Behind Wide Smiles Pt. 2
Seattle, Washington
1955 AD / 113 AG
Tom felt like collapsing on the sofa after another exhausting day. The former chief petty officer had found work controlling planes at Seattle Tacoma Airport after retiring from the fleet after the war. He removed his navy blazer and hung it on the coat rack, where it covered his retirement plaque from the US Navy. It wasn't warship work, but managing the air traffic control tower at the airport kept him on his feet all day, and forced him to be on alert around the clock. There were even rumors floating around that flights to and from the Bending World would soon develop and replace traveling between the worlds by ship. The former US Navy sailor could only look forward to the added job load that would entail. He groaned at the idea that one day in the potentially near future, pilots flying to the Mechanized World, without a complete and full understanding of how air operations occurred properly in the Mechanized World, would be flying into his air space.
He, like many he had served with, had yet to return to the mysterious Bending World ever since resurfacing in the Mechanized World six years ago. Though, the news reminded him everyday that the US government was fully invested and interested in the Bending World. He also knew the Avatar, the supposed one hundred twelve year old demigod, was hopelessly invested in the idea of bringing peace to a world that had just finished its second world war and was now underway in a war against communism. He wondered if he'd ever return to see the Bending World again. He wouldn't have to wonder for much longer, though.
Three knocks on the door. Tom weaseled his way over to the wooden main door of the family house, doffing his fedora hat hanging on the wall hanger just before reaching the entryway. He unclipped his tie bar and loosened the navy blue dotted tie he wore, opening the collar of his shirt as well. "Give me a second," he said as he opened the door.
Two sharply dressed suited men stood before his door, one in navy and the other in gray. They were both devoid of expression and seemed fully serious.
Tom squinted slightly as the light came pouring in through the front door. "What can I do for you gentlemen?" he asked, receiving no visual reaction or expression from the two.
"You are Mr. Miller, right?" the navy suit asked. "Chief Petty Officer Thomas Miller?"
"Retired chief," Tom corrected. "Yeah, that's me. What can I do for you gentlemen?"
"Just came to ask you a few questions, chief," the blue suit continued. " I'm agent Laedis. This is my partner, Agent Daniels. We're from the US Central Intelligence Agency. Came over from the headquarters in Langley. Surely, you've heard of us?"
"CIA? Sure," Tom asked.
"Excellent." Agent Daniels swept around the area, scanning for any eavesdroppers while his partner spoke. "You wrote a report during your time in the navy. We've taken interest in that report."
"I've written many reports. I apologize, but you'll need to be more specific."
"One from 1946," Daniels chimed in, "You wrote while serving a shore assignment in Ba Sing Se."
Tom shoved his hands into his trouser pockets, and sucked his teeth trying to remember. The realization of what they were talking about hit him quickly. "The report about that one lady…Meiying," he exclaimed, snapping his fingers.
"Indeed, that one," they confirmed. "Can we talk inside, Tom?"
The retired sailor stammered a bit at the brevity. "Uh, yeah," he said, gesturing into his house, "Please."
The two men doffed their hats and entered. Tom shut the door behind them. "Could I get you gentlemen anything to drink?" he offered, to the polite decline from both government men. "What about my after action reports?"
Agent Laedis prefaced. "Chief, I'm sure I don't need to tell you this, but I have to put the warning out there anyway.. It goes without saying that what we are about to discuss with you is classified. You understand this, correct?"
"I'd need a security clearance for this then, wouldn't I?"
"Normally yes," Daniels chimed in. "But in this case, the department is willing to expedite," Laedis finished. "Goes without saying, the punishments for revealing any information are… severe."
"Understood."
"Good." Laedis took a breath for pause, looking around the room and taking the details of Tom's house. "Well, Chief, to put it to ya straight. We are intrigued by your report about what Ms. Meiying had to say."
Tom noted that Agent Daniels was more thoroughly surveying the inside of the Miller Family Residence. He paced around what limited space was in the entry way and living room while his partner began the opening preface. Daniels admired the folded Star Spangled Banner that sat atop the fireplace mantle, then he made his way over to the book shelf to look over the former Chief sailor's awards, commendations, and medals hung next to his peaked visor cap. There was even a special award from the US Navy about being among the men sent to the Bending World. Though, all of those items had begun to collect dust over the years. Was he looking for confirmation that Tom was indeed a patriot?
"Yeah, it was some real screwed up shit," Tom commented, keeping Daniels in the corner of his peripheral vision. "I can only imagine what she must have went through."
"Right," Laedis affirmed. From his briefcase he produced a small portrait photo. This time, it wasn't a freakishly accurate painting, but a black and white image. It was Meiying! "I believe you are still in contact with this woman? I'm sure you will immediately recognize her." From the shoulders down, Tom could tell she wasn't wearing her Earth Kingdom assigned uniform, as she had long moved on from that position. She no longer wore the headdress either, but her hair and face remained largely unchanged, though she had aged a bit since then.
"I occasionally send a letter here and there," Tom admitted. "Though, it seems like you two knew that already."
"Chief, to date you have written the most insightful record of the life of a so-called 'Joo Dee', archived," Laedis led on. "It piqued the interest of us at the CIA."
