Updated 12/13/24

Vietnam hadn't expected any of this chaos to come out of the morning's meeting. She knew America was a secretive man, one that preferred to keep his cards close to his chest, and she definitely felt a little bit foolish for not having realized the existence of his states sooner. Still, she didn't understand why some people, namely Britain and Canada, were making such a big deal out of it.

"I thought your territories died when they achieved statehood," Canada began, some sort of... desperate hope in his voice, "But if your states are alive, does that mean they all just became states?"

"Yes, it does," James said, and Canada's face lit up, causing James' face to harden. "That doesn't mean that either of them want to or are going to speak to you. Unsurprisingly, they've been some of the biggest supporters in not letting you two find out."

Canada looked angry as if he were about to argue, but Britain spoke before he could say anything.

"Well, I would still like to talk about this in the future. I want to meet my grandchildren," Britain said, something kinder in his voice. The grin James gave him was absolutely feral, amusement glittering in his eyes.

"Who says you haven't?" he asked, teasing, dangerous. Vietnam knew he was meant to be human, but something about his body and his demeanor made him feel like he was more than that.

"I know I have met Vermont and Mic—"

"You've met more than them," James said, lightly tapping the side of his head. "Although I would forgive you for not realizing, we were trying to keep it under wraps."

Vietnam's eyes widened at the implications.

"Are you saying that your states are alters?" Spain asked. James hummed before shaking his head.

"No, not anymore. When we were a colony, the original thirteen colonies were alters, but they gained their own bodies upon statehood. It's followed a similar pattern since then. Territories that were not purchased from other nations remain alters until they become states," James explained.

"How does that work?" Spain asked. James shrugged.

"We don't know. We think...we think it has something to do with how complicated colony personifications were back when America was born...but it's not a subject that we know the why for, only the how," James explained.

"So I met them when you were my colony?" Britain asked. James scowled but nodded.

"You did. You also hurt them like you hurt America, so don't expect them to be friendly with you," he said. Britain seemed upset by the statement but nodded anyway.

"Did you know—did America know about them when he was my colony?" Britain asked. James shook his head.

"No. He didn't find out until his revolution," James said before pausing, "Actually, that's a bit of a lie. He knew about myself and Virginia back when he was a young, young colony, but you used martial law to wipe him clean of that."

Vietnam winced slightly at that. She knew how....traumatizing marital law could be for someone. That sounded awful. Britain seemed upset by it at least, flinching away slightly and bowing his head.

"I see. I am sorry about that," Britain said. James' eyes narrowed, and he looked as if he didn't believe Britain at all.

"I'm sure you are," James drawled, his tone sarcastic and annoyed.

"If your original thirteen colonies gained bodies when they became states, does that mean they fought in your war of independence?" Jamaica asked, "Because I don't remember hearing any reports of them on the battlefield unless you hid them in human form, that is."

"Oh, no, they didn't gain their bodies until the late 1780s. We didn't have a government when we declared independence—" James was cut off by a chorus of groans from several of Britain's former colonies and Britain himself.

"James, please don't tell me that America decided to fight for his independence without a government," Ireland said, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Well, we had the Continental Congress.....which had almost no power....and was useless...but the Congress of the Confederation wasn't much better...." James said, trailing off before sighing, "Yeah, we declared independence without a set government or plan of what was going to happen once we were independent."

"Why am I not surprised?" Canada muttered.

"So, you got your government after the peace treaty?" Jamaica asked. James shook his head.

"No, we had our first government in 1781, the Articles of Confederation, but that ended up being too weak to properly unite the country and keep the state governments from doing fuck all, so it ended up getting replaced in 1787 by our current Constitution. Then, on December 7th of that year, Delaware became the first state to receive a body, hence why he is the first state without being the oldest," James explained.

"Well, thank god you had some sort of government when you signed that peace treaty," Ireland said, looking both annoyed and perturbed.

"Any other questions?" James then asked.

"If your territories were alters, then how did a territory Michigan end up in my care?" Canada asked.

"One, he didn't end up in your care. You kidnapped him," James began, looking annoyed. "Two, something about Hull surrendering the territory forced him into a body. We didn't realize it at first, just cause, as a system, it's hard to keep track of everyone, but when we got the letter about Michigan being captured....well, we realized what had happened. None of us knew that could happen."

"Is that why he looked...so young?" Canada asked. James nodded.

"Whenever the states got their body, no matter how old they were beforehand, they always looked the physical age of a newborn subdivision. They caught up to their real ages quickly enough. Instead of becoming fourteen, Delly became nineteen, and so on," James explained.

"That's...strange," Norway said. James shrugged.

"If I know anything about countrypeople, it's that DID can have strange effects on things," James said, before sighing, "But to be honest, we don't want to talk about how our DID has affected things because we don't know the answers to those questions. We're just as in the dark about it as the rest of you."

"I see," Canada said. "Thank you."