Chapter 17 16(2)

If SSW-89-58 refuses to accept orders, it can be repaired in many ways.The electrodes installed in his body model and urine catheter will be activated, and the softest part from head to toe, or the skin of the whole body will be selected to give extremely painful electric shocks.The sharp sound caused by the current will reach his ears.The disgusting burning smell also entered his respiratory organs. In addition, different drugs can be used to cause sudden physical pain and fear in him, such as violent spasms of muscles and stimulation of his nerve endings. But none of this will jeopardize the life of this priceless treasure.

If 89-58 obediently accepts the order, then he can get one of the five rewards.While the usual infusions allow him to absorb key nutrients such as carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins, and minerals, he can opt for another feeding tube that goes from the mold to his mouth, allowing him to enjoy some tasty treats. Beverages such as Coca-Cola, apple juice, or chocolate milk. Secondly, since he is a piano prodigy and loves music, he can be rewarded with the works of all the masters from the Beatles to Beethoven. Third, the entire movie can be teleported into the lenses on his eyes, which can make him feel more immersive because he is so close.

Fourth, he will be injected with mood-boosting drugs that will make him as happy as any other child in the world. The fifth and best prize.Sometimes he can be allowed to use his ability to see things in the compartment and go where he wants to go.During this period of adventure, he can play however he likes, and he knows the value of freedom. As usual, there will be no less than three guards guarding the airtight container.Because 89-58 can only control the mind of one person at a time.If any of the three suddenly became violent or exhibited unusual behavior, the other two could pull a switch and inject enough sedative into the IV to instantly put 89-58 into a coma.In case this measure fails, press the doomsday button, and a lethal dose of nerve poison will be injected along with the sedative.In three to five seconds, kill him.

The three guards on the other side of the viewing window all have the same button in front of them for use at their discretion. SSW-89-58 can't see through people's thoughts, he doesn't have the ability of telepathy, he can only suppress the personality of the person he enters, and control his mental state, so the researchers of Project 99, Opinions are divided on this.In the end, 89-58 has no telepathic ability, whether it is luck or misfortune. In addition, when performing the "Wet Da Da Mission", he must know the location of the target in order to invade his mind.He cannot casually search for targets in the vast crowd.His controller must first determine the location of the target, and then guide him to it.

Once the image of the building or vehicle where the target is located is shown to him, and the geographical location of the location is also in his mind, he can start to act. Even so, he will still be limited by the walls of the building, unable to go beyond the existing barriers to effectively find the target he is looking for.No one knows why such restrictions exist.Perhaps this is because the psychic self is just some form of energy wave that, when reflected in an open space, is like a stone containing heat placed in a cold room, and the heat radiates outward and gradually dissipates.He can practice telekinesis outdoors, but only for a short time.

This shortcoming makes the 89-58 operators deeply frustrated, but they believe and hope that his ability in this area will increase day by day. The airtight containers are opened twice a week, and the scouts clean their priceless treasures.He'll be heavily sedated, with the Doom Button still attached to him.Staff sponged him thoroughly and irritated his skin.His excrement was also cleaned from the mold, his teeth were brushed, his eyes were checked for infection, and he was rinsed with antibiotics…. Although 89-SS was stimulated by low-voltage electric current every day so that his muscles would not shrink, he still felt like a hungry child persecuted by drought and evil politicians in the third world. He was as pale as a corpse because of lack of exercise. And making the bones so small, when he unconsciously bent his slender fingers to grab the hand of the guard, it was not even comparable to the grip of a baby in the cradle.

Sometimes when he was sedated and put into a coma, he would mutter words that could not be heard, but the desperation and loneliness could be felt by those around him.Sometimes he would drink in a low voice, sometimes he would cry loudly, as if he was floating in a sad dream. There are only three cars in the gas station that are refueling automatically, and the driver squints his eyes and tilts his head sideways to prevent his eyes from being blown into sand by the wind. The gas station is brightly lit, and while Joe and Rose aren't wanted criminals and their pictures aren't on the local news, Joe prefers to stay out of the spotlight.He parked next to a building near the restrooms, which was rather dark.

Joe's emotions at this moment can be said to be extremely disturbed, because he already knows the cause of this tragic crash, who the murderer is, and the twists and turns.These truths are like a surgical scalpel, bit by bit cutting away the scars he has slowly healed in pain. Joe turned off the car and sat there without saying a word. "I really don't understand how they found out that I was on that flight." Rose said, "I'm already very cautious... But I know when he uses the ability of compartment viewing to scan all the passengers in the cockpit, Because the lights suddenly dimmed strangely at that time, and there was something wrong with my watch, and there was a feeling of being haunted, and I knew this was a sign."

