The Creatures that We Are

“You flatter me.”

Gao Yang didn’t guess it. He simply knew it.

It was something he had fallen for in the Mist World once: Yan Feng was a puppet, while his manager was the real Black Tortoise.

Gao Yang increasingly felt like the dream was a poorly crafted reincarnation story, set to rewrite everything he had experienced in the Mist World.

“The results are in, Captain.” Xiran leaned toward the holographic panel before the Green Box, adjusting his glasses in excitement.

“Based on the current data, the Green Box deduced that Yan Feng may be a state-of-the-art replicant, while Gui Zhe was the true mastermind. The administrative control over Yan Feng’s S Chip belonged to Gui Zhe.”

“No wonder it was so easy to infiltrate Yan Feng’s brain and replicate his digitized memory.” Vermilion Bird snorted. “His memory is digital to start with, no conversion needed. I was in a rush and didn’t check.”

“That’s right.” Xiran chuckled. “The moment you pulled out of Yan Feng’s brain, the breach was reported to the terminal automatically, resulting in Gui Zhe regaining consciousness early. He caught you off guard and shot you.”

“Holy, a high-grade replicant becoming a movie star and having so many fans?” Can exclaimed in shock.

Such replicants were almost identical to humans appearance-wise. They were class 1 contraband all over the world, under stringent control. It was difficult to obtain even at black markets. Only a few official R&D centers possessed a handful of prototypes.

Still, it seemed reasonable that something like that would appear in Moon City.

“What is the likelihood of Yan Feng being a high-grade replicant?” Vermilion Bird asked.

“83.53%,” said Xiran. “Among the 37 possible scenarios the Green Box posed, it’s the most likely to be true.”

“Haha!” Gray Bear came up and slapped Gao Yang on the back. “You just saved our ass, kid! After the gig’s done, Liu Li should get a bigger share!”

“Of course.”

“I, agree.”

“Doesn’t matter to me.”

“You’re awesome, newbie!” Can jogged up to him happily. She seemed happier that Gao Yang had won the others over with his smarts than when she received praise herself.

Vermilion Bird clapped. “Twenty-minute break. Let’s have the Green Box regenerate the scenario for another rehearsal.”

…

The night stretched into morning through endless rehearsals. The Green Box refined its simulation with each round of feedback until they came to a scenario with better odds. By the time they finished, it was already two o'clock in the morning.

Since they still had preparations to do came morning, they took a nap in the warehouse rather than going home. Gao Yang woke up at half past five to find his teammates still resting throughout the place.

Can was sleeping on two sofas pushed together, wearing a device combining ear plugs and a sleep mask that covered half of her fair face; it was supposed to help one sleep Xiran and Ronnie lay on their back on a large wood plank, hands clasped on their abdomen. If someone put white flowers on their chests, they would look like brothers getting buried together.

Gray Bear slept on the ground, using an android’s thighs as a pillow, his snores thunderous. In a dark corner, Lithe Snake sat against a cargo container, head drooped but breathing betraying his readiness, a patrol drone's alert clutched in his hand.

When Gao Yang gently rose to not wake the others, he noticed that Vermilion Bird was gone. He looked up to find her standing on the stairs leading to the elevated corridor of the factory, her prosthetic eye glinting with soft red light, catching Gao Yang’s gaze.

She beckoned him to join her via the other staircase.

Gao Yang obliged, quickly going up to her.

“What is it?”

“Let me show you something,” Vermilion Bird said, all cryptic.

A few minutes later, they followed the work staircase to the rooftop of the factory. Sitting on its edge felt like sitting on a small cliff.

Stretched before them was a cluster of short buildings, mostly old factories, sandwiched between the skyscrapers and holographic sceneries of the other districts. The view made Gao Yang feel as if he were in an ancient ruin located at the heart of a dense forest.

Looking past District 17, Gao Yang’s gaze landed on the fringe area of Moon City. There lay an uninhabitable wasteland.

Bracing against the turpid morning breeze, Vermilion Bird lit a cigarette. Gao Yang was wearing a filtering mask. His wet breaths were audible.

They were quiet for a long moment.

After finishing one cigarette, Vermilion Bird cast the cigarette butt to the ground and sat up on her elbows. “Here it comes.”

“What’s coming?”

“Sunrise.”

As if summoned, a patch of red appeared in Gao Yang’s sight.

He focused on the dim sky outside Moon City. A hazy crimson emerged, nothing like the sunrise he knew.

The air pollution filled the sky in Moon City with smog day and night. Only at dawn was the visibility good enough to allow a few minutes’ view of the sun rising.

Yet the weak dawn could not fully penetrate the smog. To them, it looked like a candle wavering on a stormy night, dying out in the blink of an eye.

Then the sky brightened, but it wasn’t blue, but a dull gray.

The neon advertisements and holographic sceneries across the city shut down one after another. Like makeup being removed from a cadaver, Moon City was laid bare, all pale skin and cold pores.

Vermilion Bird tossed Gao Yang an S Chip. The coin-sized device looked like a hollowed-out drawing pin.

“S Chip,” Vermilion Bird explained. “A streamlined version. It’ll hurt a little when installed, but it doesn’t pierce into your spine or connect to your brain.”

Gao Yang inspected it, turning it over in his hands.

“Need help?” Vermilion Bird asked.

Gao Yang quietly handed the S Chip to her. She stood up and went behind him, lifting his hair.

He felt something cold against his nape, followed by a prick. The pain was manageable.

“Bleeds a little, but nothing serious.” Vermilion Bird took out a disinfecting wipe to clean the wound. “At first, getting a chip installed took great courage with a mortality rate of 4%. Now that the tech is better, an implanting surgery only takes half an hour. With anesthesia administered, the recipient will simply wake up to a changed world.”

“It’s like getting a pair of wings.” She went back to sit beside Gao Yang. “Of course, one can have their S Chip extracted, too, but almost no one does it since it comes with a great empty feeling, as if their life is no longer complete. Like a bird losing its wings.”

She took out another cigarette. “A complete lifeform feeling like their life is incomplete when something that’s never part of them in the beginning gets taken away. Isn’t that ironic?”

“What are you getting at?” Gao Yang turned to her and asked calmly.

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