Behind Wide Smiles - A Postwar Tale of Joo Dee
USS Hornet CV-8
Chameleon Bay, Eastern Earth Kingdom
1946 AD / 104 AG
"Attention on deck!" Chief Petty Officer Tom Miller called over his small detachment of sailors, enlisted sailors and NCOs of the USS Hornet's communications division. Normally they'd be tasked with communicating with shore-based command posts, other ships, air units, and other departments within the Yorktown Class carrier. However, with limited usability of the radio in the Bending Realm, like all other divisions of other ships, they too were given alternative assignments.
The twin silver bars of a lieutenant, a captain in the army and marine corps, shone brightly as the light reflected off the dancing waters just outside the water level access door, and off the highly polished metal on the officer's collar. A khaki-clad officer entered the room with a hardened expression of indifference that clearly indicated the lieutenant had better things to do.
"Gentlemen," the officer announced. "At ease."
The sailors, clad in their dress blue 'cracker jack' uniforms relaxed from the stiff and straight position of attention. "As you all are aware. While our esteemed Avatar is busy mending the world, and figuring out a way to send us back, we have been tasked to pay our way forward by taking part in the reconstruction and repair of their world. Unless you've been living under a rock for the past four years, you'd know that's exactly what we have been doing to pay our way back. And today it's Hornet's comms department's turn to answer a call," the lieutenant precluded. "Helping deal with a lot of the bureaucratic work and people management in the Earth Kingdom capital, the Admiralty and the chiefs of staff have ordered you men to relieve a crew of your Japanese counterparts from the carrier Soryu." The two navies' carriers were anchored at the center of the bay, parallel to each other, and dominated the landscape. "You men will be serving a shore-based deployment to Ba Sing Se, to aid in the sorting and the processing of people left over from the pre-war government. This includes sorting refugees and directing them to loved ones and home. It is essentially case and personnel work."
Chief Miller, standing by the lieutenant, watched over his men and made sure they were attentive to the commanding officer. He had already been briefed on the responsibilities entailed in this shore duty. He was not looking forward to it.
"You'll be working in cooperation with both the IJN, the marines, and the Earth Kingdom's army, city police, and what remains of the Dai Li. There is no sugar coating it. It is mundane and mainly administrative. But you are there to provide aid and assurance those that have endured a hundred years of suffering in a war of facism, and to show that the United States stands as a caring and humanitarian ally to the Earth Kingdom, going forward."
By Chief Miller's accounts, that's exactly what this was. It was 'kabuki', a show performance. Sure there was merit in this mission, but it was a performance to gain notoriety and favor with the Earth Kingdom for posterity. As if we would ever come back to this world, he scoffed internally. Who came up with this idea? One of the admirals? One of the four nations? The Avatar? There were definitely more important things they could be tasked with doing, he thought.
"You are representing the finest crew, of the finest ship, of the finest navy, of the finest country in the worlds," the lieutenant wrapped up. "As such, I expect you to act in the conduct befitting a proper US Navy sailor. The uniform for each day will either be your dress blues or your undress blues, to be decided by the officer in charge of the operation on shore. I expect there to be absolutely no reports or arrests by Shore Patrol or MP's from either branch or navy as well. Understood?"
"Yes, sir!" the sailors acknowledged.
"That'll be all." The lieutenant, still cradling his peaked visor cap underarm turned on his heel and moved to swiftly depart the compartment. A white wooden longboat could be heard, engine sputtering, approaching the open door on the side of the ship.
"Attention on deck," Chief Miller called again, cuing all men with ranks below the Lieutenant's to come to attention until he fully departed the room.
Having the compartment to himself, the chief addressed his men finally. "Alright men, you heard the lieutenant. Everyone into the long boat, we're going ashore." It was still a long way to Ba Sing Se. Peering out the open steel door and looking out across the water, the small ferry terminal that received and launched the paddlewheel ferry boats that shuttled travelers and refugees through the waters of the Serpent's Pass.
Soon the two large, tall, and long ships, the two aircraft carriers had shrunk considerably in size as the sailors crossed the vast expanse of Chameleon Bay in the white-hulled long boat. Tom sat at the bow of the boat, facing aft, staring back at the ship he was stationed on. The waters were calm, and the boat did not rock as much. Off the port side, just tracing the top of the horizon was the scaly ups and downs of what was known as the Serpent's Pass. Reportedly getting that name from some freakishly huge sea snake that lived in these waters. Tom didn't witness the battle with the Japanese during the war, as it was an air battle that his carrier was supporting, but he had heard from the guys that flew the SBD Dauntlesses that day that whatever Loch-Ness-Monster-like thing that lived in these waters was machine gunned to death by Japanese Zero fighters during the dogfight. So, somewhere in the depths of this deep water bay was the remains of a mythical other-worldly ancient sea monster, and somewhere down in the depths of the same water were the wreckage of dozens of Japanese and American war planes and the remains of the IJN Battleship Kongo and its crew. There was probably some kind of symbolic message in that image, Tom thought. Approaching their boat, coming the opposite direction were their IJN counterparts, a long boat bearing the name 'Soryu' on its hull, written in reverse and in hiragana chugged by them. The sailors stared each other down as the boats sailed by each other. The animosity was gone after four years of cooperating together, and at this point the IJN and USN were neutrally coexisting and cooperating in the same bizarre world, neither for or against the other. Tom gave the opposing Chief Petty Officer a slight nod, which the other returned, and soon the two boats were long separate from one another.
