Interlude 13

(Supreme Leader Song Ha-Yoon)

March, 1st 1997
Chagang Province
Huichon County 

According to Wired and Valerio Pellegrini in my past life, the asteroid 'Davida', which has a diameter of 326 kilometers, has been identified as the most valuable asteroid in the belt, with a resource value estimated to be some 27 quintillion (26,990,000,000,000,000,000) U.S. dollars.

That is why I have opened a large portal with a permeable magnetic containment field over it that didn’t allow the atmosphere to be sucked out through the aperture in space. I started dismantling the asteroid, gold, silver, titanium, palladium, tungsten and other rare alloy veins were all being processed through my telekinesis. I was harvesting everything, even the rocks to be used as building material, that’s how dire the situation in the newly named Goryeo country was. This country had no resources and was buying it all from China and surrounding countries, and selling their citizens as workers to pay for its monthly upkeep.

Many things were about to change now that I had resources coming directly from space. My Phoenix powers also helped me change the composition of the soil in this country, something that I couldn't do again, but now I have rich soil; the cultivation of food should start soon once all my workers abroad are back.

I built a bunker deep underground on a mountain in Huichon County, which was originally part of North Pyongan province during the Japanese colonial era. This bunker will serve as my federal reserve. I opened another portal which I opened in the storage facility in the bunker which was kilometers deep. Only I will be able to get at the resources there. Once I was done two hours later, the bunker was completely full and divided by materials.

I still let the stone sit next to the mountain, I needed it to build infrastructure later. Teleporting back to my office in the Ryongsong Residence, I sat on the leather bound throne-like desk chair. Looking at the ostentatious decor around me, I can’t stop thinking that the previous owner was a monster. The walls were made of gold, engraved with eastern dragons, warriors fighting them as well as a figure strangely looking like a god ordering the warriors to fight the dragons.

There was an extensive ancient Korean art collection ranging from Plum Vase to a big ass library with copy of texts and silver framed paintings that I think should be more at home in a museum than in the ostentatious office of a tyrant. A luxurious living room was between the desk and the door of the office. I didn’t feel comfortable here, I didn’t intend to sleep in all that extravagance: my plans were to show myself to be humble and try to make my people better and for that I needed to build a residence more modest and keep the extravagance for state guests.

Speaking of the people, I wanted to start educational reforms, the people of Goryeo shouldn’t be sheep. It was going to be a huge undertaking, but it was worth it for the future generation and the genius I would produce as we push the limits of science and every field of knowledge.

I took a breath and my eyes found the paperwork that I had asked for the freeing of the retrials and sorting of the prisoners into the state prisons. There were a lot of international prisoners, and something told me that I better speed up their release. Next, I took stock of the audit performed on the people which were responsible for the management of the treasury. I wasn’t surprised that there was a lot of embezzlement going on from the previous administration. I’m glad I executed them all.

Sometimes I hated my main-self for giving me that fucking job…

 

# # #

(Municipal Officer 3rd Class, Ping Tae-Won)

 

March, 11th 1997
North Korea/Goryeo
Pyongyang

 

Tae-Won looked around him and saw the throng of people in the city, walking the street, going on to their business or speaking and laughing. The capital was completely different from before; it’s been two weeks since the world changed for the people of North Korea.

The balding man looked at the children climbing the bus for the new public school which opened in the district. School was free and mandatory for all children in The Technocratic Republic of Goryeo; the new name of his country was somewhat nostalgic, but the title stood as clear evidence of the vision and dream their new Leader sought out for their future. ‘Technocratic Republic’ - Supreme Leader Song wanted to enlighten her people.

Reminiscing how it was before, Tae-won thought about what changed. For citizens in Pyongyang, life is certainly better than in the countryside where there were no hospitals, doctors or other modern facilities. It was like being back in the actual time of the Goryeo Dynasty, where people had to be more careful with their health to still be able to work and feed their family. Water and food was scarce as well, so much so that the state had to ration them.

It got worse from there… North Koreans need permission to live in the capital as there are roadblocks on the country’s streets that stop anyone from moving around without permission; if there was one thing Tae-Won was thankful for, it was the free travel policy and rights of free speech and to gather that Supreme Leader Song reinstated.

Cities in North Korea generally were made up of people loyal to the previous party and those who have a higher position in society. But those people who supported the previous leader were now cowed and living in fear as Leader Song slowly investigated them for crimes. The prisons were emptying of the innocent and framed people, while slowly filling back up with criminals and sinners of all kinds.

Just as he thought that, Tae-Won saw a military convoy pass, the truck filled with men and women in chains. Tae-Won wasn’t the only one watching the military personnel hauling the officials toward the department of justice at the center of the city; some people may be happy with all the change to the constitutions and having recognized human rights, but watching people being treated this way served to remind them of what could happen to anyone right now if they were part of the underworld or those who were abusing others through their connections.

