Elegy from Another World

The Ringband lurched violently as it crossed the World Barrier, as if it had crashed into a viscous liquid. Outside the porthole, the void of darkness had vanished, replaced by a bizarre and surreal digital space—countless distorted streams of code drifted like colorful mayflies, and in the distance, massive, deformed data structures were visible, some resembling abandoned cities, others like writhing viral aggregates. This was the T-917 world, a dangerous breeding ground for computer worms.

We navigated cautiously for some time, avoiding several obviously unstable data storm zones, and finally arrived at the agreed coordinates. It was a relatively calm void, with a small platform made of pure energy floating in the center.

The Ring Belt slowly approached and landed. On the platform, a figure was waiting, completely out of place in this chaotic data environment—it was Mia Reilly, the data healer mentioned in the documents.

She hovered half a foot above the ground, appearing exactly like the description of an elven girl from a fantasy world. Her long, light golden hair cascaded down her back, a bow in her hair swaying gently, and her pointed ears twitched slightly, as if sensing her surroundings. Her large, blue-green eyes curiously observed the Ring, a strangely shaped vessel of metal and flesh. A deep blue dress and a white shawl made her appear pure and innocent, and the pair of translucent wings on her back emitted a soft glow.

Noreljon's magical doll strode out of the hatch first, its scarlet electronic eyes scanning Mia Leili up and down, letting out a sneer with a metallic scraping sound: "Tsk, waited so long, thought it was some powerful character, but... you're so small."

Mia Reilly's polite smile instantly puffed out, and two small flames ignited in her blue-green eyes: "So what if I'm small?! Being small doesn't mean I'm incapable! My data healing ability was personally praised by Dr. Scranton!"

"Oh?" Noreljung seemed intrigued, deliberately gesturing with her mechanical fingers to indicate her size, her tone full of mockery, "So tiny, it looks like a little bug that you could crush with your bare hands."

"You!" Mia Leili was so angry that her wings trembled and her face turned bright red.

"Noriljohn!" I immediately called out, stepping between them. "We're not here to argue, we're here for medical help." I turned to Mia Reilly, trying to make my tone as calm as possible. "Ms. Mia Reilly, I apologize for my companion's offensive words. Would you please come aboard our ship to examine the patient?"

Mia Reilly glared angrily at Noreljon, but nodded nonetheless and followed us into the Ringbelt. Upon reaching the medical bay, she looked intently at the unconscious Zoymem and Kave. She gently hovered above them, extending her small, white hands to place on Zoymem's forehead and Kave's sword hilt, respectively.

A faint green aura emanated from her palm, flowing like data and slowly seeping into Zoimem and Kawi's bodies. Her eyes also glowed green, as if she were reading extremely complex information. The entire process was quiet and eerie, with only a faint hum of energy.

A few minutes later, the green light faded, and Mia Reilly withdrew her hand, her expression serious: "I've investigated. The root cause of their coma is that a part of the underlying access code that forms the core of their consciousness activated a forced hibernation protocol because it was separated from the 'master's' remote connection and control."

"Master?" Yi Sen didn't react for a moment.

But I immediately understood, and a chill ran through me: "It's those 'player representatives'?"

"That's one way to understand it," Mia Leili nodded. "Under their original world rules, this part of the code was like a dog on a chain. Now that the chain has broken, the dog doesn't know what to do, so it just lies down and goes to sleep."

"Can this hibernation be lifted?" I asked eagerly.

“Theoretically, it’s possible; we can just bypass or overwrite that permission code,” Mia Reilly said, shrugging her hands. “But I don’t have enough equipment right now. I need to go somewhere where Dr. Scranton’s ‘Deep Coding Intervention’ is located.”

She provided a new coordinate, but then warned, "Be careful, it's not safe there. There's a... 'daemon' there that might attack you."

Norrelljung's electronic eyes immediately flashed with suspicion: "A new location? A danger zone? Little one, are you playing us? Leading us into a trap?"

"I didn't!" Mia Reilly jumped a little higher in anger, her little fists clenched. "I swear on my name, Mia Reilly!"

"Mia Leili?" Noreljun scoffed. "Who knows where that name comes from? Based on your empty promises?"

I watched as Mia Reilly's eyes reddened with grievance, her large blue-green eyes instantly brimming with tears. Her little mouth trembled, and she burst into tears with a loud "Waaah!" "Waaah... Why won't you believe me! I really wanted to help you! Then... then I promise you in the name of Dr. Scranton! Is that alright?!"

Honestly, her angry, anxious, and tearful appearance was so cute that it made people want to pinch her cheeks, and even had a strange urge to bully her (perhaps this is what is called "cuteness invasion").

"Noriljohn!" I pressed my forehead, feeling a bit of a headache. "Have you been cooped up on the Dreil for too long and gotten so bored that you've started 'flirting' with strange young girls for fun? We're pressed for time."

Noreljung's mechanical head tilted, its crimson eyes flashing: "Better safe than sorry. Who knows if this little thing is a virus in disguise?"

"The Ring-belt has a simple symbiotic network that can provide preliminary verification of whether the life forms and data entities are lying." I turned to Mia Reilly. "Ms. Mia, in order to gain your trust, could you please temporarily access our network? It's just a harmless authentication process."

Mia Reilly sniffed, looking at the neural tentacles with tiny suction cups extending from the control panel. She was clearly frightened, shrinking back slightly. But after a moment's hesitation, she mustered her courage, closed her eyes, and let the tentacles gently adhere to her temples.

After a brief connection, I quickly browsed her surface, non-core memory fragments through the symbiotic network (I had no intention of invading her privacy, only performing a security check). Flashbacks appeared: Dr. Scranton, in a white coat with a blurred face, working in front of complex instruments; Mia Reilly, in a medical uniform, carefully manipulating data streams to heal injured digital life forms; the doctor telling her, "...to help those confused consciousnesses..."; and her deep respect and trust for the doctor.

It was indeed a member of a medical team belonging to a certain doctor, and no malicious code or virus characteristics were detected.

I disconnected and nodded to her: "It's confirmed. Sorry to have startled you. We believe you."

Mia Leili breathed a sigh of relief, wiped away her tears, and her wings began to flutter gently again.

"Alright, let's not delay." I walked to the driver's seat. "Let's set off now to the coordinates you provided."

The Ring rose into the air again, and the flesh-and-blood aggregate at the center of the ring stirred slightly, as if it too sensed the unknown danger ahead. We headed deeper into the virus incubation field, towards the place where hope of a cure might lie.