From the shores of Ba Sing Se it was a brief truck convoy to the nearby train station. The Fire Nation had been making notable progress in reverse engineering and producing its own domestic internal combustion engines and had further refined the crude gasoline they had been producing during the war. With the inputs of American and Japanese mechanics and vehicle engineers, basic trucks and cars were starting to make their debut in the Bending World. Their widespread deployment had been a relief to marines and sailors being sent to shore, especially further into the Earth Kingdom, as it was faster and more comfortable than ostrich horses and wagons, and much better than long ruck marches across the expanses.
The train was as crude as one could imagine. The car bodies were constructed mainly of stone. Only the roof, windows, and doors were cut from wood, all three being painted in an Earth Kingdom light green color with yellow trim. The platoon of sailors filled two entire cars of the four-car train. Being the highest ranking sailor in his car, Tom was guaranteed a seat. A privilege considering the train car had been packed to full capacity, and with the benches only being on the edges of the car the majority of passengers had to stand for the hour-long trip, but the seating was marginally more comfortable. As imagined, the seats were stone. And this car did not have and bogies or wheels. The train system didn't even run on rails, or atleast steel rails. It was a monorail system, the train fitting within a large and wide groove that made up the tracks. The consist was propelled by two earth benders, pushing the train along as if they were riding a really heavy kick scooter. It was heavy stone grinding against heavy stone twenty-to-thirty miles per hour. The venerable Chief Petty Officer held his bearing.
They passed the outer wall into the agrarian zone. Below the elevated tracks were wide open fields of farm and crops. A naval air station was being built in this area since the region was wide and spacious. The airfield could be seen off the left side of the train. Onlookers could tell it was big, simply because they knew it was far. And still, it appeared big! The airfield, although a military air base for now, was constructed with the intention that in the future it would grow into a bustling airport, potentially an international airport, and as such, although overkill for carrier-based aircraft and airships, it was built with three large and long runways.
The lower ring was bustling, crowded, and grimy. Looking down from the tracks, they flew over a densely packed and populated sea of merchants, workshops, and high-density housing. The streets were unpaved, and the roofs of carriages bounced and rattled side to side as they rolled over the uneven narrow roads. Crowds of people, merchants, craftsmen, and laborers filled the streets.
"Geez. It's Pittsburg down there," a sailor remarked.
A First Class Petty Officer crossed his arms, tilted his white cotton 'dixie cup' sailor hat back to reveal his eyes, and briefly looked over the side of the train. "Reminds me of Manhattan," the NCO scoffed, his New York accent coming through prominently. He, unamused, quickly reset and returned to his nap.
"Nah, it's more like Chicago down there," a Seaman chimed.
Looks miserable as hell, Tom thought to himself. To him, there was working for a living, and then there was this. Smoke rose all around, pouring from many smokestacks throughout. These people were being kept here. Maybe someone put the idea in their heads that if they worked hard enough they would eventually make it out of here, but even without talking to anyone the senior NCO knew they were essentially trapped in this rut of the city. The American Dream was hard, no one said it'd be easy, but it existed and it works for those that work for it. No such concept existed in the Earth Kingdom, and Ba Sing Se was no exception.
The Middle Ring was a big improvement. Now the train cruised over adequate houses, and more refined businesses. The focal point of the middle wing was Ba Sing Se University, which was easily seen from the train windows. This was the more humble middle-class setting he was used to seeing, as this was how he had grown up. Nothing too poor, and nothing too lavish.
Finally, their journey was reaching an end. The train began to slow as it approached the main terminal in the Upper Ring. This place was unmistakably high class. As the train came to a halt, its sheer weight and the friction of stone on stone, slowing the train rather quickly, Tom noted how the floors of the station were a smooth and lustrous marble. The buttresses that supported the large ornate roof were equally ornate, featuring gilded trim. This was certainly a different world. For the career sailor, at the top of the enlisted ranks, practically born on the seas, and who had spent sixteen years living in the cold, greasy, salty, riveted, and later welded, steel of US Navy warships, being in a palace was very odd to him. And this was just the train station.
The coupled stones ground to a halt, literally, and the wooden doors flew open. Immediately the men fell into formation, counting off, and awaiting orders as the train pushed on behind them. Standing opposite from them were three women, clad in beige dresses with dark green trim. Their hands were clasped together and hidden in the wide cuffs of their sleeves. All three wore uniform forest green silk scarves with the roundel of the Earth Kingdom clearly showing, and had identical horizontal ornate bars through their tied hair. Tom felt they were a tad creepy.
The centermost woman approached the formation. "Good afternoon, Chief Petty Officer Miller. You and your men must be from the Carrier USS Hornet. Welcome to our wonderful city."
"Pleasure, ma'am," Tom replied, extending his hand for a hand shake. Bowing was not his thing. "And please, 'Chief' or 'Chief Miller' is fine. Chief Petty Officer can be a mouthful if you say it over and over again. And you are?"
