Chapter 151 - A Quiet Goodbye

As the bright midday sun beamed down on Zwei his mind began to clear. The whispers calmed down, replaced by whistling of the cold high altitude wind.

As he recovered, he was able to process his current predicament of being suspended thousands of meters in the air above an unfamiliar landscape. A few meters away from him, the grey cat wearing a coat and sitting on a regal pillow was carefully examining the crystal prism that was currently imprisoning a writhing, three dimensional volume of darkness.

Everything that he’d experienced pointed to this being a dream. A strange, nightmarish dream, but a dream nonetheless.

“You’re right about that.” The cat purred, “But if you think you’ll be waking up soon, you’ll be sorely disappointed.”

It took a moment for Zwei to realize that the cat was talking to him, “You can talk?”

“I can do more than that.” The cat replied, “You should consider yourself lucky that we found you when we did. From the looks of things, you wouldn’t have lasted until morning.”

“You’re talking about the shadow there.” Zwei said.

“Yup.” The cat’s tail swished as she looked quite pleased with herself, “You could say I’m your saviour.”

“What exactly is that?” Zwei looked at the prism.

“It’s an Encephalit.” She said, “A shade that burrows into and infects the mind. I had a suspicion that you had one in you... Although I didn’t expect it to be able to break you out of your slumber.”

“A shade...”

“You’ve been having hallucinations, yes?” The cat purred, looking at Zwei, “The encephalit feeds off of attention. The more mental effort you give it, the more it grows, until it becomes strong enough to overpower you.”

“What happens then?”

“Well... If it were a wild encephalit, you’d likely become a host, infecting other people with its offspring. Entire towns have turned into zombies this way...” The cat grinned, “But this one belongs to a particular person, so the consequences depends on what their intent was.”

Upon hearing her words the shadow congealed within the prism, forming the silhouette of a person in a heavy trench coat. This silhouette wasn’t solid, but rather was formed from paper-thin shadows composed of writhing insects. These critters formed a constantly shifting ‘shell’ that approximated the form and clothing of the man.

The only part of the shadow man that wasn’t formed from slithering critters was the half mask on his face. This mask was a dense, thick shadow with a hollow expression.

“Locke...” Zwei’s eyes narrowed as he recognized the form of his supervisor.

“Indeed...”

The grey cat fell silent as she examined the imprisoned shade, who was shifting between various positions. The shade didn’t seem to be conscious of their presence, or even the fact that it was trapped. It stood in place, shifting eerily while staring blankly ahead. It would occasionally break down in places as the shell of insects clumped together or broke apart.

After a while Zwei said, “This isn’t a dream, is it?”

“It is. Though it’s not your own.” The cat said, looking Zwei in the eyes expectantly.

“You’re not a cat... are you?” Zwei stated the question burning in his mind.

“I am. Though it depends on your point of view, I suppose.” The cat grinned. It was an unnerving, oddly human expression, completely out of place on the ‘normal’ looking cat. “Would it make you more comfortable if I took a human form?”

“...No, not really.” Zwei said after a moment.

“You’re surprisingly calm, considering the circumstances.” The cat mused.

“It just... explains a lot.” Zwei said. He was about to leave it at that, but noticed that the cat was staring into his eyes, waiting for him to continue.

“The last few days I haven’t been feeling like myself. I’d come to some conclusion based on knowledge that I never had before, or I’d find myself acting on a hunch that came out of nowhere.”

“I notice you aren’t mentioning the hallucinations.” The cat purred.

“Well- I knew that they weren’t natural. I knew that they were some kind of disease, and that it was getting worse over time.” Zwei shrugged, “I figured if I investigated thoroughly enough I’d be able to cure myself. And if not... Then I guess I’d die, like the others.”

“Well you’re in luck. Given what I know of Locke, he probably didn’t mean to kill you with this shade.”

“I... didn’t think so either.” Zwei frowned, examining the shade carefully, “No, it seemed like more than anything, the insects and whispers were guiding me to the answers.”

The cat’s ears perked up at Zwei’s words. Her eyes darkened as she came to a conclusion.

With a flick of her tail the crystal prison shrank down to the size of a pendant. A silver chain materialized as it flew over to Zwei and hung itself on his neck. The cat didn’t explain, but flicked her tail again.

The world began to warp around Zwei as a grand castle materialized around him.

His feet landed on solid ground as he found himself standing in a courtyard under the castle’s walls. The peaceful garden was lined with manicured hedges, vibrant flower beds and trimmed grass. A circular fountain spouted water into the air.

“Is this your castle?” Zwei asked.

“Yes.” The cat said. She was sitting on her pillow, which had landed gently on the rim of the fountain.

“It’s like something out of a fairytale.” Zwei replied.

The cat’s ears twitched as a portly man in a doctor’s coat came around the corner of one of the hedges.

