"What are you thinking about?" the astronaut asked.
Wei Tianyang ca back to reality and asked, "Your helt visor doesn’t integrate AR technology, and you have no jet ports on your suit; it looks quite old. When did you go into space?"
"When? Oh... I can’t say for sure myself, 1962? 1964? I forget," replied the astronaut with a laugh.
"That early?" Wei Tianyang was sowhat surprised.
"What year is it now?" the astronaut asked.
"It’s July of 2111, the weather is hot, and it hasn’t rained in Heisai State for several days," said Wei Tianyang.
"Has so much ti really passed?" The astronaut laughed and looked at the Earth again, his deanor calm.
Wei Tianyang gently floated to his other side, still unable to suppress his curiosity, "Have we started exploring space that early? I thought rockets going into space was a matter of the last ten or so years."
"To you, I may already be an antique, but to myself, I am at the cutting edge of our era," the astronaut laughed.
"There probably weren’t mobile phones or networks in your era, right?" Wei Tianyang said.
"The network ca earlier than you might think. I don’t know what it’s like now, but military networks were launched during World War II. As for the mobile phone you ntioned, what is that?" the astronaut asked.
Wei Tianyang took out his mobile phone from his pocket and showed it to the astronaut.
He appeared quite astonished as the screen lit up, its vibrant colors leaving him impressed.
"Wow, that’s pretty impressive. Such a portable device can display such rich graphics? I’m very curious... who made the chips used in this?" the astronaut smiled as he spoke.
"This gadget is now widespread around the world; everyone relies on it in their daily life and work. You can use it to communicate with anyone on Earth, and once you put on glasses, the other person can even appear right before your eyes..." Wei Tianyang went on and on.
The astronaut listened quietly, smiling. When Wei Tianyang finished introducing, he asked, "Such an incredible device must be made by the Suluo Federation, right?"
"The Suluo Federation?" Wei Tianyang paused.
Was it the Suluo Federation that disintegrated in 1991?
Seeing that Wei Tianyang didn’t speak, he continued, "Who else could make such miraculous things except our great motherland? Those profit-driven, cowardly capitalists could never accomplish such a grand task! And it’s even more impossible for that feudal empire neighbor to the south. Are they still keeping their braids and kowtowing to the Emperor?"
Wei Tianyang couldn’t bear to tell him the truth.
"Our grand motherland must have spread communist thoughts around the world by now, right? We must have achieved communism, right? People shouldn’t need to hustle just for their daily bread anymore; they must be working for their interests, or for even more lofty goals, right? Tell , young man! Is your era illuminated by the red light of our motherland?" asked the astronaut.
"What is your na...?" Wei Tianyang asked.
"My na is Bulgarakov Lemlovich, a proud astronaut of the Suluo Federation. And you?" Bulgarakov said.
"My na is..." Wei Tianyang thought for a mont, "I’m Yaha."
"Yaha! Your na is interesting. You have the face of a Yin Dynasty person but a na from the Federation. Did you immigrate?" Bulgarakov asked.
Wei Tianyang shook his head, "No..."
"Could it be... has the Yin Dynasty been colonized by the Federation?" Bulgarakov exclaid in surprise.
"No... I am stateless, I have no motherland," Wei Tianyang said.
"Yaha, in this world, it’s impossible for soone to be without a motherland, a person without a motherland is heartless. You just haven’t found a reason to love it," Bulgarakov said with a smile.
"Maybe," Wei Tianyang said.
"Tell , Yaha, answer my previous question, how is my motherland doing now?" Bulgarakov asked.
"Bulgarakov, the Suluo Federation is no more; it disintegrated in 1991," said Wei Tianyang.
Bulgarakov was silent for a long while, staring at the Earth, pointing to that vast continent, saying, "Disintegrated? You must be joking, friend! Disintegrated?! I can see, my motherland is right there! Every ti the sun sets in the west, it twinkles with the lights of civilization; when the sun rises, I can see its vast and beautiful territory, the cold and tenacious plains, the wild valleys, and the cities shimring with fascinating light... I can even hear the traffic in front of Red Square, people talking, planes soaring, and flags being lifted by the warm wind... Yaha, you can’t fool ."
"That country is still there, but it’s no longer called by that na... it’s now called Loliya," said Wei Tianyang.
Bulgarakov pondered for a while, then suddenly laughed, saying, "Nice twist! I get it now, Yaha, my motherland has completed its historical mission and fully entered into a communist society, so it changed its na, right?!"
Wei Tianyang didn’t understand what he ant by communism, having only heard of the gold standard, so, he shook his head, "It’s not like that."
"Then what do you an? Have we been invaded?!" Bulgarakov beca agitated.
"The Suluo Federation broke down due to its own issues, and after the governnt fell, it split into many small countries. Loliya inherited the vast majority of the territory and is no longer the country you rember," Wei Tianyang shook his head.
"That’s impossible! Absolutely impossible!" Bulgarakov beca hysterical.
"Listen to , Bulgarakov." Wei Tianyang tried to calm him down, but Bulgarakov could not accept this reality.
"My motherland cannot be fragnted!! You underestimate our beliefs!! You must have been brainwashed by the cultural onslaught from Western Soil! Their dia deceived you!" Bulgarakov said.
"It’s not like that. I’ve read so books... The Suluo Federation fell into endless corruption in its final years, officials’ families emigrated to West Soil, and they hollowed out the national assets at ho. Those years... people didn’t live well," Wei Tianyang said.
"No... They couldn’t possibly betray the working class! They were workers before!" Bulgarakov was disheartened.
"People change, there was no war, believe , it was a silent collapse from within, with no external forces involved. At least that’s what the books say," Wei Tianyang said.
Bulgarakov didn’t speak. Staring at the Earth, at the place that belonged to his ho, tears already filled his eyes behind his visor.
Wei Tianyang knew he shouldn’t have spoken the truth, but he was even less willing to lie.
Bulgarakov was already dead, and to be deceived after death was too bleak.
"How about your Yin Dynasty...? When you died, how was your country doing?" Bulgarakov looked toward Wei Tianyang.
He shook his head.
Bulgarakov didn’t understand.
He said, "I’m not dead, I’m still alive."
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