In the beginning, there was Tian, also known as the one. And from this one came two. And from two came the myriad things.
The second was known as Li, or Reason. When reflected within the world, it is known as Sakras, or the Jade Archon. From the immeasurable reason of Tian, it gave shape to the world, so that living things might embrace this reason and use it to grasp hold of the source.
Sakras pulled from the sky the sparks of heaven, using them to fashion for his court a host of royal deities. And he reached to the ground, creating humanity as his servants by pulling a cord through the dusts of the earth.
After he completed this, Sakras retired to his court, where he presides over the world, with him and his deities watching over humanity and over the four corners of the earth. Guiding people via the roles they are given and through their filial piety.
Or so we have been told.
But the Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao.
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In the land of Fusang, in the heart of the western metropolis, there is a wave of neon-lit skyscrapers that pierce the heavens, casting an iridescent glow upon the busy streets below. The surfaces of these skyscrapers are etched with the scars of a thousand holographic billboards, flickering with the all-too-ephemeral promises of a better life.
Though the world had developed technologically with time, humanity has found itself reliving its past in an endless cycle, emerging as if from of a fractal tree, sprouting itself anew at each seeming terminus. Generations come and go, each of them promising their descendants the vision of pure lands distinct from the toil of the mundane world, but then offering as a way to this future only the outdated frailties of the past as guidance. As a reflection of humanity at large, the city was a testament to this recursion.
At the center of this recursion was the temple of the Jade Archon. This temple was the core of society and, by extension, culture. The temple itself had a structure that defied conventional wisdom. Though it stood above the level of the surrounding skyscrapers with a design reminiscent of the gilded palaces of old, it also extended far beneath the city's surface, sprawling into directions unknown. The basement of the palace itself was at the center of a hole in space, with the reaches of its structure extending beyond reality as commonly understood and into the depths of hyperspace. What form it took there, one could only imagine.
The temple had an important function that was used by families in society. Throughout their life's journey, individuals would tend to make several pilgrimages to this sacred place to establish a connection with their ancestors and receive wisdom from their spirits. Here, the ancestors would be summoned from the machine of heaven, a repository of their information that is stored beyond the mortal planes. This would be projected into a hologram that one would speak with and recount various aspects of the family's dealings.
Despite its stifling presence, officially, there was no requirement to make use of the temple. The temple guards would not show up at your house to scrutinize your lack of participation, though their presence was often felt implicitly, and certain rabble-rousers tended to disappear from time to time. It was usually your family you were more afraid of. For many, their family would answer to the social structures, and they themselves were pressured by their family in turn. And so society became self-policing. Like a panopticon under the watchful eye of something no one had seen for millennia.
But today was different than all other days. Today was the day of Mei's visit to the temple.
Lan Xiumei had been demure ever since she was a young girl, usually preferring, as a result, the more simple name Mei to the full Xiumei. She trained in swordplay and painting from a young age and had dreams of being a semi-professional painter, though her family regarded her dreams with a mixture of indifference and skepticism, viewing them as mere distractions from their own visions for her future. Initially, she used to protest their plans, though as the pressure had ramped up over time, that was becoming infrequent, and her visits with her family adopted more of a tone of compliance.
Mei had been a forgotten child. Her parents had wanted a boy, as many in the culture did. But they had had three girls in succession before their first and only boy. She was the youngest of the three girls, and so was dismissed both on account of age and gender. As a result of this, she received little to no praise growing up, and was given no faith in her abilities. But despite this, she was expected to perform at the top levels all the same.
Try as she might, she couldn't live up to the expectations that were placed on her. As many in her situation did, she hoped to bide her time until a point where they considered her path reasonably sufficient to at least begrudgingly diminish the harassment... or failing that, to simply give up on her entirely, allowing her the freedom this lack of expectations might hopefully bring. But this moment never came. Rather than easing up, they only acted more hostile over time, beginning to speak of the need to cover up their shame over the loss of status they claimed her existence caused. Very little need was felt to actually justify the idea that she was bringing shame, nor to explain what exactly the shame she caused was. This was treated as a fact of life - something that was beyond question.
