Chapter Text
I'm sorry, Heng. Your brother is a deplorable person.
I've done so many things in the name of progress that would make anyone ashamed to call me their brother, let alone a Sol that's supposed to benefit the people.
When we had that fight before we took off, you were right. I was doing this because I wanted this; I didn't consider your feelings. I needed to be right.
When we had a difference of opinion, I threw a tantrum like a child. I couldn't handle it, even though I'm supposed to be the one who knows better.
I said things that day I wish I could take back. There isn't a moment that goes by where I stop regretting the words I said that day. And yet, here I am—further pushing against your wishes to fulfill my selfish wish of keeping you alive.
Hah… some Sol, I am. I don't even have the courage to wake you up and tell you this, face, to face.
It's so red.
Heng runs her fingers along the crimson hibiscus. It's beautiful—striking, even. She remembers a time when she remembered the symbology behind the flower, but it only means one thing to her at this moment-
"Heng, are you listening?"
Heng looks up to see a pouting Shuanshuan sitting on one of the fences surrounding her flower bed and holding his flute in front of him.
"I am," Heng says in earnest, "your tone has gotten so much better."
Shuanshuan's pout turns into a large, toothy grin. "Yeah?"
"You should keep your back straighter, though," Heng gives him the warmest smile she can before she leans back down to the hibiscus. Carefully, she cuts the stems of three of the best flowers and tenderly holds them in her arms.
"Hey, you said that last time!"
"Well, you didn't listen last time, either," Heng playfully pokes fun at him, laughing as he puffs his cheeks out in mock frustration. The air behind those cheeks blows out of his mouth in a whistle when he sees Heng turn around with the flowers in her arms.
"Woah," Shuanshuan places his flute in the sash that holds his robe together, "I've never seen ceremony flowers this pretty."
"You're in luck, Shuanshuan. You get the first pick," Heng says. Shuanshuan excitedly points at the biggest one, just like she thought he would. She hands the other two over to him and he accepts them excitedly.
"I'll hold onto yours while you deliver this to Shun and Chang. Be careful, these flowers are delicate."
"'Kay!"
"And don't be too long, I'll get dinner started when you come back!" Heng yells after Shuanshuan as he takes off excitedly.
"'Kay!" Shuanshuan says again, his voice fading as he excitedly sprints into the distance.
As Shuanshuan disappears over the horizon, her smile slowly falls. Ever since he showed up this morning with the news that he's been chosen, she's been a complete wreck.
She's been thinking deeply about their time together the past two years. The flower garden, the small field of crops, flute lessons, talks about Porky and his exploits, teaching him about solarian culture and crops; all of it brought a much-needed joy into her life.
She's come to see him as something more than just a distraction during her moments of utter helplessness. Heng has come to see him as a genuine friend and a surrogate younger brother. Ever since he called her "sister," she's been clinging to that word with every bit of her soul.
Without Shuanshuan (and Ruyi, begrudgingly), Heng knows that she would've completely fallen apart within two weeks of waking up with Yi's stabilizer in her chest.
And now, he's leaving.
She's brought out of her thoughts as Shuanshuan sprints back to their hut.
Right, dinner.
The two get to work on putting together the most extravagant dinner that Shuanshuan has had in his life. The entire table is full of pickled side dishes, today's catch from the 'forbidden cave,' and freshly steamed vegetables from the garden—a small taste of the yield she'll be bringing to the festival tomorrow. It's a delicious and impressive reflection of how hard she's been working the past two years.
It's also how Shuanshuan knows that Heng is a mess. She never lets anything go to waste and she's made way too much. She's been "spacey" while they put dinner together and she's still acting spacey after they started eating.
"What's wrong?" Shuanshuan finally asks during a lull in conversation, worry written all over his face.
Heng takes a breath, instinctually ready to deflect the worry after having done so to all her loved ones her entire life. She thinks better of it. Every time she tries to hide it, it only makes him press further and she owes the truth to him, at least.
"I have a lot on my mind right now."
