Side Story - Career Path

"Hello, my name is Professor Dong Min."

His colleague, the esteemed Professor Xianzhi, chuckled as he put down his chopsticks. "Am I the first person you've tried that out on?"

Dong Min couldn't keep a grin from twisting his own smooth face. At Xianzhi's motion, he took a seat for himself at the small dining table. "No, I introduced myself like that to everyone I ran into on the way here." He gave a small gesture to the faculty dining room around them, as resplendent as anything in Ba Sing Se. "I just like the sound of it. Professor Dong Min. It sounds like poetry."

Xianzhi nodded and picked at the remnants of his lunch. "Not to mention the... ah, social perks of the position. Have you been awarded a new house yet?"

"No. I'm still in the Middle Ring, but I'm comfortable, and it's an easy commute."

"You'll probably get one after your first big publication. Things have been slowing down in the Rings ever since the King took direct command of the military."

Dong Min nodded as a waiter came over and bowed. "Ah, I'll have the pepper chicken-pork, please." He turned back to Xianzhi. "Actually, my first big publication was what I wanted to talk to you about. Specifically, a new spin on your study on suppressed memories."

"Oh?"

"I was impressed- very impressed- with your findings." At Xianzhi's smile, Dong Min continued with a light tone, "I think there's great possibility in a more rigorous examination of the phenomenon, and even a challenge to your premise."

"A challenge, eh?"

"Indeed. Your conclusion was that you successfully uncovered suppressed memories and I agree that in most- if not all- of the cases you're probably right. However, I've become intrigued by the possibility ofmanufactured memory."

Xianzhi blinked. "A fake memory? I've never heard of such a thing. Is there precedent? I uncovered no-"

"No, no," Dong Min assured his colleague. "There is no academically verified precedent. This is entirely something I've come up with on my own, but I think it's more common than you're expecting. Do you recall the brown silk curtain that used to hang around the entrance to this dining room?"

Xianzhi's eyes lost focus. "I- brown?"

"Yes, I distinctly recall it when Professor Renyi brought me here for a lunch five years ago. The curtain they're using is gold now. Do you recall the old one? It was a bit thicker, and brown. I thought it gave the ambiance a darker overall appearance, and I was pleased when I came back and found that they had replaced it with the gold one."

"I... suppose. Yes, I remember it. Brown. What of it?"

"Xianzhi, that curtain was never brown. Five years ago, it was still gold. I was lying to you. I know it was gold because I noted how it matched the color of the curtains in my father's house. I just made you generate a fake memory, a picture of something that never existed."

A slow smile spread across Xianzhi's face. "A nice trick. Shallow, of course."

"Of course."

"But still, a nice trick. Intriguing possibilities. Yes, I can see where it intersects with my own work. Perhaps together we could-"

"That's precisely what I was thinking. Co-credit."

"Very well, Professor Dong Min. Let's work up a proposal, see what kind of resources we need. But I'm sure we'll get approval for your project."

"Hello, my name is Agent Long Feng."

Dong Min gave a short bow from behind his desk and motioned at the chair on the other side. "Please, come in. You're right on time. How can I help you?" The question was a formality, of course. The Dai Li only came to the University for one purpose, to chastise anyone who ran afoul of the organization's increasingly widening mandate. Usually, the only interest the Dai Li took in the faculty was when they denied publishing approval to a monograph or book, and the organization only dispatched an agent to the University itself when provisional approval was being considered so long as the author submitted to various censorship requests.

Dong Min had recently sought to publish a paper. He had not yet heard back on the outcome.

The agent- Long Feng- glided smoothly over to the chair and took a seat. Unusually for one of his function, he removed the wide hat from his head and set it down casually in his lap. "As you might have guessed, I am the agent who was assigned to review your latest paper, 'Manufactured Recall and Intersections with Behavioral Patterns,' and approve it on behalf of the Dai Li."

Dong Min nodded.

Long Feng smiled easily. "The review is still pending, but I wanted to talk to you before I came to a decision. To put it simply, I have an offer for you."

Dong Min slumped in his chair. "I will, of course, submit to whatever changes the Dai Li request of me. I only wish to be a good citizen."

Long Feng's smile didn't change. "Oh, you misunderstand me, Professor. Publishing your paper is going to be an all-or-nothing deal. However, I was hoping that you would agree to classify it as a state secret, and work with the Dai Li to take your research to the next level."

"...what?"

"Yes. The Dai Li have long been interested in developing a method of corrective behavioral therapy for people who do not have the ability to... be one with the city's cultural identity. We want to help those who have gotten themselves into trouble; we want them to fit in and lead happy, productive lives. While reading both your latest paper and your older works, it became clear to me that you have developed the start of a system for doing just that." The young agent crossed his hands over his hat. "I'm offering you a job. Or, more specifically, a grant to continue your research on behalf of the Dai Li and work with us to develop a way to use manufactured memories in service to the great city of Ba Sing Se."