"I spoke to a Transportation Safety Board investigator who had listened to the cockpit tape before it was destroyed by a fire in the lab. The kid was in Captain White's head, lol Si. I don't understand... doesn't he just want to get rid of you?" "He was ordered to get rid of me and the girl—he has no problem dealing with me. But dealing with her is not so easy." Jo asked, puzzled, "Nina? Why were they interested in her then?" She's just a passenger, isn't she?I think they tracked her down later because... well, because she and you both survived. "

Rose avoided his eyes, "Joe, can you get me the keys to the bathroom, please? Let me take a break and I'll tell you the rest on the way to Big Bear." Joe went to the sales department and got the key from the cashier.When he got back to the Ford, Rose was outside.She leaned against the front fender, her back turned, her shoulders shrugged coweringly in the wind.Her left arm was bent against her chest, but her hands kept shaking.Her right hand pulled the lapels of the sports jacket together tightly, as if the warm August wind made her feel unbearably cold. "Will you open the door for me?" she said.

Joe went to the women's room, and when he opened the door and turned on the light, Rose was beside him. "I'll be there soon," she said, brushing past him. Before the door closed, Jo took a look at her face in the bright light, and it looked really bad. Joe didn't get back into the car, he leaned against the bathroom wall and waited for Rose. According to the nurses in the psychiatric ward, most of their patients had a higher rate of psychotic episodes from the Santa Ana winds than from the full moon.It was not only the terrible wind that sounded like the roar of a monstrous hunter and the monsters he tracked, but also the majesty and strange electricity it brought from the desert, unlike other winds with higher humidity. Jo knew now why Rose pulled the lapels tight and cowered in them. Because tonight's mountain wind and the moon reveal a mysterious atmosphere of voodoo sect, which makes people feel a chill rushing down the spine - just think of a child with no father, no mother and no name, live In his iron coffin, he could enter the subconscious world of the victim without a trace. "Are we recording?" The kid knew about the cockpit voice recorder -- and he left a distress call. "One of them was called Dr. Runlouis, and the other was called Dr. Lankes. They did bad things to me. They spoiled me. Stop them. Tell them to stop hurting me." Whether he's a sociopath, a psycho, or a murderer, he's still just a kid.Even if he is a beast and a terrifying person, he is still a child after all.He didn't ask to be born, and if he was evil it was their doing.Instead of teaching him his worth as a human being, they used him as a weapon, rewarding him for killing.If he was a Beast, he was a Beast to be pitied, for they had made him wander so lost and alone in the maze of misery. Although it was pitiful, it was also terrifying, because he was still looking for the whereabouts of Douros and Nina. That's funny, the boy loves to kill, Joe guessed, and it's likely his scout didn't tell him to kill everyone on Flight 353.But he did it in a kind of disobedience, because as long as he liked it, there was nothing wrong with it. "Stop them, or I'll kill everyone, everyone, as soon as I get the chance... I'm going to do it, kill everyone, I'm happy." Recalling the sentences in the manuscript, Joe suddenly felt that the boy was not referring to the passengers on the crashed airliner.In fact, he had already decided to kill them all.The actions he planned to take in his words were probably more than those 330 lives. What would he have done if he had been shown photographs and associated geographic data of a complex nuclear missile launch site instead of a missile tracking facility? "My God!" Joe couldn't help exhaling softly. Somewhere tonight, Nina was waiting there, she was with a friend of Rose's, but would be vulnerable if not properly protected. Joe knocked on the bathroom door, calling Rose's name, but there was no response. He hesitated for a moment and knocked again. When he faintly heard Rose calling his name weakly, he pushed open the bathroom door, and saw Rose sitting on the edge