Prologue to Warring States (short story)

A prologue to Warring States was published in the paperback edition of Warlords of Utopia and About Time 5.

Summary
Octavia and Prester John walk through the Stacks in the Eleven-Day Empire, the Faction's repository of knowledge, digging around for something that Octavia finds.

Liu Hui Ying and her father attend an execution of dissidents who spread ideas from foreign devils, before returning to the docks and hearing about an archaeological expedition to the Great White Pyramid of China.

Prester John asks Octavia what she found this time, jokingly throwing out a few suggestions. Octavia responds that she discovered the secret to immortality, but can only trace it to China in the Boxer Rebellion, so will need to mount an expedition. Prester John nods in agreement.

Characters

 * Cousin Octavia
 * Prester John
 * Liu Hui Ying
 * Chin Liang-Yu
 * Atkinson

Worldbuilding

 * Prester John jokes that Octavia might had found Morlock's birthday.

Continuity
to be added