Haiyingsen (2)
Summary: Don't worry, Theodosius is so mysterious because he's involved in underground illegal activities :)
“Ye, take a look at these items on the list, see if they're okay,” Theodosius said, his mouth full of his newly issued bus pass, as he slammed his bag onto the bed, spilling a pile of documents. He'd been doing very well at the law firm lately, working like a dog, but making a small fortune. “We eat simple meals at the cafeteria every day, one meat dish, two vegetable dishes, and bread. Our meals will cost less than twenty yuan a day for both of us. New clothes will cost no more than three hundred yuan a month. Other household items will cost no more than one hundred yuan a month. That way, we can save a thousand yuan a month to buy your pink potion. And then there's our monthly income from our part-time jobs. Oh, and there are addictive consumables like coffee and tea,” he hesitated, “how about we both give them up? I'll give up my coffee, and you give up your black tea.”
"A life without drinking black tea is meaningless!" Ye Wanzhou said, on the verge of tears.
“Okay. Perfect.” Theodosius took a deep breath. “I also think life without coffee is meaningless…”
Senior year. Previously, Theodosius would always have a new case after a busy period, but now he's preparing his graduation thesis, so he's actually spending more time on campus than before. Ye Wanzhou is secretly delighted because he can see Xiao Xi more often again. Ye Wanzhou plans to continue his studies in history, and since his junior year, he's immersed himself in literature, constantly thinking about how to write a groundbreaking piece that will impress his professors and earn him a letter of recommendation.
"Theodosius, do you know that your name is that of a Roman emperor?" Ye Wanzhou asked, flipping through a book while lying down.
"Really?" He frowned slightly, gripping his coffee cup as he continued staring at the computer. "I didn't know before. I know now."
"It's late. Xiao Xi, you should go to sleep."
"You go to sleep first."
Have you ever heard of Caesar Garnier?
Ye Wanzhou noticed a slight pause in the voice coming from the computer. "No." "What's wrong?"
"No? That's strange. I saw several police cars parked near the fountain in the center of the school yesterday, late last night. Several policemen were patrolling around the fountain, looking for something. Later, I realized they seemed to be looking for someone, someone hiding nearby. The security guard came over and told them, 'No one's causing trouble here. No one's gathering, don't worry. Everyone's forgotten about him.' — You might not know, but Emperor Gratian was 'created' in the 'Academy of Life and Genetics' at Central University. The person in charge of this project was the 11th Vice President of the Student Union at Central University, Caesar Ganimede. The alumni directory says he later joined the army. In the center of the school fountain, where the police searched yesterday, there used to be a statue of him. In the first five years of the Imperial Alliance, large-scale mass protests and violent clashes broke out there every day. But in the Imperial archives, 'Caesar Ganimede' doesn't exist—he doesn't exist. What were those policemen doing there yesterday?"
"Sigh." Theodosius sighed in front of the computer. "Why do you always like to think about things that have nothing to do with you?"
"How can it not be related? This is exactly what I want to write about in my thesis."
"I bet you're going to get called into the political science teacher's office for a chat."
“A man an empire doesn’t want to exist. You insist on writing about him; aren’t you just making trouble for yourself?” Theodosius closed his laptop.
“I’m going to the law firm tomorrow and I probably won’t be back until the day after tomorrow. I’m serious. Don’t write this, or you might not be able to graduate, let alone get into college.”
"All right."
"Promise me. Really?"
"Really." "Xiao Xi, turn off the light. I'm sleepy. You should go to sleep early too."
"Um."
After the dormitory lights went out, the even breathing of children echoed. Theodosius quietly rummaged through his drawer by the moonlight. A marble pendant, half-broken, fell out, bearing the inscription "My Beloved Caesar" in Latin. The pendant was rough, like a craft project a kindergarten child made on their first day of class—diligent, but a little clumsy. However, the Latin name "Caesar" was beautifully written. He hesitated for a moment, then finally placed the pendant inside a large, unused ceramic mug, sealed it, put it in a cardboard box, and locked it deeper inside the drawer.
