Just a warning: There will be heterosexual and homosexual relations in this chapter. Please do not write any heterophobic or homophobic reviews.

Episode XI: Who Am I?

Melody was standing by the stove in the small kitchen in the Aurum, trying to cook some spicy pork and cabbage soup. She was looking at the cabbage, looking determined.

"I'm going to do this!" Melody held her finger up and began to chant. "Juanxincai! Baozha!" Her finger glowed and suddenly, the cabbage exploded in her face, covering her face in ash. "Crap… Was it Baozha or Qie? Oh well…" Melody sighed. Ron passed her by, chuckling. He then sat down in the pilot's seat.

"We need to get to that Watao lab that built the Aurum." Ron said. After wiping her face, Melody came over, sitting on the dashboard. Ron shot her a glare and she shrugged, not caring about the fact that it irked him.

"There's only one lab on Watao. Most research is done in schools. The lab is called Haixing Lab."

"'Haixing Lab?'' Harry repeated as he dried his hair.

"Yes! 'Starfish Lab!'" Melody said cheerfully. "I've never seen a starfish myself, but I hear they live in the ocean…"

"Just like the lab on Rynex…" Ron said softly. Harry and Ron looked at each other and then over at Lark. Lark looked away, pretending he was occupied with watering his flower.

"Well, if we're going to get into the lab, we have to look the part!" Melody said, sounding excited.

"Ooh! I could use some new clothes!" Harper said.

"Well, about that… The Watao are a bit… Well… They don't like people who don't look like them. In fact, the Octnua population on Watao is very small. If I were you, I would stay on the ship. I'm sorry, Harper... I can bring you back something, if you would like..." Melody said, looking uncomfortable. Harper blinked. He never really encountered too much racism before. In a way, he was shocked. He nodded.

"I'll secure the ship." Harper said.

"I'm sorry, Harper…" Melody apologized again. She then looked to Ron. "We should head to the shopping district, Hongquichang!"

"Alright, Cricket." Ron said, getting up out of his chair.

"Don't call me 'Cricket!'" She shouted. He then smiled at her.

"Okay, Melody…" Ron said in a playful tone. She blushed. "But I'm too used to Cricket so you'll have to get used to it too." Melody pouted.

"Let's go already!" Melody said, sounding frustrated. She did, however, flash Ron a smile as she exited the ship.

Soon, the crew was dressed in their new outfits. Ron was wearing a gray Lanshan with glasses and a bun; he looked fairly professional, almost like a professor. Harry was wearing a navy Zhiduo with his hair tied back in a braid; he definitely looked like a student of Ron's. Melody was wearing her black and silver Qipao, except she had red lipstick on, making her appear more mature. And last of all, Lark was crossdressing: He was wearing a long, white Qipao with pink flowers and white heels to match; He was also wearing a long, black wig and red lipstick. Harry and Ron were both blushing when they saw Lark came out of the store dressed the way he was.

"I think I'm confused…" Harry whispered to himself. Ron whistled.

"Wow, Lark!" Ron put an arm around him. "I would take you out any day!" Lark looked up at him, looking uncomfortable. Harry smacked Ron's hand

"Cut it out, Ron." Harry said. Ron then looked over at Melody.

"You too, Cricket." He said, winking at her. Melody blushed.

"Oh, shut up, you dirty old man!" Melody cried. Ron shrugged. "Anyway, don't you think Lark's disguise is great? No one will ever recognize him! So, now comes the next part! I have to give all of you Watao names!" She first pointed at Ron. "Ron! You're Dawuya! Harry, you're Feng! And Lark, you're Xiaoniao!"

"What kind of name is 'Dawuya?!'" Ron shouted. He hated how it sounded.

"I think it suits you—'Big Crow!'" Melody said, giggling.

"What?!"

"Anyway, we should catch a cab. The lab is in a different district of Watao City, in Chuo!" Melody said, raising her hand. A white cab pulled up. The four of them got inside and left Hongquichang, the car bouncing on the cobblestone roads. Ron began to look a little nauseous.

"What's with these streets?" Ron said.

"How is it that you can fly through asteroid fields and be fine, and yet complain about being in the back of a cab?" Melody asked. Harry laughed.

"Shut up, Feng." Ron said, glaring at him. Harry continued to laugh.

The crew reached the lab, which lied on the eastern outskirts of Chuo by the Watao City bay. The cab drove off and the four of them approached the main door, seeing a card key slot.

"Crap." Ron said, looking frustrated.

