Doomsday Wonderland c1-855

by N. Heller

  Luther noticed her expression. He sighed and comforted, “Big Sis, don’t grieve too much. Your friend… at least your friend did not die at the hands of a duoluozhong…”

  After experiencing that near death encounter together, their relationship had unwittingly grown closer. Lin Sanjiu could feel the kindness in Luther’s words and smiled. She only replied after a while, saying, “Can you stop calling me Big Sis? I am really not much older than you... That’s right, I haven’t had the time to introduce myself just now. My name is Lin Sanjiu. Well, I just… just evolved recently.”

  “So your name is derived from the phrase, ‘Mortal affairs are discussed merely over three cups of wine’?[1]” Luther immediately pouted. “My name can’t compete with yours. I will call you Xiao Jiu… And, why did you tie a towel around your neck?”

  “Oh!” His words reminded Lin Sanjiu. She quickly took off the wet and warm towel exposing the messy, mangled wound. Luther suddenly drew a breath when he saw it. Marcie raised both her eyebrows, looking puzzledly at Lin Sanjiu. Lin Sanjiu opened a bottle of clean water and started cleaning her wound. As she did this, she recounted the incident with Ren Nan. Largely due to the fact that the two of them had saved her during that previous critical juncture, Lin Sanjiu was very willing to trust them.

  Unlike Luther who listened dumbfoundedly, Marcie listened silently with knotted brows. Suddenly, she pointed to the bottle of clean water — Lin Sanjiu paused for a moment — and Marcie offered, ”Let me do it. I have studied medical science for a few years.” After that, she took a roll of bandage and some antibiotics from her waist pouch.

  [Can a personality that had achieved a corporeal body actually have a set of life experience?] Lin Sanjiu shot Luther a look of confusion but did not say anything. She just lifted her head and swallowed the two antibiotics obediently. With Marcie’s skills, it did not take long for the wound on her neck to be properly dressed and bandaged.

  After listening to her story, Luther was still a little engrossed in the details. “I have heard about such cannibalistic abilities… but Marcie and I have never met someone like that before. I always thought that it was just an urban legend. I can’t believe it was actually real. That Ren Nan probably only evolved recently too, that’s why you managed to easily get rid of him. Otherwise, if he was given more time, who knows how powerful he would have become!”

  “Luckily, we didn’t meet such a person,” Marcie commented quietly.

  After she had spent half a night with them, Lin Sanjiu could tell that even though Marcie was unable to engage in real combat, she was nimble, cool-headed and more... experienced(?); she felt more reliable than Luther.

  “Why are you asking Marcie and not me…” she heard a protest from beside her coming from Luther. As if she did not hear her question, Marcie replied with another question instead, “Have you heard about the theory of parallel dimensions before?”

  Lin Sanjiu answered with an “Ah!” before continuing: “Apart from our universe, there is an infinite number of parallel universe. Every measurable behavior, even every single choice that a person made, will create a split, no, will create a new parallel universe?”

  She had read many science fiction novels before, so she knew of such a thing.

  Marcie nodded with a calm demeanor, saying, “I will just state first that this is just a conjecture. Some posthumans agree, and others disagree. Me? I agree with it. I am not sure how many people there are in your world. In our world, we had a population of 4.3 billion. Every single decision that a person makes in his or her lifetime will create a parallel dimension. If you decided to take the path to the left today, then the alternate dimension will be that you had chose the path to the right… and within that new dimension, everyone will continuously make decisions and create other new dimensions. If we take this into account, who knows how many ‘worlds’ exist? The number is just uncountable.

  “Originally, we all lived our lives peacefully in our own dimensions. Within our lifetime, there was no way that we would ever meet someone from another dimension. But for some unknown reason, some of the dimensions started mutating… just like this one.”

  While Marcie paused for a while, Lin Sanjiu quickly interjected and asked, “Did they all turned out like this? Do they all have high-temperature climates?”

  Luther replied to her with a rare look of seriousness, “Not necessarily. For our world, half the population died due to an epidemic which was caused by a virus outbreak from a laboratory facility.” It suddenly occurred to Lin Sanjiu that he had probably lost his family and friends in his world.

  The space in the car fell silent for a few seconds. Marcie broke the silence, and continued, “No one could tell with certainty how many of these dimensions have mutated. The only thing that can be confirmed is that it is not a small number. At that time, we survived the epidemic and evolved. We thought that we only had to strive our best to survive on. But…”

  Marcie stopped, she seemed to be deliberating on the best method to explain the situation.

  “When Luther and I woke up, we found ourselves lying in the middle of a battleground. Can you imagine? We had just opened our eyes, we did not even understand where we were, and suddenly a bomb fell just fifty meters away from us…” Marcie added aptly.

  “Even though, we were not unable to comprehend what had happened. At the very least, we quickly understood one thing: we were no longer in our original world. We asked around and finally found out that the world was called, ‘A Land dyed black by Blood’. In that world which was governed by wars, we survived miserably for another fourteen months. On the last day of the 14th month, the same thing happened again…“ Luther’s voice sounded distant.

