Apocalyptic Island - Chapter 1

Chapter 1

There’s someone else in the room. This was the first thought that came to Wen Yishu’s mind as she woke up.

The string of pearls plant hanging from the central air conditioning vent was gently swaying, its branches brushing against the back of her hand like cold fingertips slowly moving across her skin. She looked at the fleshy leaves and stems, finding nothing out of the ordinary, and a wave of relief washed over her. Just another hallucination.

Perhaps it was the plant’s location, always hanging high up, that made her feel as if someone was watching her.

The old-fashioned clock on the wall ticked. Everything in front of Wen Yishu’s eyes gradually became clearer. She didn’t understand why, as the season was almost early summer, this city of Binhai—which was scorching hot all year round—was so abnormally cold. The low temperatures were even causing tropical plants to turn yellow and wilt.

Wen Yishu rubbed her cold fingers, poured herself a cup of hot water, and sat by the window in a daze.

Two months ago, she had joined Rhine Technology, the largest biotech company in the Federation, successfully landing a position after a fierce battle against tens of thousands of applicants. Just as she was about to make her mark, she was sent on the company’s annual “team-building research trip.”

It was called team-building, but in reality, it was a paid vacation for the employees. A vacation right after starting her job felt a little off to Wen Yishu. It’s not that she was a masochist, but the half-pay during her two-month leave made her unhappy, watching her bank account balance grow so slowly. However, the leave was mandatory; if she didn’t go, she wouldn’t get paid at all. After cursing a few times, she had no choice but to follow along.

Many researchers, like her, were sleeping in late, often waking up in the afternoon. She hadn’t done much these past few days besides furiously shopping and venting her silent frustration.

Wen Yishu lived in a two-story apartment provided by the company. It was very spacious, with a total area of 260 square meters, and was fully equipped with a robot butler on the first floor. Everything was incredibly convenient. She had been assigned to the same apartment as her team leader, Bai Mi. Her leader was four years her senior, but she hadn’t even left her room in the last couple of days. The household robot had been tasked with organizing both of their luggage. She wasn’t sure if their schedules were just different, but she hadn’t even seen her team leader since she moved in.

Just as she set down her water cup, she felt a slight vibration on her wrist. Wen Yishu stretched and clumsily checked her holocomputer. This was a welcome gift from Human Resources for every new employee at Rhine. It was much better than the clunky brick phones people used, shaped like an electronic watch with a glowing screen. The display could be projected in 3D, and it charged with an external energy block that it absorbed, making it very convenient. The only downsides were its high price and the technological barrier that prevented it from becoming widespread. She had only received it a couple of days ago and wasn’t yet used to it.

After fumbling around for a bit, she finally saw the messages sent by her teammates, Ling Shuang and Huo Xiaoguan, in their group chat. The two had already made it to the beach and were getting ready to go swimming and diving. They also wanted to do some exploratory research on the state of the underwater plants. Binhai was a tropical region, and these low temperatures were rare, even in winter. There hadn’t been any typhoon warnings recently, so their team-building trip was also meant to include work, giving them a chance to observe the plants on the island. The two invited her to rent a boat together and cruise around the sea.

Being cooped up in the room was starting to get to Wen Yishu. She hadn’t decided if she would go yet, but she replied with a few lines and put on a light jacket to head downstairs.

The weather outside didn’t look good. Binhai wasn’t typically a rainy city, but lately, the intermittent thunderstorms were drenching people. Everyone had to bring a raincoat or umbrella, which was a hassle. Wen Yishu stood at the door and could distinctly feel a pair of eyes watching her intently. The moment she turned around, the apartment robot butler, with its dead fish-like eyes, slowly shifted its gaze away, as if it was intentionally waiting for her to notice. She didn’t have a good feeling about these new creations and felt annoyed. She wanted to rush over and question it: Did your instructions tell you to stare at people so rudely?

Thinking this, Wen Yishu quickly strode towards the robot butler. Before her anger could reach its peak, it displayed a stiff smile and asked, “Miss Wen, is there anything I can help you with?”

The gentle female voice made Wen Yishu calm down instantly. She shook her head sheepishly. She pulled her jacket closer, thinking, It’s just a robot, what’s there to get angry about? Rhine would only make such an artificially handicapped robot. Once I submit my data, I’ll just re-enter the code to delete the ‘stare’ command.

Wen Yishu turned and walked away. From behind her, the robot butler’s gentle voice seemed to murmur again, “The diving gear is on the first floor, in the large…” Wen Yishu subconsciously turned around and saw that the lobby was completely empty. The apartment robot was facing the front door and hadn’t turned back.

Was that my imagination?

She stood still by the elevator for a moment, looking at the robot that remained still in the reflection. The elevator doors opened, and she went back upstairs. The moment she lowered her head to open her holocomputer, she didn’t see the robot butler’s head slowly turn back to face her.

