|
Ninteenth leaf
Yuu-chan 2025.06.04. 22:45
The rose felt like he had been hibernating for a whole winter season. He really needed that season; he lost all of his senses, all of his thoughts, and even his memories. When his consciousness returned, he looked at the dim red light for a while, cast by his own eyelids in front of him, trying to figure out, what season was this, or what day, or if he had to go to the military, or if the Arbiter called him or texted him… he wasn’t sure what was the last memory he could recall.
But then, a sudden noise from the distance interrupted his slow awakening, and rushes of cold sweat beaded his spine and nape at once.
His eyes sprang open, and he wanted to sit up, but as soon as he did, he realised that something had been stuck into his elbow joint, and he felt so dizzy that he almost lost balance.
The sound reminded him about their escape in the night, and he didn’t feel An Zhe nearby; in fact, he wasn’t even in the wilderness anymore. He sharply looked around.
A wave of shock overruled his emotions for a moment.
He was in a hospital bed, or close to that; the room itself rather looked like an empty, white apartment bedroom, filled with nothing but one bed and a couple of chairs and a drawer.
Lu Feng had been put on an infusion flask, wearing a hospital gown, but it looked and felt different than the one he was wearing after he entered the human base. Judging by the black monitor beside his bed, perhaps he was observed by a machine before he woke up, but his condition clearly wasn’t too bad to keep it on.
He was alone. But, before he began panicking, he noticed he wasn’t tied to the bed, or had any other restriction method applied to him. He wasn’t a prisoner, he was just on a nutrient supply.
He stood up. His legs shook when he put pressure on them, but he clenched his fist around the rolling stand the infusion was hanging on to keep his balance. He slowly escorted himself to the door with the help of the stand. His legs gradually strengthened, but he still had to hold onto the stand, because he couldn’t remove the infusion.
The door was unlocked; immediately after he opened it, someone tried to come inside.
They both froze, and Lu Feng felt stunned and confused. An Zhe stood right in front of him, wearing a similar gown as him, but without the infusion. When they looked at each other, the young man was taken aback too; then, his face relaxed in a second, and he smiled at him.
An Zhe wanted to say something, but Lu Feng closed the distance between them. He didn’t like hugs from anyone else, but this person. His person. With his left hand still clinging to the rolling stand, he used his right arm to chain An Zhe to himself, and poured all the strong emotions swirling in his chest into this hug. An Zhe was probably surprised, but only after two seconds, he hugged him back with such a strength that Lu Feng had never seen from him. Well, it was still not enough to move Lu Feng’s body.
“Finally, you’ve woken up too, child.”
For the voice, Lu Feng lifted his head, and noticed the man, standing behind An Zhe. He was an older man with white hair and sharp and wise eyes, strangely elegant; he almost seemed like a soldier by his posture, yet, he was clad in white clothes, which made him look like a scientist instead. He was looking at them with a gentle smile on his face, which was showing a different emotion than what Lu Feng saw in his scrutinizing eyes. He couldn’t possibly tell, what this person was thinking about.
“Who are you?”
For his question, An Zhe answered, releasing him before the man could speak.
The name ‘Pauli Jones’ plucked a string in Lu Feng’s mind, but the feeling was so vague, that he couldn’t recognise what it was, and it disappeared right after. As the rose suspected, he was a doctor. He shook his hand after An Zhe wasn’t in his arms anymore, and the man offered him breakfast and tea.
“Let me explain some things to you. I bet you would like to know more about your current situation.” He lifted his arm to show the way back to the room, and Lu Feng only hesitated for a moment before he decided to accept the offer. Only because An Zhe was safe and sound; if they didn’t hurt his person, the rose had no reason to act suspicious. Yet, the lingering resistance in his chest towards the old man remained, which he couldn’t really find a reason for.
