The northeastern province of Heilongjiang was notoriously cold in the winter, and shared a closely monitored border with the Russian tundra. There were seldom few luxuries to be found within the snowy climate, especially when compared to the larger cities in China such as Beijing or Shanghai. 

Although Chen Suyin did not mind the position, nor the loneliness that came with the tremendous distance from her family. As a matter of fact she very much enjoyed the chance to let her hair down and simply perform her assigned duties without the oversight typical of the Amrita Corporation. On a typical day she usually met with the various supervisors of the hidden base, which was sealed away in a snowy mountainside deep in the most frigid regions of the province. Then she would ensure all the proper diagnostics were completed, personally inspect the fresh batches of their newest formula, and if a new development was reached Suyin would inform her older sister Lihua.

Suyin knew every employee who worked in the base by name, and made an effort to keep them happy while they were under her command. Due to the clandestine nature of their work, which took employees away from home for several months out of the year between shifts they could get lonely and miss their families. So she tried to raise their spirits and acted as a friendly big sister type of boss whenever she could. Frankly she thought the distance most of her cousins intentionally kept between themselves and their loyal followers was unnecessary.

She stepped into the command center and looked across the room where her chief intelligence officers and data analysts were located. The production facility had a mixture of military personnel provided on behalf of the central government, and a team of their most brilliant engineers and alchemists. However, since supplies in winter were rationed to keep contact with the world above the subterranean facility at a minimum, there was no room for janitors or similar roles, so everybody including her had to do their part to keep everything orderly. 

That was something her sister could never do. Lihua would sooner be caught dead than with a broom or mop in her hands. She was so squeamish about getting her hands dirty, both to protect her precious reputation and also to keep germs away. Despite the fact that as a descendant of the Fang Sisters she was immune to disease from aforementioned germs, of course. 

One of the chemistry specialists was a bookish young man from further north, who spoke Mandarin Chinese with an exceptionally strong Russian accent. Regardless, Doctor Stepanov was an excellent addition to their team, and one of the first outsiders to fully grasp the alchemy behind the zhìyù which had earned him an accelerated path to his current position. 

He winked at Suyin from behind his thick lenses then turned his attention back to the computer screen on his desk, while she crossed her arms and inspected their progress for the day. 

We are way ahead of schedule. Two hundred thousand new batches complete, and a million more forecasted by the start of Spring. Suyin thought and smiled, impressed by the work her team had put in. None of this would be possible without so many enthusiastic and talented individuals. Between our facility and the others… Operation Deliverance will become a reality.

The door to the command center slid open, followed by a rapid series of footsteps that bordered on a sprint. A few of the analysts in the room looked up from their work briefly to see one of the military personnel march into the room clearly out of breath. 

He assumed a half-hearted salute, while Suyin frowned in concern. “P-Pardon my intrusion ma’am.” Weizhe said breathlessly. “But there has been a situation in the lower levels that demands your attention.”

“If it is so urgent, may I inquire why you did not use your radio?” Suyin asked and unclipped the quick response radio receiver on her belt. She pushed the button and confirmed that it worked when the soldier continued. 

He gulped. “Ma’am, we tried. Fifteen minutes ago the security team’s radios stopped working and we have not been able to get them back online.” Weizhe explained. “Commander Xiao ordered me to come find you. He said it’s strange for us to have an outage this long and felt something was wrong.” 

“Fifteen minutes?!” Suyin repeated, taken aback to realize that there had been such a long period of time when she was completely in the dark in regards to one of her most important teams.

Weizhe followed her out into the narrow corridor at a brisk pace. The man was still exhausted from the trek there, and she soon found out why when she attempted to summon the elevator to the lowest floor of the underground facility. 

No response? Is the elevator out of commission too? Suyin cursed when nothing happened. She looked past the thin metal slots where the elevator was supposed to appear from below in the elevator shaft. None of the mechanisms activated regardless of how many times she pushed the button.

