Warning: This Chapter Contains Gore

The gurgling water rose until it filled the last of the three wine glasses. Vapor climbed along with it, forming condensed droplets of liquid on the rim.

As seconds passed by, the ice cracked. It overflowed Ythan's drink, dripping from the large rectangular glass table.

"I'm sorry, young master." Mrs. Zhang put down the steel pitcher on the tray and offered Ythan a tissue.

"It's okay, Zhang." Ythan took the grey handkerchief from his pocket and wiped off the liquid from his black leather shoes.

After lowering the room's temperature, Mrs. Zhang went out. The steady drone of the air-conditioning unit created an atmosphere of utmost professionalism.

"Yo, Techne, you there?" Renzo shook the watch on his wrist. "Yo? Techne? My beloved?" He raised his voice, hoping his watch would answer him back. "I forgot to charge her up. I forgot that silicon batteries could only last for five years." He sighed. "Where is Mrs. Zhang?"

"Hmmm. You just told her to go back early at the quarters for tomorrow's preparation," Leuther replied.

"Oh, yes. I forgot. That old lady seemed to gouge my eye out on the project's delay. All thanks to Ythan's ankle." Renzo wiggled his brow, looking at his friend.

"We should start." Ythan's voice hinted indifference.

"As you say so, young master." Renzo chuckled. "Shoti, lend me your... What do you call that? Laptop?" His arrogance was off the charts.

Leuther rolled his eyes and walked toward his brother, carrying his portable computer.

Renzo pressed the circular button on his watch, ejecting a memory card. He scrutinized the netbook in front of him. He squinted, revealing his confusion as to where the device should be inserted.

"You're unbelievable." Leuther snatched the card from Renzo's hand and plugged it inside the computer.

"Come on! You know I always let Techne do the work."

"And now you're crippled without that spooky system of yours?"

"Hey! Hey! Don't talk to your elder brother like that." Renzo waved his hand. "Now teach me how to project the contents of the laptop onto this bigger screen." He pointed at the glass board behind him.

The upper left corner of Leuther's lips twitched. He closed his eyes, breathed heavily, and proceeded to set up the device. He gazed at the handsome lad, sitting on the black swivel chair. "You always play dandy, Ythan. I don't mind a little help."

"Cut him some slack. You know he had just his ankle broken, right?" Renzo butted in.

"But I also know that Zach applied Ru Xiang on his wound," Leuther remarked.

"And I also know who placed the puppy in such a situation." Ythan reclined on his seat, supporting the weight of his temples on his index finger.

The back of Leuther straightened. "Who is it then?"

Ythan smirked and turned his head away.

"Okay! Okay! Shoti, go back to your seat." Renzo guided Leuther on the way back. "I'll finish the set-up on my own." His gaze averted to Ythan. He picked up the cord tangled on the floor and inserted it into the only circular hole of the laptop. "I think this is the plug for the speakers."

Leuther sat across the young master. Instead of eyeing his fiance, his gaze roamed around the room.

White walls, decorated with the university presidents' portraits in chronological order, surrounded him. The wooden Venetian blinds covered the only transparent wall, which was supposed to give the best view of the school's landscape.

Despite the hindrance, Leuther could still see the luminance of the full moon. It struck him, forcing all of his thoughts to go astray. Just like the tides of the sea, the heavenly body that cast the silver light tugged his emotions.

Is this all worth it?

Renzo coughed twice, grabbing the two persons' attention. "Before I start my presentation, let me present to you the rationale of this project." Renzo pressed the play button, and the video started to roll. The lights turned off, leaving the job of illuminating the room to the overhead projector.

The film started with one frame, showing a monochromic picture of the fifty-story buildings, each owned by Hopkins Corporation and Collins Technologies.

The video began its narration with a tampered voice that resonated clearly. "Over the past years, Hopkins Corporation and Collins Technologies had made outstanding contributions in their respective fields."

The frame shifted to Mr. Martyn Hopkins in his twenty-fifth year of living. He was beaming with pride, as he shook hands with China's Prime Minister during that time. "Hopkins Corporation continued to shape the landscape of China's entertainment industry by being the number one provider of topnotch actors and actresses. Since they were young, these stars underwent stringent training to uphold the standards that the company had maintained all throughout the years."

Ythan's gaze could cut the screen.

The scene changed to Renzo, taking a picture of himself, with all of the chaotic circuit boards and wires behind him. "Collins Technologies, spearheaded with its magnificent, brilliant, and awesome soon-to-be CEO, Allurenzo Collins"—

"Yep! That's definitely me!" Renzo cheered.

