A deep and gravelly voice, like a neverending growl emanating from a chest the size of a grown bear, alternated with another voice, one that was smooth, mellow and cultured.

“So... Whitey, this… really isn’t a dream?”

“No, Wukong, it isn’t. You’ve been dreaming without waking for a long time, but that abnormal state has been ended, thanks to Miss Tang over there. You have to focus now. This is reality, and you’re really awake. There are elements in this reality that are not within your memories, which should make it apparent that this is not, in fact, a dream.”

“... do you mean, because I’ve never met Miss Tang, I can’t possibly have dreamt of her?”

“Precisely, Wukong. Does that reassure you?”

“Heh, yeah, it does! You’re right though, never in a thousand years would I have dreamt that a descendent of Professor Tang would actually come for me. Hey, I haven’t dreamt about YOU in a long time too, Whitey!”

“I am rather curious. what have you been dreaming of all these years?”

“... I’d rather not talk about it, alright Whitey? Let me just say that, calling them ‘dreams’... it’s like… okay, sort of like crossing a piranha with a leech, painting it pink, then calling it a juicy peach.”

“Thank you very much for that image. Had I the capacity to be so, I imagine I would be extremely disgusted right now. As well as, perhaps, never being able to eat a peach for the rest of my life.”

Out of habit, when Trip woke up, she did so quickly. Taking less than a second to orient herself, she turned toward the voices of White Dragon and Wukong. Wukong was sitting in front of the stasis chamber, leaning against it while slouched over. White Dragon was standing off to one side.

“Mistress!” Wukong’s demeanor instantly changed from his previously lethargic posture. He stood up straight, slowly walked over to Trip, then sank down to one knee in front of her. He clasped his hands in front of his lowered head in a fist palm salute, and said “Thanking Mistress for releasing me from an infinite nightmare! Wukong’s life is now yours! What is your bidding, Mistress?”

“My first command, is not to call me ‘mistress’. Call me Trip.”

“Er... Mistress Trip?”

“Just Trip.”

“Alright, Mistress Just Trip!”

“Sigh... I need your help for two things. One, kill Crimson Bull. Two, save my brother. He’s a prisoner of Crimson Bull.”

Wukong rested his chin in his hand, and cocked his head to one side. “Who or what is this Crimson Bull?”

“He’s a Bull Demon, but even bigger, tougher and nastier than the rest. Calls himself the Bull Demon King. He leads the Crimson Army. They are a plague across the land. They kill those who resist, enslave those who surrender. I’ve been looking for him, but he moves around a lot. It is said that he has never been defeated in combat. Which is why I need your help.”

Wukong threw back his head and laughed. “Hahaha! Whether it’s killing a single Bull Demon or a hundred thousand of them, it’s as simple as banana pie for me! You might as well start preparing the feast to welcome your brother home, I’ll have him back soon! But first... I’m going to need some food...” He put on a piteous pleading expression, like a starving cat looking at the most flavourful tuna that was just out of reach.

Trip noticed a pile of discarded food containers beside the stasis chamber, all emptied, with only a few bits of paste-like remnants still in them. She smelled a dizzying variety of savoury meats and vegetables, which reminded her that she hadn’t eaten in a while.

“You’re right. Let’s get out of here. There should be a village nearby. We’ll resupply first, then plan.”

“YAAAYYYY!” Wukong raised his hands in the air, and started doing a weird, shuffling, monkey dance. With knees bent, arms raised straight up, palms facing down, he twisted and flapped his hands up and down, then to the left and right, while taking alternating steps sideways.

While completely ignoring Wukong’s antics, White Dragon inclined his head politely, and said: “Miss Tang, if I may, I would like to request permission to accompany you.”

“Sure.” Trip nodded. “Would you be able to?”

“Ah, how perceptive!” White Dragon smiled as he nodded approvingly. “Naturally, I would not be able to do so in my current form. As you have probably surmised, I am confined to this facility. However, by inserting my Core into an appropriate vehicle, I will be able to operate independently beyond the perimeter of this facility. Allow me to show you.”

From the back of the room, a small rectangular metal slab slid out from the wall with a quiet hum. Embedded at the top of the slab, was a metallic sphere glowing with brilliant blue lines that seemed to be deeply engraved into the metal. The lines ran both horizontally and vertically across the sphere in a seemingly haphazard manner, sometimes terminating in a tiny circle from which an even stronger blue glow emanated.

“This is my Core.”

A louder hum emanated from underneath a clear space on the floor, behind the stasis chamber. A square section of the floor parted, revealing a dark square pit. From it, a platform slowly rose up, stopping when it was level with the floor. On it, was a large grey horse. Though it looked lifelike, it was very obviously not moving. It wasn’t even breathing.

“This, is the vehicle. When you extract my Core, please do not be alarmed when the facility ceases to be powered. After all, I am the sole power source remaining. Please touch my core to the vehicle, and the appropriate port should open automatically.”

“Alright.”

Trip walked over to the Core and reached for it. The moment she took it out from the slab, all the lights died, and the room was plunged into complete darkness. The only sources of light in the room were the soft blue glow from White Dragon’s core, and strangely, a faint golden glow from Wukong’s eyes.

When she made her way over to the horse, she touched the Core to its side. A small panel slid open in its back, where a saddle would normally be placed. In it was a round recess, perfectly sized to the Core. After putting it in, the panel slid shut, and… nothing happened.

For a few seconds, Trip waited in the room, completely dark except for the golden glow from Wukong’s eyes. Wukong was now pacing up and down, listing out different foods, “... roasted potatoes, roast beef, mashed potatoes, shepherd’s pie… oooh, BANANA PIE!”

Then with a start, the horse’s head jerked twice. Its chest expanded, then compressed, either breathing or going through the motions simulating it. Slowly, the horse started slowly walking around the room.

“Thank you Miss Tang. I will require a moment to adapt myself to the new control scheme for this body. Meanwhile, let us do something about the darkness in here…”

With a BNYEAUUUU, White Dragon’s eyes lit up and cast a soft yet extensive blue glow.

“YEAHHHH! Let’s gooooo!” Wukong cheered.

As if he was leading a marching band, Wukong walked with his chest puffed out towards the exit. As he neared the exit, his steps faltered, then… he fainted.

A horse and a woman were looking at a monkey spread-eagled face-down on the floor.

“Miss Tang, it appears that Wukong greatly overestimated his rate of recovery…”

***

Far above the clouds, deep within a floating city, a console in a long-forgotten room lit up. Green words appeared on a black background. Slowly, then speeding up until they blurred, much too fast to be read.

Then, another console lit up. And another. And another...

-- Chapter 4, End --