Chapter 31: A Discussion

May 8. Tiandu, the imperial city.

Only a few sorts of people lived here. First came the Emperor himself, then his wives and daughters. The Emperor's sons were officially allowed only one lawful wife each and could take no concubines. Keeping illegitimate children and mistresses outside the palace was your own business, but the law did not recognize them as imperial kin. So even all the princes' wives put together were outnumbered by their old man's consorts. After all, most of the princes had different mothers.

Everyone else in the palace was either a maid or a bloody eunuch. In fact, the meaning of the word eunuch had changed many times, from its earliest use as an official title to its later use as a general term for castrated palace servants. At this point in this parallel universe's history, it was still, broadly speaking, a position people looked down on. Of course, there was no punitive castration or anything of that sort here. These were simply cyborgs, most of whom had already been severely disabled or lost the use of their lower bodies and decided they might as well undergo mechanical modification. They served as palace guards, with fighting abilities somewhat beyond those of ordinary people.

Tiandu was heavily defended, with the Ten Celestial Guards stationed in the city, and the imperial city itself was impregnable. Most of the time, these guards were just high-end security men and porters. The job paid handsomely and even covered the cost of modification surgery for willing recruits. More than seventy years ago, it had already become a source of illicit income for certain officials. To become a bloody eunuch, you needed connections and bribes. Even some perfectly healthy men were willing to sacrifice happiness below the waist for happiness for the rest of their lives. Alas, what a sorry state of affairs.

At noon that day, a man arrived in the imperial city.

A man entering the palace had generally been summoned by the Emperor or a prince to discuss business. Even those summoned had to undergo rigorous screening and a body search, have the purpose of their visit verified and their arrival and departure times recorded, be fitted with a tracking device, and submit to a whole series of other measures.

Time Attendant valued his time, but even his position as deputy director of EAS could not prevent these procedures from wasting more than ten minutes of his youth.

Upon reaching Tea Immortal's residence, Time Attendant followed a maid deeper into the luxurious palace. He had visited several other princes' residences before. Their exteriors were not necessarily much grander than this one, but once you compared the interiors... They had young, pretty maids; you had middle-aged aunties whose looks had faded. They had dainty, showy art displays, lavish chandeliers and tiger-skin rugs; your supposedly finished interior looked like an unfinished shell, with basic furniture to match. They had servants waiting in every room; this auntie was the only person he'd seen since coming in.

Time Attendant had met Tea Immortal three years ago, but he had never visited his palace residence, since Tea Immortal himself rarely returned to Tiandu. Today had certainly been an eye-opener. He had always thought the fellow was merely a prince out of favor. Now he understood. You bastard, they must have picked you up somewhere.

They went straight to the master's bedroom. The maid knocked, Tea Immortal called out from inside, and Time Attendant went in alone.

He found Tea Immortal sitting beside a floor-to-ceiling window. An exquisite tea service stood on the little table before him, and the fragrance drifting from his cup seemed almost to have shape and color. This was undoubtedly fine tea.

Without waiting for any pleasantries, Time Attendant closed the door behind him, pulled up a stool and sat down. “Have you seen this morning's news from the Dragon Commandery?”

Tea Immortal slowly raised his cup and took a sip. “Aren't you going to ask how my injuries are?”

“Have you fully recovered? Can you get out and about?” Time Attendant asked, still speaking very quickly.

“How could I possibly...” Tea Immortal said.

“Then on what date will you be fully recovered and able to go out and take on Tian Yi and his people?” Time Attendant asked.

“How would I know?”

“So asking how your injuries are would be a waste of time, and this entire exchange amounts to so much useless talk.”

Tea Immortal smiled. “It's common courtesy to ask when visiting a patient.”

“Who said I came to visit a patient? Visiting patients is logically pointless. I'm not a doctor. I can't do anything effective to help your injuries heal. Whether I come or not has no direct bearing on whether you'll recover or how long it will take. In most cases, I think visitors merely disturb the patient's rest and make things worse. If you want to find out someone's condition and whether they're still alive, a phone call or even a text to the medical staff will do.” Time Attendant spoke rapidly, his thoughts moving as fast as his tongue, though in a somewhat peculiar direction. “Do you intend to keep discussing this tedious question? If so, I trust you won't mind if I do a few push-ups on the floor while we talk...”

“Don't!” Tea Immortal lowered the cup he had brought to his lips. “Well...” He quickly recalled Time Attendant's original question and hurried to answer. “I only regained consciousness yesterday morning. Then my father came in person and gave me strict orders to leave outside affairs alone for the time being and stay here in the imperial city to recover.”

Entirely undeterred, Time Attendant launched into his account. “At eight this morning, every local television network in the Dragon Commandery was hacked simultaneously. An HL captain stood in front of a camera, pointing at a map as though he were presenting the weather forecast, and worked his way from south to north through more than twenty districts, reporting troop deployments, numbers and even combat assessments for the entire commandery. It took him over ten minutes.

“Fighting in the northern Dragon Commandery had effectively begun two days earlier. Today's television program simply added fuel to the fire. Even if the public and the resistance organizations can't tell whether the intelligence is genuine, the local nobles and imperial kin are already panicking. I expect large numbers will soon flee to other commanderies. Also, I checked. Unfortunately, the intelligence is all genuine. I'm utterly in awe of how precise and up to date the figures are.”

Tea Immortal sighed. “It seems Tian Yi wants to move quickly into full-scale war, avoid a prolonged stalemate and fight it out until one side has nothing left to stake...”

Time Attendant continued, “Those two explosions in Beijing a week ago injured a great many civilians, and word that an ‘important person from Tiandu’ had been hurt also spread like wildfire. Unable to suppress the news, HL's Asian headquarters intervened directly, fabricating numerous reports and issuing plenty of statements to steer public opinion. By now, their attempts at concealment have only made things more obvious, and rumors of every kind are spreading faster than ever.