"Let me handle this." Melody said. She rang the intercom. A voice responded right away.

"Hello?"

"Hi! My name is Ming Xiaowei. We're here for the meeting?" Melody said, smiling.

"Oh! You must be the group from Rynex! Come in!" The voice said as the door unlocked.

"Ming?" Ron whispered to himself. Melody blushed when he heard him whisper the name. "Well, good job, 'Ming.'"

"Hey! A girl's gotta be tough!" Melody said, winking at him.

The four of them walked in, the security guard walking up to them.

"You're late. You're wanted in Room L. That's on the second floor, second door on the left."

"Well, it's a long trip!" Melody said, pouting. Ron walked forward to the elevator.

Soon, the crew was greeted by a couple of scientists in Room L. One of them had a handsome face with blue eyes and styled, brown hair.

"Hello. I am Dr. McLoughlin. I too am from Rynex. I worked on Project Lark 2. I'm so glad you could make it." He held out his hand, which Ron took and shook. Each one of them shook his hand, Lark not looking him in the eyes.

"Nice to meetcha. I am Dawuya Yao and these are my assistants: Feng Ren, Ming Xiaowei, and Xiaoniao Song." Harry looked somewhat annoyed at Ron. He didn't like being called his "assistant."

"A pleasure," Dr. McLoughlin said, smiling at Lark. Lark's eyes darted away to avoid his gaze. "Now, as we have discussed, we no longer have the DNA coding for Project Lark 2, but we're glad you have kept it all of this time. But I feel that in order to further your research for Project Lark 2, you should read up on our files on the Aurum. We have yet to enter the data into our system, but I thought you would like first looks," he said, pointing to a door. All of them felt a bit uneasy. "It's in our file room." His grin grew.

"Alright. Dr. Ren and I will head to the file room. Dr. Xiaowei and Dr. Song, we'll return shortly." Ron said, heading to the file room. The other scientists, all male, began to crowd around Melody and Lark, immediately introducing themselves and flirting with them. Melody had no problem flirting back, but Lark kept his answers short.

Ron closed the door behind Harry and they began to search the room. The two of them looked under "A" for Aurum, but couldn't seem to locate it. Just then, Harry noticed a file sticking out as if it had been opened already. It was under the letter "Z." Harry opened it and briefly scanned the first page.

"I've found it." Harry said, handing it to Ron. Ron opened it up.

"Let's see now… There's a lot here…" Ron said. He then began to read aloud. "'The Z27-11I1 or 'Aurum' is named after the metal it resembles. It, however, turns white when it heats up. It heats up when its hidden 'feathers' generate ki, an energy mastered by the Watao pirates. This is a weapon used to defend itself, other than its four grappler arms. It has been made with the hopes of reaching the Galactic Leyline, its design based off of the Kei pirate's design 'XGP-15A2.''"

"The XGP? That sounds so familiar…" Harry said softly.

"That's the ship piloted by Gene Starwind. Remember?" Ron said, looking at him. Harry nodded.

"It lists some of the scientists who worked on the Aurum… And I see here that there was a Dr. Russell Periwinkle and a Dr. V. Gallagher. So, we now know why those two have so much history with the ship. Can't believe that Gallagher used to be a scientist…" Ron snickered.

"I guess you never really know someone." Harry stated. Ron's brows then furrowed.

"There is a section here about its connection to 'Project Lark.'" Ron said, turning the page. Ron silently read to himself until his eyes suddenly widened. "Harry… You're not going to like this…"

"What is it, Ron?" Harry said, trying to read the file.

"Lark is… well, kind of like a clone. The original DNA belonged to an unnamed bio android that died. From the DNA came Melfina, Lark, and two others, who died."

"N-no…" Harry said, eyes falling.

Lark had entered the file room minutes ago, to get away from the other scientists. He had overheard what Ron had said. He walked around a corner to approach them, tears rolling down his cheeks.

"Who am I?" Lark said in a weak voice. Harry didn't know how to feel. He couldn't help but to think that Lark was a clone all along. At the same time, he was shocked. And the worst part was that he had a feeling that if Lark ever found out, he would break down. Harry's eyes fell, unable to look at him.

"I think it's time we left. We should take this with us. I'll switch out the papers." Ron took the papers, folded them neatly, and put them into his robes. He then pulled papers from another file, put it in the folder, and headed out of the file room, walking past Lark.

"Come on, Lark…" Harry said softly. Lark wiped at his eyes and followed him. They returned to the room to see Melody giggling.

