John was in his hotel room, sitting cross-legged on his bed and meditating. It had been some time since he had last meditated. ‘I miss our lessons together… I miss Iris….’ John shook his head, trying to forget about his teacher. Ever since he had undertaken the task of finding Professor Sean, he had tried his best not to think of her; it was too painful to be reminded of her rejection. ‘I need to focus on the present!’

John closed his eyes and took a long, deep inhale. He then slowly exhaled. He repeated this exercise a few more times. He could feel the Qi in his surroundings, its energy feeling so vibrant and alive. He felt his body temperature rising as he drew in the Qi of the natural world. ‘This feels so good…’

All of the sudden, he felt…. cold. His mind was filled with thoughts of dark clouds. “What?” he whispered. The faint noise of someone speaking could be heard but John couldn’t make out who was speaking or what they were saying.

“John,” he said unconsciously. ‘Why did I say that?’ he thought. He tried to open his eyes but his body seemed unwilling to follow his commands. ‘Damn!’

The Ravager was floating in space, heading for a nearby pirate asteroid base. Aboard the capital-class cruiser, William was alone in his private quarters. He was sitting cross-legged on a blue mat and meditating, his breathing deep and rhythmic.

“I can feel it…” he whispered. “I can feel the power surging through me… He really is powerful. And the more powerful he becomes, the more powerful I become. John… ah! That’s his name. I always wondered what his name was. We’ve been so closely connected, yet I had no idea about it…”

William felt a sudden ache on his chest. “Ah!” he cried out. He opened his eyes and quickly got up, abandoning his meditation. His face was pale and he was coughing. “Damn it!” he cursed. He coughed again and spat a nasty looking glob of phlegm and blood on the floor. “I pushed my luck too far…”

He rushed to the bathroom, ran over to the sink, washed his hands and splashed water on his face. Looking his face on the mirror, he could see that he wasn’t pale anymore. He let out a sigh of relief. “I should be more careful in the future. The books were clear but I chose to ignore the dangers…”

William had discovered a few days ago a passage in one of the old tomes he had been collecting, which described how a connection between two sorcerers could be forced. Before, William had been able to connect mentally with John randomly, now he was the one who had attempted to initiate the connection. The passage warned that the overuse of Qi needed to establish such a connection could be dangerous, even life-threatening.

“With more practice and concentration,” William talked to himself, “I will be able to master this skill. If our connection becomes stronger, my powers will also grow stronger.” He clenched his fists.

“Kid!”

“Eh?” John wondered. He opened his eyes and saw doctor Beck standing before him. He quickly got up from the bed and greeted him. “Hi, doc. I was meditating.”

“Yeah… you seemed really out of synch with your surroundings. You didn’t hear me shouting?”

“Not really…” John shook his head. “For some reason I felt cold and… unable to open my eyes or hear any other voices.”

“I don’t really understand all that magical mumbo jumbo, nor do I care about it,” Beck replied. “I came here because you told me you would help me with my nephew.”

“Eh….”

“Don’t tell me you forgot about it?”

John was silent for a brief moment. “Ay yes, your nephew that has involved himself with gangsters. You want me to teach them a lesson, so that they leave him alone. I told you that I owe it to help you doc, after all you’ve done for me and the Alliance in general, but don’t you think there is probably some better way to solve the whole problem without resorting to a confrontation with them?”

“I wish!” Beck sighed. “I told Mike to leave the gang, but he refuses to listen to me. And, as I told you, my cousin already has too many things to worry about and I don’t want to cause an argument between them. Teaching those bastards a lesson and forcing them to throw Mike out of the gang is clearly the best option.”

John wasn’t entirely convinced of Beck’s approach, but he felt obliged to help the doctor. “Alright. Tell me where they are.”

Beck nodded. “They hang out in the industrial zone. Should take an hour or so, but we should be able to find them.”

“I suppose that whatever you want to show me is important,” Commander Darren said as he rushed inside the wide conference hall, in the Alliance base in Thellasia. It was crowded with all sorts of intelligence officers, monitoring a number of computer panels and screens. “I’ve been having a rather busy day!”

