There is only one thing Yianye fears in this life: being assimilated.
When she was ten, she began having a dream.
In it, zombies laid siege to the city, and the undead patrolled the streets at night. She escaped again and again, and woke up again and again.
When she was eighteen, someone told her: It wasn't a dream. It was the "Cradle," a subconscious training ground that had lasted eight years. And she was its only surviving anchor.
Her teacher, "Zhulong," died the year she graduated. He left her a letter. She never opened it.
She joined the Administration and chose two mentors: one taught her how to survive, and the other taught her to remember who she was.
She met an old friend of her teacher and heard one sentence: Your teacher isn't dead.
She stood in an abandoned courtyard. Something had been there, then disappeared. It left nothing behind.
That night, something fell onto her face. It was very light, like ash. She touched her face, but there was nothing there.
Yet she knew something had just been there. It would never come back.
She said, "I miss you so much... Teacher."
It wasn't that she didn't want answers. She just wanted to wait until she was ready before asking for them.
This is a story about how a girl remembers who she is.
It is also the story of everyone who fears being assimilated by the world.
Theme: Before becoming anyone else, become yourself.
