Lin Yi chuckled twice, then gave Jiang Ling an expression of long-awaited reunion. She stood there, calm and serene, her sapphire-colored, inorganic eyes filled with a depth that seemed to span endless time. Finally, she hummed a line from an ancient anime: "Yes, my master!" The sound was clear and melodious, like the song of a lark.
"Lin Yi--" Jiang Ling wanted to get up from the hospital bed, but the long period of hibernation did great harm to her body functions. She tried several times but failed, and her stomach was churning and she almost vomited.
"Alright!" Lin Yi stepped forward, pushed Jiang Ling back onto the bed, took out two pills from the bedside table, and stuffed them into her mouth. "You just woke up, get some rest! I'm not going anywhere this time, we have plenty of time!"
Jiang Ling's attention was completely focused on Lin Yi, so she didn't realize what she had taken until the pill slid down her esophagus. But that was far less surprising than something else she'd noticed. "Lin Yi, your body—is it real?" She struggled to raise her hands and felt around Lin Yi.
"The fourteenth generation bionic body, the latest model. Any intelligent conscious being who has some extra contribution points will be happy to order one. What do you think, boss?" Lin Yi's nurse uniform disappeared, replaced by a chic and flowing white coat.
"Is that a holographic projection?"
"Yes, after all, current protective clothing is sturdy and comfortable, and can provide a variety of convenient functions. In addition, frugality is advocated on the mothership, so there is no need to synthesize other clothing on a large scale. Holographic projection is a more economical solution."
"It suits you very well." Jiang Ling withdrew his hand and said to Lin Yi.
"Hehehe!" The latter was visibly happy, her cheeks even showing a girlish blush. She snuggled up to him like a kitten, feeling the warmth of Jiang Ling's forehead with her own body.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing, you should feel better, right? The observation data shows that the two targeted drugs are working."
"Targeted drugs? What disease do I have? I remember that I was in good health before hibernation!" Jiang Ling asked in confusion.
"It's an allergy to long-term hibernation. Current targeted therapy is only considered auxiliary treatment, so don't worry! The biochemical prevention and control work on the mothership is very good, and most people will never have the opportunity to use the medical nanomachine swarm for treatment in their lifetime."
"What about radiation sickness and congenital genetic diseases?" Jiang Ling recalled what he had encountered before.
"At least it's not an incurable disease. At worst, you can still choose to upload your consciousness or make your whole body into prosthetics." Lin Yi answered casually.
"The world has changed a lot," said Jiang Ling.
"Well, that's only one aspect." Lin Yi said as she smoothed Jiang Ling's hair. "Once you get out, you'll definitely feel even more uncomfortable. You might have to relearn a lot of things. That's 13,175 years. No one on the Endless Galaxy has hibernated longer than you. You might even win a Guinness World Record."
"So, this year is the Star Calendar Year? Then what day is it today? How is the plan going?" Jiang Ling accepted this fact calmly.
"Huh? Is that all you can say?" Lin Yi paused her movements and began helping Jiang Ling with joint rehabilitation exercises. "Today is May 8th, happy birthday! The Spark Project is proceeding smoothly. You can use your authority to ask the mothership's main control intelligence for details. The Incarnation Project has been discontinued. The last data exchange was 3,000 years ago. It is said that Senior Lin Ke recovered the replica."
"The Avatar Project failed?"
"No, it simply demonstrates the complexity and disorder of human society, but it is dynamically controllable on a certain scale. I don't know much about this, so you can ask the social science PhDs in the Citadel. I hear this major is very popular! You can always find a few people who know a little bit about it online."
"Then why did you call me up? Have all the people on duty retired?" Jiang Ling turned over and lay down to enjoy Lin Yi's massage.
"I'm not the matron, how would I know?" Lin Yi exerted some force on her hands. "The shift schedule is back a hundred thousand years, don't worry about that. But I guess they're calling you up this time to attend the funeral."
"What? Are my heartless parents dead?"
"Not really. They woke up once a thousand years ago and are still hibernating. The organization treats you future envoys well enough." Lin Yi paused, then quickened her pace. "Actually, this is a tradition on the Endless Galaxy, one that has lasted for over four thousand years. Every resident on duty must attend the commemorative event after reviving. As a generational ship, birth, aging, sickness, and death always need to be remembered, don't they?"
Jiang Ling buried her head in the pillow and uttered a few inaudible mumbles. After a long moment, Jiang Ling, blushing, tilted her head and said, "Lin Yi, you're pressing on my hair."
"Tsk!" Lin Yi straightened up like a winner, jumped off the hospital bed, then took Jiang Ling's hand and helped her change from lying to sitting, and then skillfully changed her into a hospital gown and sterile slippers.
It was not until then that Jiang Ling saw the entire picture of the hibernator resuscitation room.
The ceiling lights were off; it seemed they weren't always on. The dimly lit recovery room was hexagonal, somewhat like a honeycomb. Jiang Ling's psychic ability allowed her to sense other people in the next room. The room wasn't disorientingly dim, but rather a dark contrast to the on-time lights. There was actually some light, but Jiang Ling couldn't yet pinpoint its source.
Lin Yi handed Jiang Ling two crutches. She landed on her feet and, with the support of the crutches, stumbled forward a distance. As her perspective changed, she finally saw the light source in the room. No, it should be the light source next door. The walls of the room had a certain degree of light permeability. As long as the lights next door were on, there was no need to turn on the lights here.
It seems that this is an era where virtue and practicality coexist, and Jiang Ling once again feels that she is out of date.
She walked around the room twice more, her steps becoming smoother and smoother. The slippers felt so light, weightless, and silent on the floor. The ground seemed springy, not like hard, cold steel. She adapted quickly, and soon she no longer needed her cane. With just a little support from the wall or something else, she could move freely anywhere.
"Let's go?" Jiang Ling stopped and said to Lin Yi.
The latter nodded reluctantly, took out a pink and white object that looked like a ring and a card with a flashing holographic projection from his arms, and then introduced: "This is the current terminal, suitable for those of you awakened ones who can't use identity patches. This is my identification token, you can also use it as the communication code from before."
"What's wrong? Aren't you coming with me?" Jiang Ling could naturally notice that something was wrong with Lin Yi.
"Forget it, I'll take you with me! There are a lot of procedures ahead, and I'm afraid you can't handle it alone." She replied.
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