What could they possibly be interested in, Tom questioned. Laedis produced another sheet of paper, it was readily apparent it was a printed copy. "There is no war in Ba Sing Se," he read. "'The Earth King has invited you to Lake Laogai.' These phrases, according to you, somehow managed to have some serious effects on the Joo Dees. Records show it worked even with others, not necessarily in the same function. Tell me more about that."
Tom crossed his arms. He craned his neck as he recalled that day. "There isn't much more to say. I said that phrase, completely by accident, and she just got up and started walking into the water. She would have drowned if I didn't intervene. It was strange." He then went on to give a loose reiteration of what Meiying had told him all those years ago. "...Though I'm sure you know all that. All of that was written in my reports. Something tells me, you boys are here for something else." Tom began to fill with suspicion. Something told him, whatever they wanted, which they still haven't stated clearly, couldn't be good.
Agent Daniels, the gray suit, and the man with a much lower tone spoke up. "I'll be frank with you Tom. You are in a special position, in that you are close with Meiying. And the CIA wants to know a little bit more about what it took to be a Joo Dee. You happen to know one, and are the closest any American is to one. There are no other sailors or Marines from that time that were able to gain this much information with a former Joo Dee, as well as this close of a trust. And we have also checked with the Japanese as well. You are in a unique position."
Tom crossed his arms. "And what is it you boys want exactly?" His eyes narrowed. He didn't like this roundabout way of speaking. "You already know what it took to be a Joo Dee. You can read all about it. Hell, you can ask her yourselves."
Daniels crossed his arms. Laedis leaned against the door frame, reading the plaque that had been bestowed upon Chief Miller for his service to the navy. "We know this. And we have asked her," he said. "Frankly, the CIA wants a demonstration of the Dai Li's techniques."
"We figure, it would be better and more comfortable for her," Laedis chimed in, "and she'd be more cooperative with us…" he mumbled, "..if you were there to help give her some..encouragement."
Tom went wide-eyed. He snapped around to face the two agents. "A demonstration?!" he shouted. "Are you nuts?! You want to submit this already poor woman, still recovering from all that trauma, through that brutal process again?"
Laedis retreated, sucking his teeth and uncomfortably looking at the floor. It was Daniel's floor. "Indeed. Fine. You want me to say it? Then, sure. That's exactly what we want."
"We're supposed to be helping these people! Besides, what could you suits possibly want with that information?"
"That's classified," Daniels plainly stated. "You can be assured it deals with maintaining national security."
"No, screw that!" Tom spoke out. "I'm not helping! If she doesn't want to partake, then her answer's my answer!"
"Chief Miller, let's cool our heads and try to be reasonable-" Laedis tried to intervene, but was swiftly interrupted.
"Tom, I think you need to realize that we are in a new era." Daniels took the lead once more. "We are living in a time where we could be surrounded by communist sympathizers and spies for the Soviet Union. Now we have Chairman Mao over in China, we just finished holding off Kim Il-Sung in North Korea, and we now have intelligence that the commies over in Indo-China following Ho Chi Minh are going to move on the French. It's spreading, Tom. You remember Eisenhower's so-called Domino Effect? You want that to happen here in the US of A?" Daniels advanced on the former Chief Petty Officer, not caring that the former sailor could easily deck him. He wasn't intimidated at all. Unlike Laedis, who was much younger, Agent Daniels and former Chief Miller were about the same age. One had went to war, while the other stayed on the homefront. "Suffice to say, we are working on a way to keep tabs on those kinds of people here. One that will help us weed out any and all communist sympathizers, as well as effectively pull information from terrorists. With that kind of information, we can even get sympathizers to act against their own organizations on our behalf."
Laedis jumped in, seeing that Tom was still visually angered. "Think of it, Chief. We wouldn't need to send cops and agents to raid an armed domestic terror group. No need to put the boys in blue in the sights of some revolutionaries. No! Rather, we can send one of their own to take them down in our stead! Almost like a…remote controlled soldier of sorts!"
"We also wouldn't need to work so hard tirelessly because one of them doesn't want to 'fess up," Daniels added. "Imagine cuffing one, bringing him in, and shortly after having him spill the whole truth without resistance."
"What? You mean through mind control?" Tom confronted. "That's one thing, but I doubt that's where you would stop! You're going to use these tactics on the civilians of the US?"
"As well as abroad in certain capacity…Vietnam'd be a good start." Daniels quietly muttered to himself.
The two agents convened by the front door, just slightly out of earshot away from Tom. They seemed to go back and forth about what they could tell him and what they couldn't. He did hear, albeit very very quietly, the term MK Ultra. Though, he thought he wasn't hearing correctly.
He wouldn't know what it was, even if he was certain he heard that correctly.
"I'm not onboard," Tom said. "It appears neither is Ms. Meiying. Tough luck, bud."
