Zhi Long felt small and nervous standing in the blue-tinted hallway in front of the Grand Inquisitor's door. And he knew he wasn't supposed to. Temple guards weren't like ordinary soldiers. They were meant to be elites. Dedicated paragons of the law that would be willing to even lay down their lives if it came to it. But he was no longer sure he felt this way. Not anymore.

Or perhaps he never did in the first place.

In truth, he felt that he probably would have been passed over for becoming a temple guard at all if not for his older brother. His older brother had always looked out for him when they were young, even though he wasn't supposed to. His brother had always been primed for greatness. Treated like the world was ahead of him. Zhi in contrast was overlooked. He had always felt small as a result. And as if in continuation of this, so was his life. It was only by virtue of his brother's protection that he had gotten anything out of his family at all. The rest of them certainly never intended to offer it of their own accord.

His brother became a temple guard. And quickly rose through the ranks on account of exceptional skill. Zhi too tried to follow in his footsteps. But he did not truly believe he would be capable of such a calling. His brother was fearless. And he was not. And he was becoming less so all the time. Because now his brother was dead. And he now understood firsthand what it was that being fearless brought you.

When he heard this, he had hoped that he would be able to handle it. Temple guards were supposed to be resolute after all. But the pain had cut him down the middle. He felt like part of himself was now gone. An absence that he reached for but could not find. And in its place was an empty hollow. A crushing emptiness within which he could feel nothing.

And here he was. A place he only wanted to be because of his brother. A place he was likely only allowed to enter as a gift to his brother. But now he was alone. No longer sure what his purpose here was supposed to be. Unsure how much he cared to continue. But what else was there to do? He didn't want to die. He wanted his brother back. But this is not something he could get. Not something he could ever get. Pine as he might, he would never have that chance again.

He was startled as the intercom spoke back to him with a commanding voice.

“Come in.”

Zhi hesitated. But he opened the door and walked into the long office. He looked to the side as he walked down the overly long pathway to get to the Inquisitor's desk. The room was large and intimidating, fitting for the Grand Inquisitor of the Temple Guards. Ostentatious as well. Though that might be more for the sake of additional intimidation. He arrived in front of the desk and saluted while the Inquisitor looked on with a stern glare, his eyes piercing through him. The inquisitor's two personal attendants were there as well, standing silently to the side, showing no awareness of Zhi's presence in the room.

Inquisitor Mars was an intimidating presence, even among the Temple Guards, with fierce charisma and a commanding height, standing tall over the head of most others. He had white armor, with a cape and long, sharp epaulettes. And he was not in his position for any nepotistic purpose like Zhi himself was. He was a master of both interpersonal combat and military tactics, with many years of proven skill behind him. In a large sense, he had become like the arm of the Chun Tzu Ministry. And by extension, the arm of the temple itself.

Mars looked up at him, speaking politely but in a tone that, on account of what it obscured, was somehow more intimidating than if he had been more cold. His voice was both suave, but commanding.

“Aah. Zhi. I trust you have something valuable to report.”

Mars looked up, and at an angle, like he was suddenly thinking. He waved his arm.

“But no concern if you do not. I've just gotten back from a meeting with chairman Beev, so I can get away with not delivering anything new to them for awhile. The preparations seem to be coming along in due order, so the old men of the council are happy with their new toys for now.”

Zhi stood up straight. He did have information to deliver after all. Though he was slightly reassured by this claim to a lack of urgency.

“We attempted to look into the one who seemed to be in charge of the portal to the sea of possibility. However, there was some unexpected difficulty. Eyewitness reports say that he was wearing a white coat. But he didn't show up on any of our recordings. From our info, we believe that his coat likely contained something to blot out cameras when it shows up on them. We spent considerable time looking through everything, but on account of this, we have no direct video of him.

