Shuos Meng

> "*Just because I’m in the top twenty on the leaderboard in Elite Thundersnake 900 doesn’t mean I could disarm real bombs if you yanked out my toenails.*"
> ― Shuos Meng
>
>

**Shuos Meng**, formerly **Zhei Meng** and also known as **Ahun Gerav**, was a Shuos special agent in the heptarchate. They appear in the short story Extracurricular Activities.

The following content contains plot or ending spoilers. Read with caution!

## History

Meng, a chubby alt with a vine-and-compass tattoo on their left hand as a sign of their merchanter lineage, attended Shuos Academy alongside Garach Jedao Shkan. The two met when they were paired together in a bomb-finding exercise. Meng described themselves as barely qualified for weapons but good at languages and hacking, admitting to have hacked the class assignments to be paired with Jedao. They claimed to have joined the Shuos to gain respectability, marry into a wealthy lineage, and have children.

Meng appeared fidgety and uneasy when Jedao seemed to be taking no pains over the exercise, and seemed to have low tolerance for pressure. When the exercise was over, however, Jedao caught a momentary "raptor's intent focus" in Meng's expression, and suspected they were lying when they expressed a wish to get a quiet deskbound posting. However, the two became friends, and Jedao believed in Meng's ultimate competence even before Meng seemed to believe in it themselves.

Unknown to Jedao or the Shuos, Meng was a deep-cover operative spying for the Gwa Reality, which paid an enormous sum for their services during and after their Academy years.

After graduating Shuos Academy with high marks, Meng entered a wealthy marriage of five other people, none of whom knew Meng's real job. Meng wrote Jedao regularly about their four children, and Jedao responded with gifts, receiving an occasional awkward thank-you note in return. Though the marriage began as a cover on Meng's part, they gradually developed a deep love for their spouses and children.

Over the years, Meng experienced increasing difficulty laundering the Gwa-an's substantial payments, making the high pay a less attractive incentive for them. With the Shuos about to catch on to their illicit activities, Meng took advantage of a spy mission to defect. Commanding the trademoth *Moonsweet Blossom* under the name Ahun Gerav, Meng betrayed its crew at Du Station, where, despite Meng's dislike of the situation, the crew were executed after refusing to defect as well. Meng was afforded a luxurious suite on the station and expected to remain there, supported by their wealth.

Jedao, arriving to take Meng back to the heptarchate, found them drunk and despondent. When Meng pondered committing suicide rather than being taken captive and tortured for high treason, Jedao threatened to tell all their children about their double life as a spy, but offered to make sure the family would never hear of Meng's lies and disgrace if they came quietly. Meng, desperate to preserve the secret from their beloved family, considered this more than fair and cooperated. After assisting Jedao in stealing the *Moonsweet Blossom* from Du Station, Meng allowed themselves to be restrained and taken to the brig on Carp 1 to be transported back to the heptarchate.

## Trivia

* In the Academy, Meng was among the leaderboard's top twenty in *Elite Thundersnake 900*.
* Meng knew multiple languages, including Shparoi.
* The title "*Extracurricular Activities*" refers to Meng's espionage while they were a cadet.
* Among other activities, Meng hacked the heptarchate's Tlen Gwa course to make it more difficult for outside agents to learn the Gwa-ans' language. They acknowledge that they would not have bothered if they had known Jedao would be the one to use the course, since its gaps didn't slow him down.