Chapter 7: Discharged!

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After finishing the porridge, Liuli seemed to be doing a bit better.

“Whew………… Sister Zhiyi, thank you.”

“No need.”

………… Seemed like there was nothing else to talk about again.

Awkward.

Lin Zhiyi really wasn’t good at handling situations like this.

“Um………… Sister Zhiyi, that tablet in your hand… and Sister Lisa’s phone too, were those issued by the facility?”

Liuli pointed at the tablet that looked like it had a frosted finish.

“I noticed you seem to never let it go.”

“Yeah, this is a standard set of equipment the facility distributed to everyone.”

“My eyesight isn’t great, so having a bigger screen to read information is easier on my eyes.”

“I see………… How’s the performance?”

“The battery life is pretty solid.”

“Charges once a week.”

“As for other specs, I haven’t compared them so I wouldn’t know.”

“I only use it for work-related matters.”

“Can I… can I get one too?”

“If I ever need to contact someone, using that button feels a bit inconvenient.”

“True.”

“That button is actually part of the universal isolation design.”

“In your case, having a separate device would be better.”

“I’ll put in a request for you.”

“Great, thank you, Sister Zhiyi.”

“Speaking of which, if I’m on the facility’s local network, does that mean I basically can’t connect to the outside internet at all?”

“What’s wrong?”

“Is there someone online you need to find?”

“Mm… not really.”

“It’s just that I used to like filming little videos and posting them online…………”

“Want to share them?”

“No, not at all…”

“How should I put it… mm…”

“I hope people who see them can feel a little happier?”

“And if more people saw them, then more people would be happy.”

“Is that so…………”

Lin Zhiyi raised her eyes to look at Liuli.

The white lights filled the room, reflecting off her somewhat pale face.

The fragile girl currently wore a genuine, unreserved smile of anticipation on her face.

What kind of… anticipation was that?

Wanting… others to be happy.

“Wh-what’s wrong?”

“Why are you suddenly staring at me like that.”

“Nothing………… Are you feeling better?”

“I should go file my report.”

“Medical staff will come by to check on you.”

“If everything’s fine, you can head back to your room today.”

“If you need anything, just call me again.”

“That’s great………… Staying in the sickbay the whole time felt a bit weird.”

“I’ll be heading off then.”

“Mm… goodbye, Sister Zhiyi, and… thank you.”

“…………”

Lin Zhiyi walked quickly out of the room.

She was afraid that if she heard “thank you” a few more times, she wouldn’t be able to keep her composure.

About half an hour later, medical staff entered the room and checked the instruments with a clipboard in hand.

“Everything looks fine.”

“If you’d like, you can have the monitors removed and head back now.”

“Mm………… Thank you.”

“Please help me take off the monitors.”

The medical staff helped Liuli remove the electrode pads stuck to her body and the additional monitoring devices.

They marked a few checkboxes on the examination sheet, then called someone using a pager.

-Message for the administrator of E-01-999.

-E-01-999 has been cleared from monitoring.

-Please proceed to sickbay A-10-62 to escort them back to the containment unit.

Liuli flexed her wrist, spreading her fingers open and closing them, repeating this several times.

Then, starting from her thumb, she pressed each finger down one by one, doing it for every finger.

The time it took for her fingers to open and close felt out of sync, and there was some fatigue, along with a stiff, resistant sensation.

This was a sign of declining motor control.

It really did seem like her condition wasn’t great………… But at least her hands weren’t trembling as much now, so there probably wasn’t any major issue.

“Wait here for a moment.”

“Your administrator will come to take you back shortly.”

“Mm… alright.”

“Thank you for your trouble.”

“I appreciate it.”

The medical staff blinked, nodded at Liuli, then said, “If you feel unwell afterward, there should be a call button or something in your room.”

“Have your administrator bring you here.”

Soon enough, they left the sickbay, leaving Liuli alone in the room.

Liuli held a simple respect for the frontline medical staff………… Even though she’d heard from her family since childhood that being a doctor was a stable job, she’d also seen in various documentaries just how hard their work was.

It really was tough, being a doctor.

They had to read so many books, deal with all kinds of severe cases and terrifying scenes of blood spraying everywhere, sometimes face accusations from family members who didn’t understand, and work long, high-pressure hours day in and day out.

