Sage Tower Lobby
“It’s kind of weird being here in person,” I remarked, taken aback by the sheer size and grandeur of just the first floor.
“Isn’t it your first time here?” En questioned, leaning forward in his seat.
Zhuyu went ahead of us, summoned by the prophet for a private discussion. The two of us were told to wait here while she discussed important matters with the zero vector user. I was really curious about why she was so keen on seeing the hero alone first. Probably something to do with Tess since he often traveled to other dimensions on business matters related to the Gatekeeper.
“I’m surprised you called me out on that, En,” I said, glancing over at him.
“Oh, wasn’t trying to be rude,” he responded, shaking his head.
“That wasn’t what I meant. This place was in one of my mind dives a couple of days ago. Actually, it was about you and Kang, ” I revealed.
“That’s embarrassing. Hope it wasn’t anything bad,” En said, moving his long hair as it obscured his glasses.
“No, not at all. Got to see how you fought back then. You’re probably one of the more versatile heroes, able to use so many weapons,” I complimented him.
“I’m not that great. Jin’s a whole lot better at it then me,” En responded, modest about his skills.
And then our conversation just ended. Right, how could I forget, this was En. Pretty amazing we even talked for that long without any awkward silence. Might as well kill the time with a mind dive. I opened up my magical tome, noticing spinning clock cogs on one of the bookmarks. Huh, never saw that before. Might as well check it out!
MIND DIVE 2′: Her Message
Summer 202X, Afternoon
“Long didn’t respond to you?” Jacque entered the back of Shan’s car.
“He did. Can’t make it because he has something to do. Wasn’t that in our group chat?” Shan tapped on the dashboard display screen.
“Oh, maybe?” the artist pulled out his phone and scrolled through his many messages.
“I thought he might have some free time but his exams are the same week. Plus, pretty expensive to fly back this time of the year too,” Shan revealed as they stopped at a red light.
“That sucks bro. He still trying to find a way to unlock Tess’ stuff?” Jacque responded to an incoming message from one of his co-workers.
“He should give up,” Ksi stated, glancing out the front passenger window.
“I think he knows. But, he’s not going to give up until he absolutely has to,” Shan said, entering the freeway.
“I get how he feels, Shigetzu, but don’t you think it only hurts him to keep doing that? It’s not the best time for him to focus on other things especially with his final exams coming up,” Ksi pointed out, changing the music playing in the car.
“You get in contact with Zhang?” Jacque yawned, regretting his decision to stay up late and finish a hard mission for one of his games.
“Yep, he’ll be there,” Shan confirmed.
“Nice! That’s almost everyone, isn’t it?” Jacque went through a mental checklist in his head.
“Think so,” Shan answered.
Thirty minutes later, they arrived at a wide metal ornate gate. Security cameras swiveled around, focusing on Shan’s car. A flash of light occurred as the automated security system determined if they were allowed entry. There was a beep and then the gates swung open, letting them in.
“This is crazy!” Jacque admired the large mansion that came into his sight.
“Felicity insisted on it. She said she’ll do this for everyone,” Shan said, parking his car near a valet.
“Really?” Jacque shook his head in amazement, following Shan and Ksi to the front entrance.
“Don’t you work for her, Jacque? Out of everyone, you should know her personality pretty well by now,” Ksi commented as Shan pressed the doorbell.
“Well, I don’t really talk to her unless there’s a problem with the designs. I spend most of the time talking to the main design team,” the artist responded.
“Wait, I thought you were the boss, Jacque! Don’t you have an executive position in the company?” Shan waved at the camera mounted at the top.
“Nah bro, who told you that? I’m part of upper management but not that much of a big shot,” Jacque denied.
“That’s pretty high up there, Jacque. You oversee a lot of people with that kind of job title,” Ksi pointed out.
“Trust me, it’s really not that important. I still do a lot of grunt work. It just sounds fancy,” Jacque revealed.
“You need to talk to Felicity and sort that all out. You can’t undervalue yourself, Jacque,” Ksi suggested, following Shan inside.
The three traveled to the living room where people were already gathered. Ichaival chatted with Kisai near the TV. Felicity spoke with Lilith about a business venture. She wasn’t interested at all but paid attention to her out of courtesy. Jen looked at the photos Steph shared from a trip she just came back from. En and Shui were catching up since they hadn’t seen each other in a few months. Ichaival’s wife, Lyra, looked at the expensive paintings hanging throughout the room.
“Hey, the stars of the show are finally here!” Felicity greeted them.
“Must mean Jacque, right? He’s such a hard worker so he definitely deserves all of this,” Shan said, nodding his head in agreement.
“Knock it off, Shigetzu. But, you do have a point. Felicity, you really should pay attention to everyone in your company more,” Ksi stated, glancing over at him.
“Let’s not make it about me. It’s all you guys,” Jacque said, pointing at Shan and Ksi.
