yefiridwa

Peter Zeiwlander -the new solar order

With the end of world war 3 there were winners and losers.


The inner circle
America, United kingdom, France, India, Republic of China.

The inner circle are the powers that make up the UN security council. When the war ended all of them exited it with at least a hundred million clones who were trained to have useful skills sets. They all developed space based capabilities before or after the war. They exited the war stronger and are the great powers that other powers revolve around.

The greater winners.

Iceland, Ireland, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Belgium, Netherlands, Luxemburg, Italy, Austria, Chezch republic, Poland, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Greece, Korea, Thailand, New Zealand, Philippines, Australia, Singapore, Japan, Canada, South Africa, Rhodesia, Israel, Chile.

These are the countries that decided to put their blood on the line, joined the military alliance against the soviets and decided to take the option of having cloned citizens in case something went wrong and the world ended before the terraforming finished. All of them gained an entire planet's worth of resources, at least a 100 million new loyal people with useful skills, a voice in the UN and the chance and ability to dominate their new worlds. Life in these places started out pretty rough after the war but now they're developed and they have a huge frontier waiting to be exploited.

Most of them concentrate on that and either have limited spaced based resources or a very limited amount of it. Not a bad place to be in the solar system these days.

The middle winners

Turkey, Switzerland, Papua New Guinea, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Peru, Venezuela, chile, Ecuador, Bolivia, Haiti, Dominican republic, Honduras, Paraguay, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Panama, Uruguay, Jamaica, Trinadad, Guyana, Surinam, Bahamas, betlize, Barbados, Saint Lucia, Aruba, Grenada, Bermuda, Domica, Antiqua, saint Kitts, ayngola, Namibia, Liberia

When the war happened these guys were either techically allied, useful neutrals, or just decided not to take the clones. All of them have entire worlds to themselves but they didn't get the demographic edge that the majors got. This means that their road to dominating their new world resources is going to be longer and harder but they do all have one edge in common.

They came in with an intact infrastructure base. Ok in some cases it was damaged by civil war but they had the materials needed to industrialize and either didn't need hand-outs from the greater solar society or needed very few. They have a longer road and they know it but like I said an entire planet to yourself that's not a bad thing to have.

The lowest rung of the victory

Basque Republic, Indonesia, Ukraine, Tibet, Khalistan, Armenia, Kurdestan.

These seven countrys either somehow survived the war, represent separatist groups from the winners' circle that were allowed to go, or were losers who were lucky enough to have someone vouch for them. Looking at you Ukraine.

These countries received new worlds but they either had to build their infrastructure on the spot or had to rebuild it. These countries have an entire world full of resources to work with no hostile neighbors but they have to work a lot harder to get things done and are relatively poor compared to other powers.

Now to talk about the losers of world war 3.

---

The luckiest losers.

Albania, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Latvia, Lithuania, Belorussia.

The Budapest pact nations, nuked by their own allies, got slaughtered by the Russian plagues and were then invaded by the largest and angriest army in human history. They decided to fight...not a good decision. The survivors were the people who looked at the massive angry army, noticed that their cities were in rubbles, that there was no food or water, and that nuclear winter was here and surrendered.

They were put into refugee camps on triton, watched over with armed guards, and then given continents on their new planet that they had to share. Their cities were destroyed, their infrastructure was destroyed and sure they had a continent's worth of resources but they had to live off of their former enemies largess and mercy.

Not good for the old ego. You think the winners hate the Russians? Oh man, these guys hate them so much more. They're rebuilding now, who knows where they will be in the future.

The ruler of hell

Estonia somehow managed to get lucky as the soviets apparently forgot to nuke them, the allies didn't nuke them and their leaders took one look at the allied army and unconditionally surrendered immediately. They then collaborated with all of their might and are now the single strongest power on earth.

Which doesn't mean much when the next strongest power is under UN occupation and lives on a frozen peninsula with orbital weapons pointed on them at all times just in case they decide to get frisky. The other powers are composed of nothing stronger than city states and roving tribes.

The good news is that the nuclear winter is over, the earth's biosphere is recovering and no one is disputing Estonia's claims to the whole shebang. Anyone who does resist normally gladly takes offers to become a refugee anywhere else in the solar system.

Earth is still a terrible place to live. Patches of radiation zones still exist, chemical weapons still scar much of the land, flare ups of Russian plagues still happen. Destroyed cities rot, symbols of a world that once was, but hey Estonia is now the foremost power on earth and the last man standing.

Medium loser

Russia... the Russian people barely survived world war 3, most survivors were lucky enough to either be outside the country, in a Gulag, or just somehow managed to beat the odds. Their reward for surviving all that? To become the single most hated and despised people in the solar system. UN troops watch your every move and you're not allowed to have firearms. Depending on which town you live in you may not be allowed to have certain levels of technology. You're definitely not allowed to have magic.

To be Russian is to have the collective guilt for the destruction of the entire world on your shoulders. Right now it's a lot like being German in the 3 years after world war two, no one trusts you, no one likes you, and you're barely considered human. For Russians this is an improvement, it used to be worse.


The biggest losers.

Everyone else on Earth. Between the nukes, chemical weapons, Russian bioweapons, nuclear winter and a host of other problems pretty much everyone died. Most of the people who did survive moved off world and became refugees. All that remains of civilization... no, humanity... are small city states, tribes, and isolated individuals living in the ruins of what used to be a country.

Most of them were neutrals, many of them had friendly relations with the soviet union.

None of them were spared.

Maybe in time new civilizations will be born but I find that unlikely. Most people flee when offered a chance to get off world.

 

Robert Kline


I looked at the elderly man in front of me.

"I want to thank you for this interview."

The man shrugged, it was hard to believe that he used to be a diplomat for the UN.

"Say your piece."

I coughed.

"Do you regret it?"

The man lifted a eyebrow.

"I have a lot of regrets boy, be more spefic."

"Your vote in the UN, after the war the Third World War."

The man cleaned his glasses.

"When I voted I spoke for the prime minister of Poland, I spoke for our congress, I spoke for our courts and I spoke for the polish people. I spoke for every pole who was murdered during the partitions, I spoke for every pole who was murdered during the long siege, I spoke for every victim of Russian aggression before, during, and after World War Two. I spoke for every mother, father and child murdered by the Russians during World War Three."

He looked at me coldly.

"I voted yes for justice."

"For genocide."

The man rolled his eyes.

"Then maybe they shouldn't have committed genocide against the Cubans, against the Chinese, against africans, muslims, and numerous people from all over the world."

"The Russians."

"Made a mistake? THE WORLD ENDED!"

The man pounded on the table.

"If they just struck us, struck Nato, maybe just maybe you could justify it as a mistake but they nuked neutral countries. They nuked their own allies! They used dirty bombs on every holy place in the world. Mecca is still an irradiated wasteland. Their little suicidal temper tantrum killed over a billion people. So yes I decided to vote to finish the job, because I remembered what happened all the other times the world was merciful to them."

He paused.

"They're not gratful for it by the way, for us sparing their lives despite the crimes they commited against the human race. The only thing they regret is not winning the war, not murdering more people. So no I don't lose a damned bit of sleep at night."

I paused and decided to change the question.

"So what did you think about the 80s?"

"Well Mrs's Lincoln, other than that how was the play?"

I blinked.

"The 80s were a horrible time, it was the single worst decade in human history, the world ended. The birthplace of the human race was bathed in nuclear fire."

He waved his hands.

"But oh the action movies were great, the music was fantastic and the fashion was oh so kitch. Fuck that noise this 80s nostalgia, it honestly makes me sick."

He took a sip from a nearby cup.

"So what did the decade mean to you?"

The man closed his eyes.

"For me? Loss."

"The anniversary of Merlin's death is coming, what are your feelings about the man?"

The diplomat's face was serious.

"To the americans it was like they lost their grandpa, but to me..."

His face was full of emotion.

"When the human race stood on the edge of extinction Merlin took the righteous nations of humanity and said 'Not Today'."

He closed his eyes.

"Every single one of us owes our very lives to him, the last child of the phenix deserves the title of hero."

I looked at the clock.

"Thank you for your time sir."

I was only given so much time and I had to leave.

"You're welcome, boy. Enjoy your stay in Poland."

With that I left his apartment and walked outside. I was in Warsaw, the old quarter of the city, the portion that was built and survived the Hundred Year Siege. Every building had hard thick walls, every single one looked like a small fortress and in the distance I could see the massive wall that once held off entire empires.

In the distance I saw a teenager in a T-shirt, Merlin's face was displayed on it, under it were words written in Polish. It was a quote from Merlin.

"I don't know the meaning of life. When you discover it? Please tell me."

I looked at a place that had a picture of a bean on it and walked inside, this was the Café Zemsta this is where the prince of hell plotted his revenge against the European order.

"What do you want?"

I looked at the waitress.

"Answers."

"We have coffee."

I shrugged.

"Coffee, black."

 

Robert Kline



The shop was silent as a song started, I recognized it instantly the song that encapsulated all of the grief, relief, anger and desperation that summarised the worst year in human history. The older people in the coffee shop sat up, as did respectful youngsters. I got up too, Nena was called the voice of 83, one of the most dominant singers of the 80s.

"If you have some time for me
Then I will sing a song for you
About ninety-nine balloons
On their way to the horizon
If you maybe think just of me
Then I will sing a song for you
About 70 red balloons
And that such a thing comes from such a thing."

Everyone was on their feet, even me.

"70 red balloons
on their way to the horizon
People think they're UFOs from space
so a general sent up
a fighter squadron after them
Sound the alarm if it's so
but there on the horizon were
only 70 balloons."

The singing took on a manic pace.

"70 jet fighters
Each was a great warrior
Regarded themselves as Captain Kirk
There was a great display of fireworks
The neighbors didn't understand
And soon felt offended
Then they shot at the horizon
At 70 red balloons."

Some of the older people were crying.

"70 ministers of war
Matches and petrol canisters
Regarded themselves as clever people
Already on the scent of fat quarry
They shouted, "War," and wanted power
Man, who would have thought
That someday it would come this far
Because of 70 red balloons."


"99 years of war
Left no place for winners
War ministers don't exist anymore
And not one jet
Today I stroll around
See the world in ruins
I've found a balloon
I think about you and let it fly,
and remember that 70 red ballons are still alive!"

The translation spell on my medallion took out some of meaning of the original german. Every one sat down, the moment over. It was a song of mourning and survival that so perfectly encapsulated 1983 and the third world war that you saw it in every war movie about the period. It was the fortunate son of the doomer generation. It was the song that the grand alliance carried with it in their battle against the remnants of the soviet regime and the allies they betrayed.

And when the truth of the incident came out the song gained a twisted irony to it. It remained, entrancing the public imagination, a moment of horror frozen in the amber of human memory. Would future generations sing it not knowing the context? Not knowing the feelings it stirred up? Would it be our pocket full of posies? I didn't know.

 

Robert Kline


I watched outside the window as the artificial sun set and Jupiter took over the night sky, I could see the swirling clouds of orange, brown and white of jupiter as I sipped my simple cup of coffee. Leda was a beautiful world, and as Jupiter took over the sky I noticed that the seat across from me was suddenly taken.

"Been awhile Kline."

I turned my head.

"Nessa, I though I smelled a bitch. What brings you to Poland?"

She leaned back.

"Fashion show downtown, I'm looking for incriminating photos to sell to the tabloids. You? Still wasting your time trying to change the system?"

"I'm hunting for the truth."

Nessa rolled her eyes.

"Ok I will bite. What are you working on this time?"

"I just did an interview with the polish diplomat who voted to kill the Russians."

Nessa blinked.

"Please don't do what I think you're going to do."

"The man is completely unrepentant."

Nessa sighed.

"Do you want to spend another year doing fluff pieces on puppies? Because if you do yet another attack article with out all of the facts they will do that to you again."

"The man is a proponent for genocide."

Nessa shook her head.

"The Russians are a third line, they are toxic, they are poison, they are humanity's untouchables. If you want to keep your job then here's my advice Rob, do not defend them."

"I thought you would sympathise, you're german."

"Yeah and I still can't buy my own coffee in Warsaw without someone spitting in iit.As much as the poles hate us, they hate the Russians even more. So let me tell you what will really happen if you write a hit piece. Right now this diplomat? He's nobody, because no one remembers him. You write that hit piece you're itching to write? He becomes a national star as every pole on Leda comes out to defend him, he writes a book, gets rich and they make a movie out of it and you come out looking like shit again."

