Returning Home
Su Ting sat on the bed and seethed for a few minutes more before she finally got up.
Behind the private screen was a room full of cubed offices. It was empty, but she still inwardly cursed that pervert's hobbies. She held her collar with one hand and her pants in the other when she searched for a bathroom. She wandered down several hallways without luck. Not a bathroom nor a soul in sight. The whole building was probably empty.
"Master, would you like me to direct you to the nearest WC?"
Su Ting paused. She forgot biochips had this function. In fact, she skipped learning about a lot of them in the first place. She asked how it knew.
He Ku explained that it was part of the building's security and protection system. When buildings are built fire escapes and earthquake protections are taken note of in the system. The contractors can also include general points of interest. This may include bathrooms, vending machines, and elevators or stairways for guests. For members or company employees, they may have access to a more intricate 'points of interest map'. Rooms like the copy room or janitorial closet, break rooms, office sections, and so on. Many companies even track the rooms the employees are entering at certain times. This has helped avoid office hook-ups or sneaking a break during work hours. Although, as humans are beings that hate authority, this may be refused by some companies or employees. Or finding hacks to get around it. No matter what era, humans will always have such tendencies.
Once she was cleaned up she left the building. The door slid open when she came to the entrance and closed behind her. It wouldn't open again unless an employee with the necessary permissions tried to enter. It was the same for almost all doors nowadays.
Looking above her at the passing vehicles overhead, she wondered how to call for transport. She moved her point of view to the people walking below. He shook her head. Walking that far would be too much, even for her. She looked up again. She tried waving at them. All she got in return were a few honks and messages on the local chat.
'What's she doing?'
'Whoohoo! Hey, hello! I wave back!'
'Does she think she can pick up someone like that? Gold digger.'
'Is that a runaway?'
'Wanna come home with big brother, cutie?'
'What a spaz.'
'...'
None of them were helpful.
He Ku thoughtfully blocked the messages and called a vehicle. When she silently climbed in and spaced out He Ku also silently sent over the address to the auto navigation system. He Ku did not mention its silent support.
Boarding a public transport vehicle, Su Ting came to a realization. Mu Fang hadn't told her what happened with her sister. She looked out the window as she pondered. If he didn't tell her anything, then there may not be anything she has to worry about.
If he straight out killed her then it was made to look like an accident. Mu Fang and her own involvement would be swept under the rug. Knowing him, he likely didn't leave any traces of her and Chen Lijun meeting, either. If he didn't kill her, then he must have found some other way to shut her up. Whatever the case, if he's willing to let Chen Lijun over he must consider it safe with her. Or maybe it was just easier to hide his people in a nearly tech-null region.
…
Su Ting moseyed through the forest toward home. Luckily the area had been cleared out of animals.
She had never thought about that before. Her parents had supported her selfish desire to cut herself off from the rest of society. Her choice likely caused her father many problems in his work. Yet, not only did they provide her with financial support, but they'd also bought her an expensive piece of untouched land and cleared it out for her to make it suitable for living.
Unlike a normal forest's ground, this one did not have an abundance of leaves, dead things, branches, or animal holes she would have to trample and trudge through to walk. On the ground was a layer of engineered grass. It was expensive and common due to its convenience. It only grew to two inches, it did not attract any particular insects or bugs, it was fast to decay into fertilizer once it died, and it did not spread beyond a certain range that the seeds are planted. Considering the amount of land she had cleared and covered, it was no doubt quite a sum. The price of the land itself was probably not any lower. Land that still had a natural ecosystem was usually protected.
It was like she had a fog over her eyes before.
She passed her motorcycle waiting for her at her door and walked it. The door automatically unlocked and slid open when she came near.
Her room was unusual in that it had an older type of furniture.
When the convenience of an adaptable room became popular people began on their journey to create furniture that all but disappeared into the walls and the floor. The tech had advanced so far that a wave of a hand could change a sitting room to a dining room in moments. More advanced models will connect to the user's biochip so even lifting your hand isn't necessary. This was the case for her father's smart home.
Su Ting's living room required manual adjustments. The couch and a low coffee table were already set up and in place when she walked in. foreseeing Chen Lijun's arrival she walked to the opposite side of the table and curled her hands around a flat handle in the floor. She pulled it to release and the outer frame of a recliner popped up. The padding began to slowly inflate like a child's inflatable bounce house.
She stood up and looked at the basket at the end of the coffee table. It had the essential comforts inside. A paper print book, a bottle of juice, tissues, a few snack choices, headache pills, and a neck pillow.
Su Ting walked over and sat on the couch in front of the box according to her usual ritual. She pulled out the juice and put it on the table so it was within reaching distance when she lays down, then she grabbed the palm-sized ellipsoid. She squeezed it in her hand and it unlocked and expanded into a neck pillow. She stared at it. She didn't want to lie down. She didn't want to close her eyes let alone take a nap. Since when had she not been able to sleep?
Su Ting couldn't remember the last time she'd had a hard time falling asleep. Her fingers grazed her lobe. Would she ever be able to sleep again?
She got up to find food or drink to calm herself down. Maybe it would be useful for Chen Lijun as well.