9 A Strange USB

The nurse tapped on Percy's shoulder after a while. The two boys had found a place under a lamppost to rest the girl on and they sat there like homeless people, watching all hell break loose.

Percy looked up at the nurse. "What is happening?"

"I'll tell you after we get to a safe place," the nurse assured but Percy wasn't convinced. "Only we'll be getting to a safe place? What about the rest of the patients? They're all going to die!"

She inhaled in frustration and looked up at the helicopter that had come in with the man who had killed Zha Huang. Thinking of it hurt her even more. She couldn't believe he was dead.

Percy looked around, unable to control his emotions, "And..and… the doctor! Where is he?"

"I thought you saw…"

"We could have saved him right? This isn't the end."

Mitchell was starting to pick up on the conversation and got up in confusion, "What are you guys talking about? What happened to the doctor?"

The nurse looked at Mitchell with regret, "He…he was killed by one of the troop members who are attacking right now."

Percy couldn't take it, "So they're definitely targeting us. Why should we let the poor patients die for that?"

"That's not our choice, Percy. Do you have any better ideas? At least this way at least you both will be safe," she said hinting at the Yin and Yang pair in front of her. Mitchell was silent but he, for one, knew that the nurse was right. He took Tiara by the arm and motioned to Percy to pick her up from the other side.

"Get up, we need to get to safety."

"B-but…" Percy flinched as the blasts in the different floors continued. Police cars drove up to the place but they were totally helpless. Fire engines were there too, trying their best to save as many people as possible but many were dying each second.

Left with no choice, Percy took Tiara and they got into the nurse's car and Mitchell on his bike and they whizzed away from the scene, escaping from what had come to hit them.

It was evening when they finally reached a secluded street and an apartment in the middle, It wasn't so bad and the facilities were average. Not grand, but good enough for a hideout.

Mitchell flopped down on the sofa and downed a glass of water after laying Tiara in the only room of the apartment. Percy too, sat opposite him, his face still creased in worry.

The nurse had gone into the kitchen to make some tea for all of them. The house was in pure silence.

"Doctor Zha Huang…" Percy spoke first, his eyes flitting up to meet Mitchell's, "Did you know him?"

Mitchell nodded, "Yes, for a while. He had taken me in as his student for two years because of my love for tech and stuff. It was only recently that I found out about his Dream System Project."

"What was he like?" Percy asked the younger boy. Zha Huang was the first person who had treated him as an equal. As someone who had brains and a living soul. He wanted to learn a lot from him, seeing the wisdom in his eyes. But now he was gone and his only hope of being a better person went away with it.

"He was a wise one. He was calm and not hot tempered. Whenever someone messed with him, he didn't scold them or beat them. Instead he would smile and say, 'Look within yourself and ask yourself, what stopped you from doing the right thing? When you get the answer, come to me. Until you do, don't talk to me!'" Mitchell laughed sadly, "He was a different one, but the best teacher I could ever have."

The nurse walked out of the kitchen and placed the tea on the table before sitting down herself. Mitchell turned to her in worry.

"Who will lead Project Dream System now? Or is it ended now that the doctor is gone?" he asked with half a hope that the mission will be aborted and his sister would be safe from the dangers of Dreaming again.

The nurse dug her pocket and took a USB drive out and handed it to Mitchell, "Huang had given me this long ago and told me to give it to you, should anything happen to him. I think he'd want you to see what's inside now."

Mitchell frowned and looked around, "Is there a laptop here? Or a PC?"

The nurse nodded and grabbed her office bag and handed a mini laptop to him. The three huddled around as they sat in front of the laptop to see what Zha Huang's last message was.

It was a video clip of himself in the staffroom of Mitchell's school. He smiled at the familiarity. Zha Huang had retired from the school recently so this video must have been taken well in advance.

Like he knew this was coming.

After a few seconds of silence, the doctor finally spoke...and the three of them hanging on to each word of his.