The woman smiled, a warm and personable one and took his hand to shake it. "My name is Joo-... Jia," she introduced, correcting herself. "My name is Jia. I've been working for the Earth Kingdom Capital and its Earth King in what was once touted as one of the most noble and important roles. "We're so glad to have the help of the mighty US Navy to help in our postwar matters. I've been tasked to escort you and your men to the processing center."
"The help is appreciated, Miss Jia. It's our honor to help out."
"Great," she exclaimed, out of habit. She bore a wide and uncanny smile, which wavered and was quickly suppressed. Tom could tell she was trying to kick a habit, somehow. "Follow us please."
Ba Sing Se Upper Ring
The processing center was filled to the brim. There was a long line that extended out the front of the building and went around the city block, and there were enough servicemembers, city officials, police officers, and Dai Li agents to create an entire battalion. There were enough US and Japanese military personnel to create a company on their own; over two hundred and fifty men were deployed to this station.
People of all kinds of backgrounds were gathered here, from nobles of the upper ring, to farmers and laborers who had evidently came from far and wide throughout the Earth Kingdom. Many of them had been displaced by war with the Fire Nation. Many of them were displaced specifically by the actions of the US and Japan in addition. Entire landscapes had been leveled from naval and air bombardment in the comparatively short time both modern navies had been dropped into this theater of war.
Many were being relocated or put in shelters of refuge. Both the USN and IJN were also directly involved in the rapid construction of refuge structures and locations. Their job here in the processing centers of Ba Sing Se was to direct and sort all the displaced. Sailors, marines, and their IJN counterparts up and down the massive line were hard at work processing and directing the heavy tonnage of people to different locations. Some were hauled off by truck to a further staging center in the city. Some were hauled to new housing sites in the outer ring. Others were processed to the ferry terminal for relocation elsewhere in the Earth Kingdom.
The entire US-Japan operation was being overseen by a US Lieutenant Commander. His staff's responsibilities focused primarily on forwarding reports of the people processed back to the Joint Naval Headquarters back in Royal Caldera City, back in the Fire Nation. This was on top of coordinating transportation and setting the uniform of the day for Mechanized World servicemen.
For days now, Chief Miller had been standing in the role of the department chief. In his mind though, he was a glorified supermarket shift supervisor with rank and a uniform. He wanted to do more, apart from simply stand there. His men were certainly earning their keep. Tom had it. He was going to give himself something to do. At least he could feel somewhat useful in this maniacal and mundane task. It would be a while until they were cycled out. USS Hornet would undoubtedly be more than halfway back to the Fire Nation by now. By his estimates, with proper heading and steady speed, the ship would have been passing Kyoshi Island by now. It would be a while before they were retrieved from Ba Sing Se. He might as well make his time here worthwhile.
He marched over to the rear echelon where several other sailors and clerks had stacks upon stacks of files piled on stone desks. They were filled with names, backgrounds, origins, among other bit of information. And remarkably, all files corresponded with a specific person in this room. Despite being ancient, Ba Sing Se perfectly replicated government bureaucracy.
"Chief Miller," Jia greeted.
"Ms. Jia," he responded, lightly grabbing the visor of his peaked cap and tipping his cover.
"Busy day," she said.
"As always," he replied. He reached over to her desk and grabbed a file off the stack. "I think I'll take this one."
Jia became wide-eyed. "You'll handle one of these cases?" What she knew, and what he did not know, was that Jia had been tasked with sorting and organizing a specific group of sortees.
"Sure," the Chief Petty Officer immediately replied. "How bad could it be?"
"I don't want to trouble-," Jia said, getting interrupted.
"No trouble at all. Until now, I've just been standing there. But unlike being in charge of a communications department on a warship, where dozens of men are talking to dozens of different assets, here there is little to no need for any guidance. I'll handle one myself."
"It's just that-"
"Is there an issue, Ms. Jia?" he suddenly questioned. Tom was a very straight to the point, no-nonsense guy. He had to be. It is what his enlisted career had made him. For him, it really was an innocent question. But his sudden and unintentionally harsh-sounding tone, to Jia, sounded like anger or confrontation, and she folded. "No," she said, "No problem at all."
"Very well," he acknowledged. He opened the tome. The Bending World was still far from a traditional book like he was used to, and farther still from being able to take and print photographs. The file was hand written, by ink and brush on sturdy wood-based pages. The primitive document and folder had also undergone extensive and tedious translation, a joint effort between Earth Kingdom scholars, the sailors of the IJN, and some US sailors with codebreaking knowledge, from Chinese characters into English text. The supernatural ability to understand all language, did not carry over to the reading of written text. In place of a profile photo, there was a rather detailed ink painting of the subject, a young woman with long and straight presumably black hair. Tom admired for a moment how detailed the painting was. It was after all the closest Ba Sing Se had gotten to a black and white photograph.
"Meiying," he read her name. "Service start: 99 AG. Hm." To the thirty-four year old chief, it seemed easy enough on paper. One out of many.
Jia realized what file he had taken. Out of all the ones on her desk, that one had a bit more weight to it, simply because of its subject's service history. "You're sure you want to handle this one?"
"Are you doubting my abilities?" Tom questioned. "This'll be a walk in the park. Send her over," he teased. "Another number in the system."
She reached up and took hold of his jacket sleeve. "Wait," the Ba Sing Se representative halted. "There is something you should know beforehand."