“Congratulations, you two! It’s so nice to see everyone be happy and find someone that really completes them,” Felicity shouted, hugging Ksi without her permission.
Ksi squired around, not ecstatic about Felicity pouncing on her. However, she appreciated her providing the venue for a celebration so she endured it for now. Shan pried Felicity off of his future wife before heading over to Ichaival and Kisai.
“Congrats on the engagement, Shigetzu,” Kisai said, raising his beer into the air.
“Yeah, finally went ahead and did it, huh? Seriously, I’m happy for you man,” Ichaival congratulated his friend and pulled him in for a brotherly hug.
“I learned from the best, Darryl,” Shan responded with a huge grin.
“Congratulations, Shigetzu! I’m so excited for you two,” Shui said, walking up to the three men with En following behind him.
“Hey, congratulations on the engagement, Shigetzu. Long sends his regards too,” En said.
“Man, what a scumbag. Can’t even show up for one of his friends. Worse yet, won’t even be at the wedding,” Kisai joked, handing Shui a beer bottle.
“Damn, even I couldn’t say that with a serious face. How are you able to say all of that so seriously?” Ichaival shook his head in amazement.
“You just… you know do it. Not that hard, Darryl,” Kisai responded.
“Crazy to think Long’s been gone for so long,” Shui commented, clinking bottles with Kisai.
“He’s doing all that crazy math. He loves that s*** so I’m sure he’s doing fine,” Shan responded, shaking his head when Kisai offered him a beer.
Long’s Apartment
Zhuyu leaned back in his chair, tired from tinkering on the locked device. He yawned and almost knocked his mug of tea to the floor. Ignoring a pop up notification on his phone, the man placed Tess’ ring of keys on the desk, staring at them with both nostalgia and sorrow.
“Tess, your methods are too crazy,” Zhuyu murmured before the loud ringing of his phone startled him.
He checked the screen and saw it was just spam. Ignoring the call, Zhuyu removed wires from the hard drive Tess left behind all those years ago. Not even a little bit close. The former hero crossed items off from a list pinned to his board and stood up. Suddenly, Tess’ ring of keys lit up with faint glow.
“What the-?” the former hero exclaimed before a blinding flash of light filled his entire room.
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???
“Long, it has been a long time since we’ve last spoken,” a familiar voice greeted him.
Zhuyu was now in a plain room, devoid of any furniture except for two simple recliners. There were no doors or windows anywhere. A woman, her hairpins arranged in an infinity symbol, sat in one of the recliners. She beckoned for the math major to sit down across from her.
“Please, sit down. Your confusion is warranted but I will explain the situation to you,” she said before giving the man a warm smile.
Zhuyu recognized the woman as Tess. However, she was the same age as him, in her mid-twenties. He was suspicious but sat down anyways.
“Tess, actually, I don’t know if I should call you that,” Zhuyu said as he inspected the recliner.
“You may address me by that name,” the woman responded.
“Well it’s awkward if I don’t call you by something so I’ll just go with Tess. I mean, you are technically the Gatekeeper, or at least related to her if I’m right,” Zhuyu decided, leaning back on the recliner.
“You’ve worked with me long enough to know what you’re interacting with is a contingency plan I designed for the worst case scenario,” Tess answered with a faint grin.
“That’s what I assumed. It’s been a couple of years since you died. So why now?” Zhuyu sat upright, staring at Tess with a serious expression.
“The expiration date for everyone’s power occurs in the year 203X. This is a reminder if you wish to take any actions. However, you are without a Gatekeeper, so that is your number one priority if everyone is to resume their duties,” Tess informed him.
“Always one step ahead, huh? Okay, that gives me more time to crack the security on everything you left behind,” Zhuyu said, removing his glasses before rubbing his forehead in thought.
“You’re quite calm despite the situation you find yourself in here,” Tess observed.
“Yeah, I guess so. But you’re Tess so I’m just used to all the weird things by now,” Zhuyu admitted.
“I anticipate you desire an explanation for how all of this exists. Is that true, Long?” Tess questioned, standing up from her recliner.
“Yeah,” Zhuyu replied, nodding his head.
“I am an amalgamation of both magic and artificial intelligence, designed by the Tess you are familiar with. You can classify me as an entity to Tomo Yuki’s grimoire. An item which is magical in nature but gathers knowledge and utilizes in a manner similar to an AI. I will spare you the fine details as it cumbersome and not useful for your purposes,” Tess explained, walking over to the white wall.
“I know your parents have a background in that area. It’s not a coincidence, right?” Zhuyu recalled.
“Correct, Long. Before you return, I must request a favor from you,” Tess said, appearing next to the math major all of a sudden.
“You’re just going to assume I have no more questions, Tess?” Zhuyu joked, startled by her instant teleportation.
