Chapter 51: Chapter 51: First Impressions

January 17, 1640

Leiforia, Leifor

Ambassador Reiker slicked his hair back as he looked into the mirror, applying gel and hairspray. His heart pounded somewhat rapidly as he thought of the official first contact that he was about to initiate with the Gra Valkas Empire. Having spoken with their representatives via radio, he felt uneasy about his mission. He wrapped up his hairdo as he exited the bathroom and donned his professional outfit. 

He walked out of his room, venturing down to the hotel lobby as he waited for the rest of his staff to meet up. Resting on one of the couches, he stared at the artwork on the ceiling, thinking about his upcoming missions. The woman on the radio seemed relatively polite, but the man — who identified himself as ‘Dallas’ — was rather unpleasant to speak with. He hoped, for a multitude of reasons, that he would be able to speak with the soft-voiced official who called herself Cielia. 

“Thinking about women again, are we?” Someone called out from behind his couch. 

Reiker scoffed. “That’s not all I think about, Mister Kovich.” He shook his head, smiling at the young, clean shaven man who took a seat across from him. 

Kovich continued to tease, “Oh, of course not, but you were thinking about that at this very moment, huh? What was her name… Cielia?”

“Alright,” he sighed, “You got me. I’ve actually been thinking about my approach. I followed the outline from Secretary Heiden, but I still feel like that man, Dallas, is a wild card. This discussion relies heavily on respect and logic — something that I don’t anticipate from Mister Dallas based on his manner of speech.”

“Hmm,” Kovich thought. “It might be strategic to distract him. Talking about how his name is a city in Texas could help bridge some gaps, maybe form a new connection. I’ve heard how he interacted with Mu. Keeping him in shock — be it through our technological exhibits or by talking about his name — could help us prevent the issues encountered by Mu.”

“Yeah,” Reiker nodded. “You’re right. I’ll make some comments if he is as troublesome in person as he is over the radio. As for our presentation, should we include any last minute augmentations? Perhaps a demonstration of how our phones work?”

“Well, we are given some leeway according to Secretary Heiden’s instructions. If it becomes necessary in order to convince their diplomatic staff then I guess we could do that. Say, if they get confused or maybe look unconvinced.”

“Alright,” he took a breath. “Looks like everyone else is here. Ready?”

Kovich nodded. “Yeah.”

——

Reiker’s diplomatic team traveled to the Gra Valkan Foreign Affairs building via taxi, traversing recently paved roads and witnessing yet-uncleaned scenes of destruction along the way. The main roads were clear of debris, but several destroyed buildings still remained. The fact that the Gra Valkas Empire knew of an becoming delegation and still neglected to clean up after themselves painted a grim image of their society and leadership. Clearly, they wanted everyone to see the devastation; they wanted to remind foreign nations of just how powerful they are. 

“How distasteful,” Kovich remarked. 

Reiker agreed, “After seeing this, Dallas’ conduct does not come as a surprise anymore.” He gave an expression of disappointment as he looked up at the blocky structure ahead. “Let’s hope he tones it down after our presentation.”

Reiker’s delegation walked in, finding the lobby relatively empty. The only other visitors present were sullen diplomats from smaller neighboring countries — ones that were forcibly dragged into the Gra Valkan Empire’s sphere of influence. After a short conversation with a receptionist, the American delegation was brought to a large meeting room on one of the upper floors, complete with a view of the entire Leiforian cityscape — or what was left of it. In the background, dozens of aircraft filled the skies, conducting exercises that reflected the excellent coordination boasted by Gra Valkan pilots. 

Within a few short minutes, their Gra Valkan counterparts finally arrived. Although Reiker had never seen them before, he was able to quickly determine their identities. The messy-haired and slouchy individual was clearly Dallas. Carrying himself like a drunkard, he displayed little etiquette and even raised his legs on the table the moment he plopped down in his seat. The tall woman with a trench coat and glasses caught Reiker’s eye; this was Cielia. 

Both sides made short introductions before proceeding with the meeting. While they prepared their respective materials, they engaged in small talk. 

“It’s a pleasure to finally meet you in person, Miss Cielia,” Reiker offered his hand. 

“Likewise,” she replied. 

“I was under the impression that we’d also meet with Mister Gesta?”

“That was the original plan, yes. However, a few issues surfaced at home and he was unable to participate in today’s discussions. Did you wish to speak with a man?” She asked. 

Reiker pulled back, raising his hands. “Oh, no. I have no issue with this arrangement. In fact, women in the United States enjoy the same personal freedoms as men!”

Curious, Cielia asked, “The right to vote?”

“Of course! We also have anti-discriminatory legislation to prevent workplaces from treating female employees any differently from male employees,” Reiker elaborated on the feminist ideals within the United States, hoping it could improve Cielia’s perspective on his country. 

