NationStates Jolt Archive

적과 아군

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This is a Special Presentation, brought to you by Munhwa Broadcasting Corporation. The following is a dramatization of events in the Han Empire, sometime after the end of World Cup 40 (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=552797), following the footsteps of a young woman. Watch the spectacular transformation of an enemy of the state as she understands what it means to be a citizen and the distinction between the anarchist barbarians and the civilized world.

OOC: Okay, so here's the deal. I've finally decided that I'm going to try this out. Basically, we've got the story of Pak Sumin, who is stripped of her citizenship privileges, and is now forced to live outside Imperial protection. I'm inclined to leave this closed, although I am open to special posts by interested members. The IC history behind this story is as Imperial propoganda on what it means to be a citizen and what it means to be an anarchist - of course, the anarchists lose. But oocly, this is an opportunity for me to "show" other people how Han society works without trying to make a ten-page dull and boring paragraph about the subject.

Since this work is a destination without a journey, I will be making up material as it comes along to me. So here's the deal: if you have a direction in which you would like to take it, let me know and I'll see if it works for me. TG me FIRST. Please minimize the use of ooc markers in this thread. I do check my NS account rather regularly (unlike some people...), so you will receive a reply, regardless of whether or not I like the idea. If I like it a lot, I may permit you to IC (or SIC) post in this thread. I will have a list of people authorized to post in this thread, so if you are not posting ooc (and again, please minimize ooc comments), and you're not on my list of permitted posters, then I'm going to ask you please remove your post before I ask the mods to intervene (and I will - although I haven't yet needed their intervention, thankfully). And so, I'm going to post it here for future reference.

OOC remarks are always in green.
IC remarks are noted by Blue Headings.
SIC remarks are noted by Red Headings.
(If you can't see my siggy, it's here for you)

Since my access to computers using Korean scripts is rather limited, I'm going to avoid using Korean scripts, instead preferring a personalized form of "Revised Romanization of Korean (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revised_Romanization_of_Korean)" transliteration to give a similar feeling of a non-English speaking environment. If using a foreign language (including English, oddly), I will indicate in parentheses preceding the statements and use a uniform method indicating that language. If it gets to be complicated, I will find another way to indicate foreign languages are being used.

A final note. Standard rules of RPing courtesy apply.

* No godmodding (http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=367578).
* No ooc flaming (ABSOLUTELY).




Dramatis personæ

Pak Su-min: main protagonist

Persons permitted to post in this thread:::
***

Pak Sumin was lazily watching videos on the Internet on her computer when she heard a knock at the door.

“Who is it?” she asked.

“His Imperial Majesty requests your acquiescence to an Imperial inquiry on your activities.”

“Not right now.”

“This is not a request.”

“You just said ‘requests’ now,” Pak replied.

“His Imperial Majesty implored your acquiescence to this inquiry. Otherwise, we will force it.”

“Do I have a choice then?”

The guard standing outside the door was silent. “Please, agasshi. I don’t want to make this any harder than it needs to be. I just have a few questions and I’ll leave you alone.”

“Is that a promise?”

“Well, I can’t guarantee anything after the questions, but I have nothing more right now.”

Pak thought about it for a moment. What did she have to lose except for a few seconds? She went to the door and let the man into her home. The guard was dressed in a silk tunic with a plumed hat. He courteously removed his hat and shoes before entering. “Thank you, agasshi.” He then moved to her living area, while Pak was moving out of her way to set things straight. The guard did not waste time.

“Is it true that you are a frequent visitor to the website…‘The Democratic Autocrat Online’ forums?”

“What does that matter?”

“Agasshi, the more honest that you are, the better I can deal with this.”

“Do you have a name?”

“I am not authorized to give a name.”

“Your name badge says ‘Jo’; is that it?”

“No. It’s just something so people can think I have a name.”

“Do you have one?”

The guard seemed annoyed with her questions. “If you answer my questions, I’ll be out of here sooner.”

“But I want to know you before I answer your questions. I’m not going to some stranger.”

“If you must have a name, you can call me ‘Jo Honggwi.’ Now…”

“Is that your real name?”

The guard didn’t feel like making the conversation any longer. “Yes. It is. Now. We have records showing that you were at the online forum – ‘The Democratic Autocrat Online’ – about 2 months ago, and were reportedly chatting there for about the next 6 weeks. Did you know that the website is sponsored by persons adhering to anarchist ideologies?”

