In his office, Gao Lang sat in silence as he stared at the suitcase on his desk. His rumination was cut off when the knocks he waited for came to his door.
He pressed the button on his table to let his visitor in and a suited, round-bespectacled man stepped inside. His narrow, slit-like eyes masked all thoughts and the lack of expression in his face made it impossible to gauge his emotion.
Gao Lang stood up and gave a brief, welcoming nod. "Officer Xing."
Xing He stopped in front of Gao Lang's desk and returned his nod in a sharper manner. "Lieutenant General Gao."
"First, let me apologize for the loss. Our lead scientist is still in the middle of investigating the cause and we promise you we will deliver a satisfactory answer."
"Agent Shen was fully aware of the risk when he accepted this mission. Based on the preliminary report you have given us, it is clear the complication occurred on his side. Do tell Miss Yang to not blame herself and that we appreciate her dedicated effort in monitoring his well-being greatly."
"I will relay that to her," Gao Lang promised. He flipped the suitcase towards Xing He and pushed it across the desk. "Still, a death is a death. Here is the promised amount as per our agreement. The code is 463."
Xing He input the code on the combination lock installed on each side, pushed the pin, and the latch snapped open. A clear, diamond card settled inside.
He inspected it for a moment before tapping the chip onto his communicator watch. Details of the card popped up on his light screen, the 10 figures balance stated in bold numbers at the very top.
"I have confirmed that everything is in accordance with our agreement and the amount of 1 billion credit has been safely received." He returned the card to the suitcase and locked it back. "How is General Zhou's condition?"
"Agent Shen managed to eradicate the vulture in his perish and General Zhou's condition has then been showing steady improvement. He can wake up at any second."
"We shall look forward to the good news."
Gao Lang's communicator rang and the screen popped out, showing an incoming call from Yang Mei. He looked at Xing He in premonition and put her on speaker.
"Yes, Miss Yang?"
'Please come to the medical room. General Zhou is regaining consciousness.' Yang Mei's suppressed excitement leaked from the other side of the call.
"Is that true!?" Gao Lang widened his eyes. He replied that he would be there soon and disconnected the call with flushed anticipation. "Officer Xing, would you like to come with?"
"I appreciate the invitation, but I still have to take care of this matter." Xing He raised the suitcase in his hand.
"I understand. Then, please look forward to the official news. We will remember to send you and your department head the invitation to the celebration party for Agent Shen's tremendous contribution."
"Certainly."
Xing He excused himself with a nod and left the office.
***
Where is he?
Zhou Yi swam in endless darkness. He didn't know how long he had been trapped in this abyss, looking for him. That man who disappeared and reduced his world into nothingness.
He must be on the other side.
Other side…where?
Where he came from. Where he belonged.
…Where I came from…Where I belonged.
It was time to wake up.
A speck of light entered his sight, small and far like a tiny star lost in the sky. He swam towards it, pedaled his arms and legs in swift, precise motion, and reached for the light.
The star blinded him with its brightness, forcing him to close his eyes. Haze washed over his mind into a state of limbo and emptied his head into a dream-like state. When he opened his eyes again, he was no longer trapped in the darkness.
He was back.
In reality.
"He's awake! General Zhou is awake!"
"It's a success!"
"Somebody contact the marshal!"
"On it!"
Shouts of elation traveled through the recovery pod's glass lid. People in white coats strode left and right as they rushed about to celebrate his return.
A familiar face opened the lid for him with a bespectacled woman standing next to him, but not a hint of the person he was looking for.
"Good morning, General." Gao Lang could barely hold back his tears of relief. "How are you feeling?"
Zhou Yi propped himself up and looked around the medical room but Shen Yuan was nowhere to be found. His eyes fell on the additional recovery pod next to him.
It was empty.
"What happened?" he asked.
"In your final attack, the commanding vulture escaped into your neural chip, and based on Miss Yang's examination, you shut down your consciousness to prevent the vulture from taking over your body," Gao Lang briefly explained.
"Yes, I remember that. What happened afterward?"
