Two Cons and A Game

I’ve been a bit quiet recently as I’ve been working towards some exciting events coming up!

Road to Guangdong

For about 18 months, I’ve been writing and working on narrative design for a game called Road to Guangdong. I’m super excited, so so proud, and also nervous as heck to announce that it’ll be released on 28 August on Nintendo Switch, Xbox One, PS4, and PC.

It’s a zen driving game with narrative puzzles, set in an early 1990s Guangdong. The stories explore family relationships and very human choices, and how you make those choices affects the outcome of the game. And as a true homage to the Chinese culture, the final goal of the game is to get as many of your relatives to come together for the Spring Festival reunion dinner as possible.

The driving in the game is actually just bliss. You have to look after the car, Sandy, which is slightly old and beaten up, and you have your Guu Ma (oldest paternal aunt) tagging along, guiding (and nagging) you. The scenery is wonderful and the radio stations help with the longer drives, or if you want to encourage Guu Ma to nap. :)

You can explore more about the game here: https://www.excalibur-games.com/road-to-guangdong/ or look out for my social media posts for updates and extras! The game is available for pre-order now on Xbox One, and the demo is playable now in the Xbox Summer Game Fest Demo Event.

By the way, I’ll be doing an AMA with Alex Darby (game programmer and designer) on Reddit (r/Xboxone) at 4pm today (24 July BST). Come by and ask us some questions!

In the meantime, pull up a chair and enjoy the trailer.

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CoNZealand

It’s that time of the year again for WorldCon—World Science Fiction Convention and this year, it’s being held in New Zealand. In all honesty, I’m really grateful for the turn of events that meant that CoNZealand is now a fully digital event. I wouldn’t have been able to make it otherwise and am so excited that I’ll be at WorldCon for another year!

I’m not sure what to expect from a fully online WorldCon… but I know for sure that I will be digital jet-lagged! :) I hope to see some of you there.

Below is my schedule for CoNZealand. If you’re attending, do drop by and say hi!
Do note that the schedule below is in New Zealand time with British time in brackets.

Kaffeeklatsch: Yen Ooi
30 Jul 2020, Thursday 10:00-10:50 (29 Jul 2020, Wednesday 23:00-23:50 BST), Kaffeklatch and Literary Beer Room (Programming)

Getting Your Book Edited and Ready for Self Publishing
31 Jul 2020, Friday 12:00-12:50 (01:00-01:50 BST), Programme Room 4 (Webinar) (Programming)
Publishing a good independent book involves more than writing it and then putting it online. What’s involved in producing a good self-published book that readers will enjoy and will sell well. 
Angela Meyer, Jane Routley (M), William C. Tracy (Space Wizard Science Fantasy), Yen Ooi

Post The Three-Body Problem: What Is Happening in Mainland Chinese Science Fiction?
31 Jul 2020, Friday 17:00-17:50 (06:00-06:50 BST), Programme Room 3 (Webinar) (Programming)
Remembrance of Earth’s Past novels made mainland Chinese science fiction much more prominent. Was it the same in China? How were young mainland Chinese authors influenced by these books?  Did it make a difference for the kind of mainland Chinese science fiction being published today?
Andy Dudak, Rebecca Kuang (Harper Voyager), Yen Ooi, Taiyo Fujii (SFWJ), Regina Kanyu Wang (M)

Chinese Short Fiction
1 Aug 2020, Saturday 18:00-18:50 (07:00-07:50 BST), Programme Room 3 (Webinar) (Programming)
Some of the most vibrant and creative genre short fiction out there is written in the Chinese language(s).  What Chinese short fiction and which writers should you know better?
Yilun Fan (Chengdu Eight Light Minutes Culture) (M), Joyce Chng, Taiyo Fujii (SFWJ), Yen Ooi

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A Con Story

Finally, I want to leave you with one of my favourite short stories from my book: A Suspicious Collection. The story idea came to me when were living in Tokyo, as I had frequented Shibuya Station where the Hachiko statue lives. Hachiko’s story is one that touched many, and when we were in Tokyo, Hollywood had even released a film called Hachi: A Dog’s Tale (2009) starring Richard Gere.