He set his peaked visor cap on the desk and took a seat, finally being left to his own devices. What was the big deal, he wondered.
No mentioning of the Earth King… invitations… and something about some lake, he recalled. Lake Leigwai? Laotai? Laogai? It didn't seem important to him.
He scanned the crowd of waiting people, looking for someone who matched what was depicted in the portrait painting. Could be anybody, he thought. Then he saw her. Once noticed, she stuck out like a sore thumb. She matched the painted portrait exactly, to his amazement. A rather humble looking face and long jet black hair which flowed down over her shoulders. She was proper in posture, sitting upright and quietly. Something about her seemed pained though, Tom thought as he observed the woman from afar. And she wore the exact same get up as Jia. A beige dress that extended to just above her ankles with green trim, a green silk scarf with Earth Kingdom markings, and a pronounced ornate, but simple, bar secured into a knot at the crown of her head. It was a uniform of sorts, but now he knew it wasn't simply a uniform of the secretaries and staff working at this processing center. Tom waved her over to his desk. Promptly she stood up and glided over to him.
"Good afternoon," he greeted, rising from his chair properly to greet her arrival. "Chief Petty Officer Thomas Miller, Communications Division, USS Hornet. I'll be handling your case today." Like with Jia, extended his hand to shake her hand. Unlike Jia, however, she did not take it. Her hands were still clasped together, hidden beneath the cuffs of her dress's sleeves. She bowed, wearing the widest of smiles. Something was off, in a slightly unsettling way.
"It is an honor to make your acquaintance today," she said in a calm and steady voice. "As it is an honor to receive the assistance of the United States Navy, here in the sanctity of Ba Sing Se."
This lady talks nonsense, Tom thought. And what was with this airy, unnecessary vocab-filled speech? "Pleasure's mine," he said as he retracted his hand. "Please," he offered, "By all means, have a seat. We'll make this quick and efficient."
"Oh," the woman said, abruptly placing a hand over her mouth. Her movements and expressions were exaggerated. "Where are my manners? I haven't introduced myself either." She returned to her natural position of attention. "My name i-is..J-Joo Dee," she trained. Suddenly the perfect tone and clarity in her speech was gone. It was like trying to listen to a damaged vinyl record.
"Joo Dee?" Tom questioned, genuinely surprised and confused. He opened her file frantically and flipped through the pages. "Did they get the name wrong? Are you not, Meiying?" He couldn't read the Chinese characters. For all he knew they very well could have said 'Joo Dee.' He had turned around and was angrily motioning for one of the codebreakers to report to his desk immediately, thinking there was a translation error. "Get one of those IJN sailors over here now!"
He turned to face the young lady before him. She was a wreck. Her lips narrowed and maintained an unnaturally firm smile, but tears were now streaming from her eyes. What the hell, Tom thought. No one cries over someone calling them the wrong name by accident.
A Japanese sailor immediately reported, coming to attention by his desk. "Reporting as orders, Chief Petty Officer," he sharply announced.
Tom rose from his chair and stood over the shorter enlisted sailor. "What the hell is this?" he confronted. "Name's written down as Meiying, but she's telling me her name is Joo Dee. You sure this is correct? This will cause a ton of major issues if you have been incorrectly translating these files!"
The sailor looked back and forth between the original file and the English translation. He was trying his best, but it took the man sometime to confirm as English wasn't his native language after all. "Yes, chief," he insisted. "This is correct. No mistake."
"Oh really? It's correct? She says otherwise."
"No mistake. Her name is Meiying," the sailor repeated. "She's not the first to not remember her own name, chief. Excuse me." He dismissed himself as soon as he finished the line. His own senior NCO was yelling at him to return to his post and continue translations.
Not the first? He turned back to the lady seated across the desk from him, still streaming tears.
"You," he cleared his throat, "You're Ms. Meiying. Correct?"
"That's what I have been told, sir," she stated as clearly as she could. "But, regrettably, I can't tell you with certainty."
Tom's lips pressed together as his eyes shifted uncomfortably between the file, her portrait, and her. Unlike his lower enlisted, he couldn't just yell at her to get her act together. He had a son who he had raised into a proper man, but he never had a daughter. And he wasn't going to start talking to this woman like he would his wife when she was sobbing. He decided to try and push past this.
"No problem, Ms. Meiying," he continued. "Do you have any family we can contact?"
She quietly sat through his question.
No reply. "Any kids?" She seemed to be potentially of motherly age
More silence. More tears.
"Relatives? Cousins?" the senior NCO continued listing, trying to get something. "Friends? Boyfriend?"
"I-," she choked, "I'm not sure!" she cried forth. Her smile finally breaking. What a relief, Tom thought. It was so unnatural given her state it was creepy. New discomfort though. Outstanding.
He looked around for aid, but everyone else was busy. It was not the walk in the park he had imagined.
"There there," he tried to soothe, producing a handkerchief from his jacket.
The Earth Kingdom servant began to wipe the tears from her face. "Thank you," she sniffled. "It's been a rather stressful few years now. Everything is so-"
Tom noticed people were beginning to stare. He felt awkward. And he wasn't going to let this lady's personal issues become the entertainment of everyone waiting in line.
"Why don't we step away from here, miss," he offered, grabbing his cover. "I'll inform the commander and we'll take a walk around your city."
