While Stacy was talking to her Benefactors, Naz, Riley, Angel and Marilyn’s Benefactors had gotten together and wanted to talk to them together. So they gathered in another part of the facility at Kirovskaya Ulitsa. This room was similar in layout to the room where Stacy talked to her teammates, except it was bigger and had more screens. And on these screens, there were four times as many Silhouettes as normal.
One member from each of their four sets of Benefactors made a brief self introduction, then the floor was given to one Benefactor.
“… All of you were forced to leave your home countries because you were trapped in a dangerous situation. But only Anastasia has a kill order placed on her head directly from the highest power in her country. That is because she has great potential within her. And her great potential makes it possible for all of you to survive together and attain great deeds together.”
“Um, what if I don’t want to attain great deeds?” Riley challenged. She lifted a long, white, graceful hand that resembled a swan or crane. “I know I really infuriated some people in Lithuania by seeming to take the side of foreign Jews. But all I was trying to do was to correct a biased version of history. That’s no great deed.”
“Rugile,” a Benefactor spoke. Riley recognized her voice as one of her Benefactors.
“All of you here have your own great potentials to unlock. And you can indeed develop your potentials on your own. But due to the nature of the enemy, the threat facing all of you who are the last generation of Soviet-born children, you cannot fight alone. You must be joined with Anastasia in a team. You protect her with your skills, and she protects you with hers.”
Angel frowned. As a straightforward person, she noticed the use of terms like Enemy, Threat and Fight. She glanced quickly at Riley, and saw that Riley had the same expression on her face.
Kazakhstan and Lithuania were about three thousand kilometers apart. But most of the distance between them was occupied by just one country. And nearly all Kazakhs and Lithuanians had similar concerns about that country.
“Seriously, what is so special about her?” Marilyn spoke up. “I know she was pretty brave – I must have read all her reports from the Chechen war – but there are brave journalists who cover every conflict.”
Marilyn was not bothered by terms like Enemy, Threat and Fight. A security agency could use these terms in a theoretical context, so it didn’t necessarily mean conflict was imminent.
“Anastasia has a nascent ability to induce peaceful feelings in people nearby,” another Benefactor said. This time Marilyn could recognize his voice as one of her Benefactors.
“We call it a Tranquility Aura. And she also has great potential in mental resistance. Given enough time and cultivation, she will be largely immune to mind spells. And then she can use her abilities to prevent others from being mind controlled. While her Tranquility Aura will reduce the ferocity of others’ attacks on you.”
Riley and Naz did not seem to appreciate what was being said, but Marilyn had experience working for security agencies. She understood immediately.
“Every team needs to be able to cover its members. From what you’re saying, Stacy will use her mental –
her Mind Spell immunity and aura to protect us while we fight.”
“Yes.”
“But why would we want to fight? And why us?” Riley asked. “The USSR is gone; the future for Lithuania is NATO and the European Union. We are secure economically and politically. Is there a need for fighting?”
“Because there are forces at play in the ex-USSR right now,” several Benefactors spoke together, as though they had memorized it or it was a self evident great truth. “The Soviet collapse half a generation ago has left a lot of people upset and estranged from their societies. Many are alienated and desperately in search of purpose.”
“We’re all plagued by this,” Marilyn said, and Angel nodded.
“Muslim fundamentalists, Muslim extremists, ethnic nationalists, racial and ethnic tensions, pan-Turkic propagandists, amoral capitalists, big foreign multinationals… it’s driving our respective security agencies insane.”
“Exactly,” a Benefactor said. “Many people’s minds are now vulnerable to exploitation. They will have difficulty resisting the mind spells cast by nationalistic politicians, religious preachers and demogogues of all stripes.”
Angel stared at this Benefactor. Her voice sounded familiar, so she could be one of Angel’s Benefactors.
Riley decided to continue testing the Benefactors.
“Say, after you tell me all these, what if I don’t want to cooperate? If I want out?”
“There is nothing to stop you from exiting.”
“Wait, you can say this. But now I’m in Russia. I don’t have a passport. At least, the passport you promised is not yet ready. How do you think I can leave safely?”
One of Riley’s Benefactors spoke gently.
“Rugile, we will not put petty obstacles in your way. If you truly desired to leave, we will equip you with a passport for sure. You may need to live in our facility off Kirovskaya Ulitsa for a few months until the passport is ready, but we will arrange a modest bank account for you sufficient to pay for three months’ expenses. Then safe transportation out will be arranged, and you can make a fresh start.”
The Benefactor stopped, but everyone sensed that it was a pause, and Riley said nothing in response.
“But what you can never achieve on your own, is the highest level of your self-actualization.”
Another Benefactor sat forward in her chair and pointed at Riley.
“You have great potential, Rugile. We would like to help you develop it. And this team has great potential. Together you can achieve far more than you can hope to ever attain on your own.”
“But you cannot grow without facing challenges and risks. You also need dedicated mentors and calibrated challenges to assist your growth. And you also cannot grow properly without having a community of like minded individuals around you. You will have these if you stay with this team.”