Laedis retreated, and Daniels decided to take a sledgehammer approach once more."Tom, I think you're under the misguided impression that we are asking." His tone became very grim. "Us asking you to aid is only out of formality and consideration for both you and Joo Dee." He clasped his hands behind his back. The characteristic rain of the Pacific Northwest picked up, seeming to thunder outside. The headlights of a passing car brightly illuminated one side of the grim agent's face and left the other in shadow. "We figured if you were there, you could make the process all the more comfortable and favorable with Miss Meiying, who by the way kept asking nonstop desperately to see and speak with you by name. But your presence isn't entirely necessary. One way or another, Tom, we are going to get our demonstration. With or without you. Because, at the end of the day, all of this is courtesy! The pieces are already set!" Thunder boomed outside, rocking all the windows of the house as if a freight train had just thundered past in the street outside. "How do you think we got her portrait taken?"
Tom's heart sank. He really did not have a say in the matter. One way or another, the CIA was going to undertake their experiments. She had asked for him by name? He could imagine her strapped to some chair in a dark room surrounded by imposing men in suits, genuinely confused and terrified as to what would happen next. His friend, snatched up by his government and soon to be made to endure what terrified her, once more.
Both Laedis and Daniels were packing it up and making ready to leave. As they grabbed their hats from the coat rack, Tom noted that they labeled him as a lost cause.
"So you want me to hop the next boat to Ba Sing Se?" Tom finally spoke up, grabbing his blazer and hat.
Daniels motioned to Laedis. "Yes, Chief. That's the idea."
"Can I get time to pack a bag?" Tom asked.
"We'll give you a few minutes," Daniels allowed. "USS Iowa is set to go underway later this evening. But we still need to cross the Puget Sound."
Whether he wanted to or not, he was shipping off back to Ba Sing Se.
Lake Laogai
Outer Ring, Ba Sing Se
1955 AD / 113 AG
Meiying's breath was shallow and rapid. She had been down here, wherever here was, for days on end. Half of that time was spent in a holding cell. It was dark, damp, warm, and humid. The floor, walls, and ceiling were made of solid stone and concrete. She didn't understand why she was brought here, nor did she fully understand who brought her here. She had been seen and strongly pushed and interrogated by various men, Dai Li agents and other men in suits and ties. They kept asking her about her time as a Joo Dee, and recently have been demanding that she recreate what she had undergone.
Why was I chosen, she thought? Why are they keeping me here? Where is here?
Most of her idle time was spent either in the dark, or under extremely dim lighting. Usually she'd be allotted a single glowing crystal, or a weak oil burning lamp. She had to consciously make sure the moisture and the water in the cells didn't put out the fire on those.
Ultimately, not even with aid from both the US Navy and IJN, most of the details of what encompassed Meiying's past life before becoming a Joo Dee were able to be found. The only record kept in even the deepest recesses of the Ministry of Records and the Dai Li headquarters was that she was secured from a family dwelling in the Lower Ring. It implied she had a family, but they were never located. Eventually she, on her own accord, found work within Ba Sing Se working in cooperation with the US Navy in the city. She became a low level government representative and worker, helping the military forces in their humanitarian efforts. She organized living quarters for sailors and marines being deployed to the city, served as a local guide and point of reference, handled clerical work, and eventually coordinated efforts with officers; things she was quite experienced with at that had spent a bit of time as a secretary for the Major placed in charge of US forces in Ba Sing Se until 1949 when the fleets were returned to their homes. From there, her life became mundane once more. Meiying worked several office jobs, doing mainly clerical or secretary work, and eventually found herself as a low level government employee for her precinct in the Middle Ring. She never married, and never maintained any relationships beyond just a few dates. The former Joo Dee was also never reunited with her family, if she had one, and if they were still alive. According to most, including to herself, her life beyond being one of many Joo Dees, was uneventful and had little extraordinary value. She didn't really have any influence, and was just another cog in a bureaucratic machine. Which is why she desperately wondered, why was she here?
Today Meiying was left alone in a dark room, seated in a stone chair. A feeling she was all too familiar with. It terrified her to the core. Made her uneasy. Terrible memories came rushing back to the surface. And being tied down to the chair, with stone cuffs binding her ankles, wrists, and forehead to the chair did not help. As her eyes adjusted to the dark, she could make out what she thought was a single metal track, a circle, set before her. She suddenly remembered where she had seen something like this before. Somewhere in the room, she couldn't see where, was a constant dripping of water. It was forming a sizable puddle by the sound of it. Here, in this silence, it was deafening. She just wanted this to end. The sound of the water and the infinite darkness was driving her mad. She began to swear she was seeing things. Dai Li agents, watching her from one corner in the room. She even had a conversation with her former superior, Long Feng. Though she knew he was long gone from the Dai Li by this point and behind bars in a maximum security Earth Kingdom prison; no way he could physically even be here. She remembered his file coming across her desk once, and she even processed the pages to the Ministry of Justice.
