Chapter 16
A Few Miles South of the Azores
They had made progress, having sailed past the Pillars of Hercules a day ago. Japan had set the yacht's course and presided over the controls. He saw the sun slowly setting across the horizon, but he didn't bother coming up with fancy adjectives to describe the natural beauty of the event. He was much too tired.
Alfred and Maria were by the bow, waiting for the 'green flash'. They seemed to have recovered from the turn of events from earlier, but he knew better. These things didn't 'pass away' from them, who were blessed (perhaps cursed,) with preternatural memory. Japan, for instance, could vividly remember events all the way back to his 'childhood' as the Yayoi Culture.
He remembered meeting other nations. The first time he encountered another of his kind.
The question begged itself again. Why?
Why was Yao doing this? No matter how he racked his brains for the answer, the whole thing seemed so illogical, so unnecessary, so unlike him. The nations had barely recovered from the pandemic, and there were no debts, no territorial ambitions, the usual motivations for such drastic measures, that could not be cancelled, achieved without starting a full-scale war.
He threw his mind into what it did best; an endless calculation of every factor that may have come into play and led to this sequence of events, but no matter what pathway, he could not see the logic behind the attack. It was as if the whole world had gone crazy, beginning with the Big Three.
The Big Three, Japan echoed in his mind. America, who rose to the top after a trailblazing string of successful wars and diplomatic outplays. Russia, who was sculpted from the bitter Northern wars and hardship, securing a power base in the frigid lands and forming himself into an efficient machine of a nation, and China, oldest of the three and perhaps the most dangerous to make an enemy of. Sure, America and Russia could deliver mutually-assured destruction, but they were bad at what Japan called 'grand strategy'. Thinking of a war not as a single event, but part of a long scarlet thread weaving all the way back to time immemorial and forward into the hazy future. China understood how wars worked, how they intertwined nations with each other, set them against each other, destroyed some and uplifted others. China did not use brute force, but give him time, and he had plenty, and victory was certain.
Japan drifted into hazy recollections of his earliest years. When he was born, a handful of other empires already dominated Asia. India acted as a barrier from the West, Korea had blossomed mere centuries ahead of him. Persia was further west, and was lost to him in memory.
Then there was China.
Japan's first memory of another nation was meeting China. He oversaw the upbringing of all surrounding cultures and nations around him. He raised almost all of the East Asian nations. In all of them, a bit of China's culture could be seen, a DNA of nations that confirmed his spiritual paternity. From Japanese language to Vietnamese architecture to Philippine cuisine, China was one of the "Original Six", the six nations from whom all other cultures are derived. Others called them the "Great Ancients". They were China, India, Peru, Mesoamerica, Mesopotamia and Ancient Egypt. China was the third eldest, but in terms of influence, he far surpassed his peers.
Japan remembered being the favoured child. His quick mind and thirst for knowledge greatly appealed to China and endeared Japan to him. He grew fast and saw himself quickly match his master in skill, wit and power. Japan didn't exactly remember what soured the relations between the master and pupil, but it didn't matter now. What mattered was figuring out what devious plots were cooking in China's mind before it was all too late.
China was never an aggressive expansionist. He diluted neighboring populations with slow but sure immigration, backed up with cultural soft power in the form of trade. Military confrontations, let alone outright nuclear warfare, was not his style. Something had changed, perhaps it began much earlier. What did Napoleon say?
"China is a sleeping giant, let her sleep, for when she wakes, she will shake the world" he whispered to himself.
"Well, he certainly left us shook" piped Maria, emerging from. "It's fascinating, no? I'm re-reading some old YA novels to get genre-savvy, and this trip is giving me 'The Lost Hero' vibes. Amnesia, a sleeping giant awakens and it's just the three of us to stop her, I mean him" She clenched her fists. "So what's stirring your mind right now?"
"It's the sheer illogic of what's happening," Kiku replied. "China's not like this. He can be a dick, but this is not his strategy. It's as if some greater evil has taken control"
"I think you're thinking about the CCP"
"No, the CCP doesn't want to rock the boat. It hurts their power base"
"Maybe" America said, barging into the room, "China found the Eclipso Diamond, or maybe he's working for the Black Order"
"Don't you bring Marvel and DC into this" raged Maria. "We got enough to deal with. Maybe you can compete with Cap and Japan can out-tech Tony Stark, but I wouldn't want to face Black Widow and her back-flips and cartwheeling and shit. She'll snatch my entire existence!"
They laughed. Maria always remained buoyant, no matter the odds. The yacht was now approaching the Equator. "I managed to salvage dinner out of the paltry remains of the larder." said Maria. "Alfie ate through a week's rations in an afternoon..."
Across the globe, Malaysia awoke in a prison cell. Her mind was bobbing on the surface of consciousness. It took great power to contain a nation, but she had walked into the dragon's cave. She was easily taken down. She desperately searched her phone for a signal but found no hope. She mused that China had left the phone there on purpose to further demoralize her. She didn't need it though, she knew that as she lay there, China had probably already launched a coup. She'd be damned lucky if ASEAN hadn't booted her out yet and left her isolated, if ASEAN was still standing at all. Aloysius was the cornerstone of the alliance and his death had surely spelled doom for the SEA nations. Stupid bitch! she cursed herself. This was all her doing.
