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[/cell][cell][color=white][center][sub][sub][sub][sub][sub][img]https://i.imgur.com/DHKvx27.png[/img][/sub][/sub][/sub][/sub][center][color=2e2c2c]Upper Ring ·  Morning   ·   [&.Exit][/color]Upper Ring   ·   Late Afternoon   ·   [/center][/sub][/center][/color][quote][color=2e2c2c]_[/color]
[color=9f9f9f] 
Zhen’s morning started at the Metropolitan Club of Ba Sing Se. One of the city’s oldest social clubs currently was housed in a modernist building, seated in the middle of one of the canals that ran through the Upper Ring. The top level was a gorgeous Chuiwan course, always packed with people spending more time discussing business than they did actually trying to hit the ball into the hole through the finely crafted maze of obstacles. Those who tried to work on their stroke spent time at the practice range, hoping to improve their score on one of the city’s most fiendishly difficult courses, frequently sending another ball out into the water. The lower levels of the building actually dipped below the water line of the canal, letting the occupants see into the clear blue waters whenever they looked out the window. The restaurant section of the club used this to the greatest effect; all three levels were covered in a wedge of floor to ceiling windows, like a transparent ship’s bow set in the water. There wasn’t a single table with a bad view. This was where Zhen found herself, showing up for the regular breakfast meeting of esteemed ladies of the Upper Ring. Who showed up varied, but one of the staples was Kazuha, who was talking as Zhen sat down. 

“So they’ve rented the stadium for the rally on short notice, I’m impressed they had this all ready only a few days after the incident. Everyone is walking in; finding their seats and the sound system is ready. The speaker is prepping himself before he goes on. And back here they’ve got this massive, just enormous pile of Chu jerseys, ready to wheel them out when the time is right for the bonfire. One of them even has got the flamethrower ready and he’s trying it out on scraps of paper, doesn’t even care if he sets off the smoke alarm. Anyway, the two people in charge are standing there and they just keep going back and forth if they should go through with it. One of them says it’s a great visual to have big pile of burning jerseys, then the other says but it’d be traumatic, and too similar to what Chu did. Some third genius chimes in with the fact that apparently burning objects in public could be a sign of respect in the days of the Fire Nation, and then they’re all shouting about what do we do with this giant pile of jerseys we collected, can’t give ‘em back, can’t just forget about them. So that’s when I tell them ‘I don’t care what you do with them, but if you don’t figure out something right now then I’ll be needing that flamethrower over there because I’m going to use it on the check that would’ve been my next donation to you’ “

Somewhere in Kazuha’s tangled mess of a family tree lies ties to both the Moons and the Satos. She is far too removed to have involvement in the interests of either, and her fortune isn’t even close to making the list of the cities richest. It’s still far beyond what an ordinary citizen could attain, and gives her the ability to live a life of luxury and buy influence. She deploys it strategically; hunting for wherever will give her the most influence for her Yuan; now she sits on the board of half a dozen major organizations and even more small ones. Zhen knows her because she’s on the Board of Supervisors for the University of Ba Sing Se; others might know her as one the biggest supporters of the Equalist League. Also with her was the other stalwart of the breakfast gatherings, Shujia. Shujia’s husband is the Duke of Gaoling. He rules over nothing, Gaoling is just another territory on the map, shaded in as Republic territory, but the most it ever sees are a few planes flying over it; Shujia’s family has never set foot in it, practically no one from Ba Sing Se has since the Great War. The title of Duke lives on, and off of it the family has continued to accumulate influential positions without any justification other than the title they hold. There is one more with them, the youngest of the group, Yunjin. She is a former RSF pilot who founded her own company a few years ago. It’s seen explosive growth and is said to have all three of the Zaibatsu submitting bids to buy it, rocketing its founder into a realm of wealth and status she had never known before. She sits ram-rod straight, just like they taught her in the service, and wears an immaculate outfit that is two seasons out of style. She doesn’t talk much, shifting her eyes around and struggling to find an opening in the conversation.