Joo Dee looked up at him. "Certainly," she agreed. "It would be my pleasure to show you around."
The pair of them drew eyes everywhere they walked. The upper-middle class and noble ladies of Ba Sing Se's upper ring, Earth Kingdom police officers, and local merchants were particularly bemused at the sight of a US Navy sailor and a Joo Dee taking a stroll through the canal districts of the upper ring. On one hand, a representative from one of the most powerful military forces to prowl the waves, and on the other, the ever-smiling passive-but-equally-terrifying representative of authority from the previous Dai Li rule.
True, Joo Dee never arrested anyone. She never kicked down doors, nor had she ever shackled and interrogated persons of interest to the state. But she was still a representative of authority, a symbol of the subtle tight hold the central government had on its people. In her prior service, her prior life, the years she had been in that servitude, she had reported her findings to the Dai Li. Whenever one was talking about things they needn't be talking about, or spreading something that needn't be spread, particularly in front of her guests for that assignment, the Dai Li would hear about it after.
In Meiying's case, among the most recent ones in her memory, although it was years ago, were: a Ba Sing Se University scholar being asked about the war with the Fire Nation, and a pet merchant being asked about the existence of the Black Market. From what she can remember, they headed her subtle but clear warning of simply shaking her head, telling them they'd best not answer.
Everyone recognized that particular dress, that particular uniform. And people, even criminals, knew not to touch or interfere with a Joo Dee. Similarly, everyone also knew, for one reason or another, not to mess with the uniformed men of the US Navy. Meiying understood where all the side eyed glances and full-on stares came from, but Chief Miller did not. He assumed, still, it was only his presence in uniform.
"You uh, seem to know a lot about this place," the sailor commented. At this point, walking around for nearly an hour, he had been listening to her lecture on and on about Ba Sing Se's information, history, and trivia points. He was amazed, in a progressively-getting-more-exhausted way. Seemingly, this lady had something to say about every single block. To him, unless there was some kind of landmark, all the streets were the same.
"Previously it was my job to take care of the Earth King's most honored guests," Meiying revealed. "The avatar and his company were among them."
"I see. The avatar, huh?" He clasped his arms behind his back, as he walked. "And so…essentially you were like a..tour guide of sorts?"
"Tour guide?" Meiying inquired.
"Someone who..takes visitors to interesting places, and tells them interesting facts and information."
"Ah," she understood. Meiying smiled and laughed quietly to herself, raising a hand to cover her mouth. "Yes, in a way. But that wasn't the only job we did."
"Oh yeah? What else?"
Just then someone from the crowd burst forth, seemingly from no where. "Good for nothing Dai Li rat!" A young man emerged, shoving the former Joo Dee from the back. Meiying stumbled forward, tripping on the hem of her dress's trousers which draped over her ankles.
The chief reached out, catching her mid-fall. "Are you okay?"
Meiying brushed the hair out of her face. "Yeah, I'm fine."
Tom snapped around, finding the man who decided to shove a lady. He immediately spotted the stalky young man who now turned to flee. It didn't take long to catch him. Chief Miller grabbed him by the collar of his robes and forcefully threw him to the ground. The assailant hit the dirt flat on his back with a dense thud. The sight of a US sailor decking a Ba Sing Se middle ring citizen shocked those around. Everyone rapidly backed away, clearing a circle around the three.
"The hell's your problem?!" the chief berated. He towered over the unnamed citizen. "What kind of man shoves a lady to the ground, huh?! Where I come from, you do that, you get your ass beat by every guy in a mile radius!"
The man propped himself up. "Lady?" he asked. "Respectfully, sir. She isn't a lady. She may seem like one, but behind that smile is someone who has sent people off never to be seen again!"
"The hell you going on about?" Tom quickly glanced back at Meiying. The insignia of the Earth Kingdom, embroidered in fine gold thread on her scarf catching his immediate attention.
"Why are you taking interest in her, sir?" Somehow the man still kept the formalities when talking with men of the military, an occupying force. To Tom, he didn't immediately look like any kind of riff-raff either. "The American Navy is wasting efforts on a low life like her!"
"Buddy," Tom threatened, "Last warning. Leave her be. You hear?"
"My brother asks a few questions about the war. A real war, mind you! And she had him taken away! Because of your navy's help, I got him back. But he wasn't the same, and he'll never be the same again!" The young man picked himself up, swiping the dirt from his robes. He stood against the senior enlisted man, not backing down from his opinion. "There are things she doesn't want to talk about, aren't there?"
Meiying felt her heart sink. Though, she hadn't mentioned anything of the sort. And Tom didn't know to ask.
"What are you talking about? She's been nothing but accommodating, and rather helpful. Seems she was a very useful person. Unlike yourself."
"Useful," the man said, scoffing. "I'm sure she was. She's trained to be that way, sir!" Despite bowing his head slightly and downcasting his gaze to the floor in reverence, he spoke with a sharp tone. "If you just listen to her ramble about the city, she'll seem like a guide," he continued, "But she's not a guide. She's a supervisor. An eye and ear for the Dai Li, that follows and watches you everywhere you go."
Tom was confused. He looked back and forth between Meiying and this assailant, not knowing what to think. "I think you've got the wrong person, son."
