Chapter Six: Greetings, Earthlings

At this thought, Lan Tian paid no mind to the shower gel still lathered on his body. He rushed naked out of the bathroom in a panic.

When he confirmed that the nightstand was truly empty, he was utterly stunned.

What was going on?!

He was certain he’d placed the mysterious crystal on the nightstand last night—how could it have vanished without a trace?

In that moment, several memories flickered through his mind: placing the crystal on the nightstand, the workers installing the security door that afternoon, the workers leaving after finishing the installation, and finally, the casual glance he cast before stepping out.

He was positive that before leaving, he had seen the mysterious crystal lying quietly on the nightstand. How could it have disappeared after a single trip out?

Lan Tian scanned the room. Nothing else in the rental apartment was missing, nor were there any signs of intrusion. It didn’t seem like a theft, yet the crystal alone was gone.

He began to sweat with anxiety. He had pinned all his hopes on that crystal bringing him some sort of surprise. Now, not only was the surprise gone, but the crystal itself had vanished...

Yet he wasn’t someone to give up easily. Clinging to a sliver of hope, he ignored the foam still covering his body and began to search every corner of the apartment.

Bathroom—nothing!

Bedroom—nothing!

Kitchen—nothing!

After turning the entire place upside down, he slumped down in defeat. At last, he had to admit the truth: the mysterious crystal was truly gone...

Beep.

For a long while, the apartment was silent except for Lan Tian’s own heavy breathing—until an electronic chime suddenly sounded. He looked toward the source and, to his astonishment, saw that his old desktop computer—which he hadn’t used in ages—had powered itself on with no one at the controls!

Could it be... haunted?

A chill ran down Lan Tian’s spine. When he went to check, he saw the computer genuinely was running...

What in the world?!

His nerves only frayed further when, even though there was no movement from the mouse, the cursor on the screen began to dart about on its own.

Lan Tian felt ice cold all over as he watched the computer screen erupt with countless pop-up windows and a bewildering array of websites. He could swear on his life that this wasn’t some virus—there was something supernatural going on with his computer!

Given how fast the computer was responding, and the sheer speed at which the websites were opening, it was performing far beyond its hardware’s capabilities—by a factor of a thousand! Even the latest supercomputers probably couldn’t open thousands of websites at once, let alone on his meager 4-megabit mobile broadband connection, and with zero delay!

As time passed, the changes on the monitor accelerated. Soon, everything was happening so quickly that his eyes couldn’t keep up; the screen flashed with a kaleidoscope of color, so fast he couldn’t make out any content at all.

Lan Tian felt he should do something, that he couldn’t just sit and watch this bizarre spectacle unfold. But he quickly realized he was powerless to stop it. Even after pulling the power plug, the computer stubbornly continued to operate!

Unbelievable... No power, yet it’s still running? Whoever’s behind this, I swear I haven’t done anything wrong... Please, if there’s a spirit here, don’t take it out on me... Clasping his hands together, Lan Tian muttered a silent prayer.

Nothing happened. The computer kept running.

After a while, seeing his prayers had no effect, Lan Tian gave up. He simply sat there, naked, watching the computer do its thing. He wanted to see what would happen next.

Eventually, the monitor suddenly went black. When it lit up again, all the usual interface elements were gone—replaced by an endless cascade of zeroes and ones streaming across the screen.

So, after websites, now it’s playing with code? Lan Tian was speechless. Go ahead then—let’s see what you’ve got up your sleeve!

Fortunately, he adapted quickly. Since nothing bad seemed to be happening to him, and he hadn’t suffered any harm, his fear gradually faded. At worst, his computer would be fried—not that he cared, since he’d already planned on replacing the old desktop. No longer afraid, he simply waited patiently.

In fact, he started to feel a twinge of anticipation. The fright had rattled him at first, but now, thinking it through, the computer’s bizarre behavior probably had everything to do with the missing mysterious crystal!

At last, after he took a moment to finish rinsing off in the bathroom, the computer’s activity ceased, and the screen went dark in an instant.

What? That’s... it? Lan Tian fiddled with the now-unresponsive computer, exasperated. He’d half expected some line to pop up on the screen—“Hello, Earthling”—but instead, it just shut down with no fanfare?

Unwilling to give up, he plugged in the power again and restarted the machine.

Response speed—normal...

Websites—normal...

Download speed—about 400KB/s, matching his 4-megabit connection—normal...

Everything about the computer was back to normal, but that was the most abnormal thing of all!

Was all that lightning-fast speed and bandwidth just a hallucination?

Still refusing to accept it, he unplugged the power cord once more, anxiously watching the screen...

The monitor immediately went dark...

What the hell?! Isn’t it supposed to stay on? So all those strange happenings were just a prank at my expense?

He thought he’d struck it rich—gained some kind of supercomputer and was about to dominate the digital world—but he’d only stepped out for a shower, and now everything was back to normal...

Are you kidding me?!

At this point, Lan Tian felt as if a thousand adorable animals were stampeding through his heart. The frustration was beyond words.

A popular online joke came to mind, perfectly matching his current mix of emotions:

I’ve already taken my pants off, and this is all you have to show me?!

Furious, he kicked the computer tower, sending it skidding across the floor. But just then, something unexpected happened.

From the powerless case, a wisp of white smoke began to rise. Strangely, the smoke didn’t dissipate, but hovered in the air, gradually coalescing into a solid form.

Lan Tian stared, wide-eyed and unblinking, at the material taking shape. His heart leaped with joy. Even though only a small part was solid so far, he could already tell—the substance forming from the smoke was unmistakably the mysterious crystal!

What was this crystal, truly? When solid, it was so hard even a hammer couldn’t scratch it. Now transformed into smoke, it could merge into a computer’s chassis and directly operate the machine!

Are you serious? How could something like this exist?!

As the crystal finished coalescing, the scene shifted once again, the eerie suspense giving way to a sudden burst of science fiction.

The crystal hovered in midair, its surface abruptly erupting with a screen of light that spread outward. Before Lan Tian’s eyes, a three-dimensional hologram of a man—bearing a strong resemblance to Lan Tian himself—suddenly materialized and smiled at him.

Then, in the next instant, Lan Tian was nearly petrified. The figure, whose face mirrored his own, moved its lips and, in his exact voice and perfect pronunciation, spoke:

“As you wished—hello, Earthling.”