Kai was standing right in front of Alex. After swallowing the last piece of candy in his mouth, he began to speak."Welcome to Washington. You can probably guess why we're here."
Alex had collapsed to the ground due to the cognitive impact of the transition."Damn it… You actually exist. Does that mean everything I saw is real?"
Kai replied, glancing indifferently at the view of the place they had arrived."I feel like the guy offering the red pill. Or was it the blue one?"
Alex stood up and looked at Washington's night view, adorned with lights."The Matrix? I wouldn't expect a moron like you to be into movies."
Kai shrugged."Well, as they say, 'Those stuck in the past are good for nothing but gathering dust in the pages of the future.' Wait a second—oh right, I said that."
"It's still unbelievable," Alex said, shaking his head."Your existence, those mysterious abilities, and that damn academy... It's impossible for all of this to be real."
Kai responded with a mocking smile."You saw the academy? Wow. Did you like it? I built it all, you know?"
Alex rolled his eyes."You're the one who showed me the academy, you bastard."
Kai raised his eyebrows to make the situation even more ridiculous."Look, it's not the first time I've seen you, but I definitely didn't show you the Academy. I think you've got a bit of a time perception issue. Did you check the date?"
Alex took out his phone and checked the date again."2017... Damn it, did I go back five years?" he said, eyes widening.
Kai was watching Alex, unable to hide his excitement. His eyes sparkled as if he were watching a baby walk for the first time."My student is discovering his powers—how exciting!"
Ignoring Kai, Alex tried hard to remember what he was doing on this exact date."I remember... I was doing my internship around this time. Wait a second, I remember this exact day. The chief had called me, yelling 'You just left my office and now you're calling me?'"
Alex suddenly recalled Mark muttering his name on the phone before the interrogation with the Feds."Do you know what that means? This all already happened..."
Kai removed his sunglasses and looked at Alex with an emotional gaze."They grow up so fast. And they criticize my teaching methods."
Looking at the childish expression in Kai's eyes, Alex spoke."Well, they're not entirely wrong. Wait a second—let me guess why we're here. That British agent mentioned some data that was stolen from Washington three hours ago."
Kai nodded enthusiastically."That's right. That's why you're here. Now we're going to go back in time to three hours ago, and you're going to do something you've already done—again."
But Alex hadn't controlled the time travel consciously. That in itself was a problem."I didn't do it intentionally. I was influenced by something you told me in the future; I lost control. For the first time in my life, I felt like… something just happened."
Kai nodded."Don't worry, I realized you still couldn't control time from the moment I saw you at the station. That's why I brought you a friend from the Enders."
Kai took out a strange-looking door handle from his pocket and fixed it onto a flat surface, forming a doorway just large enough for a dog to pass through."What I did was create a planar passage using the nearby artery powers. Even the most skilled Kaizen masters can only do this once a day at best."Then, as he turned the handle, a large dog appeared. The Husky trotted happily toward them, eyeing them both with cheerful curiosity.
Alex couldn't decide whether to be more surprised by Kai creating a portal with a door handle or the fact that one of the Enders, the beings said to maintain the balance of the planet, was apparently a Husky."Seriously? One of the Enders—who are supposed to maintain the balance of the planet—is a dog?"