The First Night on the Lonely Island
After most people had fallen asleep, the boy went to the place where he had hidden his equipment and began his first operation: establishing a concealed shelter. If something happened, he would be helpless no matter how capable he was without a place to hide.
First, he had to choose the right location. Only a place no one would notice was suitable for hiding. To avoid detection by equipment, he chose a spot beneath a small thicket. Following his plan, he began digging beside a fairly well-hidden tree to make an underground shelter. He would cover the entrance with a pile of grass, while inside he needed ventilation and a structure to keep the shelter stable.
These parts were fairly simple. The boy could finish all the preparations by dawn on his own. There was just one detail he hadn't figured out: what to use for support. What if someone walked over the top? Since there were no reliable support beams on the Lonely Island, he decided to solve the problem another way.
The first option was to make people avoid walking over the shelter of their own accord. If he put something up there, they naturally wouldn't walk across it—poisonous plants, for example. But poisonous plants were hard to find, and there was no guarantee people would recognize them, so this option wasn't very promising.
The other option was to make people unconsciously take a different route. He could create a path near the shelter, so people would naturally avoid walking over it. Though this would be a lot of work, it was much more likely to work than the first option—and definitely not something he could finish in one night...
"What if some damn animal comes up here? Damn it!!!" the boy suddenly shouted. The shelter had one fatal weakness: animals. He could guide people away, but some animals liked to run around wherever they pleased. If one came over, all his work would be for nothing.
The boy paused for only a few dozen seconds before continuing to dig his underground shelter.
Six hours later, at around five in the morning, the boy sneaked back to where he slept. Since many people were still awake and wandering around, no one would suspect him. Now he needed a good rest. After more than six hours of physical labor, his hands were swollen and sore...
He'd intended to sleep for eight hours, but it was too noisy, so he got up after only four. He rubbed his still-aching hands and shook his head. This wouldn't do. Tomorrow, he had to find somewhere quieter to rest.
The boy got up to look around. Just then, the American girl who'd sat beside him on the plane came running over. They'd introduced themselves on the flight, and she called out his name in fairly fluent Chinese. "Zhi, wait! I brought you some food!"
Zhi smiled, thanked her, and took the food. It looked like a generous portion, but there wasn't much to it: a piece of bread, a bottle of water, a bag of unknown compressed biscuits, and a small can of soda. That was each person's share. By normal standards, it wasn't enough to last a day, but the boy wasn't worried about food.
The American girl was named Josen Ellis. She'd been traveling to Japan for the same reason as the boy: sightseeing. Unlucky for her, she'd overslept and missed her flight, so she'd ended up on the same plane as him. Perhaps because she'd grown up in a different environment, Ellis didn't seem tense at all. She was even rather relaxed, and more composed than the adults. Zhi took the food, unsure what to say.
Ellis smiled and asked, "Do you think anyone will come rescue us?"
To be honest, Zhi was surprised by the question. So there was someone else besides him who'd considered that possibility. He replied very calmly, "No one's going to rescue us anytime soon. You heard what they said, right? The flight crew disappeared, the fuel was completely gone, the instruments had failed, and none of the communication equipment worked. With all that obvious evidence in front of us, anyone who thinks we'll be rescued soon must have a defective ability to think."
Ellis listened carefully to every word Zhi said. She'd been studying Chinese for more than three years, and now it was finally coming in handy. Maybe she could trust this person with what she'd been thinking. She spoke softly. "Let's find somewhere else to talk. There are too many people here, and some of them might understand Chinese."
At Ellis's suggestion, the two went to the other side of the beach, where there were few people. They sat on some rocks by the shore, and Zhi began. "What do you think is going on?"
Ellis smiled and answered evenly, "I have a hereditary nightmare disorder. If I sleep too long, I have prolonged nightmares, so I took a neurological drug to keep myself from sleeping before boarding the plane..." At this point, Zhi chuckled. "I see. So you saw things the rest of us didn't? What did you see? Tell me in detail."
Ellis gave a quiet "Mm" and continued. "I saw everything. The flight crew checked every passenger's seat, then spoke in a strange language. Suddenly, they just disappeared. I watched them vanish with my own eyes. The plane was the same: not long after they disappeared, it suddenly stopped on this beach. That's all. I haven't told anyone else besides you, because I was afraid they'd misunderstand me. In a situation like this, if I told them what I saw, they'd definitely think I was crazy."
Zhi smiled and stood up. "If that's the case, you can join my plan, Ellis. As you've seen, this wasn't an ordinary plane crash. It was simply caused by someone—or maybe those things aren't human. We don't know their purpose yet, so all we can do is wait quietly for what happens next. I have a plan that might help us survive, but I'm still short a few helpers. You meet the requirements. What do you say? Will you join?"
Ellis didn't answer immediately. Zhi continued, "Think it over for now. I still need more companions. Just the two of us probably couldn't carry out the operation I have in mind. We need at least four people. One or two more would be fine, of course, but any more than that isn't necessary. Sometimes having too many people just gets in the way."
Ellis had partly understood what Zhi meant. She asked, "Do you want me to look for other companions? Would we still need three more, counting the two of us? But I'd like to hear your plan first. Then I can feel comfortable following you."
Zhi smiled. "Of course. As my companion, you have the right to know my plan."
"Based on what you told me, I've made some changes to the plan I originally had. If a government was behind this, we'd only need to escape from people's sight. But now things have changed. We might be dealing with beings other than humans—monsters, demons, or even aliens. So we need to use the information we have to build a base where we can remain completely hidden. The base also needs some defenses. Nothing too complicated, of course, but traps shouldn't be too difficult, right? In the meantime, we have to live alongside everyone else and avoid arousing suspicion. We'll only act at night."
"Our objectives are clear. First, find a suitable place to build the base. Second, build it. Third, set up defenses. With five people working together, I think we could finish in about a week. After that, we can adapt to whatever happens. If the base doesn't work, we could even fake our deaths. That would definitely fool everyone else."
"Think of it this way: if demons or aliens brought us here for some purpose, they'd naturally place some of their own among the crowd. Those are the ones we have to deceive. And right now, either of us could be a spy, so we have to test each other before every operation. It should be easy enough to tell whether someone's human..."
Curious, Ellis asked, "How can you tell? Have you thought of a good way?"
Zhi nodded. "Come here. I'll tell you." Ellis approached him without suspicion. Smiling, Zhi reached toward her chest. Ellis suddenly realized what he was doing and quickly covered her chest with both hands. Zhi drew his hand back. "You're still human."
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