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34 ‎ ‎ ‎ The Past And Potential

RUSSIA
Dinner was served soon after they were able to shake everyone awake; a variety course of dishes like lobster bisque, cucumber cups and crab salad, lamb racks, and chocolate fondue. When China politely shooed the attendants out of the room after the placement on the large circular table, Russia was positive he had some new genius plan prepped and ready.

He was right. China barely took a bite before he cleared his throat and pulled a piece of paper out of his pocket.

"Okay, now that we're all here, I thought of a new phase to the plan and I thought it best to explain it now so it can be executed smoothly the minute we land in Tokyo." A series of nods from the group.

"We've got... I think, all we can find about the so-called war that happened. Something happened after the Cold War, we were banned from going to the real world, our memories were wiped, and America and Russia seem to play a bigger role because of a leaderboard, or global rankings. France wrote a diary, something about converging energy which Germany assumes was used to make the dimension portals like the Portal Path. What am I missing?"

"The lockbox," Canada said immediately. "Oh my god. Did you take it?"

China's eyes widened. "N—no. I don't remember— I put it and the key on my bedside table—"

"I have it," Russia blurted. He could feel the heat travel in waves to his face as the entire table's focus shifted to him. "You left it in the living room area, not your room," he insisted, and North heaved a heavy sigh of relief from next to him.

"Let's take a look at it in the Airbnb in Japan," Italy nodded.

Russia swallowed and tried to calm his pulsating heart. The box still sat stubbornly, along with the letters, in a pocket of his suitcase.

"Yes. Sure," China muttered, still looking stricken and recovering. "Anyways"— another inhale— "that's what we have so far, which is pretty impressive, but nowhere near enough. So I came to the conclusion that we're always meeting dead ends because we don't have the basics. We need to know the root cause of the memory loss— analyze the chip, maybe get a copy, see what's in Vietnam's brain. And then, if we can, find out more about our origins and how exactly we became Representatives in the first place. That fills in more of the timeline and completes the background."

"When Germany offered to go to Japan, I thought it was genius. Japan has seen revolutionary technological growth and modernization the past few decades, which is why the United Nations University, the UN's think tank and academic arm, is located there. Although there is a library open to the public, which we should check out, there is a Science Talk there about financing greenhouse gas removal methods in two weeks. In that bustle, it's a perfect opportunity to sneak into the buildings and find the laboratories, which are not open."

"Again?" Poland asked. "We don't know any of the routes, unlike in the Central Tower."

"Disguises," China replied simply.

"I like this idea," Japan chirped. "It's like those heist movies."

America raised his hand like a kid in a classroom. "I assume we're not going to follow that old list of libraries you made before we left and just we adapt and evolve instead."

"Yeah. We haven't found just a jumble of information like I thought we would, and be able to attain more puzzle pieces in the other libraries, but it's been pretty organized so far. We're switching gears as it goes, I guess."

"China." It was South, suddenly solemn. "Do you have any idea what we're gonna do once we figure out the truth?"

China seemed to have trouble answering that. "I haven't given it a thought," he said sheepishly, after a moment of pondering.