"I know. You've been doing that thing where you do stuff and say things, but it feels like you're not fully here."
Heng opens her mouth and finds it hard to breathe, "Well, it's…"
"The festival?"
Heng nods. She desperately tries to get all of her thoughts in order but it all boils down to:
"I know I should be happy for you, you're going to see your mom and dad again," Heng reaches over the table and tussles his hair a little, "but I'm going to miss you. It's quiet without you around."
Shuanshuan's words fail him, too. He tries his very best to give her the assurance that everything is going to be fine, but he remembers the early days where he had to help her walk and eat and sleep. He remembers when she'd stare at nothing for hours or when she cried until she had nothing left.
She's better now. She'll be okay when he's gone… right?
"You could always go into the village more!" Shuanshuan exclaims, trying to snap himself out of that line of thinking, "everybody keeps asking when you're coming around! I'm sure some of them already know that you're a god or something."
Heng looks up urgently, forgetting the moment for a second.
"Did you tell them?"
"No!" Shuanshuan violently shook his head, offended, "I made a pinkie promise, remember?"
Heng breathes out a sigh of relief, "That's good. I'm not sure if they're ready to see me, yet. I'm not that impressive of a god, you know," she laughs nervously.
"I think you should show them all, anyway. I think you're pretty great," Shuanshuan mutters. Heng sadly smiles.
The two sit in relative silence, watching the stove's cooking fire slowly extinguish down to its embers.
"Are you scared, Shuanshuan?" Heng asks.
"A little," Shuanshuan admitted, "I'm gonna miss this, too."
Heng felt her chest tighten, "don't let me keep you, okay? You've been wanting this for so long."
Shuanshuan can't argue with that, but he wants to tell her how much she has meant to him. He remembers how excited he was when the two finally played their first duet flawlessly. He remembers when she taught him how to swim and how she talked about water so vast and so beautiful that it went farther than she could see. She taught him how to grow something—Heng's harvest contains a result of their combined hard work and he's never worked this hard for anything in his life.
He wants to say this and so much more, but Shuanshuan can only nod. This is a feeling of hurt that he's not used to having.
He spent so much time being good in order to be chosen, Heng thinks to herself. She should be happy for him—she knows exactly what kind of position he's in because she's been in this exact position before. A part of her heart wants to beg him not to go—that all of this means nothing because the solarian race is the farthest thing from a collection of gods. It's not worth it for Shuanshuan to offer himself in the name of a race of people who can't graciously accept their fate.
Then again, if she stops him, she'd be doing something similar to what her brother did to her. Tianhuo's reveal was what caused her to attempt to claw the stabilizer out of her chest one time. Yi's actions are what made her realize that she can't die from starvation—and Fusang knows how she tried.
This ceremony might mean nothing but pain and suffering to her, but it means something to him. Who is she to deny him the choice to be with his loved ones, especially when that choice was taken from her over five hundred years ago?
She grits her teeth and steels herself. She offers to pass the time the best way she knows how.
"Shuanshuan, would you like me to continue reading you that one story?”
"You always fall asleep before I do," Shaunshuan pouted.
"Okay, but what if I didn't, this time?"
"You said that the last five times!" Shuanshuan laughs.
The two sit against the wall. She continues to tell him a story of a sage born from stone, embellished by visuals provided by the Mystic Nymph.
To her credit, Shuanshuan falls asleep faster than she does. She only notices when she feels him drooling on her arm. Shortly afterwards, she tucks him in and sits to stare at the cooking fire's embers burn to ash.
Heng barely sleeps at all.
"Squad 31, this is dispatch. You are behind schedule. Give status," a feminine, unenthusiastic voice rings in the communicators of dusk guardians Hao, Jiawe, and Hushang.
"The diagnostic missed some of the repository's belts that were close to getting worn out," Engineer Hao starts, putting two fingers to the white colored fur on his temple, "We also have some geno soldiers that were acting a little sluggish so we need to check the communication relay-"
"More repairs than anticipated," Man-at-arms Sergeant Hushang cuts in. Hao turns to his gray colored superior, who gives him a shrug, "Keep it concise, Hao."
