Doomsday Wonderland c1-855

by N. Heller

  There were two tiny rows of chart templates drawn on the surface of the first card. She knew that now was not the right time to be fl.u.s.tered, but the moment her eyes fell on the description of the card, her heart still could not help but give a small leap.

  [Party B Designer]

  I received a job last week. It's a "Special Item Designing Project". The demands of this client is the nightmare of all designers out there. "I want it powerful, I want it convenient, I want it less restricting, and it will only recognize me as its sole master. Oh yeah, please add in an autonomous crisis detection and prevention system, and also a sustenance wide-area search system so that it can help me look for resources when there is no danger around… Alright, that will be it for now. Pretty simple, right? Anyway, I expect to see the result in two days. Ah, silly me. I almost forgot about the most important thing—the budget. Alright, my budget is a box of luncheon!"

  I should just take a template and work out something usable for him.

  Directions of use: Pick a template and list out all your demands.

  Note: Once you have selected your d.e.s.i.r.ed template, the remaining templates will be discarded. The selected template is one-time use only, so please make up your mind before you start to work on it. Since our designer lacks a little drive and there are many restrictions for the use of the template, generally, he cannot fulfill all your demands. For example, a Special Item with fewer restrictions will have fewer applications while a convenient Special Item will have a shorter expiry. All in all, the final product often comes out unsatisfactory. Its one advantage is that it can be turned into whatever thing you want it to be.

  "This is exactly what I need!" Lin Sanjiu shouted happily. However, her delightful moment was short-lived. She almost crushed the card when she saw the next line on the card.

  Just as Mrs. Manas pushed Lin Sanjiu several steps forward, she pulled out the second card and prayed inside her heart.

  [Central Station Storage Box Purchase Voucher #1210]

  A storage box purchase voucher from the central station of the capital of "Heaven Underworld", one of the worlds of Twelve World Centrum. Whoever owns this purchase voucher will be eligible to open the unattended storage box #1210 that has been auctioned by the station. Good luck!

  "There is something like this in Heaven Underworld?" Lin Sanjiu mumbled absentmindedly. She shook her head to chase the thought away and went on to study the third card.

  The third card was the last thing she pulled out of Lucy's pocket. Just as she expected, it was a tent. There was a tent support pole bag clipped to the tent. She was delighted at first when she saw the name, but she sighed dejectedly after she read the description.

  [Temporary Right Of Abode]

  There was a line of words printed in large font on the tent that read: Charity Tent for . Propriety of the municipal government.

  For posthumans who've made the wrong life decisions and lost their homes, this tent is a Special Item full of humanistic care. Just plant it somewhere—yes, anywhere—and you can spend a certain period of peaceful time under its protection. Nobody will come to disturb you or shoo you away.

  So long as you can enter, even if it's a bank vault, instead of chasing you out, the staff will sympathetically offer you a bottle of water by putting it in front of the tent. However, once you've put the tent away, you will not be able to walk away safely if you bear any malignant intent and did something unacceptable. The only way to avoid being checked or caught by the security guard is to nudge the tent out while you're still in it.

  Condition to note: The care for the homeless campaign is the current mayor's short-term vanity project. As soon as the current mayor steps down from his post, to raise his personal prestige, the mayor-elect will terminate all his predecessor's vanity projects. Right now, there are only three hours left until the ouster of the current mayor. In other words, regardless of when you set up the tent, its effect can only last for three hours. Repeated use in the same location is invalid.

  In addition, only those who conform to the definition of a homeless can stay in the tent. First, the user must be a poor-wrench. Second, he or she cannot have more than two Special Items, excluding this tent. And third, he or she cannot own currencies of any kind from any worlds.

  "It seems like I'm not poor enough."

  Lin Sanjiu sighed as she dragged herself towards the alley. She was now merely a few meters away from her previous spot, and it should not be a problem for the grand prize to locate her.

  There was only one Special Item left, but she did not hold out much hope for it. She was pretty much certain that there wouldn't be a Special Item that could tackle a situation such as this, as her situation was too peculiar. Even if such a Special Item really existed, with her abysmal luck, it wouldn't come right to her. After she stopped, she glanced at the last card.

