Foreigner

Chenggong, Yunnan Province, China
October 3rd
14:30

After nearly four hours in the air, the plane finally makes its final approach, and through the window I can see much of the newly rebuilt city of Chenggong. What used to be known as Kunming city, before the renovation this place had the nickname of the ghost city, when several construction companies started a mousy scam scheme, the result was the construction of a lot of low quality apartments and buildings with no buyers, Chenggong district was the worst part, really looked like the capital of a country, but with a population of only a few thousand, a huge city devoid of life. Such a project received a lot of criticism from all sides, and when the crime was discovered, the authorities took it to heart, so they took it as a challenge, tore down the whole damn city and rebuilt it from scratch, now as the great city it should have been in the beginning.

The result was now in sight, using the name of their mistake, they renamed the city Chenggong, using the name of their failure to turn it into the same flag of their success, now it is a new city, a utopia designed and created for the people, towering skyscrapers at the forefront of modernity and technology, while housing is accessible to everyone, a clean city, extremely careful, with a minimalist design at the same time quite ecological.

But undoubtedly its most important part and centerpiece of the whole city is "TianHui", or Celestial Wisdom in English, is the artificial intelligence that runs the city, the most intelligent machine that has been created on Earth, at least that is publicly known. As I understand it, it works like my daughters Kazumi and Charlotte, an integencai that controls and manages almost everything in the city, the train broke down and you need to order a taxi to get to work on time? don't worry, TianHui has already ordered it for you, the main subway line is more congested than usual? TianHui will send more automated trains to meet the demand. Artificial intelligence controls almost the entire city, which is fully automated for this purpose, from autonomous vehicles, security drones, autonomous trains, traffic lights, building lights and advertising displays, power consumption and distribution, even emergency services are under TianHui's control, If a fire is detected in a room without a human, the artificial intelligence can try to control the environment and activate the sprinklers to extinguish the fire while sending the nearest firefighting unit, the only things out of its control are things where human intervention is absolutely necessary, so the actual firefighters, police and medical personnel are still human, of course.Yes, even TianHui is able to keep track of you, so it can know where you work or live and help you navigate the city in time to prevent problems, and in case of failure it will notify your work why or where you are so they can see that you are not lying. It is also able to monitor citizens at all times for security reasons, which is why Chenggong City has one of the lowest crime rates in the world.

The plane does not have to travel very far to land, fortunately, there is an international airport right next door. The trip from Tokyo was very smooth, this time I was traveling on a civilian flight, because obviously I could not use an Alliance military cargo plane for a single person, let alone a non-Chinese military plane. The thing was not very difficult on the Tokyo side, as I was traveling quite lightly, just a small bag of clothes, mostly for disguise, as I was wearing the kimono Tamamo gave me at her request. After getting off the plane I just had to go to customs to register my entry into the country. After waiting in line, I was finally able to talk to the officer and present my documents. This time I had brought the passport of my home country, Costa Rica, instead of the U.S. passport in a small attempt to confuse my rival Xian Fang.

"Next please"
"Please present your passport and documents," the customs officer said to me.

"Yes of course here they are, they are these here"

"Okay ...."
"Elise Valkyria, from Costa Rica"
"May I ask the reason for your trip?"

"Tourism, I will be in town for about a week or two."
This year they are celebrating the Moon Festival and the Dragon Lantern Festival, so I thought I would visit the place, the culture, I can't wait to take pictures of the city with the celebrations, as well as see the new city that is giving so much to talk about in the news."

"Interesting, may I know where you will be staying during your visit?"

"At the Grand Yù Lóng Plaza in Panlong."

"Interesting, I see you came quite informed."

"Well, I am going to stay in another country, of course, I have to plan everything, I am not going to sleep on the street, am I?"

"Passport up to date, China L type visa in order"
"Accommodation Proof correct, Travel Proof of course correct"
"But there is a problem with your Bank Statement and the employer statement is incorrect according to the records."

"Well, I'm just a student, I live with my mom, so I don't work, I don't know what the registry says, but theoretically it should say student."
"As for the bank, well, the statement is a personal account with 12 thousand dollars for the purpose of this trip exactly."
"In cash I only have 500 dollars in case of emergency."

"......"
"According to your passport and documents, your country of origin is Costa Rica, which is in North America correct?"

"Central, Central America"
"Everyone forgets that the continent of America is divided into three parts."
"And no, we have nothing to do with the United States."

"Although your country of origin is North America, you are wearing a kimono, a traditional Japanese dress, may I ask why?"

"????"
"Huh? Because I come from Japan to China?"
"The stamp on the document is from my departure from Tokyo this morning."
"I am just on a tour of Asia."

