Some people could be utter fools. It was a truism Wu Chunhua, also known as Mrs Wu, had learned to accept a long time ago. That there was nothing a sufficiently confident fool couldn’t make themselves believe if only it fit with their idea of how the world should work. It shouldn’t surprise her that it held true even after the world went mad, or maybe she should have expected that it especially held true in that situation.
Having young Samantha get annoyed by the foolishness going on was one thing, while her young student had taken to the changed world like a duck to water and even taught others to swim, she had been only one person. Well, one person leading a small group. Still, she was the only adult in her group, unless one wanted to count that giant hound that accompanied her. Or maybe the small, strangely red-eyed racoon. Other than those two beasts, it was only a child and one teenager she had somehow turned back from a Shattered. However that had worked, nobody knew the details, and few people knew that there were any details to know about judging from the fact that there had been only that one person turned back, Wu Chunhua considered it nothing but a fluke. Some random event, a miracle for those who wanted to believe in such, nothing that could be relied upon. And thus, irrelevant in the long run.
Similarly, the child wasn’t a huge factor by herself. She had somehow gained levels far beyond her age and with those levels, she had started to undergo a strange metamorphosis. Growing up too fast was something she had heard about, in the eyes of many she, herself, had undergone that very process thanks to a childhood filled with harsh training, but it had always been a metaphor, not something you could literally watch. And yet, in those few weeks, the child had visually matured almost two years, with no signs of stopping. Not something to be desired in most situations but after the world had gone mad? Maybe it was a good thing, though only time would tell the long-term effects. But given that to suffer long-term effects required you to survive, the alternative might have been worse.
Only five people, for a given value of people, and yet, with a little extra hindsight on her side, Wu Chunhua wondered if watching them leave had been the right call. Not that she was certain of her ability to change young Samantha’s mind but she could have tried.
Especially now that she realised that the people pushing the change that drove Samantha and her small, strange family out hadn’t been satisfied with that. She really should have seen that coming, confident fools, used to getting their way and working in high-powered, ‘important’ jobs, able to change the world with a stroke of a pen or a few lines typed on a keyboard. How their old attitude had survived the changing world was a complete mystery to her, but somehow, it had and once a modicum of civilisation was restored, so had their attitude. And, in an almost bitter twist of irony, with their attitude restored, people began to listen, simply because they were used to obeying a certain demeanour, the demeanour powerful people had portrayed before the world changed.
That their old power was as broken as the city they all had lived in was ignored, people perceived them as strong and in charge, so they followed their orders, even if they didn’t make sense. So many were used to following orders, to never questioning, thanks to an education system that pushed obedience and, in many cases, thanks to a military that trained people to follow orders, sometimes even over their own conscience. It wasn’t just a German, Russian or Chinese mindset, it could be found everywhere.
If it wasn’t so disappointing, it would be incredibly amusing. In the two months after the survivors from her gym had joined up with those at the Apple Gate Farm, they had achieved something incredible. With a great deal of effort and similar amounts of luck, they had managed to build a community, an actual village with numerous buildings and enough food production to store sufficient supplies for the winter. The efforts taken had only been possible thanks to excellent teamwork, a willingness to learn and experiment and, not least of all, to embrace the strange changes everyone had undergone. To learn from people like Samantha, or Jade as she liked to be called now, and from Carrie, the so-called Denmother. Embracing their teachings and working in the strange system that engulfed their reality worked and gave them the meagre comforts they now enjoyed.
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Only, the days that endless food could be acquired at the local grocer or be ordered with a simple phone call, the days that fresh, clean and warm water was only a twist of a tap away, they strongly remained in the memories of everyone. And, when the confident fools started to speak, memories of those days managed to overwhelm the lessons learned since the world had changed. Not in everyone but in enough people to make things… difficult.
“Kevin, what are your next plans?” Wu Chunhua quietly asked one of the most promising disciples of Samantha, the young water mage Kevin. Just a teenager, not somebody people would easily listen to unless there was some major event propelling them to the fore. A Jean-d’Arc moment, where the teenager could grab fate by the horns, at least until they managed to get themself impaled. Kevin hadn’t experienced such a moment, he had acted responsibly and worked hard to supply the small village with water, but as things became more difficult, who knew how long he would be content to act so benevolently?
“I’m uncertain,” he admitted, his gaze not meeting the old woman’s eyes, “There are so many who think that we can simply keep going as we have been, that the village is, well, done,” he shrugged, closing his eyes for a moment as if looking for words.
“As if we kids can simply go back to school and the adults back to their old jobs, with some manager directing people or something. But it doesn’t sound like they are actually planning to work, at least to me. Unified efforts, joined potential, they sure like to hear their voices, but I haven’t heard any plans, at least none that don’t rely on those who have been working to continue exactly as we have,” another shrug, alongside a sigh. Something in Wu Chunhua’s eyes pushed him to continue, knowing that somebody was interested in his opinion and plans, drove him to keep talking.
“Honestly, I don’t plan to keep making hundreds of gallons of water every day, it gets tiresome. It’s not a matter of power, I’m able to keep going at this level, but there’s no tolerance for error or problems, let alone something as decadent as time off or a vacation. It’s eventually going to drive me spare,” he admitted, getting his shoulder squeezed in a comforting manner.
“Yes, I noticed that some of these managers do not really manage, they retain their belief that people and talent are at a surplus, that there is always going to be another University graduate ready to take their first steps in the market. I do not know how long that belief will hold or what will happen when it breaks. Will they try to force those who can perform extraordinary tasks to keep up their performance or will they simply call for others, without specifying who those others are, to deal with the problem?” now, it was Wu Chunhua’s turn to sigh, as she was forced to voice a fear that had been growing in her gut.
“So, what are you doing about it?” Kevin asked, only to realise that his question was fairly disrespectful after it was out of his mouth. In return, Wu Chunhua could only give him a wan smile, admitting that she couldn’t do much as people weren’t as willing to listen to her and the other councillors as they had been a month ago.
“I simply do not know. A part of me wants to try knocking heads together, to shout at these people until they listen but I’m old. I’m afraid I’ll run out of strength before I run out of idiots. Another part of me wants to embrace this new world, to go on one last, great adventure and see what has changed. From what I’ve heard, there’s a whole new world out there and, honestly, I’d like to see it before I move on to that next great adventure,” she admitted, her smile turning into a bit of a grin.
“I know the feeling,” Kevin admitted, now grinning himself, “And you are not the only one curious about everything else. Ranging within a day’s march of the farm is one thing and just enough to whet your appetite. In some ways, the world has become so much bigger now that we simply don’t know what’s behind the horizon. But it has also become a lot more dangerous.”
“No, the danger has only shifted,” the old woman shook her head, thinking of the many dangers that had lurked in the world before the change, “Now, we can see the danger coming, it won’t just end in a flash of light and a burst of radiation,” she paused herself once more, taking a deep breath.
“If you and those, others, you speak of, decide to venture forth, I think I’d like to join you,” she admitted, putting her marker down and admitting, at least to herself, that the rabble had won at Apple Gate Farm. Hopefully, they wouldn’t burn it to the ground.