After Dr Pauli’s words, another person appeared. He was a tall, slender man, with black eyes and hair, distantly handsome, but he still forced a smile on himself when he bought food for Lu Feng on a silver tray. Lu Feng sat back on his bed, and just when he accepted the tray, Dr Pauli introduced him as Tang Lan. Tang Lan excused himself after his introduction and welcoming gesture towards Lu Feng while the doctor removed the cannula from Lu Feng’s arm.
An Zhe sat beside him, and Lu Feng wanted to share his food with him, which the young man agreed to with a light pink colour spreading on his face.
“This is the Highland Research Institute.” Dr Pauli sat across from them, pulling one of the chairs from the corner to the bedside. The doctor’s smile shone at the two of them. “Have you heard this name before?”
Lu Feng wanted to say no, but he paused. The same feeling enveloped his heart again. The feeling of a memory that wanted to come out, but when he tried to focus on it, he lost it. It was quite annoying. He frowned, and took the spoon into his hand. His meal was congee and eggs, with onions and pork meat floss. It looked very tasty, but he almost couldn’t even see it, as he tried to force himself to remember of that memory.
It seemed like Dr Pauli knew exactly how he felt, despite that Lu Feng’s facial arrangement could hold every single emotion inside, even if he didn’t control it deliberately.
“I think you may have some recollections, right?” Dr Pauli’s smile became somewhat solemn and sad. “I presume, it’s from the person named Gao Tang.”
The crease in Lu Feng’s brows deepened, looking at Dr Pauli without blinking.
“Gao Tang is…” He began speaking slowly, but Dr Pauli nodded, and finished his sentence.
“Lu Feng’s father… whose genes you ate with Lu Feng himself. Memories are an interesting part of our lives. It could be passed down by generations. Our bodies carry a lot of information, and when it comes to xenogenics, they are way more perceptive of those directives that they inherit from their elders.”
Lu Feng somewhat understood what the old man was talking about, but he still didn’t get it. Why Gao Tang would know the name of this place? Once again as if Dr Pauli looked into his mind, he hummed.
“I guess I have to explain the purpose of this place first. You can eat, and just listen.”
Thus, while Lu Feng took a few sips of the congee, Dr Pauli talked about the xenogenic institute, which was a place for people like him – or more like for humans who were infected by a monster, but still kept their human intelligence. He mentioned that once they were all members of the Northern Base, but now they were the outcasts, so they gathered together, keeping each other safe, protecting their new base, and trying to live a normal life.
“Although…” Dr Pauli paused at this point when Lu Feng was about to feed An Zhe with the delicious breakfast. “I thought you would figure this out by now. The things Dr Ji has told me about you, I was certain, you would understand it already.”
The corner of Lu Feng’s eyes twitched, and he shot a resigned look at him. For that, the man laughed.
“I wasn’t trying to insult you. I’m sorry. What I meant, was that I thought you already had a suspicion about Gao Tang’s identity.”
But this was already enough for him to understand it better. The rumours about Gao Tang being a xenogenic remained a forever unresolved secret and mystery of the Northern Base, and then, as Lu Feng recalled the day when he asked Dr Ji’s opinion about it, his friend told an old story… The rose realised that he heard the name of this place before, more accurately, bud-Lu Feng did. The Highland Research Institute was the sender of that email, which was saved on Madam Lu’s device as a picture, about something related to Gao Tang.
When the recognition hit him, he felt stunned, and he looked at the smiling man with a type of curiosity, although he only showed it by raising his eyebrows.
“My communicator… where is it?” For his question, An Zhe looked up at him, and then he stood up, and stepped to the drawer.
“I’ve already recharged it for you.” He said while he took out the black device. “All of our belongings are in here if you need something. “He added before walking back to him, handing out the communicator. Lu Feng pressed its button, and sure enough, the small screen lit up. There was no signal for sending messages or making calls, but what he already had, he found it.
Dr Ji sent him text messages about An Zhe’s childhood file, about his works, and later, he sent him the file that they stole from Madam Lu’s computer. Lu Feng wisely didn’t open the first message because An Zhe was looking, and for now he skipped the second one too. They checked out the third message together.