"You've got the wrong person, sir. She's hiding things. All Joo Dee's do. Ask her about those that asked about the war. You'll see something totally different." He bowed his head once more, promptly, and then took off into the crowds. The man disappeared almost immediately through a gathering of startled noble women.
Joo Dee. That name came up again. Looking back at her, she seemed visibly guilty, or disturbed, or sad. He wasn't a psychiatrist, he couldn't tell for certain. But she was upset, more than when she was shoved.
Returning to her side, the sailor ignored the stunned and constant stares from the surrounding crowds, and Meiying's own disturbed self, directing, "Ms. Meiying, why don't you and I go have a little bit of a sit down chat, somewhere." He was going to look into this further.
Although she was quiet, not saying a word, Meiying agreed.
The pair sat on a bench overlooking a calm pond in a park. Compared to their previous walk in the canal district, this setting was much more tranquil. Less people surrounded them, and the other park goers were simply minding their own business. For a while, the two simply sat in silence taking in the tranquil atmosphere of the surrounding area. Tom was trying to formulate his questions, and how to approach this. He still carried her personal file, and had been sifting through it, studying the basic information. There was more that was not written, he thought.
He exhaled strongly, sighing through his nose as he pushed his cap back onto the crown of his head. He was not a roundabout kind of person. Often Tom was very direct and straight to the point. He was a section chief after all. Under general quarters, when the ship is taking fire in the midst of battle, there was no need or luxury to beat around a bush. But he had to find a way in this case.
"So," he began. "Remind me again. What is your name, miss?"
The former Joo Dee scanned the mirror-like surface of the water before her, as if trying to find the answer written in the depths. The water, the placid water, made her uneasy as well. "My name…my name is…." she struggled. "It's not Joo Dee.. My name is.. Meiying," she answered.
"How old are you?"
"I'm thirty-five," she answered assuredly. This wasn't the first time Meiying was hearing this information. She had read her own file. Several times prior, actually. However, remembering everything, even if it was about her, was not easy. Breaking through her training was not easy.
One year older than me, Tom thought as he looked back at her file. "It says here, you were a servant for the Earth Kingdom."
"For the Earth King," she corrected with a smile.
"Uh huh," Tom remarked as his eyes reached the bottom of the page. There was nothing there that she hadn't already told him."
"Who wrote these? These personnel files, who wrote 'em?" Tom inquired.
"Ah," Meiyinh began, "These records were previously kept by the Dai Li."
"The Dai Li, I see. And you worked with them?"
Meiying fell a bit quieter. "I did."
"What exactly did you do in your job?" Tom didn't know much about the Dai Li, but the little he had heard, the little peek he was able to get behind the curtains, made them seem rather sly. Across the lake, he watched a pair of Dai Li members walk a foot patrol with a pair of MP's. The dark green robes and conical hats stood out among the crowd, even more so than the green herringbone twill utility uniforms worn by the two Marines amid the crowd of Ba Sing Se nobility.
"I was but a humble host and guide for our most honored guests-"
"No," Chief Miller interrupted, "Beyond that."
Meiying was startled. "Beyond?"
"Beyond the guiding and the touring," he further pushed. "What else?"
"We would also be present during important gatherings," Meiying searched. "Like the Earth King's birthday banquet and other such events."
"I see." Tom flipped the page. "Says here you were also put in charge of Ba Sing Se during the Fire Nation's rule over the city, after the coup of then Princess Azula."
"Ah, yes," Meiying replied. "The honored Princess of the Fire Nation entrusted me with managing and directing the activities of the court in her absence when she returned to the Fire Nation."
"Oh yeah? How was that?"
"It was interesting," the lady revealed. "A bit of a challenge, and at times it was overwhelming."
"I know what that can be like," Chief Miller replied.
"Really?" Meiying asked. She looked over to, who essentially was her case worker, with intrigue.
"Yeah," Tom answered. "It's not government, but running even one section of an aircraft carrier when you're under attack is chaotic. And people's lives are at stake, not just your own." He recalled what general quarters was like during the Battle of Kyoshi Island and the Battle of Sozin's Comet.
Meiying let out a long and sad sigh. "At least you are helping people," she said, emptily. Tom noticed this was different than how she was normally. Until now she sat up, unnaturally straight, with her hands folded neatly in her lap. Now, she relaxed a tad, slouched a little, and spoke in longer airier sentences, as opposed to being well enunciated and precise. "I think I have caused much sadness in my service," she revealed, her voice becoming unsteady. "I have caused suffering, and have endured suffering. And the worst part of it is, somehow I can't remember much of it well." Her hands balled up into frustrated fists and her hair began to fall over her face as she turned her head downward. "There is, admittedly, much I cannot remember." A tear formed. "Chief Miller, do you have any family?"
Tom straightened up, caught slightly off guard by her asking him a question. "Y-Yes, I do. Wife and son back in a place called Seattle," he answered, "You? Husband, sons, daughters?"
She noticeably saddened. "No. Not that I can remember. But I am fairly certain I never was married."
Fairly certain? Someone would never forget something like that. First her own name, now this? "Parents? Siblings?" Tom pressed on. "Boyfriend?"
