At the appointed time, the adult members of the Clan crowded into the Great Hall, anxious to hear what announcement Oniro had to make. Kuai Liang, still ashamed of his failure earlier that day, skulked in the shadows behind the others to avoid being seen by the Grandmaster. He didn't want any further trouble.
"Kuai Liang!" Tomas whispered loudly. The Cryomancer glanced to his left and saw his pr̆ítel squeezing through the crowd to get to him. In spite of their argument earlier, he was relieved to see his friend. At the moment, he felt like a black sheep for his disgraceful display of emotion earlier, but he knew Tomas would not fault him for his behavior.
"My pr̆ítel," he said again when he reached him, "I thought I recognized the smell of envy."
"Envy?" he asked in confusion as he leaned with arms crossed against a wooden support beam.
"You know, of my extraordinary good looks and superior combat skills."
Kuai Liang inwardly laughed and automatically felt his spirits rise. "I went back to our quarters, but you weren't there," he stated.
"I decided to practice throwing smoke grenades to improve my aim. Didn't want anyone to think I was lazy," he chided.
"About that, I'm sorry. I don't know why I said that to you."
"I forgave you the moment you said it."
"You did?"
"Actually, no. I drew your face on a ball and practiced throwing my grenades at it. After about fifty of those, I forgave you."
"It's good to know you don't hold a grudge," he drily remarked.
Tomas just smirked.
A gong sounded then, and on cue the elderly Oniro hobbled out, followed by Huang and his other advisers, also dressed in long red robes. All the warriors in the Hall stood to attention, rigidly fixing their eyes on their Grandmaster as he took his place at the front before them.
He began speaking in his usual broken Cantonese: "It is my belief that the Lin Kuei is the finest group of warriors on the planet. You are the deadliest men in the world. And yet, your lethal talents can be improved even more. That is why, for the last two years, the Lin Kuei have been working closely with the Black Dragon Organization to perfect the process of human automation. There have been many failures in implementing total cybernetic enhancements, but at last we have had consistent success."
Oniro paused. "Tundra, step forward."
Kuai Liang exchanged a concerned look with Tomas, but obeyed. He silently wove his way through his fellow Clansmen, and took his spot before the Grandmaster once again. Nervously, he knelt before the old man. Oniro did not even look at him, but rather stared at the sea of assassins dressed in variously-colored tunics.
"There are many who have voiced their concerns about the Cyber Initiative," he began in a loud but crooked voice. "Tundra's father, An Zhi, was one of its most vocal opponents. And though he hated An Zhi and disagreed with him on nearly every issue, Tundra's mentor, Master Halsey, argued with me as well. These protesters say that cybernetic enhancements cannot replace our instincts or our feelings. But it is those instincts and feelings that make you weak.
"Today, I issued a simple challenge to our young Tundra: kill a peasant who failed to repay a loan he owed. You are assassins. This is your job! But Tundra could not do as he was told. His feelings for the old man hindered his ability to carry out his task." Oniro sighed in disgust. "Sadly, failure is all I've come to expect from him."
Though no one breathed a word, Kuai Liang felt their disapproving stares bore into the back of his head. They were all thinking the same thing that he was: he was a killer. How, then, could a killer not kill? Worse, how could he disobey a direct order given by the Grandmaster himself?
"I wonder what your father would say if he was here now, Tundra," Oniro sneered. "It would be difficult for him to argue with me when I could point to his pathetic excuse for a son and say, 'Here surely is the deadliest warrior the Lin Kuei has to offer. His feelings keep him from doing his duty to the Clan.'
"This emotion is a weakness that will not be tolerated. Cybernetic enhancements are the future of the Lin Kuei. They will eradicate all traces of feeling that corrupt you. Behold the might of Hydro!" Oniro lifted his arm to signal a Lin Kuei warrior, Hydro, Master Halsey, to step into view from the corridor.
Kuai Liang gasped in surprise when he saw his mentor emerge from the shadows. He stood straight and tall, his presence intimidating, his stature strong. He no longer seemed human, though, but like a robot with thick, dark purple plate armor encasing thin black tubes and wires where his guts should have been. On his head he wore a peculiar helmet with a black visor, and black wires streaming out of the back like a bunch of dreadlocks gathered into a ponytail. If Oniro hadn't identified him, Kuai Liang wouldn't have even recognized the man he thought of as a second father, his Sifu.
At the main entrance of the Great Hall, the guard Shen, code-name Arrow, carried in a Tibetan girl who was approximately ten years old. Kuai Liang recognized her immediately as a homeless orphan from Tingri. Screaming and crying hysterically, she was giving the Lin Kuei guard all she had, kicking, biting, and punching him in a frantic attempt to escape. He held firm, however, and did not release her.
"This is an orphan girl the guards caught snooping around the Temple," Oniro explained. "Surely, she is a spy. This cannot be tolerated. Arrow, put her down. Hydro, kill her."
Shen violently threw her to the ground at Hydro's feet and stepped aside quickly as water flowed from Hydro's palms and enveloped his arms. As the girl staggered to her feet and started to run, the cyber-ninja aimed his arms at her. A cyclonic column of water caught her and swirled around her like a maelstrom, gradually tightening around her as she thrashed in terror until at last it constricted and drowned her. She didn't even have a chance to scream.