“It is indeed is important,” Yi replied with a charming smile. The Alliance officer was standing before an enormous flat viewscreen. “I’ve received an encrypted transmission from an informant of ours in Daxiturn.”

“Daxiturn?” Darren repeated. “Kairer field…. The Helians have launched a major military operation there. Do you think it has something to do with it?”

“Most certainly! I took the liberty of checking the transmission before calling you here. I know you are busy man.”

“Put it through. I want to see it myself.”

Yi pulled a lever and the image of a tall, handsome man appeared on the viewscreen. He was standing before a white background and was smiling.

“My name is Simone Owen. I represent Prince Raoul Xensor of the Pirate Coalition. The Helian authorities had for years been neglecting the colonies of the Kairer field. They drained our resources and transferred them to Mellillon for their own enrichment. The people of the Kairer field could not abide by their tyranny anymore and turned to piracy to survive. We are proud to be standing up to the Helian tyrants. Now those wretched tyrants have turned their fleet against us, wreaking havoc in the Kairer field. We have been able to slow them down but we cannot defeat them on our own. The Prince requests a temporary pact between the Alliance and the Pirate Coalition to drive the Helians out of the Kairer field. We know of your hatred of this evil regime. We offer you a chance to inflict a crippling defeat upon them. The time is lapsing. If you do not aid us now, this chance will be lost forever.”

Darren was silent, his face expressionless. Yi and the other intelligence officers were anxiously waiting for his decision, barely hiding their impatience. On the other hand, the commander was supremely calm. It took a long moment before Darren finally spoke. “What reinforcements can we send them?”

“We can send starships and soldiers from our base in the seventh jungle moon of Xendia. However, it will take at least two weeks before our fleet can rendezvous with the pirate fleet, especially since we will need to move cautiously to avoid Helian attention.”

“Nice!” Darren exclaimed with a determined look on his face and clenching his fists. “We are about to destroy an entire Helian fleet! Send an order to the base to begin preparations. We are going in!”

All of the officers in the room cheered and applauded loudly their commander, except for Yi who was a lot more restrained.

“Commander,” Yi whispered, “I hope you do know what you are doing. Those pirates are not trustworthy. We need to be cautious.”

“They aren’t the good guys perhaps, but they offer us a chance to cripple a Helian fleet. We will have to take this chance. If we don’t, the Kairer field will fall under a brutish Helian occupation. If we do intervene, however, we will at least be weakening the Helian regime and bringing it closer to its demise.”

“I do agree with you, sir, but my cautiousness doesn’t stem from the fact that the pirates are morally questionable. Rather, it stems from the fact that they won’t hesitate to betray us if they feel it will serve their interests.”

“That’s an acceptable risk considering the overall benefits.”

John and Beck were walking through a dark alley, in one of the crime-ridden neighborhoods of Biscecenza. While most of the city was heavily policed, working-class neighborhoods in the industrial zone were underpoliced and underfunded, and it showed. The ground was littered with all sorts of garbage and its foul stench was overwhelming.

“What a terrible place!” Beck complained. “Why do those fucking morons in the government don’t spend a few bucks on cleaning up those alleys, and maybe send a few cops? But no, can’t waste money on those neighborhoods, you’ve got instead to fund luxurious offices for yourselves!”

John was silent, listening to Beck ranting about the incompetence and corruption of the Helian government. ‘Man… I am tired of listening to his complaining, and I absolute hate this government… Will this man ever stop talking?’

“Hey!” Beck barked, bringing John back to reality. “Are you listening to me?”

John nodded. “Yes, yes, I do,” he lied.

“So you do know that before us is the gang I told you about, right?” The doctor pointed at seven thugs standing right ahead of them. One of them was a lean kid, no older than sixteen, wearing a white shirt and blue jeans. He seemed somewhat out of place compared to the others, who were muscled and heavily tattooed. Among the thugs, there was also a slender, light-brown haired woman with tattooed biceps.

They were chatting but upon seeing John and Beck approaching, they stopped at once their talking and turned their attention to them.

