Day 370. 11:00 hours.
Taiwan.
The fortress.
The Taiwan Samsara Federation
Taiwan was not a country anymore. Taiwan was the fortress, the fortress fifteen nations had built, the fortress the Chen Family had finished, the fortress that three hundred and seventy days ago had become the only place in Southeast Asia that held.
The fortress that breathed.
The island was three hundred sixty kilometers north to south, one hundred forty east to west. Large enough for the remaining population of Southeast Asia. Large enough for the millions who had fled. Small enough to wall. Small enough to seal. Small enough to fortress.
The island that was the cage.
The wall ran from Keelung in the north to Kaohsiung in the south. Along the western coast, the coast that faced the strait. Along the eastern coast, the coast that faced the Pacific. Along the northern tip, Japan. Along the southern tip, the Philippines.
The wall that enclosed. The wall that sealed. The wall that held.
The wall was not stone. Not concrete. The wall was the alloy, the alloy the Chen Family had developed, the alloy the machine had forged, the alloy the gamma radiation had changed, the alloy the accident had made.
The cage's bones.
The megabuildings rose from behind the wall, sixty stories, seventy stories. The cities within the cage. The homes. The factories. The barracks. The fortresses within the fortress. The Chen Family's. Built before the freeze. Kept after. Owned.
The cage's teeth.
Neon bathed everything, pink, blue, green, red. The light the cage made for itself because the sky was charcoal and the sun was gone. The light that ran along the walls, along the megabuildings, along the streets. The light that did not stop. The light that could not stop.
The light the machine powered.
The cage's voice.
Maglev trains ran on electromagnetic rails forty stories above the street, silver streaks connecting the megabuildings, connecting the cities, connecting north to south, east to west. The trains that hummed. The trains the machine powered. The trains that did not stop.
The cage's veins.
Drones filled the air, delivery drones, surveillance drones. The drones that delivered. The drones that watched. The drones the Chen Family kept flying. The drones the machine powered.
The cage's eyes.
The streets were wet, always wet. Three stories below the megabuildings. The canyons that reflected the neon, reflected the megabuildings, reflected the cage. The rain that fell from the charcoal sky every day. The rain that did not stop.
The cage's floor.
Taiwan. The fortress. The cage. The country that was not a country. The island that was the machine. The machine that did not stop. The machine that could not stop. The machine that powered everything.
The machine that no one outside the Chen Family understood. The machine that no one outside the Chen Family had seen.
The machine that was the cage's heart.
The heart that beat.
— • • • —
Day 370. 11:00 hours.
Taipei.
The capital.
The center.
Taipei was the capital of the fortress. The center. Where the Chen Family lived. Where the machine hummed. Where the cage's heart beat loudest. The city that did not die. The city that could not die. The city the machine kept alive.
The megabuildings were tallest here, sixty stories, seventy stories. The ones the Chen Family had built first, before the freeze, when the fortress was still a project, when the machine was still a dream.
The megabuildings that were now the cage.
Holographic advertisements drifted between the towers, forty-meter women selling synthetic skin, thirty-meter eyes selling optical implants, twenty-meter smiles selling nothing. The advertisements that never stopped. The advertisements the machine powered.
The advertisements that were not advertisements. The cage's decoration. The cage's lie. The lie that said everything is fine. The lie that said everything is normal. The lie that said the world did not end.
The lie the Chen Family kept running. The lie the machine powered.
The cage's mask.
The streets of Taipei were wet, neon-painted, crowded. The workers walked. The workers who had never stopped going to work. The workers who did not know what the machine was. Who did not know what the cage was. Who did not know what the Chen Family was.
The workers who believed the lie. Believed the advertisements. Believed the mask.
The cage's blood.
The blood that flowed.
— • • • —
Day 370. 11:30 hours.
Taipei.
Manusya Command.
The corpo tower.
Subterranean Level 7.
The machine room.
Wang Li descended. The Manusya captain whose suit was black, whose face was flat, whose eyes were dark. The Chen Family's leash. The man who descended below the lobby, below the foundation, below the city, below everything.
The man who descended to Level 7.
Level 7 did not exist. No map showed it. No elevator reached it. Only the Chen Family and their leash entered. Below Level 3. Below Level 4. Below Level 5. Below Level 6. The deepest level. The machine room.
The elevator to Level 7 was separate, hidden behind a wall in Wang Li's office. The wall that opened. The wall only Wang Li could open. The wall only the Chen Family authorized.