“Dr. Baolan?” Zwei’s eyes narrowed in confusion, recognizing the old acquaintance of Sansen Zhao.

“Zwei, good day.” Baolan smiled, walking toward them. He looked at the cat, who was grooming herself casually, “Quill, I see that you took care of that ‘intruder’ without too much trouble?”

“Of course. This is my domain, after all.” The cat replied matter-of-factly. Her expression was serious as she turned to Zwei, “Zwei, what kind of things were the insects helping you investigate?”

Zwei paused, considering for a moment whether to tell the truth, “We were looking into who killed Chief Yang Yun. From the start, I had a hunch that there was something off about the investigation... that there was something wrong inside the police force itself. I didn’t know why, I was just convinced.”

“Locke probably planted the idea in you.” Quill said.

“Even though I was convinced at first that Locke was the problem?” Zwei asked with a frown, “The hallucinations only started after we met Locke. I spent most of my time looking into records of the disease, thinking that Locke had infiltrated the police force.”

“That sounds just like him, actually.” Quill purred with a subdued bemusement, “But the tone of your voice suggests that you don’t suspect him any more.”

“That’s because I discovered who the real culprit is.” Zwei nodded, “The mole inside the police force. As soon as I figured it out, I reported it to Chief Fang.”

Quill’s ears perked up as she stood up from her pillow for the first time, “When did you last see Chief Fang?”

“Late in the afternoon, around five o’clock.” Zwei said, “After I told him, he told me to go home immediately and keep my knowledge a secret.”

“Did he tell you what he was going to do? Or where he was going?” Baolan interjected.

“No.” Zwei frowned, hearing the tension in their voices, “Why? What happened?”

“Chief Fang is missing.” Baolan replied, “You’re the last person we know who saw him.”

“He mentioned to us that you and Finn were going to meet Locke at a specific location. Could he be going there?” Quill asked thoughtfully.

“I don’t think so.” Zwei shook his head, “We’re supposed to meet with Locke in the morning, but when I mentioned this to Chief Fang he cut me off. He said, ‘Don’t tell me anything. It’s safer if I don’t know’.”

Quill’s tail twitched irritably as she muttered, “So he really went off on his own. Damn it Jintang... Where are you?”

~

In the physical world, in the dead of the night.

A tavern stood at the end of a row of buildings. It was an old building with a sagging roof and cracked walls. The street was shrouded in darkness. No lamps were lit in this neighbourhood, which had been overrun with vines.

Thick leafy vines had crawled up the outside walls of the tavern, curling around the broken sign which hung at an angle off of a single chain. They wound through the broken windows into the darkened dining room, twisting around the table legs and fallen stools.

At the back of the room, a narrow wooden staircase led the way down to an open doorway. The quiet light of a lantern flickered at the foot of the staircase.

The room beyond the doorway was a basement dining area. There were numerous small circular tables with metal stools propped upside down on them. In the corner of the room was a clear area in front of a set of dart boards. On the back wall was a long bar with a polished countertop lined with stools.

A single lantern at the bar was lit, illuminating the room in a dim orange light. The rows of wine bottles and polished glasses on the shelves behind the bar glinted softly in the steady lamp light.

A solitary figure sat at the bar with his back to the door. There were two short tumbler glasses and a bottle of rice wine in front of him.

The light played off his pronounced cheekbones and neatly trimmed moustache as he took a sip of the wine. He had on a pressed black suit with a navy blue turtleneck. He had a nostalgic expression on his face, looking like he was waiting for someone for a casual late night drink.

After a while he opened the bottle of rice wine and poured a small amount into both glasses. He raised one glass up to make a toast.

“One for you, my friend.” Chief Fang said quietly, “Perhaps I will see you soon.”

He downed the drink in one motion.

His spiritual intuition triggered as he sensed someone enter the tavern on the ground floor. Heavy, measured footsteps walked across the floor above Chief Fang, making their way to the staircase.

Jintang calmly poured himself another glass as the footsteps made their way down the stairs.

This second person entered the doorway and paused upon seeing the scene.

“Ah.” Jintang said, nodding softly without turning around, “Did you think that there would be someone else here? Sorry, I don’t know where he is.”

“Police Chief Fang, you are hereby charged with treason against Lord Noga.” The muscular, heavily bearded Chief Enzo ‘Bear’ Bernier came into view as he stepped into the room. He was so massive that his head nearly brushed the top of the ceiling.

Jintang drank the second cup in another gulp, sighing softly, “Is that how you’re spinning it? I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised.”

He turned around on the stool to face Chief Bear. The black metal of the nightstick at his waist glinted in the fire light as he casually placed his hand on it.

Chief Bear’s eyebrows furrowed, “My team is in position outside. Come quietly, Jintang. It’ll be best for both of us this way.”

A dangerous glint shone in Chief Fang’s eyes, “No, old friend, I don’t think I will.”