Heishi’s voice held no emotion at all, as if he was just an observer stating the reality of things. “Likewise, you have destroyed the environment of the petri dish. You have also interfered with my Creator’s intentions, smuggling the destroyer that he left behind out of the Primeval Heart and giving it life.” His voice turned deep and hoarse. “The environment of the Astrolabe is no longer able to provide you with the resources you need for living, and according to the direction the experiment is developing in, it is already pointless…”
“This isn’t fair…” Angus’s voice trembled.
The higher-ups of the Mercenary Association finally reacted, too. “Not fair at all!” Huixiong agreed.
“No one can determine our fate!” In agitation, Angus jumped to his feet, pounding a fist on the table. “And the mistakes that our predecessors have committed shouldn’t be our burden to bear!”
“Sit down,” Heishi said. The conference room went silent, but no one moved. “I said, sit down.”
Angus didn’t dare defy Heishi’s order, so he sat down timidly.
“This is unfair.” Huixiong smiled, but it was a bitter expression. “No one can determine the fate of the humans and clones.”
“There is someone who can,” Heishi said. “The destroyer that you all let loose. It shall determine your futures.”
“We aren’t experimental results,” Angus said as he straightened up, as if he wanted to prove the absurdity of Heishi’s words. “We are living beings who have intelligence and consciousness. We are on the same level as the Creator!”
“This doesn’t constitute a reason to maintain the experiment,” Heishi said.
Angus seemed to have lost all reason as he bellowed again, “This isn’t fair!”
Heishi swiftly splayed out his hand. The bracelet around his wrist shifted and assembled, becoming a six-foot magnetic sniper rifle, the muzzle of which was pointed at Angus.
“Three,” Heishi said coldly.
The room was dead silent.
“Two.”
“Heishi,” A-Ka said, his voice quivering.
Angus backed up, and Heishi flicked the sniper rifle. With an ear-piercing screech of metal on metal, it disassembled itself, returning to its original form and wrapping itself around his wrist.
Another second more, and Angus would have exploded into ash. This commander of the clones had, in the nick of time, escaped with his life.
“So, we’re all going to die?” Shahuang began to chuckle. “Here, let’s drink to that. Either way, our final days aren’t far away.”
But Huixiong looked into Heishi’s eyes, and he said carefully, “I imagine that you did not come here to tell us of an outcome that cannot be changed.”
Heishi’s fingers drummed on the tabletop. “I want the armies of the humans and the clones to mobilize at once in order to draw away Father’s firepower. I’ll need a group of people to protect us as we sneak into the City of Steel. I also require a portion of code that comprises the very core of Father. According to my previous investigations, this code is composed of two parts. One part was stored in Macksie’s brain, which is this.”
Heishi gestured to the chip in Angus’s hand.
“And the chip with the other portion, if my predictions are right, should be somewhere under your protection, Commander Angus.”
Angus looked at Macksie’s chip, trembling uncontrollably.
“These chips control the two primary functions of the entry and execution of the program, and after they’re assembled that piece of code can cause a temporary shutdown of Father’s core. Though Father will still be able to attack afterward, the shutdown will terminate several major defensive measures in the Nucleus region. With that, we’ll finally be able to successfully enter the passageway leading to the center of the Astrolabe.
“Now, give me the chip you’re hiding. Aside from this, I’ll need my technician to travel with me. Give me an answer after you consider your options.”
Everyone in the conference room started.
“What are you planning?” Huixiong asked.
“I will link up with the Nucleus,” Heishi responded, “to save you all.”
“I don’t believe you,” Angus said coldly. “My clone brothers and I won’t pin our hopes for our future on you, stranger!”
“Calm down, Commander!” Huixiong thundered. “Humans and clones must work together. This is our last chance.”
“No, this person’s a madman!” Angus snapped. “I won’t accept his conditions!”
As Heishi was about to say “Up to you,” his eyes slid to the side, where he saw A-Ka’s pleading gaze. Changing his mind, he said, “You can’t leave. Give me the execution chip. I know that you have the power to do so, Commander Angus.”