Leuther's face sank while Ythan remained unamused.

—"is currently paving the way toward the new era of Technology," continued the narrator. "Combining nanotechnology, biotechnology, and epigenetics, China is now ready to transcend to Renzotechnology."

Renzo stood up, lifting the wine glass to the air. "Hooray to Renzotechnology!"

"Hooray to Renzotechnology!" the narrator agreed.

"All hail king Renzo!" Renzo spoke once more.

"All hail king Renzo!"

Leuther massaged his forehead while Ythan's impatience crept into the young master.

The frame moved back to the image of the two companies, now colored with the shades of green.

"In the pursuit to maintain their strongholds, these two top companies will once again work together"—

The two buildings rotated and started to fuse.

—"to defy norms"—

It twisted at a breakneck speed, resembling a satellite image of a violent hurricane.

—"to break boundaries"—

The image halted from spinning and formed the Yin Yang symbol.

—"and to exceed expectations."

The deafening sound of an explosion blasted the room. The letter 'X' zoomed in and out, fire razing its outline.

"Gentlemen, welcome to Project X!" The video ended.

There was a long pause when Renzo shouted, "Awesome, right?" Looking at the two disinterested parties, he continued his speech.

"Okay. Any idea about Project X?" Renzo blinked rapidly. "Since it's pretty obvious that you don't have,"—he closed the video and opened a slideshow—"Project X is short for Project Exploit." He adjusted his eyeglasses. "What are we exploiting? You might ask."

A baby in diapers dragged the word 'NEUROTRANSMITTERS' into the center of the screen and sat beside it.

"Yes. My son is right. Neurotransmitters." Renzo started to explain, "As defined by the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, a neurotransmitter is a substance in the body that carries a signal from one nerve cell to another. It affects our thoughts, our emotions, and our bodily responses."

"In this project, as what our alliance"— Renzo smiled at Ythan—"specified, we will only exploit four neurotransmitters." His finger slid and pressed the touchpad, playing another video.

The beginning scene showed three fat hamsters, each isolated in a transparent box. All of them wore colorless chips attached to their paws.

"First neurotransmitter. Serotonin."

The first hamster scurried inside the glass. It stood, looked left and right when the chip suddenly turned green.

"Green signifies an influx or an increase in the concentration of the neurotransmitter," Renzo explained.

The hamster went inside the wheel and ran over and over, beaming in delight. Its whiskers moved along an invisible beat.

"On the other hand, red signifies an efflux or a decrease in concentration of the neurotransmitter."

The hamster was still exercising when the chip suddenly turned red. It stopped from running, jumped out from the wheel, and knocked the equipment down. It kicked the base of the box, sending the wood shavings flying around the enclosure.

"Second. Dopamine."

The next hamster was moving around the box, sniffing a bright-orange ball.

When the chip gleamed green, the hamster picked up the ball and fell on its back, exposing its belly. It laughed like a lunatic, throwing the ball into the air again and again.

As the chip turned red, the hamster stood up. It placed the ball down and began crying as it rubbed its cheek on the elastic object.

"And last but not the least, Adrenaline."

"Adrenaline is not a neurotransmitter. It is a hormone," Leuther spoke.

Renzo paused the video. "Hey! Hey! Do you want to replace my spot here?" His voice climbed an octave higher.

Leuther shook his head as he waved his hand, signaling Renzo to proceed.

"Good! From the top." Renzo cleared his throat. "And last but not the least, Adrenaline."

The third hamster rammed its head against the glass. It had been lazily sitting when it heard a thud behind itself. The red-eyed python slithered toward its prey. Its forked tongue hissed, guiding it to the scent of the cowering mammal. Just as the snake raised its head, the chip on the hamster turned green. The laboratory pet rolled sideward, avoiding the predator's fangs.

"In this video, the controller malfunctioned. The creature received more adrenaline than what we had intended."

The hamster's eyes turned white. The enraged rodent lurched toward the snake's body, ripping it apart—clawing and gnawing until the snake separated into two.

The camera shook.

As if not contented, the hamster entered the upper part of the snake's body. The sound of the dismembered organs, gushing with bile, pleaded to escape outside the box. The disturbing noise only halted when the hamster came out from the snake's mouth, blood splattering all over its fur.

The rodent proceeded to bore its neighboring glass, invading the other's territory. It bolted to the crying hamster and split the second hamster's head apart, sending it down to its stomach.

The third hamster leaped on the running wheel and caught the first hamster. It ravaged the belly of the poor rodent and feasted on its last meal. It burped, spitting out the eyeball of its former friend.

