Chapter 20: Set Up

-Alexander POV-

Taizong and the rest of his ‘advisors’ had set up in one of the many empty buildings I had constructed. The room was large, almost forebodingly so, and in the center was a circular table big enough to fit almost all of us.

I say almost because I was there.

Due to my bulk I was forced to take to the corner of the room, ominously overlooking the sitting participants.

It was awkward. Hopefully no one talked to me.

“My apologies for the accommodations creator, this was the largest room we could find”

Fuck.

Taizong’s words were buttery smooth and carried a warm inflection that could lull anyone into comforted ease.

“It is sufficient,” I simply replied.  

Thankfully he seemed to either accept that at face value or didn’t see fit to call me out on my bullshit. Instead he merely rose from his seated position to begin the meeting.

“Greetings friends. I have called upon you because you are all esteemed members of your respective communities and some of the most driven and outspoken individuals available,” Taizong spoke, and I could see the compliments clearly landing as I looked across the room.

“We come from disparate backgrounds, our ideas are many and varied. However we all wish for this city to prosper, to become a haven where our children can grow unaffected by the corrupt and bigoted C.U.I”

There were a few nods at that, every face in the room darkening at the mention of the C.U.I. It was one of the few things everyone in this city could agree on, and would no doubt become both a rallying cry and source of unity for Jinzhou in the years to come.

There was a part of me that worried about that. Yes it would be a good source of unity, but I didn’t want this new culture to lump in every Chinese citizen as an other to fear and hate.

“I have been chosen to lead this city and it’s people into that glorious future, however a leader with no advisors is no leader at all. A leader must have wise counsel, and I dare say I see that wisdom in front of me today.”

Again, he was very good. Very few across the table could conceal their smiles, and it occurred to me that former prisoners who had been starved of positive reinforcement would only be more susceptible to the raw charisma of Taizong.

“Thus I would ask you your ideas for this city going forwards!”

Short, sweet and to the point. Man, why couldn’t all speeches take a minute or less?

A man stepped up then. He was a figure of lean and severe features, looking out of place among the others as he had taken to wearing a full suit and tie. Perhaps he had been a bureaucrat before being locked away?

He bowed lightly before Taizong, and then repeated the gesture to me.

I did my best not to cringe.

“The progress regarding assigning people to their homes is going adequately, as the AI our saviour set up is able to answer almost any question we ask it and can coordinate all of our issues flawlessly. We’ve had to convince some to not choose homes too far away from the designated housing area for-“ the man briefly looked pained before continuing, “-safety reasons.”

I winced slightly.

It had already been decided that the population would be kept relatively close together to avoid forming rival factions within the city after I left. In addition the closeness made it easier to keep an eye on people who weren’t doing well mentally.

No one had tried committing suicide yet, but apparently there had been a few lingering near rooftops.

“Lord Sanzang has been busy setting up support structures and community groups. I believe we should aid in this and focus inwardly for the time being. Our nation had only just gotten its feet under it.”

The words were pointed and the lean man’s eyes seemed to drill into the man opposite him, who was glaring right back.

There was some grumbling across the room, and I noticed with an odd sense of unease that this opening plan wasn’t a popular idea. Rather, the room seemed oddly hostile to it.

“Chun Lee,” one of the men almost growls “are you seriously suggesting that we simply allow the C.U.I time to recover and adapt to our presence?”

Oh, so that was his name!

The now named Chun Lee endured the angry murmurs of the crowd with stoicism. From what little I had been able to glean the man had been a politician born to a decently influential family. Despite this he was still labelled as a dissident for his ‘unpatriotic’ way of thinking.

In other words he was a half-decent person who thought brainwashing people was a bad idea.

Go figure.

As soon as the murmurs began to quell Chun Lee struck back with his own argument.

“How exactly do you plan to strike at the C.U.I? Any plan made to attack them would be thwarted by the barrier that protects our new nation.”

It was a fair point, though judging by the look on his opponents face the man had an answer to that conundrum.

“Simple. We know the blessed machines of our lady can bypass the barrier through teleportation. We merely need to utilise them for something more than collecting resources!”

The man’s voice was impassioned and lined with zeal only a true believer could wield.

There was just one problem.

What ‘blessed machines’ was he talking about?

“Liu Min,” Chun Lee’s voice was now also undercut by a bubbling rage the man was clearly trying and failing to keep in check, “those machines were not meant for war, they were meant to help provide for us. Even if you did convince our savior to let us utilise them for such a purpose it could allow the C.U.I a means to gain access to our city should they capture one!”