The lean kid rushed towards them. “Uncle!” he yelled, clearly frustrated. His face flustered. “What are you doing here? And who is he?” he pointed his finger at John. “What is going on? I told you that I don’t need you intervening in my life!”

“You’ve heard him,” the woman said, having stepped forward to encourage the kid.

“Mike!” Beck shouted. “You are coming with me, unless you want your father to learn everything about what you’ve been doing. As for you, miss, if you or your friends ever again bother my nephew, you will regret it. Understood?”

One of the thugs, an extremely tall and muscular man in his early twenties, stepped forward, holding a laser blaster in his hands. “If you know what’s good for you, you will leave.” He pointed his gun at Beck.

John coughed loudly, trying to get everyone attention. “Excuse me, but if I were you, I wouldn’t be doing this.”

The thug pointed his gun at John. “And who the fuck are you, dude?”

The young sorcerer simply chuckled at the sight of the gun. He closed his eyes. He could feel the Qi all things around him. He took in a deep breath and then exhaled. He could feel the Qi being drawn into his body, its warmness embracing him.

The gangster was still pointed his gun at John. “Leave!” he shouted. “I will shoot you. Scram!”

“Make me,” John calmly replied.

The man fired his laser blaster and John waved his arm. As the bold came within inches of John’s face, it was deflected by an invincible energy shield. The thug gaped in astonishment. He fired five more times, all his laser bolts deflected by the energy surrounding John. “Impossible!” he muttered, his face pale. “Impossible…”

“Impossible for you, perhaps, but not to me.”

“Who- what are you!?”

Instead of answering, John waved his arm and unleashed an energy wave at the gangster. The thug was pummeled by the energy, being thrown against a brick wall. The other thugs took out their guns and pointed them at John and Beck.

“Everyone!” Mike yelled. “Pl- plea-“ The young man was at loss of words.

“We are your family,” the woman said, embracing him and gently petting his hair. “Not them.”

“Don’t let her fool you!” Beck said. “Look, I understand that you may have psychological problems but joining a gang isn’t the right way to deal with them. You can count on my support. I will h-“

“You are calling me crazy?” Mike asked, his face reddened with anger. “Of course you don’t understand me! Who are you to tell me what to do with my life?”

John sighed. “Nice job, doc. Great arguments!”

“Shut up!” Beck barked at the sorcerer before turning back his attention to Mike. “I am your uncle and I know a damn lot more things than you do, so stop acting like a whining kiddy and come to your senses.”

While Beck was talking, realizing that Beck had screwed up so badly that a battle was inevitable, John had already began concentrating and trying to muster the power of the Qi around him. He tried to ignore all the noises and clear his mind of any thoughts. He let his consciousness touch upon the Qi of the natural world.

“Enough!” the woman screamed. “Kill them.”

The four thugs fired their laser blasters at once, but they were deflected by the invincible energy shield John had erected. The sorcerer could feel the sweating on his forehead and his heart racing. The pressure was building up and he knew that he couldn’t keep up the energy shield. As he felt the shield cracking, John pushed Beck to the side. As the doctor fell on the ground, John charged at the thugs, zigzagging to dodge their laser bolts. His movement was extraordinary fast, making use of the Qi in his body. The laser bolts were flying above his head and to his right and left. He could feel their heat on his skin.

When he was inches away from them, he waved his hand, unleashing an extraordinarily powerful energy wave that swept them away, throwing them against the wall with a loud cracking noise. John’s breathing became labored, his nose was bleeding and his face was pale and sweaty. He had difficulty standing up, his legs suddenly weak. Beck rushed immediately to his side.

“Are you alright?” the doctor asked with a worried look on his face. “Let me examine you.”

“No need, doc.” John coughed loudly. “It’s just… I overused magic.”

“Don’t move!” the woman theatened. She was pointing her blaster at Beck. “Don’t know what kind of freak you are, but your freakish powers won’t save the old guy.”

“Old guy!?” Beck protested. “Listen to me , yo-“

“I will shoot you if you don’t leave.”

John was still coughing. He understood that he couldn’t make any further use of magic and neither could he move fast enough to save the doctor if the woman decided to make good on her threat. “Perhaps it is best to listen to her,” he whispered.