His statements had the intended effect on Cielia, who immediately thought of the mistreatment suffered under her colleagues and even her superior, Gesta, who constantly reminded her of her unique circumstances. If it weren’t for her intelligence, she wouldn’t have reached such a high-ranking position. Setting aside her jealousy for women in the United States, she replied with mild enthusiasm, complimenting America for such progressive values. “That’s incredible! The Gra Valkan Empire isn’t quite at that stage yet, unfortunately,” she spoke, matching her sorrowful eyes with those of Reiker’s. 

“It won’t be too far away, Miss Cielia,” he said, reassuring her. 

“HDMI is connected,” Kovich said.

He looked back at his team, noticing that they had completed their presentation setup. “Anyway, let’s get to business.” He nodded at Kovich, who played the presentation. “Using this device known as a ‘laptop’, we wish to give you a basic overview of the United States of America. Some of this information may be familiar, from our earlier discussions over the radio. They will be supplemented by visual aids, which will appear on the monitor,” he gestured toward the flat screen mounted atop a thin stand.

On the screen, a title appeared over a crisp video of the American flag waving against the backdrop of a bright blue sky. Astonished by the quality and fluidity of the video, the Gra Valkans stared with shocked expressions. While the American anthem played in the background, a voiceover summarized the purpose of the video before transitioning into a map of the United States, defining basic geography. 

Similar to the videos shown to the Mu and Parpaldia, the video described basic facts about the United States, including population, territorial size, and culture. Details on the scope of the United States and her economy didn’t faze the Gra Valkans much, who were used to large numbers due to the development of Yggdran nations. The true shock came when the voiceover shortly went over the American governmental system. 

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“A republic?” The Gra Valkans began to whisper. 

As expected, Dallas scorned the very idea of democratic government. “I’m surprised a constitutional republic even lasted this long, let alone became the most powerful nation on this… Earth. You’re either lucky, or everyone on Earth is pathetically undermatched.”

Reiker played it off coolly. “If that’s what got you all worked up, Mister Dallas, I’m sure you’ll enjoy this next part.”

The video glossed over major cities in the United States, showing cherry-picked scenes generally used to entice tourists. “Along the West Coast, we have major trade hubs at San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Diego.” The video continued to show beautiful clips of landmarks and scenes from the respective locations before moving on to the southern region of the United States. “Before the transference, the continental United States used to be connected to a nation known as Mexico,” the presentation said, showing a localized map of the region on Earth before replacing it with a map of the region on Elysia. “Now that a new southern coastline was introduced, several new cities have sprung up to take advantage of natural resources and trade! Cities close to the coast have enjoyed significant boosts to their prosperity, leading to a mass migration. Cities that are relatively close to water, such as Dallas, Texas, have also experienced…”

Putting his legs down from the table and sitting upright, Dallas focused his attention in the presentation. Reiker certainly wasn’t kidding when he had suggested an interesting presentation point. “A city, named after me?” He asked, pitch raising toward the end. His ego began to inflate in anticipation for the answer. 

“Yes,” Reiker said. “Well, not necessarily named after you, but this is one among many similarities that we’ve noticed. The following section — after New York — should discuss some of them.”

The Gra Valkan side remained silent as the presentation showed Manhattan and her towering skyscrapers, along with the Statue of Liberty standing proud beside the creations of her children. Cinematic shots of the glistening city of glass confirmed the economic power of the Americans. Having seen the other cities already mentioned by the presentation, the Gra Valkans felt only hopelessness as the appearance of the city further exemplified the difference in wealth between the two nations. Cielia looked over at Dallas, who seemed quieter than usual. In the face of overwhelming evidence, even Dallas’ ego could be crushed. Cielia suppressed a smile beginning to form, reverting focus back toward the video, which was now discussing German culture and Nordic languages. 

Oddly enough, the similarities pointed out by American scholars in the video were very profound, up to the point that names and words were shared. “With the information procured by Ambassador Reiker, the United States government hired hundreds of German nationals who were cut off from their homes back on Earth. Historians and linguists alike were employed to analyze the curious similarities between the Gra Valkans and Nordic and Germanic cultures. For example, their planetary name of ‘Yggdra’ seems to be derived from ‘Yggdrasil’ of Norse mythology. The researchers discovered that the Gra Valkan grammar, language, and syntax is very similar to German,” the announcer explained. A chart of German and Gra Valkan words appeared on a screen, connected by arrows to distinguish translations. “Working around the translation magic inherent to Elysia, the researchers primarily focused on names. One such example is the name of the Yamato clone that the Gra Valkans are proud of: the Grade Atlastar. Researchers were able to translate it to the ‘Great Attractor’.”

“Is that accurate?” Reiker asked. 