Wang Li entered the elevator. Black. Silent. Descending. The hum that was not the elevator's hum, the hum that was the machine's hum. The hum that grew louder with each level. Deeper. Until at Level 7, the hum was everything.
The doors opened. Black doors. The machine room.
The room was vast. Cathedral. The size of a football field. The ceiling thirty meters. The walls were the alloy. The floor was the alloy. The cage's heart. The room the machine filled.
The machine.
Ten meters tall. Five meters wide. The alloy cylinder that stood in the center of the room. The cylinder that hummed. The cylinder that glowed. The cylinder that radiated.
The gamma radiation power generator. The dream fifteen nations had funded. The dream the Chen Family had built. The dream the accident had woken.
The hum that was the heartbeat. The heartbeat that did not stop. The heartbeat that powered Taipei, the wall, the megabuildings, the maglev trains, the drones, the neon. The heartbeat that powered the lie.
The glow that was blue. The glow that was the gamma. The gamma that radiated. The gamma that filled the room. The gamma the alloy walls contained. The gamma the machine generated.
The power that did not stop. The power that could not stop.
The cage's blood.
Wang Li stood before the machine. The man who felt the hum. The man who felt the gamma. The man who felt the heartbeat. The leash. The man the Chen Family trusted. The man who was allowed here. Allowed to see. Allowed to know.
The man who knew.
— • • • —
Day 370. 11:45 hours.
The machine room.
Wang Li stood before the machine and remembered. The man who had been here before. Before the freeze. Before the cage. Before the Chen Family seized. Before the machine woke.
The man who had been here when the machine was a dream. When the machine was a project. When the machine was being built.
— FLASHBACK —
The project. Fifteen nations had funded it. Russia. China. Japan. South Korea. Brunei. Cambodia. Indonesia. Laos. Malaysia. Myanmar. The Philippines. Singapore. Thailand. Timor-Leste. Vietnam. Fifteen nations that contributed. Fifteen nations that invested. Fifteen nations that believed in the dream, clean power, gamma radiation, a permanent power source, replacing coal, saving the world.
The Chen Family had led. Funded the most. Contributed the most. Led the project. Built the machine. Hired the scientists. Hired the engineers. Hired the workers.
Hired Wang Li.
Wang Li had been a scientist. A physicist. A man who studied gamma radiation. A man who studied power generation. A man who believed in the dream. Believed in the machine. Believed in the project.
The man who had been here, in this room, before the machine woke. Before the machine hummed. Before the machine glowed. When the machine was being built. When the machine was being tested. When the machine was being calibrated.
The day the accident happened.
The accident that no one talked about. The accident the Chen Family did not explain. The accident the groups did not remember. The accident that had brought them together. The accident that had given them the machine.
The accident that was the cage's secret.
The accident had happened over twenty years ago. Before the freeze. Before the world ended. Before the gamma wave from Alpha Centauri. Before any of it. The accident was first. The accident was the beginning.
The final test. The test that was supposed to prove the machine. The test that was supposed to demonstrate. The test that was supposed to show the fifteen nations. Show the world. The test the Chen Family had invited. The test the Chen Family had gathered.
The people. The best soldiers. The best agents. The best operatives. From fifteen nations. The elite. The representatives. The witnesses. Here. In this room. The day the accident happened.
Over twenty years ago. When the fortress was still being built. When the megabuildings were still scaffolding. When the wall was still a plan. When the machine was still a prototype. When the cage was still a dream.
The people who would become the hunters.
The machine had been activated. The cylinder hummed. The cylinder glowed. The cylinder radiated. The cylinder that was supposed to generate power, clean, permanent, power. The cylinder that was supposed to work.
The cylinder that did not work. The cylinder that overloaded. The cylinder that surged. The cylinder that exploded. The cylinder that released.
The gamma. The gamma the machine had contained. The gamma the machine had generated. The gamma the machine had accumulated. The gamma the machine released, all at once. In one surge. One blast. One wave.
The gamma wave that filled the room. Filled the facility. Filled the island. Saturated the people. Saturated the soldiers. Saturated the agents. Saturated the operatives. Saturated the elite.
The gamma wave that changed them. The gamma wave that rewrote their DNA.
But the change was not uniform. The change was not equal. The change was three.
Three outcomes. Three paths.
The first path, death. The people whose bodies could not absorb. The people whose cells ruptured. The people whose organs failed. The people the gamma killed. The people the Chen Family buried. In the mountain. In the deep.
The accident's cost.
