"What was that sound?" Qian Wei asked as she looked around the hospital room.
Her voice was so quiet that the man beside her almost failed to hear it.
"What sound are you talking about?" he asked, following her gaze toward the ceiling and the closed door. "I didn’t hear anything, but if the equipment made an alarm, I can call the doctor immediately."
Qian Wei did not answer.
The mechanical chime had sounded close enough to be inside the room, yet the man’s confusion appeared genuine. He had not even glanced toward the blue display on the wall when it happened.
That meant either the sound had not come from the medical equipment, or she was the only person capable of hearing it.
Qian Wei wiped the remaining tears from her face and tried to calm herself.
Crying would not change what had happened. If she had truly travelled three hundred years into the future, then she needed to understand where she was, how she had arrived and why the people in this era seemed to remember a version of her who had lived among them for more than a year.
The situation was impossible, but treating it as impossible would not help her.
She had learned at the academy that panic usually came from uncertainty. When a situation became overwhelming, an officer should separate confirmed facts from assumptions and deal with one problem at a time.
Qian Wei began doing that now.
The first confirmed fact was that she remembered living in the year 2026.
The second was that her last clear memory involved being bitten by an inhuman creature inside Apartment 3-17.
The third was that she had awakened in the year 2326 without any trace of the bite.
Everything else remained uncertain.
She did not know who the man beside her was, but he clearly believed they were colleagues. She did not remember working at the station for a year, although everyone in this era apparently expected her to possess those memories.
If she revealed too much, she could easily be considered mentally unstable, placed under observation or treated as an impostor. In a time she did not understand, with no family or friends she could trust, losing her freedom would make it almost impossible to investigate what had happened.
The safest explanation would be memory loss.
She had collapsed unexpectedly and remained unconscious for a day and a night. Even if the doctors found nothing physically wrong, temporary amnesia would account for her confusion, missing memories and unfamiliarity with the people around her.
Qian Wei did not like deceiving another police officer, especially one who appeared genuinely concerned about her. Unfortunately, she had no better choice.
She would need time to learn about this era before deciding whom she could trust with the truth.
The man continued watching her. "Qian Wei, if you heard something strange or feel unwell, you should tell me. You have already frightened me enough for one day, so please don’t pretend that everything is fine."
"I’m not pretending," she replied before realizing that the answer sounded too defensive. She softened her voice and added, "I’m trying to understand why so many things feel unfamiliar. My memories are confused, and the more I force myself to remember, the worse my headache becomes."
His expression became serious. "Why didn’t you tell me that earlier? I asked whether you remembered me, but I thought you were only disoriented after waking up."
Before Qian Wei could respond, the hospital-room door slid open without anyone touching it.
A middle-aged doctor entered wearing a white coat and thin silver-framed glasses. His cheerful smile seemed strangely bright for someone who had just been summoned to examine an unconscious patient with possible memory loss.
"Our troublesome patient has finally decided to wake up," he announced as he approached the bed. "Officer Qian, do you have any idea how much commotion you caused by collapsing in the middle of the station? Your colleague has been making everyone nervous by asking for updates every twenty minutes."
The man beside her looked mildly embarrassed. "I did not ask every twenty minutes."
The doctor glanced at the display hovering over the wall. "You asked often enough for the monitoring system to recognize your voice."
"That only proves the hospital records too much information."
"It proves that you should stop pretending you were not worried."
Their exchange sounded natural enough to suggest they had spoken several times while she was unconscious.
The doctor turned back to Qian Wei and shone a soft blue light across her eyes. "How are you feeling now? You can give me the honest answer instead of the one police officers use when they want to escape from a hospital."
"I feel cold, and I became dizzy when I tried to remember what happened before I collapsed," Qian Wei answered. "There are also parts of my memory that seem to be missing."
Both men became quiet.
The doctor’s cheerful expression faded. "How much are you unable to remember?"
Qian Wei chose her answer carefully. "I remember who I am and that I graduated from the police academy, but I cannot remember the case my colleague mentioned. I also don’t remember working with him for the past year."
The man beside the bed stiffened despite already suspecting the truth.