Nessa grabbed my cup and frowned when she found it was empty, she then put it back on the table.

"My advice? Drop your judgemental bullshit Rob. It was a different time and a different place."

"So what should I do?"

"Include context, be fair, consider his viewpoint and the fact that it was a different time, a different generation."

"And that makes genocide ok?"

"This was right after World War 3, there were people who were talking about doing the same to us right after World War 2. People get emotional about this kind of stuff, plus remember to us earth is just a shithole to his generation it was home. We don't get them, just like they don't get us."

She looked outside the window.

"And either way your article is not going to change things here."

"Why do you say that?"

"The polish mind is like a 5 star hotels bed, it's already made up. They're a stubborn people, always have been, and to them Russians were their archenemy, their boogieman, the villain in all of their stories. Us germans? We're a side show in their personal story and they're still pissed at us."

She paused.

"Granted, fighting alongside the poles in WW3 helped heal some of the wounds of the 2 previous world wars. Honestly it's kind of nice to be considered the good guys in a world war, granted we had to hedge our bets but we made it happen."

I felt a sense of exasperation at her words.

"I see you're ready to tune me out, but listen to me. Be fair, don't screw yourself over again."

 

Robert Kline


With our coffee finished we walked the streets of Warsaw, we didn't feel threatened or scared as we walked through the dark streets. Warsaw was one of the few major cities in the system where even the poorest neighborhoods could leave their doors unlocked. Some people credited that with the use of corporal punishment for minor crimes. Some people credited it with a strong sense of patriotism and others said it was because learning magic was mandatory for all children in the city.

"It's nice."

I blinked at Nessa's words.

"What?"

"The city, this city. The german army tried for years to get in and failed, the Russians tried for over a hundred years and failed, but here we are walking the streets of Warsaw."

"Perhaps they don't like uninvited guests?"

Nessa shrugged.

"We Germans do have a habit of showing up to places uninvited."

She smirked at me.

"So where are you going next Nessa?"

"Zone, it's well not close by but the fastest way to New York. There I will take photos of celebrities for money, hopefully I can get a few without their make up on."

Nessa took a perverse pride in being a member of the paparazzi.

"Not going to go home?"

She shuddered.

"No, I hated living in Neu Saxony, especially the shit hole town I grew up in."

She winced as memories came back.

"Look Neu Saxony, like all of the colonies, was created before Earth blew up. The german government basically gave the far right parties control over the programming to shut them up."

She shook her head.

"Lots of countries made that mistake so when my parents woke up from their training beds and created the new world they were trained and indoctrinated to be german."

I nodded my head.

"So."

"So their idea of germany was a funhouse mirror stereotype of what germany was, based on some hooky folk ideas of german culture. I mean for gods sake people wear leiderhosen."

"I've seen pictures of german cities people do that in the pre-war cities too."

She winced.

"During Octoberfest! Not all of the damned time."

"America kind of has a similar thing that happened."

She held up a finger.

"No, no it didn't. American clones were designed to be like boyscouts yes? Their whole culture was designed by people who thought that the 1950s was the ideal culture in American history. The clones who came out of it may have been naïve and overly wholesome but they were able to adapt to technology."

She grimaced.

"Meanwhile for us it's like pulling teeth to get the colonies to accept anything modern. If I didn't run away they would have me married off at 16 to be a housefrau and shit out babies for the rest of my life."

"That bad?"

"That backward, yes. There is a reason why the center is fighting to keep the colonies from voting in the reichstag."

She paused.

"It's a losing battle unfortunately and, sooner or later, those maniacs will take over."

"They raised you, they can't be all bad."

She spat on the ground.

"It's a cult based around the idea of germany, not actually germany. These are not tolerant people Rob, they're bad."

"Nazi bad?"

She shook her head.

"No, no, not that bad, not obviously malicious like that. For one they're not so antisemitic, they just want to plunge us into their ideas of a germany that existed in some fever dream about the pre World War One era, an Era that never existed."

She paused.

"I wish we had been as sensible as the swedes."

"The swedes complain all of the time about the lost social net."

"Yes but they just gave their new world to moderate right wing parties that were not delusional nutcases. We gave our nuts a blank check."

We stopped in front of a hotel.

"Huh."

I blinked.

"Same Hotel?"

"Wasn't able to get a room, mind if I crash with you?"

I sighed.

"You're a complete mooch, you know that nessa?"

"Like I said, I am german. It's in our blood to invade other people's personal space."

 

Robert Kline


I woke up to the sound of snoring. I looked over at Nessa as she snored on the couch, a gentleman would have given a lady the bed but I knew Nessa and the woman was many things but never a lady. I rolled my eyes as she scratched herself and I got out of bed.

I opened up my suitcase and put on my suit. I sighed as I heard a knock on my door, I was dressed so I went out. There I saw a man in a blue suit, he looked Asian but I couldn't quite pick out the nationality though.

"Zhang wants to talk to you."

I crossed my arms.

"Ambasador Zhang. You talked to one of his friends, he wants to talk with you."

"Is that a threat?"

"If I was threatening you then you would know, I am not a subtle man."

I sighed.

"Fine I will talk to him."

I followed the man into one of the small compact cars that could manage to get around the cramped streets of Warsaw's inner city. I watched as we left the walls one by one, as the buildings became less crowded together, as we passed the walls until we left another wall. In the distance I saw the massive final wall, the one that was built in the interwar period, the one that stopped the Soviet Union and then the Nazis before the liberation of Poland.

"Always wondered why the Chinese consulate was in Zabki."

"Expense, and a wish for space. The only countries that have embassies in the inner city are America and France. Zabki though still counts as metropolitan warsaw and was in the walls during the hundred year siege, so it's good enough."

"So it's inside the star."

"Correct and that is good enough for us."

We stopped at a massive building and got out. I rolled my eyes. Aquariums, what was with the Chinese and their damned aquariums. My guide noticed me and frowned.

"Get it out of your system, the ambassador is a good man who personally saved quite a few lives during the fall."

"Really?"

"Mine was one of them."

I steeled my face and walked into a room. A man sat in the center, next to him were two pillars that were of course filled with fish. The door slammed behind me.

"You talked to Janko."

I sat down, I couldn't help but notice that my chair was made so I would be forced to look up at the ambassador.

"Yes."

"About what?"

"The vote, the one about Russia."

The man narrowed his eyes.

"I trust that you're going to be fair to the man."

"He voted for genocide."

The man leaned back.

"So did we. So did the Greeks, so did the Mongolians and the finns. Everyone who used to have a border with Russia, all of their neighbors. We were the people who knew them best and all of us voted to finish them."

"Did you vote to kill them."

The man's eyes narrowed.

"No. I wasn't always an ambassador. When that happened, when the rapture happened, when the world ended, I volunteered to go to China and save whoever I could and whatever I could. I watched as children died from radiation sickness, watched the Russian plagues murder entire villages."

He paused.

"They were their allies, they were people who had bled for the Russian communist cause. They had given up everything and their loyalty was rewarded with death."

He gripped the table.

"Over two billion people were murdered, and if Merlin hadn't been there it would have been so much more. You, you child who grew up knowing only peace, only plenty, who never experienced war... You have no right to judge us, judge Janko."

He took a deep breath.

"Why are you sticking up for him?"

"Because every day he fought to give us more resources so we could save more people. Because he successfully lobbied his government to give us food and aid during a time when Poland was in chaos. Because he personally blew his family fortune to save as many lives as he could."

The ambassador closed his eyes.

"You saw his apartment? The man used to own mansions, used to own properties all around the country. He surrendered almost all of it in his attempts to save one more life. I want you to know this, reporter. I want you to be fair. To include the context of what happened, of what we lost and what we tried to save."

I thought about it, thought about the story.

"I can put my personal feelings aside and be objective but I do need proof."

The man got up.

"Very well. Follow me."

 

Robert Kline



I didn't like what I saw.

I also didn't like the fact that when I looked over the data and fact checked it, it all said one thing.

"Damn it."

Things had proven to be more complicated than I expected. The ambassador had sunk pretty much all of his money into rescue missions and refugee relief during the 80's, and yet he had also voted for the genocide of an entire people. I couldn't wrap my mind around the contradiction. How could a man work tirelessly to save people and then gleefully and without a regret vote to end an entire people?

I wanted this to be simple, good and evil, black and white. Reluctantly I wrote a balanced story and included both views, the act I considered monstrous and his tireless charity work. When I sent the email I felt sick. I felt like I had let humanity down in a way, tried to excuse what I felt couldn't be excused. I decided to sleep on it, tried to ignore my own feelings as I waited for the email to get through the interplanetary lag back to Mars, back to America.

I woke up to the sound of a buzzing phone, I picked it up.

"Got your email Kline."

"Yeah?"

"Had an editor go through it, it's good stuff. Better then what you normally write."

"I tried to be nuanced."

I gritted my teeth.

"Good, that means you're trying to be a real reporter and that means putting your feelings aside and writing the truth, that means embracing nuance and that means being responsible and not writing a hit piece unless you have all of the facts."

My boss paused, I could hear the crackling on the phone.

"It's a good story and we're going to put it in the paper."

"Which page?"

"Somewhere in the middle of politics."

Not front page, never front page.

"What's on the front page?"

"A celebrity is getting a divorce."

I took in a breath.

"And that's getting front page?"

"It's been a slow news day, a slow news year. That's why were sending you to Japan."

"You mean Kore?"

"The Japanese are officially changing the name of their planet, well moon, to Japan. It's not without precedent, most countries have either considered it or done it. The only country that have not put forth a plan to simply change their planet's name were well us and Canada."

"Because Canada likes the name Titan."

"Yeah. And there has been talk about renaming our country the United states of Mars. Point is, there is a story."

"What kind of story?"

"You're going to talk to a Shinto priest in the colonies, he started a new temple."

"Ok."

"Dedicated to a new Kami."

"And?"

"It's Merlin."

I froze.

"He specifically stated in his will that he did not want to be worshiped at all and stated that he wasn't a god numerous times."

"Officially they're just 'honoring him', and the Japanese have never quite saw eye to eye with Merlin on that. To them if you bring ancient magic to the masses, defeat entire countries singlehandedly, terraform entire planets and save their country from nuclear war then you have pretty much earned godhood."

I sighed.

"I will take the next boat out to Kore."

"It's Japan now."

"Ok, take the next boat to japan."

I hung up and looked at Jupiter in the distance.

"It never ends."

 

Robert Kline


Farm

No word in black culture brings up the kind of emotions that the Farm brings up. Even if your part of the family hasn't lived on the family farm for generations, even if you have lived in the city the entire life, we all cling to the family farm. To sell that bit of land granted to your family after the civil war is unthinkable.

The family farm was gifted to you to pay your family back for generations of slavery, it was bought with your family's blood, with their suffering, with their tears. The diaspora of black America clings to their 40 acres like a thirsty man to water. It's more than a piece of land to us.

"Where you going?"

"Going to spend some time in San carlos, baha, going to visit the family farm."

The man nodded at me.

"Always best to keep in touch with your roots."

"Yeah."

Baha. The name had resonance, it had meaning. To the collection of scared slaves who had been put onto an airship, given a mule and farming equipment and seed. It had been the promised land.

It was a beautiful story, a beautiful narrative, after centuries of being in chains we finally had our own land, we finally controlled our own destinies. Baha and Louisiana. Baha taken from Mexico as a punishment, the people who lived there evicted in their entirety, their land taken from them and gifted to someone else. Louisiana with its control over the missippi had been wrenched away from the plantation owners.

Lincoln had been murdered and an example was made, obey and you would keep what you owned, but if you put on a hood, if you tried anything, your property was forfeit and would be given to someone else.

After the example was made, a destroyed south was given a choice. Rhose that went along would get help to rebuild, those that fought back would have a chance to become the next example, the compact was struck.

We got land and a place of our own, the south got rid of us and were allowed to rejoin the union. The north got an intact union. The grand compromise. It didn't mention the people who stayed behind, the ones who wanted to remain in the places they had lived their entire lives in. Didn't mention their suffering.

It didn't fit the story we wanted to tell ourselves.

The ship landed in the harbor and I walked in the mid day sun northwards, until I saw the family complex, until I saw the farm.

"Rob."

I froze and looked at my older brother, the one who had been chained to the duty of making sure the farm continued on.

"Hazel."

We were silent.

"I have some money."

He looked at me.

"The farm is doing well enough Rob."

The two of us were silent for a bit.

"Dad was...wrong about..."

