Chapter 5: The Cage in the Hall

This introduction seemed somewhat redundant, for as soon as the middle-aged man entered the room, his gaze fixed on Wu Qingchen, barely lingering on anyone else. He came to a halt in front of Wu Qingchen, adjusted his already impeccably neat attire, and regarded Wu Qingchen up and down for at least half a minute before nodding for reasons unknown. “Mr. Wu Qingchen, you’ve had a hard journey. I am Li Ziping. I’ll be assisting you through this meeting.”

The middle-aged man’s face was vaguely familiar, the name even more so—Wu Qingchen was certain he had seen him in the news, though he couldn’t recall his title or how to respond. Fortunately, Li Ziping simply paused briefly and continued, “Mr. Wu, the meeting is both important and urgent, with a complex array of participants. You need only speak to me—ignore any requests from others.”

“In addition,” Li Ziping gestured toward the senior military officer, “should anything unexpected arise, follow the instructions of Comrade Liu Tao.”

Wu Qingchen and Director Liu Tao both nodded. Li Ziping glanced around once more, and, finding no further issues, said, “Let’s begin.”

Director Liu beckoned, indicating for Wu Qingchen to stand beside two tall, broad panes of glass. Two soldiers stepped forward and swung open the doors. At once, a humming tide of conversation surged into the small hall as the conference chamber was revealed to Wu Qingchen.

Several soldiers steadied the glass and wheeled it out of the small room. Wu Qingchen followed closely behind Li Ziping and Director Liu.

The moment the three appeared at the side entrance, the previously clamorous conference hall fell instantly silent. Seconds later, a wave of thunderous noise erupted, most of it coming from the first floor—the upper tiers were almost empty.

The sound was the collective voice of at least three thousand people, whose skin ranged from yellow to white to black, and whose hair was a riot of colors—every variety imaginable.

At that moment, nearly every one of these people was leaning forward, their three thousand pairs of eyes trained on the figures standing behind the two massive panes of bulletproof glass—figures clad in crumpled shirts and equally rumpled trousers.

Perhaps it was the intensity of those gazes, or perhaps the utter lack of restraint in the expressions on those three thousand faces, but Wu Qingchen could feel almost the entire spectrum of human passion and emotion bearing down on him.

There was satisfaction, envy, hope, but also loathing, disdain, and terror. It was as if they had discovered a treasure, or stumbled upon a heap of refuse; as if they were gazing up at an angel or glaring with hatred at a demon.

This was, without doubt, the longest and most arduous walk of Wu Qingchen’s life.

It stretched some thirty or forty meters—the distance from the side door of the small hall to the sole seat at the center of the dais.

That solitary seat belonged to Wu Qingchen.

I must be mad.

Not even in his wildest dreams had Wu Qingchen imagined he would one day stand here, clad in a wrinkled shirt and pants, over which he wore a bulletproof vest and a life jacket, before a wall of bulletproof glass, in the most renowned conference hall in the country, before the only chair, and facing row upon row of anxious, flustered, astonished, expectant faces of every color, each one bearing the full gamut of human emotion.

I must be mad.

Wu Qingchen’s mind was a blank. He had no idea how many times Li Ziping had patiently signaled to him before he finally, trembling, his heart racing—one might even say terrified—gingerly lowered himself onto the sole chair on the dais.

Two soldiers meticulously adjusted the position and angle of the bulletproof glass. On the machine at the side, they pressed several buttons, and at the base of the massive glass panes, several sets of braces descended. Drill bits extended from the rollers and quickly bored into the floorboards, sending wood shavings flying.

“Ladies and gentlemen…” There was no sound check, no pleasantries. Amid the faint hum of the drills, Li Ziping picked up a microphone from the table in front of Wu Qingchen. “Everyone present is here for the same reason. No matter how many questions you have, there are almost none for which we can provide definite answers. We have made every effort: This is Mr. Wu Qingchen, who is, as of now, the person most likely to be the one many of you saw this afternoon.”

Saw this afternoon? Does he mean my dream? Wu Qingchen couldn’t help but look to the right. Ji Mingming, uncharacteristically solemn, stood upright, and as if he could read Wu Qingchen’s mind, gave him a slight nod.

“We have already confirmed the procedures. Time is precious. Let us proceed to the final vote on the fifth agenda item.”

The hall, which had just settled, exploded once more with noise.

Many leapt to their feet. On the right, a blond woman even took off her shoe and hurled it toward the dais, shouting her protest.

Wu Qingchen couldn’t understand a word. He looked at Director Zhang and Li Ziping, both of whom remained stern and unflustered. Li Ziping waved a hand gently, signaling him not to mind. “Ms. Coles, this is a plan we all agreed upon unanimously. Even if you do not respect the fruit of our three hours’ work, you must respect the facts… Yes, I know you respect… us… No, there is no way, and no time, to delay the vote simply because some delegates have not arrived…”

The uproar grew.

“No, Ms. Coles, Mr. Robert, ladies and gentlemen! This does not mean that the citizens of those forty-some countries are excluded from humanity… No, absolutely not… And certainly not stripped of their citizenship… Gentlemen, they may enter and vote at any moment, even in the final second—they will not miss the vote.”