"Acknowledged, Squad 31. It's getting close to dinner. We don't pay Jin for any overtime, just so you know," dispatch's voice softens, "another squad can pick up from where you left off."
"Nope! We'll just be half an hour late," Technician Jiawe's voice comes faintly from behind a maintenance wall. She pokes her head out from behind around the corner, bits of dust and grease sticking out of her black fur, "we're here, we might as well fix it."
She gestures and points at the tablet in Hao's hand. After a quick glance at the readings, Hao gives Jiawe's a thumbs up and they give each other a warm smile.
"Did our captain tell you to check in on us?" Hushang sighs, arms crossed.
"Yep. The rumors from 4th shift were true."
Hushang turns to look at Jiawe and Hao with a quizzical glance. The two mouth 'slave driver' while they brush off Jiawe's fur. He snorts and rolls his eyes.
"I see. If she's concerned with our performance, tell her to rest assured that we're actually doing more than we're told to."
"That's the problem, Sergeant. Captain Chien is… ensuring that all rules and guidelines are being followed," the voice at the end of the line suddenly gets stiff and professional. The three look at each other and all guess that Captain Chien was standing over her shoulder back at the Tiandao research center.
"We'll be quick. I'm sure she'll let it slide," Hushang says.
"Dispatch copies all. Ever vigilant."
"Ever faithful," Hushang says, ending the call.
"Until the sun rises again," Hao sarcastically mutters the end of the dusk guardian motto to himself. The three turn to make their way further into the repository. "Think they bought it?"
Hushang looks at some Kunpeng and Red Tiger soldiers as they pass by. They've been standing motionless in the repository for so long that there's a fine layer of dust on them, "You have a tendency to talk out of your ass when you try to lie to someone. It's like watching a baby dragon snake try to swim."
Jiawe laughs, falling behind next to a grumbling Hao as the two follow Hushang down a dim, unmarked maintenance shaft.
"I still don't get why we have to act like we're military. No offense to you men-at-arms, but we're all engineers, techs, and janitors at the end of the day," Hao complains as the three duck behind a cross beam.
"Discipline is the true path to peace, Hao," Jiawe whispers closely in Hao's ear.
“Discipline is the true path to peace, Hao,” Hushang’s voice bounces off the walls. Jiawe giggles and Hao punches her playfully on his arm.
“It’s a bullshit answer,” Hao shoots at him, grinning wide as his face gets red.
“Yeah? Since we're complaining about overdone topics… It's bullshit that we have to be out of our soulscapes to fix things that drones should be fixing. Not to mention the two numbskulls I have to babysit. You two still giggle like the drunk college students behind my back. It makes me feel as old as this island."
"You could always retire, you know. You're ten cycles over; there's only so much jin to spare," Jiawe remarks. Hushang lets out a non-committal grunt.
"Yeah, well, if I retired, you wouldn't have known where any of the good stuff is," Hushang smirks. The three stop in front of a door with a manual handle weathered through hundreds of years of shifts.
A hastily holo-painted "WARNING, EXPOSED TO VACUUM" sign rests above the handle. Any dusk guardian worth their salt can tell it's an obvious front, but it's still a fun hazing ritual to make a newbie open the door.
After Hushang gives it a hefty pull, the door creaks open to a dusk guardian's hideout. Lots of nooks and crannies on Kunlun were overlooked during its hasty construction; this defunct janitor's lounge was no exception. It has worn down couches, a minimalist sink, a portable stove, and contraband stacked haphazardly high that the pile almost touches the low ceiling.
It's perfect getaway for anyone slacking off from doing an unnecessary maintenance check. Despite some of their superior's insistence on "ever vigilant" maintenance, New Kunlun runs fine by itself thanks to Sol Yi's work. Admittedly, it runs better with the dusk guardians doing their scheduled checks, but some shifts would find themselves with nothing to do on certain days except to stand around and look busy.