When the convoy passed, everyone slowly went back to their business. Tae-Won thought about how before on the streets of the capital, there was an eerie feeling of vacuity – an emptiness evident by the lack of vehicles, sounds of traffic or crowds of pedestrians. That's why seeing so many people was jarring to him now.

There were noises and sounds everywhere. Before, Pyongyang was quieter than a small country town and it had felt like he was in one of those post-apocalyptic western movies. As he thought about the changes undergoing in his country, Tae-Won’s train of thought was interrupted by the music coming from the radio’s speakers all over the city; everyone knew that it was the start of an announcement from the Supreme Leader when you heard that particular anthem.

A beautiful, strong and powerful female voice started when the announcement music stopped.  "Good afternoon, Pyongyang. Allow me first to apologize for this interruption. I do, like many of you, appreciate the comforts of every day routine - the security of the familiar, the tranquility of repetition. I enjoy them as much as anyone.

Two weeks ago, together with our many allies and sympathizers from the citizenry and its military, I freed our people from the tyranny and depravity of the previous regime. I saw fit to dye our country with the colors of hope and prosperity, painted upon a canvas of blood - blood spilt by our enemies and sacrificed by our heroes for the sake of justice and hope! And with every drop of blood unleashed by the tyranny and cowardice of my predecessors, they pooled into a great tidal wave of change. It is upon this wave of change that I lead you, sweeping away the injustice, the oppression, even the very name uttered to describe the suffering of our nation! So it is as well that I saw fit to bestow unto us all a new name. A name of Hope, a name of Truth, a name of Change! With the weight and waves of this Change behind me,  I grant to all of us our Technocratic Republic! A clean slate, the seeds of freedom planted and watered with the blood of patriots and tyrants alike. I declare and swear to you that as long as I live, there will be no cruelty and injustice, no intolerance and oppression for my people and people who choose to rest under my aegis. 

But I ask you: what shall we do with this freedom? What does this new name truly mean for us? Shall we wallow and suffer in the status quo? Do we sneer in cynicism and seek to oppress, to ourselves become like the people who we had suffered under? Nay! We must strive to be better, to be greater! To cast away the failures of the past, to endeavor and reach and strain for a new and glorious future. Let not the trappings and decay of my predecessors be like shackles, let them instead be our education! Let the failures and rot of the past serve as fertilizer for the newfound blossoming of our minds, our country, our infinite futures! But we must also become humble so as to not collapse into the pitfall of arrogance. We owe it to all those ancestors of ours who toiled, agonized, and gave their lives so that we might have  this chance.

That is why I am proud to tell you about the implementation of the new Bill of Rights in our new constitution as of this morning; they includes the following:

• Right to self-determination
• Right to liberty
• Right to due process of law
• Right to freedom of movement
• Right to privacy
• Right to freedom of thought
• Right to freedom of expression
• Right to peaceful assembly
• Right to freedom of association

The constitution in its entirety will be available for study and consultation in most schools and your local city hall. Speaking of school, I plan to imminently reform our education system. You're all invited to better yourself, my people, for knowledge is power! Why is it so?

Knowledge is power because it gives us the ability to influence what people do and how they act. This means that knowledge helps positively shape society, which benefits everyone. Grasp the future with your own hands together, as one grasps the till to work the land into a bountiful garden. Let knowledge and wisdom be the gardens built in our minds!

Thank you for your time everyone, and to all of us, may greater days ever await!"

Another song started to sound through the announcement speakers, signaling the end of the message. Everyone around Tae-Won seemed to be uncertain. The official understood that their new Leader was taking them away from anything even resembling communism and bringing them into another government ruling system altogether; but he hoped that the Supreme Leader would do it more slowly.

 

# # #

 

Back with Song Ha-Yoon…
March, 15th 1997

I was designing new facilities for the rural villages when I felt my connection to Jean Avatar being cut off. My existence was now being sustained by Jean Prime, the main body. This caused me to let go of everything I was doing and look up into the astral plane, where a gigantic bird of fire loomed over the Earth.

The Phoenix then mentally informed me that her avatar was being sent away as a punishment to another dimension for training and a task that she needed to fulfill. Ha-Yoon sat back on her chair and lowered her head dejectedly. “Shit. Why did Prime do that?”

Then she realized that, “I’m on my own.”

There was silence in the more conservative office that she renovated to be less ostentatious and flashy; she even gifted every artwork to a museum in Pyongyang. The office looked bare, with only books and plants for company. The silence suddenly broke when a golden portal, highly reminiscent of a sorcerer’s sling ring portal opened and a beautiful woman with long platinum hair, almost silver, strutted out of the aperture in space. She wore a flowing white satin dress with silver accessories set with sapphire gems.