A few seconds later Weizhe managed to catch up to her in the hallway. “I had to take the stairs to get here. Should I send an engineer to~?”

“Issue the emergency signal immediately. This is not a system failure.”  Suyin barked and decided to take a more forceful approach. 

She inserted her fingers through the small holes of the grate-like door to the elevator shaft, and effortlessly pulled the door open. When it resisted slightly she simply bent the steel out of shape as easily as one might crumple aluminum foil. Weizhe watched in awe for a moment while she looked down the dark elevator shaft, which was several thousand feet deep. 

Without a moment of hesitation, Suyin leapt from the now open doorway into the abyss below. Weizhe watched her disappear from view in the murky darkness, before he recalled what she had instructed him to do and spun around to signal an emergency. 

Xiao is absolutely right. This could not have been a simple glitch in the system… and if the elevator to the lower floors are compromised, then it is too great of a coincidence to not be intentional. Suyin thought while she continued to plummet at near mach speed. There were no warnings from the exterior patrols, and we have had no security alerts either. This is very strange.

The production facility of the Amrita Corporation’s top secret project was built into a secret Manchurian military base from the Second World War. The extreme climate and solitude from the rest of the region made it a perfect place to weather out the storm of the Imperial Japanese Army’s brutal conquest of the land, and now it served their nation again as a building block to Operation Deliverance. Although many steps had been taken to modernize the facility, the greatest defense they had was the location itself which was almost impossible to penetrate. Especially in the winter when there was a perpetual blizzard outside. 

With all of that in mind, Suyin was flabbergasted to think they would have ever had a security compromise. A chemical reaction or meltdown was the bigger concern, the military presence was a contingency in case they were ever discovered and the most important secret of all history had to be defended. However in the case of a real emergency like this, a military base nearby would be alerted and dispatch thousands of troops within minutes. 

She could only hope they arrived in time to deal with whatever had happened. Fifteen minutes may not seem like a lot, but for a facility like this it may as well have been an eternity. Now she wondered why only Weizhe had attempted to make contact with the higher floors. 

Further down the dark elevator shaft, Suyin could see that most of the lights on the lowest levels were currently dim and on their emergency power setting. It was bizarre that none of their analysts in the command center had been able to tell remotely that something was amiss. 

With a meteoric crash Suyin slammed into the top of the currently inoperable elevator. Beneath her weight the steel structure bent like a soda can, although she was completely unharmed. She ripped away the roof and peered inside to confirm the controls were fried, then looked down the pitch black corridor which led to the alchemical gardens. Her eyes took only moments to adjust to the low light, and she took off down the hallway.

There should be a patrol here. Suyin thought in concern as she passed by the archway which led to the elevator. She had memorized the layout of the facility, and all the patrols and pathways. At this time of night, Ah Kum Lee would be on duty however there was no sign of her anywhere. 

She raised the radio to her mouth. “Security team, someone give me a sitrep. Is anybody out there?” Suyin asked only to receive radio silence. 

Curious, she opened a nearby door which was currently closed. All it took was a scan from her keycard to unlock it and reveal an empty mess hall inside where there were still plates of uneaten food everywhere. Suyin walked inside and checked behind the counters to confirm there was nobody there. 

Abandoned? For how long? She wondered and approached a stovetop where some broth was in a pot. Suyin pressed her fingers against the side of the metal, and noticed that it still felt quite warm to the touch although a very thin film of scum had formed on top. They left recently. Everybody took their gear… Commander Xiao issued a quick response order to investigate something, then ordered Weizhe to come find me as a precaution. 

Suyin looked around once more before she sprinted out of the mess hall. 

But if that’s the case then where is Commander Xiao or any of his soldiers? Why did he not evacuate the workers down here? 

The lowest underground section of the base was reserved for their most secret project, which was the development of the microspeck formula. Unfortunately that meant there were few ways to communicate outside of the radio or intercom, and a disruption in their signals might go unnoticed if the proper precautions were taken. 