He looked away, there were rules in Baha. Chief amongst them that you didn't date Mexicans, I had broken that rule, got caught and had been sent to a university out of state. Hazel was the only one who talked to me during my exile.

"Dad was wrong about a lot of things, there still a room for me?"

"Always."

I followed him as we walked into the family estate, I saw the distant pyramid, and frowned at the display of over compensation that seemed to infest Baha's architecture.

"No politics."

My brother frowned at me.

"That's an unreasonable."

"No politics, I just want one family gathering without any drama Robert, just one."

He looked at me.

"No politics."

I closed my eyes.

"And it's just me?"

"It's everyone. No politics inside the compound, what happens in the city isn't my problem but not on the farm."

"Fair enough."

We walked side by side, my stomach sick as I walked back home.

 

Robert Kline

I felt the familiar sense of annoyance and cringe as I got closer. Baha always managed to somehow piss me off. There was a sense of grasping, of pretention and of kitch that I did not like or appreciate.

"A pyramid of course."

Take a bunch of former slaves, give them some land in an area filled with small leylines and then teach them magic. The result? A people grasping for some kind of identity outside of being slaves.

Neo egyptian, Afrofuturism, neo phenix architecture dominated Baha. Any trace of the spanish style homes that existed before had been very deliberatly destroyed a very long time ago, attempts to build new buildings in that style on the peninsula always somehow got stopped by city zoning commissions.

The last attempt was in the 90s, a mexican restaurant in Lincoln, the city claimed that there was a problem with the wiring and bulldozed it. The city planner was lambasted on Telanova for it, and then the city made him a mayor in an overwhelming election. The automatic doors opened and I shook my head at the kitchy african masks that lined the walls.

"Rob."

"But."

"They belonged to grandpa. Those masks were his prized possessions, I can't throw them away."

"He was in africa for maybe a week. A week!"

"And he bought a bunch of african masks while he was there and they were his prized possessions. I know they're cheap crap Rob, but they meant the world to grandpa and I keep them on display as a way to honor his memory."

I turned one of the masks over.

"Made in china."

"Meant the world to him."

I rolled my eyes, but I placed the mask back on the wall. With that done I dropped my bags at my room and went into the dining hall and got to enjoy the glares of my family members.

"No politics."

The other members of my assorted family looked at me and glared.

"I'm not that bad."

They turned back to their meals and I ate in silence until I felt a hand on my shoulder. I looked up and saw my father. His hands were rough, coarse, as he looked at me.

"Did you keep up your training, boy?"

"I'm a reporter, not an assassin."

My father rolled his eyes.

"Always so damned dramatic, we are hitting the range."

I shook my head.

"Ok. Fine."

The family didn't speak to me, they didn't speak at all, instead we ate. My brother's wife had made us all plates full of Wat, an ethiopian dish that had of course been cooked in the most unauthentic manner possible. Because well that was baha. Take an idea from africa, get most of it wrong and then americanize the rest and pretend that it was part of your culture.

The meal thankfully ended and I walked with my father.

"Well that was awkward."

My dad looked at me.

"Thanksgiving."

"It was a year ago."

"And nobody forgot how you made a damned fool of yourself. We all agreed. No politics at the dinner table and then you went and started a fight and made everyone miserable."

I shrugged as the steel doors opened, I sighed as my father touched his lips to his fingers and put it on the picture of John Brown.

"Do you remember our oath?"

I looked at the picture of the first mystic gunslinger, the man who created the art. I crossed my arms, my hands on my revolvers.

"Where the bond of slavery exists most tragic, we shall liberate with magic. Through fire and rain we break the chain, we shall be living keys until at last all people are free."

My dad nodded.

"Our family was one of John Brown's original 13 disciples, the men tasked with teaching others and spreading the craft before he went on his legendary Charleston raid."

"That ended with him being captured and executed."

"500 slaves went free because of that raid and we gunslingers have existed ever since, carrying on his work."

The pre antebellum south was a magic poor area and magi, true magi, did not do well around the institution. But a breed of magi using lesser arts didn't have a problem with that. We called them hucksters, they used playing cards as their spell books and often worked as overseers and slave catchers.

When the war ended the remaining hucksters went bandit or joined the klan.

My father's art was created by an abolitionist who ended up joining up with the overstretched law enforcement organizations found out in the west. Thus the conflict between gunslinger and huckster became immortalized in the public imagination.

"Shoot."

I flicked my finger and let out a single bullet. It ricocheted through the targets, rebounding across the room until it hit a lamp. My father shook his head.

"Missed one."

I looked at the lone target without a hole out of the seven.

"Oh come on."

"Again."

I hated coming home.

 

Robert Kline


I woke up early and looked at a picture on the wall.

"Baha silk."

A smiling black man in a nice suit looked back at me. That was one of the family's industries, silk farming. 40 acres isnt a lot of land so things were pushed together, built up and down to maximize profits. I got dressed, packed my things and took a deep breath and opened the door.

"Leaving, then."

I froze as I heard my dad's words.

"Needed a place to crash for the night, there will be a ship to Kore."

"Japan."

I rolled my eyes.

"Japan soon. I want to be there, get out of here."

My father looked at me with his weathered face.

"Where did we go wrong?"

"Look I have a successful career as a reporter."

"Not rasing you boy. Our relationship."

I narrowed my eyes.

"Maria."

My dad raised an eyebrow.

"So?"

"You forbid me from seeing her."

"Yes I did."

"Because you hate mexi."

"I don't."

I stared at him.

"Really? could have fooled me."

"Boy..."

"I am a grown ass man."

"You're my son, you will always be my boy, and my problem wasn't that she was a mexican. My problem is that you didn't get her family's permission, you went behind their backs to date their girl and that isn't right."

"The two of us didn't need."

"No, you did! You were in high school, you were both kids. You know what it looks like when the son of your boss dates your daughter without telling you about it? It looks bad. It looks like he's trying to pressure her into doing stuff she didn't want to do. Hell if you tried dating one of my employees' kids today as a grown ass man? I would still force you to get her family's permission."

"That's archaic."

"No that's being polite, it's being curteous, it's letting them know that you're not playing games with their girl's heart. That you're taking the realationship serious like. That you're not taking advantage of their kin."

He glared at me.

"This place is a backwater."

"That's another problem, your atitude. You're so puffed up about yourself... Our people worked with our own two hands to build Baha into what it is now."

"Something fake! None of this is authentic. The cheap masks, the architecture, itsy all just ripoffs of something else."

"So?"

"So we don't have a real culture."

My father laughed.

"What?"

"Boy....remember that Gumbo I used to cook for you?"

"It was just ok."

"Stubborn, you loved my gumbo."

"I grew up."

"Boy, what we did here was we picked and chose what we liked and we created something new. You take your ingredients, mix them up and it makes a damned fine gumbo."

"Insulting a long dead people"

"Boy, I've read Merlin's writing, he always compared his school to a salad bar. He wanted us to pick and choose what we liked and build off of it. And most of this stuff has been around long before the world ended. You could say it's not unique, that it's a shoddy copy, but you would be missing the point boy."

He stood up tall.

"We didn't want an exact copy. Inspiration yes, but not exact. We wanted to create our own thing, do our own thing, be our own people and we did a damned fine job of that."

"I'm leaving."

"One of these days you have to stop seeing the world in black and white boy, life has a lot of shades of grey in it."

I walked away from him, still stewing in my anger. Hazel greeted me at the bottom floor.

"You have something to say?"

"Dad isn't exactly wrong, he might go about things in the wrong way but he cares."

"Whatever."

I left, I had a job to do and coming back here? It was a mistake.

 

Robert Kline


"Well did the trip to Baha refresh you?"

"I spent some time with my family."

My editor was calling me and I stared up as I held the ship's phone.

"It really is one of the most beautiful states in the union, the architecture is breathtaking."

"I have to disagree with you on that but then again I grew up around it."

"Very well, I'm passing along a message from your superior."

I took a deep breath.

"People liked your balanced report on the Diplomat, all of us think it's an improvement on some of your past articles."

"I sold out."

"No you didn't, you acted like a professional and you told the entire story after you got the facts. You have a bad habit of taking your political views and trying to shove them down people's throats. You can't do that and call yourself a reporter, you have to tell people the story and let them make up their own minds."

I sighed.

"I will try to be objective."

"Good, the next story is in Japan, one of the colonies. Please be respectful."

"I am a very polite person."

"Can you please, at the very least, be believable when you lie to me?"

"I am a perfectly respectful person."

"You're....really not, the only reason we didn't fire you your first year is because you're willing to go anywhere for a story. Most of our reporters want a certain beat, or at least stay on the same planet. If you were not willing to travel you would have been black listed from the industry."

"I'm not that bad."

"You really were Kline, and what you call selling out the rest of us call growing up, now keep it up and be professional."

The phone hung up and I shook my head, I was traveling by cargo ship to Kore, I mean japan. Where to? Hinata city in the new province of Saigō. The new Japanese empire was a study in contrasts.

The island core of the planet had all of the industry, the electronics, the culture and a fast paced corporate culture that proudly worked people to death. The colonies by contrast had a much more sedate life and was a place that beckoned retirees, burnouts and Japan's neet population.

If you couldn't hack it in the core you left and went to the colonies.

"Attention passengers and crew we will be heading towards a nexus soon. Please secure yourself and your belongings before teleport."

I went on the bed and waited as the ship shook.

"Welcome to the Japanese empire, please enjoy your stay."

I checked my phone.

"1 IC."

I took in a breath. Great, barely any signal. I checked sat links and found out that I'd have to wait for an hour long window around 7 pm local time to use it.

"Hate working in the boonies."

All I could do was wait as the real reason for this ship's mission to Japan got first right of passage. I walked up to the surface.

"All right people those tractors are not going to move themselves move MOVE MOVE!"

I looked at my watch and then at the small Japanese town in the distance. A recreation of a traditional japanese village made with local materials and modern technology. I waited impatiently as the goods were unloaded and after that was done I finally got off the ship.

I sighed as a japanese man in a trenchcoat and fedora walked up to me, there was a sword on his back and I could see the badge. I brought out my papers.

"Hinata police?"

He blinked and then tapped a book on his side.

"Yes, sorry translation spells activating, can I see your papers?"

"Yes."

He wore a T-shirt of some anime girl giving a v-sign and he read through my stuff and gave me a thumbs up.

"You're good to go Kline-san, welcome to Hinata."

I shrugged and bowed to be polite and walked on, that was one of the odd truths about japan. They wanted to tightly control magic but the Otaku subculture desperately wanted to learn magic and they needed magi. So a two tiered system appeared, with exclusive schools for the well connected and an assortment of street magi who grew up watching too much anime.

One was the pride of japan, the others were given jobs in the colonies and ended up creating the new police forces of japan's territorial edge. These forces lacked the oversight of the core and I cringed as I saw the police station.

"Why?"

I knew it was a police station yet it was covered in Moe murals and a statue of a little girl in a police outfit with too large eyes was in front of it.

"Just why?"

 

Robert Kline


The shrine maiden looked at me.

"Let me guess you expected someone younger?"

"I'm looking for the leader of the Hinata Shinto shrine."

"That would be me, I'm Rin Tanaka the Miko of the temple."

"Your English is excellent."

She pulled a sleave back and revealed a bracelet covered in glowing runes.

"I have a very good translation bracelet, it helps."

I nodded my head, the woman was older than me, she had to at least be in her 50s.

"So what made you decide to open this shrine?"

"Merlin saved the Japanese race and gave us our own planet, he also saved other civilizations and his final gift will give humanity the stars themselves and he gave us the gift of magic on top of that. Shinto has made people into kami after death for less."

"So you believe he's a god?"

"We're standing on a world he created."

"Merlin said he wasn't a god and didn't want to be worshipped."

"We don't worship him, merely honor him, and Merlin was in denial. He was and is quite clearly a god."

"But he said he wasn't."

"Actions speak louder then words, and anyways we don't use the word god in the same sense that you westerners do. We do not think that gods are all seeing and all powerful. Various gods are in charge of various things. Merlin Is America's strongest Kami and we honor his deeds."

"But not worship him."

"We honor his wishes and do not perform sacrifices in his name."

I sighed as I looked at the small one story building.

"Do you want to come inside?"

"Sure."

I walked with her and was surprised by the simple elegance of the place. Images of the last phenix were engraved onto the walls and a photo of him stood in the center of the room. A man sat down, his legs crossed on a mat.

"So I read your article on the war."

I froze.

"I tried to be objective."

The woman nodded.

"Yes, the end of the world was a difficult time for most people and most countries. I'm proud to say my country voted against certain extreme measures."

