After the applause that the room had given Xen and Lee, I'd moved my palm from my xiōngdi's back. It ended up on his shoulder. Then I'd squeezed at it, signifying that we needed to talk. Xen looked at me with furrowed brows, until I'd glanced my eyeballs sideways. He now knew that the talk would be a serious one. Respectfully, my next action was to acknowledge our maker. "Mùqīn, please, could you excuse us for a moment?"

     Without hesitation, our mother closed her eyes, smiled, and let go of her eldest son. "Of course, Chon. Naturally, I understand that there is always much for the Double Dragon to discuss."

    Xen and I smiled back.

    After I'd also excused myself from Sarah and Mikey over mind-message, Xen and I stepped out of the chamber. "Xiōngdi, I know The Contingency has your undivided attention, but there's something else I need you to think about."

    "What is it?" he asked quizzically. "What's going on?"

    "In all honesty, I'm not sure and hope you can shed some light. Xen, after we did the showcase, Mikey was fucking drugged and rendered unconscious. A Yakuza Clansman named Emo was the culprit, and it was obvious he'd been ordered to do so by O-Kenai, who just watched. Sarah and I were ushered out to the hovermobile that took us to her halfway house. Then ten minutes later, Mikey was dropped at my feet and brought around with another injection."

    "What the hell," Xen bawled. "Is he okay? What on earth did they do to him?"

    "Mikey says he's fine," I explained. "I don't know what transpired - neither does he - says he can't remember. But whatever did happen, went down out of sight. And all because O-Kenai's convinced that Mikey had something which belonged to her. Xen, you're a damn savant. What the fuck might the big guy have had that belonged to her?"

    My xiōngdi ran rakish fingers through his hair until holding onto the back of his skull. In the moment, he also pulled at his stressed face, which normally meant he was pining for a holorette - the infamous vape sticks which he'd used way back when on Boudoir's finest...

    Seconds later, Xen shook off the desperate expression, but still seemed perplexed. "...Chon, I really don't know. Fuck," he continued to seeth.

    "Well," I inhaled, "as always, I'll leave it with you to try and figure out."

    Xen nodded, then tapped at my arm, reassuringly. "I will. You have my word."

    Thereafter, I summoned Mikey and Sarah over mind-message, while Xen returned to the fold. After the international failure of The Solution; as well as the release of The Pink Lady's footage files; we'd have plenty to do at BTV. Meanwhile, Xen and the others had a contingency vote to organize and moderate.

    The timescale in which the Tripod Coalition gave us to vote for a second time, was actually very short. A mere seven days, in fact. And a week later my team and I had found ourselves back in Zhongnanhai and back in its central chamber.

     Behind me, stood Mikey and Sarah.

    At my sides, stood Xen and mùqīn.

    And in the rest of the human-made semi-circle, stood Lee, Stephen and Ling. Aurora and Olaf. Anho and Yan. Sam and James. Ji-Hye and Ji-Eun. As well as Cassius and someone I'd not seen in months, my cousin, Suki...

    I'd stared at her with a contorting face, wondering why she was here, and not back in Guìzhōu. But, as was often the case, an audible interruption demanded my attention.

    The Coalition's official A.I.D.A had started to disclose pivotal information.

    "...Designated Alert: to the united peoples of New Japan, Kazakhstan, and China, greetings to you all. The Tripod Coalition can now verify that The Contingency Vote has officially ceased, and that The Contingency Result will follow, momentarily..."

    I could feel it. Despite all the positivity of the preliminary statistics - fear, doubt and anxiety consumed us all. Naturally, I looked to the sky, hoping for divine intervention from fùqīn's Spirit and the Lord Emperor Huányīn, himself.

"The Contingency Result is as follows:

"All those with a confident vote, and in favor of The Contingency is, 64%

"All those with a non-confident vote, and not in favor of The Contingency is, 36%

"Conclusively, the majority vote is, positive. Therefore, the contingent program has been successful for Tripod Coalition implementation. Thank you - transmission ended."

    Inwardly, I humbled myself to the masters of my spirit world, while raucous cheers shook the room.

    "Well, it is decided then," my xiōngdi finally proclaimed. "Now with a majority of support from the people, we as a Tripod Coalition can embark upon our colossal and epic journey: in our world's history: the very first of its kind!"

    "Indeed, we can," Lee affirmed. "Therefore, Xen; as visionary of The Solution and The Contingency; all that remains is for you to share our new result with the masses!"

    Ecstatic, Xen looked to myself, Sarah and Mikey. Then after a nod from me, they'd beamed out their AV-Holo-Suite, connected to WorldTube and focused in on our Environment Secretary. Once they were rolling, Xen went for it! And after a joyous introduction, he became calm and somewhat serious. "...With celebrations aside, my original program was going to allow the Earth to breathe. Temporarily, it would have given her the chance to exhale from the dire abuse that mankind has already committed her to. And if every nation had joined together, we would have ensured that for the foreseeable future, our planet would have been safe for our children. Unfortunately," Xen continued, "not everyone in this world agreed - despite what Seymour could have easily caused. Coalition citizens, despite our planned salvation, The Contingency will not have the same impact as The Solution. However, we will still do our part. Metaphorically, we will still provide solution, and contribute to the idea that pulling together in unity can move the largest of mountains. More realistically, we will contribute to the ideal that pulling together will forge the largest crafts ever built - Converting Vessel Freighters - destined to leave this Earth and forge our dwarf sanctuary star!"

