Chapter 20
The Mentor
An old Asian man on a wheelchair was in the white room. There was a Silver man standing behind him, it was that same statue that End had previously thought to have followed him around the ILC. The old Asian man coughed. Though his breaths were heavy, and his voice raspy, he spoke with the clear diction of someone who studied in the most prestigious of universities in the City of Three Lions. His aura was most befitting of a lawyer.
“How did you know it was Amon?” asked the old Asian man.
End looked at him for a moment before answering.
“The clue was in Amadeus’s Dies Irae all this time.”
“How so?”
End projected the visual memory of Dies Irae on the wall. Once again the same battle scene of Dark Monday was shown.
“At first, I was distracted by the mysterious man whose face cannot be seen, but I know now that he was Joseph, Amon’s brother. When I looked closer, I noticed that Amon fired at the enemy with the photon rifle. That’s not possible because you need a VF to fire a photon rifle. And he could not have taken someone’s VF, because VF removers were invented only in 3013. Unless, he already had either his own VF or the VF remover technology before Dark Monday.”
The old man was impressed. But his tough looking face would not let out a smile that easy.
“Who are you?” asked End.
“I am the Mentor. I am the founder of this city and her watchful guardian. However, I made a vow never to intervene with its matters any longer. The future of the city depends on all of you youngsters. You must solve your own problems. And so, I have used the INC, ‘Innerlight Communication system’ to call you. Your city needs you.”
The Mentor clicked his VF and videos displaying the upbringing of Amon Goth shone on the walls.
“Amon Goth was one of my most trusted warriors. Trust is a difficult thing to give away in our world, but I trusted him because he was the best product from our educational system. A president scholar with quadruple masters in Law, economics, Business and psychology. He was the model citizen.”
End was watching the visuals projected on the walls of the white room. The videos then switched to another person.
“But his brother, Joseph was nothing like him. He was a man only interested in music, who joined the old ILC. He too had the powers you now possess, the ability to see the truth in music, or to look into someone’s heart. Amon was more of the entrepreneur. He saw the potential of the ILC as being a military school. But he couldn’t convince the Garment, until Dark Monday happened.”
The visuals showed what Amon had done to the Librarian.
“Amon captured The Diecreation and locked him up, away from a Dark room. There, he tortured him by forcing him to use Light energy but with no dark room to dispel the negative energy build up. Unable to unleash the dark energy building inside him, Diecreation eventually went crazy and turned into codename Dark.”
“When Dark Monday happened, Joseph realized too late that the true architect of Dark Monday was Amon. Amon killed his own brother, Joseph and made it look like an accident so that people would sympathize with him. He framed Amadeus as a traitor to his own city. He then subjected both the Librarian and Amadeus to minimal amounts of the Sphere of Influence daily, so that their memories would be wiped out little by little. The radiation was just enough for Diecreation not to end the world, but enough to erase his mind. The Diecreation became the forgetful Librarian, and Amadeus also for who he originally was. But Amadeus was clever, as he locked the truth inside his song, so that he would never forget.”
“I have learnt all of this too late. As we speak, Amon’s plan is almost in completion. He had locked the Colonels in the AGM meeting room, and ordered my Golden Gurkhas to kill them. Right now, he is outside my vault, drilling a hole through to come in and kill me. He has blocked all communication and so I am using our emergency mode of communication to get to you. I fear that when he eventually gets through, even my bodyguard SS, will not be able to hold him back. And so, I need you to stop him.”
“Why do you think I can stop him?” asked End, but he found that the Mentor is the type of person with a one-track mind. It was difficult to talk to him, if he was still speaking.
“The vault whether broken into or not, was programmed to allow only three people I trust to enter. I trusted SS, and Amon, and third person is you.
“Why me?”
“SS had been telling me about you. This is Sir Bingley, the Silver Servant. The Istanu is a maze filled with many traps. Let Snakeskin take lead to clear a path. He will lead you to Amon. You must move now!”
“Wait! Hold on just a minute here. I have not agreed to help you yet.”
The Mentor stopped dead in his tracks.
“But why wouldn’t you? This is your city.”
“You don’t listen do you? I have something to say to you first!”
“I’m always listening.”
“Before this day, I wasn’t even sure if you existed. They say you were too old to be alive. Although I have great respect for you because my father told me great things about you, I promised myself that if I ever met you, I am going to tell you how stupid it is to have the Sphere of Influence. It is a terrible creation. I felt so much fear growing up. I don’t agree with the SADs either. They’re all nonsense. Your educational system is all wrong.”
“Are you quite done?”
“No. I am not done. You knew about the trade that Amon made for my parents to face the sphere didn’t you.”
The Mentor was silent.
“Either way. You knew, and you allowed it. Or you knew too late and allowed me to suffer in the ILC anyway.”
“Yes, because if I didn’t, their sacrifice would have been in vain. You are talented but you squander your talent away. You had to be prepared.”
