Chapter Three: The Watch (Part One)
The scorching sensation coursing through Xian Ran had utterly deprived him of his faculties. He clenched his neck tightly, writhing in agony upon the ground, oblivious to the perilously looming severed electrical cable.
Amidst Xian Ran's convulsions, the cable wound around him in several coils. The sparking tip of the cable fortuitously landed on the wound inflicted by the zombie's claw, transmitting a furious surge of electrical energy through his form. He experienced an all-encompassing numbness and excruciating pain.
"Ah... Ah... Ah..." Xian Ran cried out, his eyes bloodshot, his mouth agape with anguish, veins bulging prominently on his forehead, his body trembling violently.
"I do not wish to perish, nor to metamorphose into a zombie. I yearn to persist, I must persist." This, indeed, was Xian Ran's ultimate cogitation before succumbing to unconsciousness.
...
Upon rousing from his stupor, Xian Ran found the daylight already ablaze. Unaware of the duration of his unconsciousness, he discerned that the searing sensation that had enshrouded his entire being had dissipated. The electrical cable seemed bereft of any vitality, dangling limply like a deceased serpent around him. He swiftly tore away the cable, rent his tattered attire asunder, and discovered that the elongated bloodstain on his chest had vanished entirely, leaving naught but a faint white impression. Similarly, the dozen or so wounds adorning his arms had vanished without a trace.
"Was I not electrocuted? Why do I find myself unscathed now?" Xian Ran's ruminations were clouded, yet the surroundings validated the veracity of his recollections. Nonetheless, he remained befuddled as to why his wounds had healed with such alacrity. And why had the cable been stripped of its electrical charge?
"Am I presently human, or have I transmuted into a zombie?" Another query surfaced in Xian Ran's ruminations. Nevertheless, his faculties remained intact for the time being, devoid of any inclination to feast upon flesh and blood. He deduced that he had likely successfully endured the virus's incubation period, thus retaining his humanity, untransformed into a zombie.
Assured of his unscathed state, Xian Ran's spirits soared. He commenced scrutinizing the environs. The foremost object to catch his gaze was the miniature electric cooler he had earlier discarded nearby.
"What libation did I imbibe ere?" Xian Ran lifted the diminutive receptacle for scrutiny. It lay vacant within, save for a recess accommodating test tubes. However, a series of diminutive characters inscribed upon the box's flank captured Xian Ran's attention.
"Tianhe Biological Gene Pharmaceuticals Company." Xian Ran was familiar with this enterprise. It stood as a potent bastion of high technology, shored up by the upper echelons of the Asian Federation, the American Union, and the European Union. Its robust business portfolio extended into agriculture, medicine, and military domains. Upon his graduation, Xian Ran had harbored aspirations of joining its ranks, yet it exclusively recruited doctoral scholars from prestigious institutions. Individuals such as Xian Ran, hailing from third-rate universities, scarcely dared entertain such aspirations.
"Peculiar. An enterprise of such renown maintains branches solely in metropolises. How then, do its employees find themselves in such a remote backwater?" Xian Ran pondered. Whilst thus engaged in cogitation, his digit inadvertently brushed against a segment of the box, eliciting a faint click. The bottom of the box receded slowly to one side, unveiling a concealed compartment.
"Is this receptacle double-layered?" With a modicum of curiosity and skepticism, Xian Ran peered within. Nestled within the compartment lay a silver electronic LCD watch, outwardly indistinguishable from a conventional timepiece, save for its marginally enlarged LCD display.
"What marque of timepiece is this, appearing so pedestrian?" Xian Ran retrieved the timepiece for closer examination, yet discerned no insignia denoting its manufacturer. Merely the reverse bore the engraving "77." The functionalities exhibited on the screen proved exceedingly rudimentary: year, month, day, hour, minute, and second. However, perplexingly, neither the dial nor the watch's periphery harbored any buttons for manipulation.
"Wherefore did I slumber for so protracted a duration?" Xian Ran muttered introspectively. Gauging from the time exhibited on the screen, he had languished in a state of coma for no less than two days. The absence of any zombies traversing the locale during this interlude was a stroke of extraordinary fortune.
The functionalities of this timepiece proved distressingly rudimentary, bereft even of a rudimentary alarm function, let alone the advanced features of GPS localization. Nevertheless, some semblance of utility was preferable to none. The timepiece wielded by Xian Ran's erstwhile cadre boasted a mechanical mechanism at best; its longevity, however, remained indeterminate.
Xian Ran gestured to affix the timepiece to his wrist, endeavoring to ascertain the compatibility of its girth. Yet, as the dial made contact with Xian Ran's integument, the twin metallic straps snapped together audibly, ensnaring Xian Ran's wrist in a vice-like grip. Simultaneously, two rows of hollow probes protruded from either side of the strap, plunging fiercely into Xian Ran's flesh, and viscous crimson blood trickled along the probes toward the dial.
"Accursed contrivance!" Experiencing the onset of agony, Xian Ran unleashed a vehement diatribe. He perceived himself as a veritable imbecile, ensnared by the euphoria of rebirth, his vigilance sorely blunted. How could he have been so remiss? This accursed timepiece had nearly consigned him to death by juxtaposition with the reagent. It was assuredly no ordinary timepiece. His befuddled state had driven him to contemplate donning it. And now, the timepiece had commenced its sanguinary feast.
Xian Ran assayed myriad methodologies in a bid to extricate the timepiece. Alas, no exertion availed him; the twin straps remained steadfastly ensnared, whilst the probes remained steadfastly lodged in his flesh, as though having taken root upon his wrist. He retrieved a stone from the ground to shatter the dial, yet the screen's hardness sufficed to exasperate tempered glass; despite his protracted endeavors, it remained unscathed.
After a brief interval, the timepiece, having seemingly sated its thirst for Xian Ran's lifeblood, retracted the two rows of probes autonomously. The numerical time display upon the timepiece vanished suddenly, flickering akin to a television set bereft of signal. After several seconds, the screen reverted to its former state, presenting several lines of minuscule Chinese characters and numerical digits.
Identifier: Test Subject 77
Classification: Psionic Prodigy
Tier: Novice
Strength: 13
Agility: 14
Constitution: 14
Mental Acuity: 25
Surveying the screen of the timepiece, which resembled the character sheet of an RPG game, Xian Ran's countenance registered astonishment. He