The second path, awakening. The people whose bodies absorbed. The people whose cells changed. The people whose DNA rewrote. The people the gamma gave powers. The people who manifested immediately, in the room, in the surge. The people who crossed the Threshold in the blast. The people who became Enhanced.
The people the Chen Family kept. The people the Chen Family trained. The people the Chen Family organized into the hunters, the oldest group. The first group. The group the accident created.
Preta. The hunter group. The all-female group. The women who had been from every nation. The women who had been the best. The women the gamma changed. The women the accident gave powers. The women who manifested immediately. The women the Chen Family organized into the hunters. The women who had been hunters for twenty years. The oldest. The first.
The third path, dormancy. The people who did not die. The people who did not awaken. The people the gamma saturated but did not complete. The people whose DNA rewrote partially. The people whose cells changed partially. The people who carried the gamma. The people who carried the potential. The people who carried the dormancy.
The people who did not manifest. Not yet. Not until the Threshold. Not until the near-death. Not until the moment that would wake them. The moment that would complete the change. The moment that would give them powers. The moment that had not come.
The people the Chen Family planted. Into different groups. Into different roles. Into different lives. The people who lived within the fortress. Within the cage. As dormant. As potential. As sleepers.
The sleepers who would wake. When the Threshold came. When the moment came. When the gamma came again.
The sleepers who would wake after the freeze.
Wang Li had been here. The man who had seen all three paths. The man who had survived. The man who had awakened. The man who had become Enhanced, Sight Destruction. The power that took eyes. The power Wang Li had. The power Wang Li hid. The power the Chen Family knew. The power the Chen Family used.
The man who became the leash.
— FLASHBACK END —
— • • • —
Day 370. 12:00 hours.
The machine room.
Wang Li stood before the machine and knew. The man who knew the truth. The truth no one outside this room knew. The truth the Chen Family kept. The truth that was the cage's secret.
The machine was not just a power generator.
The machine was a gamma radiation engine. The machine that generated gamma. The machine that radiated gamma. The machine the accident had overloaded. The machine the accident had released. The machine that had changed everyone in the room. Everyone in the facility. Everyone on the island.
The machine that was still running. Still generating. Still radiating. The machine that kept the island saturated. The machine that kept the people Enhanced. The machine that kept the cage alive.
The machine that was the reason.
The reason the fortress existed. The reason the cage held. The reason Taiwan survived. The reason the Chen Family ruled. The reason the seven groups obeyed. The reason the Enhanced were. The reason everything.
The machine.
And the machine was failing.
Wang Li's dark eyes were on the machine. The man who saw the glow, the glow that was blue, the glow that was fading. The glow that was not as bright as it was before. Dimmer. Weaker.
"Twenty years of generation. Twenty years of radiation. Twenty years of power. And the fuel is almost gone." Wang Li realized, the thought cold and precise.
The machine was dying. The machine that had run for over twenty years. The machine that had powered everything. The machine that had kept the cage. The machine that was running out. Burning through its fuel. Losing its gamma.
Dying.
And the Chen Family knew. Had known for weeks. Had measured. Had calculated. Had estimated.
The machine had months. Maybe three. Maybe less.
The machine that, when it died, would kill the cage. Would kill Taiwan. Would kill the fortress. Would kill everything.
The machine that, when it died, would end the Chen Family.
"Three months. Maybe less. Three months to find a solution. Three months to save the cage. Three months the Chen Family does not have." Wang Li calculated, his dark eyes on the fading glow. "The Chen Family needs time. Time the machine will not give. Time that is running out. Time to find a way to refuel. A way to fix the machine. A solution the Chen Family does not have yet."
The Chen Family needed time. And to buy that time, they needed absolute security. The cage could not afford threats. The cage could not afford instability. The cage could not afford Olympus.
The void captain who had taken Anna. The void captain who had humiliated the Federation. The void captain who had broken one hundred and eight. The void captain who was the enemy. The enemy who was the threat. The threat to the cage's security. The threat to the Chen Family's stability. The threat that had to be eliminated so the Chen Family could focus on the machine.
"The seven are coming to burn Olympus. To kill the void captain. To take Anna back. To eliminate the threat. To secure the cage. To give the Chen Family time. Time to find a solution for the machine. Time to save the cage." Wang Li registered, the thought cold and absolute. "The seven are coming for survival."
Wang Li's dark eyes were on the machine. The man who felt the hum, weaker. The man who felt the gamma, thinner. The man who felt the heartbeat, slower.
The man who knew the cage was dying.