A heavy metal door clanged loudly. She might as well have had her ear right next to the muzzle of a rifle as it was fired. She jumped in her chair, as much as her restraints would allow someone to squirm and recoil. Harsh white light flickered along with the buzzing sound of electricity as a light bulb blinked to life overhead. It suddenly came on steady after its erratic start, blinding Meiying. Her pupils had fully dilated after being in the room for so long. She looked around the chamber, which looked more and more like a room of torture. Set off to the side was a bulky and heavy television set, rare in the Earth Kingdom, though some made their way over through shipments from the US. There indeed was a large circle of elevated track set just in front of her, and in the middle of the track was another stone chair where another would sit. She could now see the car that would orbit the loop. In her memory, these would carry a small candle. But this one seemed to be fitted with a small lightbulb. The walls were stone gray, and damp. There was indeed a puddle forming in one corner of the room, and it was larger than Meiying had imagined. She knew they were underwater. And she had an uneasy feeling that she knew exactly where she was.
Opposite the wall with the dripping water, to her right, was a very long mirror. It occupied the upper half of the entire wall. Out of all the things in this room it was the most impeccable. Somehow, she still felt like she was being watched, even though the room was empty.
Static and crackle began to come through on speakers mounted at the ceiling. "Joo Dee," a loud and deep voice boomed overhead, "Today, you will recreate and demonstrate the effects of the Dai Li's brainwashing for observation."
Her eyes widened in fear. She didn't want to. Not again. Meiying fought her restraints, to no avail. "No! Stop! I don't want to! I don't! Not again!"
Heavy locks clanged on the other side of the heavy metal blast door that sealed her chamber. The latch screeched open and the door gave way to the outside corridor. Her heart pounded in her chest. She thought she would faint. But a familiar face calmed her slightly.
"Tom?" she said, somewhat relieved, somewhat further scared.
The former sailor held his hat in his hands and came to her side. "Hey, Miss Meiying. Hanging in there?"
"Yes," she sniffled. "It's been a long while down here. What's going on? Why was I taken?" her voice wavered unsteadily. She suddenly swapped topics, also looking to catch up. "How's your family?"
"Family's great," Tom assured. "Son's found himself a stable job in ship building. Wife's doing fine enjoying the neighborhood book club. Same old, same old." Talking about normal things, he could see a smile creep onto her face. A normal one. He felt good that he was able to assure her. But he soon needed to break the news to her. "Meiying, these men are from the American Central Intelligence Agency."
"They are working for your government?" she asked, curiously.
He stumbled on his words for a moment, craning his neck before replying. "Yyyess. Yes, these men are working for the US. Not the military though. They're like…" he sighed, "They're like our version of the Dai Li."
Meiying gasped. "You have a central agency too?"
"Well…technically we have two," Tom mumbled, squinting his eyes, thinking of the FBI as well. He imagined the idea he had built up of America with her was starting to crumble, brick by brick.
It was. Although Tom had talked about the American Dream, and forging one's own path to success in his letters, a country where independence and freedom were fought for and assured by brave servicemen, and where everyone's voices were heard…here she was kidnapped, a detained in what was apparently a secret facility for the American Dai Li.
"Why me, Tom? Why was I taken here?" she asked, pleading for answers.
Tom took her hand and hung his head, apologetically. "I'm sorry, Meiying. I think I'm the reason you were snatched."
"What do you mean?"
"When you told me everything about your experiences back in 1946, I wrote everything down in an official report for the navy. An after action report. Standard stuff," he pleaded, as if begging for her understanding and forgiveness. "It turns out, I might have written the most in depth recount of what you went through, and that file made its way up the ranks and ended up intriguing the CIA. I'm sorry."
Meiying's gaze fell to the floor. "So what they're saying is true. They want to witness how Dai Li's process for brainwashing people works."
Tom sighed. "I'm afraid so. And I fought them to let you go. But, I was apparently late to the party, and they'd already taken you by that point."
"You came for me?" Meiying asked.
"I came the moment they said you were calling for me by name," Tom revealed. "Worried about you. Though, regretfully, there isn't much I can do except support. The suits have made it clear to me there's no other way they're letting you go until you show us how this works."
"I see," the former Joo Dee sighed.
The speakers screeched to life again. "Chief Miller, let's get this underway! Clear the compartment!" It was the voice of Agent Daniels.
"Yeah, yeah! I hear you!" he shouted back in opposition. He turned back to his friend quickly. "Look, everything is going to be okay. I'm going to be supporting you every step of the way okay? I'll make damned sure they don't do anything to harm you, else they're going to have to carry me out of here in a body bag! Hear me? I'll be right on the other side of this glass," he said motioning to the large mirror. "Just in the next room!"
Meiying began to panic once more, her calm and assuredness quickly crumbling. "W-Wait! Wait! Don't leave!"
In the door, there stood another man in a deep green suit. She could tell he was an Earth Kingdom man, possibly former Dai Li. The dim bulb on the track flickered on. "Wait!" Meiying cried, and pleaded. "I don't want to! I don't want to!" She caught herself, and immediately turned to face the mirror. She could only turn her eyes. She hoped whoever was back there could see her gaze. "Wait! Wait! I'll agree! I agree!" she pleaded. "B-But on the condition that Chief Petty Officer Miller be the one to carry out the Dai Li's role!"
For a moment everything seemed to come to a standstill as all pieces on the board halted. Tom stopped mid-step upon hearing this. He turned back. "Meiying I-I couldn't…and even if I did, I wouldn't know how to-"
"I'll walk you through it!" she said. The Joo Dee had caught everyone's attention with that statement. "I'll guide you," she assured. "I know how the process works! I've watched it. And I've nearly had to do this on one occasion!" She swallowed hard. "I'll cooperate. But only if he is present."