Doctors who could persevere and do their jobs well deserved a word of thanks from their patients.

“Hey hey~ little white bird~”

Lisa pushed open the sickbay door, walking in with a large fruit in hand.

“Hm? Sister Lisa?”

“Yep, it’s me.”

“Little Zhiyi is in a meeting right now………… Seems like the higher-ups have something to say, so they sent me to pick you up instead.”

“I see… Thank you, Sister Lisa.”

“Oh come on, why are you being so polite with me?”

“Oh right, here, this is for you.”

“A super big fruit!”

“Huh?”

“This big fruit is fresh, sweet, and super juicy.”

“Eat it and you’ll have good dreams, okay?”

“It’s called a Dream Fruit.”

It was a fruit with a pink-to-blue gradient, resembling a nectarine.

Its surface was glossy, spotless, and crystalline clear.

It looked like something straight out of legend, the kind of heavenly peach from the celestial palace.

The whole thing was enormous, about the size of four fists of a grown man.

If one wanted a very close comparison, it might be that one thing sold at the mall, the f-something-mo.

“Wow………… It looks so delicious.”

“What kind of fruit is this?”

“This is the fruit produced by O-05-156, the Purple Dream Tree…………”

“Um………… Is this… okay to talk about?”

“Of course it is.”

“It’s not some secret~”

“Besides, this one is pretty well known.”

“It’s in the orientation handbook you get when you join.”

“This anomaly doesn’t pose much of a threat.”

“Its anomaly index is on the lower end even among D-class anomalies, and it can also be cultivated.”

“It’s not a unique existence.”

“Unique existence…?”

“It means something that can’t be replicated and exists only once…………”

“For example, someone like you.”

“There’s only one cute little white bird like you in the whole world, and there’s no second one out there that’s this adorable and has such powerful abilities~”

“Something like that?”

“Powerful………… I feel like my ability is pretty weak.”

“Otherwise, I wouldn’t have needed to lie in bed.”

Lisa raised a finger and wagged it.

“One page at a time~ That’s where you’re wrong, little white bird~”

“Mm…?”

“Actually, your ability reflected and blew up that really expensive anomaly suppression field cannon needle of ours.”

“Now we have to get a new one…”

“Eh………… How…”

“Wait, does that mean I have to pay for it…?”

“Mm, no need for that.”

“Since it was an experimental accident, we can just file for it to be written off normally.”

“But being able to reflect and destroy a cannon needle with your ability?”

“As far as I know, you’re the only one.”

“Is that… impressive?”

“Very impressive!”

“Though I’m not sure if your ability counts as a rule-type ability………… After all, you don’t even take mental interference.”

“Mental interference?”

“You know, that really loud speaker thing.”

“Remember?”

“The one going buzz buzz buzz.”

The two chatted as they made their way back to Liuli’s containment unit.

“We’re here.”

“Need me to keep you company?”

“Don’t judge by my looks, I’m actually really good at games…”

“Would that… be too much trouble for you…?”

“Nope, not at all.”

“Since little Zhiyi isn’t around, I’ll get familiar with you.”

“After all, I’m your sub-administrator………… Not the head one, sure, but still an administrator, right?”

“By the way…”

“By the way?”

“Sister Lisa, you’ve been telling me so much about containment stuff………… Is that okay?”

“Won’t you get in trouble for it…?”

“No worries.”

“You’re such an adorable little white bird.”

“The higher-ups will definitely turn a blind eye to this one…………”

Lisa put her fist to her mouth and cleared her throat twice.

“Alright, jokes aside.”

“Since your DNA test shows you’re fully human, and you’ve been actively cooperating with our work, the higher-ups have opened up some permissions for you…………”

“Later on, they might even need your help with other anomaly management.”

“So you need to stay sharp, okay?”

“Oh… okay!”

Liuli agreed………… That should be fine.

She picked up the huge Dream Fruit and took a gentle bite.

It was crunchy, incredibly juicy, and refreshing.

Sweet, but not harsh on the throat.

It was that crisp, clean kind of sweetness, like the first rain of spring.

Moist and soothing.

“Delicious…”

“So, you don’t mind if I play with your game console, right?”

“Mm… no problem.”

“Great!”

“Then let’s play a two-player puzzle game!”

“Huh… Huhhhhh————”