Leaves fell and drifted in the air as the sun’s rays intensified. The branches of the trees at the front of the Blackscale Citadel threw long shadows on the ground as the sun shone on them.
Soldiers leaned against the trees, taking shelter when Leon ca to pass. So smiled at him; others made themselves busy as if Leon would scold them for standing there lazily.
He caught all their reactions, then asked himself without stopping, ’I’m just . Why are they behaving strangely after returning from Thule?’
The question felt alien to him when he neared the Madhouse door.
Inside, Liu Yan stood by the window, arms folded on her chest, gazing at the beautiful sequence the new soldiers were displaying in the sun.
"Wow. That guy might be very good," she whispered more to herself, fixing her gaze on one guy who had his hair braided.
An Lang scooped through Leon’s bag, pulled out Leon’s smart device, and then began inspecting it. ’How do I even unlock it?’ he whispered to himself, then tried the patterns he knew were common.
After two failed trials, a security notification popped up. Please restart the device or use your last trial.
’Last trial?’ An Lang asked, his eyes widening. He pressed the power button, turning off the screen, then slowly placed it in the bag.
But just as he loosened his grip on it and was about to zip the bag, another notification sound erupted.
Liu Yan heard the sound and turned.
An Lang lifted his head sharply, watched Liu Yan, then smiled.
Liu Yan focused on him for a while, shook her head, and then walked toward the bathroom door. She stopped, gripping the door in her left palm.
She wondered as she turned and saw An Lang fidgeting with Leon’s bag. ’When will he stop looking through other people’s belongings?’
She frowned but entered the bathhouse quickly as nature demanded it.
The screen of the smart mobile brightened when An Lang pulled it from the bag. He read the small portion of the ssage that was visible, then began wondering. ’Unknown number?’
Five minutes passed quickly, and Leon wasn’t in the room yet. He entered after the seventh minute.
The first thing he saw was his smartphone lying on his bed, turned upside down. ’Who pulled the phone from the bag?’ he asked in his head.
He looked to the right, saw Wu Ze lying there sleeping, turned to the left, and saw An Lang standing by the wardrobe.
Leon walked to the bed, sat on it, and picked up the phone.
Just as he unlocked it and was about to press on the pop-up ssage, he paused and lifted his head.
"Yes," An Lang scread, then muffled his voice. "I have found the pattern he used."
The joy of finding Leon’s lock pattern filled him. But the mont he turned and saw Leon sitting on the bed, the phone in his hands, the joy vanished.
Leon didn’t say a word; he watched An Lang exit the room slowly, the feeling of disgrace filling his eyes.
"Who sent this ssage?" Leon asked, tapping on the unknown sender.
Hey Leon.
Hope you’re doing well.
It’s , the nurse you t the other ti. I hope you’re doing well. I just wanted to inform you about your mother’s condition.
She is okay but wishes to speak to you.
Have a nice day.
Thess.
The nurse’s face flashed in Leon’s head the mont his gaze landed on the na. ’How did she get my number?’ he wondered.
He brushed it off with a smile, saved the number, and turned off the screen.
Minutes bled into hours. The warmth of the sun slowly faded, giving way to the chilled, dark clouds of the night.
Leon walked out of the room and stood on the balcony where they used to stand when they were late for drills.
He scrolled past the numbers he had saved, then stopped on Zoe with a red love emoji beside it.
He pressed on it, then waited for it to be answered. The call rang twice, and on the third, it was answered.
Leon placed it at his left ear, then listened to the sweet voice together with the echoes of Lily’s cheering laughter.
"Hello, Zoe," Leon said, then waited.
Zoe’s voice echoed more softly than ever, as if the heavens were also listening.
He talked with her for hours, moving from one corner to the other. The tone of his voice sotis beca so loud that it irritated Liu Yan, who sat on her bed watching Leon’s unpredictable movents.
As soon as Leon and Zoe finished talking, Lily’s voice echoed. "Brother, when are you two getting married? I want to be the flower girl."
Leon covered his mouth, then laughed. "Soon," he whispered, then hung up the call.
"Haa." He exhaled sharply, rested his palms on the small tal fence, then focused on the stars in the sky. "What a night."
He stood there for a while, staring at the constellations one after another, then walked back inside, closing the balcony door behind him.
He saw the faint jealousy in Liu Yan’s eyes when he sat on his bed, placing the phone in his bag. ’Is she...?’ he wondered, but stopped and brushed it off with a smirk.
"Hey, Liu Yan," Leon called out. "Were you able to contact your parents as you stated earlier?"