"However, the school year in Costa Rica is six months with holidays in December-January and July-June."
"This would mean that you are traveling at the wrong time and should be in class."

"You really know that detail but not where the country is really located?"
"I am traveling as a reward for good grades."

"Do you have your grade report with you?"

"What? Of course not, why would I travel with that?"

"我觉得我们和那个女孩有问题。"
"准备好将她护送到审讯室。"
"我认为她就是张老板让我们找的那个人。"

Suddenly the customs agent started talking to the security officer next to him in Madarin. Shit, even though I speak several languages, I don't speak Chinese, I have no idea what they're saying, but with how angry he's saying it, I don't think it's good, the officer next to him just took the first safety off his holster, the first alarm signal, no, stop, If I keep getting nervous, my eyes will turn red again and then I'll have messed up, don't worry, everything will be fine, just think about cars, come on, a good car going down the hill, after this I'll go home and play video games for the rest of the week, maybe at the hotel I'll order a good pizza to the room, everything will be fine.

"女士 Elise Valkyria，请上扫描平台。"
"快点，出于安全考虑，请尽快合作，您就不会再有问题了！"

"???"
"I'm sorry, but I didn't understand what you just said, I think you said my name and something else."
"Can you say it in English? I mean, it's still the airport."

"Mrs. Elise Valkyria, please step to the scanner platform!"

Said the customs officer now speaking in a very annoying tone, and worst of all is that now I had to go through an X-ray scanner to see my inside, inside that the only thing that has now is water since I became a slime girl, the only thing he will see in his computer will be some clothes flying and my core where my heart should be, something that will be very suspicious, lucky that I left the Codex at home in charge of Tamamo. The other thing I could do is to turn back into a flesh and blood fox girl, but that would only bring other problems, like going down in height. No, wait! Maybe I can hide it if I time it right, if I change my body from liquid to solid while pretending to take off the huge Okobo Geta sandals Tamamo gave me, I can hide my lack of height much better, and when I'm done, I'll just turn back into a slime when I put them back on. But with how meticulous that guy is, that will be the real problem.

"快点，出于安全考虑，请尽快合作，您就不会再有问题了！"

"Yeah, yeah, I got it, just give me a second."
"Do you think it's easy to walk in those giant wooden sandals?"
"I guess I'll take them off for the scanner, right?"
"I mean, look at the size of these things, I'm going to be a little short for once."
"....."
"There you go, there you go, take the picture."
"...."
"That's it, right? Can I put my shoes back on?"
"I can't believe I have to do all this just for a quick visit."

"女孩身上似乎没有携带任何武器"
"但她的身体似乎有些奇怪的东西？ 是一个水晶吗？ 它看起来像一个"
"也许是心脏起搏器？ 不管了，现在是张的问题，对吗？"

"不管了，我们只是把她带到审问室，让他来解决"
"我们不想让老板生气，上次的事情之后更是如此"

Damn, they're talking about something weird again, shit, are they trying to arrest me? I haven't done anything wrong yet, maybe they know me from before? impossible, I've never done anything related to China. Damn, the nerves of what's going to happen are killing me.

"他说他已经注意到了一切，正在前来的路上。" Said the customs officer

"哦，看，张先生已经到了，像往常一样高效，这家伙在工作上很出色，什么都逃不过他的眼睛。" replied the security guard

"女士，出于安全考虑，我要求您跟我们去审讯室。这边，请跟我来！" A new voice appeared behind me.

A new voice joined the conversation that I did not know anything about, nervously I turned around to see who it was, it was a new guy, in a suit and tie, his appearance was intimidating, he seemed to be some kind of really important detective, just from his appearance I could tell he was a tough and serious man, this guy is not coming to play. He comes with a case, but it's not a traveling bag, I can hear metal parts inside, he must have a big gun in there. Shit, I think I've really fucked up now, but I can't make a big scene at the airport, it's full of people and the whole planet will notice, I just have to follow their game and see what happens.

"Um, excuse me?"
"I'm sorry, but I really don't speak Chinese, I don't know what you're saying to me."
"Can we talk in English to see if I can help you with what's going on?" I said honestly, although I think it's too late now.

"My name is Chang Tao, the police inspector of Chenggong City."
"Miss Valkyria, I'm going to ask you to accompany us to the interrogation room for security reasons."
"It's this way, please follow me!"

"Police inspector!"
"Isn't that a pretty serious position to be working at the airport?"
"Wait, interrogation room!? But what have I done?"
"This must be a mistake!"

"Mrs. Valkyria, don't make this process longer than necessary."
"Just follow us and we can solve this problem efficiently."
"Please cooperate or we will be forced to use less pleasant techniques," said the suitcase guy, now supported by four other policemen who emerged from the crowd.