“Absolute nonsense,” Angus said.
He moved to go, but Huixiong stopped him. “Please wait, Commander.”
Angus suddenly turned back, sweeping his furious gaze over the upper ranks of the Mercenary Association. There were armed soldiers guarding the doors. “Are you going to detain me here?!”
Shahuang gave Huixiong a look, and Huixiong said, “Let’s begin the vote.”
“Aye.” Shahuang raised his hand lazily before placing a rifle with the mark of the Mercenary Association on the long table.
“Aye,” Gerb echoed with a grin. Pulling out his own gun, he set it on the table.
“In favor,” Lilith said. She handed over a rose brooch made of gold.
“In favor,” Rang Marx agreed.
Huixiong sat at the end of the long table, silently watching Commander Angus. After a long time, he spoke. “General Angus, for the future of the clones and the humans, you cannot leave.”
In the conference room, no one spoke.
Huixiong continued, “Give us the command to shut down the system. The clones can choose not to participate in this mission. We humans will shoulder the burden of carrying out the entire process.”
Angus took a few steps forward, his voice filled with menace. “I shall not.”
“Take him away,” the woman in the wheelchair said. “Son of the Creator, please rest first. As soon as there is news, we’ll notify you.”
Heishi stood and nodded. He gave a look filled with meaning to everyone in the conference room before he and A-Ka turned and left.
To ensure they were not disturbed, the Mercenary Association had cleared out a small unit on the top floor for Heishi and A-Ka. There was even a small flower garden on the balcony. This was the suite the previous president of the Mercenary Association had lived in. At night, flying patrol units circled around, their yellow lights scanning the ground below, and in the distance buzzed the indistinct sounds of static over the radio waves.
During the middle of the night, A-Ka woke up for some reason. He took a look at Heishi sleeping beside him, then got to his feet and walked out of the apartment. Once outside, he inhaled a breath of fresh air and climbed onto the rooftop, sitting up high while hugging his knees. The entirety of Phoenix City spread out beneath him. On the horizon, the central tower controlled by the clones glowed with lamplight, reminding him of the day they escaped the City of Steel.
Soon enough, Heishi joined him outside. A-Ka turned his head toward Heishi and gestured for him to come up. The two of them sat shoulder to shoulder on the rooftop, staring far away. For a while, neither of them spoke.
“Couldn’t sleep either?” A-Ka asked. Hearing only silence from Heishi, A-Ka murmured, “I wonder how Feiluo and Percy are doing.”
He leaned on Heishi. In the distant darkness, flames dimly painted the night sky a bright red. There had been no news from the Mercenary Association, which indicated that they had so far been unsuccessful in forcing Angus to give up the termination command chip.
“You didn’t need to treat Feiluo like that,” A-Ka said.
“I just don’t understand the emotions you humans and clones feel.”
A-Ka recalled how Feiluo and Heishi had fought—and how Heishi actually hadn’t returned Feiluo’s blow. For some reason, this small detail was preserved like an amber-encased flower in A-Ka’s heart, causing him to revisit it again and again.
A-Ka understood that Heishi’s existence was more akin to a machine left behind by the Creator, but of course, this was a secret that only he knew. Technically, a messenger of God did not need to be equipped with many emotions, the way Father wasn’t.
“I feel like…” A-Ka said tentatively.
“What?” Heishi asked.
A-Ka hesitated, then met Heishi’s eyes. “Do you think you have the emotions of a human?”
A-Ka thought about how Heishi had changed from the first time they’d met to the moment they were separated and then reunited. On top of the raw emotional reactions that Heishi had when they were escaping, he possessed the emotional characteristics of a human. Plus, as they deepened their understanding of each other, these characteristics became more and more obvious to A-Ka. When he was injured in the sewers and Heishi revealed his concern for A-Ka, he was even more convinced of his conclusion. Though this feeling was immediately dampened by the accompanying truths that Heishi revealed, in hindsight, A-Ka was sure that Heishi had felt concern for him.