Oh, I get it, the devils are actually gwai lo.
Yeah. Figured that out pretty early on. Writing to a Western audience, though, I see how the reveal could work.
A pretty good story, I think.
Shao Ying being able to reprogram the missiles was a little difficult to believe -- I get the feeling she's a foot soldier type, perhaps a corporal or sergeant if not just a grunt. And that's because, unless something changed in China between now and the time this story took place, aren't women generally seen as second-class citizens in China? In the metropolitan areas, sure, women can be at least somewhat powerful, but to the best of my knowledge, women are currently not equal to men in most Asian cultures. Unless perhaps Shao Ying was the product of some sort of Young Communists program -- she was pretty strongly-programmed (so to speak) and that's why she was left behind, I think.
Anyway, beyond that I had no problems with the story. Her drive to save China was completely believable based upon what I know of Chinese culture, and the verification procedure bit at the end was right out of a fairy/morality tale.
Grandmother Thinkbox spitting out the maintenance cube at the last second was a little deus ex machina, though; I think the story could've been the same except that Shao Ying had to prove herself because GT was dead, not because they were not in maintenance mode anymore. One would think there'd be some sort of safety protocol where, if the main AI is destroyed, the missiles get locked down anyway pending security verification.
The reading was good, though there were some high-end artifacts in it. I'm not sure what they're called... little crackles on certain words and sounds.
