[Victor: The Teacup]
The moon wandered in the sky. In a small attic, Victor stood with his back against the wall, carefully picking up among some fine shards of crystal. Some of the shards were dotted with scarlet. Mixed with the tears the girl shed just now, they looked dazzling and depressing.
The crystal shards reflected the light. He took up the shards of different sizes, one by one, to mold them to the cup base in his hand. He did it so patiently that he hadn’t shown any anger even when he failed. It seemed as if he were carefully sewing a fragile and broken heart.
He sighed lightly as he could still feel the teardrops on the fingertips. Somehow, he suddenly recalled those days when they just met again. He recalled her firm and bright eyes when she was saying she would work out a development plan that would make him repent. He recalled her vowing confidently with her chin raised. He recalled her naughtily asking him to be her program guest as well as her greedily eating the caramel pudding he had made…
In those days, she always expressed her emotions directly. When feeling happy, she grinned and her eyes seemed to be shining; when feeling angry, she looked like a puffer fish that he couldn’t help poking mischievously; when watching movies or attending charity galas, she was easy to be touched and cried sincerely, and on hearing the news of the opening of Souvenir, she jumped with great joy.
All shards seemed to be reflecting her images of the past, the one laughing, acting cute, feeling wronged, flaunting her superiority, and shedding tears.
And the image of now — the one was pretending to be tough and hiding tears with her bleeding fingertips.
In the dimness, the first rays of the morning sun gradually came on the horizon. Most parts of the crystal cup in his hand were already restored, while his hands were covered by messy cuts.
Victor lightly turned his head to look towards the horizon in the far distance. He seemed to reflect a similar scene where they met again ten years later. After frowning coldly, he looked down to focus on restoring the last part of the crystal cup. Before long, a complete crystal cup laid still in his hand, though it was roughly glued. Rubbing the marks of the glue, he slightly raised the corner of his lip lit by the scattered rays. As his shoulders drooped slowly, he gradually fell asleep with tiredness.
I’ll bring back what you used to be.
[Victor: Backtracking]
A day in 1908. With a loud noise in the wind, half of the sky was covered by the gloomy saffron yellow and the mushroom cloud spiraled in the air for long. Though it was before dawn, the sky was lit as bright as the sunlight.
The continuous explosion that was mingled with people’s cries and panic kept roaring in Victor’s mind. The heat was scorching the earth. The wind was howling and sweeping debris. He saw half of the White House afar had collapsed, and people there were terrified by the ruins and flames.
A harsh flare shone incongruously against the white light of the explosion. When he squinted towards the flare, he suddenly felt a stabbing pain in his head, but he composed himself soon.
Seeing a teenager standing nearby, he rushed over to him.
“Are you okay?”
The teenager looked at him with puzzled eyes. Then he blinked and shook his head, “I’m fine. What happened?”
“The explosion just now…”
The teenager interrupted him with confusion and excitement, “What explosion? Where is it? So cool!”
The flames that were reflected in the teenager’s eyes seemed to have burned up everything.
“In 1908, an explosion took place in the White House. No casualties, but the people there said they hadn’t experienced this explosion.”
That man’s words flashed in his mind. Victor looked at the people around him. Like the teenager, everyone there seemed to know nothing about what happened. Only a lad was particularly familiar, but Victor couldn’t recall where he had met him. With a pocket watch in hand, that lad left with complicated eyes.
Victor walked away from the vicinity of the White House into a hidden street corner. As a night breeze blew over, he disappeared in a flash.
Standing again on the street one year later, he felt that nothing seemed to have changed, except the disappearance of the people on the list in his hand.
“There is no Vane here.”
“Who is Chris? “
— Like the dead silent night, they didn’t have any trace of existence.
He seemed to have realized something. With eyes gradually tightened, he turned around and disappeared at the end of the street corner. From where he stayed just now rose a mild melody of violin, like a gaze coming from nowhere.
[Lucien: The Eve]
The Inquiry Report on the 1908 White House Explosion in the folder was gone through again and again. Under the dim moonlight, Lucien leaned by the window with this folder in hand, fixing his eyes all the time on the record which read “no explosion took place” while tapping his fingertips against the desk rhythmically.
The situation had gone against his expectations before he knew it.
The other day, Lucien received the research reports from other experimental groups on the flu virus occurring this time. Despite that piles of corrections had been made to the familiar theory of computation, none of these results satisfied him.
Other ways out were blocked successively. Only the last one…
His thoughts suddenly turned to the cat in the box, the success rate of the utilization of the reagent, and the powerful words…
“The Return-to-Zero Plan goes more smoothly than expected. The virus has broken out completely.”
When thinking of the words spoken by the fully confident voice, Lucien got more frosty, placing his crossed hands under his jaw and blinking. Outside the window, the thick clouds in the sky moved slowly, their shadows on the earth swaying slightly until fading in the darkness. And the corner was shrouded in the dim moonlight.
