Lin Sanjiu closed her eyes, then opened them again. She repeated the motion once more.
Her combat boots pressed against the gray brick floor. The tal pipes hanging from the white ceiling continued to hum, a steady vibration, like soone softly humming an unchanging tune from deep within their nasal cavity.
For fleeting monts, she almost convinced herself that she had dozed off while waiting, that it had all been a dream where Yu Yuan had co to find her, when in reality, he had never been here at all. Now, there was no trace of him left. No proof that, just minutes ago, he had stood right in front of her. Right?
She reached out her foot, pressing lightly against the tile ahead of her.
Would Rena feel that step? She probably would.
Then... would Rena be able to sense the choice she had made?
Unlikely. Even Lin Sanjiu couldn't fully grasp it. The only thing she felt was the sensation of falling, plumting from a cliff with no end in sight. The mont she considered what the other choice would have ant, what she had sacrificed, what was truly right, it was like wind from the abyss rushed up to fill her chest and throat, choking her breath. Her instincts sensed Rena's return before her senses did.
She stared at the bend in the corridor, waiting. A minute or two later, as expected, Rena erged from the murmurs of conversation and the sound of approaching footsteps.
"Sorry about that." She didn't seem to have noticed anything amiss, aning Yu Yuan's thod of walking on air had worked flawlessly. Dismissing the two people beside her with a nod, Rena turned to Lin Sanjiu. "That was a bit of a ss, but I finally got it sorted... You okay?"
Lin Sanjiu touched her own face. Was it that obvious?
"I'm fine," she said, flashing Rena a smile. "I was just thinking, and there are a few things I wanted to ask you when you got back."
When Rena looked at her, it was different from how she looked at others. There was sothing of the past in her gaze, sothing bright and translucent, like a gemstone resting in a shallow stream, catching and refracting the light. Even her mannerisms were lighter, more playful. She grinned. "Do I have to answer before you'll hand over the Ah Quan pocket dinsion?"
"No... They're unrelated." Lin Sanjiu lowered her voice. "But before I give it to you, there are so things I need to say first."
Even though she didn't regret her choice, she couldn't shake a lingering guilt toward her friends. She had no idea what would happen to Yu Yuan after he left, nor could she predict the full impact of her decision. All she could do was lower her gaze, watching only the ground beneath her feet, moving forward step by step until the future reached her, until it unfolded beneath her.
"Alright, go ahead." Rena seed to sense her seriousness, and the sparkle of amusent faded from her expression.
"The first thing is—"
"Wait."
Lin Sanjiu barely had ti to begin before Rena suddenly cut her off.
A deep furrow ford between Rena's brows as she tilted her head slightly, listening to sothing imperceptible—sothing that did not exist in this world, or at least, sothing Lin Sanjiu couldn't hear. After a few seconds, she suddenly issued a quick, decisive command.
"Let's talk on your ship," Rena said, already turning. "Soone's coming. It's not convenient here."
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It wasn't the Shark Nexus researchers; Lin Sanjiu had already seen plenty of them. No, it had to be soone new, soone who had just arrived in Chiric City. She hurried after Rena, instinctively wanting to ask who, but stopped herself. If Rena had wanted to tell her, she would have said so already. Instead, she remained silent, as if she expected Lin Sanjiu to do the sa.
Chiric City was surrounded by a layered spatial barrier, one that had given both Yu Yuan and Lin Sanjiu plenty of trouble when they had snuck in. But now, with Rena leading the way, the barrier beca docile, parting like a curtain to create a seamless passage for the two of them to step through.
Only after exiting the spatial rift did Lin Sanjiu realize where she had arrived. It was the sa docking station where she had first landed in Chiric City. If she looked straight ahead, past the public docking ports, she would see—
She was startled, finding that she really could see it. The triangular aircraft she had bought off eBay.
After all this ti, it was still right where she had left it.
"That's yours?" Rena said quickly. "Good. We'll take it up to your ship."
Since their reunion, this was the first ti Lin Sanjiu had seen Rena look so urgent. But it didn't seem to be for her own safety. Rena was moving quickly, but she wasn't afraid. If anything, she seed to be trying to get Lin Sanjiu off-world before sothing, or more likely, soone, arrived.
1
A vague suspicion ford in Lin Sanjiu's mind, but she said nothing.
She activated the aircraft, squeezing into the small cockpit beside Rena. Her scent filled the enclosed space; it was difficult to describe, sothing like moonlight or morning dew, cool and faint. As they ascended, Lin Sanjiu asked, "Where's Eight-Heads De? Can that spatial rift be reopened so he can co out?"
She felt Rena glance at her.
"I know you plan to use Ah Quan to alter his mory and make him work for you," Lin Sanjiu continued quickly. "But I've already ford a bond with Eight-Heads De. I've even helped him before. Maybe I can convince him; you might not have to go that far."
Rena didn't respond imdiately. By the ti she spoke again, the aircraft had already reached Exodus, sliding into the vast shadow beneath its hull. From her vantage point in the sky, Lin Sanjiu caught sight of sothing else—a ship had just landed behind Chiric City's rocky outskirts. She couldn't see it directly, but she could piece it together from the details: the lingering echo of its engines, the half-shadow it had cast behind the mountains.
So soone had just arrived in Chiric City.
"Eight-Heads De was already captured by the last group we sent here," Rena said, watching as Exodus's docking bay doors slowly opened. Her voice carried a subtle hint of relief. "He just doesn't know it yet. He believes he's the last person wandering alone in Chiric City. But he isn't. He's simply moving within a space that's been camouflaged to blend with the surrounding environnt, one that still allows for signal transmission."
A chill ran down Lin Sanjiu's spine. "All this ti... and he never noticed? He told himself that he was stuck because there was a spatial barrier around him..."
"Did he?" Rena murmured, her voice unreadable.
She had known all along.
Of course. Xie Feng had said Beacon-Wolf Signal was also under the control of the Shark Nexus... Rena hadn't just known about Eight-Heads De, Cyrus, and her. She likely knew about Yu Yuan too.
Lin Sanjiu busied herself with stabilizing the aircraft as they docked, trying not to dwell on that thought. As she stepped out into the vast, warehouse-like docking bay of Exodus, the lights from below cast long shadows, breaking up the darkness in neat, geotric patterns.
"I fully support your vaccine plan," she said quietly. "No... I should say, I'm grateful for it. I have never wanted anything to succeed more than this. If it ans making sure your plan succeeds and stopping teleportation, I'll do whatever it takes. I'm willing to help you in any way I can."
Rena studied her for a long mont, then nodded slightly.
"But before that," Lin Sanjiu continued, "I need to make sure my friends are safe." She watched Rena's expression carefully, but the woman was too composed; she gave away nothing.
"Cyrus is still in the Brain in a Vat, isn't he?" she asked. "Is he... is he still alive?"
She thought she had asked the question aloud. But after a pause, Lin Sanjiu realized she hadn't made a sound. Her lips had moved, but the words had never left her throat.
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