Before Beck could reply, Mike stood in front of the woman. “Don’t shoot him. Please,” he pleaded with her. “I will not abandon you, don’t worry about that. But, despite all his fucked-up moralizing, the guy is still my uncle.”

“Fine…”

“Look, uncle, I think it might be best if you leave.”

“He’s got a point,” John said. “Maybe try to talk him out of it some other time, preferably when they don’t have a gun pointed at your face?”

Beck sighed. “You’ve won, I guess. It is your life, after all. If you want to screw it up, then screw it up…”

The two armed guards bowed before Lord Michael, the firstborn son of Chancellor Maximilian. The young man made his way inside the plain, made of dark wood, room. His nostrils twitched at the familiar scent of incense. Before him was Zhao Yu, the elderly orc strategist, sitting cross-legged upon a pink silken mat.

Zhao Yu pointed at the silken mat opposite of him. “Please, Lord Michael, do sit.” As the young man sat, Zhao Yu filled a black wooden cup with hot green tea and offered it to him. “It will help you relax. I myself find calm discussions to be far more enlightening.”

Michael sipped the tea. “Master, do you remember the conversation we’ve had some time ago?”

“Ah, yes. You were worried about your father grooming your brother William to become your rival. You wanted me to send spies to sabotage his campaign against the pirates and thus discredit him before the Chancellor.”

“So?” Michael asked, clearly unable to hide his anxiousness.

Zhao Yu smirked. “Patience is a virtue that will serve you well.”

“My apologies.” Michael at once got up from the mat and bowed slightly before the elder, showing his respect. “I am deeply sorry if I offended you. Your words are wise. I will be patient in the future.”

Zhao Yu nodded approvingly and Michael sat once more. “I’ve indeed send spies on the Ravager,” the orc admitted. “Last I heard from them, there wasn’t a need to sabotage the campaign. It seems that the pirates have proven far more resourceful than anyone could have imagined. “

Michael laughed heartily. “I knew it. My brother is an incompetent playboy who has wasted his entire adult life in partying, doing drugs and screwing women. Of course he would fail in a military campaign, no matter how many advisors and officers he may have at his disposal.”

“Maybe, but we should be too complacent. I know the admiral in command of the Ravager. Natasha Konstantinovna, a brilliant officer. She was my disciple, one of my best actually. She has a keen mind, a good grasp of military tactics and is stubborn as hell.”

“That’s why we have the spies aboard, right?” Michael smirked. “To ensure that people like this… Natasha do not interfere with our plans.”

“We’ve reached the Institute of Science and Research,” D-4009 said to John and Lutherson. The institute was located just outside the industrial zone of Biscecenza, and it surrounded by a few old, abandoned brick structures. The building was walled on all sides, the walls being both high and thick. Heavily-armed guards were positioned outside, patrolling for any intruders.

Standing a few meters way, taking cover behind one of the abandoned buildings, the young sorcerer and his companions were observing the situation.

“How exactly are we supposed to sneak into this place?” Lutherson asked. “We can’t exactly go knocking the doors. The place is heavily guarded too…”

“I might have a solution to that problem,” D-4009 said. “I did some more research on the building, as you requested. It was difficult finding much information as the Helian government wants to keep what happens in this place a secret, but I did manage to find some old schematics from thirty years ago. I have located an old air vent through which we could sneak into the facility, assuming that it is still there after all those years.”

“We should give it a try,” John replied. “We’ve got nothing to lose…”

John and Lutherson followed the android, as he led them to the left side of the wall. That part of the wall was defended by six guards, who were walking up and down while holding tightly onto their rifles.

“Now what?” the detective asked.

“We need to knock them out,” John replied. “Or otherwise distract them.”

“Knocking them out won’t do us much good,” Lutherson said. “We would have to hide their bodies and it won’t take long for their buddies to discover that something is amiss when they don’t respond. Better create a distraction of some kind with your magic.”

