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Thirteenth leaf
Yuu-chan 2025.04.23. 09:49
Lu Feng couldn’t even keep his eyes open, although, he couldn’t see even if he did. He had to force himself to move again, tapping the walls, dropping his useless weapon, and feeling out the steps with his feet. Maybe he should ask for help, but there was no one in the Main City he could trust or could call here, into the inevitable danger. So for first, he just wanted to get out and inhale some fresh air. He almost fainted multiple times.
He couldn’t count the floors, and the staircase seemed endless. But once he saw the small light coming inside from that hanging door on the sixth floor, he started feeling a bit better. He kicked it open, and just then, the noise of an alarm came to his attention. The building was in chaos, people were running on the other end of the corridor, and it seemed like an evacuation.
Lu Feng crawled in that direction, holding himself on the wall, not trusting his balance at the moment. He badly wanted to turn into his rose-form, and just rest somewhere.
Before he reached the corridor and the crowd, a black figure appeared at the intersection. He wore a uniform and a badge… but it wasn’t the Arbiter. Wait… isn’t the Trial Court out of the city? But he wasn’t questioning it out loud; his heart pulled him towards that person – he felt like he wouldn’t be safe if it was anyone else from any other department.
“Lieutenant Lu!” Adjutant Seraing reached him with only two steps, and grabbed him to keep him straight. “…Come with me.”
He had no strength to protest, and he didn’t want to. He still felt somewhat sick. In the chaos, no one tried to stop them, but when they exited the building, Adjutant Seraing quickly pulled him into a darker alley right beside the Garden of Eden. Lu Feng was still dizzy, and had difficulties opening his eyes in the strong light. He also never wanted to experience vomiting ever again, thus, he embraced the small shadow and the fresh air. He was then stuffed into a car, and his face pressed onto a cold window.
The noises and the vibration caused by the bees decreased quickly, and peace eventually came back to him. Lu Feng heard Adjutant Seraing jumping into the driver seat, starting the engine, and immediately driving away from that place, which helped Lu Feng to calm down, and his headache seemed milder too. As the high pain faded, his body fell into an extremely exhausted condition. He didn’t ask, where they were going, just lay in the car motionless. He fell asleep soon, not being able to keep his consciousness anymore.
*
“At 11:00 a.m. on June 26th, an infection outbreak occurred on the Garden of Eden’s 22nd floor, which had given home to all fertile women and young female children of the Northern Base until this day. The origin of the infection is unknown; the number of infected people is between 105 and 110. The Trial Court currently treats the Garden of Eden as a quarantine zone, and all remaining workers are subjected to multiple Trials and investigations. All involved will be monitored for thirty days, during which they will not be allowed to contact anyone. The tragedy affected all fertile women, and the number of infected children and infants is still uncertain. The suspect who started the infection broke out of the building, and took a swarm of a dozen infected monsters with it. The Trial Court, thus preventing human intelligence from entering the food chain in the wilderness, had already hunted down the suspect and its swarm. How the suspect was exposed to an infected individual, how long it has been carrying the infection, and who else is involved in this case are currently being investigated by the Trial Court. Based on the Arbiter’s statement, the residents of the Main City have no reason to worry, and he asks them to trust the authorities’ success.”
The screen showed the Garden of Eden’s dome from above. The glass dome had been broken, and the roses were exposed to the drier and colder temperature, and were not cared for anymore. The image then switched, and they showed the inside of the building: they quickly built some isolation walls between the floors, and even sectioned them up. Judges and doctors wore masks and gloves while communicating with the teachers and other workers. Infusions and food resources had been taken there to feed the quarantined people, and almost everyone was crying or was on the verge of crying.
Lu Feng sighed, and looked up at the ceiling. He was lying in a small room that resembled a resting room next to an office. His bed was quite narrow, but the bedding had a pleasant smell. There were no windows, which made the space somewhat uncomfortable. Someone had removed his uniform, and placed it on a chair beside him. An infusion was still connected to his left arm, slowly injecting a clear liquid into it.
