“Long really did a number on you,” Ace commented as she helped Tianhu over to the couch.
“You gave me bad intel,” Tianhu responded, clutching his chest in pain.
“There was always a chance Long would end up mastering the use of a vector field at some point. It brings a tear to my eye seeing him all grown up,” Ace said with pride.
“Your sentiments nearly got me killed, Ace. I don’t appreciate allies betraying me like that,” Tianhu grumbled, checking his bad eye.
“I’m so touched you think of me as an ally. I was always thought that it was a master slave relationship personally,” Ace said, offering him a cup of tea.
Tianhu sipped the tea and he felt the effects of it right away. The tea was a special brew, designed to accelerate healing and also restore any unbalance in the body. When he raised his cup for a second sip, Tianhu coughed and spat out blood onto the ground. This continued for ten more seconds as his entire body trembled during that duration.
“What the hell is this?” Tinahu stared down at his red hands.
“So Long wasn’t lying after all,” Ace muttered, handing him a towel to wipe the blood off of his face and mouth.
“You know what’s happening, don’t you?” Tianhu leaned back on the couch.
“A strike that doesn’t take effect until a couple of hours and has been known to even trigger after multiple weeks,” Ace revealed, glancing up at the ceiling.
“Seriously? You didn’t tell me anything about that!” Tianhu leaned forward again and finished the cup of tea.
“Seems like I underestimated what Long was capable of. That attack, he doesn’t use it unless he’s in that state. Hmm, very interesting,” Ace said.
“You’re enjoying this too much,” Tianhu said with a sigh.
“I will need to make preparations for our next move. Tianhu, get some rest. It’s almost time for my regular talk with him,” Ace decided and headed outside.
The feline man leaned his arms on the table and rested his chin on his knuckles. He expected the fight with Zhuyu Long to be difficult but didn’t expect him to unleash the vector field. Tianhu couldn’t comprehend the concept of it. If Zhuyu was capable of that, just what else could the others do? Zha Tess and Shan Shigetzu, those were two opponents he was interested in fighting. Tianhu stood up and headed to the training room. Getting beat up by Zhuyu wouldn’t deter him. It only increased his motivation further.
“This wasn’t in any of the records, Al,” Ann pouted, reviewing video from the fight between Zhuyu and Tianhu.
“My lady, the vector field is a new addition to his repertoire. There were hints of it during several fights over the past few months,” he said, handing her a folder containing information about those battles.
“I don’t like it! It’s too late to have any of them learn this. What’s the turnaround on having it in our database and running tests to have someone use it right away?” Ann held up a mask she just finished working on.
“It will require at least one month. I know it is not what you want to hear but we must be careful,” Al revealed.
“Al, finish it in two weeks. I don’t care if we need to bring in more people. Just get it done!” she stared at the paused video showing Tianhu’s failed attempt at choking Zhuyu out.
“I ask you to please reconsider. Rushing the analysis could have dire consequences on their future performance. I understand your need to expedite it but I believe that the group you’ve gathered is more than capable even without these new findings,” Al attempted to reason with Ann.
“Al, just do as I say. I’ll carry all the responsibility if this project fails,” she responded, pointing at him.
“Understood. I will make arrangements. Are you heading out today?” Al glanced back at her as he opened the door to leave.
“I’m not sure yet. I’ll let you know if I do,” she answered, waving him away.
Al nodded and headed to the research and development laboratory. Ann’s rash behavior concerned him but he was not in a position where he could defy her. He had spoken to Ann’s father about this matter but he didn’t share Al’s concern. The master was more focused on his own project and expected his daughter to handle everything on her own. It was vexing to Al but his multiple attempts at trying to convince Ann all ended in failure.
“What kind of outrageous request do you have for me today?” a man in his mid-thirties glanced up as Al entered.
This man was one of the three people responsible for leading the R&D team. He was also a tenured employee, serving Ann’s dad since he was twenty. Her father had assigned him to his daughter’s project personally because of his skill. But another major reason was his loyalty, mainly his willingness to follow through, rarely questioning anything he was asked of.
“Lady Ann wants to have working data on Zhuyu Long’s vector field in two weeks and have it in implemented on the person who’s currently testing his powers,” Al revealed, handing him a folder.
“That’s almost asking for the impossible. Is she in a hurry?” the researcher rubbed his forehead.
“Very much so. My attempts at swaying her were not successful. I apologize for continually assigning you these difficult tasks, Doctor Noble,” Al replied, placing a freshly brewed container of coffee down on the researcher’s desk.
Doctor Noble shrugged his shoulders, thanking Al after he poured him a cup of coffee. The researcher was all too familiar with working on tight deadlines when he served under Ann’s father. Still, this current task would certainly mean almost no sleep over the next two weeks. He scanned through the documents and leaned back in his chair.