Jiawe moves past Hushang and immediately walks to a wall that has numerous drawings and graffiti left behind by the other shifts. She looks over and flicks on a wall monitor, browsing the most recent messages:
Your watch is over and we'll take it from here, 6th Brigade! Thanks for the booze, 5th shift! Happy Hibernation!
- 7th Brigade, 1st Shift, Squad 22
This is Bi from 2nd Shift, Squad 15. My apologies for breaking the retro console. I'll 3D print a replacement part on my rotation. In case you can't wait that long, it should be labeled as "CIRCUITBOARD.JBP." Don't blame me if you break it further!
- 7th Brigade, 2nd Shift, Squad 15
Heya guys! Y'all won't believe this, but supposedly there's a Jie battlelord running around on New Kunlun. Thing is, he isn't interested in fighting and only wants to trade jin.
Squad 18 gave us some chocolate rations they bought from him, but we think they're messing with us and we're a superstitious bunch. We'll leave it for the next group. If it's laced with something, blame 3rd Shift, Squad 18!
- 7th Brigade, 3rd Shift, Squad 8
Hey 5th shift, Good luck with Captain Chien. She's a hardcore busy-body. Word's out on this battlelord that 3rd shift is talking about. Nobody on 4th shift has seen it and our ever-fastidious captain hasn't said anything about it.
We ate all the chocolate rations from 3rd shift (sorry) but we managed to sneak off with some bubble tea rations from the Power Reservoir for your troubles. I hear Sol Kuafu loaded pallettes of this stuff for his personal stash.
- 7th Brigade, 4th Shift, Squad 27
"You gotta learn to read faster, Jiawe," Hao says with a mouthful of bubble tea rations. Jiawe snatches it from his hands and holds it high above her head.
"Hey! We need to save this; we started our cycle yesterday! It's called ration; it's in the name!" Jiawe holds it higher above her head when Hao playfully swipes in a failed attempt to take some more. "At least use hot water like the instructions tell you to!"
"No time like the present," Hushang says, coming at the rations from behind her back and plucking a bite-sized chunk of ration bar from Jiawe's hands. He quickly stuffs it into his mouth.
"I don't want to hear you talk about discipline ever again," Jiawe pouts.
"You're thinking of temperance," Hushang says. She sticks her tongue out and shoves the remaining rations under one side of her hanfu, refusing to engage in an argument with him on semantics.
Hushang reaches into the utility pouch resting on his lower waist and pulls out a jade colored bottle. He sets it down next to the pile of other goodies and types a message of his own on the board.
Sorry, first shift. No bubble tea rations for you. Although, we're leaving you guardians some moonshine that's stronger than my last batch. Try not to wake up hungover on a conveyor belt.
- 7B, 5S-31
"Hey, dispatch just sent our squad's schedule for tomorrow," Hao mutters. He looks at words that only he can see, which are projected into his vision by his neural interface. His hands raise a translucent panel of words to his eye level.
"Squad 31 is to deviate from the repository to work on the Livestock Pens. Great," Hao says with a grimace, "Have you ever done work there, Hushang?"
Hushang lets out a hum before he does the same thing to check the memo. "It says that there's scheduled maintenance on the geno guards. I've done it once."
"So it's just us, then?" Jiawe whispers. She and Hao haven't worked there yet, but they've heard stories from the other dusk guardians. Most of them were obviously embellished… hopefully…
"That place is Sol Yi's jurisdiction. It's fully automated, relax," Hushang says, giving Jiawe a reassuring glance, "We'll be standing guard in the outer perimeter during collection after we do the maintenance. You won't see the stuff that goes on inside."
"Have you ever been inside?"
"Once. Be glad we're not doing janitor work. It's not pretty."
"Hey," Hao says, trying to change the subject, "do you guys know what they're serving in the canteen tonight?"
"Not apemen hotpot, I hope," Hushang pointedly looks at Hao, grimly enjoying how much he was squirming, "you won't be able to look at that the same once you're done there."