    Another volley of cheers skitted around the chamber until Xen mentioned The Contingency's Dark Side. "Now, on a more somber note, it is highly likely that The Pink Lady's involvement has caused huge concern. However, citizens, I will say this. Wholeheartedly, we are the lucky ones. We are lucky, because we are acting. Not for the sake of politics, wealth, or popularity. But for survival. More significantly, there is an old saying that my father used to tell me, which I share with you now. Simply, 'There's no place like home'. Like many of you, I will miss it. Specifically, my sole freedom to roam this world. But; we will be alive; and ready to embrace the new era which is almost upon us. Poignantly," he concluded, "we will make this sacrificial and respectful pact with Mother Nature's Gaia. And we do so because it is the right thing to do. For me at least, I believe that when the time comes, she will honor our ultimate sacrifice and reimburse us when the balance has been restored. Thank you. Thank you, all."

In the aftermath of The Contingency Result, a relative level of jubilation seemed to sweep over my homeland. Luckily, it was infectious, and also the case in New Japan and Kazakhstan. As far as our nations were concerned, the only factor causing a dampener in the Far East region was the muggy weather, still unusually warm for December.

    With celebrations going on, Mikey had dragged Michelle, Sarah and Suki to join him at Jive - one of Houhai's exclusive night clubs. In all honesty, before my cousin returned to Guìzhōu, I was glad she was in the company of friends again and able to really let her hair down. But with regards to myself, I'd respectfully declined the invitation. For the first time in a long time, Xen and I were dressed up and headed to fùqīn's estate. Once at The Promenade, we'd planned to catch up properly with mùqīn.

    "Little brother, this was a good idea," Xen said.

    "Xiōngdi, I know," I answered, while driving a rented hovermobile, inconspicuously. "It's more than overdue."

    Ascending the beautiful hills, we'd looked out and absorbed the area's tranquility until coming to a stop at the gatehouse. Reason being, mùqīn's A.I.S.U had approached us, demanding the dematerialization of holo-windows in order to scan our iDots. Once we were given the all-clear, we'd continued up to the mansion. While coming to a halt, we noticed that fùqīn's garden had been revitalized and restored to its former glory! Despite her busyness, somehow, mùqīn had found the time to honor the duty our patriarch had left her. "She's done well," I stated.

    "Indeed, she has," Xen smiled.

    After disembarking, we sauntered over to the grey bank of stone steps. Suddenly racing each other, Xen and I ran up them like old times, and entered. Then as we bundled in, she was already stood in the hallway lobby and ready to greet us. "My sons," The Mother Of Dragons beamed as she clasped at us. "At last - you are home!"

    "We are," I confirmed, squeezing her a little tighter. Thereafter, I acknowledged her horticulture efforts. "And, I see that someone's found their green fingers again?"

    "I have," she admitted. "Chon, I was wrong to ever neglect your fùqīn's flora. After all, he would always tell us to, 'Study nature, stay close to nature, and love nature. It will never fail us.'

    "Double Dragon, I am sorry that I almost failed it."

    "Well, you're forgiven!" Xen responded. "Isn't she, Chon?"

    "Mùqīn, of course you are," I said for the record. "Now come on! Let's put on some tea before getting comfortable! Mùqīn, do you have any, Jasmine...?"

    "...Chon, that is a silly question," my mother explained. "It is your favorite and I know it relaxes you. Therefore, I've kept a jar next to my old Dragon Well leaf, ever since Xen revealed The Solution."

    We all shared a chuckle. The Solution had been responsible for a lot of my stress. And in all honesty, it was nice to know that I'd remained in my mother's thoughtful grace.

    After leaving the kitchen with hot bone-china cups, we'd entered the living area. To our surprise, every inch of the space seemed to suddenly sparkle. This was due to various red and gold fluorescent trinkets draped all around in joint celebration of Christmas, Chinese New Year and the Festival of Light. "Mùqīn, you shouldn't have," I playfully moaned.

    "Well, the pleasure is mine and I appreciate that we might never get the chance to celebrate any of these momentous occasions properly again. Therefore, I planned ahead."

    As the last four words left her mouth, she raised a hand and pointed towards a virtual holo-tree - the design replica, obviously, green pine. Underneath it there was two wrapped presents which were flat; palm-sized; and rectangular in shape. "Mùqīn, again, you shouldn't have," I retorted.

    "Boys, it is alright," she reassured. "After all, no matter how old you both get, I will always want to spoil you and occasionally, I will."

    "You are too kind," Xen added. "Can we open them?"

    "...You cannot," our Maker declined in the bluntest of fashions.

    "Mùqīn, why not?" Xen asked, perplexed.

    "Because, my son, these gifts are very special and not for now. Instead, guard them with your lives until you are told to open them. Now, follow me..."

    Normality didn't last for long and suddenly I was asking myself questions again.

    'What was so special about mùqīn's gifts that we had to guard them so closely and wait for an instruction to reveal their contents?'

    'And what was it that we were about to witness?'

    Painstakingly, I was suddenly filled with dread as Xen and I followed her and not entirely sure if I really wanted to find out why.