'SEE YOU MORNING' 036 Las Vegas

Due to an aircraft malfunction en route, Li Haojun and Qin Wenjing had to complete the rest of their journey in a commercial quadrotor aircraft with vertical takeoff and landing capability. The speed was naturally much slower, and it was already night when they finally caught sight of the city lights of Las Vegas in the distance.
The sparse lights below the outskirts, in this winter with Christmas approaching at year's end, only intensified people's attachment to home. Looking out at the dark grey of the night surrounding the cabin, it was fortunate that Qin Wenjing was by his side. In their gaze, her gentle smile and the strands of black hair swaying at her temples made Li Haojun feel a deep gratitude for her companionship from the bottom of his heart.
As they approached the main urban area, air traffic grew increasingly busy. Since the West Coast had been submerged, many local commercial and tech companies had relocated to Las Vegas, and the city had now been built into a three-dimensional metropolis. In the night, busy aerial corridors of urban traffic shimmered even more clearly amid the flashing navigation lights. Soon, the quadrotor carrying Li Haojun and Qin Wenjing joined the flow of traffic and finally landed on the rooftop of their reserved hotel.
Taking the elevator to the floor of their reserved room, Li Haojun took Qin Wenjing's hand, stepped out of the elevator, and walked down the corridor counting room numbers,
"1216, 1214, look this way, 1208, 1206… 1202, here we are,"
He opened the door, looked back at Qin Wenjing, pulled her into the room, then turned around and was startled to find Malaya already inside, sitting on the edge of the bed, facing the door, legs together, body leaning back, arms spread out supporting her on the mattress.
Malaya slowly opened her eyes, her expression calm,
"Welcome to Las Vegas, please sit," she said as she stood, stepping aside from in front of the two of them in two strides, standing to the side.
Li Haojun was initially surprised, but her voice and figure quickly turned into delight and a jolt in his heart. His gaze followed her every stillness and movement until Qin Wenjing stepped forward to greet her. Only then did Li Haojun come back to his senses and hurriedly introduced the two, after all, this was their first meeting.
After the pleasantries, Malaya copied some safety guidelines onto both of their terminal devices and emphasized certain points in particular. It turned out that was the reason she had come along specially. Throughout the whole process, Li Haojun kept his eyes on Malaya's, seeming to listen very attentively. Qin Wenjing, meanwhile, kept glancing between Malaya and Li Haojun, sensing something was up, relying on her uniquely feminine intuition.
Once all the key points had been communicated, Malaya looked at each of them in turn and said,
"Alright, I won't disturb you any longer. Get some rest early. I'll come meet you tomorrow morning and we'll set off together. I'm in the room right across the hall." With that, she stood up and left.
Li Haojun and Qin Wenjing also stood up to see her off, but Li Haojun stopped at the doorway. With Qin Wenjing there, and Malaya alone, it didn't feel right to intrude too much on her privacy. But Qin Wenjing didn't stop. She followed Malaya all the way, saw her into her room, and casually closed the door behind her.
Li Haojun had no choice but to stand at the doorway, waiting there like a fool. After quite a while, Qin Wenjing came out with a beaming grin, suppressing her laughter until she got back into the room. Li Haojun couldn't help but ask,
"What did you say to her? You're so happy."
"I'm not telling you," Qin Wenjing said, making a playful face.
"Aren't you jealous of her?"
"Why would I be jealous of her? You already belong to me first. Even if she comes to take advantage of me, I'll just share a tiny bit of you with her."
"Oh, what a mindset, what logic," Li Haojun said, praising her, but thinking of the next day's itinerary, he kept urging Qin Wenjing to get some rest. No matter how tough she talked, he still wanted to take care of her. He lay down on his side facing her, his right arm around her waist. But in his heart, he still thought of Malaya alone across the hall, and further still, Kesiya at home by herself… Sigh, he couldn't worry about all that right now. Better get some sleep.
