"...And from that day on, the prince and princess lived happily ever after." Zhou Ze delivered the story's ending in a gentle voice.
Although the long narration had left his mouth dry, the smile lighting up Alice's face and the longing shining in her eyes made the corners of his mouth lift.
"That ending was so wonderful..."
The sadness on Alice's face had vanished, replaced by pure joy.
The girl clasped her hands together, her eyes closed as though praying for something. After a long while, she opened them and looked at Zhou Ze. "Mr. Zhou Ze, thank you so much... Really, thank you..."
Alice thanked him in a slightly choked voice as she struggled to rise from the bed.
Zhou Ze suppressed the urge to step forward and help her, scratching his head instead. "No need to thank me. I didn't really do anything."
Holding on to the headboard, the girl stood beside the bed and rose onto her toes to release the canary from its cage.
The canary flew joyfully out of the cage and hopped lightly on Alice's shoulder, chirping sweetly.
"Look, Colin is happy too..."
Sunlight streamed through the window, outlining the girl in a soft golden glow.
Alice stood there, her white nightgown looking pure and flawless in the light, its soft fabric swaying gently with her movements. Her golden hair cascaded down like a waterfall, shimmering warmly in the sunlight.
An innocent smile lit up Alice's face, and her blue eyes sparkled with hope.
To Zhou Ze, the scene looked like an exquisitely crafted oil painting, making him wish time would stand still right then, forever frozen in that beautiful moment.
"D-87465, the experiment is over. Say goodbye, then leave the containment chamber."
Just then, an ill-timed voice came through his earpiece, its tone stiff, as though struggling to suppress some emotion.
Zhou Ze froze.
Did I say something wrong...?
He thought back. Aside from that interruption at the beginning, the voice in his earpiece had remained silent the entire time.
I don't think anything went wrong...
Zhou Ze was baffled.
He looked at Alice playing with the canary by the window and spoke softly. "Alice, I've really enjoyed talking with you, but I have to leave now."
The girl paused at his words, then slowly lowered her eyes, a trace of loneliness appearing on her face. "Will you come see me again?"
Naturally, that wasn't something Zhou Ze could decide, but seeing the expectation in her eyes, he couldn't bear to snuff out her hope.
After a moment of silence, Zhou Ze gave a quiet smile under Alice's expectant gaze. "Of course I will. I'm Wizard Clive's apprentice, after all."
"Then it's a promise. Don't forget..." Anticipation shone in the girl's eyes. "I'll be waiting for your new stories."
When Zhou Ze left the containment chamber, the guards outside were leaving one after another, and all the researchers present gave him strange looks.
"?"
What's going on...?
Didn't the experiment go really well...?
Clearly, though, no one was going to explain things to him at a time like this.
In the end, Zhou Ze entered the elevator under a guard's escort.
Only after the elevator stopped did the guard remove his face mask.
He was a middle-aged man with a full beard, and his head was drenched in sweat, perhaps from wearing the mask for so long.
Noticing Zhou Ze's gaze, the man glared at him. "Behave yourself!"
Only then did Zhou Ze turn back around.
Alice's containment chamber lay deep within the Ω Containment Area. After several turns and transfers, Zhou Ze had completely lost his sense of direction.
The bearded guard was unfriendly throughout the journey, repeatedly urging him to stop looking around and walk faster.
Even the usually well-behaved Zhou Ze wanted to turn around and punch him a couple of times.
But after thinking it over, he held back.
The corridor was brightly lit, but the warning signs everywhere and the walls stained dark red by something unknown made it feel intensely oppressive. This was the containment area. Even with the doors of the surrounding containment chambers shut tight, it still felt suffocating.
"You, yes, you! Come over here." Suddenly, a middle-aged man's somewhat urgent shout came from a nearby wall.
"Who's there?!" The guard stopped and raised his gun warily.
Hearing an unfamiliar voice or seeing something strange in the Containment Zone was never a good sign.
Zhou Ze also looked toward the voice. Beside them was a small containment chamber. Unlike most of the sealed chambers, this one had a ventilation window set into its side.
Metal mesh covered the window. Through it, they could just make out a middle-aged man wearing gold-rimmed glasses, his face full of impatience and irritation.
The guard froze, then lowered his gun and stepped forward for a closer look. He evidently recognized the man inside.
"Dr... Dr. Dai Yong'an? What are you doing in there?"
"The security system malfunctioned. The card reader threw an error, and I got trapped in the containment chamber." Dai Yong'an irritably waved the magnetic card in his hand. With the mesh in the way, Zhou Ze couldn't make out what the card looked like.
"Hurry up and let me out! I'm fucking starving!"
"Yes... I'll report it right away." The guard lowered his gun awkwardly and began operating the computer on his wristband.
"I said now!" Dai Yong'an's voice was brimming with impatience.
"But... that's against protocol, Doctor." The guard paused, sweat covering his head as he explained.
Watching from beside him, Zhou Ze felt a flicker of amusement. He stood with his arms folded, doing his best to keep the corners of his mouth from rising.
Heh...
You were acting so high and mighty a moment ago, and now you're groveling already...
What goes around really does come around...
"Forget protocol. The anomaly in here is classified as Safe. Level 2 clearance is enough to open the containment chamber. Open it for me from outside." Dai Yong'an kept urging him. "There's nothing to worry about. Hurry up."
"Well..."
The guard looked visibly hesitant.
Although he knew perfectly well that Dai Yong'an frequently entered this containment chamber, security guards and researchers belonged to separate chains of command. Under normal procedure, he ought to report the incident and verify the situation.
The problem was that Dr. Dai Yong'an had become quite a rising star lately. Even security personnel like them had heard about him, and he was very likely a strong contender to become the next Site director.
Power was an ambiguous thing.
No matter how strict an organization's rules were, there was always room to maneuver when it came to enforcing them.
Just as Dai Yong'an had said, if even a guard with Level 2 clearance could open this containment chamber, that could only mean the anomaly inside was very safe. Even if something went wrong, it wouldn't cause much trouble.
At that thought, the guard finally let out a breath, stepped forward, and swiped his magnetic card.
"Beep..." The pneumatic door sounded to indicate that it had unlocked successfully.
"Doctor, the containment chamber is open." He spoke toward the ventilation window with a respectful expression.
"Good."
Soon, a middle-aged man in a white lab coat strode out of the containment chamber and looked approvingly at the guard. "C-840. I'll remember your number."
As he spoke, he glanced at Zhou Ze beside the guard. His expression changed, and he hurried away.
"Doctor..." The guard froze, only to see Dai Yong'an disappear at the end of the corridor.
He then turned back, and he and Zhou Ze stared blankly at each other.
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