Man, it’s really convenient that they keep using each other’s names. It would be awkward if I asked them for their names at this point.

Also were they talking about the drones?!

Chun Lee’s words were clearly understood, and many among the crowd that had supported Liu Min were now clearly having second thoughts. Their passions clearly doused by the cold reality of potentially allowing the C.U.I a foothold into their city.

“Then we just need to minimise the chances of that-“ Liu min began to say before he was cut off.

“Minimise,” the words were practically hissed out from behind the grit teeth of Chun Lee, “does not mean the chance will be zero! The C.U.I would only need to get lucky once! Would you really risk all of our lives for the sake of your hatred?!”

The man himself merely glared back.

“I would do it for the sake of everyone else who still suffers in that hell,” Liu Min gestured towards the direction of the Chinese capital.

“I would do it so that they too may find salvation in this promised paradise!”

Uhhh…well that’s a bit much.

From what I could see both sides had a point.

Chun Lee was simply being logical. The only true way to eliminate every possibility of harm occurring was to not show a single chink in the metaphorical armour of the city, which is what Liu Min’s plan would do.

On the other Liu Min’s plan came from an emotional place, one that touched on the hearts of every individual in this room. No one here wanted more people to suffer the depredations of the C.U.I and nobody wanted it to recover from the current turbulence.

As I watched others speak up, drawing lines in the metaphorical sand I realised I was watching the birth of what would eventually become political parties.

It was just two for now, but I could already see hairline fractures in both groups. There were members of both sides calling for moderation in their plans, while others suggested far more radical ideas.

Above it all Taizong simply watched, allowing all members to present their arguments. The meeting was supposed to focus on more than just this issue, but it was clear this was a topic that deserved the spotlight.

Eventually Taizong motioned them to cease arguing, those that looked uncertain in regard to the path forwards were now few in number as the hour long debate had done much to solidify any shakily held belief they possessed.

“Given the importance that this decision holds to this country going forwards I propose we hold a vote to determine our decision,” Taizong clapped his hands, gesturing to a man next to him to hand out the papers he was holding.

To the room’s quiet surprise the options they had previously been discussing were already printed out upon the paper slips. Clearly Taizong had already predicted the shape this meeting would take. Some looked awestruck at this show of genius, others looked put off and a select portion looked almost rapturous with religious joy.

Meanwhile I stared at Taizong knowingly. An hour was more than enough for him to map out which decisions every individual would take. This wasn’t a vote, it was performance.

The fact that Taizong had suggested for the vote to happen at all must mean that my creation agreed with the result that would come.

For the next few minutes there was only the shuffling of papers and the quiet contemplation of those who were still unsure.

By the time the votes had been tallied and announced it was decided what the path forwards was.

Jinzhou would not rest comfortably while the rest of China burned.

It would not suffer the grip of petty tyrants.

There would be a period of brief peace, enough to give the former prisoners a reprieve, a taste of all that they had earned.

Then they would go to war.

I stayed in that room long after everyone else had left, never more uncertain as to how I felt than at this very moment.

Should I feel proud that the people I saved didn’t want their paradise to serve exclusively them?

Should I feel horrified that many of those same people were going to die horrifically for the lives of those they didn’t even know?

I just didn’t know, I wasn’t sure whether this was a good thing or not.

I sighed and got up to leave. But not before taking one last glance at the slips of paper lying as still as the grave on that large black table, and at the red ink covering those pale sheets.

AN: Hi everyone! Bit of a shorter chapter this time since I’m out of the country and don’t have my laptop with me. Despite that I’m pretty proud of this chapter, it was pretty interesting trying to get in the thoughts of the citizenry of Jinzhou.

Despite the rather miserable portrayal of the average person of Earth Bet so far I happen to consider myself as an optimist when it comes to humanity. So I believe that there would be some willing to brave hell in order to save those like them.

Jinzhou will become a home to the abused, the misbegotten and the outcast. Which is one more reason why they’ll cling to the religion exalting Alexander. Oops. Thus Jinzhou is slowly building up to a holy war against the C.U.I, at first it will just be raids to gather more people. But given time they’ll grow bolder, and will have quite the advantage thanks to having an uninvadable home as well as the advanced tech Alexander gave them.

Anyway I’ll see you guys next week!