Chapter 4: Experimental Accidents

Description

May 9, 2023, Nanhua Province A City Containment Bureau, Facility No. 37.

Liuli, wearing a light pink thin pajama set, lay on her side in bed clutching her blanket, breathing steadily, her hair tousled as she sank into a wonderful slumber.

But judging by her occasional trembling, it didn’t seem to be a pleasant dream.

Just then, a knock came from outside the door.

“Knock, knock, knock.”

“…Jinghua, it’s me, Lin Zhiyi. Are you awake?”

Lin Zhiyi waited outside for Liuli, but Liuli showed no sign of getting up.

At least, Lin Zhiyi couldn’t hear any movement from her.

“…………”

Technically, Lin Zhiyi could have just entered the room to check, but she chose to open her tablet and check Liuli’s data instead.

[Heart rate 46, sleeping, but mood index is really low… Having a nightmare?]

‘I should go in and check.’

Lin Zhiyi swiped her card and pushed the door open, seeing Liuli curled up on the bed, clutching her blanket and trembling.

“Don’t… don’t call me that…”

“Please…”

The soft murmurs carried clearly to Lin Zhiyi’s ears in the pin-drop-quiet room.

“…………”

Looking at the trembling girl on the bed, Lin Zhiyi hesitated.

Should she wake her up?

The answer was obvious.

They had tests to run soon.

Still, seeing the petite girl like this stirred a bit of sympathy in her heart.

Lin Zhiyi walked over to Liuli’s side, reached out, and gently patted her shoulder.

“Jinghua, time to get up.”

“Wuwuwu… wuwu… I wasn’t wrong… Teacher… I was right…”

“…Sigh.”

Lin Zhiyi’s brow furrowed slightly as she changed the pats into shakes.

“You’ll be late for school.”

“Wah!”

As if detecting a trigger keyword, Liuli suddenly convulsed, launched herself off the bed like a spring, and instantly woke up.

“Wuwah! Mom, why didn’t you tell me earlier?!”

Liuli turned to look at Lin Zhiyi, but the tall mother figure from her memory wasn’t there.

Instead, a taller young woman in a white research coat stood before her.

“Um… Zhi… Sister Zhiyi?”

Liuli looked around the room, confirming this was the super-sized version of her own room—the containment unit.

“Um…”

“Hurry and wash up. I didn’t hear anything, didn’t see anything.”

Lin Zhiyi sat down on a nearby chair with her tablet.

“Sor… sorry… for calling you that just now…”

“…”

Lin Zhiyi took a breath.

“It’s fine. I know you had a nightmare, and I know you didn’t mean it.”

“Go wash up quickly. Breakfast is in an hour. When it’s time, I’ll take you for today’s tests.”

“Mhm…”

Liuli responded listlessly before heading to the shower to wash up.

Watching her go, Lin Zhiyi’s thoughts grew tangled.

‘What has this child been through?’

She opened her tablet and recorded everything Liuli had just said.

That was her duty.

If the final results showed that [Jinghua] wasn’t an anomalous entity but rather someone who gained abilities through other means, then these records would eventually be sealed away.

If the final results showed that [Jinghua] was the anomaly itself, then she would need to reassess her ability rating and danger level based on all the observation data, assign her a proper classification, and arrange her containment accordingly.

‘If possible… I hope this is just an accident.’

‘A girl like this being caught up in things involving the world’s dark side… it’s truly unjust.’

Liuli emerged from the shower, appearing cleaned up.

“Um… Sister Zhiyi, I need to change now.”

“Alright, I’ll wait outside the door. Remember to eat a good breakfast. The tests might take a long time.”

Lin Zhiyi hurried out of the room with her tablet and closed the door behind her.

‘…I still can’t calm down easily.’

Lin Zhiyi rubbed her brow and looked at the door.

‘But no matter what, I’ll do my duty… Contain. Protect.’

---

Liuli opened the wardrobe and picked out a casual lace-trimmed sleeveless dress.

“Mhm… Even the clothes in the wardrobe are…”

Just thinking about how the Containment Facility could replicate her room so perfectly made Liuli imagine that her actual room must have been turned upside down.

“There’s nothing I can do about it… Right.”