The man who knew the truth, the truth no one outside this room knew. The truth that the war was not about Anna. The war was not about the void captain. The war was not about revenge.
The war was about the machine.
The war was about buying time.
The war was about survival.
— • • • —
Day 370. 12:30 hours.
Taipei.
Manusya Command.
Subterranean Level 3.
The war room.
Wang Li ascended. From Level 7. From the machine room. From the truth. The man who ascended to Level 3. To the war room. To the lie. The man who returned to the leash.
The war room. The holographic table. The map that was Manila. The map that was Olympus. The map that was the target.
The war room was empty. Wang Li entered alone. The man who stood before the map. The man who looked at Manila. At the compound. At Olympus.
"Olympus." Wang Li murmured, the name flat. The name that was the compound. The name that was the void captain. The seat of the gods. The name that was the threat. The threat the Chen Family needed to eliminate to buy time for the machine.
"The threat that must be destroyed. The void captain who humiliated the Federation. The compound that broke one hundred and eight. The enemy that cannot be allowed to exist while the Chen Family searches for a solution to the machine. The enemy that must be burned so the cage can survive." Wang Li calculated, his dark eyes on the holographic map.
The math. Seven fundamentals. Seventy-two hours. The ship. The assault.
The math that was not enough.
"The seven are fundamental-tier. The seven are combat-trained. The seven are loyal. But the seven are seven. And the compound is Olympus. And Olympus has ten. Ten fundamentals against seven." Wang Li measured, the thought cold and precise. "The math is not favorable."
The math Wang Li had reported. The math Wang Li had warned. The math the Chen Family had ignored.
The Chen Family did not believe. The Chen Family believed the seven would succeed. Believed the seven would break the wall. Believed the seven would destroy Olympus.
The Chen Family believed.
Wang Li did not.
"I was a scientist. I understand math. I understand probability. I understand the numbers. The numbers say the seven will fail. The numbers say the compound will hold. The numbers say Olympus is more." Wang Li realized, the thought bitter and cold. "The Chen Family does not listen. The Chen Family does not hear. The Chen Family believes in the seven. Believes in the real force. Believes in themselves."
"The Chen Family does not believe in math."
"I do."
The man who stood before the map. The man who looked at Manila. At Olympus. The man who knew the seven would fail. The man who knew the compound would hold. The man who knew Olympus was more.
The man who knew the cage was dying. The man who knew the machine was failing. The man who knew the seven were the last chance, the last chance to eliminate the threat, to secure the cage, to buy time for the machine.
The last chance that would fail.
— • • • —
Day 370. 13:00 hours.
Taipei.
The Chen Family estate.
Yangmingshan.
The mountain.
The study.
The elder sat in the study. Tatami. Shoji screens. The garden, real, not synthetic. Moss. Stone. Water. Koi. The mountain's garden. The Chen Family's garden. The cage's heart.
The elder was old. Eighty. The Chen Family's patriarch. His face was lined. His eyes were dark. His hands were folded.
The elder who knew everything. Knew the machine. Knew the accident. Knew the groups. Knew the seven. Knew the cage. Knew the dying.
The elder who had built the cage. Who had built the machine. Who had caused the accident. Who had seized the island. Who had organized the groups. Who had sent the seven. Who had decided.
The elder who sat. Who waited. Who knew the seven were coming. Who knew the seven would fail. Who knew the math. Who had ignored the math. Who had believed.
The elder who had no choice.
"The machine is dying. The cage is dying. The Chen Family is dying. I know. I have no choice. I sent the seven. The last chance to eliminate the threat. I sent the seven to die. To fail. Because there is nothing else. The threat must be eliminated so we can buy time. Time to find a solution. Time to save the machine." The elder realized, the thought cold and absolute behind his dark eyes.
The elder whose hands were folded. Whose eyes were closed. Whose breath was slow.
The elder who opened his eyes.
"Wang." The elder called, his voice old, quiet, the Chen Family's voice, the patriarch's voice, the voice that carried everything.
"Father." Wang Li answered from the doorway. The man who had ascended. The man who had returned. The leash. The son.
"Father. The patriarch. The man who built the cage. The man who built the machine. The man who caused the accident. The man who seized the island. The man who ruled for over twenty years. The man who will lose everything in three months." Wang Li registered, the thought cold and bitter.
"The seven have departed." Wang Li reported, his voice flat. The leash. The son. "Seventy-two hours. The ship. Manila. Olympus."
"The machine." The elder stated, his voice old. "The machine is dying."