  Even within the cool air-conditioned interior of the car, a drop of sweat rolled down Lin Sanjiu’s forehead. She understood, and before Luther could say another world, she softly said, “You appeared here.”

  Luther sighed and nodded, “Hyperthermal Hell.”

  [Hyperthermal Hell!]

  Lin Sanjiu opened her mouth, about to say something, when Luther had already guessed what she wanted to ask, “It doesn’t happen only to me. In the two worlds that we have been, all the posthumans that I’ve met were sent away after fourteen months. Furthermore, everyone will go to a different place each time.”

  Her heart pounded hard for a few moments. With some doubts, Lin Sanjiu said, ”Does that mean, after fourteen months, I will also…”

  “Reach another ‘New World’,” Marcie replied confidently. “It is probably because I am just an alternate personality, so I will follow Luther wherever he goes. However, we were separated from all our past companions.”

  Waves after waves of unimaginable information flooded Lin Sanjiu’s brain. After she mulled over it for a while, she suddenly realized something. “Wait… you mentioned that every posthuman will be sent to a different world. Does it mean that we are just flung out into an infinite abyss of apocalyptic worlds by pure chance?”

  No, not only that — it almost meant that once fourteen months have passed, Luther and Marcie will be sent to some unknown world and they might never meet again. She had just met two people that she could trust, yet she was immediately informed that they will separate. It was a weird feeling.

  The car’s windows were long covered by a thin film of condensation. It was clear that even within the short time of their conversation, the temperature outside had risen again. Lin Sanjiu turned up the temperature of the air conditioner slightly. As she was immersed in the silence, she suddenly thought about another possibility. “Wait. From the point of a parallel dimension theory, there is an infinite number of ‘me’. That is to say, I might meet myself in another world?”

  Unexpectedly, Marcie shook her head firmly.

  “Just like Darwin’s theory of evolution, the theory about parallel dimensions is only the best explanation for these apocalyptic worlds. It is limited to what we know and just a conjecture, it is not actually a fact. But what you’ve just said, it p
recisely the flaw in this theory. Because in another New World, there will never be another you.”

  Lin Sanjiu felt a little overwhelmed. She received too much information for tonight. She could not help leaning back on the seat as her brain was filled with information about everything regarding the New World. She remained silent and in a daze.

  Suddenly, she heard a swoosh. She lifted her head and saw that Marcie’s nails had transformed into those long metal nails. Marcie was looking with a hopeful glint in her eyes, “So, can you let me draw your blood now?”

  Translator’s note: Sanjiu is literally “three wine” in Chinese. The translated phrase [Mortal affairs are discussed merely over three cups of wine] is not derived from any classical poem, it is a modern saying telling people to take things a little easier as life is fleeting.

  Chapter 8 - Oh No! It’s Dawn.

  Among posthumans, there was an unwritten rule that you should not inquire about someone’s ability.

  As the variety of abilities gained through evolution were extremely unique and unusual, perhaps even beyond people's’ imaginations, even a single seemingly unremarkable ability might become a trump card to one’s survival. Naturally, no one was willing to show their trump cards to others.

  Unless it was really necessary, most people abstained from even using their abilities in front of others.

  Luther had brought up this point to Lin Sanjiu before — so why did Marcie made such a request? “It is a misunderstanding,” Marcie smiled, probably realizing that her request seemed inappropriate. She wasn’t that young in the first place, so when she smiled, a few lines of faint wrinkles appeared on her face. “Considering the current level of my ability, I am unable to tell what active skills you have. I can only analyze some of your basic stats. I think it will be useful for you to know some of your own basic stats as well… This, of course, depends on your decision. Do you want to try?”

  “Okay!” Lin Sanjiu replied without any hesitation, stretching her arm out. “I trust the both of you.”

  Besides, during their tussle with the duoluozhong, Luther and herself had already exposed many of their abilities to each other. Both of them were not stupid; since she could guess how Luther’s abilities work, similarly, Luther would definitely have an inkling of what hers were. It wasn’t really necessary to be so secretive.

  The hard tips of her metal nails gleamed with a cold metal sheen. It barely touched Lin Sanjiu’s arm, and just as if invited, the tip of her nail sunk into Lin Sanjiu’s skin. Just when Lin Sanjiu was beginning to feel a slight pain, Marcie had already withdrawn her nails and was smiling at her, “It’s done.”

  She took the single spherical drop of blood and dripped it on her palm. The drop of blood immediately disappeared. Following which, Marcie closed her eyes. When Lin Sanjiu looked at her arm again, she could see that the gash was so minute that it had long clotted.

  “Marcie’s ability is quite basic right now, so she will need quite some time to analyze that data…”

  Luther explained sounding rather embarrassed. “All active skills will slowly be upgraded over time, you will understand in the future.”

  Lin Sanjiu thought about that weird ability of hers. Does that mean that those rubbish cards will be upgraded? What will they become? At the b.a.r.e minimum, it should allow her to transform items without any limit, right?

  As she thought of this, she somehow recalled that she had already “stored” the metal gates twice; even though the second time only lasted for a short two seconds. She wondered if she had used up her quota for today. She needed to find the right time to test it out...