Breathe in. Pull back. Palm towards the ground. Release.
An azure arrow slams itself onto a stalactite in the same cavern Heng set up her fishing pole.
Breathe out.
She doesn't care that the sounds, lights, or the small bits of falling stone are scaring the fish away. She was feeling restless and this seemed like a better way to work off her anxiety compared to staring at the lake.
Breathe in. Pull back. Palm towards the ground. Release.
Another arrow hits the same spot, furthering a divot into the stalactite and causing a larger chunk of stone to fall into the water with a satisfying spelunk.
Breathe out.
On Penglai, working on the family farm meant that she had a lot of open space—plenty of room to bring out the heirloom when she was stressed or bored while her parents were away.
Breathe in. Pull back. Palm towards the ground. Release.
Yet another arrow lands on the same divot, causing the stalactite to completely fall and cause a small splash.
Breathe out.
It's oddly calming to hear the chime-like sound of the arrow flying from her hand. It was also fun to explode rotten fruit—if the arrow disintegrating everything in front of it counts as "exploding."
Unfortunately, she did too good of a job on her small farm in Peach Blossom Village. She managed to harvest almost everything down to the stems and dirt. Some rocks and the cavern wall would have to do.
The azure sand floating in the air and water glows and skims off the lake as it quickly flies back to the bow. Heng feels the bow vibrate as the grains gather into the azure bow's collector cylinder where the bottom magazine used to be.
The limbs click up and forwards, then clack down and backwards. The entire bow hums and the limbs glow blue to let her know the next shot is ready.
This azure bow is a family heirloom that's been passed down for so long; Yi's modifications feel like sacrilege. But she has to admit: being able to control the output and re-use the sand is extremely handy. Sourcing the ammunition always felt so awkward back home, even if owning a bow like this was normal for the Xia countryside.
Hi, yes. I'm the quiet flutist woman on the Hou estate. May I have some azure sand so I can blow up some rotten fruit, please?
Breathe in. Pull back. Rotate Palm. Release.
With her mind elsewhere, Heng releases the next arrow at a stalactite that's too close. She yelps as she realizes too late that she forgot to fully dial down the power. The stalactite explodes into shrapnel and she instinctively raises her hand to protect her face.
She's grateful for Xia's mandatory martial arts classes because she's able to deflect the stones away from her nose—less grateful that these classes were only a year long. The rocks painfully bounce off her wrist bone.
"Owwww," Heng drags the word out, shaking her hand like she's trying to flick the pain out through her fingers. She looks left and right to make sure Shuanshuan wasn't looking from behind a corner, somewhere. He'd probably never live it down all the way to the altar. She feels a deep-seated loneliness creep its way into her heart when she doesn’t see him.
Heng feels her temples rattle uncomfortably. Speaking of sacrilege…
"What is it?" Heng curtly asks as she puts two of her fingers to her temple.
"Lady Heng, I wanted to give you a notice that the festival has started."
Heng cranes her head to look out of the cave to see the horizon. Sure enough, the sun was falling.
"Thank you, Abacus," she begrudgingly says. Heng dismisses the bow by opening up all fingers of her left hand. The bow starts to disintegrate, but click-clacks and hums to let her know that it’ll be ready when it’s summoned again.
She walks urgently back to her hut to the shoulder-pole that's ready with the literal fruits of her labor. She slips on a pair of gloves and lets out a grunt as she hefts her entire harvest onto her shoulders.
"Please don't strain yourself. The weight of this shoulder pole is heavy for a solarian of your size."
Heng huffs dismissively. It's far from the biggest harvest she had to carry to the farmers' market when dad was too old and sick to do so.
Still, she couldn't deny that having an AI assistant has its perks. Ruyi has admittedly always been good at looking out for her. He's been instrumental in her recovery ever since she woke up.
However, it doesn't diminish how invasive it feels to know he's always watching and how unnatural it feels to have her skull rattle every call.
