Comrad: An Ellsworld Fanfic

Chapter 17: Helping, Napping, and Nabbing

As Tori slipped on her boots, she heard a little chime coming from her nightstand. She looked over and saw Comrad, who was requesting to be unlocked. She slid the bar and finally Comrad could speak.

"Oh thank you!" He said. "I really need to get rid of that..."

"Did you find anything interesting?" Tori asked.

"Meh. Just more celebrities, movies, and proxy wars, although the United States is now considered a 'sole superpower', which makes me feel...unsettled?"

"Why is that?"

"It's basically the thinking of old philosophers. That there needs to be a ying to the yang."

"So, like a good to the bad and vice versa?"

"Exactly. Because now that the Soviet Union is nonexistent, it's become apparent that there is only one country to look up to and say 'I want to follow them!'."

"Well, there's China..."

"You mean the communist dustbin?"

"What?"

"The professor used that term for the PRC. He taught me about the Sino-Soviet Split and how Mao Zedong was just as bad as Joseph Stalin."

"Really?"

"Truthfully, I didn't want to believe that one communist was worse than the other, because that would've caused a paradox of some sort."

"You mean the hatred towards someone who supports the people?"

"Precisely. But if you are referring about China being an alternate to the US, then I really need to research it now."

Comrad went silent for a few seconds before speaking again.

"Oh dear..."

"What's wrong this time?"

"It seems that the Chinese developed rapidly during and after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The historical equivalent would be the invention of the steam engine and how it was used in pretty much everything."

"And?"

"Doesn't it seem obvious? They transformed overnight into a superpower."

"But that shouldn't worry you, right?" Tori said. "In fact, they're communist as well."

"Wrong. Many Chinese leaders killed and exploited their population to make their country trillions of dollars. This...this is not socialism. They are not who they seem to be..."

"Calm down..."

"China has one billion people within its boarders. If getting paid fifty cents an hour is victory for the workers, then what would be their defeat..."

"China is not that bad..."

"The cultural murder of Tibet and getting a new millionaire every five minutes while people live in extreme poverty? Is China now 'not so bad'?"

"Well..."

"No excuses. China is in a terrible state. It is praising communism while practicing capitalism. It is a hypocritical country."

Tori stayed silent for a few moments before Comrad spoke again.

"Is communism even good? Is it as good as the generals have told me?"

"It's good, but..."

"No 'buts'. I want to know what ideology is better."

Comrad typed on the note application.