[Science Fiction] Escape from Paint City

It's like being surrounded by jelly, except for being a little out of breath, there's nothing uncomfortable about it.From the moment he stepped into the mist, Sha Qianxing who was holding hands disappeared, but Shui Chen didn't panic, and swam towards the bright light in the center of the mist as if swimming in thick water.

The closer he was to the bright light, the lighter his body became. Until his fingertips stretched out the black mist and touched the bright light, the darkness was soon expelled, and the whole body was surrounded by light. After a long time, the light gradually returned to normal .

The sense of emptiness floating in the air has disappeared, and Shuichen feels that he is lying flat inside a transparent instrument, his whole body is stiff, as if the commands from the brain nerves cannot be transmitted to all parts of the body.It took a long time before he regained his body consciousness little by little starting from his fingers.

The life cabin was very narrow, even though the body was already able to move freely, Shui Chen could only turn over slightly, and gently tapped the inner wall with his fingers.He knew very well that he couldn't go out rashly without protective clothing.

Suddenly, the life capsule stood up abruptly, and the suction force on the back prevented Shuichen from slipping down. If the transparent life capsule was ignored, it seemed that he stood up.

A video popped up in the void in front of him, and it was paused at the moment Dr. Qi appeared, and at the same time Sha Qianxing's voice came in, and the internal transmission made Shuichen feel that Sha Qianxing was by his side.

"Brother Chen, are you feeling okay? Do you feel uncomfortable anywhere?"

"It's okay, there's nothing wrong, where are you?"

After the life capsule stood up, it was even more inconvenient for Shuichen to turn around. He could only turn his head left and right to look for Sha Qianxing's figure.

"My entry and exit channels are different from yours. I woke up later than you, and I am still in the transmission compartment. Just wait, I will come right away."

"Ok."

After saying this, Sha Qianxing's voice disappeared.The base of the White Pagoda does not occupy a large area, but it is very high. Shuichen is on the first floor at this time, and the life capsules of other sleeping people are tightly stacked, hidden and invisible. Only the life capsule of Shuichen stands upright. In the middle of the first floor.

Qianxing should be on the top floor, Shui Chen thought, he will come down soon.

However, the time spent soberly in the life capsule seems to pass very slowly. He knows exactly what will happen next, and also knows that there is not much time left for the two of them.But at this time, it is good to be able to look at him more.

Sha Qianxing actually came down very quickly. He was wearing a set of black tight-fitting long trousers, his body was no longer as tense as he was in Qicheng, and even his eyes softened a lot.The granular transparent protective clothing flashed on his body from time to time, showing the state of resisting the corrosive gas at any time.

This made Shuichen's eyes darken, and he thought of Tan Chen who came out to save him in a protective suit and died in the end.Although this incident happened not long ago in Shuichen's memory, thousands of years have actually passed.The sourness surging from the heart seemed to have subsided a lot.

Shui Chen took a deep breath to calm down.Fortunately, the life that Tan Chen saved was still useful, and it could contribute a little to the way of human survival.

"Time is running out. You can stay in the life capsule for an hour. Let's watch Dr. Qi's video first, and you should remember everything else."

"Ok."

Shuichen gently painted Sha Qianxing's face through the transparent hatch, remembered his appearance at the moment, and then turned to watch the only video left by Dr. Qi.

Sha Qianxing stood beside him, one inside the cabin and the other outside the cabin, their hands tacitly leaned together through the bulkhead, as if they were holding each other without any barriers, giving each other strength.

Dr. Qi's video is not long, and he doesn't talk about any countermeasures.Like an ordinary old man, he briefly described the situation of the country, the hope for the future, and his life in the White Tower for the past 20 years.

Finally, Dr. Qi bowed sincerely in the video.With tears in his eyes, he said: "Many of you shouldn't have endured so much, but human beings need you, and you need you to hold on to the last bit of light at this time that has been eroded by darkness, and wait for it." The light has come again. As the first lighthouse keeper, the initiator of the whole plan, I thank you for all those who are sleeping and ignorant."

The screen paused for a few seconds, then the second, third..., until the seniors, each watchman told the younger generation that the situation is constantly improving and hope is ahead.And in the days when they guided and were guided, they all had memories worth cherishing for a lifetime.

Every watchman has left his traces at the White Tower base, leaving stories of them waiting for human beings and hope.The mechanical dog made by the second term, the magical singing voice left by the third term,...the aesthetically eccentric costumes left by the predecessors, these are all proofs of the existence of the watchmen.

After the video was played, the camera appeared and pointed at Sha Qianxing.

"After returning to reality, the previous watchmen never appeared in front of the guided ones. Instead, they continued recording this video and quietly found a corner to die."