Liu Yan glanced at Leon without answering, then nodded once. She lay on her bed, pulled the bedsheet over her entire body, then closed her eyes.
’Did I say sothing bad?’ Leon thought, confusion filling him. He lay flat on the bed, hands folded at the back of his neck, legs crossed, then closed his eyes.
"I can’t wait to start the flying lessons," he whispered before sleep took him.
When morning ca, Leon quickly rushed out of the room as Hei Yung had instructed and stopped at the test flight field.
Hei Yung took Leon to the VTECH building. Inside, countless simulated machines were frad on the walls.
Virtual reality, augnted reality, and other machines were used for simulated tests.
"Watch and learn," Hei Yung stated. He picked up a VR headset and placed it over his head. Instantly, the wall in front of him transford into a flight field.
Leon stood at the back of the chair Hei Yung sat on, watching every single direction the lieutenant took. From the flawless flight control to the smooth, swift curve techniques he used to pilot the simulated Triarch.
’I can do it,’ Leon stated boldly in his head as he watched Hei Yung land the craft.
Hei Yung pulled the headset from his head, then stood up. "Your turn."
Leon took the headset with joy, placed it on his head, and locked the gears. A bright light blasted on his face first. And just as it faded, he saw himself standing right next to the Triarch.
The view was so vivid that he first tried to remove the headset.
"Don’t remove it," Hei Yung’s voice barked at him. "Not until you have passed all seven tasks."
’Seven tasks?’ Leon scread in his head as he adjusted the gears again. ’So far as he did it, I will also do it.’
This ti, he was transported straight into the Triarch without any introduction, as he had received at first.
Warnings flashed across Leon’s sight one after another while the control panel brightened beneath his fingers.
Before he could fully settle into the seat, Hei Yung’s voice struck his ears. It sounded like a crack in the sky in the virtual world. "Task one. Lift."
Leon tightened his grip and pulled the steer hard. The Triarch shot upward, tilted violently, and slamd into the side barrier of the simulated land.
Leon’s eyes widened as the world flickered once, then restored itself.
"Again," Hei Yung’s voice echoed, in the sa tone as thunder in the virtual world.
Leon gritted his teeth and started all over.
Hei Yung folded his hands on his chest as he watched every movent from the screen on the wall, correcting nothing unless Leon made the sa mistake twice.
"Lift. Balance. Turn. Dive. Recover. Pursue. And land."
The words replayed over and over in Leon’s ears.
By the ti he had cleared the seventh task, sweat soaked the back of his shirt. Even with that, Hei Yung did not let him rest.
After a while, they exited the VTECH and stood before the real Triarch. The afternoon sunlight reflected on the titanium body like a sleeping beast waiting to be disturbed.
Hei Yung neared the craft, then tilted himself slowly toward Leon. "The simulator taught only your eyes and mind," he stated, turning fully to the Triarch. "But the sky teaches you the consequence."
Leon hesitated for a while before entering.
The first flight lasted less than four minutes. Leon lost control during a turn and drove the Triarch nose-first into the training ground.
He fractured a bone, but Hei Yung pressed him to finish.
The second crash happened when Leon misjudged the speed. And the third ca when he got hit with a panic attack before the landing.
With each ti, the craft slowly repaired itself. Its tals folded back into place as though the damage had never happened. But the wounds and burn marks on Leon remained visible, unhealed.
’What am I doing wrong!’ Leon scread in his head, clenching his jaw.
His eyes blazed with fury as he exited and stood beside Hei Yung, panting heavily.
Hei Yung shook his head. "You’re not stopping until you’re well-equipped with it."
Leon’s heartbeat skipped for a second as he shifted glances from the craft to Hei Yung and back to the craft.
’Then I have to do it with my all,’ he exclaid and gathered courage.
"Leon," Hei Yung called the mont Leon climbed into the seat. "Pursuit is speed. Siege is a force. Rember."
Leon gave a thumbs-up, then closed the door.
Hours bled away with wind, speed, and repeated failures. Then, as the sun was on the brink of setting, Leon finally landed the Triarch safely. There was no smoke, no drift, and no crash.
Hei Yung stepped aside and smiled after Leon drove the craft to the parking lot without causing any damage.
And when they returned to the civilized section of the barracks, Hei Yung wrapped his hand around Leon’s shoulder, then gave him information that clung to him even as he slept.
"Longwei was not always that serious," Hei Yung said, looking straight ahead. "He used to laugh so loudly that even the chanics sotis got irritated. Whenever he saw a new vehicle, he chose between them like a man picking his favorite child."
The remote controller of the Triarch rested in Leon’s bag, its light pulsing slowly.
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