"The Japanese Hegemon," part 1

Elizabeth

Caitlyn

Rachel

Elizabeth, Caitlyn, and Rachel sat in the spartan room, alone and scared witless.  The three models had been dragged from their respective flats in the middle of the night and brought here by the occupying forces.  No explanation was provided - each was simply shoved into a simple room.

Once, it may have been a conference room.  There was a projector mounted on the ceiling, facing a bare, white wall, and there were divots on the carpeted floor, indicating the former presence of furniture. Now, it was clearly a cell.



Its inhabitants knew better than to say anything.  In the short time since the Japanese marched into Sydney,  Australians had learned that the Japanese could monitor literally all communications.  Without knowing what was happening, there was nothing to be gained by the girls by saying anything, and there was potentially significant downside if the Japanese misconstrued what was said.

Elizabeth rested her head on her pale, bent knees, back against a wall, soft blonde tresses hanging straight down.  She glanced to her left and observed Caitlyn in a similar pose.  Beautiful Caitlyn, whose light brown hair still had the waves put in it at the salon the previous day.  The two had met at a modeling shoot four years ago and became fast friends.  They had similar tastes in clothes and men.  Beside Caitlyn was Rachel, who was almost a sister to Elizabeth.  They were schoolmates who had entered the modeling field together and were each other's first roommates outside of the biological family.  Elizabeth and Rachel had shared almost everything.  Perhaps it was fitting that they would face whatever awaited them together.

Elizabeth thought back on how her country had arrived at this point.  In the years since Japan emerged as a military and economic superpower, the ruling classes of the other world democracies steadily fled to Australia, which Japan steadfastly ignored while it went about the business of conquering the world.  Elizabeth herself relocated there as a girl from America.  News on developments outside of Australia was nearly impossible to get, but the island's residents heard refugees tell similar stories of conquer and subjugation by Japan.  First, the East fell to Japan.  Then, one by one, the great Western powers fell, until only Australia stood apart from Japan.  Everywhere Japan went, it spread its values and culture, obliterating the old without mercy.  It was unclear to Australians how this worked, but the effectiveness was undeniable.  It was said that there were no rebellions in any conquered territory - it seemed that Japanese culture was embraced and flourished nearly worldwide.

Australians thought that they're strict non-interventionalist policies led Japan to consider it off limits. Culture flourished Down Under, with many of the great Western artists now resident there.  The years Japan spent conquering the world were heady times for models like Caitlyn, Rachel, and Elizabeth.  Each was put on a pedestal by the press and public, their every action saluted in supermarket gossip rags.  These three were among the highest-paid models in Australia.

None of that mattered, as of a few weeks ago.  Japan wasn't ignoring Australia - Japan was just saving Australia for last.  Within hours of Japanese soldiers making landfall in Perth, the entire continent had surrendered, without a single gunshot fired.  It was as if everyone there collectively realized their time was up.

Elizabeth had spent the weeks of occupation in her flat.  Television, radio, phone, and internet were all cut, and residents were restricted to their dwellings except to wait in line for supplies.  Elizabeth was, fortunately, well-stocked at the time of the occupation, and only had to wait in line once.  The process took hours, as the Japanese sentries dispensing bags of rice took the time to mock each person in line.

When it was Elizabeth's turn, two of the sentries pointed at her and laughed, one saying to the other, "minikui," a Japanese word that Elizabeth knew to mean "ugly."  Elizabeth smirked and pointed behind them at a billboard that bore her face.  The smiles left the sentries' faces.  One shook his head, the other spat in Elizabeth's face and threw her to the ground.  Realizing the mistake of provoking the Japanese, Elizabeth scurried home and remained there for the next several days, until she was brought to this room.

Hours passed in silence, until the lone door burst open.  In walked two women, both Japanese.  The first was dressed in a beautiful gown that shimmered as she walked.  The other was dressed in shorts and a dress shirt.  Both wore open-toed shoes, in contravention of the Australian style, where open toes and bare feet were strongly discouraged.  The woman in the gown wore sandals with thin straps across the tops of the feet and the ankles.  Heels of at least four inches elevated her to an impressive height.  A single toe ring adorned her left foot.  The other woman wore sports sandals.  Elizabeth had heard that these were called Tevas and were incredibly popular with young Japanese women.

The two Japanese women walked over the room and stood directly in front of the three cowering models.  The gowned woman spoke.  "I Debuko, this Chiyami.  You work for us now."