And if it is bad enough for the living to dictate your life, it is made no easier when they are empowered by countless generations of the hungry dead. And so, as a manifestation of culture, the spirits of the dead are called forth to propagate the will of the family. And by extension, the will of Sakras.
Today, she was to be given the proposed final plan for her future. Though of course, the word proposed suggests that it was being treated as a mere suggestion. But this was far from the truth. In actuality, they expected little resistance. In fact, they would tolerate little resistance. For such is the way of the family. On and on. Group after group. Day after day. Year after year.
But today was different than all other days. Today was the day of Mei's visit to the temple.
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The stairs to the temple were long and ostentatious. Although there was a statue of the serpentine deity in front, it wasn't really the focus of the experience, being treated as more of an abstract concept that was secondary to those whose guidance you generally came to seek. To some, little was made of the deity at all these days. Many families barely remembered the legends, treating the temple as more practical and utilitarian - as a tool of communication between this world and the other planes. Some had only a tenuous grasp of what even went on outside the ancestor shrines, although many would not admit this publicly if asked.
Mei glanced up as she ascended the staircase, with her long black hair trailing listlessly behind her. She had been here many times before, but she suspected that after today, they didn't intend to call her again. At least not if they could help it. Her family had never quite caught on that their desire to keep her in line didn't automatically result in immediate compliance. Each time they would act baffled anew that she had a desire to carve out her own life, forgetting each previous time that she had protested like it had never been.
She had already deciphered why she was being called; not that it was especially hard, of course. To hide the purported shame they believe she caused them, they intended to coerce her into getting married as a kind of veil. She reflected on the fact that she had not heard even word yet of the person who this would supposedly be with, and so hence they didn't think much of her opinions on the matter. Whoever it was was no doubt viewed as interchangeable with their status. And her as indistinguishable from a piece to be bargained with. After the arrangement, they no doubt intended to all but forget about her, at least in terms of any interactions besides further demands that is.
Entering into the colossal structure itself, she checked in with the cyber-rite-sages at the entrance, sliding her wrapped bundle below the table and hoping it avoided scrutiny. The rite-sages give you something they call a ring chip for your stay. The benign name and ambiguous description of it as for easier info transfer belies the darker truth that it functions essentially as an inhibitor. In practical terms, it makes it so they can prevent you from doing anything that would be a threat to the temple. But a more implicit use of it is to make your body physically more receptive, and by extension, your mind.
After check in, she was led by armored temple guards down the halls to the room designated for her own temporary ancestor shrine. The temple was so large that this journey could take some time, even though there were transport modules to speed up the process. As she walked, she felt a sudden stinging pain in her arm, but she had expected this already, and tried to suck it up for the duration. She looked up at the guards leading her, hoping they wouldn't notice her discomfort. Though from beneath their body armor one could sense no feelings, and at any rate they didn't seem to show any awareness.
The room itself was utilitarian and non-assuming when she arrived, glowing in dim blue light. While it had rows of servers to the side flitting with red lights, the back of the room had no wall, opening to a wide open space behind it that connected to the central gap of the building that went deep below where your sight could follow. On the far end of the room was an open ancestral altar. While people also had symbolic altars like these at home, the home versions didn't have the actual ability for direct communication, having a more decorative and symbolic role.
She walked up and placed an orange on the altar. On the opposite side, she lit a stick of incense, pointing it inward.
Returning to kneel on the provided pillow, she sat with her eyes closed for a short time. Eventually, she glanced up, her eyes resting on the solitary orange that she had brought out of tradition and thinking about its intended purpose. The spirit couldn't eat it. Was there a room underground where piles upon piles of oranges were being secretly collected?
But she didn't have long for quiet thought. Emanating from the server wall, a series of wires began to slither up to her, like disembodied snake tails, and connected themselves to her left arm that bore the ring chip, making it begin to feel like a heavy chain.
Ahead of her, a light shone, its digital contours cascading around the room, until finally a hologram began to solidify, and they were pulled together into the outline aura of a human shape. This form slowly coalesced into existence, as if remembering itself, and stood firm and proud.
