"We have no other alternatives."
"Everything in the world is devouring humankind, and our numbers are decreasing day after day."
"Child." Madam Lu removed the golden rose badge from her chest, placing it in the palm of her hand, then slowly curled her fingers around it so that she could feel the soft raised lines of the petals, as if she were touching a real rose.
"Everyone must take up the weapons that they can so they may confront this age. Everyone." Her voice was gentle like a ripple of water.
"But you won't receive anything, Mom."
"No single individual besides me will benefit, either. It is the entirety of humankind that will benefit. It is only when the entirety of humankind gradually escapes this awful plight that we as individuals will see improvement, although it may be hundreds of years into the future. But the truth is, it is only when you've saved everyone that you yourself will be saved."
"But we cannot rule out the possibility that our salvation will come far later than everyone else's," she continued. "That is when we take up weapons to protect ourselves."
"Will that day come, Mom?"
"It will." Her voice was startlingly resolute. "Unless—unless we have all perished before we could be saved. But remember, child. No matter what, humans love each other."
"Child, do you love them?"
"I do."
She handed over the badge to her young daughter.
✦ ✦ ✦
There was a loud thump.
Something heavy landed on the ground, and the world spun. Her mother had used that object to hit her on the back of the neck, and she fell to the floor.
Then came the sound of the bedroom door slamming shut.
With a click, the door was locked.
She should have fallen unconscious, but at the last second, a glimmering golden object fell from her coat pocket, and its color called back the remaining scrap of her consciousness. With a ringing in her ears that was like the roar of airplanes, amidst a terrible pain that seemed to split her head open and a numbness that felt like she had lost all her limbs, she reached out, gripped the golden rose badge, and hurriedly panted for breath.
She would not allow herself to fall unconscious. Her temperament was mild, but her will was strong, far exceeding that of ordinary people, which was also something her mother acknowledged.
And her mother was a distinguished and outstanding woman. Auntie Lin Shan had said, Your mother had shown an extraordinary gift for leadership since she was a young girl and was even the initiator of the Rose Manifesto and one of the drafters of the birth law, which saved humankind from disaster. Until now, when the oppression that women were suffering became heavier and heavier, exceeding the agreed-upon upper limit, she and her compatriots took up weapons and defended the freedom and dignity, just as they were supposed to.
It seemed as though a long time passed. Half an hour, one hour, or perhaps two hours. Through the bedroom door, she heard rough knocks come from the nearby entryway. Then came the rhythmic tapping of high heels. That was her mother, Madam Lu. There was not a single person who did not know that Madam Lu had been self-possessed and elegant all her life. When she was not with child, she always wore a long crimson dress girdled at the waist with modest black high heels, and she carried herself with a grace that did not change with the passage of time.
The door opened, and the visitors entered. Their footsteps were very heavy, as those were the sounds of military boots striking the floor. She felt a sense of danger, but of late, these sorts of things happened often.
Then came the sound of endless chatter, which seemed to have been deliberately lowered, and she vaguely heard a few words like "modify," "cease," and "centralize." Her mother had often conversed with some people over the last three months, and although she avoided her daughter, the keywords she had unintentionally heard were the same.
She knew more or less what had happened. For the past half a year, the anti-oppression "Roses" posters could be seen everywhere, and the base had attempted to reach a compromise with them.
"I do not agree," her mother said in a raised voice.
"I'm afraid you need to come with us."
"We have already come with you many times."
"It's different this time, Madam."
"Are there others?"
"Only you, Madam. The Marshal wishes to personally negotiate with you. You may also choose to bring others."
"I demand that Lieutenant General Lin Shan and her armed escort come along."
"Of course, Madam," the officer said after a short silence.
It seemed as though the officer dialed a number, while her mother walked over to the filing cabinet near the bedroom door.
The officer hung up.
A long while later, Madam Lu said, "I'll prepare the materials. When Lieutenant General Lin Shan arrives, I will go."
Then came the sounds of the file cabinet opening. Everyone in the living room was very quiet.
A long time passed, so long that she nearly lost consciousness.
But she was still thinking, why would her own mother knock her out?
Why?
Why?
Because…
Because—
She continued thinking such thoughts until she was right on the cusp of losing consciousness.
Until a gunshot rang out.
She trembled all over. Her hands dripped with cold sweat, and the golden badge slipped from her hand. In the very next moment, it was going to hit the floor and make a clear sound.
And her unsteady beliefs would be just like this badge.
In this difficult-to-measure span of time, she strenuously gathered her fingers together, securely clenching the badge in her palm once more, and put her fist to her chest.
After a long while, blood slowly trickled through the gap beneath the door like an octopus's tentacle.
She turned her gaze away from it and quietly looked at the comfortable room. Whether her gaze contained sorrow, hatred, pity, or perhaps nothing at all was a mystery.
In the following moment, she completely lost consciousness.
✦ ✦ ✦
She was brought to a place where she stayed in a few small rooms along with some other girls of a similar age. Every day, people would deliver food and water to them. She knew that many things happened outside, lasting for at least three months, because her new lifestyle lasted for three months.
She kept thinking, if her mother had not known that danger was coming, why did she knock her out that far in advance? If she had known that danger was coming, why had she not taken precautions before it was too late?
If shooting Madam Lu could have solved the problem, why did the chaos last for three months? If it was predicted that it would lead to three months of chaos, why did they choose to kill her?
Sometimes, she suspected that her mother had intentionally allowed herself to be killed. And knocking out her daughter was to allow her to live.
Her mother had even said that apart from the women closely connected to the Manifesto, the other members of the base were indifferent to the opposition activities. Of course there existed a way to make them care, which was to make them see how massive the thing oppressing the women was, and there would eventually come a day when it crushed everyone.
Or perhaps she would never know the truth of that time.
No matter what had happened, her mother, Madam Lu, and Madam Lu's companions had been defeated.
Because she and her companions had been brought to the entrance of a massive, silvery-white hexagonal building. This building, which she could see every day as soon as she pulled open the curtains, was called the Garden of Eden.
In the main hall was an older woman she did not know, pulling her along by the hand.
"Child," the Madam asked, "do you love humankind?"
"No matter what," the girl said softly, looking into her eyes. "Humans love each other."
She walked in.
And she knew that, many years later, she would be called Madam Lu as well.
As if her mother still lived.