"He came to see Enxuo before he left. And Enxuo called me and we met in my office," Nyra said.

"You know where Enxuo went?" An Ning asked, looking at Gara.

Gara shook his head.

"I happen to just ran into him. I told him I wanted to speak to you and he said I should ask Nyra for help because you just left for Saravia. That's the last time I saw him."

"Any idea where he went?" the question was directed to Nyra.

"Don't worry about him. He'll be back. Where else would he go? He just needs time for himself, that's all."

An Ning was unconvinced but nodded in agreement. If Nyra was willing to believe that, I guess she had to as well because there was nothing any of them could do about it anyway. Enxuo must figure this out for himself because no one else can help him.

"So, why are you here?" she asked Gara.

"I want you to free the men from my village. Let me take them so we could start again somewhere. We will not bother you anymore just let us leave."

Gara's voice had gone from demand to begging. He looked worse for wear. His hair unkempt, his clothes unwashed. And the sling was still on his arm. Something like dried blood was flaking on his hand. He looked pathetic and disgustingly repulsive.

"What happened to your arm?" An Ning asked.

"Never mind my arm. Just let my people go, that's all I'm asking," he begged, looking earnestly at An Ning.

An Ning didn't answer just walked towards him and untied the sling and the bandages around his left arm. Gara didn't protest. He remained silent even when An Ning uttered a shocked gasp. Nyra took a glance at the arm and recoiled in horror.

"What the h.e.l.l is that?" she asked, staring at An Ning.

"Yu Yan experimented on him and the men in his village. She wanted to make her own version of universal soldiers. You know, half human, half machine warriors. This is the result."

The burn on Gara's arm looked ghastly. Something metallic had already taken over most of the flesh so that it was starting to eat into the bone and sinew of the limb. Gara was again turning into the monster that An Ning first met. The acceleration was rapid and must be terribly painful. The drop of blood he consumed was not enough to stop the change. He obviously needed longer treatment and care.

"Do you have water with you here?" An Ning asked Nyra.

A light seemed to flash in Nyra's eyes. She nodded and hurried to the kitchen. When she came back, she handed An Ning a bottled water. An Ning took it and poured the contents on Gara's afflicted arm. The flesh and metal burned when the water touched it. Gara flung his arm, his face contorted in pain. The smell of scorched flesh filled the air. Gara staggered to a chair with his head down.

An Ning and Nyra didn't offer any help. They left Gara some dignity by leaving him alone to manage on his own. An Ning picked up the soiled bandages and motioned Nyra to lead the way. Nyra lead her outside where a fire pit was waiting for some wood to burn. Nyra throw in a couple of logs and fired it up. When the fire was burning nice and warm, An Ning threw in the soiled garments, wrinkling her nose when they caught fire and burned in seconds.

"Yu Yan was experimenting with people?" Shock and disgust mingled in Nyra's voice. "Who are these men he's talking about?"

"They're hidden somewhere in the organization. I think they're villagers Merius kidnapped somewhere on an island. According to what Gara said, they attacked the village, killed the women and children and took the men. Sounds like the work of a very competent Amazon to me, don't you think so?"

"Yu Yan doesn't have experience on fighting," Nyra agreed.

"The first time I met Gara, he was disguised as a drone. You know what a drone is like, don't you? Yes, that kind of drone. The one designed to kill. Yu Yan found a way to meld his body to metal so she could better manipulate him. Maybe it was magic she learned from Li Cheung. I don't know but she attacked us using him but something happened we were not at all expecting."

"And?" Nyra prodded when An Ning stopped.

"I got wounded and somehow Gara drank some of my blood. Just a little bit of it but it changed him back. The machine him was turning human. But as you can see, it was not enough."

"Your blood?"

"Uh huh."

"Does Ceres know?"

"Ceres? What about her?" An Ning asked, surprised.

"I've never heard of an Amazon using blood to heal before. Maybe because we've never lost a fight before either but if it's about blood then Ceres should know about it."

"What do you mean?"

"You're not pure Amazon, An Ning. Not in the true sense. Your grandfather was a warlock, a very powerful one. One who decimated cities and fought kings and kins to survive and prosper. Li Cheung grew up in court and achieved power thru cunning and manipulation. People always had this wrong impression of him because he doted so much on Hippolyta. They forgot that like her, he, too, was an accomplished killer and warrior. And that man was your grandfather. Ceres is too much of an idealist to consider these things. You should because it could affect your future from now on."

"You think there's something strange I inherited from him?"

"I'm saying that you could be the true child an Amazon and a warlock should have had if they ever marry and have kids together. I'm saying it could have skipped a generation and you're the one who must carry the responsibility of your mixed blood."

"I don't want it."

"Too late now because it seems you've got it," Nyra said dryly.