Riley folded her arms and said nothing.
Marilyn spoke up.
“I’ll be honest. I think you know me better than I know myself, so no point lying,” Marilyn smiled, but unlike her usual self, it was in a strained manner.
“I was a keen young person a few years ago. Wanted to get a good job, make the best of her life, defend her country against retrograde fanatics. But I joined an organization that made me do things I regret. What’s to stop me from being tricked or ordered to do bad things again?”
…
Angel spoke: “And what if I want to change my destination? I was supposed to be a chemical engineer. Even if I don’t stay in Kazakhstan, I’m sure I have a bright future in other countries. Why should I stay with this group?”
“We will offer you good pay. We have prepared an excellent living and working space for you. We will furnish support, mentorship and offer you missions that can develop your potential. All we ask is for a two year commitment from you as a team. The commitment can be renewed in two years, and then renewed again. But ultimately there is nothing to stop you from leaving.”
Of all the things he said, this Benefactor’s words were most convincing in the last sentence.
The Soviet Union had produced endless propaganda to try and convince its people that it was a socialist paradise. But ultimately it still refused to let disgruntled people leave. In contrast, if these Benefactors were willing to let someone leave their team, it was worth the risk to try out.
Riley unfolded her arms and made an open gesture.
“I can do this,” Riley said simply. “Everything I have seen so far suggests you have invested seriously in us, and are entirely prepared to sustain this level of support.”
Riley glanced at the others, who made similar gestures of assent.
At that moment something happened. The Benefactors’ silhouettes moved a little. They seemed to be looking at something – maybe they were reading off a screen in front of them.
After twenty seconds or so, the four women’s Benefactors seemed to relax and return to their former positions.
“It’s done.”
“She assented to lead, and the team will be called ZIL.”
An audible hush followed. Practically everyone stopped breathing or moving.
The group here had been gathered and given instructions by their Benefactors to rescue somebody in Moscow. They didn’t know previously that this someone would be assigned a leadership role.
“We know who will be the leader, but first we must assemble the group. And then we will tell you…” the Benefactors had said to Riley, Naz, Angel and Marilyn in different ways.
Riley looked sharply at the benefactors.
“When you rescued me to be part of this group, I accepted that there would eventually be a leader selected. But, well, why her?”
…
There was an uncomfortable silence in the rest. They understood that the woman they had just rescued was a known journalist. Stacy had taken risks to investigate human rights abuses, and was a generally decent person. But they were also all from ex-Soviet lands. There was not a whole load of goodwill towards Russian leadership or Russian ways in their home countries. All of them were bearing some kind of personal misfortune thanks to the Soviet legacy, so no one was in any hurry to accept a Russian leader.
…
One Benefactor spoke up. He reminded them of Stacy’s potential: her rare Tranquility Aura, her ability to resist Mind spells, and her great ability to develop a broad range of magical skills.
“Um, mana potential is one thing,” Angel spoke up. “I know I have no mana and no magical potential. But I guess, it is, insensitive? I don’t want Russian leadership on our airship. No big sister Russians.”
Unspoken was Angel’s historical memory passed down from her parents. Soviet collectivization had deprived Kazakh herders of their freedom and culture, and created a terrible man-made famine called the Goloshchekin genocide. (The enormously well informed human rights activists of the West rarely cited this.)
And that was just the Kazakh side of Angel’s family history.
One grandparent was a Crimean Tatar. If she hadn’t been deported to Kazakhstan from her hometown thousands of kilometers away, there would be no Angel.
Another great-grandparent had helped form the first independent Turkic republic in the world, Bashkortostan in 1917. But he was forced to flee Bashkortostan and hide in Central Asia when the Bolsheviks became repressive and broke their promises to give the Bashkirs autonomy.
So Angel was a product of Russian and Soviet oppression and misgovernance.
…
Riley started speaking.
Despite being normally very outspoken, Angel had retained some Kazakh sense of hierarchy. So she was restrained with people she considered her elders. The normally reticent Riley was a lot more blunt, attacking the issue without hesitation like a Vytis, a Lithuanian knight. Since Lithuanians did not have a similar sense of hierarchy.
“… to put it another way, the Russians totally screwed over Lithuania and everybody else. I don’t want to be accused of racism, but I’m not falling over myself to take orders from a Russian leader. In fact, I really want to get out of these parts as soon as possible.”
There was a pregnant silence. To some, the Benefactors were weighing Riley’s comments. But actually the Benefactors merely wanted to give everybody some time to think for themselves.
“Rugile, you’re more Russian than Anastasia,” a Benefactor said at last. “You have the most Slavic Rus blood among the five of you.”
“That can’t be! You should already know I’m half Lithuanian and half Baltic German,” Riley said.
“I AM Lithuanian,” she added after half a second for emphasis.
“You have an unbroken paternal line that is Lithuanian. And your mother has an unbroken paternal line that is German. But more Rus ancestors from both sides of the family than any other ethnicity.”