Tom looked nervously, at the mirror. He didn't know what to say, nor did he want to go through with this.
Meiying knew what she was saying. She understood this was going to happen either way. But where she didn't have a choice last time, this time she wanted input in the operation. It made her slightly more comfortable that someone she knew would be carrying this out.
"You heard her, Chief," Laedis's voice patched through the intercom. Tom could hear the faint voice of Daniels voicing oppositions in the background. "Your boat."
The former Dai Li agent at the door shut it with a boom, and the lock could be heard closing. Tom hung his jacket on the backrest of the stone chair and took a seat in the middle of the circle. The moment he sat down, the lights in the room suddenly cut, engulfing them both in the dark. Only the single dim glow of the tracked light left. For an electric light bulb, it was very dim; only about as bright as a weak candle.
He awkwardly, timidly, sat in the chair squared off with his subject. There was a pause. He could feel the inaudible push from the CIA agents behind the now lost two-way mirror egging him to get on with it, though they didn't say anything.
"I've…uhh..never done this before," Tom voiced. He sighed, finally giving in. No choice now. "Alright, walk me through this Meiying."
"From now," she said with a steady, convicted, calm, and clear tone of voice, "I need you to stop calling me Meiying."
He felt conflicted. He could refer to hundreds upon thousands of sailors, back in the day simply by rank and maybe their last name. But she wasn't a sailor, and she wasn't in the service. More than that, she was a friend. And he remembered how long it took for her to drop the habit of referring to herself as..
"From now on, I need you to refer to me as Joo Dee," she said resolutely.
"But-"
"Chief Miller," she said, bringing up rank, "You need to convince and push that my name is Joo Dee, as if that's what my name has been since birth."
Ah screw it, Tom thought, finally giving in. Eventually he settled on thinking of this as just another order to follow. "Joo Dee. I need you to tell me how this works. Now," he ordered.
She began to walk him through what needed to be done on his end. All the phrases, all the verbiage, and all the messages needed to be conveyed. She explained what the outcome would look like, and gave him some trigger phrases and questions to ask to check for certainty. This was going to be a routine indoctrination of a typical Joo Dee. He was going to undo what work had been done to undo her brainwashing all those years ago. Behind the two way mirror, the men from the CIA, and other government agencies, were taking notes. What Tom knew, that Joo Dee didn't, was that behind that mirror, joining the reps from the CIA, were former Nazi and former Japanese scientists, imported to the US after the war, spared from the hangman's noose, and tasked to pass on their findings. Pens scribbled across notepads and audio recorders spun and whirred, capturing each and every detail. There was even a camera on standby to record the results.
"Speak in a calm, steady, voice. No rising or falling intonations. Once this starts, I can't talk to you."
"You can't?"
Meiying turned to the direction of the mirror again. "When this is done, the subject's mouth is sometimes suppressed. It's not necessary, but it hastens the process when they don't talk back. Pens scribbled across pages.
"Got it?" she turned back to the former sailor.
"I think so, Joo Dee," he confirmed.
"Give that lamp a spin," she directed.
He did.
"Too fast," she advised. "It needs to go around steadily, neither too fast nor too slow. It shouldn't be the focal point."
It took a while, but Tom eventually found the right harmonic speed for the lamp to orbit him. Slowly, and eventually steadily, he ran through the paces. He kept true to everything she had instructed him. He droned on and on about the lack of war in Ba Sing Se. He droned on about the Earth King, the wonderful city that was Ba Sing Se, and about Lake Laogai's relaxing properties. He kept a stone-hard blank expression throughout the entire session, staring deep into Meiying's eyes, as if looking through her, rather than at her. And though he was new to this, and uncertain, he could see genuine moments of terror on her face at times. He also could see her involuntarily try to resist. He wanted to throw up from all the strain and the pressure on him. All the while, as the hours went by, pens scribbled across pages. He could feel the sweat pouring from his forehead, beading on his brows. He resisted the urge to loosen his tie. Good thing he had removed his suit jacket. His military bearing held through, and he focused all his effort on the task at hand.
The agents, behind the two way mirror, watching in the dark began to grow impatient. He'd been at this for hours. There was no trackable evidence that anything was working. Daniels wanted to pull Tom out of there, and get the former Dai Li agent to have a go at it, but Laedis held him back for as long as he could. The entire room, of agents, axis war criminals, and generals, watched the light go around and around.
"I've had enough of this nonsense," Agent Daniels finally snapped. He pushed past his partner and the men at the control panels and abruptly turned the lights on in the room. He didn't know what switch it was though. The orbital light first cut, dropping both the occupants into a black void. Moments went by as he tried to find the right switch. Finally the lights came on. Tom winced at the overwhelmingly bright lights, but Joo Dee held steady. She was unphased.
Joo Dee sat straight up in her chair, no longer fighting her restraints, and no longer looking away. She was obediently still.
"Daniels! Daniels!" Laedis called, tapping him repeatedly on the shoulder. "Look! I think he's got her!"
