11-08-2019, 12:08 AM
(Written with input from Shen)
Embassy district, Buttercity, Lauchenoiria
7th November 2019 – early evening
The embassy district of Buttercity was fast becoming a hotspot for activists, the nearby subway station had become covered in protest stickers and the trains were much more crowded than usual. This week, those who worked in the district found themselves groaning and staring at their phones to avoid the gazes of the activists for the second day in a row. They were not happy – nor were the staff of the embassies the protesters targeted.
Today, Climate Alliance Lauchenoiria were outside the Zamastanian embassy, protesting the opening of a Zamastanian automobile factory in Shen. The protesters intended to continue on to the newly opened Shen embassy later – which they were expecting would be an unpleasant surprise for the new Ambassador. But first, however, they were going to yell at the Zamastanians, much like the Xiomerans yesterday.
Security was far tighter than it had been yesterday, after the handcuffing and milkshake incidents outside the Xiomeran embassy. Protesters were not being allowed to get anywhere near the Zamastanian embassy and the police all looked rather angry at being forced to stand there in large numbers. It deterred a small group of protesters who had been looking to escalate things from doing so – that group slinked home early, disappointed and rather annoyed.
“People are going to ask why we’re protesting electric cars,” one activist said during a speech, “because surely they’re better than their fossil-fuel powered alternative? But these cars will be built with heavy metals – they are most certainly not built in a sustainable fashion. The rich love the idea of electric cars because they think they can save the world without changing their lifestyle, but this is wrong! We need people to stop driving and start taking public transport instead! Pretending nothing needs changing will only allow people to become complacent and resist change more.”
Once they were done with the Zamastanians, the group of Climate Alliance protesters began slowly moving down the streets, chanting and causing people to either glance out the windows of the buildings they passed – or to lower the blinds. Further up the road, someone waiting at a bus stop who looked Xiomeran glanced up, and subsequently crossed the road and hurried away in the other direction. Eventually, the messy mob of activists arrived outside the new, temporary Shen Embassy.
They began to set up their protest, unfurling banners and handing out placards. The police, who were even more unhappy with the change in location, were forming their lines. The protesters had set up, fortunately for them, slightly farther away than usual from the embassy building, clearly somewhat nervous about how the Shen would react – it was, after all, new for them both. They’d had a meeting this morning about increasing their caution after the pepper spray incident.
They had just finished setting up, and no speeches had yet happened, when something incredibly unexpected happened. A window opened in an upper floor of the embassy building, and Ambassador Zhang Xiao leaned out. The protesters fell silent, staring up at the ambassador in disbelief. The leaders of the protest – they claimed they didn’t have any, but some individuals had managed to end up in charge anyway – glanced around the crowd, watching to make sure nobody did anything foolish.
"Hey um... what are you protesting? I heard something about mining..." the Ambassador shouted down at the crowd. They were bewildered. The leaders of the group gathered together in a huddle, whispering. Eventually one of them stepped forward, cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted back.
"Your government continues to mine heavy metals in a completely unsustainable manner. You are destroying the environment, and bringing the whole world closer to a climate catastrophe that will kill millions!"
"I....um...well...look your not wrong per se....its just..." the Ambassador began.
"You, Zamastan and Xiomera must answer for what you are doing to the planet! We are here to make sure you hear our voices and our displeasure!" yelled a random protester, not part of the leadership circle.
"I’m listening, I'm listening. I'm just not exactly sure what you want me to do. I had to do two hours of phone calls just to authorize funding to get a solar panel put on the top of this building."
The huddle of protesters began to discuss their response again, a small argument in hushed tones breaking out over what to say. They had not been expecting dialogue, this was not part of their plan. The police, for their part, were also looking bewildered, asking for orders and looking back between the ambassador and the protesters, slightly afraid but also hopeful that tensions could be diffused.
"A pointless gesture if everything else your government is doing is making things worse!" yelled the man from the leadership group.
"I mean... kind of a pot calling the kettle black? Isn't it sort of a pointless gesture to stand in front of a building and yell at people trying to apply for tourist visas?"
"This is the only way to raise awareness of climate issues,” the man shouted. “We do not have the power to change things single handedly. The governments are the people with the power, the system is the thing that is broken. The individual gestures we can do will make little difference compared to what the Shen government could do."
"Look friend, I am very aware and how much of a threat climate change is. Not a night goes by I don't lose at least a little bit of sleep thinking about what's going to happen when climate change cause droughts hit my homeland...look I'm not going to spend all day screaming out of window. We're about to have dinner and our cook is a proper shen mother, meaning she's easily cooked enough food to feed everyone here. How about you come inside and we can discuss this in the nice cool Embassy building?"
The protesters huddled together one last time. This was an offer they had most certainly not expected. Some were shaking their heads, while others were nodding enthusiastically. After almost five minutes of discussion, about 30% of the protesters broke off and started heading away, some of them looking rather taken aback. The man who had spoken earlier looked back up at the ambassador.
"Some of us have decided to accept the offer."
"Wonderful. The staff will direct you to the cafeteria, just come in the door.”
The police were reluctant at first to allow any of the protesters to pass. Not all of them stayed, even among the group who had not stormed off. Eventually, however, the police were persuaded that it would be safe to let them take up the Ambassador’s offer, and they headed inside. It was rather different, thought the protesters, to how they had been treated by the Xiomerans.