Obviously, Hachiko’s story stayed with me even after we left Tokyo, and during one hot summer’s day that had reminded me of the scorching summer days in Japan with never-ending cicada songs, I sat down and wrote this story in its entirety. It had brewed in my mind for five years and I was really pleased with how the story turned out.

A friend told me that reading this story has changed Hachiko for her permanently, so I feel like I should give you a bit of a warning. I won’t say more than it’s a story about patience and a long con.

Hachiko

There were two men huddled in a corner of a dark room, surreptitiously whispering even though there wasn’t anyone else nearby. No one knew they were there, for they were Nowhere: a place that was found neither in time nor space. The room was small, a basic cube, and it sat within a bigger cube, and another, and another. . . They did not care about how many rooms there were; just knowing that each cube had a door that led further into Nowhere was enough.

They were talking about a professor who had snared their attention: Ueno Hidesaburo Sensei of the Imperial University. The Keepers of Darkness were not concerned about who this professor was. They just needed him taken care of. Their whispers scratched the air with static electricity for hours and days, but it did not matter, for they were Nowhere. As they concluded their machination, they knew that it was Ehta who would have to take on the job. She was patient and tidy, full of glam. She was also famous in her various guises and enjoyed fame.

She needed the fame to make her stronger. Already a demigod in different aspects, she had people talking about her, worshipping her, praying to her for all sorts. The two men knew that it was only a matter of time before she would be stronger than her oldest sibling, An.

1923, Tokyo

In the city that was buzzing with new technology—electricity—Ehta scoured the streets to find inspiration for a vessel, a new guise. The people were polite, soft-spoken and very organised. She did not fear men, for she knew that they were easy to control—as long as she did not make any mistakes. That was why she hated language. She always preferred to reach down to the essence of humanity, to its core, manipulating people’s instincts instead. Words were too flimsy.

She saw her quarry, and she knew that it would be perfect. The bitch was already pregnant with seven pups. She would be the eight—an omen, definitely. Without hesitation, she approached the bitch as it whimpered in fear. Animals were always better at sensing her approach than humans, their instincts not blunted from ego and knowledge.

She reached into the bitch’s mind, negotiating a safe passage across the planes. “In return,” she told the bitch, “I will not hurt you, or any of your pups. You are not my concern today.” The bitch complied and allowed her into her womb, as an eight-pup, ready to be delivered. It was only a two-day wait for Ehta before she saw sunlight through the eyes of a dog.

They nicknamed her “Kid Number Eight”—Hachiko. A golden-brown pup of the akita breed, Ehta relaxed in her first weeks in this new form and enjoyed being nurtured by the bitch. She knew she had time yet.

Ehta, as Hachiko, was nearly three months old when she strolled to Ueno Hidesaburo Sensei’s home near Shibuya. An agriculture professor, she knew that the guise of a lost puppy was perfect in enticing him. Being a true gentleman, Ueno Sensei brought the pup to its rightful owner, and they exchanged some words about the inquisitive dog, Hachiko. Before the sun set on that fateful day, Hachiko returned with Ueno Sensei, etching the beginnings of the story that would be revered and repeated for generations to come. Hachiko the faithful dog has been adopted and had found its new, loving owner.

The next months were a tedious but necessary period for Ehta in collecting intelligence. Ueno Sensei was on the point of a breakthrough with his research on arable land, making headway in discoveries that would allow Japan to flourish as an agricultural country. His position at the Imperial University meant that his findings would reach the emperor’s ears, were he less humble. His humility meant that he would share his research with no one, until he was sure of the results.

Without knowing it, he did share his work with someone, and that was Ehta, in the guise of Hachiko. The dog seemed intelligent to Ueno Sensei. Quick to learn of the professor’s habits, the dog seemed to understand the professor’s needs and sought to make his life easier and more comfortable. Proving itself to be a loyal companion, the dog followed Ueno Sensei to the train station every morning, a simple gesture to see him off to school, and waited at the station in the evenings for his return. Hachiko never missed a day.

What Ueno did not know was that Ehta was also monitoring intelligence from the Kempeitai, specifically the buntai that was currently based in Toba-shi in Mie prefecture. Shocho Kato Kenichii was setting up the new Kempeitai base that would prove to be the linchpin in a series of events seventeen years from then. This was what the Keepers of Darkness were protecting.

