On the mothership, Mister P entered the chamber of the master. "Master Giaguo, I have returned," he announced.
Part of the rear wall swiveled around to reveal Giaguo's tank. "And have you taken care of Target Priority Three?" he asked, his black eyes staring expectantly at Mister P.
Mister P looked down. "...No," he answered. "I failed to capture her."
Giaguo's eyes narrowed. "...Your ineptitude disappoints me," he said, clearly displeased.
Mister P didn't meet the alien's gaze. "She's also starting to realize her abilities as a telepath."
The master's eyes narrowed even further. "How much did she discover from your mind, Mister P? Did she learn of our plans?"
"No," Mister P answered, shaking his head. "She started figuring out personal information about me, like my real name. Once I realized what she was doing, I used those mental protections you taught me, and blocked her."
Giaguo paused for a moment. "...At least you did SOMETHING right," he finally said.
"I also managed to capture that kid who interfered with me last time," Mister P added. "I had him put into a holding tank like the rest."
"What does that matter?" Giaguo asked. "The one who stopped you last time is a mere human. Your capturing of him is irrelevant. Because of your failure, I have lost Target Priority Three."
Mister P raised an eyebrow. "I thought you could sense where she is through her telepathy."
"I could at one time," said the alien. "Either she has learned to mask her power, or disable it, because I can no longer sense her location. Occasionally, I can sense her for a moment, but she disappears before I can pinpoint where she is."
He glared at Mister P. "In any case, your failure has left me VERY disappointed in you, Pokey."
Mister P gulped, starting to feel afraid. The only reason he was still alive, let alone a high-ranking officer, was because Giaguo thought he was useful. If the master began to believe otherwise...
"To redeem myself," he said carefully, "I have some information for you, Master Giaguo."
"Oh? And what kind of information?"
Mister P smiled slightly, feeling more confident. "I ran into Target Priority One."
Giaguo's eyes widened. "What? Are you certain?"
Mister P nodded. "She matched your image files exactly... And she already knows about you, probably from her ability to see the future." He laughed. "She referred to you as 'the dark one.'"
The alien chuckled, his laughter echoing throughout the room. "'The dark one?' I find that rather endearing." He paused for a moment. "I assume that you encountered her in Duplora, then."
"Yes, Master Giaguo," answered Mister P. "I encountered her, along with the 'chosen leader.'"
At this, Giaguo's surprise was clearly evident, despite the fact that he could not really make human facial expressions. "WHAT?"
"It's true," Mister P assured him. "He clearly knew who you were, and he called himself the leader of the 'Chosen Eight.'"
"Leader of the Chosen Eight?" Giaguo repeated, his surprise wearing off.
Mister P nodded. "His name is Zain Maximillian. It's because of him that I failed my mission."
"How so?"
"He protected the targets. I shot him with my paralysis gun, but it didn't even affect him. When I tried to capture Target Priority One, he became very angry and attacked me with some strange psychic power." Mister P showed Giaguo his broken shield generator. "My portable psychic shield stopped it, but then it overloaded."
Giaguo stared at him. "That shield should be able to block Omega-level psychic energy with no difficulty."
"I know," Mister P agreed. "But this power of his was incredibly strong. I knew I wouldn't survive if he attacked again, so I had to escape, but at least I took one of them with me."
"The least dangerous of them," the alien retorted. "Still, it is only to be expected, considering the fact that you are a mere Earthling human."
Mister P looked down. "I'm sorry I failed you, Master Giaguo," he said apologetically.
"Since you brought me this information, I will forgive you," Giaguo replied. "The appearance of the chosen leader changes everything... Especially if he is so powerful."
His voice adopted an aura of interest. "You said that the chosen leader, this Zain Maximillian, became angry and attacked you with psychic energy, and that your paralysis weapon was ineffective against him. I am curious, Mister P... Did this Zain's eyes change color at all?"
Mister P's eyes widened. "Now that you mention it, they did," he said. "Before he attacked me, his eyes turned red, and I could actually feel the energy he was about to release."
"This does indeed change everything," Giaguo said thoughtfully. "It is little wonder that your paralysis weapon was ineffective, if he possesses THAT gift."
"What do you mean?" asked Mister P.
"A paralysis beam affects its target by interfering with the mind's control over the body, making it impossible for the mind to issue commands to the body. In short, the paralysis beam directly affects the mind. If the chosen leader, this Zain, has the power that I think he has, then his mind cannot be affected like that. His mind is impenetrably protected against any sort of outside influence."
"No wonder it didn't work," muttered Mister P. "So how are we supposed to get rid of him?"