He also likes to keep secrets. There are still some things he "isn't at liberty to discuss for her safety." What's worse is that she believes him and feels far from ready to handle whatever he's hiding.
She checks both ends of the pole and frowns when she looks at the mark from deflecting the stones earlier—Ruyi and the rhizomatic stabilizer weren't the only unnecessary additions. Her eyes trace the jade system's markings along her wrist. Although the system's conduit lines are barely visible underneath her fur, she swears she sees them glow every time Ruyi calls or every time she summons the mystic nymph. It makes her skin crawl every time.
"Lady Heng," Ruyi's voice pauses after Heng takes a couple steps, as if carefully thinking on his next words, "may I suggest that you stay here?"
Heng stops.
"Explain, please."
"Although you have been arduously preparing this harvest for the festival, the ceremony may prove to be extremely distressing, especially since Shuanshuan has been designated as an offering."
With her worries finally being vocalized, she feels a part of her cement itself to the ground. All she knew about the ceremony was that the apemen “ascend” and that it’s painless. She didn't dare to ask how it worked. It would've upset her too much back then. It'd upset her even more, now.
Every time someone left her, they took a part of her with them.
What part will Shuanshuan take with him?
She blinks rapidly to fight off tears she thought she no longer had in her. She thinks how she probably won't look at the flute the same ever again. Or apemen children. Or silly stories made by apemen children.
She flattens her ears to place a bamboo hat atop her head. She makes sure that the veil perfectly hides every feature of her face.
"I'm going, Abacus. I have to say goodbye."
Ruyi graciously took it as the dismissal as it was.
"As you wish, Lady Heng."
Before she leaves, she turns to Fusang's roots for any source of comfort. When she closes her eyes, she can hear an intranslatable, alien language ring between her ears.
FED. HAPPY.
Heng sighs at the same message she's been hearing for the past two years and walks onward.
Heng passes by the solarian statue wreathed in flowers that seems to stare at her as she walks into the village. She finds herself glaring back at it. Normally, she'd have disdainfully ignored it, but the statue was easier to stomach than the countless masks and puppets that resemble the supposed gods.
She especially scrunches her face at the seal like she has every other time she’s seen it. Loyalty. Is that what this is supposed to inspire? This non-descript statue of a generic solarian—bowing but still looking down on her?
Even after two years, Heng still doesn't realize it's supposed to be him.
Heng was starting to second-guess her decision to come here. None of this was remotely fine. These gods of theirs were anything but. Heng sure didn't feel like one.
But still… It would've killed her inside if she didn't see Shuanshuan off.
After watching all of her friends and neighbors fall to Tianhuo, Heng is no stranger to watching people leave the mortal coil in front of her. Xia tried their hardest to celebrate life as they met their premature end in its own quiet and reserved manner. Peach Blossom village has no such reservations. The festival was as much of a celebration of life as it was of passing…
… But it's all in the name of false gods.
It's lively. It's blasphemous. It's charming. It's sickening. They're having the time of their lives. What will happen if they find out it's all a lie?
After having gone through that experience, after Ruyi showed her that Tianhuo was Solarian made and that her loved ones died to an unnatural phenomenon, Heng still struggles daily with the thought of revealing the truth to the Apemen.
They deserve to know.
In the midst of her thoughts, while she's setting down the shoulder pole, she feels a small apeman child bump against her thigh. The kid says a quick apology before grabbing his smaller sibling and making an excited noise.
"Thanks, Miss Heng! Come on, say 'thank you!'"
"Shhannk you Mish Heng," the little child said, mask askew because he was snacking one one of Heng’s fruit that was half the size of his head.
Heng waves as politely as she can and gives her the warmest "it's no trouble," that she can muster and lets the kids take off to reunite with their parents.
She can't do it.
She can't find it in herself to reveal anything to these villagers. She's been down that road for the past two years, now. She can't stomach the idea of subjecting the village to the paralyzing despair and bitterness–the type of awfulness that felt like all her blood was replaced with acid. It's the type that clamped her jaw shut and kept her chained to her bed—finding some days damn near impossible to eat, let alone get up in the morning.