Liuli tried her best to convince herself.

After all, knowing someone had rummaged through your room would definitely feel uncomfortable.

She quickly changed, grabbed a pair of shoes from the shoe rack in the corner, put on lacy short socks, then slipped on the shoes.

“I wonder what the tests will be… Sister Zhiyi even told me to eat more…”

“Growl~”

Her stomach was already growling with hunger.

Actually, she hadn’t eaten her fill at all yesterday before coming back, and she’d woken up hungry several times during the night.

After all, the staring eyes of those people in the cafeteria were way too scary!

And besides, if she hadn’t eaten enough, then Sister Zhiyi definitely hadn’t either—her meal hadn’t even been half-finished.

At that thought, a hint of cherry red bloomed on Liuli’s cheeks.

‘I’m really such a burden… At least Sister Zhiyi isn’t mad at me.’

‘But then this morning I even—!’

How utterly embarrassing…

Liuli let out a sigh, raised her small hand, and gently patted her fair cheeks.

“No, I need to pull myself together. There are tests coming up… I have to try not to cause Sister Zhiyi any trouble.”

Since she’d already made so many mistakes, she’d just do her best from now on!

With that thought, Liuli pushed open the door, ready to head out for breakfast with Lin Zhiyi and prepare for the tests.

This morning’s breakfast, Liuli ate quite a lot.

Three fried dough sticks, two cups of soy milk, one steamer basket of soup dumplings, one basket of corn dumplings, and one basket of chive dumplings.

She looked so small, yet she could eat that much.

Because it was very early, there weren’t many people in the cafeteria, so she could eat freely.

The working hours for various personnel at the Containment Facility were highly irregular—sometimes early, sometimes late, sometimes short, sometimes long.

Naturally, the danger levels changed along with them.

You never knew if the next mission would turn into an accident, so most people were on edge.

Watching Liuli wolf down her food, Lin Zhiyi quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

Normal appetite meant normal mood.

The anomaly index wouldn’t be too high, and it wouldn’t affect the experiments too much.

Moreover, seeing Liuli eat so heartily, she felt… was this relief?

Something like that.

She wasn’t sure why she felt that way.

After Liuli finished eating and returned her tray to the cleaning cart, Lin Zhiyi led her into an area with gray-painted walls.

The gray area seemed to contain quite a few rooms, all appearing to be laboratories or medical rooms of some sort.

Liuli didn’t understand these things and didn’t dare ask what they were.

They were probably classified design details, and asking would just put Lin Zhiyi in an awkward position.

So she didn’t ask.

The two finally stopped at a room with a metal double door.

“The test will be conducted here shortly.”

“Inhale… Exhale… Inhale… Exhale…”

Sensing the test approaching, test test test…

A test, of all things.

For some reason, just thinking about the word “test” made Liuli feel breathless.

“Don’t be nervous. The test is very simple.”

“In a moment, you’ll enter the elevator, go straight ahead after descending, enter a room, and sit there.”

Lin Zhiyi swiped her access card, and the doors split open sideways, revealing the room’s contents.

It looked like a control room, filled with many screens that all seemed to be monitoring the same space, each displaying different metric data.

Several people were already seated at the console.

Hearing the door open, one of them turned around.

“Oh my, little Zhiyi, you’re so late~ And the little white bird too!”

“Eh… Eh?”

Liuli was momentarily stunned.

The only person who talked and addressed them like that was Lisa.

“Is all the data calibrated?”

“Calibrated, calibrated. The detection instruments and triggers are all OK. Don’t worry. The emergency medical channel is clear as well~”

Seeing Liuli’s dazed expression, Lin Zhiyi turned to explain.

“Remember how I said I was the primary administrator?”

“Well, some individuals require multiple administrators, so there can also be deputy administrators.”

“Headquarters approved Lisa’s application to be your deputy administrator yesterday. That’s about it.”

“Nice to meet you! Little white bird~”

“Wh… What kind of nickname is that…”

“Because you’re like a cute little white bird—small and white.”

“If you don’t like it, I’ll just call you little Jinghua instead.”

“Mhm… Uh… Mhm, it’s fine… If you like it, go ahead.”

