Chapter 95

Chapter 95: 95 Ling ran her finger over the edge of her cup. Round and round it went as she sunk deeper and deeper into herself. She was on the phone, talking apparently, but all that felt so far away, like it was all taking place on another planet and she was just watching a recording. "The first alpha tests, despite difficulties, have gone well. Once the last one is complete, I think we’re ready to move to the next stage," crackled a voice by her ear. "That’s all well and good but what we really need to be doing is riding this media wave," said another voice. "I need a bigger staff to handle all the interviews." "It’s not a good idea to hire up too many people all at once then fire them later," broke in Ling, forcing herself to land on the ground. "Interns then," pushed the Head of Marketing. "I don’t care what their qualifications are. I need ready hands and feet on the ground." "We need to focus on the stability of the product first before-" began the Head of R&D, but he was overrun by Marketing again. "Ling," said Marketing, "You have an intern, could you...?" "I’ll send him over," replied Ling. "I will make inquiries about getting interns to work here-" "Thank you, that would be-" "But I cannot make any promises," Ling went on in a harder voice. "The most important thing that no one has brought up, that I hope you all have no forgotten, is secrecy. What we are doing is revolution, it’s going to change the world, but we will not be the ones riding this wave, as you say, if we do not control what people know." There was a pregnant silence. "This isn’t about ruling the world, as some of you may think," said a new voice, Arthur’s voice, and Ling immediately found herself grounded. She hadn’t known he was on the call. "What people don’t know can hurt them, which is why we must be a guiding hand to make sure the average person doesn’t hurt themselves. I think we can all agree on that." There was a murmur of agreement though Ling could detect a current of something else. She would have to make some calls, maybe even some in-person visits, later. "Ling, back to you," said Arthur, so Ling rattled off what needed to be done for the next check-in then ended the call. A few moments later, Arthur walked into her office. He looked happy and Ling scowled. "Victor is right about stability," she said. "We are already facing issues with power consumption and as soon as we open up beta testing..." "I couldn’t agree more," replied Arthur. Ling looked at Arthur with surprise. "Then you...?" She hadn’t outright accused Arthur of stalling due to personal reasons, but she’d assumed it had to be the case. She knew that if she were in his position, she would be hesitating just the same. Arthur smiled. "I know what needs to be done and I am happy to pay this price, don’t worry." He gave her shoulder a solid pat. "Soon, Ling, soon. Your little boy is coming home." -- "Oh my god..." Helen mumbled. I knew she wasn’t speaking English, but her being part taotie meant I could understand her words. Not that I needed to. No, the scene before me was horrific enough that I don’t think anyone would need to be told how bad it was. The space seemed large but the single circular hole in the ceiling only let in so much light, leaving the rest in near darkness. Not that it mattered. Nothing could hide the chains crisscrossed down from the ceiling and sloped up from the floor in giant spirals, suspending each loong like a pitiful fly in a spider’s web. I could hear their breaths, their laboured, creaking breaths, and smell the blood, both the fresh and the old, and it filled me with an ancestral rage I didn’t know I had. "They must be the missing dragons! Ah-Boon, see if you can... Misha?!" I didn’t hear Helen as I transformed and flew up to my brethren. Without thinking, I slashed at the chains holding the nearest loong and flinched as the force of my blow was sent back at me, making me pull back. "Misha!" I snarled and moved back in again. I didn’t attack but instead hovered closer to see what I was up against. "Misha!" Perhaps if I just... Child, heed your companions. The voice struck through me like a lightning strike, nearly making me fall to the ground. Instead, I merely made a less-than-graceful landing a few feet away. I looked around and saw a pair of glowing, gold orbs in the darkness. Now back to my senses, I eyed them, squinting. "What is that?" asked Ah-Boon as he peered around me. I couldn’t reply, but I didn’t need to. "That’s Master of Skies and Sea, the ancient jiaolong of Wong Tai Sin," answered Helen. The awe in her voice reflected how I felt, though I had no idea what jiaolong or Wong Tai Sin were. Together, the three of us carefully made our way into the darkness and towards those eyes. As we neared, the orbs flickered then brightened in strength, bathing the immediate area in light and even Helen gasped as we finally saw the body of that ancient, giant being. Far larger than any loong I’d met up to this point, they hung suspended by thick chains that dug into their flesh though these did nothing to diminish their innate grandeur. Their horns were long and stretched back far behind them and the hair down their back fluttered like lush grass on a prairie and even in the dim light, their scales shimmered with both a palpable power and endless beauty. But then the light shifted and the horror of the situation, to see such a being not just trapped but manacled, came home, shattering any sense of relief at the discovery. It was Helen that spoke first, stepping forward and bowing to formally address the jiaolong. "Master of Skies and Sea, we at the SSD have been searching for you and the others for some time and I hope you will accept our apology for not finding you all sooner." The great loong slowly shook its enormous head. It is not the duty of yours to coddle the fates of such as mine, they replied, which I thought... was probably a good response? "Thank you for your mercy," said Helen. "If I might be so bold to ask, does your honorable self know how to break these bonds on you? If not, we will create a portal and get..." Of course I know and can break our bonds, was the ear shattering reply. But do create that portal. It will be required. "Uh, oh, right away." Helen turned to Ah-Boon, smacked his arm to bring him back to earth, then pulled the special equipment hidden away in the side pockets of the camera equipment bags. Those bags had been heavy for a reason. I should have transformed back so that I could help, but no matter how much I tried to calm my mind to start the process to get back to my human self, nothing worked. I was too riled up. Perhaps it was that stench of blood. I felt the gaze of the jiaolong fall upon me and I automatically turned to politely face them. Child, why do you not speak? they asked. Has a lock been placed upon your tongue? I didn’t really understand what they were saying but I got the overall gist and did an awkward little shuffle that obviously meant ’yes and no and I’m really embarrassed by all this’. The air vibrated and I realised the ancient being was chuckling to themselves. Come closer, child. What else could I do other than obey, so I timidly stepped forward until I was immediately below the jiaolong. They gave a half-sigh, half-growl then lowered their head and touched my brow with the tip of their snout. Shapes, colours, lines, both sound and knowledge flowed both from this ancient being to me and from inside myself to... me, connecting new and old connections. I don’t know how to describe how I learned how to speak in my loong form. It was like the knowledge wasn’t there one moment, then suddenly there the next. I think the closest description I can use is to compare it to say it’s the opposite of one of those dreams where in the dream, everything’s as clear as can be and you think you’ll remember it forever, then when you wake up, you can’t remember it at all even if you know that you did just moments before. W-wha? Oh, uh... Not the most profound first words, but I am who I am. Speak, said the Master of Skies and Sea. I know you have questions a-myriad. They knew that much but I still hesitated to ask, preferring to watch Ah-Boon put the finishing touches onto the teleportation spell. There was a pillar just to the side of us and he’d drawn on the requisite rectangle onto it. I wanted to ask, I finally began, why you didn’t escape earlier if you know how to?