Yeah, I figured it was about time to have another perspective on the whole deal, where before it had mostly been seen in Twilight proper from the responding Task Force, and the parts of Correspondence where G tells Tali'Shukra the aftermath.

>I know Korra knows Belldandy, but I wonder how long (if ever) it took
>for Korra to find out it was Belldandy she was communing with that
>day?

Oh, I'm sure she'll (have) figure(d) it out eventually. Just undecided as to when.

>I did not realize things about Diqiu and Zipang were that open. I'd
>gotten the impression Diqiu's existance was secret (codes and signals
>needed to buy train tickets to cross the Veil, trains with changeable
>signage, diversionary turn-around loops, etc). Yet here are all these
>government and military people (with various staff) going back and
>forth across the Veil for meetings and the like. Wouldn't someone
>notice that they were gone for that long during each visit? (2 days
>each way by train?) People do talk. And everyone on the Zipang side
>seemed to know who and what Korra was, even console operators in space
>control.

Well, a good portion of this is intended to be covered in Book 5: Veil (whenever we actually get around to it), but the short form is that Zipang was in a period of self-imposed isolation during the Exile, not wanting to draw attention to themselves from GENOM or other hostile powers. It was during this period of isolation that Diqiu finally contacted them, and they welcomed it since the Diqiu natives were willing to trade and immigrate with them when they'd cut things off with the rest of the galaxy. The fact that Diqiu's population size was starting to match early 20th century Earth's, and their own colony's population was significantly smaller (a small-to-midsize country on our world) in comparison, they ended up dealing with Diqiu as if it was a foreign nation on their own world (instead of parallel). So for the rest of the Exile, contact and awareness was increased, especially at the government level. The average Zipangi may not be aware of the nitty gritty details of Diqiu, but they know it exists and/or somebody who's dealt with them.

This openness, of course, came back to bite them on the ass once they realized that they'd be re-connecting with the rest of the galaxy once the WDF returned, and the Earth Alliance started being more dubious (plus things like Big Fire and Psi Corps, etc) -- hence the protective secret being put into place for any Zipangi leaving the planet and overall information secrecy about the existence of Diqiu. It's something of a collective delusion for the entire colony that it's 100% foolproof, but hey, you do what you can... :)

>I like this story.

Yay! I'm glad. ^_^

---- Philip

	Philip J. Moyer Contributing Writer, Editor and Artist (and Moderator) -- Eyrie Productions, Unlimited CEO of MTS, High Poobah Of Artwork, and High Priest Of the Church Of Aerianne -- Magnetic Terrapin Studios "Insert Pithy Comment Here" Fandoms -- Fanart -- Fan Meta Discussions