of the toilet. He took it off, and threw the blouse, soaked in blood, on the sink. Joe didn't know she was bleeding, and the night and the sport coat kept Joe from noticing.He went into the bathroom and saw that she was holding a stack of wet wipes as a compress against the left pectoral muscle above her chest. "That shot on the beach," he said dully, "they hit you." "The bullet went through," she said. "The bullet hole in the back is very clean and complete. The blood doesn't flow so much anymore, and the pain is still unbearable...but I don't know why I am getting weaker and weaker?" "Internal bleeding," guessed Jo, barely looking at her as he examined the wound on her back. 'Oh, I know anatomy,' she said. " "The bullet may have hit the bone and it may have shattered. The fragments did not come out on the spot and went elsewhere." "I was very thirsty and wanted to drink some water from the tap. When I bent over, I almost passed out." "Say no more," said Joe, and his heart began to beat faster, "we've got to go to a doctor." "Take me to Nina." "Rose, what are you talking about—" "Nina can fix me." She looked away from Jo guiltily as she spoke. Joe said in amazement, "Cure you?" "Believe me, Nina can do what doctors can't, and no one on earth can do." At that moment, Joe at least knew a secret that Du Luosi had never revealed.But he didn't want to think about it right now. "Help me put my coat on, and we'll go right away, handing me into Nina's hands, her healing hands." Worryingly, Jo did as she was told.As she helped her dress, Jo remembered how huge she had felt when she first met Rose in the cemetery on Saturday morning, and how small she had felt at the moment. As she returned to the car, nestled in Joe's arms, Rose asked him if he could bring her something to drink. Joe ran to the vending machine in front of the gas station and bought a can of Coke and a can of orange juice. Before she took the drink, she gave Joe two things, a Polaroid photo of his family's cemetery, and a folded dollar bill.After the fourth digit of the banknote serial number is removed, it is the phone number that Mark can call for help in case of emergency. "Before you drive, I'm going to tell you how to find Big Bear's cabin—in case I can't make it there." "Don't be stupid, you can do it." "Listen," she said, returning to her commanding tone of charisma, and Jo listened carefully to her directions. "As for the 'Infinite Interface' people," she said, "I trust them, they're my allies—Nina too—as Mark said. Not because they came with them. But if we're not being followed, then the car is fine, maybe they're doing a good job with security. If things get too nasty and you have nowhere to go... They may be your last hope." Joe's chest was sore, and his throat was so hard that he couldn't speak, "I don't want to hear this again, I will bring you to Nina in time." Rose's right hand was shaking so badly now that Jo wondered if she could hold the orange juice.But she did it anyway, and drank hungrily. As Joe got on the freeway and was heading east, she said, "I never really hurt you, Joe." "you have not." "Though I did terrible things." Jo glanced at her, but dared not ask what she had done. "Don't hate me." "I don't hate you at all." "My motives are good. They don't. Of course, when I went to work on Project Ninety-Nine, I wasn't without flaws. But this time, my motives are good." Leaving Los Angeles, Joe headed for the dark mountains where Nina lived.Jo waited for Rose to tell him why he hated her. "So... let me tell you," she said, "the only really successful one about Project Ninety-Nine..." Now, we take one last glimpse of the hellish sixth basement, leave the boy in the containment, and take the elevator all the way up to the security guardhouse.In the southeast corner of the first floor, lived CCY-21-21. She was conceived a year later than 89-58.She doesn't belong to Dr. Bao's or Dr. Lan's plan, but to Durose.She was a lovely child, with a slender body, a fair face, fair hair, and blue-purple eyes.Although most of the orphans living here have only average intelligence.But the IQ of CCY-21-21 is unusually high.Even higher than 89-58, and she likes to study.She was a quiet child, graceful and lovable.But in the first three years