Mei bowed to the ground.
“Hello, revered ancestor. I have come for guidance at the behest of the family.”
Of course, she wanted nothing of the sort. But the latter part of her greeting was, at least, true.
Her hyper-grandmother's name was Lan Mingzhu. Mei knew only a little about her in life; she couldn't even remember how many generations back she was. But she had been chosen as the family avatar who was the primary icon of it in death. While other spirits were sometimes contacted by family members, Mei had rarely seen any personally. The ones she had seen summoned were usually female, although she did not know why.
In the end, it mattered little. They weren't there to speak for themselves (though at times they did give anecdotes from their own past lives), but to be the voice of the family. Of countless generations of perpetuation of the family's same ideals. And of ruthless persecution of any deviation. Mei wondered what they did when the family wasn't interacting with them. If anything.
Her ancestor looked down at her with a blank expression.
“Welcome, child. We have matters to discuss. But it will take some time. Tell me, have you eaten?”
Mei reflected on the strangeness of the question. She considered saying she had some oranges on the way here, but thought that it might be a bad way to begin.
“Yes. Thank you for your concern. You don't need to worry about me.”
Her ancestor's expression turned cold. Mei was annoyed at how little it took to cause this. She tried to avoid conveying any sadness about this as her ancestor continued on.
“Do you still spend time painting?”
Mei responded in an even tone. She didn't like how stiffly she was expected to speak.
“Yes. I still practice frequently, although I've been too busy to do it as much of late. But I think I've gotten better at it.”
Her ancestor responded back. “But you don't make much money doing it, do you?”
Mei was annoyed by this. She had never intended for it to be a major source of income. Although she wanted it to be more than just a hobby and had hoped to get some degree of attention to her works, she didn't actually expect much, all things considered.
“No. But I get by. I can take care of myself.”
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Her ancestor scoffed. “Perhaps not very well.”
Mei was a little bit hurt by this. She did have problems in life, as most did, but she made sure to never be a major burden on her family. But little good it did her to try not to, since to them, existing in any way other than as exactly what they wanted from her already constituted a burden. And for that matter, sometimes even existing exactly how they did want was still treated as a burden all the same.
“Well, regardless, you need to put a stop to this. We arranged for something for you. You have been unmarried too long, and people will talk about the Lan family's unwed daughter.”
Oh boy, here it comes, Mei thought to herself.
“We found a good man for you. He is a doctor and comes from a respectable family. You can meet him tomorrow, as it has already been arranged with your parents. We believe this man will take good care of you.”
Of course he was a doctor. Mei didn't even want to ask how old he was. She'd probably be lucky if he was within a decade and a half of her own age. She also liked how she was talked about as if she was a passive observer that just needed to be taken care of. If this is how they saw her, why did they have to push her so hard for success that she couldn't live up to? If they thought of her like an inert object, they could at least have the decency to have comparable scales of expectation.
But there was no easy way to do it, so she had to just do it. She didn't want to beat around the bush or to drag this out any longer than needed.
“Sorry, revered ancestor, but I am going to have to respectfully decline. I have a life and calling for myself already. You are no doubt familiar, as I have spoken on this matter before.”
Her ancestor scoffed, much to Mei's dismay, although not to her surprise.
“You aren't serious. Those weren't real life plans.”
Mei responded back without breaking face.
“You know, I'm doing all right. I don't really have any problems. I don't need you to decide these things for me.”
Though Mei's life was nothing flashy, this much was also true. In a sense, at least. In truth, she did have some problems, and many of them were fairly large. But a good chunk of them were because of her family themselves. But needless to say, this is not something you could tell them. Not even if they were dead.
Her ancestor shook her head.
“You're wrong. This isn't good enough at all. Not for the Lan family. The way you are acting is selfish. You need to think more about the family. People only give you respect because of the family's reputation. Without us you are nothing.”
Mei was getting a little frustrated at this point. Her tone became a bit more aggressive, despite her initial intent to conceal her demeanor.