"Genocide."

"I consider my country's vote of no to be one of our better moments."

"Do you consider it an act of mercy or repentance?"

"Both. We made very bad errors in judgement during World War 2 and we were given the gift of mercy, so we bestowed it onto someone else. We came uncomfortably close to doing something very monstrous that could not be taken back."

I nodded my head.

"So gunslinger do you want some tea?"

I froze.

"What?"

She smiled at me.

"Magi are very obvious if you know the signs, even the low arts. The high magi they sense things that normal men can not. The blood in someone's veins, the currents of air, the ground beneath their feet, the heat. Their hands flex, always ready to communicate with the seasons, always ready to move. They dont really think about it ."

She smiled.

"The low arts... People who embrace the thief they sneak, they can't help it. Warriors puff their chests out looking for conflict, those that choose the scholar archetype keep their hands near their spell book. And you."

She smiled.

"The entire time your hands have been reaching for a gun that isn't there, your fingers pulling a trigger that isn't in your hands. Tell me, are your eyes of calculation on?"

"I dont think that's relevant to the interview."

"I think it is, reporter. The gift you possess exists because of the kami we honor."

"I'd hardly call what I'm able to do a gift."

Memories of father drilling me every day came back, the resentment came back.

"I disagree, John brown created something unique during his little vision quest. If he had been a phenix during their heyday they would have considered him a prophet."

I glared at her.

"It's just a weapon."

"Really? Because I am told that the eyes of calculation."

"Can be replicated with a decent calculator, or a simple calculation spell. It's nothing special."

The old woman raised an eyebrow.

"You carry much bitterness inside you."

"This interview is about the shrine."

"How can I fill a cup that is already full?"

I blinked at her statement.

"Tea sounds fine."

 

Robert Kline


I looked at a picture on the wall.

"A seahorse?"

"It's a symbol of the deaf community here in japan."

She paused.

"And the magic community."

"Wasn't the deaf community banned from learning magic?"

She shrugged.

"In the years 1925 to 1945, not exactly a good time in Japanese history. Before that deaf people were encouraged to learn magic, the Tokyo school for the deaf was established in 1880 by Johnny Lawrence, the disciple of John Kreese who brought magic into japan."

"Didn't that school double as a magic school?"

"Name a single school for the deaf in America that doesn't double as a school for magic?"

I sighed.

"Point made, but John Kreese's work..."

"Was missused by the Nazi's long after his death, the qliphothic arts are neither good nor bad they are a tool."

"But the schools resulted in the death of the Japanese sign language."

"Last practitioner died in 1921 yes."

"Doesn't that make you... well sad or angry?"

She raised an eyebrow.

"You're a parent, your child has a disability, they're deaf. You have no real way to talk to them or treat them, and you're not from a wealthy family. You get two offers, one of them is from the local Buddhist temple. They have a form of sign language that will let you communicate with your child."

She paused.

"But your child will have to leave your city, and will either spend the rest of their lives as a monk or be forced to beg on the streets. Your child will also only be able to communicate with other monks from the monastery and they're not quite willing to share their valuable books on sign language with you."

She poured some tea into my cup.

"The other offer is from the new school that is setting up in your city. If you send your child there they will learn a form of sign language that is used globally and will be eagerly learned by non deaf people. They also offer to gift you books on how to communicate with your child and you will see them every day. On top of this they offer to give your child literal supernatural powers and the government hints that they will have a job for life for them after they graduate."

She looked at me.

"What do you choose?"

"The later."

"And that's how british, german, Spanish, Japanese, Korean and Chinese sign language died. Why maintain your own unique thing when there is a globally used thing that accomplishes the same task and gives you supernatural powers?"

"It was a part of your heritage."

"It was something used by monks in Buddhist temples during vows of silence, and every temple had their own system. There was no standardization, it never penetrated to the masses and there was no effort to teach it to the people who needed it most. To scared parents with a child with disabilities American sign language offered hope. To the deaf people who learned it, it gave them an identity, it gave them power and it gave them self respect."

She leaned back.

"To the government it made people who were a burden to the state into people who were productive and useful. No one cared enough to preserve it so it died, lots of things vanish that way. Japanese sign language is just one more thing added to that long list."

"But it represented the death of a portion of Japanese culture."

"Culture exists to serve Humanity, Humanity doesn't exist to serve culture."

 

Peter Zeiwlander -the new solar order


So you want to understand the solar system as it currently stands? A good example is Poland.

Poland before the third world war existed between the Baltic sea and the Carpathian mountains, these are the natural defendable positions. To the east and west was the european plain, no natural defenses, used by both Germany and Russia to invade the country. Poland has spent much of history being invaded over and over again.

The discovery of magic changed some things. The city of Warsaw exists in a leyline cluster that resembles a star of david and exists as a point of a long ley line triangle that connects the cities of Warsaw, Wroclaw, and Krakow. Poland might have lacked natural defenses but it had supernatural ones.

If they had more time between the second partition, or more time and magi during the napoleonic wars, they could have secured these points and a larger portion of poland would have remained free. Unfortunately for them they only had enough time and magi to secure Warsaw.

The hundred year siege that followed has been burned into the Polish psyche. Their country was occupied, savaged and mistreated and they stood defiant. When their country was liberated the first thing poland did was try to create a defensive network against Russian agression, peace with germany and looked for Great Power support on top of that.

Germany was offered a pretty good deal, access to markets and weapon sales to an alliance pointed away from them. Then they changed the deal and allied with the Soviet Union to take down the Eastern Alliance.

This time however was different, the poles had secured the triangle and raised a wall between the points. The polish triangle would house free Poland for the duration of the war and remained free from both German and Russian occupation. It would be key in the Polish break out that would lead to Germany being invaded from both the east and west.

So post war Poland has lost its network of alliances that defended it, its neighbors are now soviet puppet states and it immediately joins NATO and becomes the most outward defender of the alliance.

The deal was simple: Poland gets access to American markets and America uses its navy, the last navy standing, to secure the ability of Poland to sell to any market on earth. If the nukes are unleashed then Poland will be sent to another world. In exchange the poles agree to fight the cold war america's way. So do many other nations. It was a good deal, the poles took it and then the war happened.

Now the poles situation has changed, they gained an extra 100 million people and an entire planet's worth of resources with no neighbors and no enemies. They stuck with the alliance to avenge earth but these days?

They don't need to trade with anyone else for natural resources, they have a dedicated manufacturing base, they have a growing internal market and no rivals that can easily attack them. The poles are slowly losing intrest in the outside system. They're becoming more isolationist. This is a story that's being repeated across the solar system.

The reason for the Grand Alliance was protection from the Soviet Union, access to trade and access to resources. The Soviet Union is gone, you have all of the resources you need and the post war baby boom gives the winners a much larger internal market.

This growing disengagement with the greater solar system is already being felt. The cold war order is dying and this book is about what will rise to take its place.

 

Martian Network news


"Today on MNN, we have a discussion with Professor Max Stirner. Max, your opinion about World War 3?"

The man cleans his glasses.

"I think the primary lesson that humanity learned from the 20th century is that government shouldn't get beyond a certain level of size and power."

"A common anarchist belief."

The man frowns.

"Why yes I am an anarchist, but that doesn't mean I'm wrong. When right wing government became too powerful it created the Nazis, when left wing government got too powerful it created the Soviet Union."

"Shouldn't that be a call for political moderation?"

"That is a legitimate point but different communities have different needs, we need to empower people to have control over their local communities."

"So you want small government socialism."

"For the communities that need and desire it, yes. Some communities will choose more traditional options or capitalistic ones, the point is that the government is kept small enough that the community can control it. Once it gets too large then well we saw what happened to Earth."

"Any fears for the future?"

Max sighs.

"If you're talking about the third world war? My fear is that it will be remembered like the tower of babel, either being treated like some divine punishment for hubris or even worse a sad but necessary bit of suffering for humanity. Both are wrong."

"Explain?"

"World war 3 did not have to happen, no one had to die. We could have colonized the solar system at a slower pace, being thrust roughshod onto new worlds and the painful transition that caused did not have to happen. Small localized control is in my mind the solution to preventing another disaster like the world wars."

"And Political moderation?"

"Honestly I don't think its possible to moderate politics, there will always be people trying to push their governments towards some extreme. For anarchists the solution is to limit their power so they can't cause too much damage."

"And the idea of eliminating government altogether?"

"Is an ideal that sadly does not work in the real world, we found that out during the era of the Ukrainian freestate."

"which also didn't work."

"There were some failed experiments yes, but because government was localized you didn't have the large scale famines that you saw under stalin and mao, or the gulags, or the mass graves."

"The freestate."

"Was conquered by the Nazis during World War Two and then by the soviets who committed a lot of atrocities against the Ukrainian people, but the principle of small communities controlling their own fates is a proven one."

"Thank you for your time. Last question, your opinon of communism?"

"A failed experiment that should be left in the past, just like fascism."

 

Robert Kline

"you remember the time I knew a Girl From Mars?
I don't know if you knew that
Oh we'd stay up late playing cards
Henri Winterman Cigars
And she never told me her name
I still love you, the Girl From Mars."

It was the single most dominant song of 1995, the song that made the Irish band Ash one of the biggest bands of the late 1990s. I listened as I continued to write my report, the meeting in the shrine had been amicable.

The owner wasn't a lunatic, the shrine itself was respectful, most of the people who came to worship really came to worship other Shinto gods because like it or not the Merlin shrine was the only Shinto shrine in town.

I decided to be fair and try to be balanced, the place was relatively harmless, I put aside my feelings and wrote and then when the satellite was overhead I sent it home. I closed my eyes.

I was listening to a song popular with a post war generation that had never been to Earth, who had never known Earth, had never lived in a time where they bordered other countries. Theirs was a larger and smaller world.

They didn't get us, the funeral dirge to humanity's home couldn't go on forever and people eventually had to get on with their lives, had to adapt, had to change. And for the little girls who became women on mars, that song struck a cord with them. Americans had, without noticing it, become martians.

The same transition was happening elsewhere and I was a part of it, the older folks didn't get us and we didn't get them. How could we when we literally came from different worlds. My phone rang and I prepared myself for my editor's mood.

"Got the piece."

"It's a fluff piece."

"It's honest, it's fair and it's not a hit peace with an agenda, I like it. I like it enough to get you a place in the next Hajj."

"I thought you were trying to get an actual Muslim for that?"

"Tried and failed. We need someone who is willing to go anywhere, even an irradiated wasteland."

"I thought the Hajj could only happen during a."

"That was when Earth wasn't a nightmare world. The Islamic scholars got together and, because of the extra danger and distance involved, the Hajj can now be done at anytime of the year. You're not allowed into the Kabba of course, or Mecca city limits, but you will be following a number of pilgrims."

He paused.

"I can't understate this: you're going to need to be a whole lot less judgemental. This is literally a sacred quest to these folks and it's going to be a long uncomfortable journey so I need you to take your judgementalness and attitude and take it down a notch."

"What's a notch."

"Ok, let me rephrase that. Take it down all of the notches. This is an important religious thing in the Islamic world and they have had a pretty rough time of things, they do not need someone playing the fool during a harsh and dangerous journey."

"Got it. Anything else?"

"I got one of my family's old expansion chests, I am going to fill it with enough food and supplies for yourself, and extra to feed the others if anything goes wrong or if anyone gets hungry. The group you will be with is fifty people large."

"Turkish or Indonesian?"

"Indonesian, they're a little bit more relaxed about outsiders and there's less of a chance of things getting physical if tempers flare."

"The turks are nowhere near that bad."

"The turks aren't but they're a multiethnic country with the minority ethnicities having a hard time of it. Arabs, Kurds, Persians, Turks... Theres history there and it's not always nice. Something goes wrong tempers flare and it can get dangerous. speaking of which... some ground rules."

"What is it?"

"Be polite, be respectful, don't mention Russia and communism and be helpful. It's a long two week journey from your drop off point to your destination and back. No drama Robert."

"Or I will go back to fluff pieces about puppies."

"Or you might end up dead."

The call ended and I stared at the ceiling, my editor was just being overly dramatic right? Right?"

 

Robert Kline



I took a deep breath, next boat was going to take weeks to get here so I was for now trapped in Japan. I looked at the clock, the Satellite was overhead. I put in the number, and waited. The phone rang.

"You called on time Mr. Kline."

"Being punctual is important."

"That is is, which is why I must apologize as it is going to take a little bit longer to arrange the Hajj for my group."