It was a picture, as Dr Ji told about it to Lu Feng. The screen was so small, they had to zoom in quite a bit, and the quality wasn’t great. But it was good enough to check the sender: Highland Research Institute, Pauli Jones. The title was blank, and the letter had a few long paragraphs.
“Have you sent this to Madam Lu?” Lu Feng only asked for confirmation, and showed the communicator to Dr Pauli, who bent forward to look at it. Surprise enveloped his old face.
“I didn’t expect to see this letter again.” He admitted, leaning back. “Yes, I’ve sent it. Have you read it?”
“Not yet…” Lu Feng paused, and after exchanging a glance with An Zhe, he began speaking again, and this time, Dr Pauli let him finish. “Gao Tang… was a member of this place?”
“Mn… not quite, but yes.” Dr Pauli made a gesture between a nod and a head shake. “There wasn’t any Gao Tang living here, ever. But a xenogenic, named Ren Chenggong… was. Does this name ring any bell?”
Lu Feng just shook his head this time; this wasn’t a familiar name to him in the slightest. While he was hearing out Dr Pauli’s explanation, An Zhe urged him to continue eating, but Lu Feng rather fed him than himself.
“It’s alright. Let me tell you, who he was then.” Dr Pauli said, and the sad smile returned to his eyes. “We found him in the Abyss, injured. He was barely an adult, yet on the brink of death. His comrades left him behind. We brought him here, and tried our best to save him. But I don’t think we saved him, I think, he had a very lucky immune system. Before that, I had never seen a human coexisting with their infection so well, as it happened with him. He was able to control his infection to the highest extent. He could control his brain system, his emotions, and his appearance with ease. We still couldn’t figure out, how did that happen. And we lost our chance to do it very soon.”
An Zhe nested closer to him on the bed, and took the spoon when he realised, Lu Feng only was feeding him, and began doing the same. The rose wasn’t particularly hungry if he was being honest, but he couldn’t refuse this gesture anymore.
“Did he die?” Lu Feng asked after a mouthful of warm food, unsure of what all of this had to do with Gao Tang exactly.
“No, he left.” Dr Pauli said. “He never accepted this place, he wanted to go home… And because of his talent, he thought, he can. One day, he disappeared. I had a feeling he would go to the Northern Base, so I tried to gather as much information as it was possible, to at least know if he was able to go inside or not. I’ve never heard his name after he left, however, I heard about someone else, whose name was also familiar to me.”
Dr Pauli reached into his pocket, and stood up, only to give them a few paper sheets. There was a data card with a coloured picture on it, and two other sheets, smaller and thicker than the previous one – two photographs. The data card belonged to Ren Chenggong. Lu Feng and An Zhe put their heads together again to see. The picture showed an exceptionally handsome youth with bright red hair, freckles all over his face, and stunning, bright green eyes. He looked ethereal with those unique marks on this cheeks, and his smile was wide and white. He seemed like an energetic, promising young man, who had a great life before him, which he would enjoy to the fullest. His name, age, physical attributes and health conditions were listed beside the photo, with many other traits of his.
Then, the other two images showed a much familiar figure. One of them was the same picture Lu Feng had seen in Gao Tang’s office in the City Defence Agency; a man clad in a uniform with a straight back. But the paper wasn’t yellowed as his own version, and now, he could see that the eye colour of that person was the exact same green as Ren’s.
The third picture was also Gao Tang’s, but from a much younger age, he was perhaps just a bud or recently blossomed into an adult.
However, his eyes shone in a simple, greyish-blue colour, not even close to the green he had later.
An Zhe audibly held his breath.
“Wait… are you saying, that Ren killed Gao Tang?” The young man asked Dr Pauli, whose expression seemed troublesome and difficult.