It looked at the camera.

"Re-renzo, I think we should stop this." The camera shook once more and moved right. Renzo's face, drained of blood, appeared.

Allurenzo trembled as he pointed back to the cannibal, returning the camera's view to its original position.

The hamster? It was nowhere to be found.

Renzo recalled the feeling of seeing it live. The memory never failed to give him goosebumps.

"As we investigated where everything went wrong, we found out that the system not only stimulated the overproduction of adrenaline but also spiked the dopamine levels." Renzo closed the laptop and turned off the projector. The fluorescent lights dazzled everyone in the room. "It was one unfortunate event."

"How will this benefit Ythan's company?" Leuther's eyes slowly adjusted to the brightness.

"Our young master knew the answer." Renzo ejected the card from the laptop and inserted it back to his watch.

"Once the project proves to be successful, father will utilize this technology to improve the acting skills of all employees." Ythan stared at the drinking glass in his hands. It reflected his dark brown eyes.

"Come to think of it, shoti. These actors of all ages will be able to convey the emotions required in their acting more precisely." Renzo smiled. "They can laugh, cry, relax, or fire up in any given situation."

Leuther nodded.

"Even how promising this technology is, the incident you've seen pointed out its risk," Renzo continued. "So we will need a lot of time to conduct more research and turn this project into profit."

"Does Sabrina know all of these?" Leuther asked.

Renzo glanced at Ythan.

"She doesn't." Ythan put down the glass on the table. "And she will never know."

Leuther sized up Ythan. Their gazes met. Leuther closed his eyes and thought, Three may keep a secret if two of them are dead.

"How do you intend to hide it from her?" Leuther asked further.

"Mrs. Zhang already briefed her," Renzo nonchalantly replied. "Sabrina believes that we'll just do a survey regarding the student's satisfaction with our new watch, yet to be released in the market."

"New watch?" Leuther's brow raised.

"The chips are integrated into the watches." Renzo dabbed his nose. "Sabrina will start distributing them to the students tomorrow."

"It's so early to start the experiment," Leuther reacted.

"We will not do 'that' right away." Renzo chuckled. "We have to analyze a typical person's body composition first and start from there. We are dealing with humans. Not animals."

"Will you give Zach the watch too?"

Ythan smashed the wine glass into pieces. His hand did not shed blood. "It's not your decision to make."

"I'm just asking," Leuther shrugged, concealing the emotions in his heart.

"Stop asking things if you already know the answer." Ythan stood up. He nodded at Renzo and left the room.

Leuther's gaze followed Ythan.

As Leuther was trying to process everything, Renzo walked toward him. "Hey. What were you doing at Zach's place earlier?"

Leuther faced his brother. He put his guard down and let out a heavy breath. "Strolling..."

"Shoti, I always told you not to do stupid things."

"But you and Ythan always forced me to do so." Tears began to pool in Leuther's eyes. The moon was at its peak, and so were his emotions.

"Wh-Why do you always have to keep secrets from me?" Leuther bit his lip. "You and Ythan were holding back some info earlier, right?"

Renzo upheld the silence.

"Are you afraid that I'll tell baba everything?" Leuther continued, his voice wavering. "Ahia, please come back home." He hugged his brother, leaning his head against Renzo's chest. "Whe-when are you coming back?"

Renzo stayed still. "You know the answer, shoti."

"Why do you hate baba that much?" Leuther's voice was inaudible. "Baba is not the bad guy here, ahia. You know how things run in business."

Renzo sighed. He gently pulled himself out from his brother's tight embrace. "Shoti, you don't understand."

"Then make me understand!"

Renzo inhaled and exhaled deeply. He placed a hand on his brother's shoulder, looking straight into Leuther's eyes. "One of the hardest things to do in life is letting go of what you thought was real."

Leuther's lips quivered. His brother's words pushed him deeper into chaos. "Ahia, I still don't understand."

Renzo kissed his brother's forehead, holding the back of Leuther's head. "Go to sleep. We still have class tomorrow."

Leuther pursed his lips as he looked at the ceiling. Renzo's warmth peeled a layer of his heart. I will not cry... I will not cry at this nonsense.

Renzo stepped back and walked away, leaving Leuther alone in the cold, silent night.

A/N:

[1] Shoti – Fookyien translation for younger brother.

[2] Ahia – Fookyien translation for elder brother.

Note: China has different languages with Mandarin as its official standard language. Fookyien is a Southern Sinitic Language spoken by Chinese who live in Fujian province. Didi and Gege are both derived from Mandarin.

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