The guest sighs. He pulls off the mask, and YiYang's slightly disheveled yet regal countenance comes into light.
The crown prince rakes his fingers through his unkempt mane, "I should have used a voice modulator."

"Brother, are you Xue?" YiHuang's voice betrays his state of mind: total disbelief. "Are you the one in charge of building the pod!?"

"It makes sense." Zhang comes to stand next to YiHuang, "I don't know how it skipped my notice earlier." He glances at YiHuang, "The first time we met, he went over the console of my space vehicle and knew that I could increase the atmospheric shield. Now that I think about it, I think he must have modified it to slightly emulate the air on TengFei too. Later, when you rescued me, he knew what would help me survive. Not only that, he used his sword to power the atmospheric regulator as well. If not done right, he could have damaged it, but because he knew what he was doing, he did it without hesitation."

"It never even occurred to me..." YiHuang, still shaken up by the revelation, mutters. It still didn't make sense to him. His brother was a free-spirited, self-prophesied trouble maker. How could he be Xue!? The second prince had always thought that he knew everything that was to know about his elder brother. The fact that he had missed such an important detail hurts him more than it should.

"Ah-Huang, look at me." The words are directed at the younger prince as the older closes the distance between them. He holds the latter's hand in his, and as if reading his mind gives voice to his feelings, "I am sorry, it was not my intention to hurt you. This project is unauthorized; what I am attempting is against the law. I did not want to drag you down with me if I was ever exposed."

"But brother-"

"You are my younger brother. I feel responsible for you. I know you are a grown-up, but...Anyway," YiYang scans the room, "I did not expect you to choose this kind of residence." He smirks, dark orbs brimming with mischief, "Then again, you are a changed man since this one here showed up."

YiHuang coughs, clearing his throat; he turns towards his workstation, "You were the one who arranged for this accommodation, then why did you look so surprised earlier?"

"I didn't take a look at the location. I thought it best not to know. Moreover, I was hoping to find Professor Kwan here." YiYang teases. A split second later, his face darkens as the words 'the facility was attacked' come back to him. "Ah-Huang, what happened at the facility, and why is it you, and not Professor Kwan, who is contacting me?"

The mood shifts and takes on a serious tone as YiHuang recounts all the things that had transpired and everything they had witnessed in the time since they had parted ways a few days prior.

"Damn it!" YiYang swears, surprising Zhang and scandalizing his brother.

"Swearing is forbidden." YiHuang reminds the crown prince, eliciting a deep throaty laugh from the latter, "Ah-Huang, I am already committing a crime that could get me exiled or worse, I am sure me swearing won't make matters worse. Let me live a little before I am taken to the gallows."

"Taken where?" YiHuang's brows pull up. "I don't understand-"

"Taken to die a most gruesome death, Ah-Huang." YiYang clarifies.

YiHuang glares at his brother. The effect is instantaneous. The older prince sobers up, "Fine. I won't talk about death." He approaches the table that was acting as their workstation, "So, this is what the Intex manipulator looks like." He reaches for it but pulls his hand back, opting to observe it from a distance.

"How much time till the pod can enter space?" Zhang inquiries. YiHuang brings up the hologram and points at the real-time video of the wormhole.

"It's stabilizing faster than expected."
YiYang's face twists into a frown. It looks misplaced on his usually charming countenance. "At least a few weeks. Luckily we don't have to enter the capital to acquire the pod. It's at GuHai."

YiHuang's brows crawl up and disappear into his hairline. His mono-lids fill with disbelief.

Meanwhile, Zhang tries his best to keep a straight face, fails, and blurts out, "Temporary Residence at its best, that GuHai!?"

YiYang directs a 'this is not amusing' look at Zhang.

The human lifts his arms up in surrender, "My apologies. But I must say, it's a great place to hide an illegal object that could get you into a lot of trouble if it fell into the wrong hands."

"You are not being sarcastic, are you?" YiYang states, noticing the impressed tone.

"No, your highness, I am not. That place is perfect. It's the last place anyone would look for a thing so precious. All we need to do now is get it out of there before whoever is trying to stop us gets their hands on it. " Zhang replies in all seriousness, then holding the crown prince's gaze, he asks, "How were you planning on doing that, may I ask, your highness?"