“If I were to provide answers, it would require months of instruction. This space is not capable of existing for such a long duration,” Tess answered, glimmers of light surrounding her hands.
“You’re not going to let me go without a fight, Tess? Man, you really thought of everything,” Zhuyu said with a sigh.
“Feel free to utilize the powers at your disposal. Feng entrusted her sword to you, and by extension, her powers as well. Consider it one of my tests,” Tess said, a golden chain appearing in her left hand.
“And if you’re not satisfied with the results?” Zhuyu put his glasses back on, turning serious.
“I hope it doesn’t come to such a conclusion,” Tess answered with a flat expression.
Zhuyu knew from her stoic expression that he must impress her or suffer dire consequences. However, his opponent was Tess, not a random low-tier thug. He didn’t necessarily have to win but even surviving was a difficult task.
Future Zhuyu v. Tess (?)
Tess wasted no time, teleporting over to Zhuyu’s front side, and clasped his face with her right hand. She slammed the man’s head into the ground with ease before swinging her chain down onto his chest. Zhuyu didn’t anticipate the Gatekeeper being so aggressive right away. Flames enveloped his body before Tess’ chains made contact. The sudden burst of magic repelled his opponent away from him. He stood up, grasping Kyoi’s sword in his right hand.
“It’ll take more than that, Long!” Tess’ chain pierced through his flames and wrapped around his right ankle.
With one swing, Zhuyu shattered the Gatekeeper’s chains. He unleashed magical blasts at Tess with his blade. A wall of chains appeared in front of the Gatekeeper, protecting her from all the attacks. She anticipated him aiming for her backside and spun around. However, he wasn’t there. Instead, Zhuyu crashed into Tess from above, injuring her right shoulder. He swung his blade toward her stomach but she caught the weapon with her bare hands. Tess kicked Zhuyu’s hand, disarming him, and gained possession of it.
“Tess with a sword. You don’t see that everyday,” Zhuyu commented, blocking her attacks with his original dragon blade.
Tess’ control of the sword was exquisite. Zhuyu’s attempts at breaking her form failed. In fact, he struggled to maintain control of his own sword. He took a deep breath and stared at her hands. Tess, mid-way during her sword swing, paused. Kyoi’s blade dropped out of her hands and onto the ground. Zhuyu heaved a sigh of relief and retrieved the weapon.
“Impressive but you can’t use it again!” Tess snapped her fingers.
Zhuyu knew Tess would disable his zero-vector powers. Still, getting Kyoi’s sword back was worth it. He combined his sword with hers into a single blade. Tossing the weapon into his left hand, he dashed at the Gatekeeper. Tess fired chains at him but he sliced through all of them. When he was three feet away from her, Zhuyu unleashed a stream of water from his right hand at the ground around his opponent. Puddles of multiple sizes surrounded the Gatekeeper. Lightning struck the liquid, electrifying the area around Tess.
“Excellent. I was afraid you forgot how to wield your powers, Long!” Tess stood still.
Zhuyu didn’t respond and slammed the tip of his blade into the ground. Streaks of electricity surged toward the Gatekeeper. She allowed all of it to strike her directly but suffered no injuries. The man realized his mistake as the flow of electricity reversed towards him. During their sword clash earlier, Tess established a faint connection, one he couldn’t detect. An invisible chain ran from her to him which allowed her to redirect his attack.
“Not so fast, Tess!” Zhuyu nullified the electricity with Kyoi’s powers.
“Kill Switch, I neglected to consider that as a counter. My battles with Feng rarely necessitated such a use since she was careful to not allow me control of her attacks,” Tess said, appearing behind the man.
The Gatekeeper wrapped her chains around the man’s neck, choking him. Zhuyu dissipated his blade and grasped at the chains. A light red glow surrounded his hands. Five seconds later, Tess’ chains vanished. She attempted to summon more but nothing appeared in her hands. The Gatekeeper nodded in understanding, swept Zhuyu’s legs, and applied a rear-naked choke with her arms instead.
“Three, two, one,” Zhuyu counted, close to passing out.
He regained use of his zero vector powers and escaped Tess’ submission. The man stumbled around, gasping for air. Tess’ right elbow slammed into his left cheek before she hurled him into the wall. Tess pinned him against it, punching his stomach twenty times in succession, before stomping on his face with her right foot. The attack shattered his glasses and left the man concussed. Tess leaped back, preparing for the next stage of the fight. She dominated most of it so far but that wasn’t an indication of what Zhuyu was capable of. It was only after his glasses were off and his powers no longer throttled that she could really judge him.