Tom leaned forward, equally as confused. He held his hand right infront of her face and began to snap his fingers just before her eyes. No movement. Not even a twitch or a blink.
Daniels grabbed a flashlight and moved to the hallway.
"Joo Dee," Tom prepared to check, "The Earth King has invited you to Lake Laogai," he read off a written note.
Despite facing him, her head snapped to adjust the slight difference and looked directly at him. "I'm honored to accept his invitation," she said, calmly, and steadily. Gone was the woman with whom he had corresponded with. Back was the drone he had first met in 1946.
The two agents burst into the room, with an entourage behind them. Quickly, the compartment was flooded with men. Daniels went right up to her and shined his flashlight directly into her face. It was as if staring directly at the sun, but again there was no attempt to even look away by Joo Dee. "Full pupil dilation," Daniels reported, as a scientist wrote. "No reaction to light. No reaction to sudden change in setting."
Tom leaned over and looked at the scientist's notes. Apparently there must have been nodes to monitor vital stats hidden beneath her restraints, as they had noted her heart rate as stable and consistent.
"Release her," Laedis directed. Surprisingly for Tom, one of the suits in the room was the one to release her earthen restraints. The CIA now had benders in their ranks, he thought.
Normally after being held in place by rocks for hours on end, one might have stretched or scratched at where they were held down by. But not Joo Dee. She simply stood from her chair, upon being told to, and held her hands neatly at her waist.
"Who are you?" Laedis asked the woman.
"I'm Joo Dee," Meiying replied, "I'll be your host as long as you're in our wonderful city."
Something was different. At the very least, she didn't have this wide and eerie smile to her. Her stance was that of a host or servant, but her face was that of a soldier. The tone and stance definitely did not match the expression, Tom thought. Nothing about this, understandably, was normal at all. "What more do we need?" Tom asked. He was itching to state the relief phrase to snap her out of this. "Can we snap her out of this yet?"
"Not yet," Daniels. "There's something I want to check first."
The earth bender in the room raised a small pedestal beside their subject
He reached into his jacket and produced an M1911 handgun, placing it on the pedestal beside her. Agent Laedis moved to the corner behind Joo Dee and rested a hand on his own service weapon. Chief Miller was on edge. What did they expect her to do?
"Joo Dee," Daniels called. "This man before you is an immediate threat to the Earth King's life, and is in position to destroy the order of Ba Sing Se." His tone was threatening to Tom, though conveyed urgency to Joo Dee. "The Earth King is in grave danger."
Tom eyed her up and down, as did Agent Laedis. Daniels's partner seemed even more on edge.
Meiying blinked. There was no verbal acknowledgement. Her eyes cast down to the loaded gun beside her, and her steady hand told hold of its grip. She'd never used a gun before, in fact she'd never held one until this point. Compared to her hands, the .45 was quite large and bulky. It was heavy, yet she steadily raised its sights and leveled them on Tom.
"Woah!" He shouted, now terrified. "Woah! Hey! Hold it!" Two men grabbed onto both of his arms, and restrained the former senior enlisted sailor, holding him in her line of sight.
Her thumb moved and clicked the safety off, then wrapped around the hammer and cocked it back. Slowly her finger rested on the trigger.
"Hold still, man!" the two men wrestled as Tom fought to duck out of her line of sight. He was practically staring down the blank hole of the pistol's muzzle.
He couldn't break free! But he didn't shut his eyes. Instead, in defiance, he held his gaze, looking deep into hers, searching for his friend.
"Meiying," he struggled and groaned. "If you're in there.. Don't do this."
Her eye brows began to furrow. Tears began to build in her eyes and stream down her cheek. Her nose crinkled and she soon began to suck at her teeth and strain. The gun could be heard rattling in her shaky hands, but her index stayed firmly on the trigger. She was hesitating. No, she was fighting it internally.
At last, in what felt like a terrifying eternity, her arm dropped. She couldn't do it. The pistol hung loosely in her now limp hand.
Laedis sighed relief in the back of the room.
"Alright, cut her loose," Daniels ordered Tom.
Tom, on the verge of also hyperventilating, focused. "Joo Dee, the Earth King is glad you have enjoyed Lake Laogai," he shouted! The release phrase.
Just like that, she was back. She took a deep labored breath, as if being resurrected from the dead and fell to her knees, bracing herself. The gun clattered as it hit the floor. Tom finally gasped for air, relieved he wasn't just executed.
"What the hell was that?!" he swore. "Jesus Christ! She could have killed me!"
"No she couldn't," Daniels said, "Even if she wanted to." He picked up the handgun, dropped the magazine, and locked the slide back. It was empty, not a single round in it. He even showed Tom the empty chamber. "Be pretty hard to shoot a gun with no bullets, wouldn't it be, chief?"
Tom was red with rage.
"Chief Miller," Joo Dee asked, rising from the floor. "Are you okay? What happened?"
"What, are you nuts? You almost shot me!"
Joo Dee gasped, shocked. She couldn't tell what parts of her memory were accurate. It was very fuzzy. "W-Why would I do that?" She turned to Daniels, remembering bits of it. "Why would you make me do that?! He's one your own, isn't he?"
