Next day
Jin stopped at the mall and bought a few things. He walked home remembering,
"Why? Why did you choose me? There were so many people in this city, why me?"
He sobbed,
"Maybe if I hadn't chosen you all this wouldn't have happened. Your mum obliged me to protect you and I failed."
"Mei, after you left a lot changed, and my abilities became dormant. Out of fear I locked myself in, I became echoless; we deserved better. All you wanted was that we vanquished evil, but no matter what, I'll fight for us."
Jin held the letter and dipped it into his pocket.
---
Jin's Home
He opened the fridge, but a knock ran across the door. He turned in shock and walked towards it. As he opened, a strange man and woman dressed in suits were standing before him.
The man spoke,
"Good afternoon, I'm Jude from Aehr."
Jin frowned,
"Can I help you?"
The man barged in and said,
"Sorry for the intrusion."
Jin got angry,
"Hey, I didn't say you can come in! What's going on?"
Jude froze,
"Aehr has discovered that the book called Mind Cultivation: The Psychic Path has surfaced online. Just yesterday, it has already been on multiple social networks, knowing fully well it will result in another terror in the city."
Jin frowned,
"Sir, I have no idea what you're talking about."
Jude smiled,
"Don't lie, Jin. Our organization sees it all. We tracked the book release to this very place."
"Since then it has not been easy clearing up the mess you have created."
Jin thought,
"I don't have my abilities anymore, they might try to hurt me."
Jude came closer,
"You have gone against the organization and all its laws. This is treason!"
Jin, in shock, replied immediately,
"With all due respect sir, if your so-called Aehr were carrying out their full responsibilities, one small story shouldn't cause a commotion."
Jude smiled and held Jin's shirt,
"You filthy echoless, who gave you permission to talk?"
Jin hit his head on the wall and started bleeding. He smiled,
"Oh, did I get on your nerves?"
Jude, unwavered, replied,
"So weak. Tell me Mr. Jin, for someone as weak as you, do you think we would not figure out you don't have your abilities anymore, making you an easy prey?"
"You went ahead publishing a useless book, knowing fully well we would come after you," Jude began to laugh.
"You really want to die, don't you?"
Jin, in his mind, thought,
"How did he know about my ability not working?"
Jude smirked,
"It's really unfortunate. If we had gotten rid of you as we did to your precious little girl, maybe things wouldn't have escalated this far."
Jin wanted to speak,
"You fucking murder—"
but Jude held his mouth,
"Let me explain. Writing information about the government and stealing files is not an excusable offence. You are inciting terror on the city."
Jin, in shock, thought,
"This mf is really here to kill me."
Jin spoke up,
"All I did was publish a damn book."
Jude held Jin's neck firmly. Jin winced in pain.
"Who do you think you are, Jin? Just because you are old, you think you're above punishment from the government?"
Jin struggled. Jude continued,
"Being old means you sit your ass down and behave, and be thankful for the long life the authorities have spared to you."
Jude's eyes glowed blue. He charged up his hands and stabbed Jin.
"Guah!" Jin coughed out blood.
"This city does not need a disobedient fool like you, who misuses opportunities."
Jude stabbed him again and freed his hand from Jin's neck. Jin fell to the ground dead. Jude sighed,
"Hmph."
His hands were stained with blood. He continued,
"They sent me all the way here to get my hands stained with the blood of an echoless."
The other lady walked towards him,
"Handkerchief?"
Jude dragged it from her hand and said,
"Clean up this mess."
"Yes, sir," she replied.
---
Ronald's House
Ronald just finished bathing. He walked to his room and saw photos. When he looked, in shock he thought,
"Why does she look familiar?"
The photos were Mei.
He quickly called his maid,
"Juliet!"
She came in quickly,
"Sir!"
He held the photos,
"I told you to get rid of these photos, didn't I?"
Juliet frowned and thought,
"I left those there ages ago, and you're just seeing them?"
She spoke up,
"You did, but those photos seemed important."
Ronald frowned,
"You're not the one making decisions in this house."
She stretched her hand to collect them,
"Sir, if you still want me to throw them out..."
He held her hand and said,
"Wait."
He glanced at the photos again and thought,
"Is this really Mei?"
