Testing the Waters

The elevator's glass walls muffled the city's clamor, leaving the cramped space eerily quiet.

Xi Chunzhi had already released Tu Ran's hand.

While Tu Ran studied the world outside, Xi Chunzhi studied her.

"Tu Ran." Xi Chunzhi suddenly called her name.

"Huh?" Tu Ran turned to look at her.

Xi Chunzhi's eyes were eerily calm—like icy seawater, cold and unnervingly foreign.

Tu Ran's pupils contracted. Her instincts screamed danger.

In that instant, a short blade came at her face.

Tu Ran's heart leapt into her throat again, but unlike every previous brush with danger, her body didn't dodge—it fought back.

Following muscle memory, she spun with a speed that even she couldn't believe, grabbing Xi Chunzhi's wrist in a vice grip.

The blade grazed her neck, leaving a thin line of blood.

A blaring alarm filled the elevator as red lights flashed.

"Junior Pioneer Tu Ran, Junior Pioneer Xi Chunzhi, please abide by Federation law. No fighting. No fighting."

"What are you doing?!" Tu Ran couldn't believe it.

In the crimson glow of the alarm, the fresh blood on Tu Ran's neck was glaringly bright.

Xi Chunzhi's gaze lingered there, then swept up to Tu Ran's face—that familiar face, now hard and wary.

This was the Tu Ran she remembered.

A world apart from the pitiful, weak woman she'd been pretending to be.

"Nothing much." Xi Chunzhi shook off Tu Ran's hand and sheathed her blade.

She stepped back to her original spot, leaning casually against the transparent glass, offering no explanation.

The jarring alarm in the elevator finally stopped.

But Tu Ran no longer dared to turn her back on Xi Chunzhi. She took a step back, so they now faced each other across the diagonal of the car.

Her neck stung. Tu Ran touched it, saw the bright red blood on her fingertips, and a suspicion took shape. Could Xi Chunzhi be testing her? In a moment of true danger, if she were an alien, it would be hard to stay hidden inside a human shell.

With that realization, Tu Ran's taut nerves eased a fraction.

Xi Chunzhi and the original body had been close friends, so it was only a matter of time before she noticed something off.

Tu Ran had never expected to hide forever, but she hadn't thought it would be this soon.

She smiled bitterly to herself, wondering whether her acting was just that poor or Xi Chunzhi was just that sharp. It seemed she'd have to come clean. If she was lucky, Xi Chunzhi would still consider her a friend; even better if she could offer some help—after all, in this completely unfamiliar world, survival was tough.

But Tu Ran didn't confront her right there in the elevator. She remembered the alarm just now. The fact that it could identify both their identities and that they were fighting meant the elevator wasn't a private place.

Xi Chunzhi had only called her name without voicing any other suspicions, which meant she, too, was aware of that.

They rode the rest of the way in silence.

Ding.

The elevator doors slid open.

Xi Chunzhi stepped out first, and Tu Ran followed close behind.

She'd been puzzled about why Xi Chunzhi said she'd take her home but had gone up instead of down. It wasn't until she saw the scene before her that she understood.

A maglev track stretched out in front of her, with bus-stop-like signs standing on either side. Quite a few people were already waiting beneath them.