Chapter 142 - Mr Qiu

“Are they snatching outers right off the streets? Why isn’t anybody saying anything about it on the tv?” Ceres asked, trying to dig deeper into the situation.

“Yea, this sounds impossible to pull off without garnering some attention. I never heard of anything like this!” Halyon was indignant at what he thought to be obvious slander.

“You’re right in that they are not snatching outers off the streets against their will. Rather, the university trials are a paid program. Their families will get reimbursement for every volunteer they send to such a trial, and of course, they cover their tracks legally, by signing waiver forms and any chance of a lawsuit.” Sierra nodded.

“Well, that’s good then, the outers made their choice. They even get paid for it – what’s so bad about that?” Halyon groaned.

Ardan shook his head. “Emphasis on ‘their families’. The participant themselves never gets the reimbursement because they never return to New Saint to even make use of it. Many who go to the university trials never return, only to become missing or declared dead. The truth is that they are still being continuously experimented on, with no hope of freedom.”

“Then wouldn’t all the outers be aware of such a plan? Surely a few thousand missing outers will alert people.” Ceres asked.

“That’s the thing – people know, yet they cannot say anything because they are second-class citizens. The best part? The ones capturing the outers for the university trials are outers themselves who have joined criminal rings.” Sierra whipped out her multi-terminal, showing a few videos of blatant kidnapping.

“The enforcers never follow up on any missing cases, and never crackdowns on these criminal rings. Any protest, riot or peace march is immediately broken up with brute force thanks to the new powers of Oliver. It’s only New Saint for now, but soon his rule will spread to the rest of the planet, and nowhere will be safe.” Ardan concluded.

Ceres truly felt sick to the core. First, the Dynasty were the one financing the University. Next, the Five Families have labelled the outers as second-class citizens. The enforcers don’t help the outers, and the outers themselves have turned on each other, trying to kidnap each other to get rich.

“Do you see now? Oliver has engineered a divide within the outers themselves, using money as the incentive to get us to turn on each other. If he unifies the planet, what kind of society would this be?” Ardan sighed.

Halyon too was lost for words, now fully comprehending the scale of what was happening.

“There’s one last place we need to go before you’re done. Only ’17 Dumplings’ and I will proceed.” Ardan motioned to Ceres to follow him.

They left Sierra and Halyon behind to walk a bit further down, stopping in front of a restricted metal door. Ardan turned and looked sternly at Ceres. “No matter what you see inside, do not say or hit anything. Stay as calm as you can.”

“Why? What’s inside the door.”

“Someone you know.”

The two of them entered the restricted room, the bright light blinding Ceres slightly for a moment as though he was back on the surface. He had never seen such a bright light for a long time, reminding him of the year he spent underground.

As his eyes readjusted, he could not even begin to describe what he was seeing. Ceres tried to reconcile what he saw versus where he just came from. How was this even possible?

“… Mrs Qiu’s Dumpling Store? Here?”

He was standing at the entrance of the dumpling store, as though he was truly back in Zone 17. If he did not recall the rebellion base just a minute ago, he might have truly believed he was back on the surface.

The same creaky wooden planks, the dusty tabletops, the holoscreen on the ceiling playing music from 910s. Ceres put his hand on the nearest tabletop, feeling the aged grooves of the table on his palm. He reached below the table, feeling for something. However, he did not find anything, no mark, etch or trace of what they left behind as kids remained.

Regardless, the walls, floors, and table arrangement along with the nostalgic smell all hit him in a single go, almost making him tear up slightly, but he held it down. Ardan seemed unflustered, as though he had been here multiple times.

“Oh, Ares, you’re back!” An old man with thinning white hair shuffled out from behind the counter leading to the kitchen, wearing a sweaty white shirt and a stained apron.

Ceres wanted to call out his name immediately, but Ardan grabbed his wrist, giving Ceres a look reminding him of his original instruction before they entered the room.

Ardan turned to the old man, his expression rapidly changing to a photogenic smile with a carefree demeanour. “Hello, Mr Qiu! I met a new friend at university today, are you open now?”

“Oh yes, yes of course! I’m always open to serving you, Ares! Please, have a seat anywhere you like. You’re lucky you came when there aren’t that many customers. They usually swarm the place in an hour or so.” Mr Qiu bowed before showing the two of them to their table.