"There are ways," Giaguo answered. "For now, it will suffice to say that although we must be extremely careful, we are more than equipped to deal with him. We have been watching this planet for many years after the defeat of Giygas-12162*203*616*-630, making preparations and taking all possible factors into account. These 'chosen ones' are strong, but they are not invincible; you know that all too well, Mister P, from the mission you carried out fourteen years ago."
Mister P smirked. "Indeed I do," he agreed, remembering what the master was talking about.
"In any case," Giaguo continued, "we now know the identity of the chosen leader. Go and send word to Kaatz, so that he now knows who to look for. Give him your description of Zain, and tell him that Target Priority One is with him."
Mister P winced; although he had to work with Kaatz, he didn't really like him. "And what about after that?" asked Mister P. "Should I go back and try again?"
"No," the master answered. "After you replace your shield generator, you will simply rest for now, Mister P. You probably cannot stand against Zain, as you have no psychic abilities. Kaatz will take over for now, and you will stay here until I have another mission for you."
"But I have to go back!" Mister P protested vehemently. "I have to get that girl! I have to destroy every remnant of HIM!" An edge of hatred appeared in his voice.
Giaguo stared at him. "I understand your feelings in the matter of Target Priority Three, but she is with the chosen leader, and you do not have the power to defeat him. Kaatz is much more likely to be able to handle this situation."
Mister P realized that if he pressed the matter, he risked incurring Giaguo's wrath. He sighed, feeling disgusted. "Yes, Master Giaguo."
"Good. Now go and inform Kaatz of what you told me," Giaguo ordered.
Mister P nodded and left the chamber.
After he had gone, Giaguo thought to himself. "It seems that the 'Chosen Eight' foreseen by the 'Apple of Enlightenment' have begun to appear, and they have already begun to come together," said the alien. "I must be careful; I will not make the same mistake that Giegue made."

Meanwhile...

The darkness in the old tunnel was so absolute that it seemed to threaten to swallow them. The only things that broke through the darkness were the two flashlights, held by Zain and Guy. They searched everywhere with them as they slowly traversed the tunnel, constantly on guard against possible enemies.
The tunnel was also silent; so silent that making any kind of sound seemed unnatural. The group didn't speak as they moved, and they tried to avoid making any noise.
The abandoned tunnel's exterior had shown signs of disuse. The interior was even worse. They could see the remnants of a road on the ground in the light of their flashlights, but the road was cracked and pitted everywhere. This made the ground so uneven that the group had to take care to avoid tripping and falling. Sasha stumbled once, but Karen managed to catch her before she fell.
Since they tried to avoid speaking in the silent tunnel, the four of them could only think to themselves. Zain used the time to reflect on everything that had happened over the past five days. His life had changed significantly ever since that first night when he had found the meteor. Before that fateful night, Zain would never have even thought of leaving his home and going off on his own. He had never even wanted to travel before. His father, Lawrence Maximillian, had been a traveler; piloting airplanes to far-off places had been his life... And it had gotten him killed. After that terrible accident, Zain had been perfectly content to stay home and be with his family, and never leave his home.
Yet now, here he was, heading for Troisemburg on a quest that could possibly get him killed. I wonder how Mom and Selrey are doing? he thought. Will they be okay without me?
But another thing that had changed was that it was not only his family that he cared about anymore. In Sasha, Zain had found a good friend, and over the course of only a few days, he already cared about her deeply. The two of them had saved each other's lives several times, and Zain couldn't imagine undertaking this quest without her.
And now there were two others who had offered their friendship and joined his cause. While not as special to him as Sasha, Guy and Karen were no less important to the group, and Zain cared about them as well. While Guy had no PSI abilities, he was smarter than anyone Zain had ever met before, and he had a good heart, even if his manner of talking was a little odd. Karen seemed to be even less used to having friends than Zain was; she didn't talk about herself much, and a lot of the time she was rather withdrawn. But Zain could see that she liked having friends, and he didn't need telepathy to know that she was a good person. He hoped that they found her friend Neil during the course of their journey.
Sasha walked beside Zain, thinking to herself as well. The dark one, the one called Giaguo, was still after her; the mere thought of it filled her with terror. But in the company of the three friends she had met, particularly Zain, she felt safe. She had felt safe with Zain from the moment she had first met him, after stepping off of the bus in Primera. It wasn't just that he was the boy from her dreams; there was something about Zain himself that made him special. Even though he had never even seen her before, he had offered her his unconditional friendship, and from that moment on he had been a stalwart companion. Sasha knew that if it hadn't been for Zain, she would have been captured by Mister P yesterday, and she would now be in the hands of the dark one.
