“Miss Tang, Miss Tang? Please wake up, Miss Tang.”

Slowly, Trip surfaced from the depths of unconsciousness, feeling like a water skin that had been drained dry, filled with rocks, then thrown off a cliff.

“Miss Tang, please rehydrate yourself from the tube to your left. Then, we really do need to proceed.”

Weakly, she reached for the transparent tube that had appeared beside the cot, rising out of the floor. Her first sip from it led to a bout of coughing. She was surprised by the coldest, most refreshingly pure water she’d had ever since… since… she stopped herself from remembering. That way lay only darkness and rage. WIth an effort, she focused herself back in the present. Greedily, she drank from it until she was full.

Only then, did she notice that one of the needle-tipped tubes leading into her arm was filled with a dark red liquid, so dark it was almost black, yet with a smattering of tiny blue sparkles that blinked lethargically.

“Are you ready for the next part, Miss Tang?”

“Let’s get on with it.”

“Very well. Please secure yourself with these straps, and take care not to dislodge the needles...”

Five straps with metal buckles extended out from under the cot. Four for her wrists and ankles, and one for her waist. While tightening the buckles, she noticed that the straps seemed to be made of some unknown, slick material.

As she lay back down on the cot, another strap appeared beside her head. This strap had a black tube-like section in the middle.

“Miss Tang, please fasten that across your head, while biting down on the black tube.”

She did so, bracing herself for what was to come next.

“Are you ready, Miss Tang?”

She nodded.

The dark red liquid was pumped into her, while in the other tube, flowed her own blood, towards the stasis chamber.

At first, there was nothing but a slight tingling sensation, slowly spreading from the inside of her arm, to her chest. Then, it spread faster, to the rest of her body, up towards her head and down towards her toes, intensifying until every inch of her insides, even the inside of her head, felt like it was itching, then...

PAIN.

Like blades of fire and lighting were tearing and ripping through her insides.

Like acid was spurting from deep within her bones, eating her from the inside out.

Distantly, she was aware that her entire body was shuddering, while feeling as if every muscle in her body was clenched so tight, it was on the verge of tearing her apart.

It felt as though years went by, with nothing in it but pure pain. It was as if the pain was made of tides of acid, constantly eroding away at her body and psyche. Just holding on to awareness was taking every ounce of will she had.

Despite all her efforts, she felt herself drifting away... it would be so easy to just let go... just let the torture end... even if it meant the death of her body or her mind, she didn’t care anymore...

Then... she REMEMBERED. The REASON why she was HERE. The PERSON she had to KILL. The PERSON she had to SAVE.

She REMEMBERED. Her parents, brutally murdered. Her brother, who hid her away, allowing himself to be captured. Her neighbours, her friends, murdered or enslaved. Her enemy, the one responsible for it all, the Crimson Bull.

With the memories, came ANGER. Anger that had gone all the way through hot, it was freezing cold. A solid metallic rock of icy anger. With that anger, came renewed energy born of sheer stubbornness. Let the waves come. Let them take what they will. As long as she had her anger, she would see justice done.

Even with all that, she felt her breath growing shallower. She had burnt through the last of her reserves of energy, and had barely enough to stay conscious, much less fight against the pain. Still, she held on.

Eventually, gradually, with such great relief that it was almost like easing into a familiar bed, the pain subsided. Replacing it, was a strange but welcome inner warmth that spread from her insides to every part of her body. Even though her mind was tired, her body seemed to be recovering. Fast.

“Welcome back, Miss Tang.” Even though he was out of sight, the smile was apparent in White Dragon’s voice.

“Please, come and see the miracle of restoration your sacrifice has wrought.”

She undid the buckles and straps, took out the needles, and stood up. She was surprised that she did so with ease, after the ordeal she had been through.

Looking through the now-defrosted glass cover of the stasis chamber, she was amazed at the difference. Sun Wukong had gone from being desiccated to simply emaciated and skeletal-thin. His lips, previously cracked, dried and sunken, were now fuller and had some colour in them.

As the stasis chamber hissed, Sun Wukong’s fingers and tail twitched. His face twisted into a snarl, revealing thick, sharp upper canines. A beep sounded from the stasis chamber, as two mechanical arms lowered a dark golden band onto Sun Wukong’s head. Whirring and clanking noises sounded as the arms moved about, adjusting and tightening the golden band.

“Miss Tang, you should know that through all the years that Sun Wukong has been in the chamber, he has been dreaming, and those dreams have not been good. As a result, he may become rather... unstable at times. This golden band is meant to be a form of insurance, that will, upon activation, forcefully halt the negative feedback loop causing the instability. However, it is most definitely not a cure. It is merely a stopgap measure that will cause him immense amounts of pain, similar to that which you had just experienced. You may activate the function by using the command phrase that will appear on your Bracer when you select the “Pacify” option. Please, use it sparingly.”

As White Dragon spoke, the glass cover of the stasis chamber slid upwards. Sun Wukong’s expression relaxed, then his eyes slowly blinked open.

“Wukong, it’s White Dragon. Don’t say anything for now, you’re severely dehydrated. Just drink some water and rest.”

A tube popped up near Wukong’s mouth. He clamped his lips on it and started drinking as though he had not tasted water for hundreds of years. Which was exactly the case.

Even the act of drinking seemed to tire him out. As he drank, his motions became slower, and slower, until he fell asleep.

“Miss Tang, perhaps you would like to have a rest while we wait for Wukong to recover. Waking up after being freeze-dried for 500 years would be quite traumatic for even someone with his constitution.”

-- Chapter 3, End --