Just as Suyin turned a corner which led down another hallway, she became distinctly aware of a bitter smell in the air. Her enhanced senses worsened the odor which only intensified as she pushed forward. At first she was perplexed by what it could possibly be, until she suddenly lost her balance when her boot slid across the smooth concrete on something slippery. 

She stumbled forward but managed to catch herself just in time to avoid a painful collision with a wall. Suyin cursed and looked down at her boot, then felt her heart turn to ice when she recognized what it was.

Blood? Slowly she rose to her feet and inspected the ground more closely. The ground where she had just run across was slick with the visceral remains of someone. Albeit in a tiny puddle smaller in width than the palm of her hand. 

Suyin got on her haunches and scrutinized what she realized was the crushed corpse of a speck. Recognizable as human only by the partially non-splattered human pancreas and liver. The destroyed remains were imprinted into the concrete, painted in the shape of the underside of a boot. She glanced down the hallway and looked at the floor, and noticed several more similar blotches. 

Every so often there was a discarded soldier's uniform or the occasional weapon left behind, left normal sized unlike their organic owners. 

A chill went down Suyin’s back. She crept across the corridor and knelt next to one of the uniform’s, and observed the small blotch next to it where the person had been shrunken then killed shortly after. Her attention was drawn to a silver necklace which she quickly recognized. 

Ah Kum… I’m so sorry. Suyin thought despairingly and regarded the small crushed puddle of her remains. Her corpse was unrecognizable. Crushed into nothingness. Is anybody still alive? Who on earth did this?!

Although she desperately wanted to collect her subordinates' belongings and mourn further, there was no time. Whoever did this could still be here, and they would pay for this massacre. Right now all Suyin could do was avenge them.

Reluctantly she continued down the hallway, and did her best to ignore the countless left behind uniforms and bloody remains everywhere. Suyin knew these men and women. They were more than just her employees, they were her friends. She had met half their families and shared their joys and hardships with them.

However, not once did she see the darker green uniform which belonged to Commander Xiao, who preferred the colors he wore during the Sino-Saharan War many years ago. Had he survived?

Suyin passed at least fifty uniforms on her way to the alchemical production facility. That was well over half their security team. Everywhere she could see signs of a fierce fight which the upper floor had been oblivious to. Bullet marks were everywhere on the walls from stray shots, and the casings littered the floor. Some of the bullets she noticed were crumpled. 

This kind of damage is only achievable by a descendant of the Fang Sisters… A very well trained one who also had access to a massive supply of speck doses to inflict so much carnage. But that’s impossible…

By now Suyin had reached the security door which led to the formula production facility. It was sealed, and could only be opened through two means. A top level security keycard, of which there were only two copies. Or blood from a member of their lineage. 

It would cost her precious seconds, but Suyin had to know. Frantically she typed in her passcode to access the security log and searched for the most recent successful entry. 

The results only confirmed her worst fears. Eleven minutes ago someone had accessed the door’s secondary mechanism, someone who shared her genetic code. Whoever had done this was a descendant of the Fang Sister’s just like her. There was a traitor amongst their ranks and she was beyond this door. 

And there was only one person who Suyin could think of that would match that description. 

She pressed her thumb against the touchpad, which took a moment to scan the blood through her skin. Suyin took a deep breath, and tried to keep her composure, the door hissed open to reveal a gargantuan subterranean room filled with ominous vats of golden colored liquid which had a unique glow. Hundreds of gallons worth of the most precious compound on the planet, and the foundation of their plan to save mankind. 

The power was out in the room, although with her superior eyesight and the luminescent vats which cast dark shadows across the floor, Suyin could see quite clearly. Her stomach turned, for the floor was littered with empty white lab coats and uniforms worn by her alchemy team. Dozens of them. 

And another was a dark green uniform, in the center of the room at the feet of a hooded figure who currently had their back to Suyin. 