“Hehe, then thanks, little white bird~”

Lisa replied with a smile and pressed a switch on the console.

A vertical seam appeared on one of the emptier walls of the room.

As the wall panels retreated and opened, a small elevator compartment was revealed.

Lin Zhiyi pulled out a wireless earpiece, reached over, and helped fit it onto Liuli’s ear.

Her fingers brushed lightly across Liuli’s cheek, stirring the pale gray-white strands of hair, making Liuli’s ear and cheek feel ticklish—along with a faint, indescribable fragrance.

“This is a wireless earpiece. I’ll communicate with you through this and the speakers downstairs.”

“If you feel uncomfortable, remember to tell me. The test can be stopped at any time.”

“Your physical well-being is the top priority. Understood?”

“Mhm… I understand.”

Liuli nodded, pressed her lips together, and stepped into the small elevator.

‘A test… Test test test test… Sister Zhiyi said… Will there be danger? What will happen to me if the test results don’t meet expectations…’

The elevator doors closed and descended at a steady speed.

---

“The little white bird’s mood index is starting to drop.”

Lisa remarked, looking at the mood indicator on the instrument.

“Claustrophobia, or just plain nervousness. The index isn’t dropping that fast, so it should be nervousness.”

About a minute later, the elevator finally came to a stop.

The doors opened, revealing an extremely long corridor.

The walls and floor seemed to be made of special materials—very hard and non-reflective.

Above the corridor hung many lights and camera-like devices.

“Gulp.”

Liuli swallowed.

This setup looked way too ominous!

What kind of test was this supposed to be?

She had no choice.

She could only keep walking forward.

After walking about fifty meters, she reached a door at the end.

It slid open automatically as Liuli approached—it was an extremely heavy door, nearly one meter thick.

Her nervousness kept growing.

Liuli could feel a slight dampness forming on her fair little palms.

‘It’s okay, Liuli. You can do this.’

Liuli silently encouraged herself.

Entering the room, it was an enclosed space as large as a standard soccer field, with embedded cameras and white lights, small ventilation openings, and several speakers.

In the center of the room sat a chair made of the same material.

“Beep beep.”

A prompt tone sounded through the earpiece, followed by Lin Zhiyi’s voice.

“Can you hear me?”

“Jinghua, sit on that chair.”

“Next, we’ll conduct substantive testing of your ability.”

“If you want to respond, press the indentation on the earpiece.”

“Once you hear the prompt tone, you can answer.”

“Beep beep.”

Liuli raised her hand to the earpiece clipped on her ear, searching for the indentation.

There was indeed one on the side.

As her finger pressed it, a prompt tone came through.

“Beep beep.”

“Um… This test… What exactly will it test?”

“Beep beep.”

“Beep beep.”

“This room will extend some machines.”

“They’ll launch objects ranging from simple tennis balls to rubber bullets, at different speeds and angles, to test the specifics of your ability.”

“We’ll start from the safest method and escalate gradually.”

“We have plenty of contingency plans, so don’t worry about safety.”

“Beep beep.”

“Beep beep.”

“Mhm… I understand.”

“Beep beep.”

Liuli let out a breath and walked over to sit on the chair.

‘Since I’m enjoying the benefits here, I should cooperate properly with Sister Zhiyi and the others’ tests…’

“…Tennis ball launching in 3, 2, 1.”

This time, the voice came from speakers on the wall, without any prompt tone.

A small opening appeared in the wall, firing a green tennis ball toward Liuli.

The ball flew at her rapidly.

“Ugh—”

Liuli instinctively closed her eyes and raised both hands to shield her head.

Lin Zhiyi and Lisa watched the tennis ball intently.

It veered off course.

The anomaly index showed no significant increase.

Hearing the tennis ball hit the ground without striking her, Liuli opened her eyes.

“Jinghua, next we’ll fire multiple tennis balls at you.”

“Get ready.”

“Answer when you’re prepared.”

Liuli pressed the earpiece.

“Mhm… I’m ready. It should be fine.”

Multiple openings appeared around the room.

Because the room was huge and Liuli was at its center, the kinetic energy of the tennis balls was mostly spent by the time they reached her.

Even if one hit her, it wouldn’t hurt.

