“Li! Li! Wake up! Time to move! Man, what’s wrong with you? The whole week you’ve been moving like an opium addict!”

Li looked up, it was his dad. The time was 6:34 AM. The mantou and boiled eggs were sitting idly in his bowl. The cloudy weather made the dimly lit room somewhat disheartening. 

“Come on! I’ve got an important meeting at work today! Move move! If you can’t finish the bun, take it to school!” 

Li wolfed down the two eggs, letting the cold tap water wash them down. He hadn’t realized how thirsty the fight had made him. 

The subway ride that day was uneventful, save for the new ad on the train featuring a prominently displayed Cheetah cub which almost made Li faint. It was physical training, first period, and the usual athletic try-hards formed teams. To prepare for the upcoming sports/ field day, the class was training for pole vaulting. 

“Li, you’re with Huang’s group! Class is starting! Everyone in line! 

Today, we are practicing our pole vaulting skills. In 2 weeks, the Chongqing No.3 school is coming over to compete in our field day! I want the team leaders of each group to take a pole and line up on the track. Last class, we covered running and pole techniques. Today, we will be discussing fall control. Jason, can you explain how to fall properly? I heard you were on the vaulting team last year.”

“Yes Coach! When falling, tuck your chin into your chest and loosen your body. Try to land on your back, and make sure to spread out the force of the impact by maximizing your surface area.”

The strange connections between Earth and the mysterious universe were extremely strange. It seemed as if the two were connected somehow, in a constant relationship, the effects felt in one being summarized in the other. 

Li could remember the last moments of the fight, but couldn’t exactly remember how he fell. Now, he hoped that the exosuit had taken the damage and he had done what Jason had told the class. The events of the past night tossing and turning in his mind. 

The closing bell finally rang, and Li dragged out onto the subway. For the first time, he truly began to wonder what was happening to him. The events of the past days had pushed him to focus on the moment, but now, in the low hum of the subway, he let his mind wander. Soon, a memory manifested itself.

For the first time, Li saw the face of Xiao Shu, the boyish traits, slowly hardened by the duties of the Covenant. They were on another planet, or maybe some far region of the Orange Flatlands. Li could feel an evident tug on his feet. The gravity here was far different, and so was the air. He noticed that both of them had air masks dangling from their faces. Around them were large clumps of pulsating black masses, occasional bright blue sparkles of unknown origin dancing around them. They seemed to be somewhere underground. 

“Li, this is it I guess. It’s the core.”

“That’s all there is to it? It’s just too small.”

“Yet it powers the conquering of a planet.”

A pain started growing in Li’s back, spreading to his arms, and his neck. He folded, more and more excruciating pain spreading across his body rapidly. He held back a scream. It was as if someone invisible had snapped his bones. Then, a searing burning sensation cut across his lower spine. Screaming back into reality, he sat up, in a white hospital bed. Aoki and Imani sighing as he looked around in confusion. 

“Glad to have you back Li boy, you saved our asses back there”

Even in such a tense time, it was impressive that Imani could still joke full of expletives. 

Li looked down at himself, his right arm was in a cast with some temporary cybernetic pumping blue liquid into his arm. His leg’s felt sore and he wasn’t surprised if he had broken them. His back had been gauzed up, something pulsing below. 

A nurse walked in, the first of another species he had seen. Her jelly-like arms extended towards him, the contact easing his pain, easing him back into a deep sleep.

“Liziba station. Next stop: Fotuguan Station; This is Transit Line 2” 

Shit! Li had fallen asleep on the train. He had no time to wonder what his body did in this world while he was in the other universe but now, he had to get back, before his parents thought he was missing. 

Running out onto the station platform, just before the door closed. Li took out his phone and opened DiDi Chuxing, hoping that he’d make it back before his parents came back from work.