I nodded my head.

"Any problems?"

"There have been sightings of giant crabs around Mecca, so we are going to have to stock up on weapons."

"Giant crabs?"

"Russian biological weapon, they are mutated coconut crabs with a taste for human flesh and about the size of a small pony."

I was silent and then started laughing.

"That was good, you had me going there."

"I wasn't joking..."

"But the laws of physics."

"The Russians used magic. The good news is that they can only survive in high radiation environments, the bad news is that Mecca, Medina and Jerusalem are all high radiation environments."

"So there's nothing to visit?"

"Oh no! They used dirty bombs that make the place utterly unlivable but all of the buildings are completely intact."

I could hear the barely restrained loathing in his voice.

"Do you have any combat experience or ability?"

I sighed. Do I lie?

"I'm a gunslinger."

"So firearm training?"

"Mystic gunslinger."

"Oh, Ohhh. That is just fantastic, you are the shooty mages, right?"

"You're not angry?"

"Most Indonesians are Sufis and that branch decided that magic was a part of the natural world and it was ok to use it as long as you didn't worship it."

"Why are you sufis?"

"Officially we were captivated by their divine truths. Unofficially we live in a tropical zone and we wanted magical healing so we would not, you know, die."

I didn't expect him to be so well practical.

"So your name?"

"Oh right, forgot to give it to you. The name is Argo and I'm, well, the leader of the expedition. Mind doing me a small favor?"

"What is it?"

"Since you are a shooty mage, I am going to need you to man the machine guns."

"Machine guns, you're bringing machine guns on a religious pilgrimage?"

"I mentioned the poney sized crabs that eat human flesh didn't I? Because I'm pretty sure I mentioned that."

"Very well since I'm coming on your holy quest it's only fair that I help you."

"Great! and I mean that. This is very important to us, we were all handpicked by our villages to do this so it means a lot to the folks back home."

"I assume we will talk more when the trip starts."

"Sure, I just hope we manage to get that tank."

I grimaced.

"I wish you luck with that."

"Thanks Mr. Kline, we are going to need it."

With that the conversation ended..I was pretty sure he was exagerating... Crabs couldn't possiby get that big.

 

Robert Kline


I stared into the water.

"Mind if I sit down?"

I turned around and saw an overweight police officer.

"Sure."

The man sat down next to me.

"We don't get many visitors here in Hinata."

"Yeah..look, I'm."

"I know you're not up to anything but we have a couple old ladies from the mainland who live here and they're going to bitch and moan until I watch the suspicious foreigner. No offense."

"None taken."

He pulled out a book.

"Manga?"

"Yeah."

"How did you end up being um?"

"A cop? Joined the paranormal club when I was in high school, we got lucky and picked up some tricks. I put some effort into it and managed to pick up the lesser arts."

"Which one?"

He pulled out a spell book and I nodded.

"Yeah I wanted to be better and it worked, subtly but it worked. Faster, smarter, tougher, wiser, better looking... I know I'm not a good looking guy but I used to look even worse. It was nice, I had power and I was better and the club looked up to me."

"Then what?"

"Went to school, got a degree and decided I didn't want to become a salary man because... well doing so is kind of horrible."

"So you decided to become a cop?"

"Hmm, no. More like the unemployment office strongly suggested it, it came with free housing so I came here. Most cops here in the colonies have a similar story, losers or neets that sought out the secrets of magic and got dumped here."

"So it's bad?"

"No, it's peaceful here. It's a slower pace of life yes but that's a good thing. Living in Tokyo was like being a rat in a cage, everything is too expensive, every one is always pushing you around. The work culture actually kills people..."

"That's a thing?"

"Only on the islands, the colonies understands that you need more of a balance, a lot of salarymen move out here when they either burn out or retire."

He looked at peace and I noticed his ring.

"Married?"

"Yeah...A couple years back, fisherman's girl from the clone families."

He smiled.

"Good woman?"

"Way out of my league. Back home a girl like that wouldn't talk to me, magic or no. Here? Married and two kids, with another on the way."

"So magic made your life better?"

"I'd rather be a cop in the middle of nowhere with a good wife, good kids and magic than be stuck in Tokyo slaving away. How about you?"

I sighed.

"Magic....it wasn't something I wanted, it was this family thing, everyone learned the art of how to be a gunslinger."

"Oh you're the shooty magi."

I sighed.

"Yes, yes. I am one of the shooty mages."

"You don't sound happy about it."

"Magic is a personal thing, a personal choice, and I wasn't given a choice. I was born and then told 'you will become a gunslinger' when I was six, life growing up was farming, guns and books."

"It doesn't sound that bad. It was a legacy thing right?"

I closed my eyes.

"Seventh generation gunslinger, and legacies.."

I stared out into the water.

"Have a price. They constrain you in a way, take away options. Without a legacy, without the past, you can become anything. But with a legacy, with a family, you have less options and the person you can become is limited. You're chained to a fate that you can't control."

"A legacy means you also have a support network, a family that is there for you. It can make you a better person, make you stronger."

"It can also weigh you down, wear you down. It's better to cut those ties so you can be free."

He shrugged.

"I'd rather have a woman back home who loves me and my children."

"Fair enough."

 

Robert Kline


Six days before being on a ship to Tokyo. it took a god damned week to get a ship to Tokyo.

"HALLO!"

I felt sick as I heard that familiar german accent.

"Nessa... you're here."

"Of course I am. So many scandals to be caught on camera and so little time. You know you're not a true paparatzi until you have successfully ended at least one marriage."

I stared at her and she continued.

"Have you ever been to Tokyo before?"

"Yes, to write a piece on the horrible working conditions of salarymen."

Nessa rolled her eyes and poked me.

"What are you doing?"

"Looking for the off button, can't seem to find it."

"Very funny. Now what do you want?"

She looked up at me and smiled.

"Well the pay from my last pictures was pretty good so I thought....maybe you could crash with me?"

I sighed, I did need a place and Tokyo was expensive.

"What kind of place is it?"

"A love hotel."

I closed my eyes and grimaced. For some reason Nessa was breathing heavily.

"Let me guess, only one bed."

"Um....yes."

"I will grab the couch."

"Oh....yeah....that makes sense, yes."

She sighed.

"Always practical aren't you Kline?"

"I try to be, so how many celebrities did you humiliate?"

"15, I managed to get quite a few photos of idol singers without make up, one of an idol having a torrid romance with a pre-med student, who just became a doctor."

I frowned.

"And?"

"And it turns out they're in love and have been for years, got married in secret yadda yadda yadda. She's been kicked out of her singing group and her career is over forever."

She waved her hand.

"Made myself a mint off of that one."

I felt that sense of disgust come back as Nessa smiled at me.

"And you feel good about yourself doing that?"

"If it wasn't me it would be someone else. I at least got enough of the facts so her PR team could spin things graciously and her fans didn't completely turn on her. Which means she will get residuals from her group's most popular songs. Plus she's 23 years old, her career had maybe two more years tops."

The lack of guilt worried me.

"You destroyed her life."

"And you haven't done the same? You've done more than one hit piece without getting all the facts Kline, remember the reason you spent a year doing dog shows."

"I made a mistake."

Nessa shrugged.

"Everyone does."

"Why do this? You're a good photographer, you could find good work doing something."

"No, I could not."

I froze.

"What?"

"Kline, rob, I was a teenage runaway who stowed away on a ocean liner to escape my home town, I don't have a college education, I dont have some accreditation from some fancy art school. I dont even have an equivalent to a highschool diploma. The only thing I had when I ran away was a camera and the guts to go anywhere and do anything."

She smiled.

"Those fancy papers are not going to hire a teenage runaway, but tabloids? They didn't, and still don't, care. If you have the guts, the drive and the photos? You have a job. I crawled my way up from nothing and became one of the best in my industry."

I said nothing.

"Not everyone has a family that's willing and able to send them to college. You might play the part of the working class hero but you havent really lived the role Kline. I fought my way out of that world and let me tell you something, you don't belong there. Neither do I, we were born to be free as the dust in a solar wind."

She took my hand and I relented.

"You know of any places around here that have decent food?"

"Well there's a jollybee around."

I sighed.

"Why do we always end up going there?"

"Because they're everywhere."

She smiled as we walked side by side, every now and then her hand brushed against mine, it was annoying. There was plenty of room on the sidewalk and yet she felt the need to keep brushing up next to me.

As the neon lights of the city turned on I saw the glow of a fat bee in the distance as the sun died.

 

Robert Kline


We made our way through the neon lit city In silence, Nessa continued to brush up against me, smiling as she bumped into me.

"So....um...any one special in your life?"

Why did Nessa of all people sound nervous?

"What do you mean?"

"You know dating any one I mean I know you dated that one girl M something."

"Maria."

"Yeah...how did that end?"

"Was sent to an out of state college never saw her again."

I clenched my fists and felt the anger return.

"So now?"

I rolled my eyes.

"I'm not with anyone, my job forces me to travel a lot and how many women would be willing to put up with that?"

Nessa leaned against me.

"I don't know, I can think of a few girls who wouldn't mind."

I shook my head taking deep breaths to push away the anger.

"Yeah until they actually had to deal with it and then poof their gone."

"Well maybe....maybe if they lived a similar lifestyle they would understand."

"I doubt it and anyways who would be interested?"

"Maybe there is some one interested in you...maybe some one who's very close to you."

I looked at Nessa she blushed as she looked into my eyes.

"I don't need you to set me up with anyone Nessa."

She frowned and her left eye started twitching.

"Oh....yeah but um can you at least humor me and tell me what kind of girl you like?"

"So far its been Maria."

"And you haven't talked to her in years....."

"Yes."

"And your still hung up on her."

"A little bit."

She closed her eyes and clenched her fists.

"If she was interested in you really interested then she would have tried to talk to you. She would have moved heaven and earth to be with you. So maybe you should you know give some one else a chance. Some one who maybe has known you for years, who knows about your best side, and has seen you at your absolute worst and still wants to be with you."

"While were at it I also want a pony."

For a moment I thought Nessa's eyes were watery as if on the verge of tears but I disregarded it, Nessa was too hard for that nonsense, and what ever fay emotion possessed her would pass soon. She grabbed my hand.

"I'm....serious Kline, don't waste your time on some girl who blew you off, there are people who care about you who well after some time have grown to love you."

Her voice cracked just a little, and her face got red as we got to the hotel.

"Room 13."

Why was she acting so nervous we had shared hotel rooms for years. She took a deep breath as she opened the door.

"Um so do you want some thing to drink Kline?"

"No, its all over priced crap at these places."

I headed towards the couch and put my pack on the ground.

"Oh....my treat."

"Don't worry about it."

"Ugh ok, I'm going to slip into some thing more....comfortable."

I shrugged and went into a closet and put on some PJs, Nessa came out of the bathroom in some thing skimpy she smiled at me.

"What do you think?"

I shrugged.

"Its not nearly as practical as what you normally wear to bed."

Her face turned red and she took deep breaths.

"So theres only one bed."

"I got the couch."

I got on it.

"Nice and comfy."

Nessa sighed.

"Theres plenty of room....for both of us."

"I toss and turn in my sleep."

She glared at me.

"Fine..."

She got on the bed, and turned out the light after some time had passed she decided to talk again.

"I'm really cold Kline can...you warm me up?"

"Put on more blankets Nessa its not that hard."

She was silent for a bit and then spoke up.

"Some times you really are a louse Kline."

 

Robert Kline


The room had a kitchenette, I bought some eggs and other ingredients from a vending machine and started cooking. Nessa snored as I made an omelet. As the smell wafted through out the hotel room Nessa woke up. She limped towards the table and I put some food in front of her. Then I sat on the other side with my food. There was silence.

"Kline."

Nessa looked at me.

"I guess I should have been more clear but I."

"I know....I know exactly what you were trying to do and what you think you feel."

Nessa blinked.

"What."

"And I don't appreciate what you were trying to do at all."

"Look Kline."

She put her hand on mine and I glared at her, she took her hand off of me.

"Nessa, we have known each other for three years. I have heard you complain about your failed relationships quite a few times now, and each and every single one of your love life disasters start out the same way. You throw yourself at some guy, put everything you have into him then burn yourself out and the relationship crashes and burns."

Nessa blinked.

"What?"

"I actually do listen to your complaining. As far as I can see this is at minimum the fifth time you have pulled this stunt. You pulled it with Jack, with George, With Bill and with Britney."

I took a bite of my meal.

"Look they."