The doctor adjusted his glasses before passing a small device above Qian Wei’s head. A pale light travelled from her forehead to the base of her neck.
"Do you know where you are?"
"In a hospital."
"Do you know the current year?"
Qian Wei hesitated, pretending she had to recall what she had just been told. "The year 2326."
"Who is the current president?"
"I don’t know."
"That question might be unfair if the missing memories cover recent events," the doctor admitted. "Can you remember your home address?"
"No, but I assume I have one."
The man released a quiet breath that might have been concern or frustration. "You live alone in the eastern residential district. I drove you home after our last overnight shift because you were too tired to keep your eyes open."
Qian Wei turned toward him. "Were we close?"
His eyebrows rose. "We are partners, and we spend more time arguing with each other than most married couples. Whether that qualifies as close would depend on which day you ask."
The doctor gave him an amused look. "That answer sounded suspiciously personal."
"It was not."
Qian Wei almost smiled despite everything. The warmth in their exchange eased some of her fear. Perhaps the future version of her had not been completely alone in this era.
The doctor finished scanning her before studying the results. "Your brain activity appears normal, and I cannot find any sign of injury. Temporary memory loss can occur after extreme exhaustion, although forgetting an entire year is unusual."
"I told her she was working too much," her partner said. "She barely slept while we were investigating the data-terrorism case, and she kept refusing to take a break until the report was finished."
The doctor gave Qian Wei the stern look of someone who had just received the evidence needed to win an argument. "In that case, you should consider this collapse a formal complaint from your body. If you continue working without enough sleep, it may choose a more painful way to make you listen next time."
Qian Wei wanted to agree immediately. A long period of rest would give her time to investigate her identity, understand the future and discover what the strange sound in her head meant.
However, agreeing too eagerly could appear suspicious.
If the woman who had occupied this life was known for working until she collapsed, then suddenly embracing a long holiday would contradict her established personality.
"I understand your concern, Doctor, but I have already been unconscious for more than a day," Qian Wei said. "If my examination shows nothing serious, I should be able to return to the station and finish whatever work remains."
Her partner sighed, but the sound carried unmistakable relief.
That small reaction confirmed her guess. Her determination to return to work sounded like the Qian Wei he knew.
The doctor folded his arms. "You cannot treat unconsciousness as sleep. Your body did not collapse because it wanted a comfortable afternoon nap."
"I didn’t say I would work all night again. I could return for a few hours and leave early."
"You will not return for a few minutes, much less a few hours. I am placing you on mandatory medical leave for one month."
"A month is excessive. I could forget how to do my job in that amount of time."
Her partner gave her a pointed look. "Considering that you have already forgotten your partner and the case we just completed, I don’t think returning to work immediately will improve the situation."
Qian Wei looked at him. "You are supposed to support me."
"I would support you if you were making a reasonable argument. At the moment, I am supporting the doctor because I don’t want to watch you collapse beside your desk again."
The concern beneath his teasing voice made Qian Wei feel slightly guilty for deceiving him.
She leaned back against the pillow with a reluctant expression. "It appears that the two of you have already decided, so continuing to argue would only waste everyone’s time. However, I would like to be discharged today. I may not remember my home, but remaining in this room will not help me recover those memories."
"That is acceptable, provided you agree to rest and return for another examination if the memory loss worsens," the doctor replied. "I will also arrange a neural assessment before the end of the week."
Qian Wei nodded. "I can agree to that."
The doctor resumed examining her while asking questions about her name, academy training and childhood. Qian Wei answered only what she could without revealing the three-hundred-year difference between her memories and the life everyone expected her to know.
Her thoughts continued returning to the mechanical chime.
What had caused it?
Could the attack have damaged her brain? Perhaps the sound was a hallucination brought on by trauma.
Ding!
The chime sounded again.
Qian Wei’s attention snapped toward the space in front of her.
A transparent blue panel flickered into existence above her legs.
Her breath caught.
Lines of pale light moved across the panel before words appeared one after another.
[System initializing...]
Qian Wei stared at it.
Neither the doctor nor her partner reacted. The doctor continued reading the results on his handheld scanner, while the other man moved aside to give him more room.
They could not see it.
Qian Wei forced herself to relax before either of them noticed her reaction.
