"Ah-Zhang! Your eyes!" The Yuanjian exclaims, reaching for the human, but the latter stops him with his hand over the prince's chest.

Moments pass in silence. Noticing that Zhang did not look like he was in pain, YiHuang does as instructed.

Slowly, the glow starts to dissipate; Zhang directs a reassuring smile towards YiHuang. He reaches for his companion's hand and strokes the underside of his wrist as if to inform the latter that he is alright.

However, only after the glow completely dies does YiHuang breathe a sigh of relief. He throws his arms around the human and reprimands, "Don't ever do that again...I forbid you to scare me like that again!"

Zhang chuckles, "I am afraid I can't comply, your highness. For one, I can't control it, and for the other, they are an asset. The more I know about what I am dealing with, the better chances we have of coming out of this in one piece."
YiHuang frowns.

"My apologies," Zhang adds, not sounding the least bit apologetic, "I mean, we can come out of this situation without casualties."

"Ah...yes." The prince agrees, "What did you see?"

"The facility is intact. Whoever the assailant was working for did not want us to succeed. They know that time is of the essence here. There were no casualties," Zhang closes his eyes, pursing his lips in a thin line, he adds, sounding unsure, "But there is something wrong. They seemed confused...disoriented." He contemplates for a few before adding, "I think it is safe to pay them a visit now."

*****

Wanting to avoid being detected, YiHuang and Zhang take the long, much more crowded route to arrive at the destination.

The lady that had let them in the day before opens the door. Looking slightly disheveled, she narrows her eyes suspiciously, "Yes?"

"We are here to speak to Professor Kwan. It's urgent." YiHuang quirks his brow when she pretends to not recognize him and continues to stare. Not wanting to waste time, he repeats the hand gesture from the day before.
The lady lets them in, and soon they are in Hu Kwan's presence.

"YiHuang! Why have you brought an outsider here!" The elder demands, his face darkens. His words take the duo by surprise.

"But Professor, " YiHuang starts, but Zhang beats him to it. He bows low, "I am his apprentice, Sir. I have pledged my loyalty to him."

"What sort of apprentice have you picked, Ah-Huang! How dare he talk out of turn!" The elder shakes his head disapprovingly.

YiHuang catches on quickly, 'Professor Kwan's memories have been tampered with!' He too bows, "Please, pardon his insolence. He is from the south. He is not well versed in how things work here. I am at fault for not teaching him. Please punish me instead."

YiHuang's words act as a balm on Hu Kwan's wounded pride. He huffs. "Rise. I hope that despite his lack of manners, he is worth being taught by you." He waves his hand dismissively, "Anyway, it's been a while since we got a chance to catch up. What brings you here?"

YiHuang's mind races. He realizes that mentioning the sabotage of the facility would only make matters worse. He comes up with a new plan. He gives the elder a tight-lipped smile and scans the room. He leans in and whispers, "Professor Kwan, please keep what I am about to tell you a secret and pretend like I have shared something personal with you. Pretend that you are busy and can't entertain us at the moment. Please meet me at the Sky Station rejuvenation center at ten. Make sure you go about your business as usual. Professor, I have had another vision. I can tell with certainty that within three days, the wormhole will appear and a day after that..." he leaves the sentence unfinished and leans away.

"Oh. That's surprising. I thought you did not like involving yourself in politics...Anyway, what about our project?"

YiHuang bobs his head. "It's coming along nicely, Professor."

Hu Kwan pretends to check his ComD (a calendar and communication device) and sighs, "My apologies, Ah-Huang, but there is something I need to take care of. I take it that the matter you want to discuss is of a personal nature; I suggest you come by at my place over the weekend; we can discuss it at length then."

On cue, YiHuang and Zhang raise to their feet and leave the premises.
Come night, the three men meet at the predetermined rendezvous point.

Without delay, YiHuang recounts the details of the morning and the apparent loss of memory that everyone in the facility had suffered. He shows Hu Kwan a recording he had captured of the assailant destroying the master server earlier in the day.

Having heard the account, the usually calm man seems visibly rattled, "I don't remember anything!" He mutters more to himself than to YiHuang, "None of us do." He adds, referring to his subordinates. He buries his face into his hands, "Is that even possible!? Won't the force consumed destroy the user?"