Ye Wanzhou's paper did indeed choose a conventional topic that would pass review. However, the acceptance of a paper sometimes depends not on its topic, but on the way the author presents it. Ye Wanzhou's approach was "overly fixated on some materials while ignoring others. It was biased and negative. Although the reasoning was clear and sufficient, it was frustrating to read. I hope it will be revised to reinterpret the materials used in the paper from a more positive perspective and arrive at a conclusion that can be accepted by a wider range of people." — He didn't even pass the first hurdle of review.
My phone rang.
"...You've been writing this for over a year, haven't you? Can't you revise it and continue using this one?" Theodosius seemed to be standing in a very windy place; the sound from the phone was crackling. He wasn't video chatting. He said he was working and it wasn't convenient.
"Huh? The political education teacher said it won't work and that I need to rewrite it. The whole idea has to be changed."
Did he convene a review meeting? What did the other teachers say?
"No. He said it was a rule from above. He was just following the rules and asked me to understand."
"Does he think he can just say whatever he wants? He's just afraid of trouble!" Theodosius's voice was clearly angry.
"Hmm... It's okay. Don't be angry. I'll rewrite it."
There was a long silence on the other end of the phone. "You really are..."
"I probably won't be back tonight. Don't wait for me. Get some rest. We'll talk about the thesis tomorrow."
"good."
Ye Wanzhou took the comments back to her dormitory, covered herself with the blanket, and went to sleep.
In the middle of the night, Theodosius, who had been busy all day, took a cold shower with a rubber hose in the communal washroom at the end of the corridor. Wearing shorts and holding his wet clothes, he fumbled in the dark to unlock the door, dried himself off, and pulled back the covers. A large, hot creature, exuding an alluring fragrance, stood with its back to him.
He fell asleep clutching the heater. Two people sharing one bed was a bit cramped, and in his drowsy state, he stretched out his arms and legs, like an eagle soaring in the sky. "I'm dreaming," he thought, stretching out boldly, but something felt off. Opening his eyes, he realized he was taking up more than four-fifths of the bed. The other side of the blanket was cold. "Ye?" Theodosius sat bolt upright in bed. Ye Wanzhou wasn't asleep; she was sitting on the edge of the bed, her face buried in her knees. "What's wrong?"
"My throat hurts so much."
He saw Ye Wanzhou's face streaked with tears, her voice choked with sobs. It was the first time Theodosius had ever seen him cry. "Come on. I'll take you to the hospital."
"It's so late. Is anyone home?"
"There must be one in the emergency room. Let's go."
Ye Wanzhou pulled her wrist back. "Don't bother. You have to work tomorrow, right? I'll go by myself when it's light."
Theodosius felt like his lungs were about to explode with anger at this man, and blood rushed to his head. He scooped up Ye Wanzhou and carried the boy in his pajamas out of the dormitory building. The boy groaned softly, his clothes disheveled, his exposed skin like the surface of a scorching copper kettle; the kettle was filled with slowly oxidizing black coal, occasionally spewing out a few dangerous golden sparks.
After the blood draw, they were told they needed to come back for a follow-up examination in three days. "You can't eat anything for three days, you can only drink some sugar water. You need to take a laxative the day before the follow-up examination to empty your stomach and intestines. You will have diarrhea for about eight hours," the AI doctor briefly explained.
Due to insufficient maintenance funds, two-thirds of the smart doctors at the city hospital are out of service; the appointment system is overcrowded, and the official explanation is that the empire is currently carrying out expansion activities in new star fields, resulting in a tight domestic budget.
The doctor was off to help the next patient. Theodosius wanted to ask what the examination was for, but he was swept away by the surging crowd behind him. The doctor's electronic eye flashed alone in the hospital lobby, perched on the highest platform in the center, its eerie green scanning light illuminating every face in the sea of people. The walls and medical equipment emitted a pale metallic sheen. Theodosius woke Ye Wanzhou, who was coughing incessantly. His lips were purplish-gray. He asked, "Have the test results come out yet?"
"No. The doctor said you should come back for another check-up in three days."
Ye Wanzhou looked at Theodosius with concern.
