[Mutation detected.]
Qian Wei stared at the warning until the words blurred before her eyes.
The hospital room remained quiet, but the silence no longer felt peaceful. Her mind filled it with questions the system had not bothered to answer.
"What kind of mutation have you detected?" she asked, keeping her voice low even though she was alone. "You cannot give me a warning like that without explaining what is happening to my body."
The transparent panel flickered.
Qian Wei waited, but no answer appeared.
Her uneasiness deepened. "Is the mutation connected to the creature that bit me?"
Again, the system remained silent.
That silence frightened her more than a direct answer might have.
Qian Wei pushed the sleeve higher and examined her forearm beneath the bright hospital light. The skin remained smooth and unmarked. If she had not remembered the pain so clearly, she might have convinced herself that the attack had been a nightmare.
Unfortunately, the unnatural coldness beneath her fingertips proved that something had changed.
She pressed two fingers against the side of her neck and counted her pulse.
It was slow.
Too slow.
Her police-academy first-aid training had taught her that a healthy adult’s resting heart rate would generally remain between sixty and one hundred beats per minute. Hers seemed to be beating fewer than fifty times.
Perhaps the medical equipment would have detected a dangerous heart condition, but the doctor had declared her physically stable. Either the technology in this era used different standards, or the system had interfered with the examination.
A more terrifying possibility entered her mind.
The creature inside Apartment 3-17 had been cold. Its heart had not beaten against her palms when she tried to push it away.
Qian Wei lowered her hand slowly.
"Am I turning into the same thing that attacked me?" she asked. "Did you bring me three hundred years into the future only to let me become a monster?"
[Host will not become identical to the original infected subject.]
Qian Wei did not find that answer comforting.
"Not identical does not mean I will remain human. Tell me exactly what I am becoming."
[Current evolution remains incomplete.]
"What does that mean?"
[Insufficient information.]
Qian Wei stared at the panel in disbelief. "You are inside my body, but you do not possess enough information to tell me what is happening to it?"
[Correct.]
If the system had possessed a face, she would have suspected it was deliberately trying to annoy her.
Qian Wei drew a slow breath and reminded herself that shouting at something only she could see would accomplish nothing. She needed to treat the exchange like an interrogation. When a witness avoided answering directly, asking one broad question after another usually allowed them to continue hiding behind vague statements. She needed to narrow the possibilities.
"Will I lose control of my mind?"
[Unknown.]
"Could I become dangerous to other people?"
[Probability exists.]
"Could this mutation kill me?"
[Biological death has already occurred.]
Qian Wei’s breath caught.
The response confirmed something she had not wanted to consider.
"You said my biological death was confirmed before the temporal displacement," she murmured. "Does that mean I died inside Apartment 3-17?"
[Affirmative.]
The coldness inside her seemed to spread.
Qian Wei had known that surviving the attack without a wound was impossible, but hearing the truth still affected her. She had not been rescued and treated. Her life in 2026 had ended on the bloodstained floor of that apartment.
Whatever she was now had awakened three hundred years later.
"Then why am I alive?"
[Host consciousness and biological structure were reconstructed within the future timeline.]
"Who reconstructed me?"
[Insufficient authority.]
"Was it the future host who left that message?"
[Insufficient authority.]
"What was the creature that killed me?"
[Insufficient authority.]
Qian Wei pressed her lips together. "You seem to have insufficient authority whenever I ask a useful question."
The system did not respond to the accusation.
Instead, a new message replaced the previous warning.
[You are humanity’s final variable.]
Qian Wei frowned. "You called me humanity’s last variable earlier, but that phrase does not explain anything. A variable is only something capable of changing an outcome. What outcome am I supposed to change?"
[Human extinction.]
The answer appeared so plainly that Qian Wei almost failed to understand it.
"What do you mean by human extinction? You said the apocalypse would begin in three months, but you never explained what happens afterward."
[In the original future, humanity failed to survive.]
Qian Wei’s gaze settled on the word original.
"If you are describing this as the original future, then someone has already lived through it."
[Affirmative.]
"Was that person the future version of me?"
[Insufficient authority.]
She almost laughed, although nothing about the situation was amusing.