This hadn't occurred to YiHuang. Though intrigued, the second prince puts it on the back burner. "Professor, I have no answers for you at the moment. We don't have time to spare either. We," he glances at Zhang, "have the Intex manipulator ready for testing. If the pod was connected to the master server, chances are that it would have suffered damage. We would like to take a look at the pod. Zhang is very gifted. I think he can prove himself to be an asset to hasten the completion of the pod."

Hu Kwan fixes YiHuang with a calculating gaze, then, as if making up his mind, he says, "I know how dedicated you are to our mission. I am sorry for having lied to you." He pauses, eyes seeking an apology; he confesses, "I don't know where the pod is. I have only ever seen it virtually. Xue values his anonymity. He says he won't accept any interference."

'If the pod is not here, it might have escaped damage. We need to warn Xue. If the assailant knows about the pod, Xue might be in trouble.' YiHuang contemplates, "Professor, can you contact him and ask if he would meet with me?" YiHuang requests.

Hu Kwan sighs defeatedly, "I can't. Only he can contact me."

YiHuang doesn't understand how to process the information he has received. His brows knit in concentration. "Professor, when he contacts you, where do you meet?"

Hu Kwan goes on to tell them that Xue had never set foot in the facility. Whenever they met, he kept his face covered and asked him to do so as well. Xue was paranoid, always asking to meet him at crowded public places. The more the elder explains, the more suspicious the scenario surrounding Xue gets.

After having heard everything, Zhang, who had been a silent listener, asks, "What if there was an emergency and you had to reach him urgently? What were you planning to do then?"

Professor Kwan, still not used to being addressed casually, glares at him; nevertheless, he can't help but feel impressed at the young human's presence of mind. He retrieves his ComD and sends a message to YiHuang.

The second prince is alerted of the incoming transmission. He pulls out his device and scans the text, "Professor, where do these coordinates lead?"

"It's my hidden safe. It's not far from here. Use the key to open it. In there you will find a parcel. I don't know what's in it. It is what Xue gave me the first time we met. He told me that it can only be used once. I haven't felt the need to open it...yet. He asked me to open it if there was an emergency and told me that he would find me wherever I might be."

'Why does this person value his anonymity so much?' YiHuang wonders then something else occurs to him, "How did you come across him, Professor?"

"Actually, he found me. I received a message on my ComD. When I read it, it was clear that whoever wrote it knew about the purpose of our facility. He offered his services. At the time, we still hadn't found anyone who could help us build an interspace traveler. You had started getting restless and decided that you would give it a try."

YiHuang nods. He could still recall how happy he had been to hear that they had found someone who could build the space pod for them.

"Prince," Hu Kwan calls, dragging him back to here and now. "I better get going." The elder looks between YiHuang and his apprentice,  and without dilly-dallying, he leaves.

Zhang turns to catch his companion's eyes, "How long before the wormhole stabilizes?"

YiHuang had been monitoring the wormhole closely over the past ten hours. He holds the questioning gaze and answers dejectedly. "Not long...within forty-eight to seventy-two hours."

"Let's go home," Zhang suggests. After the rendezvous with Hu Kwan, a gloom had settled over his heart as well. There were too many variables. He had seen too many versions of the future. Most of their outcomes had made him shudder; he didn't know which decision would lead them to that one outcome where he would get to have a future with his soulmate, YiHuang.

As soon as the two return to their residence, YiHuang suggests opening the envelope that they had picked up from the safe on the way back.
Knowing that they were out of options, Zhang agrees.

With trembling hands, YiHuang opens the envelope and tilts it to retrieve its contents. A handwritten note and a small mouth organ fall into his palm; he blinks. "What do you make of this?" The second prince asks, passing the instrument to Zhang.

"If I am not mistaken, it's a musical instrument created in the early nineteenth century...on my Earth," Zhang informs. "We had one in our family as well. In fact, I learned to play it out of curiosity." He turns it between his fingers, "How did Xue get his hands on a human instrument?" He wonders aloud. Then, sending a prayer to the powers that be, he asks YiHuang to open it.

{Author's Note:- Word count: 1727

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