Sha Qianxing turned his head to look at Shui Chen, his fingers curled up slightly, as if trying to force the fingerprints through.

"But I want to finish recording this video in front of you, so that you can look at me, not at the screen, to understand what is in my heart."

Shuichen nodded, watched the camera turn on, and watched Sha Qianxing turn his head to face the camera and start talking.

"My name is Sha Qianxing, and I am a soldier. I have been the seventh watchman of No.30. From the mutation of devouring insects to today, they have basically lost their vitality to actively approach the White Tower base. The target groups in all areas The annual range of activities has shrunk by 5.00%. Although it has not yet entered the death period estimated by Dr. Qi, we still have enough time to wait for their vitality to decrease to the moment of self-dissolution. The next everyone, can't Give up hope!"

After a pause for a few seconds, Sha Qianxing cleared his throat, glanced at Shuichen unconsciously, and his voice changed from serious to soft.

"Guarding and waiting will become the mission of our life as watchmen. We will be alone for nearly 100 years and stick to it for the sake of all mankind, but this does not mean that we cannot have the people we love and the things we cherish. I am 25 When I was 100 years old, I saw the person I loved the most. In the [-] years since I woke up from the virtual world and recalled him again, I did what he loved most, and kept drawing—even if it was bad.”

Speaking of this, Sha Qianxing smiled self-deprecatingly, as if he wanted to liven up the atmosphere, but his tone was a little choked up.This passage is his last words to future people, and it is also his last confession to Shui Chen.

"100 years later, I became his guide, able to fall in love with him, bring him back to the real world, and continue our guardian mission. Now, my life is coming to an end, while his life has just begun. But I have no regrets, my mission has been completed, and I can safely wait for him at the finish line."

At this point, the camera was turned off under Sha Qianxing's order, and there were still 2 minutes before the life capsule's power was exhausted.Sha Qianxing took off the button of his protective clothing, transmitted it through the life capsule, and stuck it on Shuichen's body.

The life capsule was opened, and Shuichen walked out from it. The protective clothing had already protected him well.

At the same time, Sha Qianxing's skin began to erode. Due to years of protective clothing protection and changes in body functions, the erosion was very slow, as if he could see the process of every cell being swallowed.

"Ten minutes left."

After Sha Qianxing said this, he finally couldn't help turning his face away, and stretched out his hand to cover Shuichen's eyes.

"Don't look at it, this process is really ugly."

The corrosion slowly penetrated deep into the throat and began to damage the vocal cords, making Sha Qianxing's voice sound like a leaky bellows, a bit ridiculous.

"You are already 120 and five years old, and you still worry about whether you are ugly or not."

Shuichen let his eyes be covered, as if jokingly said, but his voice was worse than crying.He approached in the direction of Sha Qianxing, hugged him tightly in his arms, but did not slow down the speed of corrosion at all.

Sha Qianxing faintly felt that his palms were wet, and tears flowed through his fingers and fell down drop by drop along the palm of his hand.

"Don't cry."

Sha Qianxing was a little panicked, let go of his hand, stepped forward to kiss his tears away, but thought of being corroded, his already ugly face froze in place.

But Shuichen didn't care at all, and kissed directly, his mouth was instantly filled with the taste of blood, very strong, mixed with the salty taste of tears, which made him feel that he would never forget it for the rest of his life.

He separated slightly, but still hugged Sha Qianxing with his hands, staring fixedly at him, as if he wanted to see how he disappeared little by little, and finally disappeared completely.

Gradually, Sha Qianxing's vocal cords were completely destroyed, and he could not utter a single sound. His body could hardly be touched, only his head was still vaguely shaped.

Shui Chen bit her lip tightly, the blood stained her upper teeth red, and flowed down with tears.But his eyes were still wide open, not even willing to blink for a second.

"I love you, and the end is true."

Sha Qianxing's lips moved slightly, and after he finally said a few words, the speed of corrosion suddenly accelerated, Shui Chen felt as if a gust of wind had passed by, and his eyes could not help but narrowed slightly, and the person in front of him disappeared just like that.

"Thousand lines..."

Shuichen squatted down, feeling a piercing pain that spread from his heart to his whole body, causing him to curl up and hold his arms tightly with both hands, as if he could still keep Sha Qianxing's breath in his body. in the arms.

The closed white tower never sees the light of day, and the devouring worms in each area are still swimming slowly and orderly.In the White Tower, there are only the sound of machines running and a mechanical dog bumping into each other.

It doesn't bark anymore.

Shui Chen buried her head on her knees, and didn't care about the passage of time at all.As Sha Qianxing said, his life has just begun.

The author has something to say: the next chapter is over, and after that there will be a side story.

This parting chapter was something I thought about when I first started writing it. In fact, it was the real ending, and it really made me cry.