He reached for his phone and called Jin. In Jin's apartment the phone rang and rang.
Ronald sighed and cut the call. He thought,
"Damn it Jin, you were the one who came to me for help... pick up the phone."
---
The Next Day
Stonebrook School
Kai was walking when he overheard some chatter,
"Hey, have you heard about Mind Cultivation?"
"Yes, I did, it's really interesting."
He sighed and thought,
"Mind Cultivation?"
Stonebrook Boys Dormitory
Kai saw Lila and Nathan along with Henry. Henry waved,
"Hey Kai, we are going to grab some drinks. Will you join us?"
Kai smiled,
"No thanks."
Henry replied,
"Okay, suit yourself."
As they were going out, Kai overheard them,
"I heard its writer is anonymous, the book is really nice."
Kai froze again and ran back towards them,
"What's this Mind Cultivation?"
Lila turned,
"Oh, you've read it? It's a new online book, got out 2 days ago, now it's so popular."
Kai was still puzzled,
"Can you show me?"
In Nathan's Room
Henry browsed the laptop, and the story appeared,
"Do you see how many views already?"
Kai leaned in closer and thought,
"This is about Mei, this means..."
He ran out of the room. Nathan turned,
"What's up with him?"
Kai went to his room and dialed Jin's number,
"C'mon Jin, pick up."
Lila and the rest entered his room and asked,
"What's going on, Kai?"
He sighed and replied,
"Jin wrote Mind Cultivation: The Psychic Path."
They all got shocked and shouted,
"He what?!"
Kai continued,
"I was just calling to make sure he's okay. After writing something like this, the government may go after him."
Kai sat down and sighed,
"But he's not answering my calls."
Lila sighed and said,
"Kai, let's try some people who live close to him to check up on him."
---
That Afternoon
A boy next door knocked on Jin's door,
"Mr. Jin, are you home?"
He peeped through the window, but the house was still neatly arranged, no sign of anything unusual.
He picked up his phone and replied to Kai,
"He's not home, maybe on his usual spy work."
Kai replied,
"Okay, can you check back in a few days?"
The boy replied with an emoji: 🫡
---
Aehr
Nerya held a file and saw Mei's photo and abilities ranking. She thought,
"This girl is somewhat powerful, and no sign of her? She was not assassinated, neither was she jailed."
She closed the file,
"What a disappointment."
She placed a call to Zack. Zack came in and said,
"Aunt Nerya, you called?"
She sighed,
"Yes Zack," she picked up the file,
"You said you've seen this girl around town."
Zack sighed,
"Mei, yes."
Nerya continued,
"Her reports mention she has been on the run before vanishing for six months now."
"Do you know how Camila can get hands on her, perhaps through you?"
Zack remained quiet and recalled,
"Mei, Mei, is this truly you?"
"Yes Zack, but you must not reveal my identity or location to anyone. I'll resurface when it is the right time."
Zack held her back,
"But Mei, Kai and the rest..."
Mei sobbed bitterly. Her heart ached to see Kai but not at the risk of getting captured again. She said to herself,
"Kai and the rest must not hear about my return."
"For now, my abilities are dormant. When they begin to work, I'll resurface."
Nerya broke in,
"Zack, you can tell me anything. I'm your aunt after all."
Zack took a deep breath,
"Mei and I have known each other for years. She reached out to me. Her powers were taken when the apostles got a hold of her. She tried escaping, but they did not give her a choice."
Nerya shook her head,
"A middle class reduced to nothing, must be heartbreaking. Can we work on something?"
Zack stood still,
"Really, what could that be?"
Nerya said,
"Do you have her contact?"
Zack replied,
"Yes, I can get in touch with her."
Nerya smiled,
"Good, we will arrange for her to meet us. She knows a lot about the apostles, she will be a useful resource for us. I'd like to meet her in person. Could that be set up?"
Zack smiled,
"Yes, of course."
Nerya smiled,
"Specifically by the end of this week."
Zack bowed,
"Yes, Aunt Nerya."
Nerya smirked,
"While we are at work and all of this, Nerya will do just fine."
Zack raised up his head,
"Oh, okay, I will go get this done."
Nerya smiled. As he shut the door, Nerya thought,
"Don't fail me Zack ".