Another saddened quiet, shake of her head. Tom was starting to become slightly frustrated. There was nothing to go off of. How was he supposed to process this girl and send her off to the correct next point, if she didn't have anything to work off of. Meiying practically didn't know who she was! What the heck went on in this country? What did they do to her? He winced, at the ideas in his head. What was Jia saying not to mention? He searched and searched. Something about a lake! He hadn't had enough coffee when she was giving him the advisory. Staring at the placid reflection of the pond before the two of them, he finally remembered.
"Have you, by ay chance, heard of a place in Ba Sing Se? Lake…ummm… Lake Laogai?"
Meiying's eyes widened. Merely hearing the name of that place, was unsettling for her. She remembered what happened at this lake. She didn't want to, but this was one of the things she remembered very clearly. Every Joo Dee did. "Yes, I have," she stated quickly, sitting up straight and on edge. "It's a very relaxing and serene place. Great for escaping the stress of the city." She couldn't out her finger on it, but internally she was quaking. Scared. As if she was suddenly standing on the edge of a deep cavern, her feet half-on, and half-off, the ledge. Meiying was fearful of Tom's potential word choices.
"Really, now?" Tom commented, producing a folded map of the entire Ba Sing Se area. "I suppose it is a large body of water. Pity it's far away from the train line." The map folded with a loud crackle as he looked straight into the eyes of his subject. "I hope you've been given time off. For such dedication to serving the king, I'd hope the Earth King invites you to Lake Laogai every now and then!"
Meiying froze. All of a sudden, she became still. Unbelievably still. And she didn't respond for a moment. Tom began to feel uneasy. He didn't notice her pupils dilate to an extreme degree. "Miss?" he asked, to no avail.
Her mind went blank. She could note how blank it became, but there was nothing she could do. She was now merely an observer. And her mind seemed to only have one directive. Report to the shore. "I am honored to accept his invitation." The words seemed to roll, as smoothly as a ball bearing on a smooth track, off her tongue. Her tone shifted, to an unnatural level of calm. And she smiled. Oh the smile, an eerily wide uncanny grin. Gone was the woman who was saddened at her lack of memories. Gone was the woman who seemed to feel remorse and guilt about what her previous service record entailed.
But the controls on her mind were corrupted, and broken. It was not as it was four years ago. This wasn't Lake Laogai, but simply an unnamed deep pond in a quaint park in the upper ring. But Joo Dee couldn't tell the difference now.
She smoothly rose to her feet, her hands clasping together before her, concealing within the sleeves of her dress. Tom simply watched in confusion. She then stepped off forward, towards the deep water of the pond before the two of them. Soon it was one foot in the water, then both, but she didn't stop.
"Hey," Tom called, still seated on the bench. He was starting to grow concerned. "Ms. Meiying?" The former Joo Dee sloshed through the water with each step. She was now knee-deep in the pond and advancing. The water now started to float the leading and trailing skirt of the beige dress she wore. Soon she was waist deep. People were now growing concerned at the spectacle. The pond was wide and had a reasonably deep drop off further away from the shore.
"Meiying stop!" Chief Miller shot up from the bench, now concerned for her. "Hey! Come back!"
But she didn't comply. She didn't even seem to hear. She just continued to walk deeper and deeper into the pond. Her hair was now floating on the surface as she was now nearly neck deep. Tom stopped at the edge. He was caught between removing his coat, and pulling his low quarters off, without managing to do either. "Hey!" he called out one last time. Screw it. He charged into the water, running after the young woman seemingly caught in a trance. Possession. It had to be some kind of possession, he grumbled to himself. Water quickly soaked his uniform as he ran after her, trudging through the pond. Meiying took one further step, and fell off the drop off beneath. Her head dropped beneath the surface. Tom dove after her, plunging beneath the surface. He caught her just in time. Wrapping his arms around her waist, he felt relief and rapidly pulled her to the surface. The two of them broke through the once calm surface of the city park's pond. Tom gasped for air while Meiying sputtered and coughed hard, her body trying to expel the water that had rushed into her lungs. Water streamed from the visor of the Chief Petty Officer's peaked visor cap. The crown seemed to have collapsed flatter and shorter from the weight of the water. Meiying's own hair had come undone from how well and elegantly it had been tied. Her ornamental hair bar, the liangbatou, had sunk from its originally high position on her head and now drooped diagonally.
Whistles blew from the shore, and two Marine MPs rushed over to their position. They immediately recognized the white crown of the Chief Petty Officer's service dress cap. "Chief! Are you alright?"
Tom was busy trying to haul Meiying back to shore by the waist. She was wriggling, resisting, and screaming the whole way, putting up a decent fight. "Don't just stand there! Help goddammit! She's going through a damn episode!"
The two marines immediately rushed into the water and took hold of the former Joo Dee. The combined three men pulled her back onto the shore with total ease, and laid her down on the grass patch. They didn't pin her to the ground, but they needed to hold and push her back for a while as even then, Meiying tried to continue her advance into the water.