"The machine is dying." Wang Li confirmed, his voice flat. "Three months. Maybe less."
"Three months." The elder repeated, his hands folded, his eyes dark. "The cage has three months."
"The machine is failing." Wang Li detailed, his voice clinical. "The gamma is depleting. The power is fading. Three months. Maybe less. The cage will die."
"The cage will die." The elder echoed. The patriarch who had built the cage. Who had built the machine. Who had caused the accident. Who had seized the island. Who had ruled for over twenty years. Who would lose everything.
"The threat." The elder declared, his voice shifting, the word that was the enemy, the enemy that was the void captain, the enemy that was Olympus. "The threat must be eliminated. The void captain must die. The compound must burn. The cage must be secured."
"The seven will eliminate the threat." Wang Li confirmed. "The seven will burn Olympus. The seven will kill the void captain. The seven will secure the cage."
"The seven will give us time." The elder declared, his voice absolute. The patriarch. The father. The man who had no choice. "The seven will destroy the threat. The seven will secure the cage. The seven will give us time to find a solution for the machine."
"The seven will fail." Wang Li countered, his voice flat. The son. The leash. The man who knew. "The compound has ten. The seven are seven. The math is not favorable. The compound held against one hundred and eight. The compound will hold against seven."
"The seven will not fail." The elder answered, his voice steady. The patriarch. The father. The man who believed. "The seven are the Chen Family's. The seven are the best. The seven are the real force. The seven will succeed."
"The seven will fail. And the threat will remain. And the cage will die." Wang Li realized, the thought cold and absolute. The son. The leash. The man who knew.
"The seven will fail." Wang Li repeated, his voice flat. "And the cage will die."
"The cage will not die." The elder declared, his voice hardening. "The Chen Family will not die. The seven will succeed. The threat will be eliminated. The cage will live."
"The cage will live." Wang Li echoed, his voice flat. The son. The leash. The man who did not believe. The man who knew.
"The cage is dying. The seven will fail. The math says so. The numbers say so. The numbers I reported. The numbers I warned. The numbers the Chen Family ignored". Wang Li realized, the thought bitter and cold. "The Chen Family does not listen. The Chen Family does not hear. The Chen Family believes in the seven. Believes in the real force. Believes in themselves."
"The Chen Family does not believe in math."
"I do."
The man who was the leash. The man who was the son. The man who stood in the doorway. The man who looked at his father, the father who was the patriarch, the patriarch who was the cage, the cage that was dying.
The father who would not listen.
The son who could not speak.
The leash who could only hold.
— • • • —
Day 370. 14:00 hours.
Taipei.
The fortress.
The cage.
The city that did not sleep. The city that could not sleep. The city the machine kept alive. The city the machine powered. The city the machine lit. The city the machine warmed.
The city that was the cage.
The cage that was dying.
The neon ran. The holographic advertisements drifted. The maglev trains hummed. The drones buzzed. The megabuildings watched. The streets reflected. The workers walked.
The workers who did not know. Did not know the machine was dying. Did not know the cage was dying. Did not know the Chen Family was dying. Did not know the seven were coming for Olympus, to eliminate the threat, to secure the cage, to buy time.
The workers who believed the lie. Believed the mask. Believed the cage would live. The workers who would die when the machine died. When the power stopped. When the neon stopped. When the trains stopped. When the drones stopped. When the warmth stopped. When the lie stopped.
When the cage died.
Taipei breathed. The city that breathed. The city the machine kept breathing. The city the machine kept alive.
For three more months. Maybe less.
Three more months of neon. Three more months of trains. Three more months of drones. Three more months of warmth. Three more months of the lie.
Three more months of the cage.
And then the seven would come back. The seven who had gone to Manila. The seven who had gone to Olympus. The seven who had gone to destroy the threat.
With the threat destroyed, the cage would have time. Without the threat destroyed, the cage would die, not by the void captain's hand, but by the machine's failure.
The seven who would decide. The seven who held the cage's fate. In seventy-two hours. In Manila. At Olympus. At the wall. At the compound. At the void captain.
Taipei breathed. The cage breathed. The machine hummed. The neon ran. The trains hummed. The drones buzzed. The megabuildings watched. The streets reflected. The workers walked. The lie ran.
The cage lived.
For now.
For three more months.
For the seven to come back.
For time.
Seventy-two hours.
The ship sailed.
The seven came.
For the threat.
For the cage's security.
For time.
For survival.
The cage breathed.
The machine hummed.
The cage lived.
For now.