“I don’t know what exactly happened.” He said with pain in his voice, and looked at the papers from his angle, intertwining his fingers in his lap. “But Gao Tang was Ren’s best friend in the base before Ren’s accident.” He explained with a lower tone. “It didn’t seem that Gao Tang was with Ren when Ren was left behind in the wilderness. But I’ve never forced him to talk about his previous life, as I wanted him to feel comfortable here. Were they separated with resentment towards each other? Did they fight when they met again? Or was Gao Tang looking for him to help him, and they had some kind of agreement? Or was Gao Tang dying on the plains, and Ren’s only solution was to eat him to keep his memory alive? I wouldn’t assume that Ren killed him for just the benefit of returning to the Northern Base. He was an emotionally and mentally highly intelligent, kind being, even if he had shortcomings. I’m afraid, we’ll never know the full story unless his memories were carried on with his child.”
Dr Pauli glanced at Lu Feng intently and suggestively, but Lu Feng couldn’t recall anything about it. He shook his head to confirm this. Looking at the young Ren Chenggong, suddenly, he felt like he saw Lu Feng’s face in it. And the rose just then realised, that he always thought, Lu Feng and Gao Tang weren’t very similar looking; Lu Feng was way more eye-catching than him. And if he wanted to be totally honest, his ancestor didn’t look like his mother either. Not so much. But Ren’s clear-cut lines… if he had dark hair and no freckles… They could be called brothers even.
Dr Pauli accepted his answer as if he knew it already, and continued speaking.
“Well, whatever happened, Gao Tang wasn’t the same when he returned to the base from one of his missions. It took me a while to figure this out from various sources. I was sure if I would see him out here, in the wilderness, I could tell from just one look if he was really him, but I was still quite certain… it was too much of a coincidence. I heard that after a particular mission, Gao Tang’s abilities skyrocketed, and he got the Lieutenant rank at a very young age, barely hitting his 25th birthday. This is something that Ren could easily achieve.”
Lu Feng hummed. It seemed logical, but he wasn’t as surprised as the ex-Arbiter on his side. Lu Feng had a hunch previously that if Gao Tang was infected, as An Zhe judged him to be that day, three years ago, then he probably was a xenogenic for a longer time, and no one else could notice but An Zhe. And if that was the case, human Lu Feng probably knew it as well.
As if Dr Pauli was trying to catch up with his thought process, he added:
“Ren always wanted to go back, be a leader in the military, and have a loving family. He told us that he wants to adopt many children if he can’t have his own, and he wants a beautiful wife… male or female, but he definitely wants someone good-looking. He expressed it very firmly.” Dr Pauli’s face was clad in a nostalgic smile as he remembered, and he chuckled lightly. “He was slightly vain and superficial. However, I didn’t expect him to pull that off. When I learned from an ex-military member, who came here after being infected that Gao Tang actually laid an eye on a scientist woman, and had a child with her, it was a slap in my face. I became worried. We didn’t have the chance to explore the full potential or the dangers of Ren’s infection. We didn’t know what consequences a child would face with mixed genes such as his, or if he can inherit the incredible ability of his father, disguising himself in the human society, and so on. I was torn about what to do… But I thought, at least the mother needs to know. She was carrying a xenogenic’s baby for nine whole months… Gao Tang… I mean Ren could control his infection, and decide not to spread the disease to anyone, but would a child be able to do the same, and not infect people, when he wasn’t even born yet, or even in his early years? Ren was highly matured already when he came here, but was it something he could pass on to a baby? Is the baby even a xenogenic, and infectious to humans? If so, can such a baby stay alive there? Can be happy and healthy in a place that openly states, humans had the right over every other existence?”
Lu Feng didn’t answer, and not because he didn’t have an answer – he actually had, and the memories of the child in question started surfacing one by one. They didn’t cause him pain anymore, but were quite vague since they were suppressed for so long with every emotion they carried, and of course, because they weren’t exactly his memories, but his ancestor’s.
