tushanshu | text; anonymous; English

When I arrived here, I assumed the barrier had been meant to keep us in and that the Emperor controlled it. By now, I think it's obvious that that's not the case. The barrier is meant to keep things out. When Tu Vishan dove underwater, the barrier stayed up and held back the jingashi. But they broke through and, judging by the kedans' reactions, that had never happened before. In fact, I asked around. It hasn't ever happened before, not until lately.

Point two: a satellite falls out of the sky, breaks through the barrier, and lands on Tu Vishan. First of all, this suggest that there is-- or was-- some kind of long-distance communication technology. It also suggests that the barrier is weakening even more. Before, it took the stress of thousands of jingashi to weaken the barrier. Now all it takes is debris. Big debris, sure, but decidedly less stress than the jingashi.

As for the Emperor, it's possible she's contributing power to maintain the barrier, but it doesn't originate from her. Tu Vishan is the one maintaining it.

I know everyone's concerned about what's coming, but we can't let that distract us completely from the big picture. My point is that we need to slow down and rethink what we think we know. Since the barrier is our first line of defense against any outside invasion, let's start there. What do we know, what do we think we know, and how can that help us?

[The text has been helpfully translated into French, Chinese, Spanish, Italian, German, and Japanese.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I can be there in ten. I'll be in a hoodie.

[He sets out immediately, leaving other replies for later. Bruce had mentioned something about this, but actually seeing the document himself... maybe it'll reveal something. Or this anonymous woman could shed some light on it. Either way, it's worth investigating.

True to his word, he shows up about eight minutes later in a blue hoodie and sunglasses.]

Hello. Is this seat taken?

[He gestures to the seat next to her.]

[She looks up, her expression pleasant and blank, with no sign of recognition immediately obvious. She's too cautious to immediately give up the game, even if she's reasonably sure this is who she ought to be looking for.]

Not yet, although I'm expecting someone to whom I'm promised a book.

[He sits down, smiling calmly.]

Ah. A history book?

Primary sources, in fact.

[She relaxes noticeably, reassured that this is the person she's waiting for. Even if he is a little, well, young.]

You must be surprised that someone my age is interested in history.

[He smiles politely.]

I try not to be too surprised by anything these days. Especially here and in these interesting times.

[She reaches into her inside jacket pocket and takes out a small notebook, the journal she's been keeping since she arrived in Keeliai.]

I'm Una, by the way.

Nice to meet you. You can call me Robin.

[Obviously a pseudonym.]

A pleasure, Robin.

[She flips open the notebook to the text of the diary fragments that she copied out.]

This is what I mentioned. The original is in a safe place; it's too fragile to carry around.

text; anonymous; English

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