Short, Light, Free

I stopped in my tracks.

“Thought of something? There wasn’t any problem with the ovum extraction but we discovered, after fertilizing it, that the cells were deteriorating too quickly. We took steps to salvage it but it would cause deformity in the fetus. There’s probably no hope left for humans but there is one last possible solution.”

“What is it?” I continued sipping on my coffee.

“I had you come over to see what we’ve just found. Number one test subject.”

“Test subject? Number one?” I mumbled before following him further in.

“We were shocked to find him but he’s humanity’s last hope.”

I nodded, interest piqued.

Perhaps a hermaphrodite?

“Do you think a normal person can break out of this prison, Xiaowei?” Prof asked.

I looked around. “How’s that possible?”

“You’re wrong. Someone had managed to do it twice.”

“Twice? No way…”

“Twice. Successfully. This is his second time doing it and getting arrested. He’s been confined to an isolated room.”

On the way, I noticed that the criminals were in striped clothing and imprisoned in individual units.

Further in, after passing a door, the criminals were dressed in orange.

Yet another door and there were only ten over people in this area.

Blood red uniforms.

“The colors represent the severity of their crimes?”

“Good observation skills, but I heard that these blood red uniforms used to be white. They fought and mutilated themselves so much that the clothes were permanently dirty, hence a change of color.”

I nodded.

The last door opened.

Spotlessly white corridor.

The room walls were made of glass.

In the centermost room was a man doing push-ups.

He wasn’t acting secretively at all.

I knocked on the glass wall. “Why glass?”

“Don’t underestimate this. It’s reinforced glass. This is the type of glass used during the president’s speeches. Even laser can’t pierce through it.”

“So that’s our test subject? He looks just like a normal human being.”

“Let me tell you his past. He was first caught for stealing cars, a petty crime, and so he wore the striped uniform initially. And then he escaped in the second week.”

“How’s that possible?” I asked curiously.

“He killed three policemen in one breath before running out.”

“No one shot him?”

“It was night time and foggy.”

“Don’t the guns have thermal imaging?”

“That’s where he’s smart. First, he placed the blanket in the toilet sink. He then draped it over and left. The cold and moist blanket absorbed his body heat, turning him invisible in the fog.”

“Then how did he get caught again?”

“He was attempting to kill somebody when he got arrested and was sent straight to the orange room. Only upon closer inspection did they realize that he was the very same man who killed eight people in order to escape and thirteen more when he was out for a month.”

“Oh my goodness, thirteen?” I was astonished.

Murder was the most severe crime since the human population was no longer replenishable, also why the death sentence was no longer in practice. We couldn’t afford to lose any more human beings so casually.

“Then what happened? He tried again right?” I asked.

“Yeah, it shook the whole prison up.”

“How did he do it the second time?”

“In a month, he started an internal disorder and killed the prison guard in charge of him before hiding him in the closet. He then disguised himself and walked righteously out of the door.”

“Sound unlikely and ridiculous,” I commented.

“So now he’s locked up alone. When asked if he had an accomplice he said yes, but those in the prison who knew him said he work alone,” Professor continued.

“Well, why would the accomplice confess?”

“That’s what everyone thought at first but then he started listing names and the last person was that very guard that he’d killed. In fact, all accomplices were murdered by him.”

” What? ” I was utterly confused.

“The prison called a psychologist over and the psychologist said that he did have his accomplices because he had sixteen personalities. They were all his partners in crime.”

“Oh my god, this is unbelievable,” I was almost shouting.

“And now we need him to save mankind.”

“Why him?”

Professor and I stood in the innermost room.

Before us was the criminal who killed fifteen people and had sixteen criminal personalities.

He looked at us with a very calm demeanor.

He probably knew that he couldn’t hurt us because of that reinforced glass.

Professor instructed the guard beside us, “Give him anesthesia, here’s the permission grant.”

The guard opened the sluice gate and green gas sprayed into the criminal’s unit.

