Chapter 3
Edward Quan ·
As the silver object loomed larger, I couldn't stop myself wondering...
Was Yuanyuan inside?
At that thought, I stopped struggling.
I let the humanoid carry me to the end of the column of light.
Less than a minute later, the glare faded, and the scene grew clear.
An immense space.
White light filled it, seemingly without end.
A silver bed stood nearby.
Lying on it...
Was Song Yuan.
I rushed over in excitement.
“Yuanyuan! Are you all right?”
She lay still.
No movement.
As though she couldn't hear a thing.
An enormous fear nearly crushed me.
Trembling, I checked her breathing.
Her pulse.
She was still breathing. Her heart still beat.
But why wouldn't she wake?
The glowing humanoid approached from behind.
A voice speaking human language came from its featureless head.
“You can't wake her. No external stimulus can do that.”
I lost all composure.
Anger overwhelmed fear.
Grabbing the creature, I shouted, “What are you? What have you done to my daughter?”
It turned its head.
It had no eyes, yet seemed to be “looking” at me, quietly observing.
After a long time, it spoke slowly.
“Do you really want to know?”
I didn't hesitate.
“Tell me!”
It turned and handed me a file.
With complicated emotions in its voice, it spoke each word distinctly.
“Read it. It's all in here.”
I opened the file.
Its contents had been translated into Chinese.
The first thing I saw was the title:
Report on First Contact with Humanity.
Clearly, this humanoid represented a civilization beyond Earth.
In other words...
An alien.
I read on.
It claimed to come from four-dimensional space, from an immense and extraordinarily prosperous civilization.
Through technology, it had entered the three-dimensional world inhabited by humans.
More precisely, Earth.
The first person it contacted after arriving was Song Yuan.
Out of curiosity, it had secretly observed her.
She'd always loved unexplained phenomena and had been very cooperative.
At first, everything went smoothly.
Until June 9, 2016.
An accident occurred.
Song Yuan accidentally touched the spacecraft's “Coordinate Core.”
Her consciousness separated from her body and was transported into the four-dimensional world.
The Coordinate Core, put simply, was the medium for crossing between three and four dimensions.
“It was an accident,” the humanoid said.
I drew a deep breath.
“Then... what condition is my daughter in now?”
“Song Yuan isn't dead... but she can't be considered alive either.”
It sighed softly.
“Her body remains in three-dimensional space, but her consciousness is trapped in four dimensions. I've been trying to call it back all this time.
“But the Coordinate Core went with her consciousness into the fourth dimension. Without it, I can't ascend there myself.”
In other words, even it was helpless.
I clenched my teeth.
“Is there any way to save her?”
As if waiting for the question, it immediately replied, “Of course. You can save her right now.”
I frowned and waited.
It gestured for me to follow and led me to a machine shaped like a control pod.
“Sit inside. You'll be able to save her.”
Its unusual impatience made me hesitate.
Everything about Song Yuan had come from its mouth alone.
I had no way to verify any of it.
When I stayed where I was, it continued.
“Don't you want to save her?”
I looked at her motionless body on the silver bed.
I had no other choice.
In the end, I decided to gamble.
The moment I stepped into the machine, everything blurred.
When I opened my eyes again, a familiar scene greeted me.
I was lying in bed.
Wu Wei was beside me, sleeping peacefully, her breathing even.
I picked up my phone.
01:53. June 9, 2016.
This was...
Ten years earlier?
I'd traveled from 2026 back to 2016?
Once I understood, I quietly got out of bed and ran to Song Yuan's room.
Empty.
My heart sank.
She'd already sneaked out.
Without hesitating, I grabbed the car keys and prepared to leave.
Then the humanoid's image flashed through my mind.
After a moment's thought, I went into the kitchen and took a cleaver for protection.
Only once outside did I realize I'd picked up Wu Wei's car keys by mistake.
There was no time to go back.
I had to stop the tragedy.
As soon as the engine started, I floored the accelerator and drove straight to Mount Tianfeng.
From the foot of the mountain, I could see Song Yuan in the distance.
She was climbing hard, already halfway up.
I shouted several times.
Too far away. She couldn't hear.
All I could do was chase her.
To intercept her faster, I left the trail and cut through the woods.
Forty or fifty minutes later, I saw her just ahead.
Overjoyed, I shouted, “Yuanyuan! Don't go any farther!”
She turned in confusion.
Seeing me, she left the trail and entered the woods.
“Dad? Why are you here?”
Without a word, I pulled her back.
“Dad! What are you doing? Why do we have to leave?”
She was as stubborn as a calf.
“I'm not going!”
Anger flared.
“You'll get yourself killed!”
She pulled at my hand, crying and making a scene.
“Dad, just let me look! There might be aliens here! Just let me see them once!”
The humanoid had said it had already contacted her.
But she'd said there “might be” aliens.
Did that mean she didn't know it existed yet?
I immediately realized something was wrong.
“Aliens? Who told you there were aliens here?”
Her expression changed slightly.
As though remembering something, she gave me a strange look.
“Wait, Dad... you were behind me a moment ago. How did you get ahead to stop me?”
“...I was behind you?”