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

A possibility. It is only speculation at this point.

"Big guns." Think of it as something akin to Cold War arms development, because the capability was there. I don't really have specifics beyond that.

The question remains: what were they arming themselves against? "It"? A show of power toward the people of this world?

Definitely worrying, especially since there are more.

It seems like it was a development of the "because we could" sort. Though I don't think everyone was happy with said development.

Monetary concerns? Or concerns about seemingly pointless militarization?

I don't know for sure. Could be both, or neither. A lot of people seemed to be more concerned about conserving the older ways. A common trend in rapid technological advancement.

Not to sound suspicious, but where did you get this information?

A source. Don't worry, I'd be suspicious, too.

I don't suppose you can be more specific?

Not really. Not at the moment.

Hope you won't take it too personally if I take your information with a grain of salt, then.

[But he suspects one possibility for said source. Eva, perhaps?]

You're just as anonymous as I am. Take it however you please, but you've basically dropped information the same way.

Fair enough.

Thanks for the intel.