Ceres sat down on the creaky square wooden stool, at the same table position they always used to sit together. Ardan sat opposite him, before beginning to order the same set of dumplings from Mr Qiu as they had always done before. It was like time had never passed, and everything that had happened to Ceres was a dream.

“Thirty nutri-dumplings coming right up! I’m so glad you finally found a friend after all this time, I was beginning to get worried that you’ll always be alone at university.” Mr Qiu chuckled as he patted Ardan’s back, before shuffling off to the kitchen, the sound of the stove firing up. It looked like Mr Qiu had barely aged a year, even though Ceres knew it had been more than five years.

Ceres couldn’t handle it anymore, leaning over and whispering angrily to Ardan. “What the hell is going on here? Are you keeping Mr Qiu hostage here? Where’s Mrs Qiu and Lisa?”

Ardan did a shushing motion on his lips, reminding Ceres not to say anything. Ceres frowned, leaning back slightly to take in the decorations. He noticed that none of the family ornaments, pictures or mementoes was on the walls any longer.

The family sword that used to hang near the kitchen was missing as well, something Lisa loved to use to threaten others with when she wasn’t feeling nice.

“Lucky for you, I already had a few dumplings in the works.” Mr Qiu came out after a few short minutes, bringing two long plates that had fifteen dumplings each, placing them down in front of Ardan and Ceres respectively.

Mr Qiu then pulled up a wooden stool, and sitting down next to Ardan and patting his thigh in a jovial manner: “A friend after so long! I’m so proud of you - oh you must tell me how the both of you met!”

Ardan smiled. “Shouldn’t you be preparing for the customers later? Are they not coming in soon?”

“Bah, I can get ready in a few short minutes. I’m an expert - I’ve been doing this for years!” Mr Qiu waved Ardan off in dismissal. “I’m closing down the dumpling store soon, anyway, doesn’t matter if I miss a few customers or not!”

“Closing down the dumpling store? Why?” Ceres blurted out, earning a stern glare from Ardan.

Mr Qiu’s smile gradually began to fade, his face slowly reverting to a plain expression before he suddenly regained his joy as though nothing had happened. “I’ve been selected for the Relocation Program, didn’t you hear? I’ve been telling everyone!” Mr Qiu smiled genuinely at Ceres.

Before Ceres could question further, Ardan grabbed Ceres’s wrist tightly as he replied: “That’s so exciting! What are you planning to do there?”

Mr Qiu rubbed his hands in contemplation, clearly fantasizing about all the things he was going to enjoy there. “Oh I don’t know, but I might open a dumpling store at the new Zone! Wouldn’t hurt anybody to have more choice in what to eat there. I’m sure the University of Athen would appreciate my contributions.”

“Come on, that’s so boring, Mr Qiu. You should enjoy your time there, retire and relax. You’ve been cooking dumplings for more than a few decades, how about taking a break for once?”

“Oh you know me, always stuck in the same old loop. It’s a habit to me, I’ve been doing this for decades with my fa…” Mr Qiu’s eyes glanced around the dumpling store, the pupils glazed over as though he was barely focusing. He suddenly returned back to reality, smiling as though everything was normal.

“Speaking of the dumpling store, I’m thinking of passing it over to you, Ares.” Mr Qiu patted Ardan’s shoulders.

“Me? Why? Don’t you have anybody else to give it to?”

Mr Qiu’s cheeks twitched slightly, and for a brief moment in time, Ceres could see a deep pit of despair and desperation appear in his emotional outline, embedded within the joy that Mr Qiu felt that quickly snuffed it out.

“I’ve been running this store alone my entire life, you know me. I got no family and no successor either so all I got left is you. Won’t you accept it?”

Ceres could feel his heart tighten, as he clenched his fists extremely tightly. He was about to stand up in anger when Ardan’s grip on his wrist tightened. Ceres shot an angry glance at Ardan, who was still smiling like nothing was wrong.

“Of course, I’ll accept it, but only when you leave for the Relocation Program! I’ll hold on to it for you until you find a true successor.”

“Haha good, good. Who knows? I might finally find a wife, maybe even have a daughter there…” Mr Qiu’s voice trailed off.

Ceres couldn’t take it anymore, ripping his arm away from Ardan and slamming the table, shocking Mr Qiu out.