“Fine…”

John breathed deeply and then exhaled. He did this a couple of time while closing his eyes and relaxing. He could feel his body temperature rising as he allowed himself to be immersed with the Qi all around him. His hands became dark-red and were exuding hot steam. He waved his hands and a fireball was unleashed, directed at one of the nearby abandoned structures. The loud explosion startled the guards, who immediately went to check out what was happening. Only one guard remained in position.

“Now!” John said. The sorcerer rushed to the wall. As the guard aimed at him with his rifle and was about to fire, John waved his hand and swept him away with an energy wave. The man slammed against the wall and fell on the ground, unconscious. Lutherson grabbed the man and placed him on his shoulders, while John and D-4009 headed for the gate.

“Can you open the door?” John asked D-4009.

The android nodded and at once went to the computer console controlling the door. Wirelessly connecting to it, D-4009 was able to hack into the system and unlock it. John, Lutherson and the android then rushed inside, before the other guards could arrive. Lutherson was having the hardest time, as he was carrying on his back the unconscious guard.

Once inside, they hit behind some steel crates. Lutherson dumped the body onto the ground. “That guy nearly broke my back…. He should really go on a diet.”

“Where is his rifle?” John wondered.

The detective was silent for a brief moment, flashing an awkward smile. “I guess I… didn’t grab it? You can’t blame me, we had to rush inside. I could only grab the body.”

“Master John and Mister Snow,” D-4009 interrupted, “I believe it would in our best interests if we headed towards the air vent instead of chatting here. The probabilities of being discovered if we remain here for a prolonged period of time are 99.8%.”

“Thanks Captain Obvious!” Lutherson replied.

“My name is D-4009, not Captain Obvious.”

John chuckled. “We should really get going, lest the Helians listen to us laughing.”

The android led them to a rather isolated part of the building, which showed its age. The walls on that part of the facility were made of brick and the ground was littered with various kinds of waste. A guard was coming and going every ten minutes, leisurely patrolling this part of the building.

“The air vent should be somewhere here,” D-4009 said while scanning the area around him. “At least if the schematics are correct.”

“There is it!” Lutherson exclaimed, pointing at an air exhaustion vent.

John leaped up to catch the ventilation screen above his head. He lowered the metal grate carefully and swung into the small space. Lutherson and D-4009 followed closely behind. Soon enough, they were inside the facility. John could see from the ventilation screen that they had reached a storage room of some kind. He also noticed that the room was full of cameras.

“What do we do about the cameras?” John asked.

“I can deal with them,” D-4009 replied. “Commander Darren had a subroutine installed in my programming that allows me to wirelessly connect to camera devices, provided that they are reasonably close to me. By connecting to them, I can freeze them and they will show the same picture. This can last for a few minutes at most, but it should suffice.”

Lutherson chuckled. “Nice. You might be annoying, but you are quite useful. If I could afford it, I would love to buy an android like you, assuming I could install a less annoying behavioral subroutine.”

“My model is indeed quite pricy, Mister Winter. That’s because it is among the most advanced in existence. It include-“

“When you finish bragging,” John interrupted, “care to connect with the cameras, so we can finally get our job done?”

D-4009 wirelessly connected to the ten camera devices in the room. Within less than a minute, he managed to ‘freeze’ them. “I’ve completed the task.”

John grabbed the ventilation screen, lowered it and jumped onto the storage room. The android and the detective followed behind. “Nice…” he said. “Now… where exactly should we get going?”

“We should search for any research labs,” Lutherson replied, “and hack into their computers. Not perfect, but since we don’t really know where we should be looking for…”

John, Lutherson and D-4009 sneaked inside the room, stepping carefully and silently. The room was filled with sterile stainless-steel counters, microscopes, some high-tech computers, desks with research notes and books jammed haphazardly into a wall bookcase.

“Go check the computer,” John ordered the android while looking at the door to detect any movements. “We don’t have much time.”

D-4009 rushed at once to the computer, turning it on. He then wirelessly connected to it, in order to hack the device and process all its files.

“Is anyone coming?” Lutherson whispered to the young sorcerer.

“No,” John replied. “At least I don’t see anyone.”

“I regret to inform you that the computer does not have any relevant data on our case,” D-4009 informed them. “The only files contained here are with regards to some failed experiments conducted upon captured sorcerers.”

