Year 2226
Shen Qinglian lay suspended in a cylindrical chamber with a certain liquid softly cradled around her unresponsive body. She overheard the doctors mentioned before that the liquid and the machine were the ones that kept her breathing and brought her sustenance to support her body. All this was because her body kept on degenerating since 10 years ago, on her 10th birthday.
Slowly, her body and muscles stopped working as if her muscles were breaking down. Now she has lost almost all of her body movement and functions. Not able to move her limbs, eyelids or even her chest just to breathe.
Now she existed in stillness.
Thankfully enough, there was still some bustle that sometimes happened in her surroundings, this was the only thing that helped her escape from boredom. So, listening and observing became the skills that she had mastered since she could ever remember.
Beyond her chamber, she could hear some footsteps approaching.
"Neural Degeneration has progressed by another 3%." A man's voice sounded out followed by the sound of a tablet chiming softly.
"We kind of have expected it," another voice replied as he sighed. "She's approaching her limit as we already predicted before."
There was a pause in their conversation, accompanied by the sound of rubber rubbing like someone adjusting something rubbery on them.
"Well, there's a board meeting tomorrow. They will reassess the funding for this again."
"Just right before her birthday?"
Silence.
Then, an emotionless voice replied, "If there's no more information nor breakthrough anymore before then, they will definitely terminate the support funding to sustain her."
Terminate.
The word hovered in the air heavily as they mentioned it.
"She has been useful in the past few years, we've learned a lot from her. Her genes and nervous system response patterns were invaluable for our current world project."
Project and data, not patient.
Shen Qinglian would have smiled if she could.
That was her worth, a rare genetic anomaly.
She had been born blind, and no genetic engineering could help her condition. These were the ones that led her to be abandoned in the orphanage. She was mocked for being defective by the other children.
Her misfortune didn't stop there. When she started to make peace with her condition, she was then diagnosed with a degenerative gene disorder that starts to degenerate her body slowly.
Now she was trapped in a prison of failing nerves.
Maybe that was for the best, rather than stay trapped in this prison anymore.
The doctors' footsteps receded and the automatic door shut softly.
For a while, there was only the steady hum of her chamber along with the gentle swirl of the circulating liquid around her skin.
Then, softer hum sounds approached.
"Nutrient temperature adjusted by 0.2 degrees," said a gentle mechanical sound. "Cortical activity increased during the physician visit."
Nurse A-17. This was the label she gave to this mechanical sound, as this one was the 17th one that had helped her accompany and care for. Shen Qinglian likes this one, as its mechanical voice has a hint of warmth that is rarely directed to her.
"I will remain here for 15 more minutes to ensure there's no immediate threat to your condition. Let me help to soothe you, too." It said gently, followed by rhythmic knocks to her glass chamber.
15 minutes.
To Shen Qinglian this mere machine is her closest thing to being her companion nowadays. The only presence that speaks to her to remind her that she's more than data to study
If she could speak, she would have told it that she preferred it to stay longer with her.
Alas, all she could do was just keep floating inside her chambers.
The rhythmic knocks work like a soothing aid to her mind, helping her to anchor her mind to the time that had passed around her.
Until suddenly the knocking stopped abruptly. Usually, A-17 would always say some goodbyes and reassurance towards her before leaving her chamber area. This was very unusual.
Shen Qinglian tried to sharpen her hearing, trying to gather any little information she could get from it.
She couldn't hear any carts rolling along the corridor nor any distant conversation.
It was too eerily quiet.
Even the low electronic buzz of her chamber that usually fills the background seems thinner.
Strained.
The swirl of solutions that surrounded her body faltered.
It was subtle. A minute shift in pressure. But she noticed. When one's world consists of nothing but sound and sensation, even the smallest change is an earthquake.
The hum of the machine stuttered.
Once.
Twice.
Stopped.
The fluid went still.
For the first time, the chamber surrounding her was silent. Are they calibrating a new configuration?
But then, the oxygen stopped flowing into her. Or are they taking out my life support now? Maybe they decide to just end it now, rather than wait…
There was no immediate panic. She had imagined death often enough. Wondered how it would feel.
The answer arrived slowly.
A tightening in her throat. Pressure was building deep in her chest.
Her thoughts remained clear for several seconds longer than she expected.
So this was how it would end.
I cannot breathe.
She had never breathed on her own. The concept was theoretical, like describing color to someone born blind.
Her consciousness flickered.
Darkness pressed closer.
And then—
…
…
[Ding]
[Welcome Planet Blue-X326 Survivor]
A new mechanical sound appears along with a low resonant sound like the wind moving.
A new sensation that she hadn't felt for so long touched her eyelids. The feeling of warmth kissed her face, enveloping her entire body.
Then, her chest shook uncontrollably as air rushed into her lungs. The feeling that she started to forget about. Her lungs tried their best to adapt, contracting and relaxing clumsily and desperately as if getting drunk on air that filled them.
She could feel it, her body was starting to work again.
The wind kept tickling her face, making her eyelids move on its own from the sensation.
Shock surged through her mind, trying its best to clear the haze in it.
Am I dreaming or is this heaven?
[Welcome to Ocean Survival]
That mechanical sound again.
Is it telling me that I'm not dead yet?
Her eyelids fluttered again. She could feel the weight of them, the feeling that was not familiar to her at all. She forced them upwards, trying to open them unconsciously. Slowly, a blade of brightness sliced through her forever darkness.
Her heart hammered erratically in her chest.
She kept on trying to fully open her eyes, letting the light that she never seen blind her. Slowly, her lashes trembled and she opened her eyes for the first time since she was born. Light still blinded her, swallowing everything. Unknowingly, tears started to pool. Trying to distort the glare of light into shimmering shapes.
Shape, there was shape.
Gradually, the brightness softened into a color that she never learned.
Ah, so that's how the sky looks. It's so vast and endlessly stretching above her.
She blinked as everything overwhelmed her. Her vision blurred a bit as tears spilled freely down her cheeks. Now, she was aware that she could feel again, could move her body again. Just like other normal beings.
Alive, for the first time in her life she could live just like others. Like what she had hoped for.