"Don't tell me they were all assholes, Jack is one of the nicest people we know and you straight up broke Britney's heart."

She looked away.

"I didn't want to."

"Say no? hurt her feelings? There was a very big orientation issue there Nessa, you should have been honest with her from the start."

She stabbed her plate.

"I really do like you though."

"I'm not exactly in a mood for a relationship and my baggage has baggage."

Nessa smiled at me.

"We both have baggage."

I sighed.

"I'm trying to let you off easy, Nessa. I don't want to have a relationship with you period."

She took a breath.

"You don't want to destroy our friendship, I, you're intimidated by me. You're."

"Or I just don't want to have a relationship right now period."

Nessa stared at her plate.

"It's Maria isn't it? Look she doesn't care about you Kline. She doesn't want you like I do, doesn't love you like."

"I'm sure you have convinced yourself that what you feel is love, I'm less than convinced."

She looked up from her plate, her eyes filled with a kind of desperation.

"I can get Maria's number for you! once you have closure maybe, maybe you can give me a chance right?"

I got up.

"Nessa, this is not a romantic comedy, I don't need or want some manic pixy girl to teach me how to enjoy my life. I like my life the way it is."

"But I can make it better, the two of us against the world, against the system."

"I'm going to get dressed and then I'm going to leave."

I got up and she grabbed my hand.

"Please....Kline....I will get you the number and then then maybe you can give us a chance."

I shook my head.

"Fine....go ahead, get the number."

I didn't believe she would pull it off and maybe, while she was trying, she would get the hint. I got dressed, got my stuff and left the hotel. I wandered the streets of Tokyo for a while and called my editor.

"So how long until the next report?"

"They're still getting stuff together so maybe another week? They're stopping in Tokyo so they will pick you up. Speaking of that, how did things go last night?"

I felt anger.

"You knew."

"Every one knows how Nessa feels about you, she doesn't do subtle."

"I said no, obviously."

"She's the single closest thing you have to a friend Kline."

"And yet I still despise her."

"Of course you do, she's the person you pretend to be."

With that my editor hung up and I was left alone in the streets of Tokyo.

 

Robert Kline


I stared up at the ceiling, the place was cheap, didn't ask questions and let Gajin in. I was in a hotel in Kabukico, hotel Seina. Had three stars, but if you wanted some place that had space and was affordable you needed to go to rougher places. I headed towards the hotel restaurant.

When I got in I froze, a man strummed a guitar. he looked at me and our eyes locked upon each other.

"Break the chain."

The movies make it seem like the world slows down when you turn on your gunslinger eyes. Its not like that, its more like you see math. You know how much every thing weighs when you look at it, you see the odds, written calculations follow people as they walk by.

I looked at the man, the music on his guitar was wrong, it played the drums, it played a sax, a bunch of instruments rolled into one. The guitar wasn't magic, I could tell that much. The musician though was a mage.

He looked at me, his eyes on my hands. I looked at him and there was a mutual nod as I took my seat. I ordered something simple for breakfast and he walked over to me after his set was done. He took a seat.

"Don't meet people who practice the 5th style very often."

"Japan isn't exactly a gun friendly place."

"You a cop?"

"Reporter."

I pulled out my press card.

"I'd really appreciate it if your yak friends would put down their knives before I have to do something drastic."

The man raised an eyebrow.

"Are you going to start any drama?"

"I plan on having breakfast, drama tends to ruin a meal."

"Good."

He motioned with his hands and i heard the sound of metal being sheathed.

"So where did you learn your style?"

He smiled.

"Saved my yen and spent a summer in graceland, learned under Lisa Marie."

I took it in.

"You're lucky, she only teaches the most promising students."

"I may have begged and groveled a bit....she taught me every thing I know and you?"

"Family style."

He nodded.

"Lucky, most people have to go to a police academy to learn the 5th style."

"Why learn? the 7th qulipothic magic isnt exactly popular."

"If I went to Compass or one of the other schools I would get attention, attention my family wouldn't like."

He didn't have tats.

"I'm biologically in the family, not in the family."

"Oh! Makes sense, why not the others?"

"First style screams Otaku, second requires you to carry a bow everywhere, learning the third would require me to join the family and I want to go straight, 4th style never should have been created in the first place. The 5th style requires me to go to a police academy, which isn't going to happen, and the 6th style would require me to ether learn it in china or Hongkong."

He paused.

"And there isn't a way in hell the students and heirs of IP man's work would let anyone from Japan learn their style."

"Been generations since the war."

"Not going to take it personally, the black prince basically destroyed our rep in china. Saying you're sorry really doesn't cut it after what we did..."

He looked away.

"So had to go with the newest art, the King's art."

"Hows that going?"

"It's more of a support thing than what you do but it's been good to me, playing some tunes, earning money, healing up the family whenever they get themselves hurt."

He got up.

"Well I have to go."

"Going to play some more?"

"No going to inform the others that you're not a cop. This is where all of the new guys hang out and they haven't quite learned the rules of how this world works. Don't want some idiot flying off the handle."

"Thank you."

"Oh and in the future?"

"Yeah?"

"The pancakes here are dog shit, stick to the omelettes."

I took a bite, it really was horrible.

 

Robert Kline


"So I tell you what the most dangerous place in the city is."

"Yes."

"And you immediately tell yourself 'Hey I should get a room there'."

Nessa stared at me.

"I also got an interview with a Yakuza elder lined up."

She put up her hands.

"I...Yeah, I should have expected this."

She pulled out a piece of paper and I looked at it.

"I already have your phone number."

"Maria Sanchez....rings any bells?"

I stared at the phone number.

"It's Maria Ruiz now by the way, she got married three years ago."

I felt Nessa's remark hit me like a gut punch.

"You're sure about that?"

"She moved after high school, went to some nursing college in Arizona then dropped out and married a tech guy, they have kids now."

"And you know this all because?"

"Look, I'm a reporter too. I have to be good at digging up stuff on people, it's my job."

She sighed.

"Look, I like you and I want you Kline. But I won't have a chance with you until you deal with this problem."

"Or maybe I'm just not that into you."

"Please, I have the body of a damned pin up model! Of course you're into me."

I rolled my eyes.

"7 out of 10."

She smirked.

"Someone's feeling saucy today but seriously call her up and get this emotional stuff dealt with. And afterwards, you know... Maybe give me a chance."

I shook my head and took the number, Nessa gave me a quick hug and I went back to my hotel room. I calculated time zones and dialed the numbers. As the phone rang I felt sick to my stomach.

"Hello?"

"Um it's Robert, Robert Kline?"

"Who is that?"

"We dated in highschool.."

"Oh, that Robert....look um I'm married so if you're looking to find romance, well."

"No, I think we both know thats not going to happen. I guess I'm calling for closure. Finding out where we went wrong."

"Can I be honest with you Kline?"

"Yes?"

"I know this sounds very bad but I basically just dated you to make my papi angry."

I blinked.

"What?"

"I was a freshman in highschool, I wasn't exactly the most mature person and you were this muy smart senior who had skipped a couple grades and papi was so controlling so I asked you out to make him angry. It was a very bad thing to do."

"So you didn't have feelings for me?"

"We dated at most for a month, I'm sorry but I didn't really have feelings for you. Not to say you were not cute, you were very cute, but I wasn't very mature and I did a lot of hurtful things."

"Oh."

"I'm sorry I shouldn't have led you on like that, used you like that."

She paused.

"I'm glad we had this call, I....I really hurt you and I never had a chance to apologize. I came between you and your family and that wasn't a good thing to do."

I felt a little sick.

"I...I forgive you, we all do things that we regret when we are teenagers."

"Thanks for understanding, and once again I'm sorry."

With the phone call over I stared up at the ceiling, I didn't cry but I did feel a little lost. When I heard the knock at the door I opened it. Kaz smiled.

"The interview's set up!"

I looked at the toughs next to him.

"Blindfolding me?"

"Um yes we have to do that."

"Trunk or backseat."

He blinked.

"What? Why would we do that?"

"It's happened before."

"No, no. Backseat....the trunk is for people the family doesn't like."

With that I was blindfolded and put into a van. I spent the ride staring at the ceiling thinking about Maria.

 

Robert Kline


"Ok we're getting closer to old man Riku's place, you know rule number one there."

"NO PINK LADY!"

The other yakuza laughed at the inside joke.

"So we have to play it now, so pick a song people."

"UFO!""

"Kiss in the dark!"

"S.O.S!"

"South Paw!"

Then the music started, it was odd listening to these hardened criminals sing along to this cutesy music. As they drove on someone sighed.

"Getting closer to old Man Riku's place."

"Awe."

"Abba?"

"He doesn't like it, says music should be manly!"

They laughed as the van stopped, the darkness went away and I could see light behind my blindfold.

"Go ahead, take it off."

I was in a Japanese garden. A man walked out in a suit, he looked pretty young, around my age. He looked at the people behind me.

"I heard music, what did I say?"

The toughs behind me shrank.

"No Pink Lady."

"Right."

He shook his head.

"Welcome to my home, care for some tea?"

"Um sure."

I walked in next to the man in his fine suit.

"They played Pink Lady didn't they?"

"Yes."

"I apologize. I hate their music, loathe it... Is Earl Grey all right? I ran out of green tea."

"It's fine."

He looked and watched as the others left.

"Ok, they're gone. Want some coffee?"

"The tea?"

"The earl grey they got me is crap."

"So why not offer coffee first?"

"Because it's a korean thing. Right, westerner um yeah... Officially we were treacherously betrayed by the korean gangs in some meeting yadda yadda yadda and all murdered."

"That yadda sounds important."

"It's lies so it's not, what really happened is that the korean gangs kicked our asses back to the home island and the families hold grudges about that kind of stuff. So drinking coffee is frowned upon."

He rolled his eyes.

"So no one drinks coffee?"

"Oh no, we drink coffee all the time. You're just not supposed to get caught doing it. It's not even a rule our family created or enforced, it's more the biggest families issue. We got together after the war but they're old and ancient and hold grudges like crazy."

"So you're scared of them?"

"We wanted some territory in tokyo and the 'no coffee' thing was the price of getting it. The rule is more about official meetings than anything else."

"Oh."

He offered me a seat and pressed a button, doors slid away and an expensive coffe machine rose out of the table. I stared at him.

"Trick about the life style. If you're going to break the rules, break them in style."

I nodded.

"So you're the elder?"

"Yeah, I'm about to turn 60 pretty soon."

"But you look."

"So young? Magic, kid. I'm a 1st ranker, it cuts the aging process down. I age 1 year for every 3, it's great."

"You trained hard?"

"I hunted whenever I could, got into fights, trained, fought in the war."

"Which one?"

"World war 3 of course, volunteered for that one and the government wiped my slate clean. Got out of the game after that, these days I just teach the new guys the way."

"Let me guess they're young punks?"

"Kid I'm yakuza! All of us are young punks then you grow into being an old punk if you're lucky. But yeah... Going to be honest most of them are actually all right, to be blunt they're a lot less crazy than we were."

"Really?"

"Oh yeah, it's all rules this, code that. Sure they get into fights but it's all so scripted, so safe... It's not spontaneous. These days you go out to fight another family, you know what happens? They email the time and place, they limit the weapons if any and when the fight is over everyone shakes hands."

He shook his head.

"It's not even a real fight at that point, it's just a fucking spar."

"But people say there's a gang war and."

"Small ritualized fights, held in out of the way locations so civilians won't get hurt, don't count as a gang war. Trust me on this I've been in actual gang wars and actual wars."

He sighed.

"Kaz brought you here?"

"Yes."

"Good kid, not a mean bone in his body."

"So you approve of him?"

"You dont force people into the family, that's bad for business. He just wants to play music, entertain people and help people. He doesn't have what it takes to be a yak and he admitted it."

"You think he will be a success?"

"Tried out for some boy band, they wanted him to be the edgy one but the kids too fucking nice to pull that off."

"So it failed?"

"No they haven't made a final decision, they're trying out other people first but I think he could get in."

"Why?"

"Because he shows up to rehearsals on time, is polite to his fans and can fake any instrument with magic."

The man shrugged as the machine whistled.

"Want anything in your coffee?"

"I drink it black."

"You know what, Kline-San? I think I like you."

 

Riku Dan 1978


I glared at the traffic.

"Ooh ooh I know this song."

I glared at Tanaka.

"No."

"Come on man, UFO is awesome."

"My car my rules, no pink lady EVER!"

"Come on lets have a vote."

"I spent three fucking years of my life trying to get this shitty renault to work, this is not a democracy. No Pink Lady."