Heng learned how to keep a straight face from her numerous performances on Penglai, but she's glad that her hat is keeping her face hidden. The apemen give her thanks, show her hospitality, and take the literal weight off her shoulders. It makes her pained expression worsen underneath the veil.
She tries her hardest to focus on the villagers and their time of celebration, and to her luck, Peach Blossom village celebrates loudly. The fireworks do her a great deal by snapping her out of her thoughts and letting her enjoy the small moments, for what it's worth. Even the grumpy Shennong offers an acknowledging grunt at her food.
"This is your first ceremony, right?" Shennong asks, inspecting the food like it's got something growing out of it.
"Yes. It's quite lively," Heng says, holding her breath in hopes she earned his approval. She sighs in tiny relief that he actually nods in a critical fashion as his lips smack away at the food.
"More like it's too damn loud, and for what?" Shennong says as he turns to walk away. Heng lets him go, finding the grumbled ramblings of the man simultaneously intimidating and strangely endearing.
"This ceremony is a joke," Shennong mutters to himself, thinking that Heng couldn't hear. She tries her hardest to focus on the noise again, but his cynicism and her thoughts refuse to shake her away from her thoughts. She can't help but feel that this festival is a poorly timed, inappropriately themed funeral procession.
The rest of the festival is a blur, and before she knows it, she's standing in the crowd of apemen and watching as the three chosen stand by the altar. Shuanshuan is able to pick out Heng's yellow robe and waves at her with a grin.
His clothes and the flower are unsettlingly too big for him. Heng waves back. As the ceremony starts, she feels strangely ashamed that she's missing the Shaman's words, but she can only process it as white noise until she hears the Shaman’s bell ring.
"In accordance with the Sol's orders, we humbly pay respect to the flying throne!" The shaman proclaims as the villagers fall to their knees and bow. Heng does the same to match the other villagers, but she scrunches her face in confusion and alarm at the sounds she's hearing from the throne.
That's a machine.
She looks up to see that Chang has stepped onto the altar and she watches as he ascends and lifts into the air. The glass goes opaque and she feels the air leave her lungs when the body spins and falls to the ground without its head. The silhouette of his blood spews from its fresh wound as she watches the body crumple into itself onto the altar.
The platform that holds Chang falls and is quickly replaced. The same can be said about the machine that took his head.
Heng feels like the blood has been drained from her body. Her mind is desperately trying to process what just happened, but she gets wrenched back to reality when she hears the shaman's bell. The next offering walks onto the altar.
She opens her mouth to say something, but she's too late. She watches the machine fall and pick up the second offering, Shun. She can't breathe. She's frozen. She wants to do something, anything, but the second body spins and falls to the stone with a sickening, wet thud—lifeless behind opaque glass.
Why?! By the roots below, why in Fusang's name didn't she ask?!
The bell rings again. The platform is replaced.
Shuanshuan steps forward onto the unholy altar.
"Abacus!" She barely chokes the name out of her throat.
"Yes?”
"How do I stop it?” Her voice is an urgent whisper, dripping with dread.
"If you stop the process now-"
The machine is replaced. A new one floats above Shuanshuan's head. She feels every fiber of her being erupt into action and she shoots to her feet.
"ABACUS, HOW DO I STOP IT?!" Heng strains her voice as she shouts from the bottom of her chest. Everyone turns, startled, including Shuanshuan.
"The collection device can be destroyed with the Sky Piercer. Although, be warned that-"
At the word "destroyed," Heng shifts into a bladed stance and punches her non-dominant hand forward—two fingers pointed at the machine. Heng flings her hat upwards and off herself to get a clear line of sight on her target.
Breathe!
She pulls her right hand back.
Her fist lies horizontally at first, but she rotates her hand clockwise and the bow rings out with three urgent chimes.