Clutched within their gloved fist was a diminutive middle-aged man, currently no taller than the average middle finger. Battered and bruised, although thankfully alive. It took Commander Xiao several seconds to register that someone was there besides the intruder and his captor. His beleaguered eyes slowly filled with life and his gaze gradually focused on Suyin, who stood at the other side of the room.

Then as quickly as those eyes filled with hope that his call for help had been answered, they were extinguished once more when the fist that held Commander Xiao suddenly curled tightly into a tighter fist. 

Instantly his body was reduced to viscera, which oozed between the gloved fingers of the intruder who remained silent throughout the brutal execution. They dropped what was left of the Commander on the ground next to their boot, then scraped it across the floor beneath their shoe in a bloody smear. 

“Chen Keqing.” Suyin said, her voice almost a snarl as she sealed the door shut behind her. “You’ve returned.” She murmured and purposefully marched forward.

Decades had passed since Keqing’s disappearance. Since that time she had been subject to an international manhunt which had never borne fruit, until now it would seem when she brazenly returned with her intentions now clear. If she wished to destroy their family, she had certainly made the right move and targeted a microspeck facility. 

Suyin eyed the vats of liquid which surrounded them. Thankfully it appeared their final security measure had been a success. The only way to extract any of the formula was with a passcode, not a keycard. As a precaution the alchemists were each only told one part of the code. Unfortunately for Keqing, she had either not realized that when she slaughtered them all, or she had been unable to extract the information she needed through torture in time when Commander Xiao barged in. 

Either way even if Suyin was defeated here the betrayer would leave empty handed.

Finally the hooded figure turned around to face Suyin directly, her hands still dropped with blood and gore from her previous massacre. Her face was covered in shadows from her cowl, and also a gas mask which covered everything below her nose while dark tinted goggles covered her eyes. From her build however, Suyin could tell the intruder was a woman. Unfortunately she had never been terribly familiar with Keqing before her departure, and could not determine how much about her had changed. 

If her eyes were bright gold then Suyin was out of her depth. Although she had imbibed more than one Peach of Immortality in her lifetime, a considerably older woman like Keqing who had likely had a chance to resonate with the divine essences of the fruit would be far stronger than Suyin. Keqing had stolen a Peach before she vanished, although Suyin could only hope that she had not grown too powerful since then. 

Even if she is too strong for me to handle, I have no option but to fight her. I can at the very least hold her off until the troops from the base nearby lock the area down. Suyin thought as the hooded figure retracted a blade on their wrist, which would be useless against someone with the xîrang. She’s powerful, but I doubt even she can handle the full force of a battalion. 

Besides… She slaughtered my friends.

“Ma’am, there has been a development.” 

Satsuki raised her brow as one of many attendants whispered into her ear. She betrayed no crack in her composure as she received the report of what had happened in Heilongjiang, and simply nodded while the man went away. Instead she took a sip of her tea and looked across the table towards her cousin, who had been kind enough to host dinner for her two guests the same night they arrived in Beijing. 

The table was rich with countless plates cooked by the host herself. Jisoo was a phenomenal cook and loved to make food for her family. Evidently her talents extended past the cuisines she grew up with, since Satsuki recognized several platters as Japanese and Thai as well. 

While dinner was served, Satsuki portioned herself a simple bowl of rice and soy sauce. Her mind was too distracted by the report she had just received to eat much. Until the military under Lieutenant General Jianyu arrived, she suspected information would simply trickle in by the hour.

That base is top secret. How could it have been compromised so shortly after production of the microspeck formula began? She thought and set her cup down. And more importantly, who on earth could have been able to infiltrate that facility to begin with?  

Initially Eren was concerned that his girlfriend’s insistence that she prepare absolutely all the food for yet another feast would leave her exhausted and unable to enjoy the night spent with her family who decided to pay them a visit. 

Fortunately as a speck he did not really need to eat much so everything made for him could be an afterthought, although that still left six people to cook for. 