The desk calendar he saw reminded him of the press conference due tomorrow.
Not everyone agreed on this decision. Some people even didn’t understand the significance and value of this press conference. However…
Sometimes, there were some things worth taking a chance.
He looked down at the invitation to the press conference on the desk. Suddenly, a familiar figure flashed in his mind.
Her smiles, tears, murmurs, and warmth.
All of them came up in his mind, but… All these scenes were faded into black and white by time.
Lucien’s fingertip unconsciously touched his right eye, which remained unscathed.
— At the press conference tomorrow, we would meet again.
Even though he would lose the only color in his life on the occasion.
[Lucien: Beyond the Dreamland]
In a secluded lane, Lucien slowly opened his eyes. In his arms laid a girl sleeping restfully. He tried to tighten his arms, but his shoulders were somewhat numb, and it took him a little while to do this.
As he lifted his eyes and looked around, he saw a faint glow coming from a car at the end of the lane. He lowered his head to touch the girl’s soft hair, recalling a scene that was as hazy and illusory as the wrinkled surface of a lake. Noticing the large area of scarlet on her clothes, he carefully examined it till he made sure she was unscathed and then took her into his arms again.
Lucien stretched lightly and frowned about the blurred memory in his mind. With the girl in his arms, he stood up and walked towards the car at the end of the lane.
Outside the window, it was sprinkling endlessly. The girl slept in the bed, less restfully. Lucien lightly smoothed her frowns. He quietly gazed at her with his eyes glimmering in the night, as if the time had slowed its pace. A long time had passed before he left without a trace, as if he had never appeared.
When the memory came into his mind again, Lucien felt his heart tightening and his left chest burning faintly in the darkness. He reached the end of the corridor and went through a couple of identity validations before he finally walked into a dimmer laboratory. He sat on the chair quickly and wore the device on his head. The monitor in front of him displayed the numbers changing rapidly. Something intangible was recorded in the form of tangible waves.
Not until sweats appeared on his forehead did he let out a sigh of relief and take off the device on his head. He casually tore a piece of gauze to bind up the wound that stained his shirt. The record files were just printed out. After a quick browse, Lucien put them into the folder named “Memory”.
Reflected by the cold electronic light, Lucien’s eyes looked piercingly cold, with a glint of softness shown only at the moment when some figure flashed through his mind.
Walking out of the laboratory, Lucien knew many things were awaiting him.
[Kiro: Hidden Action]
In a pitch-dark room, a masked man holding a gun gazed on at his feet, with impatience shown on his locked lips.
“The last chance.”
The man said in a low and deep voice. His words seemed to have turned into a closely woven net, enveloping the narrow space and controlling all people within it so that they had nowhere to run. Another man in black guarding the door couldn’t help but slightly tremble, while the third man in the room drooped his head, paying no heed.
That man’s hands were hung high up, scars running like the winding pythons on his arms. He fell upon his knees, his messy clothes getting full of dark red bloodstains. He kept still, looking as if dead or in a sound sleep, totally integrated into the darkness. Kiro didn’t move until a gun reached his gold hair. He looked up silently, without any fear in his eyes.
With the sound of “Crack”, the gun was loaded.
“Why did you help her?” The masked man uttered coldly again, “Answer me, traitor.”
Keeping silent, Kiro cocked his head to let the dark muzzle aim at him between his eyebrows. He looked at the man in front, seemingly with no fear of him, no fear of guns, and no fear of death.
Irritated, that man lifted his foot and treaded on Kiro’s shoulder, adding a layer of fresh red to the completely dried dark red clothes. The sudden sharp pain made Kiro groan lightly. His head was knocked onto the wall behind and the back side of it bled.
Seeing Kiro frowning, that man chuckled contentedly and crushed him heavily.
Throwing the gun on the ground, that man turned around and walked towards the door. “Finish him.”
The sweat and blood that wetted Kiro’s golden hair fell along his forehead, making his world red in a flash. Seeing that man disappear behind the door, the man in black picked up that gun on the ground and walked towards Kiro step by step.
Kiro smiled.
In the darkness, there seemed to be a growling beast. Something was approaching slowly… Then, as the bracelet on Kiro’s hands was gone, he coughed, held the wall behind and stood up.
It was still pitch-dark around, but Kiro knew he had come to another place.
In the deepest darkness, a faint blue light suddenly came, followed by a low and deep voice.
“We meet again.”
[Kiro: A Trick]
The narrow, long corridor in the hospital was unlit. The only light for the whole floor was from that room beside the staircase.
Sitting in front of the computer, Helios tapped the keyboard rapidly. On the screen flashed many codes. A few moments later, the screen flickered and a man’s shadow appeared at the center of the screen. In the scene was a dark-shrouded room, with dozens of screens locking onto the same place, the courtyard of the hospital, where a surprising number of bombs were laid in apple-pie order. Leaning against the chair, that man looked very pleased, as he was waiting for mayhem to ensue.
