by Kylie Chan
‘How’s that working for you?’
She grimaced. ‘The therapist gave me this … electric thing. It’s like a taser but doesn’t shoot. Every time he gets … embarrassing, I have to give him an electric shock.’ She shuddered. ‘He cries. It’s awful.’
‘Poor little guy.’
‘It’s worse — I have to shock him where it hurts.’
Leo quickly sat upright and shifted uncomfortably.
‘He must hate it,’ I said.
‘He doesn’t care, he wants me to do it. He wants it to work.’
‘Good luck with that,’ Leo said.
‘Aversion therapy,’ I said. ‘It should be effective.’
‘That’s what the therapist said.’ Simone pushed her congee bowl away and rose. ‘Oh, and you wanted to go to Macau today or tomorrow?’
‘I want to check on Ben and Tom,’ I said. ‘They’re with the Rats, and I haven’t been to that village in a while. Can you carry me from Hong Kong?’
‘I have an assignment coming up,’ Simone said. ‘Get Michael or something.’
‘Yi Hao can arrange it,’ I said. ‘I’ll just go down and be right back.’
I ran across the helipad on the roof of the Macau Ferry Terminal in Hong Kong, unable to resist the urge to duck under the blades, which seemed to be whizzing at neck height. I crawled into the chopper’s cabin, Leo wrestled with stowing his wheelchair, and we were in. The technician on the pad checked the doors, rapped the cabin twice, and we were up and heading towards Macau.
Hong Kong Island and Kowloon were a mass of grey high rises, their tops drifting in and out of the low clouds. We passed over the greenery of Lantau, still below the cloud cover, then the helicopter ascended and we were in the middle of the clouds. The chopper was buffeted by turbulence; I held onto the frame of the door next to me, and we were above it. Leo yelled something but I shook my head; I couldn’t hear him over the noise and his intercom wasn’t working.
He switched to silent speech. We should buy a new boat to go over to Macau. This helicopter business is too damn uncomfortable.
Tell him it wouldn’t be an issue if he swallowed his pride and learned to ride a cloud, I said to the stone, but it didn’t reply — probably asleep.
The clouds moved under us, gaps between them giving us quick views of the wakes of boats on the water.
It was a thirty minute ride to Macau, and the water became more brown as we approached. Macau’s harbour wasn’t as deep and sheltered as Hong Kong’s, making it a less attractive port for the opium traders all that time ago and leading to Macau becoming a poorer colony. It had overcome its limitations by legalising gambling, and every hotel on the ex-Portuguese enclave had a casino. The place had a faded European charm that still managed to delight despite the crass trashiness of the gambling attractions, brightly lit to appeal to the visiting Hong Kong punters.
We put down on the roof of the ferry terminal in Macau just as a jetfoil roared into life, lifted out of the water on its wings, and thundered out of the bay to start its one-hour journey back to Hong Kong. Four of these ferries left every hour carrying a vast number of Hong Kong visitors. Even more visitors came from the Mainland to visit the casinos every day, filling Macau with easy money.
The terminal had minimal disabled facilities, so Leo shrugged, pulled himself out of his wheelchair and carried it. Master Long, the headman of Rat Village, met us at the bottom of the ferry terminal, shook our hands as though we were visiting businesspeople, and escorted us to his van. Leo put the chair into the back of the van and sat in the front next to Long.
‘How are our visitors?’ I asked Long as he drove us over the huge bridge to the next island.
‘They are managing. Their possessions are in storage, and they’re in one of our guesthouses.’
‘Have you uncovered anything about Tom?’
Long glanced back at me, his eyes full of amusement. ‘Demon boy. He’s fascinating, but we haven’t been able to gain any useful information. We’re not even sure what level he is by our standards. He seems to be totally unrelated to anything we’ve ever seen.’
‘How many Western demons have you seen before?’ Leo said.
‘None at all, sir. We must send some hunting trips over there,’ Long said. ‘Up until now we thought that the Centre business kept us safe — demons from other Centres wouldn’t move between regions. It looks like our enemies have found a way around it.’