"Oh, you want my number now?" She said to Dr. McLoughlin. He then looked up over at Ron.

"Ah. You have returned, Dr. Yao. Did you find the file?" Dr. McLoughlin asked.

"Yes, I did. And though I skimmed over it, I was thinking that I could leave the folder with you and we could review it together after all of us go out to lunch? I do believe this will definitely help our research on Rynex." Ron said, smiling at him as he handed him the folder.

"Oh! Yes! You all must be very hungry after your trip! We don't have any kind of cafeteria here, but there are some small noodle restaurants nearby!"

"Perfect. We'll be back." Ron said, turning to leave. The crew left the room, Melody blowing a kiss to Dr. McLoughlin. The four of them called a cab and went into a hotel near where they had landed.

All of them ended up having noodles for dinner. Evening fell quick on Watao; the days were shorter than the ones on Sentinel III. In one room, Ron was topless and Melody's black and silver Qipao was on the floor. Ron was sleeping in the same bed as Melody. She had her arm stretched out across his chest. In the other room was Lark and Harry, who were sitting on their bed together. Lark had taken off the heels and the wig, and wiped away the lipstick he had been wearing. He hadn't eaten his noodles and spent the past couple of hours quietly crying on and off; his eyes had begun to hurt. Harry had eaten his dinner in silence, trying to find the words he wanted to say to him. He had also begun fighting some urges that kept on pricking him. These were urges he had for a long time now…

When it began to get late, Harry spoke up.

"You should change…" Harry said, referring to the Qipao Lark was still wearing.

"Who cares? I'm just a doll… It doesn't matter what I wear…" Lark said, wiping his eyes. Harry got off of the bed and approached him, kneeling. He began to unbutton the front of Lark's Qipao. Lark's tears suddenly halted as his face flushed.

"You're not a doll. You're very real to me—warm and breathing." Harry said as he pushed Lark onto his back. He didn't want to fight himself anymore. Harry got on top of him and undid his braid, his loose hair falling. He locked his gaze with Lark's, his eyes shining in his shadow. "I want to see you. All of you…" Harry said, beginning to unzip the side of Lark's Qipao open.

"I want to see you too…" Lark said, reaching up to curl a finger in his hair…

The next morning arrived quickly, and the crew had returned to the Aurum. Everyone was preparing to launch. Suddenly, Lark turned to Ron. "I want to go to the Galactic Leyline," he said in a firm voice. Ron swerved around in his seat to face Lark, looking surprised.

"Wait. Are you serious?"

"Yes. I have to."

"Lark, we don't know where it is, and besides… whatever you're looking for may not be there…" Lark's eyes had grown intense. Ron was a bit thrown off by it. Lark was silent for a moment before he spoke again.

"I will find it. The Aurum and I were meant to. And I think I know where we may need to look."

"Where?" Ron said, brow quirked. Lark then pointed to his red flower.

"Flonoe."

"Alright, Lark… I mean… There is some seriously bad stuff about the Galactic Leyline… but if you—"

"I need to find out who I am," Lark said, jumping down into the navigation tube. Harry looked at Ron, his pupils shrinking. He suddenly remembered fighting to his death. Harry flailed, picking up things and throwing them. Ron jumped to his feet and immediately grabbed ahold of him.

"Harry! Harry! Stop it!" Ron cried. Harper rushed over to aid Ron.

"I-I don't want to go there again!" Harry cried. "Not again!"

"Harry, I—"

"I heard you, Harry…" Lark's voice came from the speaker as the navigational tube with him inside it emerged. "Harry, we need to talk… okay?" Harry looked over at Lark and began to calm down. He broke away from Ron and Harper and jumped into the navigational tube as well…

Meanwhile, in a grand palace on Watao, three people were bowing in a spotlight in the dark. One man had a pale complexion, with long blonde hair and icy blue eyes.

"Deimos..." A deep voice called, the blonde looking up. Next to him was another man who practically looked identical to Deimos, except with yellow eyes. "Phobos..." The other blonde looked up now. And finally, next to him was an attractive woman. She was tanned, had a white hair styled in a bob, and orange eyes. "And my beloved Io." The woman looked up. "We will be traveling soon. We finally know where the Aurum is headed, thanks to the lovely Io," the deep voice said. Io giggled.

"Thank you, Lord Junfa," Io said in a sweet voice.

"We will not be chasing them, but waiting for them," Lord Junfa stated. "At Flonoe."