Earlier, the rose couldn’t see the message from Dr Ji clearly enough. But bud-Lu Feng read it with his friend. According to Dr Ji, he wanted to confront his mother about it, and Dr Ji fought with him. Now the rose remembered their fight, and Lu Feng actually threw judgement at the future doctor on how bad of a friend he was for not letting him go back. It could explain, why the doctor was so heartbroken, and didn’t dare to approach him again. Although Lu Feng was speaking out of anger and being hurt, and it was not because of Dr Ji, they never had a chance to resolve this matter after their fight.
Lu Feng still couldn’t recall what happened with his ancestor in his childhood when he went back to his mother, he only remembered the pain: physical pain all over his body. He was punished severely for finding out this secret, even though the secret itself was already punishing – finding out that he was actually a half-xenogenic.
The rose chest was flooded with distinctive feelings all of a sudden, and all at once: resentment, hatred, disappointment, loneliness, and longing. And on top of them, self-isolating thoughts appeared in front of him.
It seemed to be confirmed now. He had a feeling about this before, but he didn’t know every detail, and things weren’t adding up until this point.
Whatever the military did to him, making him forget his father’s identity… human Lu Feng didn’t completely forget about it. He probably didn’t remember the letter, or couldn’t pinpoint his feelings, but he knew his father was different from humans, and so was he. Was it the impeccable ability to control his brain, like his father, that made him resistant to the drug they probably used to erase his memories? Or they were just not thorough enough?
In any case… bud-Lu Feng began isolating himself purposefully. He chose to not have any connection with the people he wanted to protect because he wasn’t sure of his own identity anymore. Yet, he still somewhat yearned for a connection with his father. He, who would not keep mementoes and forms of attachment, kept his father’s certificate about his promotion to Lieutenant… and on the day of his death, his heart wavered.
What kind of twisted feelings he needed to endure as a mere bud… Dr Ji said Lu Feng was always righteous and courageous, wanting to save humanity… But his own father was a xenogenic, the enemy of humanity. Yet, he couldn’t report him, because then he would be a target too… being his child by blood. And yet… Lu Feng was curious about xenogenics. He hated and loved his father at the same time, respecting him as a soldier, but despising him enough to suppress every thread of love and closeness with him. On the day of his death, he was probably torn between grief and acceptance, and he couldn’t deal with it right away. He didn’t hate the Arbiter, and he wanted to be part of the Trial Court… but he still lost his father forever. His mother probably knew too, that if he went to the Trial Court, the Judges would discover his differences sooner or later, especially the Arbiter. Thus, Lu Feng ended up in the United Front Center, for the begging of his mom.
If he wasn’t suppressing his feelings towards his family and humanity, his life would’ve been miserable and painful. He was so self conscious, he rather stayed alone and removed himself from relationships, draining every single spark of feelings out of him, as much as he could, just to prevent himself from falling into a position, where he would be hold accountable for his unwanted xenogenic side, and forced to choose one side or the other. Can he be more lonely than that?
And he dared to call the rose pitiful…
At least, the rose knew now, from where Lu Feng inherited his sense of aesthetic – if anything, he admitted, that his look as a rose was pretty wretched, but maybe not as much as his ancestor saw him to be. On the other hand… human Lu Feng pitied him for he was a weak xenogenic, bending by the wind, lonely on a vast battlefield, losing his family one by one… Did his ancestor feel the same towards himself in that moment, deep in his heart? Well, no… he wouldn’t dare to let himself feel anything, after all. Human Lu Feng definitely inherited his father’s ability to control his own self to the highest extent, even his emotions and reactions.
“Lu Feng?”
The rose shrugged, and looked up with a hum. An Zhe was looking at him deeply, scrutinising him to his core, and sadness shone in his light eyes. Lu Feng realised, he missed a whole conversation, and Dr Pauli also looked at him as if he wanted to say something comforting.
“Mn. What type of xenogenic Ren was?” Lu Feng asked; instead of trying to express these complicated thoughts and feelings, he dodged the unspoken question. He didn’t mean to keep it a secret, but he felt heavy in his chest after the realisation, and he needed some time to think about it.