“Thump thump thump!”

Muffled launch sounds echoed through the room.

Over a dozen tennis balls shot toward Liuli.

Without exception, every single one missed.

The anomaly index showed no significant increase.

Looking at this result, Lin Zhiyi turned to Lisa.

Lisa turned to Lin Zhiyi.

“What do we do?”

“………… Switch to police-grade rubber bullets.”

“Alright~ Aren’t you worried about her?”

“………… She is the observation subject. This is work.”

“Is that so? Then rubber bullets it is. How many shots?”

“Thirty.”

Lin Zhiyi pressed the communication button.

“Next is multiple rubber bullet fire. Don’t be afraid. The aim is at the legs.”

“Calibrated~”

“Beep beep.”

“Mhm… I’m ready. Begin.”

“Beep beep.”

“Thump thump thump!”

Over thirty rubber bullets shot toward Liuli.

Though they were rubber, their kinetic energy was more than enough to incapacitate a target upon impact—this was genuine police-grade riot equipment.

But visibly, every single rubber bullet, upon nearing contact with Liuli, deviated from its original trajectory without exception and missed completely.

“Is it a force field? Or conceptual refraction?”

Lisa pulled up the slow-motion replay of the rubber bullet firing for Lin Zhiyi to see.

In the footage, the rubber bullets consistently veered off course when about two meters from Liuli’s legs.

The deflection was very abrupt—not caused by wind or natural ballistics.

Some even shifted at a 45-degree angle within 0.1 seconds.

Lin Zhiyi stared at Liuli’s physical data.

Liuli’s mood index had dropped slightly but remained stable.

Her anomaly index fluctuated around 3% after entering the room.

Her blood sugar had decreased somewhat—consumption faster than sitting still at rest, roughly equivalent to the rate of normal walking.

“…Switch to live ammunition. 5.8mm. Single shot.”

“That fast? Aren’t you afraid of hurting her?”

“This test also needs to measure the range of her deflection… Just do it.”

Lin Zhiyi pressed the communication button.

“We won’t announce the test equipment from here on.”

“Be prepared for consecutive tests.”

“If you can’t take it anymore, or feel unwell, respond immediately.”

“Mhm…”

Liuli pressed the earpiece to reply.

Looking at the scattered tennis balls and rubber bullets around her, her body couldn’t help but tremble.

‘None of these… none of them hit me. Could I actually really have a special ability?’

Liuli pondered.

Just then.

“Bang!”

A single bullet fired, reaching her position faster than sound.

She saw it—the bullet’s shape.

A real bullet.

Metallic.

Pointed.

The bullet struck the floor about two meters beside her.

The floor suffered no damage whatsoever.

Then—

A series of gunshots rang out.

Bullets fired from various angles, but without exception, none of them hit Liuli.

“Waaaaah—”

Liuli hugged her head and bent forward.

Hearing so many gunshots echo through the room, with that many bullets striking around her—who wouldn’t be terrified?

Even though she wasn’t hurt.

“Clank! Thud! Rrrr…”

A spherical object rolled to a stop in front of Liuli.

“BOOM!”

The explosive blast wave nearly sent Liuli flying, yet the explosion’s force never touched her in the slightest.

“Waaah— Wai… Wait—”

Liuli urgently pressed the earpiece.

“P… Please wait… This bomb…”

“Don’t be nervous. This is testing your ability’s tolerance… Are you hurt?”

“No… I don’t think so?”

Liuli extended her hands to check both sides, then confirmed her legs and body.

There didn’t appear to be any signs of injury.

“Good… Stress test complete.”

“Moving on to the next item.”

“You might feel a bit dizzy—that’s normal.”

“Tell me when you’re ready.”

“…I’m ready.”

“Buzzzzzz…”

A series of humming sounds emanated from the room’s walls.

It was somewhat noisy.

“So loud… What is this…?”

Liuli was a bit bewildered.

[Control Room]

Staring at Liuli’s data, Lisa and Lin Zhiyi fell into deep thought.

This was a mental interference sound wave developed from a particular anomaly, capable of affecting a person’s emotions.

But Liuli’s indicators and monitoring showed that the sound wave didn’t seem to have its intended effect.