The next morning, before dawn had even broken, Li Haojun was already planning bus routes, figuring out transfer connections, then walked out of the hotel — it was already fully light. He crossed a narrow path lined with market stalls on both sides. Li Haojun had no time to notice what any of them were selling; time was short. At the end of this commercial street, a right turn and a short walk should bring him to the bus stop on his planned route. Along the main road, tall buildings rose on both sides, blocking out the sky. Then Li Haojun suddenly remembered — he wasn't alone here! Standing at the street corner, he recalled the sequence of events. He should be able to turn right back the way he came, then right again, and return to the block where he'd started. Li Haojun walked back while calculating the distance, but the road grew darker the further he went, and the buildings along the way were no longer prosperous. The scenery became increasingly desolate. To avoid overshooting, Li Haojun turned right again, trying to get back to the commercial street he'd just walked down. But darkness fell sharply. A few construction workers wearing safety helmets rode bicycles past him in the opposite direction, seemingly heading off work. Li Haojun was completely lost. The road ahead led into an apartment complex with no lights at all — it was nearly pitch-black. Li Haojun felt for the flashlight in his pocket and was about to pull it out when a faint light appeared behind him. A bicycle passed, ridden by someone who looked like an auntie. Li Haojun quickly asked, "Excuse me, is it night or morning right now?" The reply was night. Li Haojun wanted to check his watch, but the 12-hour dial was no help at all. He tried to recall the direction of that commercial street from the map he'd seen — it faced north — and remembered the corner where he'd turned and the distance he'd walked. Walking forward in the dark while trying to remember was exhausting. Li Haojun wanted to open his eyes wide, but the road was so dark he couldn't see a thing. He forced his eyes open as wide as they could go, and finally a sliver of light pierced through… He opened his eyes.
So tired. It turned out he'd been rushing around all night — in a dream. Li Haojun glanced at the time. It was still early. While recalling the details of what had just happened, he wondered why he'd had such a dream, and tried to calm his heart rate and emotions.
The morning was not as complicated as the dream. Malaya led the two of them to a pre-booked flying taxi heading for the gathering venue.
The fall of the West Coast had caused much of California's commercial entertainment and population to migrate here. The main urban area of Las Vegas was built around three vertically standing ellipsoidal tower-column structures, forming a new integrated three-dimensional city. Malaya and her party of three flew from the city's outer perimeter to the edge of the three-dimensional city, then transferred to a Hyperloop capsule bound for the West Tower exhibition hall. Along the way, Malaya emphasized again,
"The West Tower, South Tower, and Central Tower form the Interstellar Exchange Zone of the three-dimensional city. Different beings may exist there. They may look human, but their inner nature may not be. Some we may not be able to see at all. What affects us most is that they may have the ability to perceive and manipulate human consciousness. There are also bio-modified humans or people with special abilities who possess similar capabilities." As she spoke, Malaya looked at Qin Wenjing,
"You are a kind lady. Pay special attention to your self-protection barrier." Qin Wenjing listened, and the smiling expression on her face gradually faded.
Malaya continued,
"Keep your distance from others. Always imagine a spherical protective shield surrounding you, and that you do not permit others to enter your space without your consent."
"Oh," Qin Wenjing replied, nodding. Then she suddenly seemed to think of something and asked,
"Malaya, how do you know all this?"
"Company safety guidelines manual,"
"Oh, this is the first I've heard of it," Qin Wenjing said, glancing at Li Haojun, then added,
"I've never been here before, so I've never seen safety notices like this."
"Then what about Spokane?" Li Haojun exchanged a look with Qin Wenjing, then turned to Malaya.
"Spokane doesn't have any," Malaya answered.
By the time they finished talking, the Hyperloop capsule had reached the West Tower main building. After passing through the Hyperloop pipeline airlock, they entered an open vertical elevator. From here, they had a good view to observe the structure of the three-dimensional city up close.
Each tower building was a black steel structure with aluminum-silver ellipsoidal halls — pale green, pale blue, pale purple, rose-red, lemon-yellow — seemingly random colors, with irregular large glass windows.
Between the three towers, at the center of the triangle they formed, stood a spherical building in blue, accented with emerald green, earthy yellow, and snow white. Yes, that was Global Village, showcasing culture, art, historical sites, and humanities by country, region, ethnicity, and geography.
Arriving at the reserved floor, the Hyperloop capsule disengaged from the vertical lift mechanism and moved horizontally to an available entrance. The three of them reached the reserved event hall via escalator and corridor.
This was the industry's year-end gala. Personnel from research, production companies, and related user companies in the same industry had all received invitations to attend. The garden fountain at the center of the hall was being used for water-curtain projection, playing back the year's industry developments and achievements.
Li Haojun glanced at Qin Wenjing beside him. The two shared a smile, and Li Haojun said with self-deprecation,
"Actually, I haven't even reached my first birthday yet."
