Editing City Series:Volume3b Chapter 3 (section)

===Part 3===

The high-rise structure that had once been the Archs RDC building was now entirely empty.

There was no sign of human life.

There was, however, sign of nonhuman life.

It could be seen in a corridor of the underground factory of Archs RDC’s headquarters on the twenty-third basement.

Genius stood below the fluorescent lights with her shoulders leaning on the wall.

“…”

Her arms were crossed and a door was located next to her.

Unlike the soft material of the wall, the bulkhead door was made of exposed metal.

The solid door was about as thick as it was wide and something had been carved into the center of the door.

It was an emblem of two dragons playing together and forming a spiral. That was the Wild Emblem of the Maldrick family.

The emblem indicated that this was a Maldrick family workshop.

Genius was waiting for the man inside.

“J-Gun.”

The corpse that now functioned much like a machine had spent three days holed up inside.

Creating a Device with Busting produced intense noise, but no sound escaped the bulkhead.

It was entirely sealed within.

…''Although the neighbors often complained when he used that workshop in the city.

Only a few months before, she had been living with J-Gun.

It had been different at first.

“I was so afraid of going to the surface. I wouldn’t have done it if Master Huang hadn’t directly ordered me to.”

She had only moved around at night.

Birds that flew the skies at night would fly off before dawn arrived.

And at some point, she had become a bird that returned to its cage when night fell.

The hierarchical relationship of client and hirer had vanished between the two of them.

The others in the neighborhood had realized she was there, but they had said nothing.

As if to show off what kind of person he was, their peaceful life had continued.

But that peace had been destroyed by a photograph she had found.

The old photograph had been of a woman who looked a lot like Genius.

“I felt like that had opened my eyes to what I was doing.”

She smiled bitterly.

“Why did I think something so silly?”

After she spoke to herself, she heard a slight noise.

“!?”

She looked to the bulkhead door.

…''Is it opening?

But that hope was not fulfilled.

She heard the same noise again.

It came from the speaker in the corridor ceiling.

“Genius, I would like to hold our usual meeting. Is that okay?”

It was Fei’s machine voice.

His custom body was connected directly into the central management system and his mind was directly forming the voice.

Genius sighed, and…

“This is my post. Are you sure I should leave?”

“Double Lee says he still hears a Live ringing from within. The work is still ongoing.”

“I see,” she said quietly. “Hey, Fei?”

“…”

“Are you listening?”

“I am.”

She smiled bitterly.

“Can you tell me something?”

“What do you want to know?”

“What condition was used for the necromancy that resurrected J-Gun?”

“You should ask Double Lee.”

“I can’t. He won’t tell me.”

“You have yet to ask him, so it is too soon to conclude that.”

She crossed her arms and hung her head a little.

“Have you ever been afraid of something, Fei?”

“No.”

“Because you lost your memories of the past during your Psyche Outer surgery?”

“Yes. My thoughts are derived from my accumulated knowledge, not from emotion.”

“I…I’m afraid.”

“Of hearing Double Lee’s answer? That is what is leading to your hasty conclusion.”

“That sure is a coolheaded deduction.”

“I am merely rational.”

“Yes.”

''I suppose being coolheaded is also a type of emotion,'' she thought while moving from the wall.

She then suppressed her emotions and spoke.

“Fei, I slept with J-Gun, just like Master Huang told me to.”

“It was necessary for the mission.”

“…Thanks.”

“There is no need to thank me.”

Genius gave a thin smile that did not reach her eyes.

“That may be why J-Gun used my light before.”

“Your light?”

“Cherubim can control light. …It’s probably a form of Busting, but he emitted it as his Live.”

“So you exchanged Lives in a Live Session?”

“Do you think Busters and Tuners gain each other’s abilities when they sleep together?”

“An exchange of Lives could create evolution or degeneration.”

“Doing it with me…may have brought degeneration.”

…''If it wasn’t for that, he might not have died.

Her walking pace slowed as she thought.

“I wonder why,” she said.

“Why what?”

“If it meant exchanging our Lives, then when J-Gun slept with me…”

She took a breath.

“Wouldn’t he have read my Live…and thus read my thoughts and memories?”

“…”

Fei did not answer, so Genius continued.

“There are so many unknowns.”

“?”

“I never thought I would hear you say what you did to Double Lee.”

“What did I say?”

“You called him pitiable.”

She finally began walking again and his voice grew more distant.

“That was a statistical evaluation. It was not my personal decision.”

“Once you say it, there’s no difference. And…what is Double Lee thinking?”

“He is thinking about a contradiction between the Flight Song and Hong Kong.”

“A contradiction?”

Fei gave a simple answer.

“The Flight Song says Hong Kong connects heaven and earth, but in reality, Hong Kong still separates heaven and earth.”

“…”

“Normally, people sealed inside the earth would not create a song that approves of their enemy.”

“Does Double Lee have an answer to that?”

“He does have an answer, but he will not tell us what it is.”

“Do your statistical evaluations give you the answer?”

“I have an answer, but I do not understand it.”

“?”

“Double Lee thinks the Flight Song is a definite hope that was created at one point in history.”

“What does that mean?”

When Fei replied, his voice came from a different speaker in the corridor.

This one was directly over Genius’s head.

“It means it was something only one with knowledge of the future could create. To use a similar word…it was a prophecy.”

“A prophecy?”

“To be more accurate, it was a recording of future fact with one hundred percent accuracy.”

Hearing that, Genius stopped walking and frowned.

“I…can’t believe that.”

“But all of the instructions that President Huang left us in his report have matched what has happened.”

“What proof do you have that it’s a prophecy? Are you saying Master Huang knew how this would turn out for us?”

“That is the most consistent explanation.”

“I don’t like that way of thinking,” she said as she started walking again. “Besides, a prophecy?”

“The Lives of space and time are one of the three secret techniques of Tuning and Busting. One only needs read them.”

“But…I’ve never heard of a Tuner who could read time.”

“Double Lee said no Tuner that powerful currently exists in Hong Kong.”

“Currently?”

“During the Fifth Divine Punishment War, there was one other Nein Engel in Archs RDC besides President Huang.”

His words came from far behind her.

“That Nein Engel was Luna Azuel, Double Lee’s mother.”

Genius reached the end of the corridor as she listened.

She turned right and Fei’s voice came from both up ahead and behind.

“She began developing a Tune Emblem.”

“The one Double Lee uses, right?”

“Yes. And that knowledge was erased after the Fifth Divine Punishment War.”

“What are you trying to say?”

“I am simply stating facts.”

“And you’re asking me to think about what they mean? You’re not just a puppet, you know?”

Fei did not reply and she said more as she walked.

“And unfortunately, I tend to view things pessimistically.”

“That is a very human way of thinking.”

She smiled a little at that.

“I think Double Lee is the same.”

The elevator hall came into view.

“What is this meeting about?”

“Double Lee believes J-Gun’s brother and his own sister are dangerous.”

“!?”

“This is only a prediction, but we need blood for the next ceremony, correct?”

“You mean he’ll use his sister’s blood?”

“I do not know, but a Seraph’s blood should make a sufficient replacement.”

“A pessimistic view, hm?”

…''But it is true we don’t have any bottles of Master Huang’s blood left since J-Gun destroyed one.

“I wonder if Master Huang had predicted this part of the future as well.”

Fei did not respond to her musing.

That silence seemed to envelop her surroundings.