‘By breeding new hybrids from more than one region,’ I said.
‘Precisely. That’s what Tom appears to be.’
‘I’m something like that as well. You’ll have to take a look at me when we’re at the village.’
‘If you like. I doubt if we’ll find anything, ma’am. You’re the chosen of the Dark Lord, and he wouldn’t be hooking up — if you don’t mind the expression — with any sort of demon. If there’s one thing we can rely on, it’s his ability to pick them.’
‘I know.’
We arrived at the village: a collection of three-storey apartment blocks around a central grassy area, a long way from the bright lights and casinos. A few children played in the playground, watched by a small group of gossiping Filipina domestic helpers. Long led us into the village hall, which was actually more like a shared clubhouse for the village. It had been decorated in European style, with a marble floor and wood inlay on the walls. A small gym took up one room, and a karaoke machine occupied another. The main area was full of chairs and tables, moved to form a horseshoe-shaped conference table. The leaders of the village stood around chatting with Ben and Tom as they waited for us.
They nodded when Leo and I entered, and we all sat at the table.
Long pulled a piece of paper in front of him and put on some reading glasses. ‘We have a report and a few recommendations for you, sir, ma’am.’
‘Go right ahead,’ I said.
‘First the report. Tom.’ He peered at Tom over his glasses. ‘Definitely an East-West hybrid; his mother was probably just that — a Mother. Ben tells us she went home for a few weeks every year, back to Hong Kong, so that’s how she was able to survive for so long in the West.’ He tapped the paper with his pen. ‘We aren’t sure, but we guess he’s about level eighty-five, even though he’s half human. He could probably sire spawn on a Mother if he wished.’
‘No wonder they want him back,’ I said.
‘Ben is the interesting one, though,’ Long said, and Ben shifted uncomfortably.
‘Tom is all that, and Ben is the interesting one?’ I said.
Long nodded, tapping the paper again. ‘Ben is something we’ve never seen before … No, I take that back. We’ve only seen something like him once before.’
‘Me.’
‘Yes, ma’am. We don’t know how to study him; every demon identification technique we use on him fails. We scan him as completely human, but there’s something deep down inside, something dark and monstrous that wants to destroy the whole world.’ He took his glasses off to study me. ‘Frankly, he’s more than a little scary.’
‘Just like you,’ said Long’s wife, Camilla.
‘I understand,’ I said. ‘So what next?’
‘We want to send both of them to the Tiger’s lab in the West,’ Long said. ‘We’ve already arranged it; we just need the go-ahead from you.’
‘And what do you say to this?’ I asked Ben and Tom.
‘We’re a threat,’ Tom said. ‘Take us to the lab.’
‘They may want to experiment extensively on you, gentlemen,’ I said. ‘Make sure you don’t give them permission to do anything you’re not comfortable with.’
‘As long as we’re together and safe, nothing else matters,’ Tom said.
‘Very well,’ I said. ‘Let’s arrange someone to carry them to the West.’
‘We’d like to make a stop at the Mountain and see how Vincent’s going, if you don’t mind,’ Tom said.
‘Then we need to organise someone to take them up there first,’ I said to Long.
‘Already done. All you need to do is give the go-ahead and we’ll move them first thing tomorrow,’ Long said.
‘Go right ahead. I’ll meet you on the Mountain tomorrow morning,’ I said.
‘Will you stay here this evening?’ Long said. ‘We can show you our latest projects. The Blue Dragon’s people have been working with us on high-tech espionage equipment; we’ve a lot to show you.’
‘I can’t stay tonight, I have to leave after dinner,’ I said. ‘But I’ll be happy to stay until then.’ I turned to Leo. ‘Do you want to stay here or go back to the Mountain? Do you have a class to teach?’
‘By your leave, ma’am, I’d like to scout the territory, see what people are saying around town,’ Leo said.
I sighed with exasperation. ‘Is Gold meeting you at the track?’
He spoke with forced dignity. ‘I have no idea what you’re talking about.’
‘Go, have fun, and be back here after the last race so we can go back to the Mountain,’ I said. ‘Amy’ll shred Gold when she finds out.’