Dong Min could only blink in response. A grant? From the Dai Li? This was completely unprecedented. The Dai Li had vast resources, and this was a chance to work without opposition, or pressures from the University to maintain any kind of performance standards. However, it meant Dong Min would get no credit for his work, not within his lifetime. But there would be no limits to how far he could take his interest in the human mind and its memories. The gain to science could not be ignored.

Long Feng stood up, raising his hat. "I'm sure you need time-"

"Actually, Agent, I do not think I do. Your offer is very generous, and my dedication to my work demands I accept."

"Excellent." Long Feng's smile grew broader, and he bowed to the professor. "We'll need to put together an initial proposal of course, with a preliminary set of goals and the resources you'll need, and then present it to the Head of my organization. I promise you, I will be your advocate in all things."

Dong Min stood up on the other side of the desk, and walked around it to give the young Dai Li an approving pat on the shoulder. "I look forward to working with you, Agent Long Feng."

"Hello, my name is Joo Dee."

Long Feng's face was passive, unmoving. The weak crystal-light of the room left his visage in shadows, even though he eschewed the hat worn by all his subordinates. "I thought your name was Beihai Ren."

The woman's smile shrunk, and the ends gave a momentary fluctuation. "My name is Joo Dee. I have never heard of a Beihai Ren."

"And what of your history? How did you come to work as a Royal Host for the city?" Long Feng clasped his hands behind his back, and began pacing slowly around the woman.

Her smile broadened. "I have worked my whole life to serve the great city of Ba Sing Se. It is my honor to serve the Earth King as a Host to his guests and allies."

Long Feng stopped so that he was directly in front of her, staring straight into her eyes. "What if I told you that you are really Beihai Ren? That you were born far away, and came to Ba Sing Se as a refugee. That you lived for a month in the Lower Ring, until you became so unappreciative of the city's hospitality that you began encouraging your neighbors to leave with you? That you have been a prisoner of the Dai Li ever since?"

The woman was silent for a long moment, and then said, "My name is Joo Dee. It is my honor to serve the Earth King and the great city of Ba Sing Se."

Long Feng finally turned to the room's third occupant. "How much probing can she take?"

Don Ming's reply was quiet, but still echoed off the dark stone walls. "Our tests have not yet found a limit. The Shield Programming comes into effect whenever she feels notable stress or anxiety. It turns out that if a subject becomes suspicious of the repeated Shield Mantra running through her thoughts, the programming will activate again and reset the subject's mind to baseline levels. It's quite elegant, in a way."

Long Feng's smile was both honest and very, very sharp. "Excellent. Congratulations on your latest success, Professor. I'll give the approvals to implement the full Joo Dee program immediately. Once you finish training the designated Agents, I think it will be time to take your research to the next level."

Dong Min blanched in the crystal-light. "More?"

"Of course. This latest success proves that more creative measures are possible. What if, instead of simply pacifying most of our subjects and returning them to their lives, we enhance their purpose? If we can create a brand new identity for a Joo Dee, it should be a simple matter to give our other subjects additional instructions for something like... oh, listening for treasonous conversation and reporting it to us. We could even suppress it until a signal is given, and then activate the subject as a sleeper agent. We can get them into places where even soldiers cannot go, and then... they can do a soldier's work."

Dong Min was very still as Long Feng walked past him, patted his shoulder, and said, "Work up a proposal for me. You'll be given everything you need, of course."

"Hello, my name is the Earth King."

When Dong Min didn't react, the bespectacled monarch blinked and took on a slight slump. "Er, I mean that my name... well, technically it is, but... um, are you awake?" When no reply came, the Earth King took a breath, squared his shoulders, and said, "This is not helping your case."

When Dong Min spoke, his voice was hard enough to make the Earth King flinch. "You can have it all. My notes. The names of my assistants. The names of my subjects. The Dai Li kept records of everyone, so you should find details enough of their lives in there, if the Fire Princess didn't destroy them. By then, Long Feng had hidden me away, so I have no knowledge of her actions. And I will assist in whatever measures you wish of me. Just don't put me to death, please. I never wanted any of it."

The Earth King could only stare. "Er... the Avatar and I want to deprogram the victims we can find, if possible. Return them to their lives, or give them new ones."

Dong Min nodded slowly. "I'll put together a proposal."

"Hello, my name is Professor Dong Min."

The girl- a young woman, really- didn't look up at him from her crouch on the bed, but she did whisper, "I don't know who I am anymore."

Ignoring the all-too familiar pit in his stomach, Dong Min kept his gait even as he walked over to his latest subject. Patient. Latest patient. Latest, and- if the Earth King's word was good- his last. After the Joo Dee's, he thought his worked would finally be done, but then this proposal came along. It would never end, Dong Min had realized, so long as he stayed in Ba Sing Se, within the power of other people. After this, he would take his reward money and spend every last copper that it took to make sure that no one would ever connect him with the name of 'Dong Min.'

"Well," he said to the woman. "That is what I will fix for you. With my help, you will never have to be bothered by the name of 'Azula' ever again."

SIDE STORY END