Embassy district, Buttercity, Lauchenoiria
7th November 2019 – early evening
The embassy district of Buttercity was fast becoming a hotspot for activists, the nearby subway station had become covered in protest stickers and the trains were much more crowded than usual. This week, those who worked in the district found themselves groaning and staring at their phones to avoid the gazes of the activists for the second day in a row. They were not happy – nor were the staff of the embassies the protesters targeted.
Today, Climate Alliance Lauchenoiria were outside the Zamastanian embassy, protesting the opening of a Zamastanian automobile factory in Shen. The protesters intended to continue on to the newly opened Shen embassy later – which they were expecting would be an unpleasant surprise for the new Ambassador. But first, however, they were going to yell at the Zamastanians, much like the Xiomerans yesterday.
Security was far tighter than it had been yesterday, after the handcuffing and milkshake incidents outside the Xiomeran embassy. Protesters were not being allowed to get anywhere near the Zamastanian embassy and the police all looked rather angry at being forced to stand there in large numbers. It deterred a small group of protesters who had been looking to escalate things from doing so – that group slinked home early, disappointed and rather annoyed.
“People are going to ask why we’re protesting electric cars,” one activist said during a speech, “because surely they’re better than their fossil-fuel powered alternative? But these cars will be built with heavy metals – they are most certainly not built in a sustainable fashion. The rich love the idea of electric cars because they think they can save the world without changing their lifestyle, but this is wrong! We need people to stop driving and start taking public transport instead! Pretending nothing needs changing will only allow people to become complacent and resist change more.”
Once they were done with the Zamastanians, the group of Climate Alliance protesters began slowly moving down the streets, chanting and causing people to either glance out the windows of the buildings they passed – or to lower the blinds. Further up the road, someone waiting at a bus stop who looked Xiomeran glanced up, and subsequently crossed the road and hurried away in the other direction. Eventually, the messy mob of activists arrived outside the new, temporary Shen Embassy.
They began to set up their protest, unfurling banners and handing out placards. The police, who were even more unhappy with the change in location, were forming their lines. The protesters had set up, fortunately for them, slightly farther away than usual from the embassy building, clearly somewhat nervous about how the Shen would react – it was, after all, new for them both. They’d had a meeting this morning about increasing their caution after the pepper spray incident.
They had just finished setting up, and no speeches had yet happened, when something incredibly unexpected happened. A window opened in an upper floor of the embassy building, and Ambassador Zhang Xiao leaned out. The protesters fell silent, staring up at the ambassador in disbelief. The leaders of the protest – they claimed they didn’t have any, but some individuals had managed to end up in charge anyway – glanced around the crowd, watching to make sure nobody did anything foolish.
"Hey um... what are you protesting? I heard something about mining..." the Ambassador shouted down at the crowd. They were bewildered. The leaders of the group gathered together in a huddle, whispering. Eventually one of them stepped forward, cupped his hands around his mouth and shouted back.
"Your government continues to mine heavy metals in a completely unsustainable manner. You are destroying the environment, and bringing the whole world closer to a climate catastrophe that will kill millions!"
"I....um...well...look your not wrong per se....its just..." the Ambassador began.
"You, Zamastan and Xiomera must answer for what you are doing to the planet! We are here to make sure you hear our voices and our displeasure!" yelled a random protester, not part of the leadership circle.
"I’m listening, I'm listening. I'm just not exactly sure what you want me to do. I had to do two hours of phone calls just to authorize funding to get a solar panel put on the top of this building."
The huddle of protesters began to discuss their response again, a small argument in hushed tones breaking out over what to say. They had not been expecting dialogue, this was not part of their plan. The police, for their part, were also looking bewildered, asking for orders and looking back between the ambassador and the protesters, slightly afraid but also hopeful that tensions could be diffused.
"A pointless gesture if everything else your government is doing is making things worse!" yelled the man from the leadership group.
"I mean... kind of a pot calling the kettle black? Isn't it sort of a pointless gesture to stand in front of a building and yell at people trying to apply for tourist visas?"
"This is the only way to raise awareness of climate issues,” the man shouted. “We do not have the power to change things single handedly. The governments are the people with the power, the system is the thing that is broken. The individual gestures we can do will make little difference compared to what the Shen government could do."
"Look friend, I am very aware and how much of a threat climate change is. Not a night goes by I don't lose at least a little bit of sleep thinking about what's going to happen when climate change cause droughts hit my homeland...look I'm not going to spend all day screaming out of window. We're about to have dinner and our cook is a proper shen mother, meaning she's easily cooked enough food to feed everyone here. How about you come inside and we can discuss this in the nice cool Embassy building?"
The protesters huddled together one last time. This was an offer they had most certainly not expected. Some were shaking their heads, while others were nodding enthusiastically. After almost five minutes of discussion, about 30% of the protesters broke off and started heading away, some of them looking rather taken aback. The man who had spoken earlier looked back up at the ambassador.
"Some of us have decided to accept the offer."
"Wonderful. The staff will direct you to the cafeteria, just come in the door.”
The police were reluctant at first to allow any of the protesters to pass. Not all of them stayed, even among the group who had not stormed off. Eventually, however, the police were persuaded that it would be safe to let them take up the Ambassador’s offer, and they headed inside. It was rather different, thought the protesters, to how they had been treated by the Xiomerans.
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