Little Mushroom

An Zhe woke up from a peaceful dream.

In the dream, he had no eyes, no ears and no organs that a human could perceive. He seemed to have returned to that time long, long ago when he was buried in soft and moist soil. However, it wasn't soil and he seemed to be not far from Lu Feng. He was as close to the colonel's breath as he was to death.

After opening his eyes, he stared at the grey ceiling in a daze. He had been trying to keep himself from thinking about the people and things in the Northern Base. He could feel the memories passing. He had almost forgotten the appearance and behaviour of Poet, the doctor and Colin. Everything that happened in that city was going away but Lu Feng was appearing more and more frequently in his dreams.

Sometimes he would open his eyes and feel like that person was around him. The dark green vines hanging by the wind were covered with white frost before they had even withered. It had frozen to a bright, clear colour like Lu Feng's eyes were looking at him.

Then the coldness of the outside world soon wrapped around him again.

Outside the window, the grey clouds sat low on top of the mountain and the hard ground of the mountain was covered with white frost. Winter was here.

The people of the Highland Research Institute still cared about him. 10 days ago, he received a woolen scarf and a pair of rabbit fur gloves. Every day, he was wrapped in these warm things as he left the main building and headed to Polly's laboratory.

The Simpson Cage consumed a lot of energy and the wind turbines had limited power. The Simpson Cage could only be turned on for two hours a day. The rest of the time, Polly would do something else. Sometimes, he would teach An Zhe some physics and biological knowledge. For example, everything was composed of molecules and atoms. Atoms could be split into the electrons, protons and neutrons. However, it was far from the end and no one could see what made up the material basis of this world.

"A blind man can only reach out to touch the world to perceive the world, but what he feels obviously isn't the whole picture. Our understanding of the world is as shallow as the blind. We are destined to see only the appearance. We have many hypotheses but no one to verify if they are correct," Polly told him.

As he spoke, the laboratory window was blown open by the howling north wind on the mountain top. The brown-skinned Indian man got up to close the window and Polly reached out for the folded scarf.

The scarf was wrapped around An Zhe's entire neck. He buried himself in the soft warm cloth and asked Polly, "Are you cold?"

"As I get older, many places become dull." Polly Joan's gentle grey-blue eyes watched him. An Zhe could see his reflection in this person's eyes, a wrapped up white ball. However, before he could look for a long time, he coughed. It was so cold outside but his lungs were burning with fire. It hurt.

Polly ran a hand down his back and passed the hot water that was on the table to him.

"Are there any antibiotics?" He asked the Indian man called Rum.

"There are some left."

The coughing An Zhe shivered and took the medicine. The room was lit with a charcoal stove but he still felt very cold.

"I can't find the cause of your illness." Polly wiped the fine sweat on An Zhe's forehead with his fingers and there was palpable pain in the grey-blue eyes as he whispered, "There aren't any advanced instruments here… sorry."

An Zhe shook his head. "It's okay."

Polly said a human's understanding of the world was always superficial and sometimes An Zhe felt that his understanding of humans was just superficial. He had never expected to be treated like this by humans when he returned to the Abyss.

For example, Polly wasn't a medical expert but due to the weakness of An Zhe's body, he started to read the medical literature in the database and Rum would help retrieve it.

Sometimes, An Zhe felt guilty for their kindness. It was because he wasn't human and he felt this kindness was for the human skin he stolen. He started to fear that the prototype would be revealed on he day he died.

He once told Polly that there was no need to worry about this. At that time, Polly used the back of his hand to test the temperature of An Zhe's forehead and whispered, "You are like my child."

In Polly's absence, he asked Run why Mr Polly was so kind to him.

Rum had replied, "Sir loves everyone here."

"Half of my body was mouldy when I came to the institute and my consciousness wasn't awake." Rum rolled up his trouser legs to show his sturdy calves full of scars and bulges like earthworks. The always taciturn man spoke a long sentence, "He spent half a year saving me, regardless of day or night. I couldn't believe there was such a person in the world."

He also added, "I wasn't a good person previously. I killed my teammates when I was a mercenary and now I have rescued three compatriots from the outside, which is atonement. It is good to be a good person and it is better to be a person than a monster. Many people here are like me. There is no one who doesn't love Mr Polly."

An Zhe clearly remembered that at that time, he inexplicably thought of what Lu Feng was doing. Immediately after, he shook his head and kicked the silhouette of that person who was the complete opposite of Polly out of his head.

Rum was an amateur music lover. When he had nothing to do, he would play the harmonica from worn-out sheet music and he would sometimes teach An Zhe. The sound was pleasant but Rum said humans had instruments that were millions of times better than the harmonica. Together, they could play an extremely magnificent symphony.

At this time, Polly came to them and joked, "If Run had been born 100 years old then he would've been an outstanding musician."

The always reticent Rum smiled and then took out a worn radio. He turned the tape over and pressed the play button. An intense or gentle rhythm would be emitted from the rusted machine. It was the sound of countless instruments, each with its own tone and melody. These sounds and melody combined to form another magnificent sound. Music reverberated in this laboratory. Below the white building, a man whose left arm had turned into a beast's claw beckoned this way. Rum hung the radio on the outside railing and turned up the volume.

Light and smooth music passed through the frosted window glass. There was a report before the music on the tape was played that said this was Beethoven's Spring Sonata. An Zhe listened to it. Spring in the Abyss was also beautiful but he probably couldn't see it.

It was at this time that he received a message from the Northern Base.

The long silent communication channel flashed red. There was only one unknown object in the communications list.

An Zhe called up the communication interface. The text message sent by the unknown person only had two lines that said:

"Winter has arrived."

"Monsters are behaving differently. Pay attention to safety."

An Zhe glanced back at Polly. "Sir."

"It is news from Dr Ji of the Northern Base," Polly told him. "In these years, he has secretly been in touch with me."

The words 'Dr Ji' left An Zhe in a trance. He asked, "…Do you want to reply?"

"Reply. You can send a message for me."

***

The Northern Base.

The communication channel lit up, showing there was a reply from the Highland Research Institute.

"Received."

"Thank you for the reminder. The base should also pay attention to security."

The doctor passed by and saw the communication screen. He said, "Colonel Lu, it is hard to imagine the Judge doing such a thing. You are still a kind person."

Lu Feng's expression was light as he watched the text on the screen.

"Who is on the opposite side?"

"Someone you can never imagine," Dr JI replied. "Polly Joan."