Regardless she took to the challenge with an upbeat attitude and an eager willingness to learn the different cuisines she thought her extended family would enjoy. Her expertise was mostly in traditional Chinese and Korean style food, yet somehow she was able to come up with a wide selection of options for her two guests to enjoy. 

Therefore Eren could practically feel Jisoo’s utter disappointment when neither of her two cousins who had come quite some distance to visit her even touched the meals she had spent hours to ensure were excellent. Her cousin from Japan, a taciturn woman named Satsuki seemed distracted by something and only nibbled at a bowl of plain rice. Meanwhile her Thai relative explained through her interpreter that she could not remove her medical mask while around other people.

Satsuki was further up the table away from Eren, close to where Grace and her mother were, which made it impossible for him to strike up a conversation with her. As was Nang Yai, although for some reason she had decided to sit as far away from everybody else as possible. However, from how she interacted with her interpreter Eren surmised that he would not need to be close to her in order to chat.

As Nang Yai sat at the table, seemingly unbothered by her inability to eat or interact with anybody beyond sit still and occasionally chortle at a joke, Eren waited until her gaze happened to be near him to signal her with his hands. 

“Do you know sign language?” Eren asked her and struggled to remember all the correct movements with his fingers. 

Instantly Nang Yai’s eyes lit up excitedly and she replied. “I do! I know American Sign Language as well as Chinese… I had no idea someone other than my interpreter was familiar with it.” She told him and seemed to smile behind her mask. “Where did you learn?”

“Lots of specks learn it to communicate without making a sound while around normal people. My mother taught me.”

“That’s awesome!” She replied enthusiastically. Beside her, Grace noticed their movements and looked to her cousin who for the first time since she had sat down seemed invested in conversation. “My name is Nang Yai by the way. Although you can just call me Jade.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you Jade. I’m Eren.” He replied. Eren was quite rusty with his sign, but as he continued slowly got back into the rhythm of communication. “I’m sorry that you cannot eat anything… Are you alright?” 

“Hmm? Oh the mask! I really hope Jisoo doesn’t take any offense, it all looks delicious but I’m afraid I’ll have to eat later when nobody is around.”

Eren smiled at her cheerfully. “I’ll tell her you really enjoyed it, don’t worry.” He promised. 

Once more Jade giggled happily, clearly thrilled that there was someone else at the table other than her interpreter who could chat with her. She did not seem sickly, not once had she even sniffled or showed symptoms of illness which might necessitate her mask. Furthermore every so often when a joke was told at the table she would laugh, and would glance at someone when they began to speak even if they were not in her immediate field of view. 

From what Eren could discern, Jade was neither deaf or mute. If that was the case then it seemed odd that she required an interpreter and used sign language to communicate, although he did not know enough about her to say for sure. Regardless, she seemed quite friendly.

I wonder why Jisoo was so adamant I keep my distance from her? At first I was worried she was not fond of specks, but she seems really nice.

“I see you decided to get a tattoo.” He overheard Lihua say from across the dinner table. At that Eren glanced towards her and Jisoo, who were right across from each other.

Jisoo set her chopsticks down and wiped her lips with a nearby napkin. “It’s far from finished at the moment. Unfortunately I will need to go back for several sessions.”

“It seems like so much effort and trouble though.” Lihua noted with a slight hint of disapproval in her voice.

His girlfriend shrugged. “I personally find it quite relaxing. I played some music and almost fell asleep on the table.”

“Do you think you’ll get anymore?”

“Why does it matter if she does?” Grace interjected and shot a dirty glare at her mother, she made no attempt to mask the disdain in her tone. 

The rest of the table grew a little quieter, while Lily looked away from her older sister and mother. Lihua regarded her daughter coldly and faced her for the first time since the dinner had begun. For a moment Eren wondered if she would actually slap her daughter across the face, if her mannerisms were any indicator. Fortunately the older woman seemed to think better of it before she did anything drastic and simply sighed.

“I meant no offense to you or Jisoo. I was just curious.” Lihua said after a brief pause and a glance towards Lily across the table. “Forget I said anything about it.” She murmured and turned her attention back to her meal. 