“What the hell are you even saying?! What about Lisa? Mrs Qiu?!” Ceres roared at Mr Qiu, who was frightened out of his wits.

The sudden outburst caused Mr Qiu to remain stunned, his eyes and expression rapidly twitching as it oscillated between sadness and fear. “Wha… what am I saying…? I…”

Ardan quickly stood between Ceres and Mr Qiu, blocking their vision of each other. “Sorry, Mr Qiu, my friend is really too passionate about dumplings! We’re actually running late for one of our university classes, so do you mind if we got takeaway instead?”

“Uhh… sure… “ Mr Qiu mumbled as he stood up, shuffling to the counter and grabbing a takeaway container. Before Mr Qiu walked over, Ardan retrieved a medical square patch, hiding it in his palms.

As Mr Qiu tried to put the dumplings in the containers, Ceres noticed Mr Qiu could barely hold them properly, dropping a few onto the floor.

“Don’t worry Mr Qiu, I’ll do it myself, thanks for the container. You have a good rest back in your room alright?” Ardan patted Mr Qiu on the neck, the medical square patch now attached to the skin and delivering a tranquilizer dose.

“Yes, yes… I’ll have a rest… before the customers come later…” Mr Qiu’s eyes began to flutter as he began to walk to the back of the kitchen where there was a bedroom connected, obviously tired out.

Ardan supported him all the way to the bed, laying Mr Qiu down, who began to sleep and snore peacefully. The bedroom was barebones, missing all of the family pictures and decorations that Ceres recalled from the last visit.

“You need to explain what the fuck is going on right now.” Ceres snarled at Ardan.

“Not here. Outside.”

The two of them exited the dumpling store, back into the rebellion base. The door slid close behind, leaving them in an empty metallic corridor. Ceres turned to confront Ardan: “What the fuck are you doing to Mr Qiu? Why doesn’t he remember Lisa, or his wife? What did you do? Induced dementia?”

Ardan did not reply, instead pulling out his multi-terminal, displaying a camera log of the dumpling store. It was a recording, showing Ardan entering the dumpling store alone.

“I don’t want to watch a video, I want the answe…” Ceres was about to shout when he noticed something peculiar about the video.

The dialogue and conversation Ardan had with Mr Qiu were exactly the same. Ceres could even tell Mr Qiu truly believed that he was going to the Relocation Program next week, every week.

Ardan showed a few more recordings, each conversation being the same, causing Ceres to feel a pit in his stomach as his brain automatically came up with the answer. He staggered backwards, trying to reconcile the answer.

“They brainwashed him. They fucking brainwashed him.” Ceres uttered with finality, his head resting in his hands as he slumped to the ground in disbelief.

Ardan took a deep breath and nodded. “Do you understand now? Mrs Qiu is dead from the riots, Lisa is imprisoned, and all we have left now is a brainwashed Mr Qiu who believes none of them exists. This is what they are doing to us, no, the whole Zone 17.”

Ceres couldn’t find any words to reply to him. The revelation of Mrs Qiu dying hit him harder, causing him to be unable to speak. The fact that Mr Qiu was forced to forget his family caused his heart to tighten even more.

The worst part of all this was that Ceres knew he had a role in all of this. He was the one who instigated the riots after all. The full gravity of what happened now sunk into his very being, Ceres clenching his fist tightly in both rage and despair.

A few minutes passed in silence as the two sat on the ground outside the restricted door against the wall. Any previous image that Ceres had of a happy reunion with his friends had been thrown out of the window quickly.

Ceres already felt devastated at learning this. He could not stop thinking about how Lisa would react if she was here when she found out what happened to her father.

“How can you even remain calm when you meet him? How can you smile in front of him?” Ceres finally broke the silence, his voice slightly trembling.

“I can’t,” Ardan replied while chuckling sadly at the absurdity of it all. “I never said I could. I can’t do it myself. But I must. I try to. Who else here is going to talk and laugh with him? I have to do it. I have been doing it for years and will continue doing it.”

Another minute of silence passed.

“Every week,” Ardan spoke in a subdued tone. “Every week, I come here to keep him company. I’m the only one here who knows him.”

“Every week, I come here to be reminded of what the University, what the Five Families have done and are doing to us.”

“Every week, I come here to focus on the goal, my motivation: to see the Five Families and fucking Oliver Athen burn in hell for what he’s done.” Ardan’s grip tightened around the dumpling takeaway box, slightly crumpling it.