The suspect had been hunted down already.
So, his mother was dead. Well, it wasn’t really his mother, but someone who cared for his roses. Lu Feng tried to save her in his mind, but if he was honest to himself… he was disappointed in her. Their last conversation revealed some things for him, but instead of hating the Arbiter more as she wanted, he felt like it was fortunate how everything turned out.
Maybe for the sound of the television, someone suddenly opened his door. Lu Feng only had to turn his eyes down, since the door was on the wall across from him, under the TV.
“I wasn’t just hallucinating.” Dr Ji strode into the room in his white lab coat, pushing up his glasses. “You’re awake. You sleeping beauty.”
Lu Feng blinked a few times; as per usual, he didn’t fully understand what the doctor said. Dr Ji didn’t wait for a reaction, he stepped right next to him, checking his pulse, the infusion flask and his eyes from very close.
“You were out for three days.” He continued in the meantime. “I started to get worried.”
“Where am I?” Lu Feng asked hoarsely; despite the infusion keeping him hydrated, his lips and throat were dry.
“In my lab.” Dr Ji said, straightening up, and putting his hands into his pocket. “Don’t get me wrong, I brought several other doctors here to examine you. You’re fine, only your sugar level was very low, but we boosted it back up.”
“Why here?” Lu Feng asked, and immediately, he remembered his last memories. “What happened with Adjutant Seraing?”
“You can thank the whole thing to An Zhe.” Dr Ji stated, and turning sideways he poured a glass of water for Lu Feng on the nightstand. Lu Feng sat up slowly, and thanked the water. “If he didn’t order Seraing to stay in the Main City and spy on you, you would’ve been saved by a military personnel. You would’ve been taken to the military hospital, and I can assure you, they wouldn’t be nice to you until you tell everything about the incident in the Garden of Eden… and everything else, regarding your mother…”
Lu Feng drank the whole glass, before leaning back to the pillow. He still felt a bit weaker. The news had ended in the meantime, and now it was just some pleasureful music coming out of the TV.
For him not answering, Dr Ji got impatient pretty soon.
“So, are you going to tell me at least?
“I thought you were protecting me from questioning.”
“I see, you are completely healthy and fine. You can go home then.”
“I can’t tell much about it either.” Lu Feng sighed over Dr Ji’s sarcasm. “I’ve already felt it… weeks ago that something was different. But I had no idea she was a bee. It happened so suddenly…”
“That’s impossible.” Dr Ji frowned upon hearing this, and took the chair to toss Lu Feng’s clothes away, and sit on it. He turned it too, resting his arms on the backrest. “True, the pollution level isn’t high in the Flatlands, and we have a very good resistance against fast transformation in the city, but the ever-recorded slowest pollution period was one week. And that was a one-time occurrence, usually, it’s a couple of days.”
Lu Feng was smart, and the rose couldn’t be happier to have such an intelligent person as his “host”, but his ancestor wasn’t a scientist. He had some knowledge about monsters because Lu Feng was interested in them, but his technical expertise wasn’t as advanced as the doctor’s. So, when Dr Ji went on explaining biological targets and how the different infection types pollute and spread out in the DNA, the rose started to lose the thread, and his mind wandered off.
“Well, anyway… we still don’t know a lot about your mother’s case. If you want to tell this to the military, we should prepare some good thesis on your part, so that… you will not be accused of anything.”
Lu Feng looked at Dr Ji, coming back from his thoughts at once.
“What are they accusing me of?” He asked, not even being surprised.
“Well… many things.” Dr Ji’s smile became bitter. “For first, they learned from the receptionists, that you were there, and you also dropped your weapon, so there is no way for you to refute. There are a few variations. People who knew the relationship between you and Madam Lu, were aware of your not-so-great relationship with her too. Some claim, that you deliberately poisoned her somehow.” Lu Feng frowned, and seeing his expression, Dr Ji laughed. “I know, right? If you think about it just a bit longer, you would know, it’s not possible for anyone to bring something infectious to this place. But they say, you were getting along with the Arbiter in the last few weeks, so maybe he helped you to get something inside, so to give him a chance to kill her. As if you were accomplices.”