The noise did not diminish in the slightest.

Li Ziping was forced to raise his voice further. “If it is no longer possible for those countries’ delegates to arrive in time, those nations may, at any moment, just like our friends from Tuvalu, Belize, and the Republic of Honduras, appoint any of their citizens currently in the vicinity, in our country, or any other, even anyone present here, to vote on their behalf, provided they fax a written authorization recognized by the United Nations. The result will be considered valid. Please trust that the United Nations has shown the greatest tolerance and effort for this vote.”

“Now, please be quiet…” Li Ziping looked around the hall, knowing full well how little effect his words would have. “The United Nations Security Council Extraordinary Session on the Celestial Phenomenon now enters the final stage of the fifth agenda item: the final vote on the confirmatory experiment regarding the suspected subject of the celestial phenomenon—Mr. Wu Qingchen.”

Confirmatory experiment? Human experimentation?

Wu Qingchen’s heart hammered in his chest as Li Ziping continued, “Since many delegates, as well as Mr. Wu Qingchen, have only just arrived, we must briefly explain the fifth agenda item.”

“At 13:27:13 on May 8, 2012, a celestial phenomenon appeared simultaneously across the globe, regardless of day or night, latitude or longitude.”

“Current research shows that this phenomenon is directly correlated with the observer. Regardless of who observes it or what instruments are used, the observed results and perspectives are always identical.”

“In plain terms, at the same moment, in the Eastern and Western Hemispheres, on city streets and mountain tops, everyone saw exactly the same thing, with no difference between front and side views. No matter the distance, the observed phenomenon always remained about 355 meters away. Through helicopter and submarine testing, we have confirmed that this distance neither increases nor decreases. It even appears underwater, though refracted and blurred. Tests with other materials have produced similar results…”

The Eastern Hemisphere… the Western Hemisphere… the whole world…

So it was all real. No one had deceived him. He really had experienced such an extraordinary dream at noon…

Among the three thousand faces, Wu Qingchen recognized countless familiar figures from television news. All his doubts now crumbled away.

“All countries have confirmed that the celestial phenomenon far exceeds the reach of current scientific theory on Earth. The chances of finding a concrete explanation in the short term are not optimistic.”

“At present, humanity faces an even more urgent problem: another incident triggered by the final phase of the celestial phenomenon, provisionally named ‘the Red Mark.’ That is, when the subject of the phenomenon was unexpectedly injured during the final phase, producing a red mark, people all over the world developed an identical mark on the same part of their bodies at the same time, and experienced the same physical sensation, directly causing numerous accidents and resulting in sig—” Here, Li Ziping frowned and looked up from his notes, pausing before continuing, “—in certain losses.”

“According to extensive investigations worldwide, so far, the most likely candidate for the subject of the phenomenon is our country’s citizen—Mr. Wu Qingchen.”

Once more, the hall erupted. Thousands stood simultaneously, banging on tables, clapping, slamming documents, their shouts merging into a single overwhelming cacophony, making Li Ziping’s words rise and fall like a small boat tossed on stormy seas.

“Out of the most basic responsibility to all humanity, the permanent members of the United Nations Security Council unanimously agree that it is necessary to further confirm the identity of the phenomenon’s suspected subject—Mr. Wu Qingchen—to quickly and definitively identify the direct subject, so as to avoid delays or tragic consequences from a mistaken identity, and prevent further adverse effects from Red Mark incidents.”

“The proposed confirmatory experiment for the suspected subject—Mr. Wu Qingchen—has rigorous theoretical and practical support. In most cases, the human body is subjected to some degree of external or self-inflicted harm at every moment—the most common being the friction of clothing, shoes, or socks against the skin, causing minor abrasions or ruptured capillaries. Such minimal injuries are imperceptible and cause no direct harm to the body.”

“The confirmatory experiment will be conducted by Professor Gu Feng of the National Defense General Hospital and Professor Luo Nanying of the Capital Medical University Oncology Hospital. Using minimally invasive laser treatment, a shallow incision about three millimeters long will be made on Mr. Wu Qingchen’s upper arm, easily observable to the naked eye.”

“In the past three hours, 755 experimental surgeries have been conducted worldwide in 27 countries, under the urgent direction of the Security Council. Ninety-seven percent of volunteers reported no physical sensation, and all experienced no adverse effects.”

“Therefore, the Security Council proposes the agenda: to conduct a confirmatory experiment on the suspected subject of the celestial phenomenon—Mr. Wu Qingchen.”

“In light of the direct relevance of this incident to the safety of all humankind, the voting procedure for this agenda item differs from previous proposals. Please refer to the documents on your desks for the rules—just the top document, which is the result of the latest discussion half an hour ago.”

At once, Wu Qingchen’s gaze withdrew from the noisy hall. He opened the top file of the thick stack on his desk.

“Ladies and gentlemen…” Li Ziping glanced at the clock. “It is now 18:43 Beijing time, May 8, 2012. Seventeen minutes remain before the final vote… The telephones on your desks may be used to contact your home countries.”