She looked around at the grey walls and knew it was probably next to impossible to escape, but she would try. For her people, for her siblings. Please, Lord, she said as she assumed salah position, send me Kinabalu. The magical tiger, a friend of hers since ancient history, might solve her problem by travelling via moonlight. She knew she sounded crazy but the tiger was no imaginary friend. It was real, and many nations bore the scars to prove it.
She concentrated deeply on her prayers. It could've been five minutes or five thousand years, but at last she heard a noise outside her cell. Was it Kinabalu? It sounded like a lock being picked. Lo and behold, the door to the cell opened. Aisha screamed as she saw the figure that entered her cell. Tall, pale and dirty, the dead Singapore came closer, putting a finger to his lips as Malaysia swallowed the last Allah Rahim that left her choking throat. She was going to end in a zombie apocalypse.
But Singapore did not eat her brains. He simply backhanded his sister to calm her down. "We'll all end up razed by nuclear hellfire if you don't shut up!" he whispered fiercely. Malaysia collected herself, then she simply threw her arms around him. "You! Alive! How!" her vocabulary numbed by shock.
"You know damn well I didn't do something as stupid as argue with Iran. Well, actually I did, but it was all a ruse. The meditation technique Tibet taught me came in handy, if not a bit cliche. I was never dead, I WANTED China and the others to think that. The sooner I'm not in their radar, the better."
"But I saw-"
"A city smote by fire, yes. My land is razed and dead, but I live on in the massive datalinks I compiled because I knew they'd come after me first. To paraphrase Grand Admiral Thrawn-"
"Who in God's name is Thra-"
"As long as one is on the Internet, they are never truly gone"
"Oh, Star Wars" Malaysia answered her own question.
"Indeed. As we speak, Redditors all over the globe are making memes about my humiliating 'death'. China never realized the power of memes"
"That's nice, but what do we do now?"
Singapore grinned. "Now comes the fun part. We must establish La Resistance..."
They soon escaped that prison complex by a mix of disguises, feigned arrogance and impeccable Mandarin dialects.
Meanwhile, Israel was trying to contact England. She had tried mirrors, smoke, even ravens and doves, then she remembered the pensieve he gave her for her birthday. "Use it," he said. "Find some happy memories, learn from past experiences".
Yeah, I think I'll pass…
With a little magical hacking, she repurposed the memory basin into an All-Seeing Eye, allowing her to view England and talk to him. She dipped her face into the water.
She appeared to England like a ghost, which didn't spook him at all. England had not left Portugal's resting place since the other day. He looked severely malnourished.
"Hold on, I ordered McDonald's via raven delivery" she quipped.
"Very funny," England said, forcing a smile. "You tweaked the Pensieve?"
"Indeed, there wasn't any other way I could call you" replied Israel. "I need to know whether you'd like me to enact our protocol for a potential Apocalypse?"
"Not just yet, America and the others must put in their part first"
"He's got amnesia, yes? That's not my department. Wise move sending them to Peru"
"He's also got Honda and Maria with him. He'll be safe"
"Brains, brawns and beauty. A formidable trio"
"They'll get the ball rolling for the long-awaited prophecy"
Israel scoffed. "Prophecies are overrated. I've gotten enough trouble with those. No, we should also lay down a backup in case shit hits the fan"
England cocked his head. "You ARE the backup. It's time to get on the field, make alliances with neighboring nations."
"Eww", Israel shuddered. "Why can't I fight alone? I'm used to it"
"The Yom Kippur War was child's-play, and you know that, Esther" England cautioned. "This war is against the best of the best powers of the Earth"
"I've faced bigger armies before"
"Be careful", said England sternly. "You know your weaknesses. Ally yourself with countries that cover them. I might offer you two suggestions"
Israel was openly disgusted by those suggestions. "I'll team up with those two when hell freezes over. No, Arthur. I'll hold the Levant on my own. I'll even secure the Dardanelles while I'm at it, give you a chance to kick Russia in the balls directly"
England groaned. "There's just no arguing with you"
Israel smiled. "Hey, I'll be fine. I'm sorry about Cale, but I do expect you to understand, he let himself get soft." She bit her tongue. "No, I'm being too hard. Sorry"
England took her hands in his. "Just be safe"
"I will" she said, as she dissolved into mist. The Daughter of Zion was about to put her grand stratagem into play, but was she really on England's side, or was she throwing her lot in with the Hegemony?
She checked a holographic world map back in her home base. She encircled the Philippine Islands, Washington DC, Okinawa, Berlin, Riyadh, and Canberra. She crossed out Lisbon, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Rangoon, Vientiane, Phnom Penh, and Baghdad. She would work out her web of traps, double passes and various plans within plans from here. She would achieve her goal without even leaving her sanctum sanctorum. The whole of it made her sound like some shadowy cult. She encouraged the rumors that she and the mysterious Illuminati were in cahoots, if not the same entity. It helped scare away enemies.
But the truth was that even she was eluded by the identity of the All Seeing-Eye. One day, she hoped, she'd unravel his (or her) cover, expose the one who had forged The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, the one who had made a scapegoat of her, and put her and her people through decades of hatred and war.
I'll find the Illuminati's -tan, if it has one. I will wring the truth out of him. I will find out who really pulls the strings and then, I will kill him...