"We waited for 6 months, but General didn't give any sign of recovery," Yang Mei said. "Because of that, Lieutenant General Gao employed a specialist agent to help wake you up from within your subconscious mind."
Zhou Yi grasped the two words and grabbed Gao Lang's arm, his eyes unblinking. "That specialist agent. What is his name?"
The fixation in his eyes bewildered Gao Lang, rendering him speechless. He had never seen the general this frantic in his years serving under him.
"His name is Shen Yuan," Yang Mei answered for Gao Lang.
"Where is he?" Zhou Yi turned his attention to Yang Mei.
Yang Mei and Gao Lang glanced at each other in hesitation, uncertain how they should inform the matter since they didn't know why Zhou Yi was asking about him.
Eventually, Gao Lang spared Yang Mei the mental stress and first asked, "Does General need something from him?"
"Do I need to have a reason to show my gratitude to the person who saved my life?" Zhou Yi tautened his eyebrows.
"N-No." Gao Lang swallowed. That look wasn't as simple as someone who wanted to thank their savior. More like an anxious traveler desperate for an oasis.
"Then, tell me."
"He's…" Gao Lang looked at the empty pod and lowered his eyes, "…dead. 2 days ago."
Zhou Yi stilled.
"We don't know the exact cause or scenario that led to his death yet, but we suspect that he encountered the vulture and was forced to engage given it perished alongside him," Yang Mei explained. "We tried to save him but everything happened too fast. His vitals dropped at a rapid speed and his neural chip terminated before we could do anything."
"If…General wishes to see his body, it was already taken away by his department to be processed. I've not received any update, so he shouldn't be cremated yet. Would you like…to visit him?"
Zhou Yi clenched his fists. "…Yes."
"When—"
"Now."
Gao Lang thought he heard wrong when Zhou Yi jumped out of the pod and asked for a change of clothes. He hurried to call Xing He and hoped the other hadn't gone far.
His call was answered on its third dial and Xing He's cool, collected voice entered his connected earpiece. "Good afternoon, Lieutenant General Gao. I received the information that General Zhou had safely awakened. Everyone has worked hard."
"Yes, much to our relief. Thank you for your kind words."
"Is there something I can help you with?"
"Yes, it's regarding Agent Shen's body." Gao Lang glanced at Zhou Yi, who was in the middle of changing, to find him watching with intense, fixated eyes. He sweated cold.
"Does the general wish to pay his respect?"
Gao Lang inwardly thanked Xing He for his quick take. "Yes, precisely. Can I trouble you to bring us to see him?"
"When?"
"I understand that this is very sudden, but will now be possible?"
A pause ensued from the other side, making Gao Lang even more nervous. He felt like if they couldn't get permission right this instant, Zhou Yi would storm into the Specialist Department without any regard. That would cause all kinds of problems.
Xing He returned 2 minutes later. "I have informed my colleague to help you with this matter. Although I do wish I could guide you and General Zhou myself, as I mentioned earlier, I have to handle Agent Shen's compensation. Will this arrangement be satisfactory?"
"More than enough. Thank you very much." Gao Lang was finally at ease.
"My colleague will contact you shortly."
Gao Lang thanked Xing He once again and ended the call.
The said officer arrived at the medical room in half an hour and escorted Zhou Yi, Gao Lang, and Yang Mei to the Specialist Department's floor. The morgue for specialist agents was separate from the general morgue since they required special procedures.
She pushed open the door to the morgue where a young coroner stood in wait. With a cock of her head, he grabbed the handle of the mortuary cabinet next to him and dragged it open.
Zhou Yi didn't move.
He couldn't move.
A sterile white cloth covered the body, concealing its identity. Though the name was written on the door of the cabinet, he refused to read it.
As long as he didn't peel that thin layer of truth away, Shen Yuan would stay as his alive and radiant self in his mind.
As the playful senior. As the lovable companion. As the wary young master. As the rebellious survivor.
Everything.
Anything but this lifeless, inanimate corpse in front of him.
After a long, excruciating silence, Zhou Yi finally closed his eyes and chose to turn away.
"…Close it."