"Don't overthink it. It's probably because doctors these days don't have much experience dealing with humans whose genes haven't been edited. Just to be on the safe side, they're having you get checked again. Besides, look at ancient humans; they carried defective genes, and they still survived, didn't they?"
"That's only a segment of the population. They're the strong, intelligent, and beautiful types, I suppose."
"In any era, only a portion of the population survives. But there will always be someone who survives."
"You'll be alright."
Theodosius squeezed Ye Wanzhou's cold, sweaty hand.
On the way back, they encountered road closures, forcing the bus to stop and remain stranded for a long time. The air conditioning broke down, and a musty, stale heat gradually dissipated. The radio announced a recent surge in terrorist activity targeting the imperial regime, and police were conducting random checks of gatherings as part of their routine procedures. The police and the AI driver exchanged data, and in less than two seconds, a plump, white cylinder rolled in through the automatically opening and closing iron gate; it wore a police badge. Like the electronic surveillance cameras in the city center of Haiyingsen, these were all avatars of the imperial mastermind, the "Tree of Zeus." Ye Wanzhou remembered Theodosius calling these white things "Massurira."
"Cheese?" Ye Wanzhou was puzzled. "Why mozzarella cheese?"
“Because they can stretch!” Theodosius scoffed.
The white cylinders heated up and split open in front of the passengers. First, countless tentacles grew from the main stem, stretching, thinning, breaking off, and falling onto the metal floor of the bus. They clung to cracks, sprouted, thickened, and finally severed their roots, giving rise to new white cylinders that bounced out, rolling around on the floor and landing in front of each passenger. Following the voice prompts, the passengers opened their eyes wide, and miniature cameras emerged from the cylinders, taking pictures of their irises, recording their information, and registering their identities.
As Theodosius registered his identity, the sunlight outside flickered.
"Please wait. Your information does not match the database. Please open your eyes again."
When he opened his eyes for the second time, the golden sunlight once again pierced through the dark carriage from outside the window.
"Hello driver. This is 'Eye of Zeus' No. 2022. Yes, fourth carriage. Please adjust the background lighting; it's too bright here. The sunlight is severely interfering with the camera's view..."
In the dimly lit carriage, only a few yellowish-brown lamps cast a faint glow behind glass covers, like eyes peering through cloudy lenses. The other passengers' eyes occasionally drifted in this direction. "Please don't look away," the cylinder said to Theodosius. A line of code was quickly typed into a device attached to the cylinder's neck, and a robotic arm extended, waving in the stifling air.
Ye Wanzhou was covered in a cold sweat. Theodosius said, "My friend isn't feeling well. Could you let him leave first?"
"No! I won't go!" Ye Wanzhou watched in horror as all the passengers had finished entering their information, and more small cylinders gathered around the one in front of him. Indicator lights flashed incessantly. He imagined Theodosius being taken away, beaten, and thrown into a bottomless abyss, a silent abyss filled only with the cold wind carrying the stench of blood. He saw a corpse, nailed to a blood-soaked wooden cross. The head was tilted to the side, and the wall behind the neck was stained with splattered, bursting blood. Why was there so much blood?
“…Ye! Ye!” He was awakened. Theodosius stood in front of him, turning slightly to protect him.
The white cylinder looked over and said, "Citizen Ye Wanzhou. Iris information is correct."
"Excuse me. Citizen Theodosius, who are your parents?" The white beam of light emanating from the other hand of the cylinder continued to strike Theodosius's retina without moving. The boy's dark pupils twitched and contracted slightly in the bright light.
"Don't you have everything in your database?"
"Please cooperate with the investigation."
"I have no idea."
"Okay. Thank you for your cooperation." The beam of light receded. The sunlight inside the carriage returned to normal levels, and the white cylinder signaled to the driver that they could start moving again and continue their journey. They rolled along, merging into one, making a rumbling sound, the doors opened and closed, and they disappeared. Theodosius wearily pressed his forehead, the warm golden sunlight enveloping his profile. His eyes stung a little.
"Xiaoxi?"
"I'm fine."