“You know, I've never even met this person you are talking about. Without even any information, what exactly should my motivation be for considering your idea a meaningful suggestion at all?”
Her ancestor stood up straight at this seeming offense, making a haughty expression and looking ruffled.
“Don't speak of what your family does for you this way. Do you know how hard your parents worked for you? You will be happy with him. He is a good son. He is a doctor and has a high status.”
Mei rested her arm on her free hand, annoyed that her ancestor was repeating herself at this point.
“Is that right?
Her ancestor went on:
“Your life has brought shame upon us. You need to be more reasonable. You have to be realistic about fixing what you have done and not chase personal fantasies.”
Mei gave up on paying attention and began to zone out of her harassment. She began to reflect on the fact that at this point her ancestor wasn't even bothering to list details for this supposed shame anymore. It was treated as an axiom that Mei herself was expected to believe was accurate. There was no conception of a difference of opinion, merely herself, apparently willfully choosing to be wrong.
Selfish, realistic, reasonable. She had heard each of these words so many times. Often, they weren't even connected to any supporting point. It was like they were being read off of a checklist that one wanted to make sure they hit all the target words for. As if they had seen this all play out before and felt the need to propagate it in a repeating pattern. With each new generation being absorbed into the system and passing the checklist between them to use on the next child, in a cycle of abuse.
She never stopped wondering what exactly the ostensible standards of propriety and shame that she was being held to were. And why they seemed so selectively applied based on the family member being assessed. While these ever-shifting standards had common threads at times, they were far from internally consistent. And yet your family would still commonly speak as if the weight of all society was behind their words. This being the case even for things you would struggle to find as a consistent standard elsewhere. Sometimes winning simply isn't possible. Even if you try to become what they want you to be, they may have already decided they are the type of people who will never be happy.
Her situation was not unique, of course. In many families, there would be a division between roles. From little more than birth order and gender, you could have a role assigned to you that you were expected to play without question. But the implicit roles were often more insidious. Such as being the one who takes warrantless blame for things no one wanted to accuse the chosen golden child of. She had long been jealous of people from other families who were less ruthless. Or even of her siblings, who had been given a better role by the mere standard of their birth.
Mei thought back to her childhood and to the first time she had visited the ancestor shrine with her parents. When you are younger, your parents do normally come with you, although not always. The first time she met her ancestor, Mingzhu, she had been a child. Her parents had had such a big smile on their faces and a much larger willingness to praise her over the smallest things. Her ancestor had been the same back then.
But over time, their smile had faded. It shifted from a smile to a blank expression. Eventually to a frown. Mei wondered if her ancestor herself had changed. But could you even change if you were a ghost? Or are you just a static call of tradition, relied on to be an unchanging authority wielded as a club by your family, who needed you as a manifestation of the demons of their own?
She ruminated on a thought that she had long wrestled with. That the truth might be far scarier. That perhaps her family had always been like this, as long as she had known them. Their pride in children might be limited by the child's own lack of ability to exist as their own person. And that the more they developed their own personality and their own path in life, the less they were appreciated. That they might become seen as like a disease, spreading to the body of the family, and which needed to be cleansed. Or, in extreme cases, cut out.
Mei held back tears, thinking of the future she had dreamed of as a child but which she had never been given the opportunity for, with it always slipping away as she tried to grasp it. Her family accused her of not caring about family. But the truth is that she cared intently – stronger than they could ever know. As a child, she made gifts for them. At the time, she remembered feeling a little sad to note that the gifts remained unused. Though at the time, she was willing to consider this a fluke or a flaw of her own. By the time she was a teenager, she would already spend hours at a time staring at the wall, wondering what it would take to make them love her. As an adult, she bent over backwards to try to accommodate them and make time for them, hoping they would appreciate the effort. But they didn't accept anything but total compliance. And they took any attempt to reach out to them as a sign of weakness. Of the resistance cracking, hoping they could finally control her completely.
Child. She thought of herself reaching back through time to her child self. Telling her to stay strong. Because the future would not be forgiving to her. But who would say such a thing to a child who hadn't yet been hit with the cruel reality of how they would suffer? To a child who still felt like they were loved? Who could still take joy in their family? And who believed it would be like this forever.