after her birth, she did not show any superpowers. Then, on a May afternoon, the sun was shining brightly.She and other children play on the lawn in the orphanage.She found a blind sparrow with a broken wing, lying on the grass of a tree, flapping vigorously.When she held the sparrow in her hand, it was motionless.The girl cried and brought the sparrow to the nearest manipulator, asking him what to do.The sparrow was already very weak at this time, and was so frightened that it was paralyzed. It could only open its mouth slightly, but could not make any sound.There is nothing the controller can do.But the girl did not accept the fact that the bird was hopeless. She sat on the ground, held the bird with her left hand, stroked it with her right hand, and sang nursery rhymes. Miraculously recovered, the broken parts of the wings were firmly combined again, and the blind eyes were restored, and the bird sang and flew away. Since then, CCY-21-21 has become the focus of attention.Due to the nightmare of Project Ninety-nine, Du Luosi once wanted to commit suicide.At this moment, he was reborn like that bird.She returned to the laboratory from the depths of despair.In the next fifteen months, she began to concentrate on exploring the healing ability of 21-21.At first she couldn't manipulate it as she wanted, but month after month, she learned how to summon and control her natural abilities until she could use them well.In Plan Ninety-Nine, some patients who failed to respond to medicine were brought in for treatment, and their health recovered to a degree that they could not even believe.Several selected military and political tycoons and their family members were also secretly sent to this child for treatment if they were terminally ill.Some in Project Ninety-Nine considered 21-21 to be their crowning jewel.But there are others who think that 89-58, while having control issues, will end up being their most interesting and valuable asset. Fifteen months after the sparrow was cured, on a rainy day in August, a geneticist named Emers was stricken with pancreatic cancer, the deadliest disease. When they met, the little girl saw that besides the malignant tumor, he also had a disease that was not physical, but still debilitating.Perhaps because of what Ames had seen and heard in Project Ninety-Nine, everyone was just dust in the wind.Everyone knew that this kind of black thinking was worse than cancer, and this girl cured it.She allowed Emers not only to see the glory of God, but also let him see the strange space in the country outside our world. From then on, Emers became joyful and God-fearing, sometimes laughing, sometimes crying, and in the eyes of other people in the same room—Janice and Vincent—he seemed to be hysterical.After Emers stalked the girl, demanding to take Janice to the light he had seen, she cast her gifted power again. But Janice's reaction was different from Emersy's. She became inferior and fearful. She almost collapsed because of remorse. sad.Seeing her physical and mental pain, everyone around her was horrified. Rose was transferred, while Janice and Ames were isolated for observation and continued to follow up and evaluate.What the hell did that girl do?Emers looked like a harmless, but chattering, happy, crazy man. It was just that he was a serious scientist a few minutes ago, so he suddenly changed. Since Emers and Janice had markedly different reactions, this baffled Rose, as the little girl also became withdrawn and reticent.Rose had been with the girl in private for more than three hours before Rose found the astonishing explanation out of her.The girl also didn't understand why what she showed Emers and Janice would break them down so completely.And Janice's reaction is a mixture of happiness and masochistic behavior. The best way is for Rose to personally experience this little girl's wonderful journey to God.She asked the little girl to show it to her, and the little girl did, and everything changed forever.Because when the little girl's hand touched her, what she experienced was an indescribable sense of richness.It was as if endless joy had hit her, washing away all the misery and sorrow of her life.But she also felt very panic, because what she knew was not only the promise