The Solution (2nd Edition)

Xen

Immediately I was forced to wrack my brain and test my IQ!

    My mother; Widow Lai; was one of The Elders and proving it as Chon and I chased after her!

    Now, when Chon had initially asked me about 'SS-CSP', I was genuinely none-the-wiser. That was until I'd pressed mùqīn and Cassius for more details of their private project...

    But what Chon and I had witnessed with the gifts was nothing to do with that. Nothing at all. Somehow, mùqīn had managed to keep something else secret from even me, and more than anything, I needed to know!

    Once we were in the dining room, mùqīn urged us to sit with a motion of her palms. Chon and I obliged her and docked around our large dining table. To note, it was a grand piece of furniture that was ultimately wasted and hadn't been used since the Reunion Dinner before last. It also looked like it'd been moved since I'd last sat around it...

    "Mùqīn, what's going on?" Chon asked - clearly as dumbfounded as me. "Why are we sat in here?"

    "Because, my child, I have one last gift to give..."

    Chon and I shared another look. Nevertheless, we sat still and waited for our mother's next prompt. "Chon; tell me; how are you and Sarah getting on?"

    Chon blushed a little but gave a truthful answer. "Well, with all things considered, really good. Great, actually. Why though, mùqīn?"

    "Chon, I have never asked you this before. But, do you see a future, with her...?"

    Surprised by the awkward enquiry, it was only natural that my little brother's words became fumbled. "Err, I haven't r-really, had the time to, give it much thought; but yes; I think I do..."

    "Good," she responded. "Very good, indeed." A second later, mùqīn twisted her wrist over, allowing her iDot to scan something built into the prosthetic wood of the table!

    Had she been taking covert lessons from O-Kenai or something? She'd clearly had it modified!

    While I writhed in my own bewilderment, a holo-hatch appeared in the middle of the table! Then surreally, a glass cylinder rose up out of it which rested on a horizontal mount and was encapsulated in some type of emanating energy field.

    Now mùqīn had started to scare even me.

    She continued her revelation. "Chon. This gift is for, Sarah, for the future..." the old woman explained. At the same time, she slowly pulled the cylinder from its glowing mount. "Chon, it will open when the time is right, and not before. Here, take it and together, both guard it. In the meantime, let us not speak anything else of these three gifts."

    I couldn't take the suspense any longer! "Mùqīn, please, just hang on a second," I interrupted. "Seriously, is that all you're going to give us?" My next words were frustrated repeats and flew out of my mouth in natural Mandarin - my homeland's dialect - which I thought I'd completely forgotten.

    "My sons, learn to maintain faith," she exhaled. "That is what your fùqīn and I always taught you."

    "Mùqīn, faith isn't important right now. What do these gifts mean?" Chon asked, clearly struggling as much as I was to keep a calm composure.

    "Just, be, patient," she then emphasized, trying to pull rank over us.

    "Mùqīn; I can't speak for Xen; but I can't be," Chon explained. "Especially when you show me weird objects, then mention Sarah in the same breath! Also, while we're here, perhaps you could answer me now. Do these things have anything to do with SS-CSP...? And be honest, māma. Now's your one chance to tell me the truth..."