"Okay, fine."
"'Anyway, I've got nothing to prove, I'm not a criminal."
"This is clearly a stupid mistake."

As I walk through the airport security area to the interrogation room, I am escorted by a squadron of guards. I have four behind me, another three in front of me, and Inspector Chang at my side. The situation is screwed up; they're treating me like a dangerous terrorist for no reason. The only thing I can think of is that this is all a trap set by Xian Fang. She may have set me up even before I arrived; she was already making her move to get rid of me. They took me to an empty interrogation room and handcuffed me to the table. Then they left me completely alone for a good while. There was no one else in the room, but I was sure they were discussing something on the other side of the mirror.

My real dilemma was what to do next. I could try to escape; I still have Avalon with a loaded weapon. I could call her, shoot off the handcuffs and the mirror, and engage in a shootout with everyone until I got out of the airport. But what if this was all a real mistake? Would I be wasting resources and blowing my cover? Xian Fang would only have to watch the news on TV to realize that I'd arrived in the city. But what if she doesn't? Am I making a fatal mistake? I have so little context for all of this.

I have no idea how much time passed, but a short time later, while I was waiting in the interrogation room, another police officer appeared and removed my handcuffs.

"Good news, Miss Valkyria."
"Everything has been sorted out."
"We apologize for making you wait in this room."
"We'll try to make up for the inconvenience by taking you directly to your hotel."

"???"
"No need, I can make it on my own."
"Besides, I still have to pick up my luggage."

"Don't worry, we've already taken care of that."
"Your luggage is on its way to your hotel. We have a taxi waiting to take you directly there."
"Please allow me to escort you to it."

The situation remained quite strange; there was an air of false hospitality. On the other side of the door I could see two more officers with their guns at the ready. It was also strange that they had bothered with my luggage. Still, I decided to take a chance and try to get some more information.

"Can I know the reason for my arrest? I was never told what happened."

"Don't worry about trivial things."
"Come, the taxi is already on its way."
"The exit is this way."

"And my passport? They still haven't given it back, and they confiscated my cash, too."

"It was delivered to the hotel with your luggage."
"Please get in the taxi."

The atmosphere was truly frightening; it felt like talking to a robot rather than a human being. Even my daughters didn't speak to me in such a cold manner. It was as if they were trying to be polite while hating me at the same time. But taking advantage of the fact that I could at least leave the airport, I followed them to the car. Miraculously, it turned out to be a real taxi, but there was no driver, only a panel entirely in Chinese, and it was disabled so it couldn't be interacted with. The car started towards the city, but I never let my guard down; everything still seemed very suspicious. I was glad I paid so much attention because I managed to see two particularly strange individuals among the cars behind my taxi. They were walking a little ways behind the car I was traveling in, but I was sure I had seen Inspector Chang in one of them, with his usual stern and rigid face. As the journey continued, my doubts turned into confirmation when I saw them stop on the other side of the street in front of the Grand Yù Lóng Plaza hotel, feigning poorly to take a break and have a drink.

On the other hand, I had nothing but the clothes I was wearing, no money and no passport, so I had no choice but to go in and talk to the receptionist to see if they would really return them to me. When I arrived with the receptionist, she immediately called me by my name and indicated that my luggage had already been taken to my room and was waiting for me there, unable to say anything, she called two hotel employees to take me to the door of my room. But these two bellboys were quite strange for their job, my father had been one, and I never heard in his work stories that bellboys didn't know English, the language used for tourism, or that they wore reinforced boots, or that they had to ask where a room was in the place where they were supposed to work. Perhaps most importantly, they had the ability to carry weapons under their clothing. I was sure that these guys must also be friends of the inspector outside the hotel. When I arrived at the room, the bellboys closed the door. I stepped inside to see if my luggage had arrived, but I could see that it hadn't. The room was completely empty. Alarm bells went off in my head. I ran to the door and pulled, but it wouldn't open. I was locked in my hotel room.

I had been outplayed, I had really fallen into a trap, Xian Fang was indeed the dangerous woman she was said to be. Damn it, I expected her to try something, but I didn't expect her to trick me as soon as I got off the plane. That sorceress was really behind me like a snake, and what was worse, I was bringing her prey right in front of her. It was real, she had this whole city under her control, a huge web under her command, where I couldn't know how far her control or power extended. I could hear sirens in the background, and from the window I could see a special police truck arriving at the hotel, now I would undoubtedly have to fight to escape, with no plan or idea of what to do, things had escalated, ending Xian Fang would require much more work than I had imagined, no doubt.