Days passed as I continued meditating like a madman. I felt possessed like someone was edging me on from inside. However, no matter how I tried, no matter how much effort I put in, I felt stuck. I wasn’t capable of infusing chi into my muscles effectively and I always either ran out of it or felt like it was escaping from my muscle fibers and not being stored or conducted.

I felt like I had hit a wall. I felt like I was burned out. This feeling was frustrating, yet I knew it was time to take a break. As I opened my eyes, I found the twins surprisingly meditating right next to me.

Once they felt me stir and move, they opened their eyes and smiled brightly at me. They said in unison: “Hey Xeno, it’s good to see you up and about. You have been going at it for days and we felt lonely. When we were feeling bored, Eve gave us a suggestion of practicing meditation since according to her it will help us in the future. At first, we didn’t understand the importance of it, yet when Eve explained it to us, we were shocked beyond understanding. We couldn’t believe that we could become like you and maybe even awaken powers like you. If meditating would help with this process, then so be it.”

I looked at the twins with a proud smile on my face and replied: “First of all, I always feel that it is weird when you both synchronize while talking. How much are you close to each other to produce such results? And secondly, I am really proud of you for pursuing the art of meditation and giving it your all, yet I still have not found a way to awaken other people, and for me to do that I still need a lot of time.”

I paused ruffling their hair and then said: “However, I want you to continue with your efforts since no effort put into something will be left unawarded. You have no idea how happy I am when I see you smile like that, and I always want you to keep smiling like that. When I look at you in this state, I feel like all burdens I’m carrying and all that I have suffered were a mere gentle breeze.”

The twins surprised by what I said blushed from embarrassment and glee and hugged me.

They then lifted their heads while looking straight into my eyes and said:” You are our sole purpose for living and our only family. If you ever feel lonely, cornered, or sad, know that our shoulders are there for you to rest and recharge. Keep going forward no matter what people will call you; we will always be right there next to you, fighting the world if necessary.”

What good girls they are. I couldn’t help but praise myself for not leaving them to their destiny and taking their burdens for them. People like the twins don’t deserve anything but praise and love. They don’t deserve to be in this messed up world, in this ugly society.

While I was happily talking to the twins, our conversation was interrupted by a knock on the door, a hatch being opened, and trays of food being passed through them.

The person responsible for this as usual was none other than Ryuji. He was sporting a smile while passing the trays, which struck me as odd. However, as soon as I laid my eyes on the trays, I knew why Ryuji was smiling.

There was a thick folder containing a lot of papers placed under the plates of food that were meant for the twins and me. I was so excited that a scream escaped my mouth without me noticing.

The twins jumped from my sudden outburst and looked at me with shock on their faces. Well, I can’t blame them since I don’t usually show such a childish side to anyone.

I tried to hide my embarrassment by grabbing the folders and looking toward Ryuji while saying: “You are the best brother anyone can ask for, Ryu. I mean, God damn, you are fast. Even though you took approximately nine months to get the information I asked for, I can tell from the looks and weight of the folder that you got a hefty amount of it. Hey, thank you man, as always, you’re the best.”

Ryuji tried to hide his embarrassment from showing on his face and threw a sarcastic jab at me: “I wanted to see what face you made when you got the information, but I didn’t expect seeing you screaming like a small child that received a gift on his birthday.”

“Watch it Ryuji, I just complimented you. Don’t make me start cursing you now, yeah you punk.”

Hearing my reply, Ryuji, the twins, and I burst out laughing. We laughed for some time but then Ryuji said his goodbyes and left.

Left alone with the twins and the folder, I scarfed down my food as fast as possible and threw the folder on the ground, spreading the papers all over the floor.

I immediately asked for help from the twins in organizing the papers into categories. I asked them to place information about the test subjects in a pile, information about the guards in a pile, and a folded paper which I still don’t know what it is, in a pile.

The twins nodded and quickly helped me sort out the papers. They were curious about the contents, but they knew better than to ask me questions. They trusted me to tell them everything when the time was right.

We finished organizing the papers in a few minutes. I thanked the twins for their help and told them to sit next to me. I picked up the first pile of papers, which contained information about the test subjects.

I scanned through the profiles of the other test subjects, looking for anything useful.