The rose actually found it amusing, how humans were able to reach such conclusions, coming up with all of these stories so confidently, and even so, how believable it sounded. But at the same time, he felt annoyed by it, especially when the Arbiter was accused when he wasn’t even there with Madam Lu and Lu Feng.
“Then, there is the version, that you were working with her, and in fact, she was the one, who wanted you to infect her, so she can blow a shot on the Northern Base. Infecting all fertile women, and almost all children who would be capable of reproduction is basically equal to our death sentence. Once I’m done talking to you, I will go back to work to improve my testing instrument’s skills, and make it possible for them to conclude things faster, and get results sooner… Once I’m done with that one, I will have to help out other researchers to make it possible for us to breed again, even though it’s not my field of profession. This is really the worst turn that could’ve happened.”
Lu Feng sighed, and the crease on his forehead only deepened.
“So.” Dr Ji looked at him intently, erasing every smile and kindness off his pale face. His azure eyes darkened. “You have to have clear and firm answers to these questions. For the accusations of treason, for the accusations of corruption, for the accusations of murder, and the accusations of infection… Your case is not looking so good. Thankfully, you’re safe here. No one knows from the higher-ups that you’re here… but you can’t stay here forever, and if you don’t answer nicely enough to your superior, who knows what will happen? They’re pretty pissed about the fact we lost all fertile women.”
The rose only could press his lips together, and didn’t answer. He was so tired, and was facing so many problems, that the yearning to take his flower form only increased. He felt exhausted even when he helped the humans reconstruct their facilities and society, but this was even more tiresome. Although he could just tell the truth about almost everything regarding Madam Lu’s case, he had the feeling they won’t let him go so easily, and this time around, even the Arbiter’s hands were tied.
He just wanted to see him. This thought made the yearning even worse.
“Where is he now?” He asked, completely forgetting everything the doctor said. Dr Ji stiffened, and stared at him for a long while, and Lu Feng stared back.
“This is gross.” Dr Ji stated with a grimace. “Are you telling me, you fell for him so hard, that this is the only thing you worry about? ‘Where is he’? What is this, some old-school romantic drama? Did the family disapprove of your relationship? Were you already promised to someone else?”
Lu Feng had waited patiently for the part that he could understand. Seeing the zero reactions to his words, Dr Ji let out an annoyed sigh. Now he poured a glass of water to himself, before continuing.
“He returned to the Outer City. They chased the bees to the wilderness, and after coming back, he sent almost every Judge to the Garden of Eden. He also has to take responsibility for the returning mercenaries and other troops. Our resource stocks have been severely depleted in the last seclusion period, so the base doesn’t want to issue another one right now… He is at the gates, doing his duty. Because nothing supports his part in your mom’s case, and he took care… well… so, he is still free to work, but the military is keeping an eye on him. I bet he will be imprisoned the moment you contact him or he contacts you… They don’t watch Seraing closely if you’re wondering.”
Adjutant Seraing was the one who saved him, and prevented the military from taking him into custody. Lu Feng felt grateful for his help, and he understood that the Arbiter also wanted him to stay safe. At the moment, there was nothing the rose could do for him, except to come up with the best and most believable cover story for what had happened under the glass-dome.
As he remembered the conversation with the woman, something slowly occurred to Lu Feng.
“When I escaped from the top floor, I used the secret staircase.” He said suddenly, for which Dr Ji paused while standing up. He was about to leave his friend to rest and think, but his words stoned him. “But it was not the pollution that made me sick. Doctor, can the human brain suppress memories at will?”
The blond man’s face seemed even paler than before, and he finished his movement, standing up, and putting back the chair to its rightful place.
“At will… ah. Well, it depends on the person’s willpower. I would say, it is only possible unconsciously… your body can suppress memories and block out experiences that are simply too hurtful for you. And instead of dealing with it, it just makes it seem like it didn’t happen, but it can’t erase the effect of those memories. This is why the psychological assessments are important. Maybe there is some way to tell yourself something for so long that you actually start to believe it, but that is different from blocking out memories. But some… drugs can do that forcefully.”