  Lin Sanjiu sighed, but she wasn't too disappointed. This was because, even though all four Special Items were useless against her current circ.u.mstances, they were by no means inferior to other Special Items. It was just that their effects were pretty niche.

  [A Light-Bulb Moment]

  The description of when a good idea or a new thought surfaces in mind. This Special Item is a hairpin in the shape of a white lightning bolt. Pin it behind your head, and it will provide a "light bulb moment" to you from time to time. It is rumored that several untalented novelists were addicted to this Special Item after they tried it once. Hence, it is advised that those artists who are deprived of inspiration and creative power should utilize this Special Item wisely. All in all, you all must recognize your own limitations and figure out your own path before it is too late.

  Condition to note: standing in front of a black background will increase the likelihood of activating this Special Item.

  "Why aren't they here yet?" asked Lin Sanjiu anxiously. She did not have the energy to hop like a kangaroo anymore. She laid prone on the ground and dragged herself forward, the stone that wrapped her feet grating against the craggy stony surface. "How long has it been? Has it been two minutes already?"

  Mrs. Manas replied something, but Lin Sanjiu could not hear it. Her ears were filled with the sloshing of her blood, which drowned out all other sounds. She stared fixedly at the masses of people in the alley and pinned [A Light Bulb Moment] to the back of her head. Her hair was so short it was impossible to hold anything, but the white lightning bolt-shaped Special Item was able to adhere itself tightly onto her scalp without any difficulty.

  Lin Sanjiu had already done whatever she could do. Even if she had a "light bulb moment", she doubted it could grant her enough power or ability to fight against the Veda.

  "It's strange," she mumbled. "Why have the Veda stopped attacking me? To be honest, I thought those dragons would come straight for me."

  "Why? Do you think your situation is not bad enough?"

  "No, that is not what I meant," Lin Sanjiu quickly responded with a frown. As she continued to crawl forward, she said, "It has already been some time since I found a way to temporarily hold off the "melting" process, but the Veda did not make any movements. I think… perhaps they are focusing on Puppeteer and the grand prize."

  Given her current situation where she had lost her mobility, she was the least threatening amongst the group. Even Soulsqn was more dangerous than her, as the Veda had not analyzed her yet.

  "So that's why the highest god hasn't come here yet?" Mrs. Manas soon saw the light. "Are you worried that they are in trouble right now?"

  "Yes." Lin Sanjiu nodded as she leaned her body against the wall and stood up. She was now very close to the alley, and she couldn't decide whether she should forced her way out through the crowd of citizens or remain guarding here. Suddenly, the hair on her back bristled and her skin burst into goosebumps as she felt a chill tingle down her spine. Nevertheless, she was very familiar with the feeling, so she did not feel fear at all.

  "I realized that throughout our years of friends
hip," an enigmatic voice rang out behind her, piercing her back like a storm of icicles, "Most of the time you don't look like a human."

  'Tsk, you should take a look at yourself in the mirror first before commenting on other people's appearances,' Lin Sanjiu scolded inwardly. Then she turned around and shouted at the shadowy figure, "Come and help me! Why haven't you melted yet?"

  Standing at the very far end of the alley, Puppeteer snorted. He walked leisurely towards Lin Sanjiu as if he was taking a stroll through the garden. The plumule on his shoulders trembled with every step he took.

  "I wonder, have you been on vacation ever since you left the Data Stream Library? How come you are still so weak?" Sometimes, Lin Sanjiu wondered if he had contracted some kind of illness that made him into such a mean person. "Your life must be pretty easy, right? Since you don't have a brain to think with."

  "Can you just hurry up?" Lin Sanjiu said as she dragged herself one step forward, sweat dangling on her bangs. "I can't stay in a place for too long. Hurry up and come take…"

  She knew Puppeteer would get annoyed at this, but she had no other options left. Before she could look at the expression on his face, a large shadow came from the sky above. Both of them raised their heads at the same time and saw a large swarm of paper cranes coming straight in their direction. Their numbers were so many that they looked like a bank of thick dark clouds before the storm arrived.