‘I am not a gambling man,’ Leo said, still intensely dignified, and wheeled himself out.
After breakfast the next morning, I went into the temple to share a meditation session with the visiting monks. The incense coils in the ceiling filled the temple with smoke, but apart from that it was empty. I went to the office behind the shrine; that was deserted as well.
‘Stone,’ I said.
‘I’m checking,’ the stone said. ‘They were here half an hour ago.’
‘Are they in the mess?’
‘No.’
‘Double-check. Are they anywhere on the Mountain?’
‘Give me a moment, I’ll hook into the network. Processing … No.’
I fell to kneel on one of the mats, then changed my mind and went out of the temple. Preparing for war wasn’t a suitable activity in that place.
‘Put the word out, stone. We’ve run out of time. See if any of the Five are available for a meeting in the War Room.’
Meredith appeared next to me as I walked back from the temple across the bridge to the administrative centre and the War Room: a rectangular building, twenty by ten metres, with a modular divider system that allowed it to be made into one large training room or smaller meeting rooms. The demons were already dividing it into a quarter-sized meeting room for us, and rolled a wooden tabletop from the back of the building to place it on top of an ordinary six-seater, making it big enough to fit all of us. They threw a black silk cloth decorated with warriors on horseback over the table.
‘Liu’s on his way,’ Meredith said. ‘LK Pak is in the middle of examining a demon and will be along shortly. Ma was on patrol, but likewise will be here soon, and Ming Gui is also on his way.’
I sat at the table. ‘Stone, get Yi Hao to bring me some notepaper.’
‘Ma’am,’ the stone said.
Meredith sat next to me. ‘Must be serious if the stone’s being polite to you.’
LK and Liu came in, saluted me, then sat at the table.
‘All the temple clergy have gone,’ I said.
They were silent for a moment.
‘LK, when was the last sweep of the students?’ Liu said.
‘This morning. We’re doing them daily and finding nothing. All of them have had blood tests and have been cleared. We have to presume this will be an outside attack.’
Ma came into the room, saluted me, and sat as well. ‘Meredith told me.’
‘Recommendations?’ I said.
‘Move all the juniors out,’ Ma said.
‘No,’ Meredith said. ‘We don’t know how long we have yet; I won’t stop their training to wait for it. We prepare as much as we can, and continue as usual.’
‘This is an army, defence is what we do,’ Liu said. ‘I’m with Meredith.’
Martin came in, saluted around the table, and sat. ‘The stone told me. Can any of the Thirty-Six come in on this?’
Ma considered for a moment. ‘The twenty-eighth and thirty-first battalions are under utilised at the moment. I’ll put them on standby and have them patrol the periphery of the Mountain.’
‘Any other suggestions?’ I said.
‘Yes,’ Ma said. ‘Bring him back now. For good.’
‘How will you do that?’ Meredith said.
‘Kill a General and feed him to John,’ I said.
‘That is unacceptable,’ Liu said.
‘Nevertheless, it’s the plan. But we won’t sacrifice a useful General to buy a Xuan Wu of indeterminate power and sentience. The price is too high.’
‘What if the Mountain is attacked?’ Ma said.
‘We see how we go,’ I said. ‘Anything further to add?’
‘Does anybody have any time frame in their vision of the future?’ Ma said.
They all looked around the table, then shook their heads.
‘Emma?’ Ma said.
‘I have no idea. “Soon” could be anything from a week to a couple of months.’
‘That’s the way I see it too,’ Martin said.
‘So we stay on alert, patrol our borders, and be ready for the storm that’s building,’ I said. ‘And come through it with as few deaths as possible.’
‘No deaths at all would be the best option,’ Meredith said.
‘And we all know it’s an option that isn’t available,’ I said. ‘Dismissed.’
Later that morning I met Ben and Tom and their escort on the western side of the Mountain Palace, on one of the small courts between the mess hall and the residential buildings. The junior students didn’t know the situation, but all the seniors and Masters were edgy and the atmosphere on the Mountain was tense.
‘Stone, please call Vincent,’ I said.
‘He’s on his way.’
