News Headlines
The elevator chimed, and the doors slid open.
"Huh? This isn't our floor," someone said, puzzled.
"I'm getting off," Tu Ran said, raising a hand weakly from the corner. "Sorry, let me squeeze past."
The group of interns—each a head taller than her—finally noticed the person in the corner and parted to let her through.
Tu Ran squeezed out with difficulty.
The moment the doors closed, chatter erupted inside.
"I saw her name tag—she's Tu Ran!"
"Tu Ran? Which Tu Ran? Don't tell me it's the one we were just talking about."
"It's her. I saw her during rounds today. She went to the ward and bowed to apologize to those seven guys one by one, and it nearly pissed them off."
A burst of laughter erupted in the elevator.
"Killing them with kindness, classic."
"She's so cool, I love her!"
"And she just stood there quietly the whole time, didn't even butt into our conversation."
"A little socially awkward, but somehow kinda adorable."
They all jabbered on, one after another.
Tu Ran only felt embarrassed.
So this was what it felt like to hear about your own brave deeds from other people's mouths.
The oncoming breeze cooled the heat on her cheeks.
She walked to the maglev tram stop and waited.
At 12:30, the tram arrived right on time.
She boarded and watched the high-rises flash past outside the window.
At 1:00 PM sharp, she returned to her apartment.
She reheated last night's leftovers, cooked a single serving of rice, and ate slowly, chewing carefully while catching up on the news from the past few days.
The news of the second Threshold gate descending had taken over every major media headline.
A cascade of related issues had sparked a heated wave of discussion.
[Where do Regaken State citizens go from here?]
[Can the constructed trapping devices actually catch the alien creatures?]
[Will the Federal Government help relocate Regaken State citizens?]
[Wealthy families in Regaken State have already moved out in full.]
There was plenty more news like this, and the Federal Government's stance had become the focus of every major outlet.
But so far, the Federal Government had made no official response.
Relocating an entire state's citizens wasn't practical—the costs would be astronomical, and the Federation had no intention of covering them.
The reason they'd built trapping devices at the Threshold gate in Regaken State in the first place was because the state was vast, sparsely populated, and relatively poor.
When you had no power, your words carried no weight.
Tu Ran had a nagging feeling that the Federal Government wouldn't foot the bill for relocating Regaken State's citizens. They'd just reinforce the traps and announce to the world that the creatures inside could never get out.
Then they'd buy off the media to make a big show of it, and the public would quickly believe it.
That was the Federal Government's usual playbook.
After a leisurely meal, she cleaned up the dishes. It was already two o'clock.
Tu Ran began preparing her gear for a trip to the Ansa Black Market.
The Federation had plenty of black markets—forty-eight states, each with eight or ten notable ones, and an uncountable number in the Federal Center itself.
Ansa Black Market was the largest black market in the entire Federal Center.
It got its name because the original boss of the market was called Ansa.
Tu Ran packed a backpack, stuffing in a set of disguise clothes from the original body's wardrobe.
She left her work communicator on the table, grabbed another personal communicator hidden in a corner of the original body's closet, and slung the backpack over her shoulder as she headed to the maglev tram stop to wait.