Something cold crept up on Lu Feng’s spine, and his hands and feet got chilly, with an uncontrollable shiver that enveloped his whole body. It only lasted a second, and Dr Ji didn’t notice it, turning away from him. His voice was reluctant as if he didn’t like to talk about it.
“…Would you think of me as such a person, who would take drugs to suppress some memories of my past?”
Dr Ji’s shoulders couldn’t be more stiff, than in that moment; he put his hands into his pockets, and his eyes were staring at the door unflinchingly.
“No.” He said very concisely. “Why? Did you do it? Why would you think you did it?”
Lu Feng looked at the black screen again as if his memories were projected onto it. The flashes he saw, while his head split open.
“If those memories would come out suddenly… would they cause severe headaches?” But he was already certain, that they would. Previously, not knowing about the drugs the doctor mentioned, Lu Feng suspected that his ancestor just blinded himself about something in his past, but now, he had a new idea. He could believe this about Lu Feng; he forced himself to ignore things for the sake of keeping peace, so the rose thought, it was possible for him to take drugs. “I heard someone calling my name repeatedly. I fought with that person, I hit them, and they hit me too. And they screamed. A child.”
“Maybe you were hallucinating.” Dr Ji shrugged, his voice hurried. “I heard that many people in the Garden of Eden talked about hallucinating things too, when the epidemic happened. Well, I have to go now, someone is calling.” The blond man suddenly grabbed his communicator to look at it, but Lu Feng didn’t hear the ringing, and the doctor hurriedly rushed away from further questioning.
Compared to how easy his work was when he arrived at the human base, Lu Feng only admired his ancestor more deeply now, that he encountered such pressure from the whole society. The memories and feelings he had from human Lu Feng still could be considered vague guidelines to what actually happened in real life, and the rose found it very stressful.
In the next couple of days he regained his physical well-being, and in the meantime, hiding in Dr Ji’s restroom, he wrote a full speech that he meant to submit to the United Front Center. Well, it wasn’t enough to just submit it, he had to come out, and hold an interview, with many cameras around and people who made the news. Dr Ji didn’t avoid him completely, when Lu Feng didn’t want to talk about other things, but he only could help him at night before he went home, so Lu Feng did most of the work on his speech.
He finally started to understand how to use a computer, at least. When he needed some time to rest his brain from the hard work, he continued his investigation. He found a database with old newspapers and other prints from scientists, they dated back at least a hundred years, so it was a lot of information. He mainly learned about the Arbiter’s Code and the other movement, the Rose Manifesto – he couldn’t forget this name, maybe because he was a rose himself. Although, he didn’t quite like what he found there – mostly articles that either disparaged or raised doubts in the readers regarding the mental state of or the authority of the Arbiters’, he learned a lot about the base’s history at least. Surprisingly, he felt like it helped him to write a better-sounding confession, knowing more about the people to whom he aimed his words.
The doctors who looked at him after the incident offered their help, when it came to his psychological and physiological assessments; he had to prove that he was a human, and that his mind was intact, and hadn’t been influenced by the incident. It wasn’t as easy as it would have been if human Lu Feng experienced the same trial, but the rose felt like he adapted a lot of his ancestor’s ignorance already to be able to stand in front of many people.
Yet, on the day when he was supposed to give his speech, he broke the holy rule that Dr Ji laid down for him, and dialled the Arbiter’s number.
It was early in the morning, but not early enough for the young man to be in bed still, however, he might have been already at the gates…
The ringing beeped for a while, and then a kind, robotic female voice told him, that the dialled number was unavailable. Lu Feng sighed, and didn’t try anymore.
He just wanted to tell him not to worry. He wanted to ask if he was going to watch him on TV… they both missed seeing his first appearance in the news, because of what happened in the Outer City.