Qin Wenjing laughed, took his arm, and walked beside him. Then Li Haojun suddenly realized Malaya wasn't with them. He tugged Qin Wenjing's arm and looked around. Malaya was walking behind them alone. Today she wore an all-black formal outfit, her hair pulled up in a simple high ponytail. For some reason, she had also chosen to wear a pair of black-rimmed glasses — a perfect office lady look.
The two waited for her to catch up. Qin Wenjing reached out her right hand to take hers and walk together. Malaya smiled and didn't refuse. The three of them walked past the landscape garden together. Qin Wenjing had Li Haojun on her left arm and held Malaya's hand with her right. She looked left and right, couldn't hold it in any longer, and let out a giggle. She tugged Malaya's hand, then turned to Li Haojun and asked,
"If only we were a family, how nice that would be." After saying that, she looked back at Malaya. Malaya just smiled and said nothing. Li Haojun also looked over at her, into her eyes. After a moment, afraid Malaya might feel awkward, he shook Qin Wenjing's arm and said,
"Why are you saying things like this right now," he said, gesturing with his eyes to indicate there were many people around, then whispered,
"Better remember the safety tips she gave us." Qin Wenjing grinned and stuck out her tongue.
Following Malaya's directions, they spotted their company's booth in the distance. Some people had already arrived and were chatting there. From afar — a big red dress, orange waves of hair — Sophie Marceau sat at a round table, conversing with someone while sipping a drink.
Deeper inside the booth, Ava Bishop from Boise was still stunningly beautiful as ever — black hair in an updo, bare-faced with red lips, a pure white form-fitting mermaid gown. She stood quietly in the corner, chatting face to face with another woman.
There were also some people gathered together, mostly unfamiliar, but a few faces were recognizable. They should be colleagues from the East Coast.
After exchanging pleasantries with company colleagues and collaborative clients for a while, Li Haojun and his party left their booth to visit other companies' displays. Li Haojun simply didn't like noisy social events. He was a technical person and could derive no sense of superiority or value from socializing. As for Qin Wenjing, the only thing she was interested in was following him. What they did or where they were didn't matter to her.
Malaya, on the other hand, was very active, introducing them to each company's products, technologies, and business areas along the way. After a while, Li Haojun grew curious and asked,
"Malaya, how do you know so much?"
Malaya turned back to look at Li Haojun, smiled slightly, and pointed to the glasses she was wearing, saying,
"Smart," then continued leading the way ahead. Her long high ponytail, with its big wavy curls, swayed not only side to side with her figure as she turned but also bounced up and down with her steps — full of youthful energy.
After a pleasant tour of the exhibition, Li Haojun returned to his company's booth. Inside, it was lively. A man in formal wear — a black tuxedo, wing-collar white shirt, 28-part slicked-back hair with shiny pomade, broad forehead, high brow ridge and deep-set eyes, a pair of blue eyes, a defined jawline — exuded handsome-man energy. Standing amid a circle of beautiful women, he was talking eloquently. Li Haojun stepped into their booth and caught his eye.
"Hey, Ethan, long time no see, welcome back." He greeted warmly, but his voice sounded oily and slick.
Li Haojun didn't recognize him, so he just smiled and nodded. Thinking of his amnesia not so long ago, there was nothing he could do. The other person knew him, but he remembered nothing. He figured maybe the man was just welcoming him back to the company booth.
"Ethan, Ethan, don't you remember me?" He even leaned forward, staring at Li Haojun and pressing,
"Zane,"
"Zane, don't," the women beside him all felt it was inappropriate and quietly prompted him.
Li Haojun didn't know if he'd offended this man in the past. With a frozen smile on his face, he walked away directly. Calming the resentment inside, he looked at the beauty beside him and said softly,
"Let's go, it's our lunch break."
At the transit area on the edge of the West Tower, they boarded the Hyperloop capsule again. Li Haojun browsed through Global Village's tour options and asked Qin Wenjing and Malaya to each pick one they were interested in. The two unanimously agreed to experience Global Village's Time Tunnel — a nostalgic panoramic immersive attraction that used collected human audio-visual files and data to recreate historical surface landscapes from around the world.
After arriving at the experience space, they took their seats. It was an enclosed interference projection room. Qin Wenjing selected a location and time from the operation interface, and using the joystick to control the flying viewpoint, she showed everyone her university campus from back when she was a student, shifting positions while explaining the buildings' uses and her own experiences from those years. After the demonstration, Qin Wenjing was brimming with confidence, it showing clearly on her face.
