All was dark except for a series of circles whizzing past them. "Where is this?" William asked. "This is a space like no other." James said, "The first picture is coming."

Then the light grew stronger and the party could see hundreds of planes speeding across the sky. Two of them stood out: one bright red, the other blue-black. They wrestled with each other. Sometimes the red plane took the lead, and sometimes the blue plane overtook. Their total mileages were both climbing fast.

Then the picture disappeared and two circles appeared on either side of them. "Behind each circle is a picture." James explained, "You have to choose one, then the other picture will be played automatically when you finish watching the selected one."

"Choose the one on the left," William thought, touching that circle with his finger.

The red plane made a mistake, and the total mileage was surpassed by the blue plane while refueling in the air, so she ran like mad. But in the end, she could not turn the tide and won the silver medal.

In the other picture, the two planes maintained a narrow gap throughout the race. In the last three minutes of the race, the red plane switched on her hybrid mode, extending her lead and winning the race easily.

"These are two different outcomes." James said, "This door I call the 'prophecy door' predicts all the possible outcomes of an event, even though actually the event may not happen according to the animations. What was played just now is the results of Rebecca's race, and which one will happen is completely up to you guys."

"I will make the second one happen!" Said Rebecca emphatically. "Good!" Everyone else applauded.

William asked James if the door did anything else. "Of course it does." He answered.

More circles flew by, and William saw a baby lying on a white sheet, crying. Several nurses and a couple stood by the bed, their faces brimming with huge smiles.

"Eek, aren't these Mom and Dad?" William looked closely. He had been away from home for 15 days, but his parents were expecting him to come back soon. At this moment, seeing the scene of his birth, he suddenly began to miss the comfort of his own villa. He began to miss Mom and Dad who had fed and clothed him for fifteen years, the joy of the past year of learning, and everything else on Earth. He wanted to go home more than he had ever wanted before. He even wanted to go back to his bedroom the next second. Yet without collecting enough negative energy, this was impossible.

Then Mighty and Sally stood in front of him. They waved, their amiable smiles astounding William. He almost thought it was true.

"Dad! Mom!" He shouted, clapping his hands excitedly.

"Son! We are so relieved to see that you are safe!" Said Sally, "I wonder if your space travel is going well lately."

"Very well! I also experienced many unforgettable things! Mom, I want to go back now!"

Mighty said, "Good son, but you still need to collect negative energy to fly the spaceship back. So you'd better get on your way as fast as you can so that you may get home early."

"But..."

"Goodbye!" Mighty and Sally waved goodbye to him.

The picture disappeared, and William, somewhat disappointed, sat down and sighed.

Ranran sat beside him. "I know you want to go back very much, William," She said, looking at him with clear eyes, "but we've got to help Rebecca win the championship! There is one last planet to go to!"

"I know." Said William weakly, "We've got a lot of work to do. But anyway I must go back." His tone became firm.

"We're always there for you!" Natalie came over to cheer him up.

Photon and Rebecca said together, "And I!"

"And I!" There were noises coming from the backpack. It was little robots.

There was a warm current in William's heart. The team was increasingly united, working hard, and daring to fight the impossible.

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The picture changed again: one faint light appeared, then two, then three, a million... They grew larger and brighter, and were closing in on William and his party. At last, a light fell on William's hand. He discovered that it was a firefly. She raised her head and looked at him with bright eyes. That sight gave him a magical power that made him feel powerful, as if he could conquer anything.

"Hello," Said the firefly with a smile.

"Hello," He answered kindly.

Then he saw the firefly in his hand fly up and join the others, forming the words "Rebecca Never Fails" and "William Never Fails".

William felt his eyes moist. "These fireflies are really nice." He thought to himself, "We have never met them, but when they hear about us they all congratulate us..."

They landed on Rebecca's wings. She smiled as she watched the little ones crawling over her. "Champion! Champion!" They shouted.

"Thank you!" Said Rebecca.

The fireflies flew to James' side and made new patterns: the outline of Rebecca, the lightning, and the trophy. A few of the fireflies even impersonated the racing planes themselves, letting the lightning rush to the front. Rebecca saw all this with delight.

More circles flew by, and this time, some notes appeared. The first was from the mushroom pianist.

William,

How are you doing?

Your little robots told me you had covered a long distance, and you were about to reach your destination. Rebecca is ready to race. Congratulations!

I'm fine, too. Don't worry. I really consider myself very lucky to be able to meet you alien friends. In the coming days, I will continue to play beautiful music together with my robotic hands, so that life can sing a more magnificent high pitch. And I wish Rebecca a successful win!

Mushroom

And then it was the one from the camel scientist.

William,

How have you been?

I still live in the laboratory and continue to work on the latest projects. There have been some encouraging developments. I'm sure residents will soon be able to see that technology applied.

I am delighted to be able to share a small fusion cell with a friendly alien friend -- I have never experienced anything like that before. After all, as a scientist, it is my duty to use science and technology to improve residents' living standards. In addition, given your hard training and Rebecca's solid foundation, I have a feeling that she will be the champion this year!

Wish you all the best!

Camel

Finally it was an anonymous note that was very short.

If you think you can do it and keep working, you can do it.

"Who could this be from?" He asked, puzzled. Then he saw two Williams in front of him, one encouraging him all the time, the other doubting him all the time.

"You can do it!" Said the first. "Impossible! Don't let him fool you!" Roared the second wildly.

"You are the liar!" The first shot back angrily, "You don't want to die here, do you!"

William watched as the two selves argued incessantly, each red-faced and hoarse. He knew very well how often they fought these days. So far, though, his sanity had not disappeared and his faith remained firm, yet every time You-Know-Who's voice sounded, there was a momentary twitch of doubt.

William's head began to ache violently again. He faintly heard the You-Know-Who's evil laugh, and he felt more and more faint. He lay on his stomach panting, shaking violently, but the hands that pressed his head did not let go for an instant.

"Surrender!" He heard the voice say.

"Impossible!" He cried firmly.

"Ha ha, then let's wait and see!" The voice died away, and William's head no longer hurt.

James suggested, "Let's go back. You've seen all the pictures."

So after watching some circles go by, they stepped out of the door and went back to the ground. The two mother stars were hanging high overhead, and the violets smiled at them. In the distance they could hear the river rushing merrily. Fireflies flew in front of William, watching these aliens wistfully.

"We need to go." Ranran said, "We need to help Rebecca finish her training."

"Wait a minute." James interrupted, "There's a gift I haven't gotten you yet." He led them back to the farm, where he found a small linen bag in his room. The firefly opened it, and the party saw that it was full of purple lavender, giving off a sweet smell. James pressed three times on a circular area on top of the bag, and the lavender grew brighter. A few seconds later, stars flew out of the bag. They were whirling and flying around William and singing beautiful music. Ranran looked at it all with a smile on her face. "What's this?" She asked.

"I call this a 'blessing from the light'." James replied, "You can always take this out and place it in front of your leader, William, if he's under a psychological attack from You-Know-Who. When he sees the light and smells the fragrance, his mind slowly returns to normal. I screened the lavender for a year, and the luciferin in it was engineered so that it would last for years."

"Wow, that's very kind of you, James! Thank you for the gift!" Rebecca and Natalie said. James returned the compliment with a bow.

"Well, I won't keep you from continuing to help Rebecca with her training. The race is about to begin, and I wish you a successful win!"

"Farewell!" Waving goodbye to the fireflies, William turned and led the party on to the next stop.

Behind the retreating party, the fireflies glowed, silently seeing them off.