“I have sent Feiluo, Shahuang, and Huixiong back in time,” Moran said. “In five minutes, which I will count down, you two will be sent back to November of last year. You will arrive by my side and have one day left before the revolution of the clones. The past me will assist you in entering the City of Steel.”
A-Ka had waited for this moment, but it was only now that he felt an indescribable, thunderous shock in his chest. The sunlight filled the room while he and Heishi stood in front of Moran, as if they were holding a grave and solemn ceremony.
A-Ka took a deep breath and nodded. “I will do all I can.”
Moran continued, “Since my past self is not familiar with the terrain within the City of Steel, there is no guarantee that he will have the required commands to open the passageways. That part will be up to you, A-Ka.”
“Is there anything we need to watch out for?” Heishi asked.
“And can’t we ask our past selves to help us?” A-Ka said.
“No.” Moran’s expression changed slightly. “Aside from interacting with me, you must avoid leaving traces of yourself in the past. Think back to the day that you escaped from Father’s city. Did you know that your future self had returned?”
That made sense. Since A-Ka had never known, that meant that his future and past selves had never actually met each other.
“Not only can you not seek assistance from your past selves,” Moran continued, “you cannot even let them see you. You must avoid them and be wary of anything and everything that could cause the revolution to fail. Every action that you take in the past will set off a butterfly effect, and this might cause everyone in the present to diverge from their current trajectories.”
A-Ka nodded. “What would happen if we’re accidentally spotted?”
Moran said severely, “It’s very likely that that would cause annihilation. It’s possible that, when two waves of energy flowing in opposite directions collide, they will destroy the entire world.”
A-Ka sucked in a deep breath. “O-okay, I understand. All right then, let’s begin—wait! Something’s not right.”
Based on what Moran had said, A-Ka had deduced an inevitable conclusion: The Moran of the present had pinpointed the Moran of the past because both of them wore this ring on their hands. After A-Ka and Heishi returned to the past, they would meet with the Moran of that time…which meant that before this, Moran should have known about them returning to the past!
A-Ka’s voice shook. “B-before you got on the ship, you already knew me, didn’t you?”
“Yes.” Moran’s lips curved gently. “When I boarded the ship, we were already friends.”
A-Ka found that he could, in fact, be more shocked. “Then did our mission succeed?”
“Whether or not your mission succeeded does not mean that you should rest on your laurels. On the contrary, if you fail, you will induce changes in space-time and all of us may be destroyed. So, no matter what time or place you find yourself in, you need to do your best, A-Ka.”
“I understand! Please begin!”
“The process of being sent back to the past may cause you a little discomfort. Please bear with it.”
Moran turned the ring, and a beam of light enveloped A-Ka. With a hum, A-Ka instantly disappeared. Moran and Heishi were left in the sacred hall, standing face-to-face.
After Moran’s ring sent A-Ka away, its light grew dim, waiting for the next recharge. Heishi stared mutely at the ground.
Within this short moment of peace, Moran opened his mouth. “We must wait three minutes before I can send you back, Son of God.”
Heishi nodded. “Will this time travel cause any effects on A-Ka’s body?”
“It’s hard to say. I haven’t tested the effects of activating the Wish of the Tides, either.” Heishi looked at Moran, who thought silently before he smiled again. “I’ve always been curious about one thing. May I ask you a question?”
“Ask.”
“According to the records in the Book of the Heavens, when the day approaches where the Astrolabe petri dish is almost entirely polluted, the Creator will send the Son of God to carry out a purge… That is to say, your duty is actually to…”
“Cleanse everything in the petri dish.”
“Right. Last year, when I arrived at the Eastern Mainland and saw you for the first time, I felt your appearance was rather extraordinary. Logically, the command our Heavenly Father left in your memories should have been to kill all the humans and end this experiment.”
“Sure,” Heishi replied. “Is there a problem?”
Moran said, “What caused you to decide to protect us humans and clones? My apologies, I do not have any intention of delving too deeply into the matters on your mind…”
Heishi sank into a lengthy silence.
In the sacred hall, shadows and light fluctuated. Heishi lifted a hand. In that instant all the rays of light coalesced, and their intersections stitched together vibrant, colorful scenes that appeared one after another, each like a painting:
Before the sea of tulips, the moonlight shone through the window frame into the room. Heishi lay on the bed, and A-Ka sprawled on his front to one side, smiling as he said something.
“Because of A-Ka?” Moran asked.
Heishi didn’t say any more. With one hand, he swept at the air before him, and the imagery changed a thousand times—
Night in the sacred city, thousands of fireworks exploding in the sky as A-Ka, smiling, handed him a bracelet.
Twilight of the Festival of Spring’s Dusk, A-Ka standing at the head of the street, wolfing down a buttered crepe.
Moonlight shining through a window as Heishi was lying down, A-Ka sprawled next to him, saying something to himself.
Under the dark, gloomy sky of Phoenix City, A-Ka chasing after Heishi using the rockets in his shoes. Plucking Heishi from the midst of dozens of robotic guards and hugging him around the waist. Slamming as one into the glass skyscraper, glittering shards exploding into the air.
In the sewers under Phoenix City, A-Ka slumping weakly in Heishi’s arms, clutching his hand tight.
During a long night, the black sea roiling like the roaring, gaping maw of an angered beast. Heishi sitting by a rock all alone, speaking into the transmitter, windbreaker drifting in the sea breeze.
In the City of Steel, Heishi standing on the raised platform, sweeping his gaze over the unfamiliar humans beneath. Everyone’s expressions cold and distant, their gazes filled with horror. A-Ka shouting: “Wait! It’s me! The person this stranger is trying to find is me!”
Heishi watched all this silently, without saying a word.
The tides of the black sea ebbing and waning, clouds dissipating and reforming, the lid of the sleeping chamber opening. A-Ka’s surprised expression greeting him as he carefully lifted him in his embrace.
A patch of blue light like the waters of the vast sea threatening to drown him, and A-Ka walking into Father’s sea of consciousness, his voice murmuring: “I wish that there was someone who could keep me company, so I wouldn’t be so lonely.”
Heishi glanced at Moran but didn’t speak as he walked into the blue light. The ocean-like blue glow turned into a warm purple one, and Moran’s ring emitted a beam that enveloped Heishi.
“It’s because I appreciate humans, and because there are individuals like A-Ka among them,” Heishi said. He nodded once to Moran, and Moran pressed one hand on his chest in front of his shoulder, bowing to Heishi.