He had to go to the Twin Towers’ conference room in the United Front Center. This was his first time coming out of the small room since the Eden-incident, and people were looking at him everywhere as he and two doctors with Dr Ji, plus two officers from the military came to escort him. He didn’t need protection, for it wasn’t the same situation as it was in front of the City Defence Agency. People didn’t shout at him, and they didn’t bring any banners.
Fortunately, he could bring his paper to read it out loud, but he spent so much time writing his speech, that he could recite most of it. Standing on the podium, looking at the huge room full of people, who all stared at him with different glares in their eyes – some were curious, some were sceptical, some were just blank and ignorant – was a situation that intimidated him at first. Lu Feng calmness saved him, but he was weirdly nervous, a bit excited, but also… he didn’t want to be here.
His speech wasn’t the one that started the interview, but the cameras already flashed a few times. The head physician, who already made assessments with Lu Feng before, first and foremost assured everyone that Lieutenant Lu Feng was in a good enough position to give a speech, and that he was 100% human, and came here to express his willingness to help solving Madam Lu’s case.
Then, Lu Feng started speaking. His voice was calm and cold, as always. He made sure not to tremble at any point of his talking, especially not on the part when he talked about him not having an infection, or that he didn’t strike a bargain with the Arbiter. Not as if he was doing that, but he couldn’t forget that ancient-like conversation with the young man… about not exposing their close relationship to anyone until his reassignment took place. In those times, Lu Feng had no idea that dating was for people, who wanted to mate, and he was speaking so carelessly about it with the Arbiter… he felt slightly embarrassed over it. And of course… Him being a rose was something he was proud of, and he probably got lucky somehow, that none of his blood tests showed it differently, but… he was aware of his own shortcomings when it came to acting completely human. He wasn’t too afraid of exposing himself, but he couldn’t comfortably face such a social situation as this interview.
“… I did not know about my mother’s infection either.” He paused to take a deeper breath, and briefly looked at his notes. He couldn’t decide if this part would be smart to mention, but he didn’t like to lie, and he had an advantage – some people already knew and saw him conducting a Trial with his “talent” for recognising xenogenics. So he made his decision on the spot. “But I felt her change throughout the weeks. Especially the last time I was with her. On the top floor of the Garden of Eden, I felt a resonance, that I couldn’t recognise at that time, for it was too weak. I would report this to the Trial Court if I was able to understand what it meant. According to this feeling, her infection had spread very slowly. I don’t know, how long she had been sick. She didn’t tell me anything that indicated her change. But her hate towards the base had increased slightly.” He wanted to say the Arbiter at first, not the base, but he thought it probably would make the Arbiter feel bad. He looked into the cameras and the people’s faces again. “I do not, I repeat, I do not stand by her hatred towards the base or her betrayal, and I think her death sentence was justified whether she retained her human intelligence or not. Preserving the base and humanity is our most important task, so we must support all members of the Trial Court as the main bastion of our defence, and do everything we physically can to clear the base from those, who do not follow this view. Humankind’s interests take precedence over everything else.”
He was a fraud, he knew. He didn’t completely agree with this sentiment – he thought, the base was a bit too strict in some aspects. But he understood all the reasons. Humans, although they were powerful, thanks to their intelligence and weaponry, were actually fragile beings, maybe even more than a rose. They had their own weaknesses, and they were afraid of death, individually and as a species too. Lu Feng saw their fear in many situations, and even if he was not the same, he felt for them.
But at this moment, he had to be human Lu Feng, not the rose. He had to stand up firmly for the people, who deserved nothing from the civilians’ hatred, and he also had to keep his figure in society, as long as he must stay here. If he would blow up his cover, he would need to go… and for the first time, he didn’t want to. Not yet. He was too deep into this family issue, and into Lu Feng’s past to just throw everything in the bin after what he witnessed. Maybe he cared too much for people who meant a lot to him. In the past few days, even the loud-ivy Dr Ji was very lovable in his eyes – or because he was just really bored writing his speech all day, not contacting anyone else.