The door opened and Gara came out. He was still looking pale but the arm hanging limply by his side was clean and wound-free.

"Whatever it is you did, thank you," he said to An Ning.

"If you want to rescue your friends, better talk to this lady," An Ning said, indicating Nyra who grimaced. "She now runs the company and is in a better position to help you. Nyra, start by checking that little pool of scientists Merius signed up for special projects. There's one or two n.o.bel laureates in there whom I'm sure will only be too happy to announce to the world what they've done to gain more recognition. Shut them down and pull their funding asap. If they resist, then kill them. No use appealing to the better natures of these b.a.s.t.a.r.ds. Besides, killing them will solve all our problems."

"And the presentation to the military departments? It's three weeks away," Nyra said.

"Whet their appet.i.te for something new. Work on the drones and other stuff."

"They just need stuff that kill people, right? No matter how big or small?"

"That's basically it. You're in the business of killing. Just use your imagination."

"What about my people?" Gara asked, looking at An Ning with hope in his eyes.

"Once you found them, take them here. They need to heal and there's no other place that can heal them than Saravia. Speaking of which, I need you to stay here for another month," An Ning said to Gara. "You need continuous treatment otherwise you will never stop the change."

"It's that serious?" said Gara.

"It's that or your life," An Ning answered. "The village is equipped with all the technology you need so you don't have to be physically where Nyra is to be updated constantly. You and she will work on this together so take care of your health so this will be over soon."

"You can stay here in my house while you recuperate," Nyra added. "There's money in one of the drawers in the kitchen. You can also buy online stuff and just charge it to my account. I'll show you what it is later."

"I forgot about Taey," An Ning frowned. "Time to let them go?"

"Not yet. Those men are good for the women in the tribe. Let them stay a little bit longer," Nyra laughed, looking at An Ning meaningfully. "The tribe needs a shot of new blood, no?"

An Ning blushed but agreed with what she meant. The tribe whose population went down more than half since Yu Yan took over needed a shot of new blood to make it through the next two or three decades.

The following week became hectic again for An Ning. She was about to give birth and one of the women in the village who had more experience about childbirth now lives with her. She would occasionally talk to An Ma and Ceres via live link but she never really told them about Yu Yan or Enxuo or anything important that happened while they were away. She didn't even told them about Han, who seemed to have vanished from sight and never contacted her again. Her parents needed their alone time together so she gave it to them. She was happy waiting for the birth of the twins. She was happy, that is, until she had the dream.

The dream started off innocently enough. She and Han were walking along the river. They were holding hands and she was leaning against him. He was looking at her with an indulgent smile on his face. The weather was a bit warm so she was wearing a thin dress that barely covered her calves. Her stomach was bigger now so she couldn't see her feet on the ground. She seemed to be worried about her nails because they were digging into her toes and they hurt. But she couldn't see them because her big stomach was in the way.

Suddenly, a big fish jumped out of the water. Its scales were gold and seemed to hang in the air and grew bigger as its pale white eyes focused on An Ning, who was still worrying about her nails because they were starting to really hurt.

Han shouted in alarm and An Ning looked up. The giant gold fish was bearing down on her, its mouth open, the gleaming teeth flas.h.i.+ng in the sun. An Ning couldn't do anything but wait for the fish to flatten her under its weight. She'd rather it flattened her than swallowed her in its stomach because she was afraid of the teeth which glinted evilly at her.

When the fish was about an inch away from her face, it transformed into the slimy form of Richard, who grabbed at her hand and dragged her into the pool with him. An Ning fell down on the pool with a splash. She fell down and landed stomach first on the water. The force of her fall was so strong that her stomach started to crack like an egg. She saw it with her own eyes. A thin line started to form on her stomach which grew bigger until it became a rip that grew wider and wider until she could see a clawed hand burst thru amongst the blood.

An Ning screamed and opened her eyes. And came face to face with the ghostly figure of her ex-husband who stared at her with b.l.o.o.d.y murder in his eyes. An Ning gasped and cowered against the bed. The figure drew nearer until it almost swallowed her face. The two of them stared at each other. An Ning with cold fear. Richard with the unblinking eyes of a ghost.

His hand suddenly drifted down and gently touched An Ning's stomach. An Ning could feel the sickly cold that touched her thru the thickness of the blanket. It made her want to throw up but her mouth was suddenly seized by him, her tongue possessed and bitten. It almost made her gag and vomit. She threw up her hands against the weight that suddenly felt real to her, the touch of the hungry lips that made her dizzy with mingled fright and cold.

An Ning screamed and screamed, willing herself to wake up. The pain on her lower body was tighter and more concentrated. She couldn't think beyond the pain. All she could do was scream as her body shuddered and ripped while she grabbed at the pair of cold hands that imprisoned hers in a tight yet comforting hold.