of a bright afterlife, but also a kind of expectation for her, hoping that she would work hard to practice it in the lifetime of this life and the worlds she travels.The reason she panics about such expectations is that she doesn't know if she can live up to them.Like Janice, she is sensitive to every act of baseness, cruelty, deceit and betrayal she has ever committed, while knowing that she is still selfish and brutal, so in her desire to move beyond her past When I was in my life, I couldn't help trembling at the hardships and hardships I would pay for it. When these visions disappeared, Rose found herself still in the girl's room as before.Undoubtedly, what she saw just now was all true, the closest to the truth and the purest form, not the delusion transmitted to her by the child through the power of the mind.For a full half an hour, she couldn't speak, she just held her face in her palm and kept trembling. She gradually understood that what happened here just now basically has two meanings, first: if this revelation can let everyone in the world know that once they see the world after death, it will still be mysterious, even There is still a bit of a scary world, so all the things that used to be considered important will become insignificant; there used to be only one path through darkness, but now there are roads of light.Second: Some people don't like the end of the old world order, and they are used to basing their power on the pain and humiliation of others.So it is impossible for them to accept this girl's innate ability, and they are even afraid of this girl and any promises she made, so they will either anesthetize her and put her in an airtight container for isolation, or simply kill her. She's as gifted as a messiah, but she's just mortal.She can restore wings to birds, restore sight to blind eyes, and remove cancer from patients whose causes are unknown.But she is not a short-lived angel, she is just a body of flesh and blood, and the precious power is only in the slender tissues in her head.If a bullet entered the back of her head, she would die like any other child, unable to heal herself.Though her soul will go to another realm, she will surely disappear from the troubled world that needs her so much.The world will not change, of course, and peace will not replace chaos, but there will be no end to loneliness and depression. Rose believes that the director of this project will choose to terminate the project.When they know what this little girl is capable of, they will kill her.Will kill her before nightfall. They wouldn't risk putting her in an airtight container, the boy only had the power to destroy, but 21-21 had the power to enlighten.The danger of the two of them together is immeasurable. They would shoot her dead, soak her body in gasoline and set her on fire.Afterwards, the charred bones were ground into ash. Rose must act, and quickly.The girl had to get out of here before they could destroy her, and go into hiding. "Joe?" Facing the starry sky, the black mountains seem to rise abruptly on the horizon at this moment. "Joe, I'm sorry." She said in a weak voice, "I'm sorry." They sped north on Route 30, only fifty miles from Big Bear. "Joe, are you all right?" He couldn't answer. "You firmly believe that the little girl with me is your Nina, then you will only believe the truth if I let you see it with your own eyes." For whatever purpose, she was still lying to him.Jo didn't understand why she continued to hide like this. She said: "After they found us in the restaurant, I needed your help, especially after I was robbed. But you still refused to open your heart and brain to accept the photos I gave you. You So... fragile. I'm afraid if you know that's really not your Nina, you'll... walk away. God forgive me, Jo, but I need you. Now that girl needs you too." Nina needed him, not the girl who had been born in the laboratory and could pass on her strange fantasies to other people and make them lose their minds, but Nina needed him. If he didn't trust Rose, who could he trust? "Go on," said Jo in a trembling voice. In room 21-21, Rose thought hard about how to get the girl out of the security guard system, which was stricter than a prison. The answer turned out to be both obvious