  'Why the hell did they make so many paper cranes? What were they trying to do?'

  The second the thought flitted across Lin Sanjiu's brain, the formation of paper cranes began their descent. However, before they could get close to her, some of them began changing their direction. Some went up while others went down; a few made a u-turn and fluttered away. In the end, only a dozen paper cranes arrived in front of Lin Sanjiu while the others scattered in every direction.

  The dozen paper cranes opened their beaks in unison. The first voice that reached Lin Sanjiu's ears was the highest god's shout, "Lead the way! Lead the way!" Then the second voice that came was much softer than the first one, but it did not hinder her from hearing what he was trying to say. "Even though they have analyzed the paper cranes, if we send them out in such large numbers, I'm certain some of them will reach sister there…"

  "Hey!" Shoving aside the excitement that welled inside of her heart, she turned to Puppeteer and asked, "Do you have any way to send out a message?"

  The swarm of paper cranes blotted out the sun, and their surroundings dimmed down. [A Light Bulb Moment] activated, and Lin Sanjiu's face turned pale.

  There was something weird about Puppeteer's words.

  Why would he say "ever since you left the Data Stream Library" and not "When you were in the Olympics"?

  This was because there was no record of Puppeteer's trip to the Olympics in his information. Hence, the Veda only knew they escaped from the Data Stream Library.

  So, without a doubt, the Puppeteer they created would never utter a line such as "when you were in the Olympics".

  Chapter 699 - The Airless Arabic City and Ötzi The Iceman

  Both of them looked at each other silently for half a second. Then the man clad in a black jacket suddenly tilted his head.

  The malice in his face ebbed away like melting ice, his humanesque carnality and emotions disappearing along with it. Even though his facial features didn't change, the same face only showed an empty and vacuous expression.

  'Even though Puppeteer has a saturnine personality, he still feels human.' That thought suddenly popped up in Lin Sanjiu's mind.

  The 'Puppeteer' in front of her sighed and looked at his own body. Next, he examined the white lightning bolt accessory on Lin Sanjiu's head. "This sudden mission already disrupted my work routine. I didn't expect to work overtime."

  He was actually a Veda!

  Lin Sanjiu felt her hair stand on its ends. She froze, stricken. For a moment, she didn't know what was worse: facing a coded Puppeteer at his full strength or dealing with a Veda in its original body.

  If the former choice meant a difficult battle fraught with peril, the latter choice would make a person feel so helpless that they wouldn't even bother resisting. Under such circ.u.mstances, it was pretty much useless and meaningless for her to fight her way out.

  "I originally planned to ambush you. Since you've noticed, I guess I have to continue modifying and increasing the depth of this devouring program," the Veda, who kept Puppeteer's appearance, mumbled thoughtfully. "The efficiency of this current algorithm is too low."

  'Modify? Increase the depth?'

  Lin Sanjiu stood staring blankly. She probably seemed too flummoxed so the Veda even offered her an explanation helpfully. "Everything here is a virtual environment created by a package of 'Arabian City data asset'. The current program works by using the surface of the assets here to devour your data. Its easier to code the program this way, but it is way too inefficient so I will just have to use another algorithm to devour you."

  'I don't understand — should I run?'

  Her heart sank. Lin Sanjiu shifted a little but finally stopped. She gulped drily and glanced down at her rock feet. She had an inkling that trying to escape would be futile. Since that Veda could appear anywhere it wished, where could she run to anyway?

  'Why isn't the highest god and my grand prize here yet?'

  "Wait," Lin Sanjiu couldn't help shouting, "What will happen to me?"

  "You will become a set of character info in our database." The Veda looked up at her as his eyes gradually turn white. "The next time you discover that you can walk, talk and see again… will be when we reinstate your data. Before that, you won't exist; the only thing existing would be a silent set of data."