The two enter a string contest unexpectedly, and an awkward silence, filled with tension, surrounds them. For some reason, it doesn't sit well with YiHuang, who, upon seeing the two drift closer steps between them. He glares at his brother, who has the same challenging smirk on his face that he is infamous for among the young noble ladies of TengFei. They called it the smirk that could melt mountains.
The younger prince grits his teeth, and growls "He belongs to me!"

YiYang blinks and stops dead in his tracks. His eyes shift between them, "Ah-Huang, you are aware that you can't say those words in jest!"

Zhang steps forward and laces his fingers through YiHuang's, "It is true. I belong to Ah-Huang, as much as he belongs to me, your highness. And I think your proximity to me is making him uncomfortable."

Realization dawns on the Yuanjian, whose lips fall open in shock. He glances at YiHuang, "Why..." He shakes his head and turns away from them. "I was under the impression that we had time." The crown prince sighs, "But as far as retrieving it is concerned-"

"Brother, I am sorry for how I behaved. I don't know what came over me." YiHuang interrupts, trying to apologize, but YiYang stops him, "I get it. I accept your apology." He reassures and plops himself down on the chair, "As I was saying, you don't have to worry about retrieving the pod."

Two pairs of questioning orbs zero in on YiYang, who ignores them and continues, "We have less than three days to work on it, test it and launch it into the wormhole." He buries his face into his hands, sounding dejected, he asks, "How in the name of The First are we going to do that?"

Zhang takes a step forward and picks up the Intex manipulator, "Your highness, if you can take us to it, I promise that I will do everything I can to pull us through."

YiYang narrows his eyes suspiciously, "Officer, I don't know if I trust you-"

"Zhang fixed the Intex manipulator. Without him, we wouldn't even have a chance." YiHuang interjects, "Brother, I can't explain how I know this, but I can assure you that Ah-Zhang is the key to the future of our race."

For a few minutes, the room descends into a tense silence. Then, "I have got it!" YiYang announces, "I can get you to the pod without arousing suspicion." He gestures the two to move closer, and slowly but surely, a plan takes shape.

*****

*Outskirts of TengFei: GuHai Temporary Residence*

Two masked males and a veiled female, looking for a good time, enter the establishment. The lady at the reception greets them. Her hazel-colored eyes linger over the suspicious, dark gray fabric case for a moment. But before she can enquire about its contents, one of them whispers into the female companion's ears, "Show the lady what you brought to entertain us, Kira. Maybe she would like to join us."

The lady at the reception balks, "Sir! Please mind your attitude. You can't..."
The other male bows, "Pardon my uncouth friend, madam. Kira, please show her the contents." He instructs, but before the woman addressed as Kira can do as told, the receptionist shakes her head dismissively, "Not required. We value customer privacy." Her eyes scan the three guests, and plastering a smile on her face, she asks, "For the night?"

The three guests nod. The boisterous Yuanjian from earlier states, "We are starving. Send someone over with the best your establishment has to offer."
The lady nods, "That will be 50 Rungs."

"50 Rungs! Madam, that's robbery."

"That's the price for the risk we are taking to allow what you are intending to do." The lady deadpans, "You are welcome to leave."

The latter leaves a frustrated sigh; he fishes out the amount from the front of his robes and slams it on the counter. "Fine!"

After guiding the guests to their accommodation, the receptionist leaves. It is only after her footsteps have faded to nothing that the two men reveal their faces. It's Zhang and YiYang.

"I am never dressing up as a lady ever again!" YiHuang complains, taking the veil off.

"You can't change yet. Sustenance will be here soon." YiYang reminds, and the three make themselves comfortable on the mattresses lining the floor.

Zhang takes in the room they had been assigned. "It's nothing like where we stopped."

YiHuang nods in agreement, "I have often rested in GuHai, but this..."

"Welcome to the underbelly of TengFei, little brother." YiYang states. "You have always been a recluse; you never ventured out. You think of TengFei as this perfect abode where everything is pure. You are wrong. This is the true face of TengFei."

YiHuang has many questions, but none of them compare to the one that had brought them to GuHai. "Brother, how do we get to the pod?"

{Note :- Word count 1700

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