She messaged her two friends in the group chat, telling them she couldn’t go, and, seeing the dark clouds outside the transparent glass elevator, added a line for them to come back early.

The apartment was close to the airport, and planes often flew low overhead. She felt it was a little strange, as if the plane’s underbelly was grazing the tops of the coconut trees by the beach. Wen Yishu joked in the group chat that she didn’t know when the coconut trees in Binhai had gotten so tall. Shouldn’t the airport be clearing away such hazards?

The entire apartment and even the hallway were temperature-controlled. She took off her jacket and slowly walked back inside the apartment. The things she had ordered online had already been unpacked and arranged by the household robot. Bai Mi hadn’t shown her face, but she was the one who helped receive all the packages for the past two days. Wen Yishu thought for a moment and sent a message to thank her. The message showed as “read,” but there was no reply. She doesn’t like being disturbed, so it makes sense that she didn’t reply, she thought.

Wen Yishu didn’t mind and walked back to her second-floor room. There weren’t many plants in the apartment. She didn’t know why the string of pearls plant had been placed on the central air conditioning vent. Wen Yishu pulled over a chair, ready to take it down. The string of pearls plant was very big and was drooping over the top of the high wooden cabinet. It must have been placed there for a long time.

Just as Wen Yishu was about to climb up, she received a message from her two friends. Ling Shuang said they had just gone diving and were only now seeing her message. They had only been diving for five minutes when they discovered that the seaweed at the bottom of Binhai’s waters was unnaturally dense. Even without reaching the seabed, they could see a thick, tangled mass of it. In a frequently visited area like this, there should be someone to take care of it. These seaweeds seemed to have grown overnight, making a place that was perfect for diving suddenly very dangerous. Huo Xiaoguan even sent her a picture. The two of them were fully equipped, about two or three meters from the surface, and the seaweed below was so dense that the circular coral reefs were no longer visible. It was a dense black mass, like a giant, impenetrable net, as if below it was an endless abyss. Some of the seaweed swayed with the current and even wrapped around Ling Shuang’s fin.

This was the last picture they sent. After that, no matter how many times Wen Yishu messaged them, there was no response. A feeling of dread started to creep into her heart. She zoomed in on the last picture. The details became clearer, frame by frame. The green seaweed wasn’t aimlessly drifting; it was deliberately tied in a knot around Ling Shuang’s ankle.

Without hesitation, Wen Yishu immediately called them both. When no one answered, she called the police and contacted the seaside rescue team. She went to the window and used her phone to zoom in on the distant view. The people at the watchtower were already rushing down. This made her feel a little relieved. Whether they needed it or not, she called for help first.

Wen Yishu turned her attention to the string of pearls plant she had been hesitant to take down. This time, she didn’t hesitate at all and took the entire pot down from the cabinet. She felt that there was something wrong with the plants, and it wasn’t her imagination. But it was company property. She resisted the urge to throw it away and scanned the room. Her eyes finally landed on the window. Outside the windowsill, there were slots to secure flower pots. Wen Yishu walked towards the window without a second thought.

The wind outside was strong, and the outward-opening window, made of very high-quality glass, felt heavy when she pushed it. After struggling to open it, she saw that a light rain had started to fall outside. If the plant were to fall, it would be a problem. Wen Yishu closed the window and walked outside, planning to take the string of pearls pot downstairs and, while she was at it, see if she could contact her friends. If that didn’t work, she could run to the beach to see the situation for herself.

The elevator in the hallway was stopped on the first floor. She decided to take the stairs instead. Just as she reached the third floor, she saw a plane flying low not far ahead. The humid air mixed with the smell of wet earth rushed into her nostrils. Through the magnifying lens on her holocomputer, she saw that the low-flying plane was no longer just grazing the tops of the coconut trees. The coconut trees on the beach were growing at a terrifying speed, their tips shooting through the plane’s underbelly and emerging from the top. With a deafening boom, the huge plane instantly turned into a fireball in the sky. It all happened so fast that Wen Yishu felt like everything she was seeing was a hallucination.

Almost instantly, the plants in the distance began to grow uncontrollably. In less than ten seconds, the world seemed to have undergone a cataclysmic change. A subtle itching sensation ran up her wrist. The drooping branch of the string of pearls plant had curved upwards at some point, its fleshy leaf lightly touching her skin. It wasn’t a hallucination! The plant really moved.

Wen Yishu’s heart hammered in her chest. She threw the string of pearls plant out the window and slammed the window shut. It all happened in less than ten seconds, from seeing the plane explode to her deciding to throw the plant out. The screams from outside were muffled by the bulletproof glass. Wen Yishu took a deep breath and wiped the rain from her hands.

In the dense foliage outside, countless branches shot out. All the trees grew wildly in an instant. Countless stems and branches sprouted from the ground. The last thing she saw before the window was completely engulfed was a person in the dining hall not far from the apartment, still struggling as a rising vine impaled their body and dragged them out of the window.

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