John sighed. “This is the third computer we’ve hacked! We are blindly searching, without having any idea where or what we are looking for. It is like looking for a needle in a haystack.”

“We should get moving fast. The place is crowded with guards,” Lutherson reminded him. “We’ve got no time to waste on whining. I am sure that sooner or later we should be able to find something useful in one of the computers.”

John exited the room and sneaked into the corridor, followed by D-4009. As Lutherson too stepped out of the room, he heard a sudden voice. A guard they hadn’t noticed had spotted the detective. The guard aimed his rifle at Lutherson and was about to shoot, when John rushed at him from behind. He looped his arm around the guard's neck and he swiftly strangled him.

“Thanks…” Lutherson said, letting a sigh of relief. “Grab the guard. We cannot let him lying on the middle of the corridor.”

John nodded and he helped Lutherson carry the man’s body. They moved him inside one of the nearby offices, which was empty. They threw him on the floor and John took hold of his rifle.

“That should prove helpful,” John said, as he checked the rifle. It was a standard-issued Helian laser rifle.

“Master,” D-4009 patted John’s back. “I have made an important discovery. This data pad I found on this office’s desk contains the schematics of the building.”

“How did you find this out?” John wondered.

“While you were grabbing the guard’s rifle, I noticed the data pad on the desk. Since your instructions were to find out as much as possible about the building and since I wasn’t needed, I took the time to hack the data pad and see what it contained.”

“Wow!” Lutherson exclaimed. “It seems luck is on our side.”

“Luck has nothing to do with it, Mister Snow. The discovery was the result of the combination of Master John’s instructions and the hacking subroutines in my programming.”

“Yeah, yeah. Do the schematics mention anything about androids? Any files on project epsilon should be on that section.”

“There is an artificial intelligence research sector. It is on the seventh floor.”

“It seems we will be heading there then,” John said. “Let’s go!”

John, Lutherson and D-4009 were walking down corridor-after-corridor, passing four sets of double-doors as they went. They were careful to evade detection by the guards. They finally reached hallway which seemed to be leading to the artificial intelligence laboratories.

“We are approaching the-“ D-4009 was cut short by the sudden appearance of a Shadow Hunter. Armed with a skeletal sword, upon taking notice of the intruders he began walking slowly towards them.

“You will be exterminated,” the hunter said in his deep, spooky voice.

John aimed his rifle at him and fired at once. Swinging his skeletal sword with superhuman speed, the Shadow Hunter deflected the volley of laser bolts while slowly but steadily walking towards the young sorcerer.

“Oh oh! This ain’t good…” John murmured. He closed his eyes and waved his hand, unleashing a powerful energy wave at his opponent, but he somersaulted, dodging the energy wave and landing behind John. As John turned around to face him, the Shadow Hunter swung his sword at the sorcerer, parting the air just in front of John’s face, as the young sorcerer leapt backwards.

Before the Shadow Hunter could attack again, John quickly retreated by a few steps, trying to keep some distance between himself and his opponent. “I need some backup!” John shouted.

“What do you want me to do?” Lutherson asked. “I am a detective, not a warrior.”

John sighed. Suddenly he saw the Shadow Hunter jumping high and striking at him from above. John concentrated, feeling the Qi around him. He waved his hand and a powerful energy shield surrounded him. The skeletal sword was unable to penetrate the shield and the Shadow Hunter roared in rage. He struck again, this time his furious attack putting so much pressure on John that the shield collapsed.

The Shadow Hunter charged. John, still holding his rifle at hand, fired at point blank range, his laser bolt hitting his opponent’s chest. As the Shadow Hunter cried out, John threw away his rifle and slammed himself against him. With the warrior falling on the floor, John grabbed his skeletal sword from his hand. He then swiftly thrust it through his chest. He twisted it, eliciting cries of pain before the Shadow Hunter died.

“Guards!” Lutherson shouted and John rushed to grab his rifle from the floor. Grabbing it, he aimed it at the two – also armed with rifles – guards. He fired a quick succession of laser bolts, killing both of them.

“Now let’s head to the lab,” he said.

