Jiang Ling had a dream.
The dream was incredibly long and felt a bit familiar. It wasn't a good dream, with no clear beginning or ending, and the visions in between didn't foreshadow happiness or beauty. So when she recalled it, she couldn't tell anyone about the special places in the dream. Jiang Ling didn't know why she had such a strong liking for subway stations, dreaming about them so repeatedly.
Only she knew that she felt as if she were back at the intersection of Jinling East Station again. No, perhaps it was another station, the one back home, or just any other station. Dreams were illogical, usually just a mishmash of stereotypes.
This time the intersection was illuminated by white light. There were few details on the walls, except for a dark blue arrow-shaped wallpaper strip at the waist to mark the route. The ground was covered with clean and smooth artificial stone in warm tones, which was very much in the style of the 20th century.
There are no concrete people or objects at the intersection, no road signs indicating directions, and no sight of the opposite directions connecting the four intersections - it's like a platform 4 and 1/2 shrouded in thick fog, with only a single and lonely public seat, sitting at the center of everything like a door god.
For no reason, a voice told her that it was the harbor she had built for herself, a warm cradle, a temple that supported her soul. As long as she stayed here, she could feel an incomparable sense of security without having to do anything.
Jiang Ling sat there for a moment, perhaps even for a long time, but she only remembered standing up quickly. Influenced by her vast life experiences and long-term vision, she had gained the courage to escape the comfort zone. This was a good sign, proving that she was no longer lost and had found her way forward.
She stood and looked around, the endless intersections revealing more details.
Ahead, the brilliance remains, with red, yellow, blue and green competing for beauty, just like the colors of the stars, which is people's eternal romance.
On the left, countless people whose faces could not be seen came and went. They seemed to have some intersection with her, but also seemed not to have any. They were all passers-by in her life.
On the right, the style of the corridor suddenly changed and turned into the exhibition curtain wall of the museum. More and more of the things she cherished appeared in it, from ancient times to the present, as if they were the memory of history.
Behind the scenes, everything has become a foregone conclusion. The unknown existence sings "Ode to Joy", as if bidding farewell to the uncertainty theorem of quantum theory.
She did not make a choice, or rather, she had already made the choice - none of the four directions were her future, she wanted to control her own future.
She looked up, and the last barrier gradually emerged. It looked like the morning mist, the veil of a goddess. It was so far away, yet so close; it was so soft, yet so hard.
Jiang Ling decided to break its shackles...
She half-squatted to accumulate strength, her legs spread out in front and behind, her well-proportioned muscles slightly arched, concentrating all her strength on one point.
She took a deep breath and opened her eyes.
Behind the barrier was still a barrier, and above the ceiling was still a ceiling. Air blew out from the tip of her nose, taking away a hint of warmth and bringing a hint of vitality. The resurrected consciousness perceived more details, and the world was no longer chaotic and psychedelic, but gradually became clearer. The khaki ceiling was inlaid with two long strips of light, which were soft and warm, making people feel happy physically and mentally. Several transparent and colorless lines interspersed through, and if you listened carefully, you could find some sounds of streams among them. Then came the crisp and pleasant ringing, the rhythmic footsteps and the sound of a door being pushed open. A familiar yet unfamiliar face came up, making the consciousness feel that its arm was gently lifted and lowered by something.
Jiang Ling woke up from hibernation.
"Welcome to the modern era, Sleeping Beauty from ancient times!" The face changed its angle, rising and enlarging from below her field of vision, which made Jiang Ling notice the few lines of small words under her eyelids.
[Changes in analogue and digital data detected, increased extraction consumption]
【Membrane pressure boost reaction detected】
[The signal source has been generated. Do you want to extract it? ]
"Extract? Now? No no no no no!" Jiang Ling quickly refused. What a joke! Is this the place where the "system" can be used?
The small words before her eyes quickly vanished, replaced by the worried face from before. This face was quite delicate, not quite like a normal human's. Every inch of skin had the perfect shape and color. It resembled some of the high-end holographic models of the past, but with more detail and a more natural feel. It—or rather, she—had bionic cameras in both eyes, reminding Jiang Ling of the prosthetic technology she'd heard about before hibernation.
Maybe this is a disabled person from the future?
"Who are you?" Jiang Ling subconsciously wanted to ask, but her consciousness had not yet fully recovered, and the words turned into a few unsmooth murmurs when they reached her lips.
The person turned to the other side, and Jiang Ling could only twist her stiff neck to follow, watching her out of the corner of her eye. The person seemed to be observing a screen floating in mid-air, displaying numbers, but Jiang Ling had no idea what she was looking at - the numbers were changing very quickly.
After a while, she returned, smiled at Jiang Ling, and said caringly, "You're doing well. You'll be back to normal in four hours. Are you feeling uncomfortable? I can adjust your posture for you."
Jiang Ling could only blink to indicate, and then she was finally able to get a glimpse of the full appearance of this "nurse".
The nurse stood at the end of the bed, smiling broadly. She was tall and pretty, wearing a pale pink uniform, topped off by a translucent, wide-sleeved robe of an unidentified material, half-covering her body and quite alluring. Her hair was the color of morning glory, beautifully designed, each strand perfectly placed. Her face, seen up close earlier, enhanced her youthful energy. She spun around in front of Jiang Ling, intentionally or unintentionally, exposing herself fully, like a child showing off a new toy to her companions.
Finally, she walked to a low cabinet with many drawers, took out a sticker the size of a business card from the tray on it, then walked straight to Jiang Ling's left and carefully stuck the sticker on Jiang Ling's left arm.
Jiang Ling immediately felt a slight chill on her forearm, followed by a slight itch.
The nurse leaned over and checked Jiang Ling's condition again, saying to her softly, "This is your ID card. The basic information has been entered." Then, perceptively noticing the change in her expression, she continued, "Oh, don't worry. You can't tell from the outside. The nanomachines will penetrate into the dermis, using blood sugar as energy, and stay with you... Huh? That doesn't work either? Strange. It's clearly a custom-made model!"
Jiang Ling finally remembered the nurse's true identity from her behavior. After learning to speak again, she shouted, "It's you! Lin Yi, it must be you!"
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