When it was Malaya's turn to choose a time and place, she smiled faintly,
"Heh, I don't even remember when or where that was anymore."
Hearing her say that, Li Haojun immediately felt that Qin Wenjing's earlier display of confidence must have stung this orphan. He glanced at Qin Wenjing, but she was smiling, unaware.
As Malaya spoke, she selected the brainwave interaction helmet, quietly closed her eyes, and leaned back in her seat. The room's lights gradually dimmed. In the darkness, a rustling sound came from far away, approaching steadily, layer upon layer piling up from the distance to before their eyes. A faint glimmer of light in the darkness gradually brightened amid the swirling chaos.
Gradually, chaos parted, heaven and earth separated, and a silver disc hung between them, scattering a few bright silver fragments below. A gentle breeze blew toward them from ahead. As the light and color blocks before their eyes stabilized and sharpened, Li Haojun and Qin Wenjing gradually made out waves — waves in the night, draped in the radiance of a full moon hanging in the night sky, rolling toward the shore one after another. And the moon just risen on the horizon not only illuminated the vast sea but also set off the deep night sky and its wispy clouds.
And that rustling sound from before was the soft wind brushing over the sea's waves, rolling toward the beach in silver-clad rows, erasing the footprints just left behind.
Following those slender footprints, the moonlight illuminated the silhouette of a girl in the night — her swaying figure, her graceful steps, and her single ponytail floating in the sea breeze.
As Malaya removed the brainwave interaction helmet, the projection of all this beauty gradually solidified and faded, until only the palm trees in the background remained.
Li Haojun and Qin Wenjing were both stunned by the scene they had just witnessed. After a long while, Qin Wenjing fired off a string of questions,
"Where was that just now? It was so beautiful. Was that little girl you? So pretty, just like you."
"Mm, I don't know either. I don't even know if that's my memory or my imagination,"
"Sigh, let's look it up," Qin Wenjing said, busy querying the system,
"Sigh, it could be the coast of Spain, oh, or maybe the Maldives, mm, Australia, Hawaii, oh dear, looks like we can't find it."
Li Haojun said nothing, just quietly looking at Malaya, thinking: what has this girl been through? And is all of this too heavy a burden for someone so young?
"Your turn," Qin Wenjing said with a grin, her attention having shifted from Malaya to Li Haojun.
Malaya silently held the brainwave interaction helmet out to Li Haojun.
Li Haojun had an inner resistance to brainwave equipment — perhaps because of his amnesia. But facing Malaya, though he hesitated for a moment, he ultimately took the helmet and put it on.
In truth, Li Haojun had no memories of the past, but he was truly troubled by the dreams he'd had. He might as well take this chance to see if he could find any clues.
As Li Haojun settled calmly into place, the projection room's sensory display gradually brightened. A scorching hot wind brushed his face, cicadas buzzed in his ears — it was the blazing sun of a summer day, baking the ground tiles until heat waves rolled off them. This was the tranquil noon of a residential community plaza.
The small plaza was flanked by multi-story brick-and-concrete apartment buildings on both sides. On the plaza were slides and swings prepared for the children who lived there. They were all built with steel-pipe frames, painted in shiny red, pale blue, and yellow. At noon, no children were playing under the blazing sun — perhaps they had all gone home for their naps.
But behind the still swings and slides, the laughter of children who had once played here seemed to overflow — their joyful shouts and words, like a backdrop from another time, pulling every viewer back to their own happy childhood.
Sunlight shone on the paulownia trees, their leaves giving off a faint fragrance, mingling with the summer heat and drifting into the nostrils. The shadows cast by the tree canopy contrasted sharply with the dazzling reflection of sunlight off the ground tiles. In the color blocks divided by light and shadow, in the languid heat where the breeze had no strength, the noon hours were frozen — and so were childhood memories.
Along with a faint sound of sobbing, Li Haojun's attention was pulled from the dream memories back to reality. He removed the brainwave helmet, the projection room's scenery faded, and the lights slowly came back on.
It was Qin Wenjing. She was crying for some reason.
"What's wrong? Why are you crying?" Li Haojun asked, cupping her face in his hands.
"Nothing,"
Li Haojun didn't ask further. He just gave her a gentle hug, pulling her close to comfort her, and casually glanced at the location display — Northern China, city unconfirmed.
It seemed Malaya had also noticed the location display at the same time. She and Li Haojun exchanged a look and said nothing.