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墨書 Inktalez
The footsteps grew closer.
No, rather than footsteps, it was more like echoes. The same sound reverberated down the corridor, as if coming from all directions, yet the source remained elusive.
"This isn't real," Doctor Zhang suddenly said. "These sounds are generated by the system."
She struggled to pull a third USB drive from her lab coat pocket. "This is what matters most. The truth of the entire experiment is here."
"What experiment?"
"The Time Folding Experiment," she gasped. "Do you know why every day lasts just three minutes? Because it's not a system reset; it's a true time loop. They are trying to completely replicate a specific segment of time."
I was stunned. "How is that possible?"
"Quantum Computing," she said with a bitter smile. "We are not just building an organ bank; we are creating a system that can manipulate time. If successful, they could perfectly conceal any surgery or crime within that replicated time segment."
At the end of the corridor, a figure suddenly appeared.
It was Doctor Zhang.
To be precise, it was another Doctor Zhang.
She wore the same lab coat, had the same wound on her shoulder, and looked at us with the same expression.
Then came a second, a third...
"Time Fragment," the real Doctor Zhang said. "The experiment has developed cracks. Those who have disappeared were all caught in the seams of time."
"So Director Li and the others..."
"That's right, they are all trapped in this replicated time. Alive, but forever looping in that Three Minutes."
The monitoring room was just ahead. But now, at least six Doctor Zhang stood between us and the monitoring room.
"Listen." She handed me three USB Drives. "The first one is evidence, the second one is the source code, and the third..." She took a deep breath, "The third one is to shut down the program. It can only terminate everything when run on the main host in the monitoring room."
"And you?"
She gave a strange smile. "I want to meet myself."
Before I could react, she charged toward those "selves."
The situation instantly became chaotic. Identical Doctor Zhangs were grappling with each other, and I couldn't tell who was real. But this gave me an opportunity.
I dashed toward the monitoring room.
Behind me came Director Wang's furious shout: "Stop him!"
But it was too late. I burst into the monitoring room and quickly locked the door. I opened the computer and plugged in the USB Drives one by one.
The first USB Drive automatically began uploading data, and I saw a massive amount of surgical records and financial transactions being transferred to some encrypted server.
The second USB Drive displayed the entire system architecture. Shockingly, this was not just a monitoring system; it was clearly a vast Quantum Computing Matrix. The entire hospital was a supercomputer, and Underground Level Three was its Core Processor.
There were sounds of banging outside the door.
I immediately inserted the third USB Drive. A line of text popped up on the screen:
"Confirm termination of Time Folding Experiment? This will cause all Time Fragments to reorganize. Warning: The reorganization process is irreversible and may lead to severe consequences."
Another loud bang echoed, and the doorframe began to warp.
I glanced at the time: 03:32:57.
The next cycle was about to begin.
"I'm sorry." I pressed Enter.
The lights in the entire hospital went out in an instant. When the emergency lights flickered on, I was met with a shocking sight:
On the previously empty surveillance screens, dozens of figures suddenly appeared. They were the medical staff who had vanished over the years, now standing bewildered throughout the hospital as if they had just awakened from a dream.
Director Li appeared in the pharmacy, Doctor Wang stood in the operating room, and Nurse Xiao Lin was frozen in the corridor on the twelfth floor...
They had all returned.
But at what cost?
The alarm blared, and the whole hospital began to shake violently. I opened the door to find only Doctor Zhang lying on the floor of the corridor.
"You did it," she said weakly, "but I'm afraid I can't come back with them."
"Why not?"
"Because I was a Time Fragment from the very beginning." She forced a bitter smile. "The real Zhang Yingxue died six years ago while trying to stop this experiment. I am merely a projection left behind in the cracks of time, driven by her will, always searching for a way to end this."
Her body began to grow transparent.
"But at least, we did it."
This was her final words. She vanished as if she had never existed.
Three days later, the police intervened in the investigation. Director Wang and others involved were arrested. Most of those who returned had lost their memories of the past years, but at least they were still alive.
I compiled a comprehensive report detailing the entire incident. However, I chose to keep the section about Doctor Zhang confidential.
Sometimes, the truth is more unbelievable than a lie.
A month later, I submitted my resignation letter. On my last day, I checked the surveillance system one last time.
03:33:00.
There was nothing unusual in the footage.
But I swear, at the edge of one camera's view, I seemed to see a familiar figure. She adjusted her gold-rimmed glasses, smiled at the camera, and then turned to disappear down the hallway.
I turned off the monitor.
Some cycles are destined to be eternal.
[The End]
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