“No. But then again, I don’t think that they were anarchist beliefs…”

“Allow me quote something that you wrote. ‘It’s time that the Empire caved to the desires of each person and allow us to breath in our own way, instead of everyone else’s way. How can a society act as one if we’re all different people? It’s nonsense, and the Empire will certainly fall because of it.’ Do you personally believe this?”

Pak was a little annoyed now. “I want to know how you got that information and why you think it’s me.”

The guard answered her quickly. “We track the Internet for certain things. We hadn’t known of the Democratic Autocrat until recently, when the owner of the account was discovered to be an anarchist. We fear that his ideas may have perverted some of its members into believing the ideologies of the Mujeongbu. We traced the IP addresses to their point of origin. You were smart enough to visit from a cybercafé, where we followed you by the security cameras at the café. Since it seems that you didn’t want people to know what you were doing, I suspect that you may be plotting something against the Empire, and I am determined to stop it. Do you truly believe in the Empire’s demise?”

Pak became adamant. “Civilizations rise and fall. What makes the difference?” She went to the kitchen to get herself a drink. The guard smiled as he noted her actions. “In every other house that I’ve visited in this community, I was greeted by people, and they offered me a seat. They offered me a drink. They suggested that I should stay for dinner. Of course, I rejected their hospitality, because of my responsibilities, but I have come here, and I have yet to hear the same hospitality from you.”

“Oh, so you want me to offer you a drink too?” Pak yelled back.

“No,” the guard replied. “I just hoped that you would be more civilized in your hospitality.”

“I do whatever I want. So %$#^ you.”

“Is that why the other tenants avoid you?” Pak hadn’t thought about that. She did have neighbors, but she didn’t care about them. They were just a nuisance. “You know, I came here on a mission. I have the authority to submit a paper to revoke your citizenship, because of your affiliations to anarchist ideology. The Emperor will not protect subjects who are willing to harm other citizens for the benefit of his name. Are you aware of the incidents surrounding the terrorist attack in Casari recently?”

“%$#^ that.”

“Mujeongbu terrorists committed it. We have extensive proof, and a number of their individual members had claimed a great victory that day. I wonder if you think that killing thousands of people will give you your desired goal.”

“Will suppressing the individual freedom of each person give you what you want?”

The guard shook his head. “I’m not here suppress your freedom. You can choose to live in our society and to live under His Imperial Majesty’s protection. But it comes with a contract to likewise abide by certain civil codes. We don’t mandate that every person is a hospitable host. I don’t expect every person to be kind to me. I do expect every person to respect me as a human. And your ideologies of anarchism don’t comply with that.”

“How so? Anarchy liberates the soul by destroying civil order! Civil order is the new prison of the human soul!”

“Civil order is the prison of our bestial habits. It’s what separates us from the animals.”

“And what difference is there between us and the animals? Survival of the fittest! Live and let die! Don’t you know? Don’t you know that we’re all on our own?”

The guard shook his head. “Some of us choose to live together. That’s the distinction of barbarianism and civilization.”

“You don’t seem to get the point! You’re sacrificing your freedom to succumb to some system that makes you inferior!”

“No. It makes me equal. Because no other person can do to me what I can’t do to them. If you want freedom, I would suggest that you leave this country before I revoke your citizenship.”

“I never was a citizen of this %$#^ %$#^ %$#^.”

“That’s all I wanted to hear,” the guard said. He went to the door and was about to set himself outside, but he turned to offer a last piece of advice. “If you wanted to know, I also had Imperial authority to sentence you to death for treason, but I’m hoping that you don’t prove me wrong in letting you slide. Because in about 24 hours, you will without a country and a home. The Imperial authorities will seize your property and return it to the landlord, who can lease it to another citizen more deserving of His Imperial Majesty’s protection. You think that you’re in prison, but I’ll tell you something now – there is a mother with two children living in an alley about two blocks down from here. Her husband is dead, and her children are hungry. Everyday she heads to the temple for food from the monks and the generous donors. I gave her 100 weon to pay for today’s meals and some new clothes, and I gave another 100 weon to the monks for taking care of her and her children. In an anarchist society, would you see the same?”

“Of course!”

“I ask you again, would you see the same in an anarchist world, where the fittest survive and the strong feast upon the weak, leaving them to starve, to wilt away? Does the lion share its meal with its kin? Does the stag run to help the injured flee from predators? In an animal world, they do not discern the needs of their meek kin. But among the animals, even they can turn civilized; if you really consider it, civilization is the fittest society, and civilization will do what it needs to fend off the uncivilized.” He headed out the door and into the world again. Pak was left to wonder what he meant by those last words. Wouldn’t an anarchist world bring more freedom? After all, it was the one thing that she sought.