Every day, after Hachiko accompanied Ueno Sensei to Shibuya Station, the dog would head towards the marketplace where Ehta knew of a Kempeitai secret base. It was only ever manned by one officer at a time, as it was just a communications base. The officer would sit in a small shed at the back of a fruit stall and keep a radio switched to the Kempeitai band, noting down communications that were happening throughout Japan. Here, Hachiko would sit either inside the fruit stall or outside it, near the back, and listen in. The guise of a dog was coming in handy with its improved sense of hearing.

When the officer changed shifts, welcoming a new officer for the evening, Hachiko would know to head to Shibuya Station, to wait for Ueno Sensei like the faithful dog it was. This ritual went on for more than half a year before Ehta learnt of new developments.

The professor was anxious, excited about a new location that would help confirm his hypotheses. Ehta knew that it was in Toba-shi in Mie prefecture before he told her. Babbling at Hachiko every evening, Ueno Sensei boasted about his work to his only true companion, thinking nothing of it. But Ehta knew that it meant that it was time for her to take action.

For nearly another year, Ehta continued the Hachiko faithful dog ritual. Every morning, she would walk Ueno Sensei to Shibuya Station, and every evening, she would sit and wait for his arrival. At home, she would listen to his chattering about the day, but one thing changed.

As Ueno Sensei slept at night, Ehta would go to work. She would plant horrible dreams in his mind, dreams inspired by her colourful past in reaping souls, dreams that would slowly eat away his brains. A perfectionist, Ehta wanted the effects to be timed accurately, not too early nor too late.

In his dreams, Ueno Sensei saw what would be the future of the world, and the past so long ago that there was nothing but darkness, but he would not be able to make any sense of them. All he knew was that he was scared, more frightened than he ever was in his life. His biggest relief was when he awoke each time and saw Hachiko’s sad dog eyes staring at him, as if it knew of his pain. Every morning, he would cuddle the dog and tell it of his dreams, and while Hachiko listened intently, even whimpering on cue, Ehta would laugh inside, basking in the glory of her success to come.

In April 1924, Ehta heard through the Kempeitai communications that a new troop member was initiated into its Toba-shi base. His name was Yamamoto Shuhei. It was this name that triggered her next steps, to complete her mission.

In May 1924, Ueno Hidesaburo Sensei died of a cerebral haemorrhage while lecturing a class. Hachiko had seen him to Shibuya Station in the morning, but he did not make it back that evening.

Ehta knew that the news of Ueno Sensei’s death had to be suppressed in some way so that his colleagues would not pick up on his work, which would have been revolutionary. If found by the government, the success that the arable land research would bring would take priority over the need for a Kempeitai base—the need for Japan to postulate itself as a military power in the world when they could lead through agriculture and economy instead—which would bring about a change that would threaten history itself. And the Keepers of Darkness would not have that.

Ehta knew that the politics at the university would handle itself, since most professors would push for their own research to be made a priority before digging up a dead professor’s work. However, she needed the general talk to move away from what the professor did. So she manipulated humanity at its core, as she had promised to do.

Ehta continued Hachiko’s ritual, going to Shibuya Station every evening to wait for the dead professor who never returned. The community soon spotted the ritual and lapped it up. The talk went from the dead professor to the dead professor’s loyal dog. His life and what he did were to be forever shadowed by the actions of his dog.

Even though Ehta knew that she was already successful in her mission, she kept up the ritual as she basked in her newfound fame as a dog. Realising the potential for another immortalisation, she played on for another nine years. This was long enough for the Kempeitai troop member Yamamoto Shuhei to be promoted to Chu-i, clearly on his way to becoming a Shocho within the next eight years.

Near the end of Hachiko’s life, Ehta allowed herself to enjoy and reap the benefits of another successful mission, as she was pampered and worshipped by the community. Not knowing the full extent of her mastery, Ehta was confident that she would have acquired new followers as Hachiko that would strengthen her for a few years to come. She did not expect that she would be idolised and immortalised even a decade on. Her newfound fame and legend had pushed her above her siblings, giving her the ultimate position with the Keepers of Darkness.

In the room within rooms, the scraping whispers of the two men huddled in the corner changed into croaky laughter, as they knew that the Darkness had been protected. From Nowhere, they opened a window to peer into the world that Ehta had been sent to preserve. It was December, 1941, in Japan.