"Pipe down, lady. He wasn't in any real danger," Daniels said. "You and I need to talk, Joo Dee." He turned to the men that restrained the former sailor. "Take him."
Despite his efforts, the two brutes dragged him out of the room, slamming the door shut.
The next day, at about the same time, Tom found himself jammed in the back of a group of men on the observation side of the two-way mirror. He had spent the night in a holding cell, and was now exhausted. They were nice enough to pull up a chair for the veteran, at least.
Lighting a cigarette beneath the control panel, out of view of the window to prevent the light coming through to the other side, Agent Daniels leaned over. "If today goes well, Chief Miller. We can have you on the first boat back to the Mechanized World. Our acquired Japanese battleship, now USS Montana, is set to transit the rift back to Sasebo tomorrow. If the stars align we can have you in Japan, then on a ship to Seattle soon. Then, you forget any of this ever happened," he said, taking a puff of his cigarette.
"A big emphasis," Agent Laedis joined in, "on, 'forget any of this happened.'"
"Speak to anyone about anything you've seen," Daniels threatened. "And we'll bury you. Make your life a living hell, chief. I'd suggest you enjoy your navy retirement."
"Yeah," Tom scoffed. "Sure. What did you do with Meiying."
"You'll get to see," Daniels replied. The men of the darkened control room turned their attention to the test chamber. "Run it," the leading agent ordered.
The lights in the test chamber came on. The subject, another woman similarly restrained in the stone chair was revealed. This time, her mouth had been similarly restrained shut. It was Jia! The former Joo Dee that had instructed Tom and his division of sailors when they had first arrived in Ba Sing Se to help process the displaced. Her eyes darted around the room in confusion and fear, but she couldn't move, and she could barely make a sound!
The steel door opened loudly, and Meiying entered, to Tom's surprise. She wore a dark green heavy wool skirt suit. It appeared more akin to a uniform than a business suit.
The subject mumbled beneath the stones, but Tom could tell she was questioning, "Meiying?"
"Hello, Jia," Meiying began with a typical Joo Dee manner of speaking and smile. "My name is Meiying. I'm here to talk to you on behalf of the Central Intelligence Agency." Jia seemed more confused than scared. She was still not grasping exactly what was going on. Meiying had brought a briefcase in with her. She produced a file that outlined what her objectives were, written by the agents observing. Then she produced a 1911 handgun, which she set on the pedestal beside Jia.
Meiying adjusted her hair, placed her hands in her lap, and turned to look at the mirror. She grinned and nodded to the observers, indicating she was ready.
"Run her through it, Meiying," Daniels ordered.
The bulb on the orbital track flickered on. The harsh white lights abruptly shut off, and Meiying gave the light just the right push. Around and around, the dim light ran.
"She's a natural," Daniels remarked, satisfied.
"She'd make a good instructor at this," Laedis added. "I'll make sure they get her a decent desk back at Langley. The Soviets are screwed once we get this off the ground."
"Hold your horses, their partner. We have to use this sparingly," Daniels calmed.
Tom was stunned, and speechless at what he was realizing. There was nothing to say.
24 hours prior
Watching her friend Tom get carried from the compartment was certainly an intense way to wake up from being under mind control. Meiying's emotions were conflicting. On one hand she was slightly shaken and felt terror and guilt knowing that she was very close to shooting her correspondent over the years in the head, and on the other, which she wanted to kick herself for too, she felt nothing. One half trying to resist the orders, and the other completely complacent in everything. She wasn't even entirely sure as to what she was doing while it was happening.
The man in the navy blue suit came over to her. "Joo Dee, your results were incredible. Thanks to your guidance and participation we were able to gather some very important data and understanding."
She wiped her face with the back of her coat sleeve. "If I may ask, for what purpose did we need to gather such information?"
"National security, Meiying" Agent Laedis answered. "Not too different from what the Dai Li does here in Ba Sing Se. To keep the peace."
It took a bit for Meiying to process that information. "Security? Of the United States of America?" She rubbed her eyes, looking at the various men in the room. "But you're country is unstoppable. And the war has ended, has it not?"
Agent Daniels placed his hands on his hips and sighed. "Well, Joo Dee…that's the idea. That is what we are ever striving for. Peace. But, that isn't reality. In reality, we are now potentially facing a war on three fronts."
"Three?" Meiying was surprised.
"Three." Daniels emphasized his point, made a look of exhaustion and stress, and nodded his head. "In the East, in Asia where communism is spreading. In the west, just passed Germany, where the Soviet block is. And..potentially..at home. Where we have quite large number of known and unknown communist sympathizers. Spies!"
In her current state of mixed willpower, Joo Dee took in all this information without question. She gasped. "That's terrible indeed."
"Precisely!" Daniels emphasized. This was the loudest she had ever heard this man get. "Exactly! And that is why we need to find a way to get answers quickly! To take measures against those that intend to harm the American way of life! As well as prevent good men, like your friend Chief Miller, from having to get in harm's way! Get in the way of a bullet! To potentially deal with these threats!" He tore a path up to Meiying's side. "Joo Dee, I heard you are quite close with Chief Miller. Weren't you? And aren't you? My hunch tells me..you may have seen him as more than just a friend?"
