“Mhm. I need to say it,” Wei started to speak.

  “You don’t need to. I know,” Song said.

  He knew.

  Taj was dying.

  “The lab, they aimed at Taj,” Wei said.

  “Hell, it looks like. What did you find out?” Song asked.

  “It was Amber,” Wei spoke. “He tipped them off about who would be the best for their experiment. Taj has a strong Ability, but before he was a Crystaler, his old embedding was in his body, even if no Crystal.”

  Wei went silent.

  Song had nothing to add. His face was like stone-cold.

  The weapon had finally been tested. It was determined that destroying Ability, the core of energy, was possible. Amber was dead.

  The hell. What Amber had said before he died was troubling.

  It contained pieces of truth but was not the whole truth.

  Hell, Amber. The last lesson from his former teacher.

  All the weapons, tracking, and protection tools Song had developed. All in vain. Useless. Amber was right. Song couldn’t protect who he wanted to protect the most.

  Taj was dying.

  “What did Lan say?” Wei asked, breaking the silence.

  “She said there is no way of undoing this. His energies are mixed in a way she cannot reproduce; his body is giving up quickly. We won’t manage to save him in any usual way. To heal him is possible, but giving him this strange, swirling energy Rowan possesses is also depleting his body; he has even more energies to hold.”

  “Mhm. Why doesn’t it work? And did you do it?” Wei asked.

  “I’ve learned how to give this swirl to Taj. The problem is, Taj also has something strange in his energy. Lan said he has three of them. When Rowan or I calm his collision down with this swirl, he then has four of them. Hell, I see no other way—” Song was speaking nervously.

  How unusual.

  “Song. I know,” Wei said and added. “Taj learned Lan’s inventions. I won’t ask him about it; I can wait for Lan to tell me. About your decision, I understand. I won’t argue. However, Taj is arguing. He again talked to me and tried to convince me.”

  “I decided. Let’s organize the transfer of my weapons. You learn them so that the Sect will be safe. The plan is simple and has even practical outcomes for the future. My favorite logistics will benefit,” Song said sourly and sighed.

  “I agree. What you have thought about looks promising,” Wei said.

  Soon after that, they parted ways.

  Song transported himself back home.

  “Taj?” he asked.

  “O? I am here.” Taj’s voice was barely audible.

  Where was he?

  He was sitting on the floor. Collapsed? Probably.

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  Song’s heart ached.

  He approached him and took a look.

  Taj was weak. He no longer changed out of his robes to sleep; the white color emphasized how pale he was. His black hair was loose; he had stopped tying it.

  He had no strength.

  Song walked over, picked him up, and carried him to the bed.

  Then he transferred energy. Hell, he had learned what Rowan had discovered inside her. Lan called it a split.

  Taj had a split now too, only different. The opposite.

  What Taj had was so strong that his body couldn’t handle it.

  In normal circumstances, Song would have been fascinated. Ability that splits into such powerful sub-energy, or whatever to call it? Intriguing.

  Now, terrible.

  “I didn’t know when you would be back. I decided to describe these new daisies; they are strange! They turned out to bind the soil better with their roots than grasses, and when mixed with grasses… o, I know, you don’t like the subject very much.” Taj stopped explaining.

  “Tell me about it,” Song said.

  He wanted to listen to it. Taj talking about his work felt good. He was still trying to do something, not to think about what had happened.

  “Tell me about your weird daisies, Taj,” Song added.

  “Imagine that; I mutated regular daisies. I added features from those grasses we needed. I told you about them; do you…? You nod; you remember. These daisies are very persistent; they could help restore the soil in the Deserts, of course, with other plants and a lot of water. Lan says she will send Rowan, as I won’t be able, but how amazing, it could work. These daisies—what a funny name you used, ‘weird daisies.’ I like it; I will call them like that. They need to be… do I talk too much?O, no? Good…”

  Song listened.

  Slowly, Taj’s concentration started to fade away. He fell asleep.

  Himself, Song, couldn’t yet.

  Usually, their home was rarely silent. Either Taj talked, laughed, or music was on. Only during the night was it silent. Not the whole time; Taj was a passionate lover. But when asleep, he was silent. As if his mind had to rest. Taj didn’t snore. Song also didn’t snore. It was calm.

  Song wasn’t sure if he liked their home when it was that calm.

  A thought. Taj being a sleep talker. Song wondered what Taj would tell, what stories, if he was a sleep talker. Song would listen.

  Shortly, Song fell asleep. Then he woke up suddenly.

  What a nightmare.

  He woke up, but he didn’t move; he didn’t have the strength to move.

  Song was shocked that he couldn’t move easily.

  He slowly turned his head to the right and checked.

  Alive. Taj was still alive. Sleeping. Breathing. Song was unable to stop looking. He needed to stay still for a long time to compose his mind.

  The hell.

  What a nightmare. Song held Taj in his arms. Taj’s body was cold, his eyes were closed, and his lips were not moving. No sparks of energy, no sound. Taj not talking.

  Not opening his eyes, his body not dancing. No laughter. No smile.

  Nothing but an empty, cold body. Emptiness. No Taj in this body.

  In this dream, Song felt vast despair. Helplessness.

  He didn’t know what to do.

  When he woke up, he could still feel all these emotions.

  Hell, no.

  Song waited until his heart and mind quieted.

  He couldn’t live on when Taj was not there.

  There was no other way. Song knew he failed. He failed to protect. Taj was dying.

  A thought. Clar had been dead for so many years. If he were alive, would Taj be safer?

  The hell. Amber’s poisonous words again.

  Song decided that Taj couldn’t die. Or couldn’t die alone.

  The plan was simple.

  They were already working on something they called energy consciousness. They wanted to use it for logistics navigation. At least Lan thought like that; Song thought about it as weapons navigation. Energy without control was useless. Conscious navigation for weapons would mean new possibilities.

  The idea was there for some time, strictly classified.

  Now, Song planned to use it; he had already done some tests.

  The plan was simple—Song would join Taj in the collision.

  Taj’s energies were aiming in this direction; it was inevitable. He was dying not only because his body was giving up, but also because his energies wanted to collide.

  Why? No one knew.

  Song decided to join him. They would apply the prototype of the invention, and it would cause them both to awaken as conscious energies. Or it would fail, and they would die. Together.

  Both outcomes were good. No other was possible.

  Taj wouldn’t be alone in it. Song would be with him.

  ...

  The Sect's internal archives: 70 ACD

  [Death of Elder Jiu Song, 25 ACD-70 ACD, 45y, and Elder Shi An, ~16 ACD-70 ACD, ~54y reasons classified] [Death of ex-Elder Wu Amber, 6 BCD-70 ACD, 76y]

  The Sect: the Academia new research project regarding energy splits; details classified. The ex-Elder Amber’s sentence was executed; natural Crystals and the e.i. details were classified.

  ...