Thermal Vision's debut: An encounter with Tony

Ye Mo crept along the rock face, crushing a small pebble underfoot. He stopped immediately and held his breath. The two armed figures in the distance did not turn around, still pacing back and forth where they stood.

The wounded man had been heading in this very direction. He remembered the man limping, yet moving with a clear destination in mind. Now it seemed these men were guarding not a camp, but a cave.

He lowered himself and slowly crawled behind the wreckage of an armored vehicle. The flames had almost died out, leaving only a faint dark-red flicker along the edges of the metal. By that light, he spotted drag marks on the ground and a trail of tools scattered along the path to the cave-a wrench, half a length of wire, and a blackened battery.

This did not look like the scene of a robbery. It looked more like someone was being forced to work.

He narrowed his eyes, watching the cave entrance closely. The two guards went inside to check every few minutes, returning empty-handed each time. The person inside had neither escaped nor died, or they would not have gone in and out so frequently.

System, that ability you mentioned... can I use it? he asked quietly in his mind.

His mind remained silent for a few seconds.

Then a voice sounded. "High-density energy release site detected. Contact with a heat source recommended to activate gene fragments."

Ye Mo froze briefly. Was this it?

Following the system's prompt, he looked into the depths of the cave. He could faintly make out flickering sparks, and the sound of metal melting under intense heat reached him intermittently. A small electrical circuit was running in there, giving off heat continuously.

He adjusted his position and focused on that patch of firelight. The next instant, the scene before his eyes changed abruptly.

The formerly pitch-black cave became clearly visible. Human outlines glowed red, the ground and stone walls appeared dark blue, and the operating equipment was a glaring orange-yellow. Even the heat currents in the air spread out like ripples.

He blinked and rubbed his eyes. When he opened them again, the thermal image remained.

"Thermal Vision activated," the system said.

He looked down at his hands, which glowed a faint pink in his new vision. His heartbeat quickened, but he had no time for amazement. His immediate priority was to establish what was happening inside.

With the thermal imaging, he could see clearly: a man sat against the wall on the left side of the cave, his back to the entrance, working on a pile of components with both hands. He had old injuries, with healing wounds on both his shoulder and leg. His body temperature was elevated; he was clearly running a fever. Yet his movements were steady and his fingers nimble. He had clearly received professional training.

In the right-hand corner were the heat signatures of two guards, taking turns standing watch. Every five minutes, one went in to check.

Each time, the man building the device immediately stopped working and pretended to rest. As soon as the guard left, he swiftly resumed his work.

His timing was extremely precise.

Ye Mo looked up at the sky. Clouds obscured the moon, leaving the surroundings pitch-black. In these conditions, the guards patrolled entirely by unaided sight, completely unaware that someone who could see through the darkness had appeared outside.

He felt the small pebbles in his pocket and quietly moved onto a rock jutting out above the cave. It offered the best vantage point, allowing him to overlook the entire area and retreat at any moment.

The first change of watch began.

One guard started toward the cave. Ye Mo picked up a pebble and flicked it gently.

The pebble struck a sheet-metal shed in the distance with a sharp crack.

The guard spun around and walked toward the sound. The other man grew alert as well.

In those few seconds, the man inside the cave immediately sped up his work, soldering the final wire into place. Sweat dripped from his forehead, bursting like tiny red dots in the thermal image.

Two minutes later, the other guard rose to enter the cave.

Ye Mo threw another pebble, this time striking an abandoned oil drum on the left.

"Who's there?" the guard demanded in a low voice, raising his gun as he walked over.

The man seized the opportunity to slip the newly finished little device into the lining of his clothes, then wiped away the traces on the table.

The third time, just as a guard took a step, Ye Mo flung three pebbles at once, striking three different directions.

Both men raised their guns warily and exchanged a look, seemingly growing suspicious.

"Why's there been so much noise lately?" one muttered.

"Forget it. That guy inside can't get away anyway." The other sneered. "If he dared make a move, he'd have been dead long ago."