"You may refuse to identify her, but the message called her the future host, which means she used this system. If she sent me here, she must have known humanity would become extinct."
[Affirmative.]
"How many people survived?"
The panel remained blank for several seconds.
[Final confirmed human population: Eighty-seven.]
Qian Wei’s chest tightened.
She had expected war, mass death and the collapse of civilization. She had not expected humanity to be reduced to eighty-seven people.
"What happened to those survivors?"
[No human biological signals remained after the final record.]
There it was.
Extinction.
The word no longer belonged to an abstract warning. Every city would fall. Every family would disappear. Billions of people living their ordinary lives would die until not a single human remained.
Qian Wei thought of the city outside the hospital window. The people walking through its streets had no idea that their world would begin ending in three months.
She was only one person, and worse, she was a rookie officer who had awakened in a century she did not understand. How could anyone expect her to prevent an extinction event?
"I am not a scientist, military commander or government leader," she told the system. "I had not even completed my first assignment before I died. Why would anyone choose me to save humanity?"
[Host selection was not based solely on professional qualifications.]
"What was it based on?"
[Insufficient authority.]
Qian Wei closed her eyes briefly. "I should have expected that answer."
In her original time, she would have gone directly to the authorities. The government possessed experts, resources and the power to prepare an entire country. Hiding information about an approaching disaster would have been irresponsible.
This era was different.
She did not know its laws, power structures or technology. Crimes such as data terrorism existed, and a medical scanner could apparently examine her without touching her body. If she walked into a government office and announced that she had travelled three hundred years into the future with a system inside her, she might be placed in a laboratory before she finished speaking.
That would not help humanity.
It might even prevent her from completing whatever the future host had sent her to do.
For now, Qian Wei needed information. She had to understand the world, investigate the identity she had inherited and determine whether there was anyone she could trust.
She could not hide forever, nor did she intend to remain silent while humanity approached extinction. However, surrendering herself blindly would be foolish.
The people responsible for sending her here must have paid an unimaginable price. She would respect that sacrifice by remaining cautious, not by handing their final chance to the first authority she encountered.
"Do you have any functions that could actually help me?" she asked. "If I am expected to alter the future, I will need more than vague warnings and answers hidden behind insufficient authority."
[Zombie System will assist Host in increasing survival probability and creating an opportunity for humanity to alter its future.]
"That sounds encouraging, but it is still not an explanation. What can you do?"
[System functions will unlock according to Host level, evolution and mission completion.]
"What functions are available now?"
[Status panel.]
[System missions.]
[Storage space.]
[Reward distribution.]
The list eased some of Qian Wei’s concern. At least the system could offer practical assistance.
"How large is the storage space?"
[Current capacity: Ten cubic meters.]
"Can living creatures enter it?"
[No.]
"Does time pass inside?"
[No.]
Her police instincts immediately began considering possible uses. Ten cubic meters would not hold enough supplies for an entire city, but it could preserve medicine, food, tools and weapons without deterioration.
Before she could ask another question, the system spoke again.
[Host should not be overly concerned. I will provide all assistance available within current authority to improve Host survival and increase humanity’s probability of continuation.]
The wording remained mechanical, yet Qian Wei sensed something almost reassuring beneath it.
"Then begin by helping me understand the mutation."
[Complete mutation analysis remains unavailable.]
Qian Wei sighed. "You were more comforting before you added that part."
The door opened.
Qian Wei dismissed the panel instinctively, although she did not know whether it would obey. The blue display faded from her sight just as her colleague entered with the discharge documents in one hand and a sealed packet of clothing in the other.
"Qian Wei, your discharge has been approved, but the doctor included enough restrictions to make you regret asking to leave," he said as he walked into the room. "You are forbidden from working, driving, handling active investigations or ignoring your follow-up examination."
His voice was not loud.
To Qian Wei, it sounded as though he had spoken directly beside her ear.
She flinched.
He stopped halfway across the room. "Did I frighten you?"
"No, I was distracted."
That explanation became difficult to believe when she realized she could hear far more than his voice.
The fabric of his uniform rubbed softly when he moved. His shoes pressed against the smooth floor, and air passed through his lungs with every breath.
Beneath those sounds was a steady rhythm.
Thump.