Ceres didn’t reply immediately, his head still buried in his hands. “The brainwashing, it failed, didn’t it?” Ceres asked.

Ardan nodded. “Only 5% of participants in the brainwashing trial came out ‘normal’, the rest had induced dementia, loss of motor control and were stuck in a loop like you’ve seen. Mr Qiu can barely make the dumplings like he used to.”

“That’s why they haven’t brainwashed everyone yet.”

“I don’t think there’s a perfect brainwashing technology in the Loeric Empire, but every day we let Oliver remain in power, the closer they get to success.”

Ceres took a few deep breaths, calming himself down. The sadness had passed for him, now in his heart, there was only a desire for revenge and answers.

“I want to go to Zone 17. Is it possible?” Ceres asked. He wanted to see the workshop, the orphanage, and the Zone. What the hell happened when he was gone?

“We can’t, you’re too recognizable, and from what I’ve gathered it seems the Keepers are all over the place looking for you. We could try to enter with disguises, but I suspect the enforcers would nab us in less than an hour. Even I don’t try to venture above ground.”

“I want to see the workshop, there’s something I left behind there. I think it’s related to what happened to me.”

“The workshop is gone – everything inside has been taken by the Five Families.”

Ceres’s heart plummeted even more, and anger began to build again. After everything that was said and done, the one place he swore to protect and keep as long as possible was gone. He got up from his sitting position, pacing the area before resting his head against his arm on the wall as he breathed heavily.

Uncle Dawn Rigor’s workshop was gone.

Even the mysterious white box wouldn’t have escaped their notice. Ceres didn’t put it past the enforcers to grab everything in the workshop.

He clenched his fist even tighter, the black-scale armour automatically coming out and wrapping around his forearm and hand.

Why? Why was everything in shambles? What did he do wrong? All he wanted was to get stronger and win the competition. WHY?! WHY ARE ALL OF THESE THINGS HAPPENING?

“ARGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH” Ceres roared as he punched the wall with his full strength in a fit of rage, causing the metallic wall to crack. The foundations of the base reverberated as the impact shook the base slightly.

Ardan eyes’ widened as he saw the amount of damage Ceres could inflict without the exosuit. The metallic wall was designed to protect against explosions, yet the wall was already dented with the imprint of his fist with large cracks extending outwards.

[Sir, what was that? Are we under attack? I’m assembling a response team to your location now and raising the alert state to yellow.] Sierra’s voice blurted out from Ardan’s multi-terminal.

“We’re fine, I can handle this. Stand down and return to alert state green.”

[…Yes sir…]

Ceres panted slightly, before lifting his arm for another punch. Instead of delivering another hit, he gave up and leaned against the wall, his brain racing. His emotions were running wild right now – Ceres took a few deep breaths to calm himself down. “Focus, stay logical.”

There was no point raging at a metal wall, what he needed was to deliver this punch to the people who caused this in the first place. Ceres gripped his fist tightly, promising it to himself to exact revenge.

He walked back to Ardan, who was still sitting on the ground with the dumplings.

“Where are the rest?” Ceres asked, his eyes still imbued with a tinge of anger.

“I’m the only one here. I have information on only two of them.”

“Who?”

“Lisa and Braton. They are imprisoned now.”

“We’re breaking them out of the prison,” Ceres stated, as though it was already truth.

Ardan nodded. “Of course we are. There’s already a future plan in the works. One of the top priority missions.”

“Then we’re going to get our revenge on everyone who did this. With whatever it takes.”

“Nothing less.” Ardan nodded.

“I’m in.”

Ardan grinned, before passing the dumpling box to Ceres. Ceres stared at the dumplings, thinking about the last time they were all together in the dumpling store, celebrating. Weren’t they supposed to gather to have a post-competition celebration? Instead, all that was left was sadness and despair. “One day… one day.”

Ceres grabbed the box and ate the dumplings, chewing on the nostalgic skin and slurping the soup paste within. A tear rolled down his left eye as he continued eating. Even though the taste was nothing like it was before due to Mr Qiu losing his motor control, Ceres still kept going, finishing the box in a few short minutes, and eating in silence.

“Is it still the best dumplings?” Ardan asked.

“No…. but it’s the only ones I’ll ever eat again.”