‘SEE YOU MORNING’ 041 On Duty

The next day, Li Haojun received new orders: he needed to rest in the morning, then be accompanied by Lily to Spokane to exchange data. But no specific transportation was designated. Thinking about that beat-up plane—not only was it slow, it was open-cockpit, and flying in this winter would freeze him to death in minutes. Hundreds of kilometers like that, and he'd lose his life. So he steeled himself and knocked on Lily's door.
"Sorry to bother you. I got new orders. Did you also...?"
"Yes, come in," Lily said. Li Haojun also felt a bit awkward, because Lily was only wearing a long-sleeved nightgown—turquoise plush velvet fabric with long fluffy sleeves and wide cuffs, a deep V-neck, but only a single belt tied at her waist.
Li Haojun followed her into the room and closed the door behind him, not wanting to let too much indoor heat escape. He pulled a chair by the doorway, looked at Lily's back, and asked,
"Can we take a faster commercial flight to Spokane? I'm afraid we might not make it in time." Better to talk work openly—otherwise, looking at Lily's attire, he'd lose his composure.
"Of course, otherwise I'd be cold too," Lily said, turning to sit on the edge of the bed, angling her body slightly, crossing her legs to hold down the hem of her gown.
"Yeah, that's true." Not sure if she'd seen through him or if she felt the same way, Li Haojun just smiled and admitted it, then asked,
"This time you're taking over John Weyant's data exchange work. Is it long-term, or just this once or a few times? I'm just curious." After speaking, Li Haojun silently looked into Lily's eyes, wanting a real answer—what had actually happened.
"Long-term, I guess," Lily said, then gave a teasing smile.
"What's long-term about anything?" She seemed to want to say more but held back, not explaining further.
"Yeah," Li Haojun agreed.
"Just like me—I lost all my earlier memories and have to start over."
"Oh, right," Lily nodded.
"So from now on, will you always fly to Spokane to exchange data with Qin Wenjing? Before, it was closer for John to go from Montana," Li Haojun thought. Where does Lily live? Probably somewhere south, but he held back from asking—it wasn't right to pry into someone's privacy.
"No need. I'll just update your and her terminal equipment there. You can serve as a node—from now on, I can exchange data with you directly."
"Oh, that's great. Much simpler." After speaking, Li Haojun thought that in the past, the fixed point in Spokane had been for security reasons. Could the location be changed freely? So he asked Lily.
Lily thought for a moment, then said,
"Really? That makes some sense. But as long as you and I are close enough, the chance of interception is low." After thinking a bit more, she added,
"He just likes the bars in Spokane, doesn't he?" She murmured something to herself, rolling her eyes.
Li Haojun laughed out loud when he heard that. The embarrassment of having his fear of cold seen through wasn't so bad anymore. It seemed Lily knew John better. So Li Haojun wanted to ask,
"May I ask, do you rotate work locations on a regular schedule? Or..."
"Not necessarily. Sometimes it's work requirements, sometimes it's personal reasons."
"I remember John always had a Western cowboy style. He seemed good with revolvers and lever-action rifles."
"Alright, stop your curiosity," Lily said, pointing at her nightgown, shrugging with both hands.
"Oh, sorry. We'll chat more later," Li Haojun said, backing out of the room and closing the door.
The morning went smoothly. Li Haojun boarded the commercial flight from Boise to Spokane—no more freezing in the cold wind. The cabin had warm air, comfortable seats, an enclosed quiet space. But it felt a bit cramped, because he didn't know what to talk to Lily about. They were in facing seats, so he just shrugged and said,
"Much warmer this time."
Lily looked at Li Haojun, didn't answer. After a moment of eye contact, she continued the morning's topic.
"John really is good with firearms. Some confrontational missions did require him. But it's not as confrontational as it was a few years ago. Now the spheres of influence of all parties are basically frozen. After all, nobody wants to exhaust themselves endlessly, so everyone stays within their own territory and technical domain."
"Did I participate back then? I'm curious, because I found I have a lot of weapons."
"You're not field personnel, but you do have crisis awareness, so you at least prepared the weapons necessary for self-defense. But in this era, many are individuals enhanced by biological or digital technology. Ordinary people can hardly match them, and confrontational operations are all systematic. Still, I really admired your courage back then." After speaking, Lily stared intently at Li Haojun.
"Forgive my presumption—were you and John...?"
Lily didn't answer. After a pause, she took Li Haojun's right hand with her left and gently placed it on her neck.
Though a bit surprised, he didn't resist, but let his hand conform to her skin. He could feel the pulse of her carotid artery.
Then Lily leaned closer to Li Haojun, slowly pulling his hand down to press it against her chest. He could feel the frequency of her heartbeat.
Faced with such a sincere woman, Li Haojun didn't want to keep his arm extended and take advantage. He moved his body forward, looking sincerely into Lily's eyes.
At that moment, a distant memory seemed to surface in Li Haojun's mind—a car chase, running and hiding in alleys, Lily's back right in front of him, pulling him away from danger.
"You've already experienced it at the Red Queen's place, right? Some implanted chips can indeed enhance perception and information processing."
"Those were experiences between you and me before?"
"Yes," Lily said, releasing his hand. She sat back in her seat, saying nothing more, quietly watching the scenery outside the porthole.
Although he knew these images were externally projected to him, he might as well temporarily use them to fill the blank memories. But Li Haojun also had doubts in his heart—since Lily could project memories to him, could others do the same to her?
The strong sunlight reflected off the clouds outside the porthole shone on Lily's face. Her fair complexion seemed even more desaturated. She was a young woman in her prime, yet seemed to lack the color of life. So Li Haojun couldn't help but ask,
"Lily, do you like your life now?"
Lily still had no expression. She glanced at Li Haojun, then turned her gaze back to the window, saying softly,
"Why wouldn't I? At least I'm financially free, and I can enjoy the scenery along the way."
"Don't you want a family, a stable life?" Li Haojun finally asked the question he'd been wanting to ask.
Lily finally turned back, revealing a faint smile.
"Thanks for caring. I'm used to this kind of life. I'm field personnel—the word 'stable' doesn't really apply to my life."
"Alright. I hope you live happily."
Lily gazed at Li Haojun's concerned expression, smiling as she watched him.
In Spokane, Qin Wenjing came to meet alone. The three met on the street. The sun was already setting in the west, and the winter afterglow spilled golden light from the treetops to the ground—all warmth of atmosphere, but no actual warmth.
Qin Wenjing was very happy to see Li Haojun, but restrained herself from being too effusive with Lily present. The three chose a café for a brief chat. After Lily set up their respective terminal devices, she stood up and said goodbye first. Li Haojun and Qin Wenjing also went out to see her off.
The café's wooden door with leaded glass seemed to separate two worlds. Just now, Lily's figure as she turned and left through the glass—by the time Li Haojun pulled Qin Wenjing's hand and pushed the door open, she had already walked far down the street alone. Li Haojun looked at Qin Wenjing in front of him, gently pulled her into his arms, then turned to look at Lily's lonely retreating figure, and felt pity in his heart.