A stunned silence fell over the group. None of the Benefactors had admitted to anything or revealed anything about themselves so far. Certainly they hadn’t drawn anybody’s blood or saliva samples for a DNA test. But the way this Benefactor spoke, was of absolute certainty. It was a fact. It wasn’t a speculation based on the probabilities.
The large majority of Riley’s ancestors were indeed Slavic Rus people. Whether they could be called Russians, or whether other names like Ruthenians, Volhynians, Ukrainians, Belorussians or even Rusyns were more appropriate, was a matter of debate since borders and national identities had changed over time in the vast continental spaces of Eastern Europe. Because Lithuanians were a small ethnicity ruling a territory ten times bigger and ten times more populous, intermarriage over hundreds of years had…
Riley felt her pale cheeks burning. It was not impossible, probably not even incorrect, but nobody had ever told her this. She couldn’t accept it on short notice!
…
“Just so we are clear,” Naz spoke up. “You’re saying this Stacy – Anastasia – is less Russian than Ri-, I mean Rugile? I’ve always assumed that she was an average Russian.”
“And what is the average Russian?”
Naz paused, unsure how to answer that question.
“You also have more Russian blood than Anastasia.”
“I’m part Georgian, part Udmurt and part Ukrainian – Eastern Ukrainian and Kuban Cossack.” Naz tossed her beautiful red hair to stress the Udmurt part. “Udmurts are a part of the Russian Federation, but not Russians or Slavs!”
“The part that came from Ukraine, first came from Russia as soldiers a long time ago,” the Benefactor calmly replied. “You have ancestors who lived in Novgorod and Arkhangelsk.”
Naz was quiet about that.
…
Another benefactor interrupted without explaining: “Anastasia is 0% Russian by race, and 100% descended from natives of lands that are part of the Russian Federation.”
“Uh…” Marilyn spoke up timidly. “I think this talk about blood and parentage is not ideal.”
“Point taken,” a Benefactor said. “But would you like to know a bit about yourself?”
“I’ve always assumed I am Uzbek. At least, I’m entirely brought up as an Uzbek.”
“Like everybody in these continental parts, you have mixed origins.”
“I am Iranian, Mongol and Turk?” Marilyn offered immediately, without exuding any negative vibes.
“There’s a bit of different Eurasian nations in all Uzbeks,” the Benefactor replied, without specifying anything.
Nobody asked why the Benefactor knew all this. Somehow, it seemed correct that the Benefactor would know. But the shift to Marilyn somehow relaxed the atmosphere. Or maybe it was just Marilyn’s smiley face and relaxed body language. After all, Uzbeks recognized that they were a tribe, not a race.
Uzbeks were known for being ferocious warriors in the past. Tamerlane was from what is now Uzbekistan today. Uzbeks were not currently an enemy of anybody else in the group. Yet going further back, Marilyn had ancestors who had posed a serious threat to peace in all of Eurasia. Thus the Benefactor reminded everyone of these continental realities. On a vast continental space with relatively few geographical barriers, there would always be some ancestor who did some other ancestor wrong.
Uzbeks were once everybody’s enemy. Today they have few enemies. Things can change.
Naz spoke up. “I vote we don’t discuss anybody’s ethnic or racial origins in relation to qualifications to lead or do anything. It makes me feel like a, um, well, fascist.”
The name Nazi when written in Georgian, looks a little like Babo in the Latin alphabet. It was baby-cutey and had adorable rounded curves. It originated from the Persian word Naz, which means Cute. Not to mention it was a very feminine name in Georgian. But when pronounced in different languages it perpetually made Naz appear to be the child of unrepentant right wing extremists.
“Me too,” Riley followed Naz. “Keep race out of this.” She was still smarting from the latest revelations.
“I won’t object to someone of Russian nationality leading us,” Angel said. “So long as she doesn’t have all the negative characteristics associated with Russian Big Sisters.”
“You mean, the negative characteristics you associate with Russia,” a Benefactor admonished. “Which happens to be the same negative characteristics that outsiders associate with Kazakhs.”
Angel lowered her head.
Marilyn shrugged her shoulders. “You have told us before that the leader cannot rule by fiat. She still needs us to approve her initiatives?”
“Right,” several Benefactors replied together.
“Then let’s see it,” Marilyn said with a smile. “I can follow this leader until she proves unworthy.”
Marilyn’s smiley acceptance helped foster a change in the mood, and there was no further objection to Stacy being appointed the leader.
Seeing that all four were now willing to accept Stacy as their leader for now, a tall, thin Benefactor stood up to give his conclusion:
“Nurturing human talent takes time. We are now building teams that would be very powerful years from now, to take on the inevitable challenges of our world. One day you may come across our other teams in their own airships or ships. Rest assured that everyone means well.”
Now all the Benefactors spoke together:
“You will live together in the same airship. In The Real World™, all people live together on the same planet.”