He covered his nose and tried dodging. He even picked up a cup on the table and wet his blanket and covered his mouth and nose with it.

He stuck close to the ground to reduce the amount of gas intake.

I looked at him as I pondered over Professor’s words.

He was indeed too dangerous.

I saw him slowly losing the fight and collapsing to the ground.

Professor pointed at me. “Carry him back to our laboratory.”

“Professor, is this safe?” I panicked.

The guard reassured, “Even an elephant will be knocked out for a full day and night. A human will turn completely numb for at least three days, so don’t worry. If you’re worried, I’ll inject a sedative.”

I nodded without hesitation.

The guard opened the door and took out a syringe.

As he bent down to administer the drug, the criminal used his blanket to cover the guard’s face.

Before anyone could process the situation, he had already twisted the guard’s neck.

In that instant, I pressed the door switch.

Slammed it repeatedly, to be precise, hoping that it would close faster.

However, the criminal threw himself at me and grabbed my neck.

The other guards raised their guns and the criminal immediately pulled me in front of him and used me as a shield.

I saw that the sedative was already half inserted into his leg.

I quickly pushed it in the rest of the way.

Almost instantly, he collapsed.

He seemed to have lost his soul at this point.

Hiding behind a guard, Professor spoke, “Good one, Xiaowei. Bring him out.”

I shook my head helplessly before calming down and carrying him up.

A week later at Continent B’s underground laboratory.

I’ve received an invitation to participate in the final step of the experiment.

The same reinforced glass.

The criminal was enclosed in a small jar.

His arms and legs had already been cut off so he could only move his neck.

“Why?” I asked, looking at Professor.

“So that he can’t move as much and have less physical power consumption. It will reduce the speed of organ deterioration and aid Project Deep Blue.”

“Project Deep Blue?” I repeated.

“We’re unable to help the whole of mankind to live forever but we do have the technology to let one live eternally.”

“You’re letting him live forever?” I pointed at the criminal.

“Right. The second step of Project Deep Blue is to simulate a human world and a button that activates a nuclear warhead. And then, we’ll have him put on the VR equipment and let at least one of his split personality be convinced that the button’s been pressed,” Professor explained.

I thought through the logic behind making him believe that he’d killed the entire world.

So he’d possessed all personalities of the world.

“But is it possible for him to have so many personalities?” I questioned.

Everyone present looked at me in shock.

“We don’t know if it will succeed but the human brain has limitless potential,” Professor answered.

“This is the last hope for mankind? Having unlimited personalities all in the mind can be considered as a continuation of mankind?”

“Scientifically speaking, because he is human, the characters in his head are also humans. The activation button is right in front of us. The president was supposed to press it but since he was neither in favor or against this project, we’ve decided to get someone else to do it. I’m presenting this chance to you.”

“Why me?” I asked.

“Because nothing beats destroying mankind for real. You’re the most suitable candidate for carrying out this sin.” Professor put my hand on top of the button.

I pressed it gently.

Explosions sounded incessant from above.

“Is this a real nuclear warhead button?” I asked.

Everyone around was already starting to kill themselves.

Wait a minute.

At least one personality to believe that he’s destroyed the world.

At least one personality to believe that he’s destroyed the world.

At least one personality to believe that he’s destroyed the world.

I shut my eyes, mind tossing and turning.

I opened them.

I am soaking in an azure blue petri dish and my limbs have been severed.

The laboratory before my eyes was already filled with dust.

I also saw a few skeletons. Probably dead for some time now.

It appeared that this dream has come to an end once more. Who should be given the first person perspective this time? It seemed like everyone’s had their turn. It was so difficult to make a choice.

Music filled my ears.

“Some are standing at the rail station, searching amid the wasted,

some are walking on the sidewalk toward their destinies,

some are cooking numbly in the kitchen,

some are quarreling on both ends of the bed.

When you look at these people, do you really notice any difference between them and yourself?

Do you feel their pain at times?

Perhaps these people are working differently toward the same goal,

perhaps we’re all together in this…”