Sato woke up from his nap.

"Come on man, it's UFO."

"Sato I can and will turn the station to classical before I listen to another pink lady song. Do you understand that? DO YOU?"

"Ugh fine."

I turned the station and sighed.

"Ami Ozaki."

"It's rock."

"This is not rock Sato, this is fluffy crap."

The three of us sweltered in the sun as we inched forward.

"The airconditioning isn't working."

I turned towards Sato.

"You think? This car was built before air conditioning was a thing."

I turned off the radio and sighed.

"MOVE FUCKERS!"

I punched the car's dashboard and sighed.

"Fucking traffic jams."

"You know, if you had gotten a better car."

Sato snorted and I turned to Tanaka.

"With what fucking money? This was the only thing I could afford."

"This car is shit."

"Of course it's shit, it's older than all of us. You think a cop car would be good..."

"Shit this belonged to the cops? you know how fucking."

"It belonged to the cops when we owned Korea, we smuggled out all the cop cars before the fucking Jayu kicked us out."

I looked at the name carved into the dashboard, who the fuck was Kim Boo-Kyum? I shrugged, he probally wasn't important. I bought this thing before it got scrappped when I was in middle school and it took three fucking years to get it running. Only thing left original to the car was the body, everything else had to be replaced bit by bit.

"We should have taken our bikes."

I shook my head.

"The pigs are on a Bōsōzoku hunt, and anyways we're trying to graduate to the big leagues Tanaka."

"And disobeying a direct order is the way to do that? This order came from a Shateigashira-hosa."

I shrugged.

"Look, we're not disobeying. We're just clarifying, we're going to the office and making sure that he really wants this."

"He gave us an order, you chicken?"

"I'm using common fucking sense, maybe somebody fucked up the order or maybe he changed his mind. We have time before we go in swinging so lets make sure we don't fuck this up."

I took a breath, I hoped this wouldn't cost my ass a pinky.

"If shit hits the fan... I will take responsibility all right?"

"Your pinky, not mine."

My mouth got dry as we stopped the car, got out and went into the plain office building.

"We need to talk to the boss."

"He's busy."

"It's about business, official business."

The woman sighed.

"If you waste his time he will beat the shit out of you."

"Your terms are acceptable."

I worked for boss Ito, I liked his operation. The man was a straight shooter, didn't believe in the overly formal bullshit and didn't beat around the bush. He was a hardass but he was fair.

"The boss will see you now."

We followed her to the boss's room as she smoked a cigarette, she put it out in a ashtray and the boss looked at us in his white suit.

"Ok, why are you wasting my time?"

I took a breath.

"It's about your orders we just want to make sure they're legit."

"What orders?"

"The order to beat up that actor....Bruce Lee."

The man stared at me, his face turning red.

"Who relayed these orders?"

"Kato...we have the letter."

I put the sealed letter on his table and the redness went away. Ito's face became deathly calm.

"Yuki....get the boys now."

He carefully read the letter and clenched his fists as his breathing got heavier.

"Boss."

"Scramble everyone. Some idiot decided to create fake orders."

The man winced.

"How bad."

"They're planning to attack Bruce Lee and his family at a resturant bad. I want this idiocy stopped now, no stopped yesterday! And I want this Kato prick in my fucking office now, I want every one involved in my fucking office. We have three hours, we need to act now!"

The men scrambled and Ito cracked his back and took out a baseball bat.

"Yuki will take you to the guest room, restroom is down the hall to the left if you need it."

He took a deep breath.

"Oh and for the record? My personal seal has a triangle in it, not a circle."

He stormed out of the office and I grimaced, my friends looked at me. Tanaka's face had a grimace on it.

"I think that could have gone very badly."

"You think?"

"So...we owe you one, a favor."

"No Pink Lady in my fucking car ever."

"Deal."

 

Riku Dan


There were 20 of us in the room, the doors were locked and barred. Half of the people here looked pretty beat up and they glared at Kato who was by far the most bruised person here. Boss Ito clasped his hands together.

"Good news, Mr. Lee has decided not to press charges."

He walked back and forth, his baseball bat lazyly hanging behind him.

"Mostly because we were able to stop you idiots before you did anything stupid, well except Kato who challenged him to a fight."

The boss shook his head.

"Thank, thank the gods, we were able to tackle you dumbasses to the ground before you started anything."

"We could have gotten so much rep from."

The boss slapped Kato hard.

"I'm talking you little shit, that means you listen."

Kato nodded.

"All right, for those of you who are wondering, half of you decided to do something incredibly stupid. You know what would have happened if you had succeeded? No, you wouldn't have gotten any rep."

He looked up at the ceiling.

"What would have happened is that people would see a ten on one fight where a man was defending his kids. His fans, which are global, would be pissed at us, not just our local branch but all of the branches of the yakuza as a whole. There would have been a nation wide crack down."

"YOU COULD HAVE FUCKED US ALL!"

He took deep breaths.

"But I also understand that you were lied to, that this fucking prick lied to you and you have already been roughed up."

There were sighs of relief.

"So this is what is going to happen, summer just started and the 9 of you will be doing charity runs every weekend. Actual charitable work, do some shit around the community, when it's over you will still be associates."

He cracked his neck.

"The seven of you who decided to bow out? That showed judgement, good judgement but not good enough to actually come in and talk to me. Since you're just starting out in the game I forgive you. As a reward for actually thinking? You're being promoted to little brothers, you're going to get your tatts and be shadowed by a big brother until you learn the ropes."

He turned to me and my friends.

"Dan, Sato, Tanaka.... the only 3 people in this disaster who thought 'hey maybe we should talk to the boss and find out if this is legitimate'... A big brother? His job is to look out for his little brothers, to make sure that no one does anything stupid. He serves his boss by making sure he's actually serving his boss. If you hadn't talked to me this could have screwed us all. You're going to spend the summer training in the Way, you're going to get your tats and you're officially promoted to big brothers."

I couldn't help but smile as I got the news.

"Kato...you little shitstain, you betrayed my trust, you betrayed the trust of your brothers and of the family. I should fucking kill you right now... but you're not the first person to do something stupid when they're wet behind the ears."

He put a knife on a table and a woman came from behind us and stepped next to him. she had a small box in her hands and put it on the table. I felt a shiver.

"I talked to the boss, the big one. Entire pinky, left hand, now."

Kato's eyes opened in horror but he got up, he took the knife and we heard the sickening crackling sound of a knife cutting through bone. Kato held back the tears and gritted his teeth. Blood spurted from his missing finger. The woman poured a glowing red liquid on his wound and the boss nodded.

"20 years."

Kato blinked.

"What?"

"You're not allowed to grow that back for 20 years. That's the price for your fuck up. Now we're going to put that finger in that box and you're going to present it to the elders, you're going to apologize. And if you do what I say, it will just be a pinky. Try to be a tough guy? It's going to be more than just a finger."

Ito sighed.

"Future little brothers, pick a club and get out of here, the boys will cover the drinks. Future big brothers you're going with Hanzo, he's going to talk to you."

A man with an eyepatch looked at us, we followed him. He opened up his car and we got inside. He turned on the radio and I grimaced.

"Fucking shit."

I sighed as he changed the station, enka.

"Lesser of two evils."

"What did you say?"

"I hate Pink Lady sir."

The man looked at me with his one good eye.

"Dan...I knew there was a reason I liked you but keep your mouth shut for a bit. I need to tell you how things work. All right?"

I nodded my head.

"Alright, I'm going to level with you guys, as one big brother to another."

He lit a cigarette.

"You're not nearly as badass as you think you are."

I blinked.

"I'm not saying this as an insult, I'm saying this to keep you alive. Some guys... they get a taste of power and they think they're a hard piece of real estate. That's why we normally do this in stages. First you start out as an associate and when you get some self control they bump you up to little brother."

He took a deep drag.

"That's a testing phase. It gives you a taste of magic, a taste of power. That's where you learn the ropes and how things really work on the streets. Once you have proven your mettle you're promoted to big brother and trained in the Way."

He nodded and we drove through the night.

"So we're going to be bosses?"

Fucking Sato.

"Back in the old days big brothers were local bosses but that was before magic. Now being a big brother means you're trusted to have mystical power. It means you're officially a member of the family and if you work hard you can get to management. Not going to lie you got a pretty good start, being promoted directly to big brother is a big deal. So, you know, don't fuck it up."

 

Commerical break


Call of duty: Siege of Moscow

---

"Over two billion people died."

Image of snow and marching men and women in uniform heading towards a glowing dome.

"September 26, 1983 the world ended, the soviet union sent out nuclear weapons, biological weapons and every weapon they had. Friends, neutrals, Foes... They didn't care."

The troops walk through dead cities, corpses line the streets.

"However just because the world ended, it didn't mean the war ended, didn't mean that we died. We...we survived, we struck back and now it's time. Moscow is the single most defended city in the world. Every enchantment, every bit of technology, everything they had went into protecting their capital."

The flags of 70 nations are unfurled as the troops marched.

"They thought that they would be the masters of the ashes, they thought wrong. We will bring the hell they brought to the world right back to them. The last city of Russia will fall..."

Music plays.

"Turn around every now and then I get a little bit lonely
And you're never coming 'round."

Artilery strikes the glowing dome.

"(Turn around) every now and then I get a little bit lonely
And you're never coming 'round."

Jet fighters rush towards the city.

"(Turn around) every now and then I get a little bit tired
Of listening to the sound of my tears."

They explode as Russian fighters fly out.

"(Turn around) every now and then I get a little bit nervous
That the best of all the years have gone by."

A man in a Brazilian army uniform yells as fire comes out of his flamethrower, giant crabs screech as they die.

"(Turn around) every now and then I get a little bit terrified
And then I see the look in your eyes."

Giant crabs head towards a men in polish uniforms, their guns sputter out of ammo.

"(Turn around, bright eyes) every now and then I fall apart
(Turn around, bright eyes) every now and then I fall apart."

Explosions destroy them before german soldiers walk out of the ashes. The goles nod as the german troops give them a thumb up.

"And I need you now tonight
And I need you more than ever
And if you only hold me tight."

Images of gun fire and explosions.

"We'll be holding on forever
And we'll only be making it right
'Cause we'll never be wrong."

An American trooper in a purple uniform moves her hands, an eagle made out of fire flies towards Russian positions.

"Together we can take it to the end of the line
Your love is like a shadow on me all of the time (all of the time)
I don't know what to do and I'm always in the dark
We're living in a powder keg and giving off sparks."

The Russian machine gun nest explodes.

"I really need you tonight
Forever's gonna start tonight
Forever's gonna start tonight."

Images of battle.

"Once upon a time I was falling in love
But now I'm only falling apart."

Images of soldiers' faces as artillery flies over their heads.

"There's nothing I can do
A total eclipse of the heart."

They yell, men and women from 70 nations in a trench.

"Once upon a time there was light in my life
But now there's only love in the dark."

They get out of the trench and rush towards the city.

"Nothing I can say. A total eclipse of the heart."

The energy dome falls as the troops rush inside.

"The world is over, we can't save it but we can sure as hell avenge it. Call of duty: Siege of Moscow."

"Pre order now to get the Swiss avenger unit DLC free!"

------

Image forms on screen

"YEE HAW"

A car speeds through an empty desert as two moons fill the sky.

"From the folks who brought you Superbad."

"TURN IT UP!"

Electronic country music blares.

"And Daytrippers comes Moon over Madison."

"We're going to get our selves laid TONIGHT!"

"Starring Pittbull and Johna hill."

The fat man looks nervous.

"I don't know, maybe."

"WOOO!"

The fat man's eyes widen in horror.

"CANYON! CANYON!"

"We can clear it mon."

"BUT!"

The fat man screams while the latino raises his hands as they fly over the canyon.

"In theaters this fall!"

-----

A man walks out in a business suit, he smiles as he walks out.

"Here at Mc Coy long boards."

An image of a punk as he flys through the air on a surf board.

"We believe in tradition."

Punk music plays.

"Since 1880 we have crafted the finest flying boards in the United States."

The punk smiles as he sees a canyon.

"With our new quartz crystal array our boards can now hold even more mana."

The punk yells as he flys into the canyon.

"That means more speed, longer duration and, of course, better handling."

The punk moves through the canyon at blinding speed, flying around obstacles quickly.

"Mc Coy long boards, when you want speed you want the real Mc Coy."

The punk lifts up his fists and yells as he exits the canyon.

