CH 22

Dr Lu’s words were a much-needed flame in the darkness.

“Our hospital is equipped with a fallout shelter,” he said giddily under the gaze of six hungry eyes. “It just so happened to be rebuilt during the nation-wide construction of underground air shelters, plus we’re at a very important location, so they added in a nuclear-grade shelter.”

“Is it far from here?” SuHe asked.

“It’s inside the hospital,” Dr Lu answered. “The door’s outside the outpatient building, but that one’s solid steel and really hard to open. Luckily for you, I know where the back door is!”

He looked at his companions expectantly for praise but eventually continued when he was met with tense silence. “…It’s around the A block emergency hallway. As soon as summer comes around everyone hides in there to take naps during the day because it’s cooler than the aircon.”

If the entire experience thus far was a rollercoaster ride, then Dr Lu’s information was the final stretch in which they pull into the station. For the first time in far too long, QiLeren could feel the solid ground beneath his feet.

XueYingying saw no reason for further delay. “Why are you just standing there? Lead the way!”

At XueYingying’s urging, Dr Lu turned around with a call of “Alright kids, follow me” and ushered them towards A block.

The four waded through the misty hallways that formed their tomb. No amount of lighting could neutralise the chill they felt at the sinister desolation, the paranoia from ghosts they walked among.

Mutilated corpses littered the path they travelled. From the numbers that decorated the ground beside them, the identity of the killer was obvious. It was fortunate that the murderer had been taken care of already; to take a path with so many surveillance cameras would be suicide.

“Do you think there are any other players left?” XueYingying asked softly.

“Maybe a few of them are hiding somewhere?” Dr Lu suggested.

Maybe. But they may also have become victims of the murderer, or perhaps sacrificial offerings to the ghosts.

“We can go give a holler over the PA system if you really want,” Dr Lu shrugged. “That’s about all we can do. If they still end up dying then that’s not really our problem anymore.”

Meeting no opposition, the party changed routes to the broadcasting room. Dr Lu strode in and spoke solemnly into the mic:

“To all those who are still alive: good evening.” The sudden sound was startling to say the least, but Dr Lu’s mellow voice softened the edges of their midnight announcement. “It is currently twelve forty-three a.m. Beijing time, leaving approximately four hours until the X City Earthquake. Yes, you heard correctly – we have reason to believe that the hospital we’re in right now is one whose time overlaps with that of twenty years ago. The two tremors that occurred not long ago is, I believe, proof enough.

“If you wish to live, I highly suggest seeking shelter in a stable location. According to a teammate who wishes to remain anonymous, all that waits outside the hospital is a sea of ghosts, so we wouldn’t really recommend leaving the building. As a side note, we have eliminated the problem of our friendly neighbourhood serial killer so for anyone still worrying about him, feel free to turn your attention to the matter at hand. If you think you can trust us, please come to the level one foyer in A block; we have found a safe shelter that is sure to protect us from the impending earthquake. That is all.”

Satisfied, Dr Lu turned to his companions. “Anything anyone wants to add?”

XueYingying shook her head.

After a moment of consideration, something occurred to QiLeren. “Do you think the goldfish jumping out of their fishbowl was, like the foreshocks, a sign of the earthquake?”

“I think I’ve heard about that before. Most animals display strange behaviours before earthquakes, and I believe fish tend to jump out of the water? This horror game is more well-researched than I thought.” Dr Lu nodded and turned to SuHe, who was deep in thought. “Did you want to add anything over the PA system?”

SuHe took a second to respond. “I have a question…”

His three teammates prompted at the same time, “About?”

“About the time.” SuHe frowned slightly. “Are we sure that time of the earthquake is four thirteen?”

“Uh…probably? It was sometime after twelve, but I was on holidays in America with my family around then so I’m not sure of the exact time… Hey, what’s that look for? I know visas were tricky twenty years ago but my grandma is American and my grandpa has permanent residence after their marriage. It’s totally normal for me to go over and visit family! My mum actually wanted to move overseas after the earthquake, but my dad was so against it that they ended up just staying here,” Dr Lu reminisced. He shot QiLeren a suspicious look. “Do I have something on my face?”

“No, I was just thinking about your hair colour. Not dyed but inherited from your grandma, huh… Can good luck be inherited? No wonder your entire family was able to avoid that earthquake.” Here, QiLeren let out a defeated sigh. Unfortunately for him, his genes had decided to ignore his mother’s beauty and acting ability in favour of his father’s terrible luck.

“Of course! I don’t think we’ve ever been short on anything before; my parents would just win whatever random supermarket raffle that they enter. I’m pretty sure we have more than a few TVs just lying around.”

“So what you’re saying is,” SuHe cut in, watching with resignation as his topic raced further and further off track, “we don’t know the exact time of the earthquake.”

“Isn’t it four thirteen? That’s what it says on all the screens,” XueYingying said with conviction.

SuHe quietly looked at them before sighing softly.

…Why was there such a heavy feeling of condescension?

SuHe tried again. “Four thirteen in which month?”

“I know!” Dr Lu answered eagerly. “It was the fifteenth of August!”

“Which would place this earthquake at four thirteen on the morning of August fifteenth, twenty years ago.”

“Yeah!”

None of them could see where SuHe was going with his prompting, but the concerned expression on his face steadfastly held their attention for the reveal.

SuHe didn’t disappoint.

“If I recall correctly,” he said measuredly, “this country operated under the daylight saving time system in the summer of that year.” His tone was light, voice unwavering, but his words brought to light a dangerous trap that had very nearly cost them their lives.

Daylight saving time.

“Daylight saving time… I think it was around when I was really little.” XueYingying was very confused. “Is there a problem with that?”

Dr Lu and QiLeren, on the other hand, finally understood what SuHe had been trying to say for the past few minutes; there was a time difference of one whole hour between standard time and daylight saving time!

“Daylight saving time is typically implemented during the summer months to save energy and to make use of daylight hours. All clocks within the country will be pushed forward one hour during daylight savings and pulled back to standard time in September.” SuHe explained patiently to XueYingying. “If the time given on the screens is indeed in daylight saving time, then the earthquake’s onset in standard time would actually be three thirteen.”

“Oh my god, then what are we standing around for? We need to get to the shelter!”

“We still have plenty of time, but I suppose there’s no use to loitering around,” SuHe agreed. “Let’s go.”

This time the party took no detours and immediately headed to the emergency hallway. After a violent upheaval of the nearby furniture Dr Lu triumphantly uncovered the key hidden away in a drawer and lead the party to the door.

QiLeren would never have believed that a fallout shelter laid behind the slab of unassuming concrete before them if he hadn’t been told.

Movement from the door triggered the emergency lighting to reveal a space, large enough to fit more than a hundred people, boxed in by secure walls of reinforced concrete that gave a peculiar sense of security.

“Ventilation and air flow here is basically as good as it gets. There’s some new medicine and food stocked less than a few days ago when the higher-ups came for their routine check, so they should all be safe to eat.” Dr Lu’s voice held a slight tremble as it echoed off the walls, still nervous about SuHe’s hypothesis.

SuHe smiled gently in response. “It was just a guess,” he soothed. “Perhaps the ‘four thirteen’ was actually in standard time. We don’t need to worry so much.”

“No, you’re right,” Dr Lu said insistently. “I think we’ve all been missing something. If you think about everything we’ve been through today, it’s obvious that what this tutorial village is testing isn’t our combat abilities but our capability for logical analysis.

“From the very beginning, that’s what pushed us forward.”