“Then Li Wei's dismembered remains were discovered in a private home. More than ten prominent Dragon Commandery tycoons were confirmed to have died on the same day. An unidentified hacker attacked the stock market as soon as it opened the following morning. Over the next few days, countless counterfeit credit cards were delivered by courier to households everywhere. Those cards had no credit limit and worked at any checkout terminal. You could even use them to withdraw cash from ATMs. The PIN was six ones. These cards were ten thousand times more effective at destroying the economy than counterfeit money. People started by snapping up luxury goods, then withdrew cash in a frenzy, and finally hoarded daily necessities. So the banks had no money and the shops had no goods. By the time anyone discovered what was happening, it was already virtually out of control.

“According to the Imperial Bank's technicians, the cards were copied from a personal credit card issued at a Beijing branch of the Imperial Bank at four thirty on the afternoon of May first. The account holder's name was Zuo Dao, and under occupation he'd actually written ‘Taoist priest.’ Most absurd of all, because the bank staff couldn't verify the income for that profession, they classified Taoist priesthood as a highly paid, secure lifetime occupation and actually issued him a gold card. Using that gold card, Zuo Dao produced thousands upon thousands of valid duplicates in a matter of days, copies the machines simply couldn't distinguish from the original, and handed them out all over the Dragon Commandery like leaflets. I think he might as well change his name to Zorro.”

Tea Immortal picked up the thread. “Destroy a stable social environment, and the public will lean toward the resistance organizations, or even join them outright. Once full-scale war breaks out, the trend will become even more pronounced.”

Time Attendant said, “That's roughly what's happened since you walked into that trap. But I'm not telling you all this to hear your analysis of the war. I couldn't care less who wins or loses. As far as I can see, the Dragon Commandery is only the beginning.”

“Even if EAS serves a different purpose from HL, surely you still have to take a side?” Tea Immortal said.

“A side?” Time Attendant sneered. “Who decrees rise and fall? Can victory and defeat be without cause? I don't need to point out the Empire's decay to you. It makes no difference to me. Whoever rules the country, I won't starve. As for taking sides, you ought to give your own position more thought. Every one of your idiot brothers was born deep inside the palace, raised by women and surrounded by eunuchs all day. All they ever think about is outliving their old man, stumbling onto the throne and being legally entitled to marry a few more wives.

“Perhaps stopping one Tian Yi could buy another ten years of apparent peace, but the Inverted Cross isn't the only organization out there. There's Steel Commandment, the Freedom Front, Xingtian, and on and on. Being a senior HL agent won't change the world. You have less influence than a rock singer. If you mean to accomplish anything great, you'll first have to...”

Tea Immortal raised a hand for silence, then shook his head with a wry smile. “Joseph, old friend... You really should learn to keep some of your criticisms to yourself. There's nothing you won't say.” He lowered his voice. “This is the palace. Aren't you afraid the walls have ears?”

Time Attendant said, “Then let's leave that subject. I have one more piece of fresh intelligence for you. A few days before the war began, Xingtian transferred almost all its combat forces out of the Dragon Commandery to the Star and Moon Joint Commanderies. Taking that together with everything I've just told you, do you think this move might also have something to do with Tian Yi?”

Tea Immortal sipped his tea and considered it. “There should be some connection between this move by Xingtian and Steel Commandment's attack. On the surface, it looks as though they gave up on the Dragon Commandery and withdrew from the contest before Steel Commandment made its move. But...” He paused, then continued, “If Tian Yi arranged everything, there's a very good chance Xingtian is doing more than simply retreating.”

Time Attendant said, “That's why I came to see you today. There's something you don't know. Last month, Jefferson, the warden of Tidal Prison, submitted a request for more Hades's Divine Mist to suppress Blood Owl's ability. Our old man of a director has already approved it. They're drawing on the stockpile at the secret storage site on the seabed at Malacca. Before heading to Hell Island, the shipment will stop in the Star and Moon Joint Commanderies to change transport and resupply the convoy. The date is set for May twenty-first. They'll stay only that day and leave the same evening, reaching their destination when Hell Island surfaces on the twenty-fourth.”

Tea Immortal's expression grew grave. In truth, even sitting here talking had already exhausted him. His injuries had taken a heavy toll. A Fierce-rank ability user could withstand otherwise fatal damage in energy form and stay alive, but the ill effects of pushing mind and body beyond their limits could last for months.

“As I thought... hh... I suspected from the beginning... He wants to help Blood Owl escape from Hell Island...” Tea Immortal's breathing grew labored.

Time Attendant said only, “That's a fairy tale.”

“More than that, he wants to get one or more other people out of there too. Otherwise Blood Owl would never have gone to prison in the first place,” Tea Immortal continued. “I've lost this round in the Dragon Commandery again. While he was recklessly spreading chaos and provoking war, he outmaneuvered me. In that warehouse, the message he was sending me was ‘Do as I intend.’ I didn't go into that basement as he'd planned, and that's why... cough... cough... Tian Yi's plan leaves no angle uncovered. The delivery of the Divine Mist will affect his arrangements in the prison... It's a chain reaction. Chaos, war, Steel Commandment, Xingtian, the Divine Mist. Every objective achieved creates the conditions for achieving another. He must be planning for Blood Owl to break out. Cough... cough, cough...”

“Concentrate on getting better. I'll handle things outside.” Seeing how badly Tea Immortal was struggling for breath, Time Attendant shook his head and stood. “I'll be going. There's one more thing I have to get off my chest.” He gestured vaguely behind him. “Did a horror-film set designer decorate this place?”

..