 

Riku Dan


Hanzo stopped at the light and frowned at an advertisement, a man dressed up like a samurai under it a phone number and the words 'I will fight for you'. He shook his head and took another drag on his cigarette as the enka song died.

"Ok, the song I like is over."

He shook his head at the billboard and continued to drive.

"Ok so any one here a fan of history?"

We shrugged.

"Great...I'm going to give you the facts of life, and I do not want to have to repeat myself."

He turned off the radio.

"All right, long story short we picked a fight with well pretty much every one, and we lost bad. That was the official end of the Japanese empire, fortunately for us the only ones with the money, ability and focus to care about occupying us were the americans."

He paused.

"The brits were focused on germany, the australians wanted to go home, China was going through a civil war, Korea had to rebuild their everything. So the americans were in charge but they didn't get us, not really."

He paused.

"Take the Samurai, the europeans saw them as their equivalents to knights, the yanks saw 'em as their equivalents to magi and gunslingers. The government during the war made a big show of using bushido as our national code and well....we lost."

"So why do we have samurai then?"

I grimaced as the words came out of my mouth.

"Emperor Meji ended the samurai class in 1873, officially there were no samurai for around 74 years. The yanks had looked into our history to find out where things went sideways and found out that the courts had tried to reign in the military in vain."

"But we just have a self defense force."

"Yeah that's right nobody wanted the military in control after their fuckups, but the yanks really wanted to make sure they wouldn't have to fight us again. So they looked up the remnants of the old samurai families, and looked for people who didn't fuck things up."

I leaned in.

"The yanks made a deal, the emperor took away your titles, your rights and in many cases your lands and money. We're setting up a new government, in return for swearing alliegance to the constitution we are crafting you guys get control over the new legislative branch."

Hanzo flicked his cigarette into the street.

"That means all lawyers, defense and prosecutors have to be samurai. Judges? Samurai. You get to carry a sword again in public, you get your title back. You don't have all your old powers back, like the right to kill anyone who insults you, but it's more than what you had under the emperor."

His hands jerked as if missing the cigarette.

"Also magic, all of you get to learn the path of the warrior. The old families, who thought they would be fucked sideways by the yanks, took one look at that deal and signed right up. In exchange for giving them control over the courts, their old titles and some of their old rights they collaborated their hardest."

"Government can't like that."

"Oh they don't but every time they try to fuck with the judicial branch suddenly there are corruption investigations everywhere and politicians go to jail. That's one of your fellow magi groups, the samurai. They're the lawyers and the judges so if you're thinking about fucking with a judge, don't. Not because of the cops but because they can and will fight back."

He leaned forward.

"Next bunch of magi, the wannabees, the AKs. They come in several flavors but they use the very oldest form of magic. They're people who wanted to be magi but couldn't get into one of the legit schools. Don't underestimate them, they're the only type of qulipothic magi who can do alchemy, they can store spells on scrolls and they can use more spells than any other art. They start out weak but their 1st rankers are no joke. Fortunately they mostly keep to themselves."

He nodded.

"Third type of magic, our type, is the one you're going to be dealing with the most. The families don't see eye to eye on everything and there are fights over turf and what you can and can't do. Roughing people up that's all right but actually killing them? Don't do it unless your boss orders it."

Hanzo stepped on the gas.

"Next type of magic is the fifth, gunslingers. During the occupation the yanks realized real quick that the pigs couldn't keep up with us. So they wanted to teach the cops to be shooty magi but the politicians didn't want that so a compromise was hatched."

He sighed.

"A minimum of 10% of the police force had to be magi. during the academy the piggy's are given a test, top 10% they go to a special military academy. Now most piggies? You can take them easy, they're not that tough. These pigs... they're dangerous. They can snipe people half a mile away, with a pistol and in the dark. They're tougher, they're stronger, and they do not miss shots."

He shuddered.

"When we fuck up, the government sends them in to clean house and they are scary as hell. Some times they patrol the city and if you fuck with them they will end you. So you probably want to know how to recognize them. Normal piggies wear dress shoes, these ones they wear cowboy boots and that's their nickname."

He turned around.

"When someone says the pigs are here, that means you have options. When someone says the boots are here, you fucking run because most of the time there isn't just one of them."

"Aren't we tougher?"

"No...Boots...look noone in japan gets tatted up because they know that's our thing so the boots they do things differently. They get hot irons and brand the enchantments into the skin. So all of the bullshit a younger brother is capable of? They can do it too. Boots do not accept bribes, Boots can't be intimidated, and if you see one you leave them the fuck alone."

We stopped in front of a building.

"Well time to get you your tattoos people."

 

Riku Dan


Hanzo nodded at a man and moved his hands he then looked at us.

"So he's um.."

"Deaf yeah, but he does damned fine work. Alright it's time to go over your options, what they mean and what they do."

He opened a door and we followed him into a room he opened a book.

"See, back in the old days you could get any tattoo you damned well pleased on your back. Those days are over, these tats are there to be practical got it? You can do whatever you want with the rest of your body but the upper back, that's for the job."

We nodded our heads.

"Magic Tattos require reagents and we have limited resources so you have a grand total of seven options."

He opened the book.

"All tattoos give you an option of three abilities, spiritual armor is standard as we don't want you dying from some cheap shot."

We nodded our heads. It made sense, every one knew that Yaks were tough.

"Alright first two are land options. First tattoo is a dragon it represents bravery, strength and wisdom. We use cameleon scales as reagents so it allows you to blend into your environment like one and walk on walls and ceilings. This tatoo is about stealth."

He flipped the page.

"Tiger, we have a deal with the zoos and get tiger fur from them, tigers represent protection against disease, demons and bad luck. This tatoo makes you stronger and gives you the ability to see in the dark."

We took that in as he flipped the page.

"Sea builds are next. Koi represent good luck and good fortune, the tatoo lets you breath underwater, walk on water and swim really fast. I know that doesn't sound impressive but some times we need to move product under the water. Some of our best people use Koi tattoos."

He turned the page.

"Octopus, it represents secrets, this tatoo lets you breath underwater and multitask."

We stared at him blankly.

"It lets you think about two different things at the same time, concentrate on two things at the same time. I know that sounds stupid but it can save your life in a fight, and it will help you if you go into management."

He nodded at the open page.

"Tengu uses crow feathers. tengu represent protection of rules, of the code. This tattoo gives you the power of flight, for whatever reason it also gives you a resistance to toxins. Never challenge a man with a tengu tat to a drinking contest, it will not end well for you."

He nodded.

"Phenix, we use owl feathers for this one, gives you the ability to fly and see in the dark, very useful for ditching the pigs."

He smiled at the book.

"Last one, any kind of plant. Cherry blossoms, Lotus, go wild, they all do the same thing they let you regenerate damage, make you tougher and give you more endurance. It's popular for guys that want to be able to take a hit. Our toughest guys get these tattoos. Those are your options."

Sato the lazy bastard yawned.

"Koi, need all the luck I could get."

And he liked hanging out at the beach, Tanaka studied his options.

"Tiger, I've always been a fan of taking the fight to people."

I was last.

"Well might as well make a theme of it, Phenix."

Land, sea and air, it was a good team.

"Good. Now that that's done, why do you want to join the family?"

We froze.

"Be honest, I don't want bullshit. If you're in it for the money thats legitimate, this is a judgement free zone."

I frowned as Tanaka spoke up.

"Girls, I'm in this for girls."

We cringed but Hanzo nodded.

"I respect that, some of our best people joined because they wanted girls. Lot of them find a special one and settle down, have a family and become better because of that. So yeah I respect that."

Hanzo turned to Sato.

"Why do you want to join?"

"I'm burakumin. Officially we're now equal but... Well I don't think anyone else will give me a fair shake."

"I understand, lots of us are Burakumin, nothing wrong with that. Dan?"

I took in a deep breath.

"I want to be strong, the world's full of this crazy shit that can end you and I want to be strong enough to take it on."

Hanzo looked at me as if studying me and then laughed. I clenched my hands, feeling angry.

"Oh, not laughing at you. The master....the man we have who trains you guys, he's always bitching that people are not motivated to learn the way. If you're in this to become stronger then he might actually like you."

"Really?"

"Hey first time for everything right?"

Those words did not fill me with confidence.

 

Riku Dan


I bit down onto a rubber belt as the mage tattooed my upper back. To my credit I didn't cry, I heard some guys did but I kept my cool. I was made out of tougher stuff. Hanzo watched each of us as we got tatted up, paying attention to our reactions. Someone came in and brought in paperwork and he sat down and read through all of it. He raised an eyebrow at times but continued on.

When we were finished he nodded.

"Come on get up."

We did so, men came in and got out measurements. We were then seated in our underwear, Hanzo continuing to read through his files. Every now and then he would look at me and raise an eyebrow. Then he called on his phone and boxes came in. The boxes were opened, revealing armor and motorcycle helmets. We were then led into a separate room and put onto ritual circles and then it started.

The pain...oh god, the pain. No one tells you about that. The metal, leather and plastic melted onto us and it took every ounce of willpower not to scream. When it was over we were naked, dazed. We were given new outfits to wear and my friends were taken away by other men but Hanzo put a hand on my shoulder.

"You're going with me."

I felt dazed still but I followed him into the car, to my surprise he didn't turn on the radio.

"Riku Dan, born 1960, unlike your friends you didn't drop out of highschool you finished it. Your father was Japanese, a mechanic who did some work for the yanks, your mother was lance corporal Betty Goodwitch of the US Marine Corp. She died in India when you were 6 years old, your father was devastated and started drinking. He killed himself when you turned 16. You managed to hold onto the appartment for a bit but lost it and were forced to live in your car on the outskirts of town."

"I was raised in Japan, my father was Japanese. I am Japanese and."

"Don't. Look lots of people in the family are ethnic Korean, or have some Korean blood or yank blood. We're not going to judge you for being a halfy, thing is though."

He sighed.

"Do you know anything about your mother?"

"She abandoned me and died."

Hanzo stopped the car and stared at me.

"She was a soldier, she fought in a war and she died. I really doubt she wanted to die at all."

"She was a woman. If she had done her womanly duties she would still be alive."

"If she had been like that you would not exist. Look your mother's side of the family... They're actually a big deal in the States, hell you're directly related to a former US president. You're related to one of the first students to be enrolled in compass."

He held out a letter.

"This right here? It's a standing offer from Compass, we found it in your car. They're offering to pay for a plane ticket over to the states. Housing, clothing, all of it would be taken care of. You can do this and write yourself a ticket to wherever you want."

He looked at me.

"I'm going to be honest Riku. You have damned good marks at school, much better then your other two friends had. You finished highschool, something a lot of yaks never do. You could have more power by taking that offer, get yourself a good education. Your mother's a yank so you can claim American citizenship and."

"And Leave my friends."

Hanzo studied me.

"They might be stupid and they might grate on my nerves but when I was in elementary school and no one wanted to be friends with the half breed they were there for me. When my mother died they were there for me. When my father drank himself to death they were there for me. When he died they were there for me. When I found him hanging from the celing they were there for me. When I was sleeping in my car they were there for me. So what ever happens I'm there for them."

Hanzo nodded.

"I never asked you why you wanted to become strong, I think I understand now."

He turned the key and started driving.

"I'm going to talk about the business side of things then. Our big money makers are gambling, prostitution, smuggling and construction. We do other things as well, but there are some things that are off limits."

"Like what?"

"Theft. If you stole before...that stops expecially from civilians. We do not steal from businesses. We do not steal from the government or from foreigners. It pisses people off and it's the kind of shit that small timers do, we are above that."

I nodded my head.

"Alright."

"Ever hear of the Dojin-kai?"

I shook my head.

"They used to be the second biggest family in the country, then they started selling drugs. Cocaine, weed, Meth, name a drug they sold it. The guy in charge, our Oyabun, he told all of us not to get into the drug business. He was firm on that, had a few guys beat up for it. Seemed stupid to some people, especially since we were weaker back then. We were the 10th largest family."

His face got serious.

"The Oyabun however was right, the government didn't like that shit and sent in the Boots. There are cops on the take, politicians who arrange for people to look the other way, judges that are friendly, but they all have one thing in common. They don't want drugs in their community. And after they were finished families that had been around for generations or centuries were gone and we expanded. Now we're the third largest family in the country."

He looked at me.

"No drugs, no pot, no cocaine, no meth, no nothing. I don't care if you think you could make money off of it or if it could make the family rich. It isn't worth it and if you do sell drugs."

He put his hand on my shoulder.

"We won't just take a finger, we will kill you."

He nodded his head and I remained silent as we drove on.