The night before the promotion

Chapter 11 Place of shelter
For many people, having a place to stay is a somewhat luxurious existence, both spiritually and materially.

Pei Dong felt lucky for Zhou Si. "I don't quite understand it, but it seems that you are very satisfied with this kind of life now, which is good."

"I am indeed very satisfied with my current life," Zhou Si murmured, "I save those patients and gain some self-realization. By the way, I can also find out the truth about the Lishi disease from treating the patients."

The two of them chatted back and forth, but gradually, there was nothing more to talk about and the topic fell silent again.

No matter how reluctant they were to admit it, the span of time still made the two of them strangers, not to mention that the twists and turns of fate had already caused tremendous changes in both of them to varying degrees.

Zhou Si knew very early on that nothing in the world is constant.

Pei Dong also found it hard to stand the gap between her memories and reality. She was ready to leave. Before leaving, she asked with concern, "After you recover, will there be any sequelae?"

Zhou Si was not so vigilant about his old friend. “Yes, but the attacks are not frequent and easy to deal with.”

"Do you remember the movie we watched together at noon? It was an old movie called "A Beautiful Mind" which was made more than 40 years ago."

Zhou Si further explained, "John Nash in the movie suffered from schizophrenia and spent a long time in pain, but in the end, he reconciled with the pain and got used to the existence of hallucinations."

Zhou Si couldn't help but look at the mirror at the door. "Just like the plot of the movie, when the sequelae occur, I am used to coexisting peacefully with the hallucinations."

"It sounds difficult... Oh, I should go now," Pei Dong explained awkwardly, "I need to take care of my body every once in a while."

Zhou Si nodded to show his understanding and watched her turn and leave.

The incarnation's body took stiff steps, and the rustling sound of mechanical rotation continued.

When they reached the door, Pei Dong suddenly stopped and said, "Zhou Si, we qualified people have formed a group."

Zhou Si stared at the information on the computer screen and said without raising his head, "No need. I don't have much interest in socializing."

"No, I mean, there have been some strange things happening in the mutual aid group recently."

After hesitating for a long time, Pei Dong finally spoke out about this matter. "Recently, more and more qualified people have lost contact. There are rumors that someone is looking for us qualified people."

This news did not attract much attention from Zhou Si.

When the Ascension Project was still in existence, the qualified candidates were indeed of extraordinary value, but with the closure of the Ascension Project, these qualified candidates who were screened out and underwent consciousness upgrading tests became worthless.

Zhou Si asked as if it was standard procedure, "Did you call the police?"

"We have tried, but we are scattered all over the country and there is no result so far."

Seeing that Zhou Si still looked nonchalant, Pei Dong reminded him, "Zhou Si, although I don't know why you have lost contact with the past, don't forget that you are also a qualified candidate for the Ascension Project."

Zhou Si's eyes froze for a moment, and Pei Dong continued, "Take care of yourself, Zhou Si."

After saying that, Pei Dong left the clinic.

Zhou Si was stunned for nearly a minute, and like a machine with network delay, he blinked and threw himself into his work again. However, no matter how hard he tried to concentrate on the work, fragments of the past were still whizzing through his mind.

In that dark ward, in the storm of thoughts, there was another figure exactly like myself.

They confronted each other, roared, and fought for the right to define "Zhou Si"...

Pei Dong's arrival was like a key that opened the dusty door and told Zhou Si that no matter how much he tried to hide and escape, he could never sever this fateful connection.

Zhou Si leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes.

……

After the car accident, Pei Dong did not have extra money to maintain the rent in the city center, so she and Zhou Si moved to the same urban area at the same time. In the land-scarce city of Anyan, the housing prices here are very low, which is a rare mercy in a big city.

After walking and taking the light rail for a while, Pei Dong returned to her home. Her home was not big, just a standard one-bedroom apartment. There was no sofa or TV in the narrow living room, only a charging station for the avatar body.

Pei Dong controlled the nursing avatar and came to the bedroom door. Behind the door, the real Pei Dong, her flesh and blood body, was lying on the bed wearing a neural docking helmet.

"call……"

Pei Dong tried to take a deep breath, but the nursing avatar didn't need to breathe, it was more of an instinctive reaction of her psychology.

Logically speaking, the car accident happened a long time ago, and Pei Dong should be used to it and accept it all. But no matter how much she tried to convince herself, every time this scene appeared in front of her, Pei Dong still found it difficult to accept, and even felt pain and despair. "Be strong, Pei Dong."