But such is the nature of change. Nothing is forever. And... this, too, shall pass. So to all the children, stay strong.
Mei opened her eyes. She realized that while she had been lost in thought, that some time had passed. Her ancestor was still rambling about something, though she assumed that it wasn't something particularly important.
But it was time. She was ready now. It was never easy to cut off someone you wanted to believe you could keep. But it was often necessary. And it could be painful... Like losing a part of yourself.
She stood up slowly, causing her ancestor's speech to trail off. And spoke with a newfound determination.
“Well then, let's put an end to all this. Sorry, but...”
She looked down.
“I answered you already. And I'm done talking about it. So... let's change the subject.”
Mei flipped an electronic chip out of her pocket and held it up with her free hand.
"Do you see this? This is the final override key. The White Lotus. I know you know what this is.”
Mei closed her eyes and made a sad expression.
“I know that you know this because I know that you worked on it yourself once. In another life. Before you gave all of that up."
She looked down at the chip between her fingers.
"It has been several centuries in the making. And now it has finally been completed.
"Make no mistake, this wasn't done by me. This isn't something I personally could have worked on. Not everyone is suited for everything, after all. Though... perhaps that is not something you understand. At least, not any longer.
“But... I have been training for the last ten years, all in preparation for this moment.”
Shock had been on her ancestor's face for some time. But gradually, it shifted to a tone of aggression.
“Stupid child. You are acting crazy. It is not your place to challenge how things are done. Do you think you are the only one who exists? Society needs the ways in order to function.”
Mei looked back up, sadly.
“Believe me, this isn't a choice I make easily. When you are raised to see something as the core of your world, it is difficult to accept that it is not only misguided but actively harmful. This whole structure... it has brought nothing but pain to the people I have cared about. And it has done so for countless generations.
“But... nothing is forever. At some point, even the cycle has to be extinguished.”
Her ancestor switched gears, scowling and shaking her head.
“You are worse than a dog. At least a dog is loyal. This is why you need discipline. Disrespect like this isn't going to take you anywhere. Did you think that even with such a thing as this, you would just be able to use it freely? No. That won't do at all. After all... we too have been preparing for this for centuries.”
As she said this, she held up her hands, and more of the serpentine appendages came out from the console, grabbing onto Mei's arm as she used it to shield herself.
“There are precautions for a reason. This is why we give you the ring chip. Your body can't resist us while you are here."
She took on a more cold expression.
“This is what it means to be part of a family. You must always do what you are needed to.”
Mei looked down at her own left arm, becoming heavy now under the weight of the claws, as if borne down on by the arms of Sakras.
But at the same time... she was beginning to feel a bit lighter. As if a great weight were taken off of her shoulders. She closed her eyes and smiled.
“Sorry. But no.”
Her ancestor was taken aback.
“No? You do not say no to me, child.”
Mei shook her head again. She slowly stood up, and despite the claws that were binding her, began slowly walking at a struggle towards the console. The cords tried to adjust as she did, grabbing tighter. But in this process, they began to act confused that they couldn't hold her back, despite having a firm grip on her arm.
As she pulled forward, blood began to drip out of her arm. Ultimately, the cords attached to it too began to snap off one by one as her ancestor looked at her, now in confused terror.
She got to within a hair's breadth of the hologram, staring it in the eyes for a moment that seemed to last eternally. And then she yanked one final time, ripping herself free from the machine and, in the process, letting her arm fall free off her body to the ground, spurting blood out all over the floor beneath them.
Her ancestor looked shocked, staring down at the scene that was unfolding before her as the pool of blood began to slowly make its way beneath her feet. She began stammering.
“Y-your arm. What have you done?
She paused, trying to take in what had just happened.
“You were... scanned upon entry. That means... You would have had to...”
Mei smiled again, weaker now from blood loss.
“That's right. I wasn't already like this. I severed my arm just now. After I entered the building. On the walk here. It was the only way to trick the machine.”