She was beautiful, ethereal and when she stopped before me, she said, “Not true, I’m here.”

Behind her, two women with white hair, black blindfold covering their eyes and gothic looking black dress with silver trims; bladed weapons on their back entered through the portal which shut down with sucking sound. The two women placed themselves next to the door, they were strangely familiar to me.

I took a breath and felt reassured by the presence of one of my other selves. I looked into her blue eyes and quipped, “Ah, but aren’t you busy with your own land to develop?”

“Siljia Silfur, Queen of the Silver Isles at your service.” She slightly bowed her head, not much, but enough to show deference.

She straightened her stance and flipped her hair nonchalantly, her breasts jiggling and attracting my eyes momentarily. The woman seemed to be used to being the center of attention and utilizing her body as a weapon. “I’ve been at it earlier than you, Ha-Yoon. I had two decades to take over, and now I’m ready to show to the world that I’m about to change it. When are you going to?”

I frowned at the dig and at the question. “Well, my country is still bigger than yours and I will focus on developing infrastructure and slowly introduce reforms.”

Siljia smiled patronizingly at me. “Interesting choice, I understand why you’re doing it; and you have so much cultural bullshit to go through. The people under you are used to tradition and take things slow.”

Throwing my hands up, I yelled, “Tell me about it!”

And I placed my head in my hands, elbow on the desk. There was a reason I didn’t just modernize the fuck out of Goryeo right now. I was slowly raising the tech level of my people, but I needed to change how education was practiced here, maybe model it on a lighter version of the Japanese educational system. But I didn’t want to turn my people into workaholic and weird people who introduced strange fetishes to the world. 

Huh, the racism is showing itself since I absorbed this culture; we really don’t like Japanese. Siljia and I looked up once again, it seemed that Jean prime was doing something else; she didn’t want any of Jean Avatar’s plans to be disturbed that is why…

“Ah, there’s a new one created. This time by Jean Prime.” I realized as I felt another presence being summoned the will of the Phoenix Force Existencial Manipulation.

Vorp!

Another Jean manifested next to Siljia, this one had a short bob of hair to differentiate herself from Jean Avatar. She was also cruder in language. “FUCK, Prime booted number one in another dimension to relax.”

“Hello number four.” Siljia said with a seductive tone in her voice.

That was default for the Queen, there was ulterior motive there; the platinum blonde acted more like a head of state than me. I leaned in my chair and looked at each of the women, Jean-4 -yes I will call her that now…- was the youngest one, looking seventeen, while Siljia was looking into her mid-twenties like me. We were cut off from the main consciousness, but still linked together. “What are we gonna do now?”

Jean-4 was the first to speak. “I have control of everything, but I will just focus on my studies and business creation.”

All the bases around the world, the assets and technology invented by Jean-Avatar and her cohort of scientists; Jean-4 had access to this treasure trove. I knew that Jean-Avatar reeducated Doctor Tramma, the cybernetics expert from this country. I planned to build a research faculty centered around the woman now that she was tolerable to be around. Jean-4 looked at me and understood that she needed to send the scientist to me; she nodded at me.

With a small smile drawing on my lips I said, "Study, eh. You're already beyond college level."

Jean-4 shrugged. “We need to make people recognize how smart and intelligent we are to be able to justify our overwhelming level of technology.”

Yes, and we needed intelligence, troops and overwhelming power to protect ourselves from the nations and individuals who will want to nab our tech. With a sigh I said, “I hate that we have so much work piled upon us…”

Siljia sat on the desk. “You know, I think Prime did a good thing, sending number one away to chill out is an excellent revenge.”

I replied with a mean laugh, "I tend to agree."

The girl was maturing and slowly stopping to make mistakes but she was too reactive sometimes. Jean-4 literally vibrated with excitement. “Oh then while she's stuck in that Dimension she’s been sent to, we can start taking over this planet’s economy with the tech we're developing. Let’s do it!”

"I will need help to educate everyone here." Ha-Yoon commented to Siljia and Jean-4.

"Don't worry we got your back fam." Jean-4 threw me a thumbs up.

Siljia nodded as well, it seemed that I would be supported by those two hidden powers; this meant that I wasn’t going to be left to dry, good! Siljia clapped her hands and commented, “But first, Jeanie-4, you remember the plan, right? You’re going to move your newly created company to my country.”

Jean-4 laughed. “Iceland! Here I come!”

I sighed, this was going to be tedious to bring Goryeo to the standard of the 21st century. “Even more work…”

---

A/N: What do you think?

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