  Lin Sanjiu shuddered. She stared at her feet as she tried desperately to come up with a way to escape. She had been standing for a while, but her feet had stopped assimilating into the rock. Lin Sanjiu had no clue what her opponent was going to do.

  "Ah, it's almost done," the Veda suddenly commented. "It will start now."

  'What?' Startled, Lin Sanjiu's body tensed up involuntarily, and her higher consciousness coursed through her rapidly. She scanned everything in her surroundings, afraid to miss the slightest change. However, reality soon proved that whatever she did was futile.

  This time, neither the rock surface nor the walls devoured her.

  She raised an arm and noticed that, starting from her fingertips, she was dissipating into her surroundings like smoke. Her hands and arms slowly dissipated away. It was as if she was just a human figure made of smoke.

  "Air." The Veda with Puppeteer's appearance faced upward, showing a white neck. He seemed to sense Lin Sanjiu's fear even without looking. "It was quite troublesome to make the air molecules devour you. I hope I can end this job early."

  "T-that's impossible," Lin Sanjiu shouted raspily, unable to pull her eyes away from her missing arms. "This is one of the cords in the Data Streams Library, there isn't any air here!"

  "You're right," the Veda spoke serenely just as before. To Lin Sanjiu, this might be the end of her life; however, for him, it was just a small blip in his work routine. "But you've forgotten something. There is an air asset in the Arabian City Package. Can you find an Arabian city that doesn't have any air? When the city is corporealized, there is naturally air around, even if you don't see it."

  He was surprisingly patient and answered almost all her questions.

  When Lin Sanjiu looked down, she almost couldn't contain her horror. Her rock feet had completely vanished. She now floated in mid-air like a ghost without legs. Watching more and more of her body disappear, she yelled out in despair, "Wait, wait! Stop for a second, I want to ask you something!"

  "Are you trying to buy time?" the Veda asked with his head still facing upward.

  "I just have a few questions." Lin Sanjiu was so nervous that her forehead was covered with cold sweat — she could no longer feel her limbs. "If I'm going to die, you should give me a proper explanation, right?"
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  "You won't actually die."

  After pausing for a moment, the Veda finally lowered his head and looked at her directly. "To give you a proper analogy, you'll be like Ötzi The Iceman. Your life will be frozen at this particular timeframe. The only difference is that there is a possibility that you might be reanimated. Similarly, like Ötzi, you won't be living out your normal lifespan."

  Lin Sanjiu might be wrong, but Vedas seemed very keen to offer 'explanations'. The Veda who tried to emigrate her acted that way and so did this one.

  "What do you want to ask?" The Veda crooked his head slightly. "You better hurry. I need to get back to my work soon."

  Obviously, Lin Sanjiu didn't have any questions in mind. She just wanted to buy time.

  "W-what work?"

  "It's none of your business."

  "Well—have we met before?" The moment that question left her mouth, she sighed inwardly.

  "No."

  "Why is it necessary to add us into your Data Stream Library?"

  "The more the merrier."

  Apparently, she wasn't asking the right questions. The answers she got were all too short. "You need to ask him a question he can elaborate on!" Mrs. Manas implored from her mind.

  Lin Sanjiu racked her brain, but she really didn't know what question she should ask to buy more time and get the Veda speaking. The Veda raised his chin slightly, seeming ready to continue the "devouring" program. At that critical point, something lit up in her head. Once again, [A Light Bulb Moment] activated at the right time.

  Was this because her [No coincidence. No story] had been activated all this while? Did their effects stack?

  "I know." Lin Sanjiu didn't have time to contemplate further as she quickly blurted her question. "You mentioned that you didn't expect that this mission, which was to get rid of us, would drag on for so long, right?"

  "Yes." The Veda stopped raising his chin. "What of it?"

  "You Veda claim to have the answer to everything. You claim to have the ability to unravel the deep mysteries of the universe. Yet, why can't you predict such a small matter?" Lin Sanjiu didn't have to worry one bit about her tone being too offensive because the Veda were probably the hardest 'lifeforms' to agitate. "I thought the only thing the Veda couldn't do is create offspring, but from this, I guess you Veda don't know a lot more."