As the Sun set and it was time to go home and cook, Mr. Song Lan finally remembered another duty he bore—a consultant for the Spiritual Energy Research Institute.
The main reason he remembered wasn't a pang of conscience but rather because the people from the institute, seeing he hadn't reported for duty, had resorted to blocking the door.
"Mr. Song Lan, please come with us to the department," they said, "We have some matters we would like to consult you about!"
The man who approached was in his late thirties, dressed in a standard-issue white lab coat. Seeing Song Lan emerge from the department and head to the parked MK-III outside the Security Bureau, he hurried over with a cheerfulness akin to those on the streets who try to drag you into beauty treatments, with a sales pitch almost identical, "It won't take up much of your time."