Tess fired off her chains once more but her attacks bounced off of Zhuyu’s body. A faint grin appeared on her face. The man took one step forward and then appeared in front of the Gatekeeper immediately. A powerful blast of water sent her into the wall with a loud crash. Tess slumped to the ground but stood back up within seconds. She dodged Zhuyu’s punch as his fist slammed into the wall. He retracted his arm right away, showing no signs of any pain. The Gatekeeper leaped over him and attached her chain to a recliner. She swung the furniture into his right arm and knocked him to the ground. Golden chains emerged from the floor, wrapping around Zhuyu’s arms and legs, pinning him down.
“This is too easy to break,” Zhuyu commented as he yanked his arms up from the ground.
Smoke then filled the fighting area, hiding Zhuyu from the woman. She closed her eyes, listening for the sounds of his movement. Tess blocked an attack from behind and trapped the man in a sleeper hold. A surge of heat struck her as flames enveloped her body. Tess released her hold and leaped up as the ground became covered in fire. She balanced herself on a floating chain, waiting for Zhuyu’s next move.
Her chain shattered, forcing her back onto the ground. She manipulated the magic energy of her broken chains and used it to clear the fire. Zhuyu appeared at her backside and this time she was unable to evade his attack. He locked in Kyoi’s signature neck choke for twenty seconds before tossing her to the ground. Zhuyu tossed water droplets at Tess which lacerated her skin. He stomped on her bleeding face multiple times before delivering an electric shock into her body. Tess tried standing up but couldn’t because of the man’s zero vector powers. Five seconds. That was all the time she needed to nullify his powers. However, she was interested in seeing just how far Zhuyu would go in this state.
A soft drizzle fell on Tess’ face and healed all of her wounds. Five seconds later, the soothing rain inflicted damage instead of bringing comfort. This vicious cycle continued for three minutes. Throughout this time, Zhuyu slashed at various parts of Tess’ body with his blade.
“That’s enough, Long!” Tess determined as a golden glow surrounded her body.
A shining chain rammed into the man’s forehead, knocking him out of his frenzied state. Tess slapped Zhuyu, her strike so powerful that it sent him to the ground. He groaned after her hit but was back to his normal self.
“All the parameters have been met. There is not much time left for idle chitchat,” Tess informed Zhuyu as the environment around them warped.
“Anything else important you have to tell me, Tess?” Zhuyu rubbed his forehead in pain.
“No, anything you will require is contingent on finding a new Gatekeeper. Once you have located a viable candidate, they will know what to do,” Tess answered.
“Got it. It’s been nice seeing you again Tess, even if you are just data and numbers,” Zhuyu remarked.
“I take offense to that, Long. However, I’m sure she shares the same sentiment if she were still here,” Tess responded.
“One more thing, Tess, before this all collapses. Any way to wake Yuki up?” Zhuyu questioned.
“I lack the knowledge to assist you. But, I believe you will discover an answer if you decide to pursue this any further,” Tess replied.
“Yeah, didn’t think it would be that easy. Well, thanks for the info, Tess,” Zhuyu said, noticing the lower half of his body vanishing.
Tess sat in her recliner, nodding at the man’s words. It was the only piece of furniture remaining as the room plunged into darkness. Zhuyu closed his eyes and returned to his original location.
******************************************************************************************************************
Long’s Apartment
Zhuyu raised his head up from his folded arms on the desk. He blinked and glanced around his room. The man gazed at Tess’ ring of keys before placing them into his pockets. His phone then rang.
“Hello,” he said, putting his glasses back on.
“Yo, how’s it going? Hold on, what time is it over there?” Jacque checked the time on his phone.
“It’s almost ten in the morning. Oh, today’s the special day for Shigetzu and Natalia, isn’t it?” Zhuyu glanced over at his calendar.
“Sucks you can’t make it. Hold on, let me switch this over to a video call,” Jacque answered, pulling up a menu on his device.
Zhuyu opened up his phone kickstand, placing it down vertically. Ten seconds later, video of everyone in the living room from the party appeared.
“Bro, your glasses are all f***** up,” Jacque observed.
“Damn, you doing okay, Long?” Kisai asked.
Zhuyu removed his glasses, discovering the frame and earpiece were warped. Both lenses were fractured, tiny cracks running across it.
“Must have dropped and hit them when I was waking up. Anyways, hope everyone is having fun. Especially the happy couple,” Zhuyu answered, setting his broken glasses down on the table.
“How are you exams?” Ksi questioned, pushing Felicity away as she tried getting into frame.
“Really difficult but I’ve gotten used to it now. I can’t come over in person but hope this is enough for now. I’ll make sure to come up with something when I come back,” Zhuyu answered, moving away from his desk.
“Guess that means you aren’t staying permanently then?” Shan asked.
“That’s the plan. Things could change though. Oh, got about five minutes before I have to head out. Sorry I can’t chat more,” Zhuyu realized, grabbing his jacket.
He spoke with everyone for two minutes before hanging up. After checking his bag, Zhuyu glanced at his broken glasses. He grinned and dashed out of his apartment, feeling refreshed.
MIND DIVE 2′ END