Pei Dong said as he pushed open the bedroom door.

The curtains in the room were closed, with only a ray of light coming through the gap. A single bed was placed in the middle of the bedroom, with some nursing supplies and daily necessities on both sides.

Pei Dong looked at the bed, where something seemed to be lying. The camera began to focus, and the blurry picture became clear.

Lying on the bed was an adult woman about 1.6 meters tall. She had shaved her head and wore a heavy neural connection helmet on her bald head. The indicator light on the helmet remained on, indicating that her consciousness was still in the incarnation shell.

Pei Dong came to the bedside and gently stroked the neural docking helmet.

At first, this human female still had long hair, but wearing the neural docking helmet for a long time caused her to suffer from severe folliculitis on her scalp. Pei Dong tried to help her deal with it, but it never got better, and it also hindered the wearing of the helmet. In desperation, she had to shave off all her hair.

Looking at the woman's face again, Pei Dong remembered this face. It was so familiar, as if they were friends who had witnessed each other's lives.

In my memory, she was a woman full of vitality, with healthy wheat-colored skin and clear muscle lines as if they were carved with a chisel. Even if she were put in a women's bodybuilding competition, she would have a perfect body that could win the championship.

Zhou Si once praised her strength and beauty without reservation, and even nicknamed her the female Rambo. Later, when she choked him, Zhou Si changed his description of her to Sigurdrift.

This is the name of a Valkyrie in Norse mythology. In "The Song of the Nibelungs", her name evolved into Brunhilde.

But now the Valkyrie has fallen, becoming a dying zombie on the eternal battlefield.

After being paralyzed in bed for a long time, she looked old beyond her age. Her skin was slightly yellow and wrinkles were embedded under her skin like ravines.

Pei Dong thought of those people of the same age as the woman. They should be passionately involved in a relationship at this moment, or walking in some strange mountains and enjoying a comfortable life.

But the woman in front of him could only lie on the bed, unable to do anything.

Pei Dong felt a little sad for the woman.

The bionic arm gently lifted the quilt. The nursing avatar had no sense of smell, but Pei Dong knew that at this moment the room must be filled with the ammonia smell of urine and the stench of excrement.

Pei Dong carefully turned the woman over. She was very fragile. Long-term bed rest had reduced her lung capacity and made her prone to breathing problems. Her exposed shoulders were covered with ulcers of varying sizes, which were bedsores caused by the continuous pressure on the bony protrusions and the lack of blood and oxygen. Similar ulcers were everywhere on her body.

After changing diapers and urine pads, handling excrement and preparing hot towels, Pei Dong carefully cleaned the woman's buttocks and removed the dirt remaining on the skin.

After finishing the hygiene care, Pei Dong opened the curtains to let in some bright sunlight and circulate the turbid air in the room.

Afterwards, Pei Dong moved the woman's joints as if he was fiddling with a puppet to avoid joint deformity, blood clots and other diseases.

This process was repeated for 365 days without stopping for a single day.

But even though Pei Dong took such careful care of her, the woman's muscles still inevitably atrophied, like an oxidized and rotten apple, and she turned into a slowly curled-up corpse, like a mummy wrapped in bandages.

When he thought of this, Pei Dong's heart was gradually swallowed by a feeling of despair.

The woman had conquered mountain after mountain and crossed canyons with her own feet. She was one of the few people in this era of incarnation who conquered nature with her pure body. She was the female Rambo that Zhou Si teased, and also the Sigurdriv that he admired.

But now she is in this state and can't even get up from the bed.

Pei Dong stopped the work at hand, and an inexplicable thought rose from the bottom of her heart. Pei Dong slowly stretched out her hands and grabbed the woman's neck.

"You are in pain too, right?"

Pei Dong murmured to himself that with just a little effort, he could end the woman's pain, just a little... just a small step forward.

The mechanical joints exerted a little force, and the woman's face quickly turned purple-blue. At the same time, Pei Dong's consciousness became a little hazy due to lack of oxygen, as if he could empathize with the woman in front of him.

In the silence, faint sobbing sounds were heard.

Pei Dong suddenly loosened her hands and stumbled back to the corner. Her mechanical body tried to hug her and curl up, but the limited position of the joints only allowed her to make a harsh, metallic friction sound.

The camera was raised, and Pei Dong looked at Pei Dong basking in the sun. His emotions could no longer be reconciled, and hysterical crying rang out.

From the cold speakers.

(End of this chapter)