They had never realized that the real threat was not inside the cave, but above their heads.

Ye Mo crouched on the rocky ledge and let out a light breath. Three distractions had bought nearly ten minutes. For a prisoner, that was enough time to hide the crucial components.

The man inside the cave wiped his face and murmured something.

His voice was too quiet to make out.

But Ye Mo could read his lips. He seemed to be saying, "This luck... it's almost like someone's worked it all out for me."

He almost laughed aloud.

Luck? This was skill.

As he was thinking that, he suddenly noticed the man looking up toward the cave entrance with an unusual look in his eyes. It was neither fear nor exhaustion, but a tentative wariness.

He had noticed.

Ye Mo made no rash move. He knew he had to reveal himself next. Otherwise, if the man suspected an enemy trap, he might destroy everything he had accomplished on the spot.

He slowly eased half his face out of the shadows, exposing only his eyes and the bridge of his nose. His silver glasses gleamed coldly in the faint light.

The man immediately reached toward the corner of the table, where a sharp piece of metal lay hidden.

Ye Mo raised both hands and lowered his voice. "Whatever you're building is almost finished, but if you don't act soon, they'll change shifts and add more guards."

The man stared at him without a word.

"Are you a local? Do you speak English?" he finally asked.

"I just happened to be passing by." Ye Mo smiled. "And I can see where they are."

"What do you mean?"

Ye Mo did not answer. He merely pointed at his eyes, then gestured with his chin toward the distant patrol route. "Next corner. He'll appear in three seconds."

The man frowned.

Three seconds passed.

Footsteps sounded right on time.

His pupils contracted sharply, and the look in his eyes changed in an instant. It was no longer suspicion, but shock.

"Who exactly are you?" he asked in a low voice.

"The system says only those who survive first get to ask questions." Ye Mo chuckled. "Right now, you have seventeen minutes left."

The man fell silent for several seconds, then suddenly smiled. "Seventeen minutes? How do you know they'll change watch early?"

"That's not all I know." Ye Mo gazed at the distant heat signatures. "I also know your generator restarts once an hour because the voltage is unstable. Every time it restarts, the surveillance loses power for eight seconds. And those eight seconds are just enough for you to crawl out through the vent on the left."

The man's expression shifted slightly. "Who the hell are you? CIA? MI6? Or did the Ten Rings send you?"

"None of those." Ye Mo shook his head. "I just took one more look than you did at something I shouldn't have seen."

"Such as?"

"Such as the miniature capacitor you're hiding in the sole of your shoe, and that burn on your wrist-you burned it yourself with an electric current to keep the enemy from discovering you were still capable of action."

The man fell completely silent.

He knew the person before him was not guessing.

That was observation, deduction, even... some kind of extraordinary ability.

"If you really want to escape," Ye Mo said, looking at him, "start getting ready now. When the generator restarts again, I'll lure them away one more time. But you'll only have one chance."

The man stared at him for a long time before finally speaking. "What do you want out of helping me?"

"For you to make it out alive," Ye Mo said. "Then tell me what exactly has happened to this world."

The corner of the man's mouth twitched slightly. "You think I can trust you just like that?"

"I didn't ask you to trust me." Ye Mo stepped back, vanishing into the darkness again. "I'm only asking you to remember one thing-before the next change of watch, don't forget to duck."

The man froze.

The next second, the distant generator hummed, and the lights flickered.

The surveillance went down.

He immediately rose and crawled toward the vent.

Ye Mo crouched at the edge of the rocky ledge, holding his last pebble.

A gust of wind swept over him, knocking his hat askew.

He did not reach up to straighten it.

His gaze stayed fixed on the two guards' heat signatures.

Their body temperatures were rising, their heartbeats quickening.

They were becoming more alert.

He knew the next distraction would not succeed so easily.

But he also knew that if he could hold out another thirty seconds, the man inside could get free.

He raised his hand, gently rolling the pebble between his fingertips.

In the distance, footsteps approached once more.