After joining them they talked about the usual business of the upper ring, dominated by rumors about other people in their social circles. When Zhen discussed her foundation’s work or progress on her manuscript, Kazuha and Shujia feigned interest, not wanting to appear uncultured; Yunjin genuinely wanted to hear more but each time it goes on too long the conversation drifts back to particulars of the personal lives of the royal court or the indiscretions of the corporate elite.
When the waiter came by they all place their orders: Smoked Sea Slug for Kazuha, Wild Elephant Koi rolls for Shujia, Tsampa for Zhen and Moo-sow bacon for Yunjin. They had accepted Zhen’s bland, vegan diet into their social circle, but as a newcomer, Yunjin wasn’t spared their scrutiny. She explained that she was always fond of Moo-sow bacon from her time in the service, the commanding officer always made sure they ate well before they had a particularly grueling mission, no matter how many favors he had to call in with the quartermaster. There was a silence as Kazuha and Shujia refused to respond, cultivating the awkwardness as a way of highlighting her lack of sophistication, until Zhen came in and turned to a more intellectual topic, discussing food insecurity in the Lower Ring, sharing what she had learned recently.
When the waiter came he set their plates down quickly, the height of the breakfast rush gave him little time to pause. He pushed a heavily loaded cart up a spot a few tables down, but he forgot to engage the brakes. While he was looking away, it began to roll, picking up speed and heading towards Zhen’s seat. Shujia screamed when she saw it. Once Zhen noticed, she leaned back in her chair, tilting it onto its hind legs. As it was almost falling over she holds her hands up and touches the floor when it starts to come down, supporting her weight on them, then pivots the rest of her body to complete the flip. She stood tall, giving her shirt and her pants a wipe to clear out the wrinkles, looking over the aftermath of the collision of the cart and the chair. None of the fallen food reached her. 

Shujia stared at the waiter and shouted to him

“What is your name?’

“Vang” He said

“Go home now. Don’t come back, ever. Also don’t bother applying to any jobs at any other respectable dining establishment on the upper ring either.” She said

“Uhmmm?”

Then Shujia stood up out of her chair and began to walk towards him. She said

“Do as I say while I still have some patience left. Don’t bother bringing this up with your supervisor, it’s best to leave now. Dally and you may find yourself facing criminal charges.”

Vang was out of there as quick humanly possible without hitting anyone else.

Kazuha said

“That was an impressive maneuver there. I’m surprised you find time to stay so fit, professor. What’s your secret?”

“I bet it’s yoga.” Shujia said

“It’s not any one thing, but I prefer to keep the details to myself. Having some secrets can be fun, after all.” Zhen said

“Look at you professor, keeping secrets, doing yoga, eating like an Air Nomad, reading Bender texts. Some might say you’re going soft.” Shujia said

“If people wonder about my views I would direct them to read my books. If one reads them they should have a good grasp on what I believe.” Zhen said

“What would you say to those who don’t want to read them?”  Kazuha said

“I’d say what I say to some of my students, unfortunately I am not your mother and I don’t have the time in my schedule to read you a book and tuck you in at night. Although I might prefer that to having to sit through another one of these meetings about all the minutiae of reopening the university after last week’s incidents.” Zhen said

“Are they taking steps to ensure the campus is safe from Benders?” Kazuha said

“They are, along with discussing other priorities.” Zhen said

“What could be a higher priority that keeping Benders away from our young students?” Shujia said

“It is not an issue we are ignoring, I can assure you.” Zhen said

Before anyone could answer, Yunjin spoke

“Any of you ever kill a Bender before?”

“I’m sorry, what did you say?” Kazuha said

“I was saying, you guys talk a lot about them but I was wondering if any of you has ever killed one of them before.” Yunjin said

“No…none of us have. Why would you ask?” Shujia said

“Because I have, and I don’t think any of you would know what it’s like. It didn’t feel good. Didn’t really feel bad either, didn’t feel like much of anything. For me, up in the VTOL bird, I just lined one up in the gunsight and squeezed the trigger. Let the first burst go and it hit the mark, no need for a second. I just saw them in the blurry little black and white screen, they twitched for a moment when the bullets hit them and that was that. They fell over and never moved again. The radio was loud after that, some people asking for a confirmation, some hooting and hollering, but I was quiet.” Yunjin said. There was more silence.

“Anyway, what I meant was, we spend a lot of time thinking about them, building ‘em up like some kind of monsters, but in the end they’re just flesh and blood. I don’t like ‘em, and I did the right thing that day, but that doesn’t mean I’ve gotta keep how much I hate them always on my mind. I can live my life better if I don’t have to think about them all the time. Not every problem in the world is caused by Benders.”

All three were quiet. Zhen was stone-faced, a calm and blank expression revealing no feeling. Kazuha seemed to want to say something but held off, never saying a word. Shujia gave her the type of contemptuous glare that came from generations of privilege, wishing she could stare so intensely that it would evict Yunjin on the spot. The finished up breakfast and parted ways with little further discussion. Yunjin and Zhen made sure to exchange contact details with as they left, out of sight from the other two. Yunjin might not be welcome back at the breakfast gatherings again but Zhen admired her courage.

Zhen took the monorail home. In the upper ring it is clean and always on-time, but few residents ride it. The main users are the workers, those who commute in from elsewhere to serve the denizens of the upper ring. She used the time to compose a message to one of her assistants at the Doing What We Can Foundation.


Subject: New Pilot Program – Direct Cash Aid to local leaders

I have a new idea for deploying our funds that I want to investigate with a pilot program: direct cash aid to the Lower Ring, to be distributed by a local leader. I would like to begin promptly with an initial one-off trial, budgeting four hundred thousand Yuan. Please work on guidance for the recipient although we won’t impose strict controls at the start. We will ask them to keep records and then rely on those and our own auditing before we consider expanding it. This could potentially increase the speed and reduce costs associated with deploying funds.