She was embarrassed. Being put on such a spot in front of all these observers. In that suggestion as well…Thomas was married happily, and had a son! …But he wasn't entirely wrong in his assumption.
"Maybe, he may well indeed be married and settled, Joo Dee. Sadly, he had his connections before he ended up in your world. But he and his family! They are in danger, potentially every day. Seattle? There's a major Navy base there, and a major airplane factory. It's a prime target for a foreign or domestic strike against the American people. And he works at an airport! Also a terrible place to be should anything happen."
He was talking so much and so rapidly, Meiying couldn't process all of what she was hearing quick enough. But she did care for Tom and his family, her friends in the US. A threat? To them? And the people of the great US Navy? The same organization that had helped her all those years ago? She wasn't hearing him properly or clearly. But she heard the intentionally emphasized points.
"...And that's why we needed your help, Joo Dee," Daniels finally concluded, seeing Meiying's face clearly showing strain and struggle. As he intended. "File," he ordered his partner, not even looking his way and holding out an awaiting hand. Agent Laedis promptly placed a loaded manila folder in it, which Daniels immediately began to flip through. "Now, Joo Dee. What you've demonstrated here today is remarkable. Very insightful," he said, interrupted as he turned and scanned each page quickly. "Originally we were just here to get that demonstration, and maybe some added insight, and then we'd be done and you'd be back home in the city, thinking about nothing and remembering nothing from these sessions, with the only concern on your mind being to get back to your mundane and boring job and report in on time. But what was intriguing, and ultimately what caught our attention, was how you knew how the process works and could talk someone through it. You were able to instruct someone with no experience in mind control..hypnotization..whatever you want to call it..And, especially Chief Miller being a very no-nonsense kind of guy, to effectively brainwash..yourself. That is striking. That's what floated alternative ideas of what to do with you." He turned the page. Now the paper seemed to be in a much nicer and fresher condition. Newer paper. Up to date information. "It says here, that your life, past the events of the first Rift incident and the war years has been rather..uneventful. Mundane. And, I think-... We at the CIA think, especially after this demonstration, your talents are being wasted working at whatever local government office that you are currently pushing papers in. Are we wrong?" Without raising his head from the contents of the pages, he looked at her with his eyes only, in a way that conveyed some pressure.
She couldn't find it in her to tell them blatantly that they were wrong. It didn't feel right. It was too confrontational and impolite of her. Some part of her, deep down also agreed with that statement. Her life wasn't miserable by any means, but it was uneventful.
"...No..I wouldn't say you are wrong, sir," she replied shakily.
"And you have little to no ties here in the Earth Kingdom, correct?"
"Not much…" Meiying sighed, tilting her head as she did a brief mental check. She was checking that she indeed didn't have any. Any that she knew of.
"Excellent." Daniels closed the file with an audible thump. "Joo Dee, I'm wondering. If we put you in this chair," he said motioning to the seat in the center of the circle. "Could you effectively carry this operation out?"
"Yes.."
"And, if we put you in the role of..a teacher, let's say… Could you teach people how to get these same results?"
"I can," she answered.
"Perfect," Daniels concluded with a satisfied point of emphasis. "Laedis, close this deal." He immediately stood up and moved to exit the room.
The younger agent leaned in. "Meiying, Agent Daniels and I were thinking. How's about we get you out of this dead-end life in the Earth Kingdom and bring you over to America? Langley, Virginia is a nice place. Comfortable. Definitely a hell of a lot more opportunities than this crowded ancient dump. No offense to your country, which by the way blatantly mistreated and took advantage of you in unspeakable ways, but you're still living under some king in the twentieth century! This is an era of democracy and freedom," Laedis could have been an effective car salesman if he wasn't an agent. He spoke with great personable charisma. "Better pay, better living conditions, a fresh start, and more influence and power in your job and your own life! Most of all, you'll be fighting the good fight, Meiying! Fighting to defend one's right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. You'll be helping people. Good people. Unlike what this Kingdom and this world has been having you do. What do you say?" He had a subtle devilish smile as he extended his hand. "Would you step up to the challenge?"
Meiying's eyes wandered to the side. She was quickly weighing her options, not wanting to hold up the agency. The Americans had been more than helpful to her after all, and gave her the most reward and opportunity she ever had. Plus she would be working a job and fulfilling a duty with importance and influence, as well. Defending a country where her trusted friends lived as well was a bonus. She had nothing here to lose.
She squared up and confidently looked her offerer straight on. "I would be honored to take on this honorable duty," she affirmed, bowing slightly. She glanced at the agent's extended hand. Handshakes were still rather foreign to her, but she reached out and took it. Signing on with the agency.
"One more thing, Meiying," Laedis added. "Tomorrow, we'd want to watch you carry out this same procedure on a different subject, with you as the agent. And, we'd want to change the overall outcome of the test, though we'll be using the same gun from today. Think you could figure that out?"
"Of course, sir," she confidently answered.
The men in the room were satisfied. A done deal.
"Welcome to the CIA, Joo Dee."