Her gloved thumb brushes against her cheek as the machine begins to fall.
Tao guide me, please!
When she opens her right hand, the azure arrow screams forward—its projectile barely large enough to completely envelop the sphere and take it on the arrow’s journey to the clouds.
The arrow, much more like a beam of light, cuts through the skies above—creating a second horizon for a flash of a second. The machine explodes into the fake sky and shatters the sunset display panels, which crash into the distant trees.
[[ DISPLAY ERROR: DAMAGE FROM UNAPPROVED ORDNANCE ]]
[[ UNAUTHORIZED SOLARIAN ACCESS IN LIVESTOCK PEN 95 ]]
[[ SECURITY AND MAINTENANCE STAFF ALERTED ]]
A deafening siren blares twice. The message repeats on various portions of the sky as a surge of energy ripples through and lights up the panels' hexagonal pattern.
The destroyed panels are quickly replaced by a pit crew of drones and robot arms on gimbals and belts. The words disappear when the damage is instantly patched, but for a moment, everyone could see that there was a giant hole in the stars.
The villagers all gasp and prostrate themselves at the display, but more so by the sight of her cream colored fur.
"The gods are displeased!" The guru shrieks. She cowers when Heng runs to Shuanshuan to grab him by the shoulder with her release hand.
"Are you hurt?!"
Shuanshuan shakes his head, dumbfounded with his jaw slack.
"I thought you said you weren't supposed to use the bow like that," he says, still processing the awe inspiring display.
"I'm not," Heng grimaces. He suddenly snaps out of his trance when Heng's bamboo hat finally flutters to the ground.
"Ah! Your disguise!"
Heng turns to look at the rest of the villagers who were face down and kissing the dirt. In the distance, she can make out Shennong staring with his mouth agape wearing an expression mixed with shock and vindication.
"Spare us from your wrath, oh god!" The shaman trembles before Heng.
"I-I'm not a god!" Stutters the lady who punched a hole through the sky. The bow's limbs click-clack and back-light her in an azure aura to punctuate her oxymoronic declaration.
"What…?" Shuanshuan mutters.
"Master Heng, this area will soon become a battleground unless you escape."
"Where do I go?!" Heng whirls her head around, dismissing the bow and confusing Shuanshuan even further. Was she talking to the voice in her head?
"Please make way through the collection receptacle to draw attention away from this pen. The geno guards will focus on you and not perceive the apemen as a threat if they comply with their commands."
Heng urgently drops to one knee and holds his hands tightly.
"Shuanshuan, I need you to listen very closely. If mean looking people, or people who look like me, come in here? Do what they say and don't cause any trouble. Do you understand?"
"Heng, you're scaring me-"
"Shuanshuan please. Nod if you understand," Heng squeezes his hands too tight. Shuanshuan nods, worry suddenly plastered all over his face in a clear reflection of Heng's own anxiety.
"Are you leaving?" His voice cracks as he whispers the next words, "Did I do something wrong?"
"No!" Heng grits her teeth fiercely. A pained whine escapes her throat as she tries her hardest not to cry in front of him. Heng's voice wavers, but she needs him to hear this, "No, Shuanshuan, you didn't do anything wrong. None of this is your fault," Heng manages to say before pulling him into a tight hug. She sees the villagers still prostrated and trembling.
"I'll be back for you, I promise. Please take care of them!" She whispers loudly in his ear before letting go and sprinting onto the platform.
"Lady Heng, I can-" Heng doesn't hear Ruyi's course of action; all she hears is her heart slamming against her chest and the stabilizer so hard that she can feel it in her ears. She summons the sky piercer, takes aim towards the ground, and releases a full-powered azure arrow into the altar.
A horrendous sound of stone and metal gnashing together accompanies the altar getting shredded downwards, twisting into the dark. Without hesitating, she takes a leap of faith and is followed by azure stardust as she falls.
"Heng!" Shuanshuan yells after her. He teeters at the edge of the entrance, watching as Heng disappears into the dark belly of New Kunlun.