“Tell her that I can try but it won’t be stable. Honestly, it looks like even the zero vector user was barely in control during that fight. It’s a risk and I want to make sure that Lady Ann understands that,” Doctor Noble said.
“Of course, I will tell her, but I doubt it will change her mind. Doctor Noble, if this were to be implemented without any rigorous testing, what will happen to the subject?” Al placed a document on the desk for Doctor Noble to sign.
“Hard to say. Really depends on who’s the one testing it. What Lady Ann desires and what she will actually get. I hope she isn’t too disappointed if it doesn’t meet her expectations. Back to your question though, if it goes wrong, that person could very well die,” Doctor Noble explained.
“All the people our young master recruited are all aware of those risks. However, it would still be tragic if that were to occur,” Al said, slipping the signed document into a secure envelope.
“Better get to work. I’ll contact you if anything comes up. Al, you take care of yourself too. Dealing with Lady Ann is a chore but I’m sure she believes that this project will save everyone,” Doctor Noble said before heading into the deeper levels of the laboratory.
Al exited the laboratory. His next destination was the training area. He would log everyone’s vitals into the system before observing them. Afterwards, he would lead and participate in some of the training sessions himself before reporting back to Lady Ann. A packed schedule but it was just a regular work day to him.
“So where are we going to train now?” Lionel coughed as the residual smoke traveled over to him.
“I want to find out out who did this first,” Lilith answered, watching the firetruck depart.
“Whoa, what happened?” Champ stared at the charred warehouse space.
“You didn’t read any of the messages I sent you?” Lionel pulled out his phone.
“I can’t really check my messages when I’m on my bike,” Champ responded.
Two hours ago, Lilith received a phone call about a large fire that burned down several warehouses, including the one she and the others trained in. By the time she arrived at the scene, the fire was already put out, but the damage was severe. In total, ten warehouse spaces were destroyed. When it was finally safe to inspect the interior, Lilith discovered all of their training equipment and any personal items weren’t salvageable. It was a devastating loss since everything they used was obtained with the assistance of their previous leader. As a team, they lacked the funds to replace even half of it.
“This is worse than I thought,” Yui commented, lifting up the caution tape surrounding the entrance.
“Is it safe to go in?” Champ followed behind her.
“Don’t stay too long!” Lilith watched her two team members enter.
“Seriously, where are we going to train? We were doing so well too!” Lionel kicked a rock on the ground.
“This wasn’t an accident,” Ksi speculated, staring at the side of the building.
She noticed three strange things during her initial inspection of the scene. Every warehouse space contained automatic sprinklers but their building was the only one where they didn’t go off. The damage in their records room was much more severe than other parts of the warehouse space. Everything in there was burnt beyond recognition. The last noticeable thing was a pristine piece of plastic, untouched by the flames.
“Lilith, everyone’s not here yet,” Lionel said, scrolling through his messages.
“Bartholomew and Xi are in the middle of exams. The bus Steph is on got stuck in traffic. Xiu doesn’t get off work until later,” the leader informed him.
“I agree with Ksi’s assessment. This was done with malicious intent,” Tess concurred, arriving alongside Kaze.
“Tess, you really didn’t have to come all the way here. I already told you that I would handle it,” Lilith said.
“A crucial piece of evidence is in Ksi’s possession. I’m here to retrieve it for analysis,” the Gatekeeper revealed.
Ksi was hesitant to transfer the piece of plastic over to Tess at first. However, she realized it would be advantageous to hand it over.
“I’ve already bagged it for you, Tess. I followed all the proper procedures. There should be no contamination,” Ksi said.
“Thank you. I’ll deliver it to the Special Investigations Unit and see if it matches,” Tess responded.
“Tess, who do you suspect is responsible?” Ksi glanced over at the building as Yui and Champ exited.
“Someone Champ is familiar with,” Tess replied.
“Really, that woman again? She’s meddled way too much. Champ, did you see her recently?” Lilith accused him.
“You know that’s impossible. She can’t do anything to me. Besides, Tess would have known!” Champ refuted.
“He is correct. The more likely scenario is she formulated the plan but her associates were the ones responsible for carrying it out,” Tess agreed.
“Tess, I hate to ask this, but do you have a place where we could train? None of us have the connections to find a new one,” Kaze requested.
“I may have an ideal location. But I must check to see if it’s secure. We don’t want a repeat of what occurred here today,” the Gatekeeper answered.
Tess left a few minutes later, leaving Lilith and her team to discuss their next steps. She considered notifying the previous leader but decided against it. For now, they would try resolving the situation on their own. Lilith was open to Tess’ assistance but Kotomi was different. She didn’t want to let her down. Besides, she made a promise to herself that she wouldn’t talk to Kotomi until everything was resolved.