“This is uncommon, of course. Initially we believed that it might have been from malfunctioning equipment. But when we compared the video feed of all the different cameras, this was an overlapping discovery. Whoever designed this must be fairly skilled. So it's possible that it may be the wearer himself. He was said to have a heavy hand in the escape, almost singlehandedly holding us back to make way for the surviving soldiers to get out. Though they may have known we didn't intend to follow them, and would see taking the portal as more important.

“We did potentially figure out one thing about him, however. From examining what was left behind in the building, we began to put together a profile on his movements and size. From these, it is believed he might be rather young. Or short at any rate. And there are a few other things we discovered that are in this file we prepared for you. We are trying to narrow down who among the population he might be, but as he is likely someone important to them, they have no doubt expended significant effort to cover his tracks.”

Mars listened to this without much enthusiasm. It's true that this contained some new information, but not enough to be useful considering the amount of time they had spent to collect it. But he knew that based on the importance of that mission for the techno-gnostics, that it would have involved some of the elites of the elite. And so putting information together that they chose to obscure might not be so easy.

His cheek still resting on his hand, Inquisitor Mars spoke back pointedly.

“The one in charge of the portals is no doubt important. So go ahead and continue on with this. But in truth, I believe that he is not the most important one to look into. Moderating a portal could in theory be done by anyone. To be sure, this is not like other portals. This is one that only an expert could create the coordinates for. But I think you need to look deeper. The ones we are likely to need information on are those who went within the portal itself.”

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He leaned back to stroke his face.

“If I know techno-gnostics, they wouldn't use swarm tactics for something like this. They would only entrust it to people they place extra trust in. So it interests me. Who did they send within, to the other side? I don't believe they would risk something like this at all if it wasn't someone exceptional. Tell me, have you discovered anything about the ones who went below?”

Zhi hesitated and looked down.

“Of course, none of the soldiers who went into the portal returned. They didn't manage to send back much data due to not having time to calibrate. But today we did finally manage to restore a distorted signal. It seems like they were under attack by something. But it's not clear what it was. It didn't seem to be a techno-gnostic weapon.”

Mars looked genuinely curious for the first time.

“An unknown enemy? Was there any description?”

“It doesn't show up on video. But the one speaking described it like it had long black tendrils. Almost like tentacles. They seemed to be having difficulty fighting it. In the end, it seemed it wiped out most of the surviving soldiers who made it through the portal. The information we deciphered today is also in the report.”

Mars closed his eyes and looked somber.

“It seems there are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in our philosophy. But I suppose this may have made problems for the ones sent through by our enemy as well. And I wonder still. Did any of them manage to get out?”

Mars sighed after speaking. Zhi shook slightly in fear, hoping that he would not become the focus of Ire for a substandard report. And though Mars had a reputation of never acting angry in person, he ran a fairly ruthless ship. Things that were deemed inefficient would be lucky if their only punishment was demotion.

Mars closed his eyes and began speaking again. Zhi felt like Mars was not really speaking to him. More so ruminating out loud, and needing someone to take it out on.

“We must be vigilant in these coming months as well. The techno-gnostics will be preparing for what is coming. And they will try to make a definitive move against us in order to get the upper hand.”

Zhi looked down, becoming quiet again. He was still afraid of Mars. But there was also something he wanted to get off his chest. And at this point he was willing to roll the dice.

“My... older brother, Chen, was on the mission. They tell me he was one of the ones who offered to go into the portal. And none of those who went in returned.”

Mars looked up. He realized now what type of conversation this was going to be. So he thought he best take hold of it now to avoid any further complications. Zhi went on.

“Ahh, Chen Long. His team accomplished something that none other has been able to in hundreds of years. They will go down in history as heroes. Though despite this, it is always a loss when people don't come back from operations.”

He stared into Zhi with piercing eyes.

“You are... grieving his loss?”

Zhi looked to the side, unable to meet his gaze.

“It’s not that. I mean, I am. Who wouldn't be? But...”

He struggled to find his words. He knew he had to choose them carefully, or he might be in danger.