and elegant. There were three exits on the first floor of the orphanage. Rose and the little girl held hands and walked towards the door connecting the main building, which led to the parking lot on the two adjacent floors. A guard with a gun watched them approach, with more confusion than suspicion on his face.Because the house children are not allowed to approach the garage even if they are under supervision. When 21-21 stretched out her little hand and said, "Shake hands." The guard smiled and cooperated with her, and then accepted her superpower.He sat down suddenly as if bewitched, trembling all by himself, weeping with joy, with extreme remorse, just like what Rose had just encountered in the girl's room. Press the button on the guard station and open the electronic lock on the door. It turns out that going out is such an easy task. Another guard, standing by the garage, was petrified by what he saw. She walked over to touch him, and the guard's next behavior would frighten him even more. The third guard was stationed at the exit of the garage. When he saw 21-21 sitting in Rose's car, he became alarmed.When he stretched out half of his body from the car window to ask for an explanation, the little girl touched his face. Two other armed men were stationed at the gate of the advertised road, the barrier lowered, and Virginia ahead. Escape would not be so easy this time around, and if they figured it out, they might shoot the girl in return if she offered her hand. But the trick worked again, and they were able to leave the area quickly.Once the planned security services know what happened to their five men, they will launch a search immediately, perhaps with the assistance of local as well as state and federal police forces.Rose drives wildly, going on a reckless rampage.She herself didn't know such a technology existed. 21-21 looked out of the car window, fascinated by the scenery of the countryside flying behind, and couldn't help saying: "Wow, it's so big outside." Rose smiled and said, "Honey, you haven't seen it yet." She knew that the word must be released as soon as possible, using the media to show the ability of 21-21 healing, and then show the little girl's greater magical talent, otherwise only the ignorant and dark will profit from the secret.Rose believes that unless the whole world knows her, hugs her, and stops her from being watched, 21-21 will never have a safe day. Her former boss will want them to separate as quickly as possible, and with great force. But their influence over the media is as great as the shadow of a cloud over the water of a pond.They will find her as soon as possible after she shows her face and before 21-21 is made public. Rose knows a journalist she trusts and will never give out, her college classmate Lisa, now working for the Los Angeles Post. Rose and the girl had to fly to Southern California, and the sooner the better.Plan Ninety-Nine is an adventurous plan that combines private companies and national defense units with other large government units. If they want to resist their combined forces, they will use them in the shortest possible time. All gear to find Rose and the girl. Trying to fly from Washington's Dulles or National Airports is out of the question.She considered Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York and Boston before choosing New York.The argument was that the more county and state lines she crossed, the safer she would be.So she drove to Hager, Maryland, and from there to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, without incident.Ride after ride, Rose grew concerned that a tracker was installed in her car and that no matter how far she drove from Manassas, she would be arrested.So in Harrisburg, she ditched the car and took the bus to New York with the girl. Rose felt safe when they boarded Air China Flight 353.As soon as the plane landed at Los Angeles airport, she would join Lisa and the people she had gathered.Then a series of media wars will break out. On the airline's passenger list, Rose wrote that she was married to a white man, and proved that 21-21 was her stepdaughter.On a whim, I named her Dumali.For the media, she is still preparing to adopt the code name CCY-21-21. Because this is similar to the