  They were almost done with their conversation. When they looked over to Marcie again, she was still in the same position. Her eyes were fully shut, and she did not make a sound.

  “How long does it take for Marcie to analyze the data?” Lin Sanjiu finally asked. “Eh… from what I see, I think she’ll need another one to two hours,” Luther replied appearing slightly embarrassed. “It didn’t take her that long to analyze my stats in the past…”

  “That long?” Lin Sanjiu was startled. She immediately leaned over and looked upward to the sky through the car window. At that moment, the color of the black night sky was already visibly lighter, and the horizon in the east was already showing a line of ashen white. As she plopped back into her seat, her face revealed her slight worry.

  “What’s wrong? What’s with that face?”

  “It’ll be dawn soon,” Lin Sanjiu mumbled, turning to Luther. “It is already that hot at night. Once the sun rises, the car will be directly under the sunlight... what will be the temperature then?”

  Luther was momentarily stumped by her question. They looked at each other in dismay. Lin Sanjiu massaged the area between her brows and said a little wearily, “If we stay another two hours here, we will all become roasted ducks.”

  Even though there was an adequate amount of electricity and petrol in the car to maintain the air-conditioner for some time, this bit of cool air seemed ever so fragile compared to the vicious assault of heat from the outside environment — and this was only the situation at night. When morning would come, that pitiable air-conditioner in the car would definitely not last against the heat of the scorching sun even if it overworks till it breaks down…

  “You are familiar with this place, so do you have any suggestions?” Luther, who had maintained a relaxed look all this while, couldn’t help taking things more seriously right now.

  She did have an idea. The most luxurious shopping mall in the city was located near this c.o.n.d.o.minium estate. The building itself was basically useless. The mall was designed with a tall tropical forest feature in the center, and to create the visual impact of an integrative nature experience, the ceiling was built with transparent reinforced glass. In the past, having the sunlight on your shoulders, while strolling among the greenery was a wonderful experience. In the present context, it was definitely deadly.

  As Lin Sanjiu described the mall, Luther suddenly became excited: “Supermarket! That’s great! You don’t know this, but Marcie and I have not eaten any decent human food in over a year! In the previous New World that we were in, we ate hardtack or army rations every day. When the situation was really bad, we had even resorted to chewing on tree barks. My god, I had a bad constipation, my stomach was as hard as a rock…” Lin Sanjiu looked at him with lifted brows. Luther realized that he had said too much and gave an awkward cough: “You’re right. We have no idea what the temperature would be like in the morning. We should indeed start planning.”

  After they discussed quietly for a while, both of them quickly came to a decision: they will first drive to the entrance of the shopping mall, next they will park the car in a shady spot, thereafter Luther will carry Marcie, and they will enter the supermarket together.

  The food section took up the largest area in the supermarket. In addition to that, there would also be stock in the warehouse. There should be more than enough ration for three of them. Furthermore, the location of the shopping mall was ideal. If they were lucky, they could even settle down in the supermarket, it could be their main shelter, and they could live there peacefully for a year...

  Lin Sanjiu knew that she might be a little over-optimistic, the actual circ.u.mstances probably wouldn’t be as ideal. Unfortunately, she could not foresee that even the first step of their plan (driving up to the entrance of the mall), would end up being a practically impossible mission.

  The shopping mall was situated in an exceptionally good location, it was just on the main street of the city center. The small district nearby was famous for its nightlife. The lights were lit throughout the night, and it had never-ending traffic. Coincidentally, this month was the shopping mall’s 5th year anniversary, so they were opened for 24 hours for the entire month...

  As the temperatures soared last night, the first thought that many people had was to head there to seek refuge from the heat. Right now, the main street was crammed with a long queue of ca
rs with loud, rumbling engines. Their car was at the very end of the line. All working cars were, of course, in ignition. As she squinted her eyes and looked toward the direction of the shopping mall, she could somehow see the area around the water fountain at the entrance. It was littered with a dense crowd of people, lying on the ground.

  It was probably impossible for them to drive the car over. Lin Sanjiu struck the steering wheel violently and decided to reverse the car. However, in the time that she paused to look at the situation, another car had now appeared in the view of her rear mirror. Their Audi was now trapped in the queue.

  “The electrical grid had been down for hours, why are there still people heading in this direction?”

  As they were surrounded by a countless number of hot running engines, the flaw of the broken window in their car was made obvious. The miserable bit of cool air from the air-conditioner could not match the savage heat that seeped through the gaps of the makeshift seal on the broken window. Luther’s fair skin was gradually turning pink, just like a giant rabbit.

  Just within the time span of her two sentences, a few more cars joined the line. The first car of that new group suddenly realized the situation in front. Perhaps the driver was too anxious. Without even any warning, she grabbed her steering wheel and reversed. The car collided with the hood of the car behind it. Thick smoke immediately rose out.

  Lin Sanjiu gave a quiet yelp due to the shock before she cursed out with expletives. The car that tried to reverse was a Land Rover. The large vehicle was now in a horizontal position. It had basically blocked off half the road. In addition to that, the car with the damaged hood did not look functional anymore. Now, the way back was totally blocked.