Vincent came out of the mess hall and brightened when he saw Ben and Tom. He went to them and shook their hands.
‘How did it go? Can you come here permanently?’ he asked them.
‘We’re going to a laboratory to be examined and experimented on,’ Tom said.
Vincent took a step back. ‘They can’t do that to you!’ He turned to me, horrified. ‘I’ll fight you if you try to experiment on them.’
Ben took Vincent by the arm. ‘It’s all right, mate, we’re volunteering.’
‘They won’t hurt us. Much,’ Tom said.
‘Don’t do this to yourselves,’ Vincent said. ‘You’re good men.’
‘Turns out both of us are something strange,’ Ben said wryly. ‘We’re dangerous, and if they can find out exactly what we are, they may be able to fix us. Right, Emma?’
‘I sincerely hope a cure can be found for both of you,’ I said. ‘Because then I can be fully human myself.’
‘What are you doing on my Mountain?’ John said sharply behind me.
Vincent, Ben and Tom all blanched and took a step back. I turned to see and took a step back myself. John was in full Celestial Form, the first time I’d seen it in years. He was nearly three metres tall, dark and ugly, with a thin black beard. He wore black silk Tang-style robes embossed with silver turtles, and his long hair moved around his head as if it was in water.
‘Hello, Emma,’ he said. ‘Why are there untamed demons on my Mountain?’
I gestured towards Ben and Tom. ‘They’re all right; we’re about to take them to the West to be studied.’
‘I don’t mean this one,’ John said. ‘It is very interesting, though. Stand still, let me look at you.’
Tom quailed as John strode to him and put his hands on either side of Tom’s face, concentrating. Tom jumped and screamed, a long drawn-out sound of agony that abruptly stopped. He stood panting, hanging from John’s hands and staring into his eyes.
‘John, let him go,’ I said. ‘He’s not a threat.’
‘Are you sure?’ John said. He dropped his head and concentrated on Tom, and Tom screamed again.
Vincent grabbed John’s arm but John ignored him completely, his attention fixed on Tom.
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‘Yes, I’m sure!’ I said.
‘Stop hurting him!’ Ben said, putting his hand on John’s arm as well. He dropped his voice. ‘Please don’t hurt him.’ He turned back to me. ‘He’s hurting him! Is he from the West?’
John released Tom and the boy crumpled to sit on the ground, gasping. Ben knelt next to him and pulled him into a rough embrace.
John spun and took me by the upper arms, speaking urgently. ‘There are untamed demons on my Mountain. They are close to undetectable. What are they doing here?’
‘These two won’t hurt anybody, John; they’re heading to the West to be studied.’
He shook his head with impatience. ‘I don’t mean these! There are close on a hundred extremely well-hidden demons among the students. What are they doing here?’ His expression cleared. ‘You don’t know they’re there.’
‘Oh dear Lord, this is it,’ I said. ‘You’re right, we can’t detect them.’
John released me and stepped back. ‘I see. This is very bad.’
‘What’s going on?’ Ben said.
‘I will not tolerate untamed demons on my Mountain.’ John held out one robed arm and Seven Stars appeared in his hand. He raised it towards Ben and Tom.
Vincent and I moved in front of them, protecting them.
‘I don’t know who you are, but I won’t let you hurt them,’ Vincent said.
John raised his free hand towards Vincent and hit him with the full force of his dark Celestial gaze. ‘No child of mine stands in my way.’ He turned his hand over and waved Vincent away.
Vincent’s expression went blank and he stepped aside.
‘They aren’t a threat,’ I said, standing my ground between John and the two men. ‘We know what they are. We need you to identify the ones we don’t know about.’
‘Out of the way, Emma.’
‘No. Let these two go somewhere safe. It’s more important to identify the hidden ones.’
He lowered his head and his dark eyes burned into me.
‘We’re wasting time!’ I said. ‘We need to give the unidentified threat priority. We’ve been compromised, and these two are the least of our problems!’
John spoke to Ben and Tom without looking away from me. ‘Go into the mess hall and stay quiet about this, or I will remove your heads myself.’