Grace rolled her eyes and aggressively chewed on a piece of steamed bok choy, still clearly frustrated by her mother’s very existence and proximity to her. Gradually the rest of the table returned to their conversation from before, after a prolonged awkward silence. 

I had no idea things were this bad between them. Eren thought and watched Grace carefully. I’ve never seen her with such a short fuse before. 

Satsuki finished her bowl of rice and cleared her throat. “So Eren, do you mind if I ask you about something that has been bothering me?” She asked politely. 

“Of course, although my Mandarin still isn’t perfect, so my apologies if I~.”

“What was your immediate reaction when Jisoo told you that our family initiated The Diminution?” She asked as casually as one might ask for an opinion about a movie. 

Everybody at the table suddenly went dead silent and all attention turned towards Satsuki, who remained completely steadfast throughout her explanation. Jisoo’s eyes went wide with fury and she opened her mouth to shout something before Grace kicked her leg under the table. 

Several intense seconds passed while Eren was too dumbfounded to reply. Satsuki raised her brow elegantly and continued. “Pardon, perhaps I should have asked in English?” She mused condescendingly. “Let me try again. May I inquire as to what your initial reaction was when you were informed that our family was responsible for The Diminution?”

“Lily, please step outside for a moment.” Lihua commanded softly. Obediently the young girl got out of her seat and was escorted out of the room by an attendant nearby. 

The moment she was out of ear shot Jisoo spoke up. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?” She seethed, her hands woven tightly into fists. “Do you really want to have this conversation right now?”

“Well personally I see no issue with it. I didn't mean to cause such a fuss, my only desire was to learn more about your boyfriend. You still intend to marry him right?” Satsuki asked pointedly.

What?! 

Eren choked on air and sputtered feebly on nothing, while Jisoo shot out of her seat in a fit of rage. Before she could do anything Grace was also on her feet and placed one hand on her cousin’s shoulder to keep her still. Still Jisoo looked absolutely livid, and had to be physically restrained otherwise she might have attacked Satsuki right there and then. 

Briefly her rage faded and was replaced by horror, when she slowly looked up at Eren who was still flabbergasted by that last statement from Satsuki.

Marry me? What? What the hell is she talking about?! He thought while Satsuki turned away from Jisoo and back towards him. 

“From her reaction, I suppose it would not be inaccurate to assume that you were unaware of Jisoo’s intentions?” Satsuki asked and crossed her arms. “Well, allow me to explain why myself and Nang Yai are here.”

“One more word out of you and-!”

“Jisoo! Stop!” Grace barked and forced her back into her seat. “This is a necessary conversation regardless! We might as well get it out of the way from now.” She insisted. 

Begrudgingly Jisoo remained in her seat, although from her expression Eren gathered that if not for Grace she would have lunged across the table and ripped Satsuki in half. He had only seen her so enraged once before, and the last time that had happened Jisoo had slaughtered two people right in front of him. For now Grace seemed to have been able to keep her still, although Eren wondered if she could keep her like that for much longer.

As this happened Satsuki remained completely unfazed by the potential threat or Jisoo’s sudden outburst. “Myself and Nang Yai are here as representatives on behalf of our respective Cadet Branches within the same family as Jisoo, Grace and Lihua. Our purpose is to come to a unanimous conclusion as to whether or not you should be allowed to marry into the family.” She explained. “As you might have guessed from my previous comment, Jisoo has expressed her desire to make you her husband. For that to happen there must be a unanimous opinion by three of her family members.”

“I-I see.” Eren said quietly and averted his gaze.

Jisoo once more had to be held down by Grace as she tried to shoot out of her seat again, although this time towards Eren. “Eren you don’t need to say anything to her! Just be quiet for now and we can talk about this later-!”

“If that’s the case then I accept her proposal. I will do whatever needs to happen for you and Nang Yai to approve our relationship.”