"As you can see, young warriors, we have given Hydro new purpose," Oniro declared as Shen quickly gathered the dead child from the floor. "He was a brilliant strategist, but because he was growing increasingly rebellious against my will, he was otherwise useless. Now, we have given him the means to fight once more."
"Sifu?" Kuai Liang tentatively called to Halsey, feeling sick, but the cyber-ninja did not answer. The Hydro he knew never would have killed a child under any circumstances. "Sifu?" he called again. But the older warrior did not even look at his young pupil.
"Impetuous Tundra, you see? No shred of emotion exists inside your former teacher."
"Then he might as well be dead!" he exploded.
"He has been perfected."
"How can you call this perfection? You've turned him into a monster!" he snarled, curling his hands into fists. Ice crept into them and fog began to waft into the air around them.
"Enough!" Oniro snapped, unconcerned. "This is why I have decided you will be the next one automated. I am weary of your outbursts. I am weary of your imperfection. You could be so much more. A warrior to be feared, just like your father, or even better, your grandfather."
Kuai Liang felt that fiery anger creep uncontrollably into his throat, and he started to argue even more, but he thought of his father and bit his tongue to stay silent. He scowled and stared at the floor in deference instead.
"You're learning. Good," Oniro sneered. "But it is not enough. Tomorrow, you will go with Huang to the Black Dragon's headquarters. There, you will undergo the automation process."
The young Cryomancer swallowed hard. "Yes, Grandmaster," he quietly growled.
"The rest of you will be automated within the week. For the good of the Clan."
"For the good of the Clan!" the rest shouted in unison. Though Kuai Liang grew up with most of those men, at that moment, he wished them all dead. How could they go along so willingly with this plan? He had mixed feelings about his father, but on this issue, he was certain An Zhi was right. The Cyber Initiative was wrong. And now, he was beginning to believe that the Lin Kuei was wrong too.
"You're dismissed," Oniro barked and they all began to file out of the Great Hall quietly. Kuai Liang got to his feet and started to follow them, but the Grandmaster stopped him. "Not you, Tundra," he said. The Cryomancer stopped and faced the Grandmaster. "You are not to leave the Temple until Huang escorts you to the Black Dragon. I do not-"
"Grandmaster!" a new voice cried. Kuai Liang turned when he recognized Cyrax's Tswanan accent. It always sounded awkward paired up with Cantonese. The Tswanan warrior dressed in yellow was accompanied by Sektor, Oniro's son, dressed in red. Both had left on their own missions a few weeks after Bi-han.
"What are you two doing here?" Oniro demanded to know, clearly annoyed that they had interrupted him, but overlooking their breech of custom in addressing him first. "Were you eliminated from the Tournament?"
Sektor bowed. "Yes, Grandmaster. The Shaolin Monk, Liu Kang, eliminated us both but granted us mercy."
"You lost to a Shaolin monk?" he snarled in derision. "You're pathetic."
Kuai Liang mentally shook his head. He had faced down a Shaolin monk before. They were exceptionally skilled warriors, ferocious and deadly if they wanted to be. Fortunately, they were Buddhists and vowed to kill no living thing if at all possible. Even still, they were extremely difficult to beat in a fight. Oniro's judgment of Sektor and Cyrax was decidedly unfair.
"The other warriors say he is the Chosen One-" Sektor argued.
"I do not want to hear excuses!" the Grandmaster yelled. "Cybernetic enhancements will eliminate this problem. You two will accompany Tundra tomorrow to be transformed."
"I submit myself to your will and wisdom, Grandmaster," Sektor bowed, the tension in his voice barely perceptible. Cyrax, however, did not seem as agreeable with that order as his partner. He, like An Zhi and Halsey, did not agree with automation. He scowled but said nothing in his defense, though, in spite of his feelings on the matter. Kuai Liang understood; he too could barely contain his disdain for the Cyber Initiative, or for Sektor's mindless loyalty.
"Where is Sub-Zero in all of this?" Oniro asked.
Cyrax and Sektor exchanged a glance. "He is dead, Grandmaster," Cyrax reported.
Kuai Liang felt his heart drop into his stomach at the news. "What do you mean?" he asked, his voice rising uncontrollably. Immediately, a ball of squirming pain formed in his throat, disbelief in his heart. "How? When?"
"Leave, now," Oniro snapped. "This does not concern you, Tundra!"
"He's my brother!" Kuai Liang cried, all semblance of control over his emotions long gone. "He's the only family I have left! Everything about him concerns me!"
"Get him out of here," the Grandmaster ordered Shen and the other guards.
"Bomani, how did he die?" he frantically asked Cyrax as the guards rushed to him and grabbed him. "Please!" he yelled as the guards pushed him backwards. "He was your friend! Tell me!" A traitorous tear slid down his cheek.
"Come on, Kuai Liang," Shen said gently as Bomani – Cyrax – looked at him in pity. For a moment, the African man looked as if he'd say something, but it passed as quickly as it came. "Before you get yourself in real trouble," the guard continued, his voice a whisper.
"Sektor! Who killed him?" he called, ignoring the man, but Sektor didn't answer him either. The guards easily dragged him out of the Great Hall and took him to his quarters where Tomas was already waiting.