Playing with Fire on a Nuclear Warhead

While soldiers in the bunker were distributing various rations to us foreign students, our supervising instructor quietly called me and took me towards the elevator.

“So, what is it you wanted to show me?”

“You’re already guessing, aren’t you? That thing in the basement of this school.”

The moment we two boarded the elevator. The lift started moving not up or down, but to the left. I silently waited for the bunker’s elevator to stop and its doors to open.

The elevator doors opened, and ‘it’ revealed itself. A huge warhead with a yellow radiation mark stamped on it. A launch vehicle dozens of meters long supporting the warhead. Such a huge and dangerous weapon was buried alone under this ground, almost as if abandoned.

Looking up was so dizzying that I couldn’t even see if that ceiling could open or not. But judging from the circumstances, this missile seemed to be launched right from this spot, so probably the ceiling above, or rather the floor when seen from the ground, would open and the missile would be launched.

There were only two things in this room: one large launch vehicle and an equally large fuel tank. There was no launch device, no control device, not even a safety fence or maintenance personnel. I let out a hollow laugh.

“It must be a model, right?”

“If this were a model, there wouldn’t have been people dying in Beiping, would there?”

“Why is such a thing being stored in a school?”

“China has too many nuclear weapons.”

Zhou Lizhi’s answer was simple and impressive.

“Because Russia is too vast. They say we can’t store enough hydrogen bombs to destroy that vast country without creating arsenals all over the country. And China is a very large country too, you know?”

“It’s a crazy world.”

I said sincerely. Zhou didn’t deny my words. Humanity now is no different from a clown doing a pop dance on a blade. One misstep and the body will be split in half.

“Why are you showing this to me?”

“You see? There’s no device to control the launch. In fact, the authorization button to launch this missile isn’t in Huangpu.”

“I see… Wait, not in Huangpu?”

“Not in Guangzhou. Not even in Guangdong province. The launch authorization for this button is only in Nanjing. The portable nuclear briefcase and the emergency war initiation button in the Presidential Office. It’s known that there are only these two. It’s the same for Beiping. Restoration of the Great Qing? But they couldn’t have sat in the Forbidden City and detonated a nuclear bomb in Beiping. What could that mean?”

“…I can’t even imagine.”

“Me neither…”

Zhou sighed deeply, looking up at the ceiling.

The nuclear missile, which until just now had only looked a bit scary, was now terrifyingly horrifying. If there was at least a possibility of being able to control this thing, it might not be this frightening. But this dangerous thing, this thing that could annihilate everyone here…

If it’s actually a bomb that no one can control, what on earth can mere humans do? Since joining the CIA, I’ve had countless thoughts that I joined the wrong organization, took on the wrong mission.

But as the situation has come to this, a completely different thought began to arise.

That I might have been born in the wrong era, on the wrong planet.

“Surely that crazy old man Chiang Kai-shek didn’t accidentally press the nuclear missile launch button while fumbling in his office.”

“Your words about the Generalissimo are disrespectful, Major.”

“Who cares. An atomic bomb exploded in one of China’s major organs. Should I still show respect for Nanjing in this situation?”

“Zhou Lizhi. You’re now…”

“They talked about the Mandate of Heaven. Those guys who were being arrested mentioned the Mandate of Heaven. Eun-young, the Great Revolution happened in France in the 18th century. And now it’s the 20th century. It’s been 200 years since the Europeans destroyed their own world of gods, but the words ‘Mandate of Heaven’ still remain in the hearts of Chinese people. Then, does the Mandate of Heaven exist?”

“I don’t understand what you’re saying.”

“I met the Governor of Guangdong last month. He was buttering me up because there wasn’t a single awakened officer in his subordinate command. The commander of the 1st Military Region of the National Revolutionary Army was boasting about how well they got along, so I snapped at him. I asked why don’t they overthrow the country with that great commander if that’s what they want. They talk about such things openly in front of me. It’s a strange world.”

“So what happened?”

“They made excuses that they don’t want to overthrow the country, but want to save it. So I met the 1st Military Region commander too, and this first-class general who directly commands 100,000 infantry and 700 tanks was bowing his head while serving me tea.”

“…”

“The Major must be quite scary.”

“It’s a crazy world. The Mandate of Heaven has disappeared, and everyone’s just playing with fire. It seems the country might fall into big trouble soon, and they spent hours telling me how grateful they’d be if I just turned a blind eye to what happens in Guangxi and Guangdong when the moment to save the country comes. It seems Guangxi province is also in on the plot.”

The situation in China is worse than I imagined.

Guangzhou is a city where even the CIA finds it difficult to approach due to the thorough security of the Chinese government. Are they saying that behind such thorough security that even American intelligence can’t penetrate, plots to overthrow the country are being exchanged?

Or rather, is it because the regional security is so thorough that even America can’t approach that such conspiracies are possible?

I’m not even sure if Zhou Lizhi is telling the truth. Could she have a pathological lying condition or be lying to me?

“Shin Eun-young. You’re one of the few people who’ve seen me at my weakest. Although we haven’t known each other for long, there aren’t many people I’ve shown as much to as you.”

“Well, I suppose so.”

“So I’m curious. Could the Mandate of Heaven come to me?”

“…Pardon?”

“The dream of the world, I mean.”

“Why are you saying such things to me?”

“Tell me. Beiping has fallen, and Nanjing’s authority will soon be shattered. Commanders and governors across the country are thinking exactly the same as me. But if the blue sky and white sun are really torn away… only here, the southern governors, afraid of me who controls the school, won’t dare to move their armies recklessly. Eun-young. Could the time come for me to receive the Mandate of Heaven?”

Should I give a political answer?

No. A political answer has no meaning now. I told her my thoughts sincerely.

“Only one school has burned down. The Republic will not fall.”

“…You think so?”

“Not yet.”

“…Not yet?”

“Even the Mandate of Heaven can only be received when the time comes. Right now, someone has just lit a cigarette in front of the powder keg. For an accident to happen, several smokers need to gather.”

“Bismarck said it. Europe is a den of madmen smoking on a powder keg.”

“And after saying that, he predicted that a spark from the Balkans would engulf the whole world.”

“It seems the Chinese have bigger guts. We’re playing with fire on nuclear warheads.”

At that moment, Zhou Lizhi suddenly grabbed my face and kissed me. Although I was expecting it to some extent since we were alone in a secret room, kissing a woman right in front of a nuclear weapon was a first-time experience even for me.

After she pulled away from me, I said,

“Zhou, even so, right next to a ballistic missile is a bit…”

“Lean on it.”

Zhou Lizhi said, pushing me towards the missile body. As my back hit the missile with a thud, an inexplicable chill and fear made my spine tingle.

Even knowing that such a slight movement couldn’t possibly detonate the explosive, I felt dizzy. She kissed me again.

“Thrilling, isn’t it?”

“It’s thrilling even though I know there’s no reason to feel thrilled.”

“It’s fun, isn’t it? Your heart pounding even though there’s no real danger to your life, this tingling feeling of coldness from doing something you shouldn’t. While the leaders of China, no, the world, are playing with fire that could really kill everyone. Shouldn’t we enjoy this much?”

Hearing those words, I turned around and pushed the Major towards the missile. I peeled off a piece of tape from my body and stuck one of Zhou’s hands to the missile body. I said,

“If we do this, you’ll fly away with the missile when it launches.”

“That would be electrifying.”

“I’m already electrified now.”

I kissed her directly while unbuttoning her uniform one by one. Yes, humans are stupid beings playing with fire on nuclear warheads anyway. We two were just cutely imitating that play with fire.