Qian Wei’s gaze moved toward his chest.
Thump. Thump.
She could hear his heartbeat.
It was much faster than her own, strong and warm beneath his skin. Her eyes followed the movement of his throat when he swallowed.
Hunger twisted through her stomach.
The sensation appeared so suddenly that Qian Wei almost doubled over. Her mouth became dry, and pressure spread through her gums.
She wanted to move closer.
She wanted to place her teeth against the pulse in his neck and drink whatever flowed beneath it.
Horror filled her.
"Qian Wei?" His concern increased when she continued staring. "You have become pale again. Should I ask the doctor to return before we leave?"
She forced her gaze away from his neck. "There is no need because I am feeling better now."
The answer came too quickly.
He frowned. "You do not look better. In fact, you are staring at me as though I have done something wrong, but you refuse to tell me what it is."
"You haven’t done anything."
"Then tell me what happened."
"I already told you that I’m fine."
Her tone became sharper than she intended.
Silence settled between them.
Qian Wei immediately regretted the outburst. This man had remained beside her while she was unconscious, comforted her when she cried and volunteered to take her home. He did not deserve to become the target of her fear.
"I’m sorry," she said, keeping her gaze on the bed rather than risking another look at his neck. "The doctor was right about me being overwhelmed. My senses feel unusually sensitive, and the light and noise are making it difficult to think."
His expression softened.
"You could have said that without snapping at me."
"I know. I shouldn’t have spoken to you like that."
He studied her for another moment before releasing a quiet sigh. "I will forgive you this time because you have lost part of your memory and apparently replaced it with an even worse temper."
Qian Wei finally looked at his face, carefully avoiding the pulse in his neck. "Was my temper pleasant before?"
"No, but at least I knew what would annoy you. Now I have to learn everything again."
A faint smile touched her lips. "Then I wish you good luck."
"That sounds more like the partner I remember." He placed the clothing packet on the bed and held up the discharge documents. "Get changed, and I will wait outside. Afterward, I will take you home and make sure you have food before I leave."
The mention of food made the hunger tighten again.
Qian Wei clenched her fingers beneath the sheet.
"Thank you. I won’t take long."
He walked toward the door, then glanced back at her. "If you become dizzy while changing, call me or the nurse. Do not attempt to prove your independence by falling on the floor."
"I survived the police academy. I believe I can manage a change of clothes."
"You also collapsed while sitting in a chair."
Qian Wei could not think of a suitable reply before he stepped outside.
She waited until the door closed before exhaling.
"What was that?" she demanded inwardly.
[Host hunger response detected.]
"Hunger for what?"
The system did not answer.
Qian Wei already knew.
She lowered her feet to the floor and stood.
The entire world changed.
Electricity hummed through the cables hidden inside the walls. She could hear footsteps travelling along the corridor, a trolley rolling across the floor below and quiet conversations taking place far beyond the room.
Somebody laughed two rooms away.
A child complained about medicine on another floor.
Dozens of heartbeats surrounded her.
The sounds overlapped until Qian Wei pressed both hands over her ears. Unfortunately, that did not silence them. She was not merely hearing through the outer part of her ears. Her entire body seemed to sense the living people around her.
[Enhanced sensory function activated.]
Qian Wei looked toward the door.
Her colleague’s heartbeat remained the clearest because he stood nearby.
Thump. Thump. Thump.
"Stop listening," she whispered to herself. "He is a person, not food."
The hunger did not care.
She changed into the clothes from the packet as quickly as possible. The outfit fit perfectly, confirming that it belonged to the future version of her.
When she opened the door, her colleague stood across the corridor reading something on a transparent screen above his wrist.
He looked up and smiled faintly. "You changed faster than I expected. Are you ready to leave?"
Qian Wei’s attention fell toward his neck again.
She immediately curled her hands into fists until her nails pressed painfully into her palms.
"I need to get outside and breathe some fresh air," she told him as she walked past. "This entire floor smells like disinfectant, and the noise is beginning to make my headache worse."
He dismissed the screen and followed her. "We can leave now, but you should slow down. The exit is not going anywhere."
Qian Wei did not slow.
She needed distance from his heartbeat before the terrible hunger inside her became something she could no longer control.