“Humph.” Helios snorted disdainfully and continued operating the computer deftly. Tick, tick, as the second hand pointed to twelve, Helios pressed Enter, and on the dozens of screens simultaneously came the same scene where amid the engulfing flames and thick smokes, the hospital collapsed in seconds. Laughing contentedly, the man in the scene stood up and left his room.
Helios looked up at the hospital that was supposed to collapse, chuckling and uttering a word of “Stupid.”
Walking out of the room, Helios looked towards the courtyard. A dead silence covered the whole hospital. The corridor without windows was in total darkness as if a dreadful monster would come in seconds. After a glance, Helios turned round and walked towards the staircase. It was not a charity house here, nor was he 1562 or Kiro.
However, with a sudden boom coming from the courtyard, the ground shook violently. A glint of surprise flashed in Helios’ eyes. But soon he realized what it was and then rushed to the gate of the hospital without hesitation.
Turns out I’m tricked… so fast!
The ground was cracking and everything was sinking. Helios ran and jumped as fast as he could. The gate was close at hand, but on the other side of the porch, he found an unexpected figure. The girl looked extremely flustered. As the earth was shaking, she almost slumped on the ground, but her eyes were always on Helios.
How come she…?! A blend of emotions fermented inside Helios, but he restrained them and only showed anger. In the blowing dust and falling walls, Helios got tiny wounds on his face. But he didn’t care about it and leaped from a falling stone.
Gripping that girl in his arms, he seemed to see a strange self in her confused eyes.
[Gavin: Overlooking]
The night wind howled in the air. The city went to sleep in peace as its lights dimmed. Peace finally returned to this land again.
Gavin stretched his legs against the steps on the edge of the roof, overlooking the night scene of the whole city with his brows knitted. No clues were attained in the monitoring of the Black Swan Collective and the interrogation of some Evolvers caught in the TV tower also came to a deadlock. Behind the puzzle, the wicked and hateful figure still lurked in the darkness, as if waiting for the next opportunity.
The thick and heavy dark clouds completely covered the sky. Gavin lightly lifted his hands and unfolded his palms, feeling the tractable breeze mingled with some gusts of uncontrolled black wind that came rapidly and sharply. Suddenly his hands clenched into fists, trembling unconsciously.
He looked up at the shade with a blend of emotions, the girl’s upset and stubborn face flashing in his mind.
Not now.
Instantly, his eyes got bright and determined, as many things were waiting for him to protect.
The moon could finally be seen through the clouds. The wind rustled together with a faint wave of laughter in the night. Suddenly, he noticed at the distance a sky wheel erecting on the water, with some test lights glittering picturesquely. Then he came up with a good idea.
In the breeze, he flew to the water sky wheel and fell on a Viewing Cabin painted with a stretch of the starry sky.
As he looked up to see the office building where the girl worked, he couldn’t help but smile gently.
The brand-new Science Museum beside would be open soon, so despite it was midnight, the staff still came back and forth at the gate, working on the final preparation and adjustment. A few people were playing happily on the streets. The roaring of the motorcycles pierced the quiet breeze and faded in the far unknown distance. They all made the slightly gloomy night full of energy somehow.
Such a quiet and warm city. She should come and see.
A clerk came out of the cabin of the sky wheel, stretching himself sleepily. Gavin looked up at the sky wheel thoughtfully and then walked towards the clerk in the breeze.
[Gavin: The Past]
As the street lights broke down, it got pitch-dark around the convenient store. The man was just outlined against the blue light from his phone screen. Leaning against the utility pole, Litton occasionally glanced at the phone screen. A group of lads walked over, laughing. One of them couldn’t help but glance at Litton when passing by.
Litton looked up at him, and the lad moved one step backward on instinct, with one more glance at Litton. For the lad, Litton seemed to be just a somewhat stronger ordinary man but his eyes were so… The lad shook his head to stop overthinking. Then he rushed to catch up with his companions and walked into the convenient store.
With a light sound, the phone screen faded and it got all dark again. Overwhelmed by the darkness, Litton recalled many remote scenes.
In a trance, he saw many lads in police uniform in his mind. They were playing on the training ground, lurking in the streets at midnight, and running through the rain of bullets. Among them, there was a special one. He was as lonely as what Litton used to be. With an air of wildness, he always looked apathetic as if being separated from others by a transparent wall.
But, Litton felt he was different from Gavin. He swiped across the screen and tapped on that photo of a family of three with happy smiles. He had a family to take care of. That was a true bond. While Gavin… Sometimes, Litton could feel that Gavin seemed to be concerned with something. But more often, he was really like a lone wolf, with nothing in his mind except that clear moon.
Somehow, Litton had an instinct that compared with himself, Gavin had a stronger and purer belief.
Then, his phone screen was lit up by a message. “Let’s meet and talk about it.”
Now, what he was going to do was…
“Alright.”
— Break that unbreakable belief.
After the reply with such a simple word, the screen went dark again.