code name of the concentration camp, it will make the public have a deeper impression of the characteristics of the Ninety-Nine Project, and immediately feel sympathy for the child.She knew that in the end it was necessary to give 21-21 an official name—this name would make this historic event unforgettable. They were seated across the aisle from a mother and her two daughters, Michelle, Kris and Nina. Nina, about the same age and height as 21-21, is playing a handheld phone game.Across the passage, 21-21 was attracted by the images and sounds on the small screen.After Nina noticed, she asked "Mary" to move with her to the two nearby empty seats.In this way, two people can play the game together.Rose hesitated a little, but she understood that the wisdom of 21-21 was far beyond her own age, and she knew that she should be cautious, so she agreed.This was the first time in 21-21's life that she wasn't playing in a building, and it was also her first real play. Nina is a very likeable, sweet and gregarious kid, and while 21-21 is a genius with freshman reading skills, a healer with miraculous abilities, and the hope of the world, she quickly Fascinated by Nina, wishing to be Nina, to be as cool as Nina, unconsciously, she began to imitate Nina's movements and speech. They took the late flight out of New York. After a few hours, Nina was sleepy. She hugged 21-21. With Michelle's permission, she gave the electric toy to her new friend, and then I went back to sit with my mother and sister, and soon fell asleep. 21-21 happily returned to Rose's side, holding the electric toy tightly to her chest, as if she regarded it as a priceless treasure.Now she didn't want to play with it, for fear of breaking it, she wanted to keep it forever as it was when Nina gave it to her. Lanling Lake Town is still far away from Big Bear Lake. Along the ridgeline to the west of it, passing through the wind-driven canyon, the road surface is piled up with pine needles, blown by the wind and hitting the windshield head-on. Joe refused to think about what the electric toys were suggesting, and hearing Rose's story made him a little angry.Joe knew he had no reason to be angry with the woman and the child with the concentration camp number, but he was still blue with anger, maybe because he knew how to deal with anger but not how to deal with sadness. Joe diverted the topic from the kid, "What role did Holilo play in this incident? Apart from owning a majority of Techno's shares, was he involved in Project Ninety-Nine?" "It's a bastard with a good political and business relationship like him... the wave of the future." She held the Pepsi between her knees and used her right hand to grab the tab but she barely had the strength to pull it away. "The wave of the future...unless Nina...unless she changes everything." "Big business, big government, big media—now they're all one monster, united to exploit us, aren't they? That's my extreme." The aluminum can rattled against her teeth, and a drop of Pepsi dripped down her chin. "They only care about power and nothing else, they don't believe in . . . good and evil. " "To them, it's all just incidents." Although she had just taken a swig of Coke, her throat still sounded dry. "The significance of these events..." "...It depends on what angle you look at it from." Joe was still sulking because Rose insisted on disagreeing with his belief that Nina was alive.But he couldn't bear to watch her become weaker.He blinked and looked at the road ahead as the pine needles rained down.Joe stepped on the accelerator and accelerated away as fast as he dared. The soda can slipped from her hand and rolled under her seat, splashing Coke all over. "Joe, I'm a little bit overwhelmed." "It won't be long." "I'm going to tell you what happened when the plane went down." Accelerating all the way down from a high altitude, the engine roared, the wings rattled, the fuselage shook violently, and the screaming passengers were pressed against their seats by the acceleration of gravity, unable to even raise their heads.Some people are praying, some people are vomiting, weeping, cursing, calling God's various names, calling for lovers who are far away in the sky or close at hand.Falling from that height was like falling forever from the moon—and Rose was surrounded by blue, silent bright blue.She flies like a bird, except that there is no black earth under her feet, only the boundless blue around her.There is no sensation of movement, neither cold nor hot.She is in the center of a blue ball with no gaps on all sides.Suspended there, waiting.She took a deep breath into her lungs, tried to exhale but couldn't, until—she exhaled the breath with a roar, and found herself in the grassland. 