Chapter 4: Salvation

Jiang Hui felt utterly disoriented and wretched. She wasn't sure if it was a trick of the mind, but her vision was blurring, the world around her swaying violently. A persistent, high-pitched buzzing echoed inside her skull, and she felt as if she were on the verge of collapsing into unconsciousness.

No, she couldn't pass out. Not yet. She hadn't even figured out what was happening. She feared that if she lost consciousness now, she might wake up in an even worse predicament.

Recalling those bizarre and chilling true stories she had once read in the news—stories of girls drugged and sold into remote mountain villages, or teenagers tricked into selling their kidneys for a new phone—Jiang Hui told herself she had to hold on. At least this place didn't look like some desolate rural backwater, and she didn't feel the phantom pain of a missing kidney.

But that was only for now. She had to remain cautious; the unknown did not necessarily mean safety. Perhaps the true danger simply hadn't arrived yet. So, even though she couldn't steady her footing and her head throbbed with a splitting pain, she forced herself to stay alert.

Unfortunately, logic was no match for the body's instincts. As she desperately fought to keep her consciousness from slipping into the void, her body grew limp, teetering on the edge of total shutdown.

In a panic, she reached out and blindly grabbed a tall object nearby, hoping to steady herself before she collapsed for good.

"Beep-beep!" The mechanical sound, coming from right beside her, gave Jiang Hui such a start that she nearly jerked her hand away. Fortunately, she remembered she was the one in need of support and forced her hand to stay, clutching the object firmly.

"Beep-beep... Beep-beep... Rebooting," the mechanical voice chimed again, followed by a new sentence.

Rebooting? What rebooting? Had she accidentally hit the remote control for a television? How could such a voice just pop up? It sounded… strange.

"TM-ATO69372 at your service." The strange voice continued. Jiang Hui’s brain felt like mush; she couldn't keep up. Though she heard the words, she couldn't grasp their meaning.

"Scanning... Scanning... Unawakened individual injured. Injury located at the posterior cranium. Severe trauma, significant blood loss. Immediate hospitalization advised."

"Beep-beep. Identity of the unawakened individual confirmed. Confirmed as the machine owner. Subject is currently in imminent danger of collapsing from severe injury. Automatic emergency alarm activated. Nearest district hospital notified. Please wait patiently... Calling... Calling..."

"Beep-beep—" The other end seemed to connect. A human voice came through: "Hello? Is this Ms. Jiang, the owner of Apartment 7-A, 385 Changhe Street? We’ve received an alert from your smart system stating you have suffered a severe head injury. Is this true? Please confirm... Are you alright?"

Confirm what? Confirm whether she was dead? Why was it so noisy? She was suffering enough as it was, and here they were, just making more clamor.

"…Alright, send a vehicle over there to pick her up. No need for confirmation; the child has lost too much blood and is already delirious. Good grief, there’s so much blood on the floor, why did the smart system only trigger now? Yes... yes... yes, her registration is currently under the collective user pool, she’s just under temporary guardianship..."

More words poured in, a torrent of information flooding her brain, but she couldn't analyze a single bit of it. It just felt increasingly noisy.

Eventually, the clamor faded, and the persistent beeping that had been plaguing her stopped. Only a faint, machine-like "hissing" sound lingered in her ears, like a 4D sound effect.

The room returned to silence, but Jiang Hui didn't feel any better. Without the distraction of the noise, she became hyper-aware of her own condition. She hadn't noticed it before, only the headache and the burning sensation in her organs, but as time passed, a new, terrifying symptom emerged: she was losing body heat.

Only now did it dawn on her that she was in truly dire straits. Her internal organs felt like they were burning, yet her skin was rapidly cooling, dropping far below normal temperature. She knew instinctively that hypothermia led to confusion, then unconsciousness, and finally, cardiac arrest.

She knew she couldn't let go; if she fell asleep now, she might never wake up. She dimly recalled the machine mentioning a hospital. Or was it something else? Oh, it didn't matter. It seemed someone was coming to save her.

Standing was too exhausting, so Jiang Hui simply sank to the floor.

The noisy contraption nearby had stopped chirping, but it started rolling around the room like a vacuum cleaner. Jiang Hui couldn't even lift her eyelids to see what it was.

"Click... clack... click-clack..." The sound echoed in the quiet night.

Jiang Hui was drifting, nearly losing consciousness, when the sound caused her to instinctively lift her head. She squinted, trying to see what was making the noise.

"BOOM!" A sudden, thunderous crash erupted at the door. Even in her near-comatose state, the shock made her heart jump. She widened her eyes, staring blankly at the ceiling.

"…What’s going on? Why did the connection to the smart system drop again? It was just in contact with the hospital... We have no choice but to do this."

"Maybe it malfunctioned. The owner had to be half-dead before it finally reported it. I recall this is the TM series from the Hailuosi Group, right? Only released last year. They claim a thirty-year warranty, but I don't think it'll last that long. If the homeowner met a situation like this, she'd be gone before the warranty mattered, and the machine could retire early..."

"Hey! What are you two doing? Get to work! Stop gossiping! If you wait any longer, that child will bleed to death inside! Do you want to lose your jobs?!"

"Chief Medic, this bedroom is linked to the smart system. Unless Ms. Jiang grants access, we can't open the door in time. Look..."

"You two idiots! Did you forget all your emergency training? One-track minds! The person is dying, and you're worried about citizen protocols? Just smash it open! Forget it, get out of the way, I’ll do it myself..."

"CRASH—" This time, it sounded like a thunderclap. The door burst into fragments, and Jiang Hui, sprawled on the floor, was covered in a face-full of dust.

They were in.

They saw a small figure lying on the floor, the back of her head matted with blood, her hair tangled into sticky strands. Blood pooled all around her.

Having lost so much blood, even a hardy Interstellar native would likely not survive. The medics who entered deeply doubted if the person was still alive.

But in the next moment, the girl displayed the highest level of survival instinct an Interstellar native could possess.

Her small head trembled as she tried to lift it—it was clear she was struggling—but due to her position, she could only meet their eyes at ankle level. With a voice that was barely a breath, she whispered, "Save... me..."

Then, she collapsed, dead to the world.