The Creatures that We Are

“Every month, I suffer from something akin to rheumatism for a few days. The pain hit each brain neuron directly. The professionals refer to it as ‘essential damage to life’. Believe me, it’s a pain that’ll make you wish for death.”

“There are two solutions—take strong sedatives, or shoot yourself.”

“Every time I relapse, I lock my guns away. It’s necessary. The urge to commit suicide in those moments is ten times greater than taking sedatives.”

“So, that’s the known side effect.”

Having finished her shower, Vermilion Bird emerged from the bathroom in a bathrobe.

Gao Yang walked back to the living room, too.

“So there may be unknown side effects?”

“Who knows?” Vermilion Bird grabbed another beer from the fridge while toweling her hair. “Jupiter Maddogs never think about the future. We get drunk while we can.”

She tapped Gao Yang's chest with the cold can before settling on the sofa. The television came back to life under her command, cycling through channels before landing on a horror mystery show.

Gao Yang headed for his shower, waving a hand to switch all walls to private mode. Inside the bathroom, he undressed and activated the shower with a voice command, letting the water wash away sweat and grime. As he reached for his hair, something felt wrong.

He turned to find one wall translucent. Through it, Vermilion Bird lounged on the sofa, legs crossed, lips curved in a smirk.

Gao Yang didn’t have to look elsewhere for the culprit.

“Private mode.” Gao Yang switched the wall back.

Ten minutes later, he returned to the living room in a bathrobe.

Vermilion Bird turned off the television and moved to the floor-to-ceiling window. She sat with her back against the glass, one leg pulled up, a cigarette balanced between her fingers. Two empty beer cans stood beside her.

She tilted her head, exhaling a final cloud of smoke before crushing the cigarette against a can. Outside, a neon ocean pulsed. A massive holographic whale drifted past, its gentle blue light transforming Vermilion Bird into a silhouette. For a moment, Gao Yang felt like he was watching her through aquarium glass.

“Are you a naturalist?” Vermilion Bird asked.

Naturalists were purists who refused implants beyond the necessary I Chip, rejecting artificial organs and cybernetic prosthetics. Even facing illness or injury, they maintained their original bodies at any cost.

Vermilion Bird had gotten a peek at Gao Yang to confirm that.

“I don’t know,” Gao Yang said.

“Are you against getting an S Chip then?”

Before Gao Yang could answer, a voice pierced his thoughts.

“Gao Yang!”

He started, stunned.

“What?” Vermilion Bird frowned.

“Someone’s calling out to me.”

“Impossible,” Vermilion Bird said with certainty. “There’s no one else but us here.”

“No, someone just called out my name,” Gao Yang insisted.

Vermilion Bird paused, letting out a soft sigh. “That’s a side effect.”

Gao Yang fell silent.

“It’s normal,” Vermilion Bird said lightly. “Most Jupiter Travelers suffer from auditory illusion. It’s a voice coming from the depths of our consciousness, trying to pull us back to the dream.”

“Have you heard it too?”

“Yeah, but it calls me ‘Sister’.” Vermilion Bird chuckled. “Ha, I don’t have a little brother, but I still find the voice familiar.”

Gao Yang opened his mouth to respond, but a savage headache struck him then. He collapsed with a groan, clutching his head and curling into himself.

“Hey, you alright…so serious…” Vermilion Bird’s voice began to blur, and Gao Yang felt himself falling and falling deeper.

…

…

“Ah!”

Gao Yang's eyes flew open.

A door stood before him—no, the Gates of Closure, its surface alive with pulsing light.

His hexagram-branded hand rested against the Gates, which hadn't budged even a fraction.

“Gao Yang.”

He yanked his hand back and spun around.

Behind him stretched the Green Lotus Lake—or rather, the charred crater that had been the lake. Dragon sat on the ground, a thin line of blood tracing the corner of his mouth. His face was pale, his expression clouded with confusion.

“Why don’t you open the Gates?”

Gao Yang didn’t immediately respond. Instead, he checked his Talents, energy pathways, and system. All there!

Thank God I woke up. I’m back to the real world.

Gao Yang gathered his energy and collected his thoughts. After a moment, he answered, “The moment I touched the door, I got hit by an illusion.”

“Illusion?” Dragon asked.

“Yes, consider it a dream, an absurd dream. Yet it was perfect and vivid. I couldn’t spot the flaws.” He sighed with relief. “Thankfully, you called out to me and woke me.”

Dragon silently stared at the gateway behind Gao Yang.

“The Gates…” Gao Yang turned back to look the the Gates of Closure. “It’s resisting me.”

Dragon shook his head with a smile. “It’s not resistance, but a trial.”

Surprise flickered across Gao Yang's face, followed by a bitter smile. “It seems that I failed.”

“No, you passed.”

Gao Yang didn’t get it. “But…I didn’t open the Gates.”

Dragon's smile remained, his eyes holding layers of emotion Gao Yang couldn't decipher. “You’re lucky, Gao Yang.”

“What?”

“You’re lucky, Gao Yang,” Dragon repeated.

Gao Yang opened his mouth, only to find himself deprived of his voice. The familiar strange heaviness descended once more, and reality began to warp around him.

He took a step forward, reaching out, only to watch his hand dissolve into wisps of dust that scattered into the endless void. His gaze dropped to find his legs already gone, his body dissolving from the extremities inward.

Yet somehow, impossibly, Gao Yang remained. Still alive, still thinking, still “seeing” even as his physical form disappeared. He had become something else—a sight, a sensation, a wandering spirit existing in the gap between dimensions.

Houseau3's Thoughts

Huh. This is getting inception-y

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