When he finished speaking, as they suspected, reporters immediately started asking questions, especially regarding the infection, which based on Lu Feng’s claim, didn’t take place for a long time. This time, the doctor spoke again; Lu Feng was done, and just stayed there for decoration. Science was not his field to take care of.
The reporters appeared to be satisfied, and after many questions on the epidemic, they began to wrap up the interview when someone from the crowd asked one final question.
“Excuse me, Lieutenant Lu!” Before Lu Feng could find the face in the group, the person continued. “I heard that your father was also killed by the Arbiter, and now your mother was too. With your mother, I know it was evident, but I heard that your father was examined after his death, and his results were all negative. Yet we saw you spending time with the Arbiter outside of work. I heard that you’re actually neighbours. If you’re this close to him, have you discussed this issue with him? What did he say that made you forgive his mistake? What kind of relationship do you have with the Arbiter if you haven’t made a bargain with him?”
Lu Feng lowered his eyes, and didn’t react much. However, before he even could answer, Dr Ji stepped forward, and put one of his arms in front of Lu Feng’s chest as if he wanted to turn him away.
“I’m sorry, but Lieutenant Lu doesn’t answer personal questions. This has nothing to do with the case. If you have any further questions regarding the case, he will be happy to answer them. If not, then thank you for your time.”
It seemed like the young reporter wanted to continue, but as people started finishing their notes and putting away the cameras, his voice became drowned out. As the audience stood up, he seemed to lose momentum, and possibly gave up.
As the interview ended, everyone left, and Lu Feng followed the doctors, until the General and two older officers approached them.
“Lieutenant Lu. I still hope that you can spare a moment for us.”
It wasn’t a question, of course. He was dragged into another room, and only the head physician was able to follow. Dr Ji looked at him with a bit of concern, but Lu Feng was not afraid, he waved him to go back to work, and they departed at the next corner.
Sadly, he wasn’t saved from personal questions. While the public had no right to ask about it more deeply, he couldn’t avoid his superiors’ interrogation. It wasn’t a nice time, just like Dr Ji promised; he was taken to a real interrogation room this time – with a weird machine on the table, and a tall man in the corner, who seemed mindless, standing there in his uniform with a dark expression, holding something in his hands. Lu Feng instinctively knew it was someone who would execute punishments.
It turned out, that the machine was a lie detector. Lu Feng didn’t know such a thing existed, but the officers misunderstood his expression, and the General’s adjutant explained it, while he was ordered to take off his coat.
“We don’t have Judges on our own interrogations. We don’t have any other choice than relying on this polygram. Just because it’s old, it doesn’t mean it won’t work. You’re supposed to tell the truth only. If you lie, we will know.”
His voice was cold as if they didn’t let go of their suspicion about Lu Feng. The General and the other officer in the room just sat in the corner, while the doctor and the adjutant applied this machine on him. They put up a tight armband onto his upper arm; a kind of uncomfortable belt was tied on his chest, more accurately two of them, with small plastic tubes on them, and finally, he got two small bands around his two fingers.
“You only answer with yes or no, no more words.”
When the machine started working, Lu Feng didn’t feel any changes in the stuff they put on him, and he frowned. How does this thing tell if he lies? He wasn’t exceptionally nervous, but he felt a bit more tense than usual. If this is more accurate than the Arbiter’s eyes, he will be in trouble.
The first part of the interrogation went well. Lu Feng couldn’t see the monitor, which probably showed the measurements and values that the machine figured out. His inspectors looked at each other multiple times after each of his answers, but their expressions didn’t indicate shock or confusion.
They also asked if he was close to the Arbiter, to which Lu Feng answered no – he wasn’t close to him now physically, so he didn’t lie. The question didn’t specify what closeness they were asking, so Lu Feng tried to concentrate on the things he could certainly tell as truth. They even went so far as to ask if he was intimate with the Arbiter, and he couldn’t help but think back to his dreams about him, which were quite frequent, but in reality, they only dated once, and they haven’t even kissed. It couldn’t count as intimacy, so he just decided to ignore his own fantasies.