Meiying was experiencing a completely different psychological break internally. Visions rushed through her, overwhelmingly. Every memory and vision was unbearably loud, every light in her memory was unbearably bright, and every physical hit in her memory was unbearably strong. She recalled being strapped to a chair with stone, watching a lamp orbit around a pitch-black room. She remembered getting coerced, even attacked by Dai Li agents who then hurriedly shoved her into the back of an enclosed wagon. "I'm Joo Dee. Welcome to Ba Sing Se." Faces flashed by. An older man, his wife, and a younger boy. Names rocketed through her memory. Wei. Zhang. Aiko. Jiao. She saw her prior boss, Long Feng. "The Earth King has invited you to Lake Laogai." There is no war in Ba Sing Se. ``..and who do we talk to about the war with the Fire Nation?" Cries of panic and of sorrow deafened her. "I'm so sorry. They don't trust me anymore…I don't think I can..keep working like this!" The orbiting lantern coasted by once more. Staring at her in the dark at the center of the lantern's track, wearing a Dai Li uniform, was a skeleton. She screamed! "Remember the reason you do this, and who you are. Hang on to that tightly. It will get you through." She recalled a vision of being seated on the Earth King's thrown. "Meiying! Meiying!"
"Meiying!" Chief Miller shook the young woman by the shoulders. "Hey! Snap out of it!" The two marine MPs secured her from her arms, preventing her from running back into the water.
Meiying blinked three times. The light from the outside world filled the void as she returned to reality. She was soaked in water. Why am I wet, she thought? The heavy fabrics of her dress clinging to her body and weighing on her. The US Navy sailor was crouched before her, barely a foot away. "Are you okay? Stay with us!" he called. Her eyes rose to meet his. Tears began to pool up as her facade crumbled.
Here we go, Tom thought, as the tears poured from both eyes and streamed down her face. Meiying burst into tears, a loud cry of relief and stress echoed throughout the park. The two marines winced. Tom gestured at them to release her. Upon letting go of her wrists, Meiying lurched forward and buried her face in Tom's coat. Nevermind the commendations pinned to his uniform. Reactively, she wrapped her arms around his waist and cried harder, muffling her cries into his jacket.
The chief didn't know what to do, apart from sit there and just simply take it. He reached around and patted her gently on the back, bringing her close. "There there," he soothed. "It's alright. You're safe now."
"It w-was terrible," she struggled to say. "The Dai Li! The people that I've reported! Everything. And at the end, when they had been found out, they drowned so many of us." Meiying remembered what the Dai Li then did to the Lake Laogai facility in order to cover up their programs and experiments. She herself was just there days prior, and had just been released before they sunk the underwater base. She knew there were still many Joo Dees amid training, left below and disposed off with the facility. The Dai Li and Long Feng didn't seem to think they had time to relocate that many people. Worst of all, Meiying could now remember standing on the edge of the lake, seeing the destroyed tunnel and knowing of all those left below, and not feeling anything.
"Us? Who's us? What are you talking about?" Tom pressed on. He had an opening, and was going to take it, not knowing if it was temporary. He felt bad about prying while she was in the middle of letting out all the trauma and guilt pour out though.
"A-All the other Joo Dee's," she managed, choking on a sob. "There was a facility at the lake, beneath the water. Deep beneath the water. That's where the Dai Li trained and maintained Joo Dees, and other p-persons of i-interest to the state. Some disappeared. Some, I sent there, b-because I r-rep-ported them to the assigned a-agents."
Her crying had toned down to a quieter sob now. Not a full on scream anymore. Still, passersby watched as the former Joo Dee, still in uniform, cried her secrets out to the US sailor. There were some that eavesdropped on her confession with disgust.
"Hey, you two. Move the crowd along. Give this lady some space!" Tom directed.
"Aye, chief," the lance corporal acknowledged before forcibly ordering everyone to get a move on.
"A-and even when I was put in charge, for some reason, I continued t-to loyally serve. I d-directly sent p-people off!"
Chief Miller gave in. He felt genuinely sorry for this woman. He pulled her closer and allowed her to fully cry it out. "It's okay," he said, trying to calm her, "It's over and you're safe. It's over and you're safe now. It's done."
He had returned back to the processing center after Meiying had fully recomposed herself. Whatever kind of brainwashing she had endured seem to have now finally wore off. Though, for being off and away from his duty station without proper authorization from the commanding officer, the chief petty officer was also sternly reprimanded for deviating from his post.
Meiying divulged details of what occurred beneath the waves at Lake Laogai. She gave great detail into what she had experienced and what she had felt. The former Joo Dee was even able to recall what it was like while she was brainwashed. This caught the interest of the commanding officer enough that Tom was then assigned specifically to record what Meiying had to say and gather it into an official report which was then later filed aboard the USS Hornet for the remainder of their initial time stuck in the Bending World.
As time went by, both Chief Miller and Meiying became close friends. They talked about other things, such as the other world and life back in the United States where his wife and son lived. And they remained correspondence even beyond when Tom and his division were finally cycled out of Ba Sing Se and back to ship-based duty. They continued to send each other mail, back and forth across the Bending World, and then even onward when the US and Japanese fleet eventually returned to the Mechanized World in 1949.
The record, written by Chief Miller found it's way into the hands of the United States government. Though it had been common knowledge in the Bending World, it was the Mechanized World's formal introduction to what the Dai Li had done beneath the waters of Lake Laogai. The report was, compared to everything else that passes up the chain within the US government, very small and brief. It could have simply been forgotten and buried in the never ending depths of a federal archive somewhere. But fate would have the pages, written by a communications sailor aboard an aircraft carrier during the most influential incident of modern history, climb high into the awaiting hands of interested directors.