In the laboratory, they found a large, mainframe computer standing in its center and desks with terminals upon them set up in a ring around the mainframe.

“That should be the main computer,” John said.

D-4009 pressed some buttons and the computer screen lightened up. With the device activated, D-4009 wirelessly connected to it and began hacking his way into its files. His android mind was processing thousands of files each second without even so much as blinking.

“It seems that some of the files are missing,” D-4009 explained. “They must have been deleted by the Helian authorities.”

“Can you recover them?” Lutherson asked.

“I can try to restore those files by scanning the physical hard drive and attempting to retrieve whatever fragments of those files are salvageable.”

“Try it,” John ordered. “We don’t have time to waste.”

D-4009 began a thorough scan of the hard drive. For a brief moment, there was an awkward silence. The only noise that could be heard was Lutherson anxiously tapping his feet.

“Found it!” D-4009 enthusiastically exclaimed all of the sudden. “Master, I’ve completed my task. I managed to retrieve a number of the deleted files.”

“What did you find?” Lutherson asked, pushing John aside to reach first the android.

“Miss Susan did work in the research facility. She was one of the scientists working on project epsilon, a research into developing androids with consciousness. The files mention how a number of those new androids managed to escape. The Helian government deemed the whole project too dangerous and had it shut down. It attempted to purge all evidence of this project. Scientists who could not be trusted, like Miss Susan, were assassinated. Miss Susan’s unfortunate demise wasn’t by the hands of her husband, who was a victim too, but by the hands of government agents.”

“Are there any research files on artificial consciousness in the computer?” John asked. “Download them. They should prove useful to u-“

“Master, apologies for the interruption, but unfortunately I managed to retrieve only a few fragments from the files detailing how to construct conscious androids. They contain a few scattered algorithms that are unlikely to be much of help in recreating the project. Alas, that part of project epsilon seems to have been purged completely.”

The sorcerer sighed. “Download the files that prove that the Helians were behind the murder of Susan. Download the few remaining algorithms too. Maybe they can help us in some way…”

“A guard!” Lutherson suddenly shouted.

John ducked down, the laser bolts flying above his head. John rose and turned around to see the man firing again at him. He quickly rolled to the left, barely escaping the volley of enemy fire.

John took cover behind one of the desks and fired back in the direction of shooter, aiming low to knock him out. A loud cry was heard as the guard fell on the floor, his leg shot. As he was about to grab his comn device, John shot again, this time aiming for the head. Blood flew in all directions.

“We need to leave!” John said.

Lutherson nodded in agreement and, along with D-4009, rushed to follow the young sorcerer. As John left the room and began sprinting through the facility’s corridors, he suddenly found five guards standing before him, all armed with rifles and aiming at him. As they all fired, he closed his eyes and waved his hand, creating an energy shield around him.

With the laser bolts deflected, it was John’s time to counterattack. He aimed his rifle at the guards and fired. One of the guard leaped backward, blood pouring from his throat. John fired again, and blood spurted from the chest of another guard. As the remaining three guards fired back, John ducked down and then quickly leaned to the left, dodging the laser bolts.

“That was close!” he let a sigh of relief, as he fired back. A third guard went down, clutching his gut and shrieking horribly. John fired again, his laser bolt hitting the fourth guard in the chest and killing him. The lone remaining guard fired back and John leapt to the right, barely avoiding his rapid fire. John pulled the trigger once more, taking out the last guard.

“Corridor clear,” he said, signaling to the detective and the android to follow him.

As the three of them made their way to a broad hallway, an alarm began loudly ringing. It was echoing through the hallway. The ringing was getting louder and louder, overshadowing the steps of the guards.

“That doesn’t sound good…” Lutherson remarked. “Not good at all…”

“If we don’t get out of here soon,” John said, “we will get overwhelmed by endless hordes of soldiers.”

Pew!

The sound of laser rifles firing cut short John’s speech. As he and his companions rushed forward, they found themselves surrounded by seven armed guards. John closed his eyes and fell on his knees. ‘Only by immersing myself with the Qi around me will I be able to survive. I will let it overtake me and guide my actions. I am at its mercy.’