“I feel like the ministry is sacrificing too many of the faithful. I know that this isn't an easy task. The faithful become temple guards knowing that it will be a position of extreme danger. And it is not a position one takes if they aren't willing to make that necessary sacrifice. But of late there have been a lot of deaths. More than usual.”

Mars cocked his head back slightly to the side, scrutinizing him deeply.

“Do you believe that we may run low on soldiers and be at risk for being overtaken?”

“No, it's not that, it's...”

Zhi hesitated again. Mars paused for a moment and then began speaking in the gap in a convincing tone.

“This is a special time. The ministry seeks to bring forth a new age, and they believe it will finally fulfill the law. A lot of things will likely undergo upheaval in this time. But rest assured, they don't intend to lose too many people needlessly. Because in this new age they seek to expand their dominance. To become the unquestioned power of the globe that none might stand up against any longer. And they would need a lot of people to uphold this new world, even with their new toys.”

Zhi thought over how this was worded. Something about the tone Mars was using emboldened his next question.

“But... what do you believe?”

Mars smirked slightly at Zhi's bravery.

“It matters not to me. I am a pragmatist. I have my own station to operate. And whether they succeed or fail at their new projects, I still have my own duties to attend to.”

Zhi thought about this. It seemed like an evasive answer. But he was afraid to press out of fear of being branded for heresy. Mars went on.

“All these big projects, these desires for expansion. They have a lot of ambition. But sometimes one can reach too far. And even the gods have to fear getting their hands bitten when they overreach.”

He leaned backwards in his chair.

“But you no doubt feel the same. Chen was an extraordinary soldier. He had a list of accomplishments few could hope to match. But it is one thing to dedicate yourself for a larger purpose alongside your family. You might feel different when forced to face firsthand that all are mortal. That no matter how high you climb, the enemy can still reach to the heavens and cut you down.”

He stared even deeper into Zhi, with piercing eyes.

“You too have a distinguished history of service. This is not common, but if you believe you can no longer handle being a temple guard, I can release you. Of course, you have state secrets that can't be allowed in outside hands. So if you choose this, we would have to erase these memories from your mind.”

Zhi was jolted with a sudden strike of fear from this offer. It was not so easy to get out of the Temple Guards once you were in. This was not the same as the state military or local exorcists. It was an elite force that expected full dedication and zealotry. He felt for a moment that this was some kind of trick. And that agreeing would mean execution.

But he thought back over it. The truth is, in the last few years, there had been a few people who were released. This was before now relatively uncommon. And it made him wonder what the reasoning for it might be. If several people were released from service, the reasoning must have been to try to get rid of them for some reason. It might be over concerns about their loyalty, but he considered that this was not likely. Because being found to not be loyal when in such a position would be more likely to result in a quick death. Or at the very least an indefinite detainment.

But there was another option. Those who were gotten rid of must have found out something. Something the Chun Tzu Ministry didn't want them to know. And so they were dismissed, and their memories of it pulled. This was not an impossibility. Temple guards are desired for their loyalty. But even the loyal were not privy to many of the top-level secrets. But what could it be that was discovered that caused them such concern and a fearful need to purge even some of the devout? Did he himself know it, whatever it was?

Zhi was perturbed. If there was something he wasn't supposed to know, what was it? Was it related to the mission his brother had died on? If so, could he even be sure his brother died in the way they had told him? He looked back at Inquisitor Mars with a blank expression. He hoped that these feelings would not shine through to him. Fortunately, even in modern day it was no easy task to decipher one's inner thoughts. Though this brought him little comfort. Because Mars was also deeply perceptive. And he feared that if he had doubts in his presence, that Mars would know.

Mars spoke again.

“Or... there is another option you can take. If you wish to see the truth of the world for yourself, if you wish to be at the forefront of the new age, then come with me. And I will show you what lies beyond the veil.”

Mars stood up. Zhi looked up sheepishly, feeling small, for Mars towered over him glaring down with red eyes sticking out from under his his neat brown hair. And Zhi was unsure what to think of his words.

“Follow me. Before you make your decision, there is something I would like to show you.”