“It is.” Cielia nodded. 

“So I see that your society is well-versed with cosmic phenomena. That’s interesting, although perhaps a story for another time. While we’re on the topic of battleships, I’d like you and your colleagues to pay close attention to the next part of the presentation. I’ll be frank; we’ve done research into the Gra Valkas Empire and found a lot of negativity surrounding your imperialism and warlike tendencies. I apologize if this is a bit blunt, but I hope this portion of the video imparts enough information to prevent your Empire from any misguided assumptions.”

Cielia looked at Dallas, immediately understanding the reasoning behind Reiker’s words. “We’re keen on keeping an open mind,” she said. 

The final part of the presentation covered American technology. Structured chronologically, inventions such as the combustion engine were listed, followed by their applications in the civilian and military sector. Considering the Gra Valkan Empire’s level of technology, the video focused on an analysis of World War 2, whereby scenes of war were portrayed and units studied. In particular, the Yamato-class battleship was broken down, resulting in much shock amongst Cielia’s team. The presentation went on to analyze aircraft such as the Japanese Zero, the German Messerschmitt and Focke-Wulf fighters, and the American Mustang. 

“1940s… so this period of conflict occurred almost eight decades ago?” Cielia asked for clarification. 

“That is correct,” Reiker said, giving Kovich the signal to pause the video. “Technology has advanced a lot since then.” 

“Might I ask, how did the war end?”

Reiker pulled his eyes away from Cielia to look at the monitor. His expression seemed to change, showing an emotion that Cielia couldn’t decipher. “The United States came out on top, of course. As for the details of victory… This is something that my superiors spent many days discussing. As I’ve mentioned before, our research into the Gra Valkas Empire showed hyper-militaristic aggression. Do you think our research resulted in an accurate conclusion?”

Cielia agreed after a short pause. “Yes. We had conquered much of Yggdra and were preparing to completely dominate the entire planet. Right before we declared war on our rival, the Divine Kingdom of Kain, we were whisked away. I suppose this conclusion can also be supported by our actions against Paganda, Inertia, and Leifor.”

“Yes. Due to this conclusion, and with careful consideration of your empire’s technological level, we decided to release information that we have otherwise kept. Nations at war tend to have a obsession of superweapons; Imperial Japan and Nazi Germany were no exception. In fact, my superiors deemed it necessary to convey this information.”

Cielia and her colleagues shrunk back. Even Dallas became a bit concerned with Reiker’s unwavering, solemn tone. “So, how did you win World War 2?”

Reiker resumed the video. 

A dark screen with quotes replaced scenes of war. “The atom bomb was no ‘great decision’. It was merely another powerful weapon in the arsenal of righteousness,” an audio clip from then President Truman said. 

Ominous music supplemented by heavy bass played in the background, adding to the suspense generated by these dark statements. After Truman’s quote, Dr. Oppenheimer’s audio clip played. “We knew the world would not be the same. A few people laughed, a few people cried. Most people were silent. I remembered the line from the Hindu scripture, the Bhagavad-Gita; Vishnu is trying to persuade the Prince that he should do his duty, and to impress him, takes on his multi-armed form and says, 'Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.' I suppose we all thought that, one way or another.”

As the quote came to a conclusion, the dark screen and text were replaced by footage of an unsuspecting Japanese city. Then, an explosion. 

Reiker looked back at his Gra Valkan counterparts to analyze their expressions. At first, confusion dominated their faces as all they saw was a bright light. Then, realization settled in and violently removed the confusion from their faces, replacing it with horror as the brightness faded and left behind a rising mushroom cloud. An entire city, wiped from the face of a planet in the blink of an eye by the uncontested power of the sun. 

Doubling down on intimidation, Reiker issued a warning to the Gra Valkans. “We did this not once, but twice. The Japanese were in disbelief after the first bomb. It took a second to convince them that the devastation was real, and that we have more bombs to use on them.” The flash of Nagasaki’s destruction played behind him as he spoke with a sorrowful voice. “Hundreds of thousands of people were killed — men, women, children. Soldiers, civilians. The elderly, babies.” Pictures of the aftermath filled the screen. “Miss Cielia, I implore you to convey this to your leaders. We wish to avoid this destruction and needless death of innocents as much as everyone else. Let this serve as a warning: please don’t grow overconfident and think you have a superweapon that will defeat us once and for all. We have thousands of these superweapons, much more powerful than the ones you saw in the video. Our experience in this world was full of civilizations who continued to refuse to acknowledge our might. The Lourians and Parpaldians thought that ‘guided light arrows’ were too fantastical to be true, and they suffered for their denial. We hope that the Gra Valkan Empire doesn’t make the same mistake. We hate being the destroyer of worlds, but if it is to save American lives, we will not hesitate to ensure their safety.”

——

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