“He was attacked by a hybrid class monster, and many genes entered his body.” Dr Pauli generously accepted the topic change. “None of us know, how did he get so lucky, that his system chose the best possible genes to take control over him. He became a polymorph xenogenic, a class on his own, without anyone like him. I would like to say, that he was the peak of my experiments because we, the members of this place, always wanted to achieve an infection, where the human and the monster can coexist in one body to reach unimaginable potentials… but he wasn’t my experiment, and I had nothing to do with his evolution. He became the specimen that I’ve always wished to create. I’ve never succeeded in this topic, not before or after Ren’s appearance. We had never reached that level of merging between genes that would allow a human to keep their full control or evolve into an even more perfect existence. We’re all xenogenics who regained human intelligence, but we all have limits to our abilities. None of us could pretend to be an impeccable human being anymore. It was only him… and now, you.”
Lu Feng frowned, and he felt a bit of shame all of a sudden.
“I don’t think I kept his abilities pure.” He said calmly. “I’m a rose, not a human. I ate Lu Feng’s genes, and… well… I did get control over my existence, but I don’t think I can do the same as Gao Tang could. Lu Feng… he only used his abilities to isolate himself from everyone, maybe even he couldn’t achieve the same as his father.”
“He was still an exceptional human being.” Dr Pauli smiled at him forgivingly, which made the rose feel like he was just spitting out excuses. “But he didn’t need to be the same as his father was. Such abilities might be hiding in multiple generations before awakening. Maybe if Lu Feng had a child on his own, or their child… He could pass this on and on to the next generations. Or even to you.”
The rose remained sceptical about that. Indeed, he changed as a xenogenic after eating Lu Feng, he confirmed that, but he wasn’t as awesome as Gao Tang used to be. He told that Dr Pauli as well.
An Zhe chuckled on his side.
“None of your assessments were showing any sign of infection.” He stated confidently. “Apart from me, no one would notice your identity. I’ve asked my Judges if they can see anything in you, and they all said, you must be 100% human. And don’t get me wrong, they are very observant and talented people. I would trust my life to them. Yet, they said, you’re fine. It was also only me, who could sense anything in your father… well, Lu Feng’s father…”
“You have very strong talent yourself.” Dr Pauli suddenly smiled at An Zhe, with a different kind of light in his greyish-blue eyes.
An Zhe was beautified all of a sudden, and murmured something, lowering his head, and almost leaning towards Lu Feng as if he wanted to hide behind him.
“Don’t worry, I’m not mad at you for shooting him.” Dr Pauli didn’t beat around the bush, making An Zhe startle. “In fact, he was lucky to live so long as a xenogenic in the base. I think he knew that they will discover him once. He chose to stay there. He chose to die there. He still reached his goal of having a family on his own, and became a successful leader. If I was in your position, I would’ve done the same… Well… I did the same in my time of serving.”
Lu Feng wasn’t sure what that meant, but An Zhe’s face went through many changes after the last sentence, and in the end, he relaxed and showed a real smile at Dr Pauli. The rose felt like it was something important that An Zhe understood, maybe something that only humans could grasp, or Lu Feng was simply too slow, having to deal with his own thoughts about the situation. So he was glad, that An Zhe could feel happiness, even after the many hardships he lived through. Knowing that he was right all along maybe eased some of his guilt. He’d never shot someone who was a mere human.
The breakfast had already disappeared, and Lu Feng didn’t even remember eating it. Dr Pauli leaned over.
“I hope you would like to stay here with us.” The doctor said with a light smile before standing up with a slow momentum. “I can’t make anyone like this place, and if you can’t like it, we won’t hold you back, but if you stay, we can protect you from harm, and offer a welcoming home.”
The rose’s head was heavy, and he paused for a moment. Not long ago, they were out in the Abyss, and he tried to find a good place to live, but he never thought of living with other humans again, apart from An Zhe.
“Can I think about it?”
“Of course, child.”
Previous
Next
|
AJÁNLOM AZ OLDALT
Sg