[Biological compatibility confirmed.]
[Temporal coordinates stabilized.]
[Zombie System binding complete.]
[Host: Qian Wei.]
[Status: Active.]
The words made her heart pound.
A system?
She had encountered similar ideas in the web novels she occasionally read, but those systems usually belonged to fictional characters who received missions, rewards and impossible abilities.
They were not supposed to appear in hospital rooms.
More importantly, why was hers called the Zombie System?
"Qian Wei?" her partner called. "You look as though you are staring at something. Has the dizziness returned?"
She dragged her gaze away from the panel. "I was thinking about what I should do during an entire month away from work. I don’t remember my home, so I may need some help finding it."
"I can take you there after I finish the discharge procedures. I will also show you where you keep your identification and explain how the apartment systems work in case you have forgotten those as well."
Qian Wei felt relieved that she would not have to navigate the unfamiliar city alone. "Thank you. I know this situation must be confusing for you too."
"It is," he admitted. "However, you would help me if our positions were reversed, even if you complained throughout the entire process."
"That sounds like something I might do."
"It is definitely something you would do."
The doctor completed the examination and stepped back. "Your physical condition is stable, but the memory loss remains concerning. You may leave after the discharge process is complete, although I expect both of you to follow my instructions. She needs rest, familiar surroundings and as little stress as possible."
Her partner glanced at Qian Wei. "Convincing her to avoid stress may be more difficult than solving another data-terrorism case."
"I can hear you discussing me."
"That was intentional."
The doctor laughed as he left the room.
Her partner followed him toward the door. "I will handle the discharge documents and return shortly. Please stay in bed until I come back, and don’t decide that you are healthy enough to escape through the window."
Qian Wei glanced toward the distant ground below. "Even without my recent memories, I still possess common sense."
"I will believe that when I return and find you where I left you."
Once the door closed, Qian Wei turned back toward the floating panel.
It remained suspended in front of her.
[Welcome back.]
Her fingers tightened around the sheet.
"Why would you welcome me back?" she whispered. "Have we met before?"
The panel flickered.
[Message from Future Host initiated.]
Qian Wei’s heart skipped.
A voice emerged inside her mind. It sounded neither male nor female, as though every trace of identity had been deliberately removed.
[If you are receiving this message, the temporal transfer succeeded.]
Qian Wei sat straighter. "What transfer? Did you bring me here?"
The voice continued without acknowledging her question.
[You are now located within the future timeline, precisely three hundred years after your point of origin.]
Qian Wei’s last hope that the date was a misunderstanding disappeared.
The year 2326 was real.
She had somehow crossed three centuries after being bitten inside Apartment 3-17.
"Why would anyone send me here?" she asked, but the system continued delivering the recorded message.
[The apocalypse will begin in three months.]
Qian Wei stopped breathing.
The word apocalypse sounded ridiculous outside the pages of a novel, but she had already encountered a dead man who could move, travelled three hundred years and awakened something called the Zombie System.
Ridiculous no longer meant impossible.
"What kind of apocalypse are you talking about? Is it connected to the creature that bit me?"
[Prepare.]
The single word remained on the panel after the voice disappeared.
Qian Wei stared at it in disbelief. "You cannot tell me that the world will end in three months and then stop speaking. How am I supposed to prepare when I don’t know what will happen?"
The system did not respond.
The panel dimmed without disappearing.
Qian Wei’s thoughts became chaotic. If the apocalypse would begin in three months, why had she been sent to this particular point in time? Who was the future host, and why did the message sound as though that person had expected her arrival?
She remembered the creature’s teeth sinking into her arm.
Slowly, she raised her sleeve again and pressed her fingertips against the place where the bite should have been.
Her skin was cold.
She had been too frightened earlier to think about it carefully, but the temperature was not normal. Her arm felt almost as cold as the creature that had attacked her.
There was still no wound and no scar.
"What did you do to me?" she whispered while staring at the blue panel. "Did you heal the bite, or did you turn me into something else?"
The panel brightened as though it had been waiting for that question.
[Host condition assessment complete.]
A new line appeared beneath it.
[Host condition: Abnormal.]
Qian Wei’s heart sank.