They couldn’t fully confirm Liuli was immune to mental interference, but at the very least, this sound wave had no effect on her.

“What do we do? Is there any way to raise her index?”

“…No. Skip this item for now.”

“Proceed with the stress test. Deploy the concentrated suppression field.”

[Testing Grounds]

Liuli heard a tremendous noise from the ceiling above.

The ceiling slowly opened outward, revealing an enormous machine composed of multiple layered coils surrounding a cannon-like needle.

The machine was emitting operating sounds, but no visible sign of its workings or any form of energy could be seen.

“Jinghua… Next is the stress test.”

“This machine can deploy a suppression field that restrains anomalies.”

“If you feel any discomfort, tell me immediately.”

“Answer when you’re ready.”

“Mhm… I’m ready.”

“I had no problems with the earlier tests. This one shouldn’t be a problem either.”

“…Alright. I’m starting now. 3, 2, 1.”

“Dzz… Dzzz—”

A peculiar sound.

The invisible suppression field expanded from the machine’s cannon needle, covering the entire room from top to bottom.

Liuli felt her heart seize.

Her heart seemed to skip a beat, reminding her of when those classmates had surrounded her back at school, and when the discipline director had scolded her.

No.

“Kgh… Kgh… Ugh…!”

Dizziness and nausea hit her.

It was just for a split second, catching Liuli completely off guard.

The next moment, she felt something pressing down on her from all around.

Suddenly, a flood of inexplicable images filled her mind—a group of middle school students, a teacher, two teachers, a married couple, an elderly couple…

What were all these?

She felt like she’d seen this scene before.

It was familiar.

Her head hurt terribly.

The images flashed again, this time clearer.

It was a boy, being surrounded by a group of people chanting a nickname at him.

It was a derogatory nickname with crude sexual overtones.

Liuli herself was watching him as a bystander.

It hurt, it hurt so much.

Like someone was living inside her skull, hammering from the inside out.

Her head felt swollen and painful.

The images flashed again—this time, Liuli herself was surrounded by classmates, who were mocking her petite figure.

“You’re so short, little shorty. Your grades are bad too. How could anyone possibly like you?”

“Exactly, exactly. I heard someone even sent you a love letter. So fake.”

“Don’t say that. Maybe in someone’s eyes, the little shorty is a real beauty?”

“Ohhh~ A real beauty, a real beauty~”

“Real beauty~ Real beauty~ Real beauty~”

A group of people clapped their hands, circling around Liuli in a ring.

Her vision gradually blurred, everything before her becoming hazy.

Yet these chilling, nauseating images remained crystal clear.

“No… Don’t… Don’t say anymore… Please… What did I do wrong…”

Her face felt hot, wet, and slick, but her body was cold, trembling endlessly.

It hurt so much… like she’d accidentally fallen and hit the ground.

Seeing Liuli collapse unconscious on the floor, Lin Zhiyi panicked.

Her voice became urgent, her pitch rising.

“Shut down the field! Now, immediately!”

“The anomaly index is rising… The field is being reflected!”

“Not refracted—reflected!”

“Jinghua’s mood index and vitals are changing!”

“Turn it off now!”

Liuli’s detection ring showed that her heart rate had reached the limit value for a normal person of her age.

Furthermore, she was currently losing blood.

And this heart rate limit could only be reached through extremely high-intensity exercise.

Lisa hastily pressed switches and adjusted knobs to weaken and shut down the field.

But a machine this large took time to power down.

Suddenly, the data coming from the cannon needle turned chaotic.

“The field cannon needle seems to have malfunctioned!”

“The reflection just now appears to have damaged some structures… It can’t be shut down immediately!”

Lisa was starting to scramble.

“Then open the test chamber door and send in a drone to bring Jinghua out of the field’s concentrated zone!”

Not waiting for Lisa to act, Lin Zhiyi strode to one of the control stations, pressed the red SOS button three times in succession, then grabbed the intercom phone.

“Medical department? This is sealed test laboratory 13.”

“Please come immediately with a defibrillator, blood matching E-01-999 blood type, and every piece of emergency equipment you can prepare.”

“Use the emergency channel.”

“The test… has had an accident.”