21-21 was beside her, unconscious and unable to move.The forests on all sides were on fire, consuming the twisted fragments of wreckage.The entire grassland is like an indescribable morgue, and the 747 airliner is gone. At that last moment, the girl used the fullest force of her gifts and abilities to move them from the doomed plane to another place, a space outside of time and space.They stayed in that mysterious sanctuary for a moment of terrible and devastating upheaval.After this strenuous fight, 21-21's whole body was cold, trembling and unable to speak.The firelight around her was reflected in her eyes and looked extraordinarily bright.她无法走动，甚至站不起来，所以萝丝只好将她从座椅中扶起，紧紧抱着她。 “为黑夜中粉身碎骨的死者哀泣，为这场屠杀恐惧得战栗不已，为自己的幸存而深感惊异。萝丝百感交集，只能抱着小女孩站在那里，一动也不动地举步维艰。然后她想起旅客舱的闪烁灯光，和当时自己手表乱转的指针。她敢确定驾驶员是”湿答答任务“的受害者。这让她警觉到必须尽快离开此地，从四面着火的丛树中，走进洒满月光的树林里，在杂草间乱窜，后来沿着一条兽径来到另一片草原。这时，她们见到”自由交换“牧场的灯光。 当她们抵达牧场大宅时，这女孩已复元许多了，但仍不太正常。她已能下来行走，但仍旧显得呆滞、沉默和冷淡。 在接近屋子时，萝丝告诉21－21，要记得她的名字叫杜马莉。但21－21回答说：“我的名字叫妮娜，我想变成她。” 那是她说的最后两句话，坠机后的那段时间，在箩丝的保护下，小女孩一天睡十二到十四个小时。醒来后，对任何东西都不感兴趣。一坐就是好几个小时凝望着窗外，或是故事书的图片，或是视而不见的一个人呆坐着。她没有食欲，体重一直在减轻，苍白又脆弱，连那一对紫蓝色的眼眸都失去了光彩。显然这是因为她将自己和萝丝从那蓝色的空间移进移出，使她元气大伤了，或许还差点让她送命了。妮娜再也没展露过什么超能力了，这使萝丝深觉沮丧。 到了圣诞节快来的时候，妮娜似乎又对周围的世界开始恢复了兴趣，她再度看起电视读起书来。过了冬天，她睡得少，吃得多，皮肤又恢复了光采，眼睛的颜色也明显深许多了。她仍不说话，但与人交往的情形改善了。梦丝每天跟她谈她所能做的好事，和她所能带给别人的希望，藉以不断鼓励她，让她能从自我放逐中回到现实世界。 房间里有一个她们两人共用的五斗柜，她放了一张洛杉矾邮报在里面。头版新闻就是国家航空三五三号班机的悲惨消息。这应该有助于提醒她，敌人是多么的疯狂与邪恶。 发生空难后的十一个月，也就是七月的某一天，她发现妮娜坐在床沿，手上的报纸摊开在登着罹难者照片的那一版。小女孩正用手摸着乔妮娜的照片，脸上露出了微笑。 萝丝坐在她身边，问她是否因为想起失去的朋友而感到悲伤。 小女孩摇摇头，然后拉着萝丝的手去碰触照片。当萝丝的指尖接触到报纸的一瞬间，她跌在一片亮蓝的空间里，与飞机撞毁前那一刹那，她被移送过去的庇护所没什么两样，只是这里充满了温暖与感情。 通灵人长久以来就宣称他们可以感应到一般物体被人们接触后残余的能量，他们有时靠着手待被害人遇害时所穿的衣着，就能协助警方找到凶手。邮报上的能量与这很相似但并不相同，它不是由妮娜所留下的，而是经意志力而灌注在报纸上的。 萝丝觉得自己像是一头栽进蓝色的大海里，海中有许多在游泳的人，但她却看不见他们，只能感觉到四周有人在飘动。然后有一个人游过来，经过萝丝身边时，与她构成了连系。她知道她就是乔妮娜，那个歪着嘴笑的小女孩。她已去世了，但很安全。已经去世，但并不是永远消失。她快乐地生活在亮蓝空间之外某个地方，那并不是一个真正的空间，而是一种存在状态的界面。 就像她第一次在孤儿院的房间里，知道有来生时一样，萝丝深受感动。她将手自乔妮娜的照片上抽回来，她静静地坐在那里片刻，然后将她的妮娜紧紧拥入怀里，一言不发地摇晃着她。 如今这奇特小女孩的能力恢复了，萝丝知道她们必须要怎么做，而且知道该从何处着手她们的工作。她不再冒险去找丽莎，她不相信她的老友会出卖她，但她怀疑由于丽莎和邮报的关系，再经邮报到何尼泊——九十九号计划的人，所以才知道她在三五三号班机上。如今萝丝和妮娜都被认为已经死亡，她们正好可以利用这一点来活动，而不致于引起敌人的注意。 首先萝丝要求小女孩，结几个掩护了她们十一个月的朋友施展她的能力，让这些人见到永生的世界，然后他们将和三五三号班机罹难者的丈夫、妻子、父母或孩子们有所接触。将他们所爱的亲人现在身在不死境界的影像带给他们。 如果运气好的话，他们会在被发现之前，已将这信息广为散播。 萝丝想从乔开始着手，但是找不到他。邮报的同仁都和他失去了联络。他卖掉了在影城的房子，电话也没登记。他们说他是个破产的人，已经跑去寻死了。 因此，她必须从别处着手。 因为邮报所刊登的照片，只有部分是住在南加州的罹难者，而且她也投办法获得其他人的照片。萝丝决定不采用肖像，而根据丧葬业者所发的通告，来寻找他们埋葬的地点，摄取他们墓地的照片。这似乎很管用，照片里的是墓碑，接受照片的人，经由这些花岗石和铜版，会了解到死亡并不可怕，超越了这个悲苦的阶段后，死亡本身自会消灭。 离大熊湖还有二十里路，杜萝丝微弱的声音，几乎都被引擎声压过了。“乔，你愿意握住我的手吗？” 乔不能看她，不愿意也不敢看她。因为他此刻忽然孩子气地迷信起来。他相信只要他没亲眼证实她说的可怕事实，她就会好转起来，完全康复。但他还是看了。她是如此地娇小，颓然地陷在椅子里，斜倚着车门，头靠着窗子。在他眼里她是如此地瘦小，即使在仪表板微弱的灯光下，她表情生动的大眼睛，又露出他初次在墓园见到她时，那种令人无法抗拒的眼神，充满了同情与仁慈，还闪烁着一丝喜悦，令乔觉得很害怕。 他的声音抖得比萝丝还厉害。“已经不远了。” “太远了，”她轻声地说，“握住我的手。” “噢，狗屎。” “没关系，乔。” 公路的路肩在一处风景休息区突然变得开阔。他将车停在前面一片漆黑景色的地方。乔解开他的安全带，握住她的手，觉得她的握力好虚弱。 “她需要你，乔。” “我只是个无名小卒，萝丝。” “你得把她藏起……藏得远远的。” "Rose—" “给她时间……她的力量在增长。” “我没办法救任何人。” “我不该这么快就开始工作的……应该等到……她不那么容易受伤害的时候。把她藏起来……让她力量增加，当时候到了……她会知道。” 她开始松开握住他的手。 乔用两掌合住她的手，紧抓着不让它滑走。 萝丝的声音愈来愈模糊，她虽然没动，可是却觉得她逐渐远离。“敞开……敞开你的心来对待她，乔。” 她的眼皮眨动着。 “萝丝，拜托不要。” "it does not matter." “拜托不要。” “待会儿再见。” “拜托。 “待会儿见。” 乔孤独地坐在黑暗中，紧握着萝丝的小手。山风在唱着挽歌，地俯下身，亲吻她的眉。 萝丝告诉过他前往的方向，那小木屋既不是在大熊湖的市区内，也不是在湖畔，而是高踞在北边山坡上的松林里，表面龟裂，到处是坑洞的柏油路，通往一条泥土路的车道，车道的尽头，就是那栋水瓦屋顶的白色木屋。 木屋旁停了一辆绿色的吉普车，乔将车停在吉普车的后面。 小木屋的门廊很深，而且是升高起来的。三张藤背的摇椅并排地置于门廊上。一个长相英俊、身材高大且健壮的黑人，站立在栏杆边。门廊天花板上两个灯泡发出晕黄的光，照在他黑檀木似的皮肤上，泛出古铜般的色泽。 那女孩站在第一阶的阶梯上等候，她有着金色的头发，大约六岁。 从驾驶座的底下，乔找回那把在海边一场混战之后，从白发说故事者手中得到的手枪。他下了车，将枪塞在牛仔裤的腰带下，走到台阶前。 那小女孩已往下走了两阶，她向乔身后的福特车望去，知道发生了什么事。 门廊上的黑人开始哭泣。 一年以来，这小女孩第一次开口说话。她凝视着车子，只说了一个字“妈！”声音既细小又微弱。 她的发型和妮娜一样，两人都是细骨架。但她的眼睛却不是灰色的。不论乔如何努力地把她想像成妮娜的脸，他都没办法骗自己她就是他的女儿。 但他又开始他的追寻行为，开始寻找他永远失去的亲人。 天上的月亮是个贼，它本身不发光，它的光来自太阳的反射。这小女孩也是个贼，她不是妮娜，只是妮娜的投射。 她发出的不是妮娜耀眼的光芒，而是苍白的火焰。 不管她是否只不过是实验室孕育出来，有着异能的变种，抑或是全世界真正的希望。此刻，乔莫名地恨极了她，也恨自己竟会如此地恨她。