Zeroth Directive

Archive III

'Legend has it that long ago, there once was a patriarch of the Anasa tribe who wished not for his people to live in the dangerous, dark night. So, he passed the position of patriarch to his son and went east alone, hoping to find a place where the sun never sets. But after a long journey, he failed to find this place. Every evening, he could only watch as the sun dipped beneath the horizon. Finally one day, exhausted and hungry, he collapsed on the ground and started to cry helplessly.' Suddenly, in his tearful eyes, he saw the sun and the moon exchange positions in the sky. In the golden firmament, the moon was in the east, and the sun in the west. In the middle of the desert was a conjoined flower, one side in bloom and the other decaying. Suddenly, the patriarch understood that day and night are actually two sides of the same coin. The world basks in the splendor of day, but also must endure the cold solitude of night. Finally, during sunrise one day, the patriarch returned to his tribe, embraced his wife and children fiercely. Never again would he grapple with the coming of night, instead choosing to cherish the fleeting light of day.' After dinner one day, the operators were chatting about stories from their hometown, and Jieyun shared a legend she once heard from her tribe. Though the story sounded nonsensical, it still piqued my curiosity about the Anasa. After some investigation, I inferred that the origins of the Anasa trace back to a Sarkaz tribe that traveled east. Due to a Catastrophe separating them from their group, they stayed behind in a desert to Yan's northwest. As the cogs of history turned, the Sarkaz that wandered here changed their name to Anasa, became a part of Yan along with this stretch of barrenlands, and were unintentionally integrated into Yanese society. However, they remained extremely wary and chose to keep their distance from the nomadic cities, instead sticking to their traditions and continuing to linger in the wilderness, living a nomadic lifestyle. I suspect that the Anasa tribe's long-term diaspora and migration was pivotal in shaping their unique ideology. For them, this vast desert is the entire world. Though everything eventually disappears, the soul persists immortal, re-entering the Great Cycle and returning to this land in another form. That is why birth and old age, health and sickness, survival and death, are all parts of the movements of heaven and earth. Rather than focusing on the misfortunes that are bound to happen in the future, they pay more heed to what unfolds right in front of them... ––Excerpts from the notes of a folklore-loving Operator. There are still many blank spaces on the pages titled 'Anasa.'

Archive IV

While speaking with Jieyun, the term 'Shifu' can often be heard from her lips. From her words full of reminiscence and longing, she paints a clear and vivid image of a chilvarous woman with fine lines at the corners of her eyes and a hearty smile. Many years ago, this heroine encountered Jieyun's tribe after setting out from Yumen. At that time, a deadly Catastrophe was about to befall the tribe, and the heroine could not sit by idly and watch disaster strike. Enduring pain and illness, she tried every means possible to lead the entire tribe away from the Catastrophe, after which she stayed with the tribe, helping them find another place with clean water and fertile soil in which they could recuperate, and teaching them everything she had learned. Among the children of the tribe, Jieyun exhibited the most talent, as well as the most down-to-earth and diligent attitude, therefore becoming the only semblance of an heir to the heroine's martial arts. Additionally, her innocent and frank disposition perfectly complemented the heroine's temper, and the latter would favor Jieyun over the other children of the tribe. But around that same time, the heroine's condition took a turn for the worse and time was running out. She did not want Jieyun to miss her in the future, and had refused to take her in prior to that point. But before she passed on, the heroine finally gave in and allowed Jieyun to become her disciple. During the long hours she spent with the heroine, Jieyun heard much about her past in Yumen and her free, unrestrained lifestyle, perfectly encapsulating the world of martial arts that Jieyun had always envisioned. Because of the agreement she made with the heroine, Jieyun was able to come to Yumen to personally relive the experiences and knowledge of the heroine piece by piece. This trip completely uprooted many of Jieyun's inherent ideologies and sowed the seeds of many other inexpressible things in her heart, making her unable to wander freely as before.

Search

Jieyun

Promotion record

Archive I

Archive II

Outfits

Operators

Archive III

Archive IV