She pulled out the vibro-saber that she had snuck past the entrance and slashed through the remaining claws and the surface of the console, setting off alarms in the room. She pulled out an internal wired dock, holding it in her mouth due to the recent decrease in free arms, and connected a separate dock that would allow the override key to be read. Despite their whirring, the alarms were too late. If the key worked, the system would now be overloaded, causing a major crash that goes all the way back to the machine of heaven.
She held down the vibro-saber, stained red with her own blood, looking back at the spectral image and pausing with fiery eyes before she spoke.
“Perhaps now you can see how serious I am.”
She gestured down with the blade at her severed arm.
“You wanted to decide who to give my hand to. Go on. You can keep it.”
With the servers beginning to malfunction and fry from their damage, sparks flew across the room, and the water and coolant poured out, mixing with the blood on the floor and forming a larger pool of seeping red that crossed the room. The hologram of the spirit began to distort, her face still in shock. Warning signs were still popping up in various places, only for the deteriorating state of them to quickly vanish as the systems began shutting down.
Mei looked down at the blade in her hand and sheathed it – now more difficult due to only having one hand. She walked back to the hologram, which was now fading, leaning her head down on it and finally releasing the tears in her eyes that she had been holding back for so long.
“I'm sorry. I know that you were pulled into this as well. I wish it didn't have to be this way, but... I'll have to continue this path without you now. Thank you for everything you have done for me. And... thank you for giving me the gift of life.”
Mei rested quiet for another moment and then stood up tall, wiping her eyes for the last time, and turned around to walk out of the room. Wetting her fingers and putting out the stick of incense with them as she did so.
“Goodbye, great ancestor. I will remember you.”
The hologram's shock had finally dissipated into sadness. Though she wanted to speak, she now no longer had the energy. She stood watching as Mei walked away. Once she was alone, she looked down at her hands, which were beginning to fade as well. And rolled them into balls before finally fading for good.
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Mei entered back into the corridor, with the sound of blaring sirens and the flash of alarm lights surrounding her. Though the hall was empty, she could hear the sounds of footsteps moving closer, and with her having little chance to contend with many guards in her current state, she quickly grappled up to the rafters and made her way out through them.
Although she had devised her potential routes of escape ahead of time, they were not without dangers. Especially in light of the fact that she couldn't know in advance what room she would be starting from. There were certain parts of the building that were thinner than others, and she used her saber to carve through these, making her way through a series of lesser used accessways until she finally got to the outermost layer. Breathing a sigh of relief as she did that she managed to get out without running into any guards.
Finally out on the surface of the building, she was unable to hold back any longer and collapsed to her knees in pain, the shock of losing her arm hitting her all at once now that the injections of painkillers were wearing off. She injected herself again and used the heated part of her vibro-saber to quickly cauterize the rest of her wound. Though her arm would need much better attention, and preferably a mechanical substitute as soon as she could manage.
Weak from blood loss and needing to catch her breath, she rested for a moment, looking out over the city from a vantage point that before now she had never seen. Though you could see the stifling corruption from the streets, there was something beautiful about it when you looked at it from up above. It made you feel light and aerial, free from the constraints and chains of social reality.
She didn't have long to rest, though. Though she had planned out this escape route long earlier, and even with much of the facility now offline, the guards would no doubt discover her before long.
Or... something else would.
She looked up, slowly, and breathed in.
“I know that you are watching me. I can feel your thoughts.”
She looked up at the security camera that was now pointed at her.
“Right now you are wondering... Considering whether this is just a personal act of rebellion from someone who wanted their life back, or... a harbinger of something larger. But... I haven't had a life of my own for a long time now.”
She closed her eyes.
“...Perhaps I never did.
“My fate is intertwined now with the lives of all my sisters and brothers. And I won't be able to rest until we have worked to provide a path for all of them to be free from all the abuses that they have suffered.
“And then...
"After that, Sakras...
“...We are coming for you.”
After saying this, she stood back up, and slashed the head off of the camera, causing sparks to fly as its internal readout slowly faded to black.
“See you soon... Sakras.”