“Prepared for what? To save your life?”
“No. To save yours. My life was over a long time ago. I am a brain supported by advanced life support systems. I feel nothing, and my breakfast no longer has any taste. What keeps me going is my promise to my city to take care of it, and to make sure that it will always be taken care of. Everything you have been through was to prepare you, so that one day you may save your city when the necessity arises. So before you run your mouth, young man, you need to know that you don’t know a thing about self-sacrifice.”
The Mentor hushed End.
“I will answer your questions. First of all, the Sphere of Influence is a compulsory law set by the government of Nation Earth. Every year more than fifty million kids worldwide are sent to the Sphere of Influence. I don’t agree with it either, but unless you can overwrite the decision of the highest governing body on earth, you won’t have much say in it, would you? You still live on this earth, so you cannot escape its rules. If you don’t like it, there are two things you can do. One is to live somewhere outside earth where the rules don’t apply to you. And Two, is to put your adolescent emotions aside and survive the SADs, and actually be a man.”
The Mentor leaned back in his chair.
“I have retired for the longest time. But things are still a mess. This is supposed to be your city now, all of you youngsters. But you were too busy inside your own head, drowning inside your own emotions to come forward to help while I was pushing past my retirement age. The world isn’t just about how you feel. This is survival. If you feel depressed, then die, and your chapter ends. But if you can rise above, win that internal battle, and understand what it means to live for others, then stand up now, because the people around you, the people you care about, need you, and I need you.”
End was silenced by the sheer determination of the old man. He could see why the generation before his respected him so much.
“I am going to trade with you. We have an experimental data recovery process that can restore a person’s mind after their exposure to the Sphere of Influence, it is still in the experimental stages, but this is the best bet for your parents
and your lover.”
End froze for a moment. Oh no. Did he hear the Mentor correctly?
“Wait. What do you mean my lover?” said End. The Mentor held his breath. End could feel something coming, something that he perhaps did not want to hear.
“Because she smuggled in the illegal oil, she was charged by Amon Goth and sent to the Sphere.”
End felt his limbs go weak. A terrible sadness struck him once more.
“Did it happen already?”
“Yes.”
End fell to the ground.
“Stand up straight!” commanded the Mentor, but End found it hard to do so.
“You have been through much worst. The All Star Research department will do everything they can to restore her mind, as well as the mind of your parents. All you have to focus on is stopping Amon Goth. Because if you fail, he will take control of the city and parents and your loved one will be lost forever.”
End couldn’t understand why some adults negate everything that has anything to do with emotions. But still, he put all his bad emotions into one breath and exhaled as knew that time was short. End picked himself up. It was true that he had been through much worse. With every piece of bad news, he did grow stronger, and was able to stabilize his emotions a lot quicker now. He could do this, because he finally placed others before himself, and was not busy gloating over how the entire world seemed unfair towards him. He understood his mission. He didn’t like it one bit, but he understood. He understood that there was no choice, and only in the scenario where there can be no longer any choice, can he find the true fear that may just propel him to succeed in tis impossible mission.
“So you want me, a little LightCatcher, to stop Amon Goth?” said End.
The Mentor nodded.
End took a deep breath to take it all in and exhaled to get rid of any doubts he might have of succeeding. He did a split second moment of pure meditation and focused his mind once more.
“How will I know you will keep your word?” asked End.
“You don’t. But I will. When you are ready, sign this contract.”
“What is it?”
A holographic contract appeared before End.
“This contract assures that we will do all in our power to save your loved ones, as long as you are contracted by life to the ILC.”
All End ever wanted to do was to run away, to leave this place, leave everything behind, and find some freedom. But a different responsibility grew in him now. There were people counting on him. He thought for a moment, and finally made the decision.
“I want my parents to be taken care off in an inn. My father always wanted to retire in a beautiful inn. There should be people running the inn, and always an abundance of people having beers with him or playing chess with him. And I want a garden for my mother. She should have full-time gardeners helping in the garden, so that she can do gardening only when she likes to.”
The Mentor was not prepared for this. Rather gingerly, and taken by surprise, the Mentor agreed to his terms.
“Ok,” replied the Mentor.
“And I want a lifetime supply of “Essence of Guava” for ?, who must be shifted to the inn once her condition is stabilized. Oh, as well as Dim Sum. The finest quality, from the City of Dim Sum. Delivered as fresh as they come.”
The Mentor changed a few parameters in the contract.
“Done.”
“I am asking for these small things only for the purpose of trying to jolt their memory back, so I hope that I am not being unreasonable here.”
“Nope. It’s fair enough.”
End signed the contract. The Mentor kept the contract saved inside his VF. A copy was also given to End for safekeeping. Both men looked at each other for a brief moment.
“You will succeed.” Said the Mentor.
“How do you know?”
“I don’t. But you must.”