"Um, Ye, about the check-up in three days, why don't you go by yourself..."
"Um?"
"Never mind. It's nothing. I'll go with you."
"Did you have something to do that day?"
"……No."
＊
During the three days of preparation, Ye Wanzhou diligently followed the doctor's orders, only drinking sugar water and avoiding any high-protein, high-fiber, or other difficult-to-digest foods that would leave residue in his intestines. On the third night, when it was time to take the laxative, he was already feeling unsteady and extremely dizzy. After emptying his stomach, at four in the morning, Theodosius took him to the hospital to queue. Seeing the sea of people in the waiting room, Theodosius felt nauseous. "How long will we have to wait?" "Are you hungry? Want some more sugar water?"
“No, that won’t work. The doctor said I have to be completely on an empty stomach. I can’t drink water,” Ye Wanzhou said.
"Tsk." Theodosius noticed Ye Wanzhou leaning back slightly and looked around. Great, it was packed, no seats. He simply sat down, stretched out his legs, and patted his knees. "Lie down on me."
"But...but..."
"Alright. You haven't eaten for three days."
Ye Wanzhou lay down for a while. As expected, they attracted the attention of the hospital security personnel. "Unless you give him a chair," Theodosius said. A chair was brought over shortly. More and more people went to the security office to get chairs. Until the security office ran out of chairs, and the hospital waiting hall was filled with patients; those who arrived late lay on the floor, expressionless, their faces ashen. Patients continued to come and go from the examination room. After 10 a.m., an artificial intelligence machine wearing a white coat emerged. Theodosius checked its badge.
“It’s a doctor.” He frowned, a bad feeling creeping over him. Twenty minutes later, the sign in the waiting room changed from “Pending” to “Closed.” A robotic nurse carrying a jingling tray of medicine approached each patient, informing them regretfully, “The doctor is on maintenance. They can resume operations tomorrow morning.” “I’m sorry. The hospital currently has insufficient funds, and the remaining AI doctors are all in a semi-maintenance state. For your safety, we cannot use these doctors…”
"Please!" Theodosius grabbed the robotic nurse. "He's been fasting for three days! He's feeling terrible, he really can't go hungry anymore!"
Ye Wanzhou felt as if the sounds around him were being immersed in a deep lake. His vision was blurry; he was almost blind.
"This is the procedure. I don't have permission to modify it," the nurse said, looking troubled. "Let's hold on for one more day. Maybe tomorrow will be possible."
Ye Wanzhou heard what sounded like an argument in her ear. A long time passed. Then the communicator hanging on the nurse's arm rang. "Okay. I understand."
“Citizen Ye Wanzhou. Are you here for a check-up? Please come this way.” Someone immediately came up and pushed him away. In his field of vision, Theodosius’s shadow grew smaller and smaller. Some patients waiting for their appointments looked up, their expressions utterly indifferent.
This was a backup AI doctor, unlike any he had encountered before; this one was remarkably human-like. It was gentle, with warm, fiery red hair, and its features were sharply defined in the halo of light. Under partial anesthesia, a bone spur pierced his spinal cord; a slight pain, the doctor's technique was highly skilled. White fluid mixed with streaks of bright red blood was injected into a glass test tube.
"alright."
Is there a problem?
"There are problems all over the body."
Who is this boy?
"I don't know." "It's best not to know. This person must be saved. This is an instruction from Zeus City."
"Understood."
The doctors are having a conversation.
Ye Wanzhou woke up from the anesthesia the next morning. She was taken back to her dormitory. There was a small note by her bed, written in a messy hand: "Something came up. I won't be back today or tomorrow. Don't worry."
It's always like this.
Ye Wanzhou stared blankly, clutching the small piece of paper.
His stomach ached; the aftereffects of the abdominal puncture were still there. He went downstairs and bought something to eat. After finishing, he found it somewhat amusing that he couldn't remember what he had eaten. He tried searching for clues in the dormitory trash cans and found the wrappers in the convenience store downstairs. Oh well, he thought.
Why is Xiaoxi always so busy lately? Was he like this before?
——tbc——
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