can say things like "I want noodles!" like it is second nature!)
Yang obviously doesn't know any Chinese, so the second part goes straight over her head.
"I… uh…"
"Don't worry! I will have me and my guards teach you some Chinese. You will be staying here with me for the time being."
"Wait what?"
"It will be a great time! And besides, where else will you go?"
Yang thinks about this for a bit and realizes… she's right. Where else can she go? She doesn't have any money for a hotel…
"Uh… Okay I guess!"
"Good! Now I want to know, who are you? All I know is that your name is Yang Xiao Long, and you are also from Remnant."
"Oh do I have the story for you! I'm the best member of my team! My weapon can shoot fire bullets!"
"Oh I have heard… They sure are powerful."
"Hell yeah they are! But you should see my sister, she's got an absolutely massive scythe! And she can shoot that thing better than anyone! I remember one time that…"
They talk for a while. A really long while. So long that the sun sets before either of them get even the slightest inkling to stop…
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ˉˉˉˉˉˉ
?️?️?️?️?, China
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会议进展如何？(How's the meeting going?)
让我拉起相机… (Let me pull up the camera…)
The man presses a few buttons on the console, with the monitor flashing some static before flipping to the room where the two displaced huntresses are located. The two are still locked in their catch-up conversation, with May joyously laughing.
进展顺利。(Going very well.)
善。(Good.)
The two switch their focus away from the monitor and their eyes move more generally outward to the main room. This room has several monitors, top scientists, and, in a corner of the room, a street-level map of the entirety of Hong Kong. This has been the main focus of this room for over a decade, ever since the agreement to hand over Hong Kong was signed in 1984. The Chinese have always been looking to correct their mistake, even as far back as the Qing Dynasty. However, various factors (first a general lack of skill, then civil wars, then some fucking Japanese, then a tenuous hold on power), have conspired to keep Hong Kong away from Chinese tendrils. The ultimate purpose of this map is to figure out a way to make Hong Kong "Chinese" again as soon as possible.
You see, just handing it over will not be enough. The islands had been under British administration for so long that the two are almost literally worlds apart, with Hong Kong almost bleeding the liquids of Capitalism. Of course, a communist PRC is not going to let that continue. But how to crush this economic beacon? A straight up invasion force will cause international condemnation, and possibly lead to a stand-off with the British. One they could win, of course, but it would still be a massive headache.
Luckily, the people in this room came up with a plan: Send infiltrators to commit crimes, destroy things, and cause general unease in the territory, then China can use that as an excuse to sweep in and destroy the government. But this plan is not without weaknesses. For one, the infiltrators could easily be discovered. There is not many routes into the city, and Hong Kong will be sure to have a checkpoint ready to catch people such as these. And, of course, maybe Hong Kong will just crush the criminals too quickly, and thus there would not be enough unease to justify an invasion force. So, it is clear a backup plan has to be created.
And now, we move on to said backup plan, an object that is simply known as the "Ultimate Weapon". This "weapon" is a special collection of systems that result in whatever is used for it becoming a killing machine, capable of wiping out millions of invaders without breaking a sweat. More powerful than even a nuclear bomb, this had the potential to be activated if Hong Kong decides to be more than stubborn… But, there is one hitch:
Someone has to wield it.
The current frontrunner is Deng Xiao Ping, just as it was first designed to be. At this time in 1996, he is getting extremely old and frail. When his death inevitably comes, the plan is to use his body and essentially reanimate his corpse, making him the perfect vessel for this miracle of science. But thanks to this new development, a wrinkle might just have been introduced...
看来她会留下来。(It looks like she will be staying.)
确实如此。 那么，我们如何处理原始计划？(That it does. So, what do we do with the original plan?)
我们不得不问毛泽东关于这个… 但这将等待。(We'll have to ask Mao about this… But that is going to wait.)
为什么不是现在？(Why not now?)
为了确保这两人成为好友。这样，她将去不战，如果确实她是不二人选。(To make sure these two become friends. That way she will go peacefully, if indeed she is to be the vessel.)
那是明智的。但是，为什么还是她呢？选择谁有关系吗？(That is sensible. But why her anyway? Does it matter who gets put in?)
它可能会更强大，如果她是一个。邓仍然会很强大，但火炬枪这个女人将是非常有用的。想一想。(It would likely be more powerful if she were to be the one. Deng would still be very strong, but the flare guns this woman has would be extremely useful. Think about it.)
A look of realization gradually dawns over his face as he thinks about the capability of those gauntlets.
你是对的！她将能够拆除许多建筑物！(You are right! She would be able to take down buildings!)
对？ 而且我们仍然有整整一年的时间来弄清楚这种事情的过程。(Right? And we still have almost an entire year to figure out the process for such a thing.)
After some silence, they go to work doing just that, drawing out the blueprints for hooking it up to someone living. They can only hope that she will be agreeable in what is to come…
A little shorter that the recent ones, but eh. Now the Hong Kong 97 part finally comes into play. I sort of laid out the plot for the next few chapters right there, but I promise, Remnant has not been permanently discarded quite yet…