The safe house was a small apartment above a printing shop.
Lin Shen had been there for two days, waiting for word from the Alliance. Li Mei had found him wandering the streets after the temple attack and brought him here.
Old Zhou was still missing.
"We've had people searching," Li Mei said, setting a bowl of noodles on the table in front of him. "No sign of him. But no body either."
Lin Shen ate without tasting. His mind was elsewhere—on the pillar of light he'd seen beneath the temple, on the shadow entity's warning, on the old man who had sacrificed himself so Lin Shen could escape.
"I should go back," he said. "Look for him myself."
"You'd be walking into a trap. Atlas knows who you are now. They'll be watching every place you've ever been."
"Then what do I do? Hide here while my friends risk their lives?"
Li Mei sat across from him. Her expression was softer than he'd seen it before.
"You do what you're meant to do. Train. Prepare. Get strong enough to actually make a difference."
She pulled out her tablet and showed him a series of readings.
"I've been analyzing the data from your consciousness probe. Your energy signature is off the charts. Whatever happened in that chamber beneath the temple, it changed something in you."
Lin Shen looked at the readings. They meant nothing to him—just lines and numbers on a screen.
"What does it mean?"
"It means your abilities are evolving faster than anyone predicted. You're already showing signs of Level 2 consciousness access—the ability to actively enter the Consciousness Matrix, not just observe it."
"But I don't know how to control it."
"That's what training is for." Li Mei stood. "Professor Zhang wants to see you. He says he has information about what you found."
Lin Shen followed her out of the apartment and into the streets of Dragon Spine Lane. The neighborhood was busy with midday activity—vendors calling out prices, children running between stalls, the smell of cooking food mixing with the ever-present ozone.
They took a circuitous route, doubling back several times to check for tails. Finally, they arrived at a small tea house that Lin Shen had never noticed before.
Professor Zhang was waiting in a private room at the back. He looked tired, older than Lin Shen remembered.
"Sit," the professor said. "We have much to discuss."
Lin Shen sat. Li Mei remained standing by the door, watching.
"The chamber you found beneath the temple," Professor Zhang began. "It's something we've been searching for for decades. We call it the Origin Point."
"What is it?"
"A nexus. A place where the Consciousness Matrix, the Dream Matrix, and the physical world intersect. It's one of only a handful of such places in existence."
He pulled out a holographic display and showed Lin Shen a diagram. It looked like three circles overlapping, with a bright point at the center.
"Your grandfather believed that the Origin Points were the key to understanding consciousness itself. That they held secrets that could either save humanity or destroy it."
"And Atlas knows about them?"
"They know about some. The temple was one of their targets—they've been searching for an Origin Point they could control. Your escape may have delayed them, but they'll be back."
Lin Shen thought about the pillar of light, the swirling consciousness points. The beauty of it, and the power.
"What does this have to do with me?"
Professor Zhang leaned forward.
"Your grandfather believed that certain individuals—inheritors, he called them—could access the Origin Points in ways that others couldn't. Could draw power from them, learn from them."
"And you think I'm one of these inheritors?"
"I think you're the inheritor. The one your grandfather spent his life preparing. The one who might be able to do what the rest of us cannot."
Lin Shen felt the weight of the professor's words. It was too much. He was just one person, untrained, unprepared.
But he remembered Old Zhou's face as he pushed Lin Shen through the door. The old man's eyes, filled with something that looked like faith.
"I need to find Old Zhou," Lin Shen said. "Before I can do anything else, I need to know if he's alive."
Professor Zhang and Li Mei exchanged a look.
"There's something you should know," Li Mei said slowly. "We intercepted a communication from Atlas. They have a prisoner. Someone matching Old Zhou's description."
Lin Shen's heart clenched.
"Where?"
"Their main facility. In the Core Zone."
"Then we need to rescue him."
"It's not that simple. The Core Zone is heavily guarded. Their facility is a fortress. We don't have the resources for a direct assault."
Lin Shen stood. "Then we find another way. Because I'm not leaving him there."
Professor Zhang studied him for a long moment. Then he nodded slowly.
"There might be a way. But it's dangerous. And it will require you to use abilities you've barely begun to understand."
"Tell me."
"The Core Zone facility has a service entrance—used by maintenance workers, delivery personnel. It's less heavily guarded than the main entrances."
"And?"
"And if you can get inside, you might be able to use your consciousness abilities to locate Old Zhou and create a distraction. Give our team time to extract him."
Lin Shen's mind raced. It was risky. Maybe suicidal.
But Old Zhou had risked everything for him. He couldn't do less.
"When do we start?"
Professor Zhang smiled grimly.
"Tonight. If you're ready."
Lin Shen thought of the old man who had become his mentor, his friend. The man who had stayed behind so Lin Shen could escape.
"I'm ready."
He had to be.