Please implement this when you can. I know the first recipient and can forward them instructions once the funds are available.



She also saw there was another message for her, but it was of a nature that was too sensitive to check in a public space. That would until she got home.

 Zhen looked out the window and saw neighborhoods pass; each one had a particular character to it. There’s one for the old money, another has mostly nobles, one that is where government officials settle, and each of the megacorps have their own place where they encourage their executives to live. The one where she resides is a collection of miscellaneous professions, the homes there are beautiful but some of the more humble by the standards of the Upper Ring. The house Zhen and Xiaoxu lived in was a clean black rectangle, apart from one notable feature: a semi-opaque glass façade covering an inner garden, complete with trees and a pool of water. The interior was more conventional, filled with sharp angles and minimalist décor, but the basement held something that not every house in the Upper Ring had: a space specially treated to prevent any outside surveillance and allow for classified communications. This was where she headed after entering, going to return the message she saw on the bus. The secure area was divided into two halves, so that both she and her husband had their own work area; he needed his for consultations with the Ministry of Justice, and as far as he knew hers was for handling the classified spiritual texts she had access to. She could see him on the phone when she went in. 
 
She made a call to one of the “men upstairs”, the people who had a say in just about anything in her life and were particularly keen on guiding the operations of her foundation. To her surprise, they picked up when she called. The conversation was brief, she asked 

“What was it that you wanted to talk about?”

“Oh, not much. Just wanted to let you know there might be a change in priorities when it comes to where your foundation’s funds are directed.”

“What kind of changes?”

“I’m afraid I can’t share that yet. We will let you know when it is time. For now, just wait; be nice and obedient and ready to do as we say. That is all.”

He hung up.

Zhen took some time to process it then stepped out just in time to see her husband wrapping up his call. As soon as he was in the hallway he shouted.

“FUCK! FUCK THEM ALL!”

“Uhm, uh, what happened? Zhen said

“Those pricks at the Ministry of Justice put everyone with two braincells to rub together on the case of the Advisor caught bending, but when I ask if I can be part of it they tell “Oh, Prosecutor Zhang , we need you on this other very important case” I wasn’t asking for much, just a speaking section at the trial, doesn’t even has to be cross examination, I know they’re picky about those because you have to make the witness breaking down believable for everyone watching on the screen but come on, the trial is a big event, can’t they find some spot in it for me? I was the king of Mock Trials back in law school, undefeated, perfect record. You can’t leave a talent like me out even if it would’ve been my first trial. Anything else is going to be a downgrade.” He said

“I’m sorry to hear that. I think they will regret their decision once they’ve had time to reflect.” She said

“I don’t want to give them time; I want those imbeciles to own up to how wrong they are. Nothing is going right. The day I get made prosecutor the city explodes in a mess of bending and that’s all anyone can talk about. The big gala got rescheduled and of course it’s all going to Benders this, Benders that. Even the little things are going wrong. Two days ago, we were supposed to celebrate my promotion, but you had that little emergency meeting with the government.” He said

“I’m sorry about that; they needed an expert on Bender history on short notice. We still got to celebrate the day after.”

“It wasn’t the same; it ruined the reservation I had at The Fat Turtle Duck. I couldn’t celebrate there by myself; it wouldn’t send the right message. Because I had to reschedule to a time when you were available, I ended up at Narook’s again, like every other middle manager celebrating their promotions.” He said. Zhen thought it was best to change the subject.
“What about the case that they did give you?” She asked.

“Oh, it’s nothing. Some dumb bitch that decided to shoot a security robot the same day her fiancé turned herself into a human torch in the middle of Badgermole stadium. I think I only got this one because I wrote that law review article arguing for full equivalence between crimes against RSF officers and ones committed against RSF robots. Cranked that one out over a weekend but they liked it, I knew they would. Anyway, so my first case is against this nobody, An Tamura or something. If anyone else remembers her name, I hope it’ll be because of how bad I destroy her. Maybe if I do well enough they’ll give me Chu next, assuming they catch her alive. Huh, I wonder how many people in the prosecutor’s office have ever gotten both members of a couple on separate occasions, let alone done it back to back. If I do that I’ll have to tell people about it, maybe even make an award, they can call it the Xiaoxu Award, it’ll go to anyone who nails both members of a couple back to back.”

He looked very satisfied with himself after saying that, while Zhen looked puzzled.

“When I say nailed, I mean, in the courtroom, y’know. You wouldn’t know because you aren’t part of those circles but we do talk like that, it’s common slang, trust me.”

“I will take your word for it. I have one meeting at the University today, other than that I’ll until it’s time to get ready for the Gala tonight.”

She went upstairs, looking forward to getting a moment of quiet in her busy life.

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