She was also increasingly curious about Zain's PSI. As a member of an entire family that was gifted with PSI, Sasha had thought that she knew the rules of how it worked. But Zain had thrown those rules completely out the window with his gift; it was like nothing she had ever seen before. She still had no way to explain the way his eyes changed color when he used his power, and the speed at which he used it was phenomenal. In order to use PSI, one had to concentrate, which ultimately took time, no matter how skilled the user. But Zain had used his power instantaneously; Sasha still remembered the way he had simply turned and blasted the guardian of Lumina Pillar into oblivion, almost as if it were an afterthought. And even though Zain didn't know much about how PSI worked, he had shown her ways to use it that she had never even known about before.
There were so many things she didn't understand. She was starting to wonder if she ever would.
Behind them, Guy thought back on the past few days' events. He had set out from the Orange Enterprises base in Troisemburg because Samuel Maybee had sent him to protect his daughter. But now that he had finally found her, she didn't need him to protect her; she had Zain. Still, being away from the Orange Enterprises base had shown Guy the possibilities of the world outside. He had already made friends with Zain, Sasha, Karen, and the abducted Neil, and now that Guy was free of his father's influence, he could eventually find Kyla; he had sworn to do that.
Guy wondered what he would do when this quest was over, if they managed to succeed. He wasn't sure what he would do, but one thing was certain: he was not going to be what his father wanted him to be.
Next to Guy, Karen thought about what had happened to her recently. Mister P had not merely been following his master's orders when he came after her; he clearly hated her, for something her parents had done. She knew that Mister P had abducted Neil at the last second to hurt her; in that he had succeeded.
Thinking about Mister P's connection to her parents made her wonder about them even more. Who are they, and why does he hate them so much? she wondered. She had almost learned her father's name from Mister P's mind; the pain that she had felt when it had been ripped away from her was still fresh in her memory.
She thought about Mister P's real name that she had discovered, Pokey Minch. The name meant nothing to Karen; she didn't know anything about anyone named Pokey. But Karen had a feeling that the name was a key that could help her discover who her parents were, if she could figure it out. She briefly wondered why Mister P didn't use his real name.
Her powers were also a possible clue to her parents' identity. Karen remembered what Mister P had said about her parents in her encounters with him. Her father had PSI powers, and her mother was a telepath like Karen was; her mother probably had PSI powers too. It made Karen feel warm inside to know that she had inherited something special from each of them.
Karen had kept her telepathy disabled ever since she had learned how to do it. There was no telling what could be in the old tunnel; if they encountered Madness creatures while she was using her telepathy, Karen would be paralyzed again by their enormous intent to kill. She didn't want that to happen ever again.
Finally, she thought about Neil. Although Guy had helped her feel better after Neil's abduction, and he had given her hope again, she still missed Neil terribly. As the first person to show her kindness, Neil was special; even though she now had other friends, there would never be anyone else like him. She remembered the way he had selflessly taken the blame for her when she had accidentally broken the lamp back at the orphanage, and the way he had sincerely apologized for everything he had ever done to hurt her. It was true; there would never be anyone else like him.
Karen wiped the tear from her eye and mentally chided herself. This is no time to be feeling sorry for myself, she thought. If a Madness creature attacks us right now, all the sorrow in the world won't help us.

As the four of them walked and thought, they finally reached the end of the tunnel. It had been longer than any of them had thought it would be.
The exit to the tunnel was blocked with a large wooden barrier, just as the other end had been. Zain turned to the others and grinned. "I'll take care of this one."
Facing the barrier, Zain raised his hand and used his power. "PSI Hyperion Alpha!"
The brilliant solar attack made the words "take care of" an understatement. Under the stress of Zain's power, the barrier exploded outward, scattering pieces of wood everywhere.
The group stared in surprise as they looked upon the forest meadow on the other side. Even though it wasn't night yet, it was so dark outside that it might as well have been night. The source of the darkness was apparent; the sky was totally covered with thick greyish-black clouds. It was pouring rain outside, and they heard a clap of thunder in the distance.
"Well, this is going to be pleasant," muttered Zain. "We still have a long way to walk. We're going to get soaked."
Sasha nodded, regretting not buying an umbrella in Duplora.
"I suppose it cannot be helped," said Guy. "It does not appear that this rain will stop in the near future."
"Look on the bright side," said Karen. "With all this rain, most animals probably won't be outside, which means we won't run into as many Madness creatures."
Zain shrugged. "Yeah, I guess you're right about that."
They stayed just inside the tunnel for a moment longer, none of them really wanting to go out in the rain. Finally Zain reached up and pulled his aviator goggles over his eyes, to help shield them from the rain. "Well, waiting around won't get us anywhere. We have to keep going."
Reluctantly, they left the tunnel and began the trek across the forest meadow, heading for Troisemburg.

To be continued...