After the thirtieth question, they finally finished. The doctor and the adjutant turned their monitor towards the General and the Senior Lieutenant, and after discussing the “diagrams” and his body reaction values, they “unfortunately” announced that the polygram didn’t reveal any deceptive tendencies.
“Then, if you do a final assessment, I will let you go this time.” The General stood up, and looked down at him as he was disappointed that he didn’t find rot where he wished.
“One more?” Lu Feng asked back, and the doctor seemed puzzled as well.
“General, we already ran through all the tests with Lieutenant Lu, and the results were all negative…”
“We had seen all negative results, yet, the person was infected.” The General protested, almost scolding the head physician, who was even more stunned after this statement.
“We had?” He asked unconsciously before he could stop himself. “I’ve never heard of it.”
“It’s because it was none of your business. I have my reasons, doctor, and I don’t have to explain them. Do the final test. This time around, I will give you some new questions.”
He waved towards his adjutant, who understood him immediately, and from his inside pocket, he pulled out a small notebook, more like a note block, and a pen. The General quickly wrote something on the paper.
“Implement these at the end. You don’t have to print out a new test form, just write at the end.”
“I don’t have the form here…”
“No problem.” With another hand gesture, the adjutant rushed out, but only after a half minute, he came back and handed a paper sheet over to the doctor.
Lu Feng just silently watched this, and genuinely doubted, he will give a good enough result for the General to not suspect him. He didn’t see the reason behind this act, and it seemed like the head physicist felt the same because he exchanged a fast glance with Lu Feng before he bent over the table to write the new questions in the empty space.
The parts of the lie detector finally came off Lu Feng before he started writing, so his subtle nervousness disappeared, but he began feeling hungry, and hoped he didn’t have to hide in windowless rooms anymore. The rose needed sun.
Most of the questions were the same as before, or at least similar in context to what he had to fill countless times already. But the two at the end… Lu Feng could almost answer all the other ones with ease, but he paused reading when he reached the new ones.
“What do you think humanity’s biggest weakness is?”
“What do you think humanity’s biggest strength is?”
The rose put his pen’s tip on the paper, but his hand didn’t move just yet. These two questions didn’t seem very tricky or difficult, but certainly, the General wouldn’t insist on putting them into the list, if they were not there to reveal something. But what? And why did these two questions not take part in the test all the time?
Humanity’s biggest weakness… the rose didn’t dare to think that he knew humanity to its fullest, with every ups and downs. He knew individuals he liked, he knew groups he didn’t like, and for the most part, he didn’t think of humans very highly… but he respected their complicated brain processes, intelligence, and achievements as a species.
However, he had to think about this as a human now. His ancestor had no opinion on this – not to the extent to leave any imprint on the memories that would help the rose out. But if he was really Lu Feng, what kind of answer would he give?
For a little while, he couldn’t think of any weakness or strength.
Until the Arbiter’s pale face suddenly floated up in his mind. Standing under the aurora, smiling lightly, glowing in the night; standing in the corridor, reserved and lonely; standing in the kitchen, crying; standing in the crater, mourning the loss of many people.
The rose suddenly felt he knew the answer to both questions. Thus, he only wrote one word, giving it a tilt, so it covered both blank spaces.
“Kindness.”
After putting down his pen, the doctor began reviewing his answers. Lu Feng stood up.
“Now, I hope I’ve satisfied every curiosity. Can I go?”
The General almost tore the paper, taking it from the doctor, and he only cared for his last two answers – might as well Lu Feng could’ve only answered those ones. But then, the wrinkly, pinkish face paled, and the old man looked up in disbelief. Then, his expression went blank, and his eyes darkened as if he closed off, and retreated into his deep thoughts about something. He slowly gave back the paper to the doctor. He and Lu Feng glanced at each other again, and because the General seemed unable to protest, the head physicist gently put his arm around the taller Lu Feng’s shoulder.
“We’re going. I will examine this paper, and I let you know, sir, if I find any irregular pattern or incorrect answer.”
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