Chapter 3: Malfunctioning elevators

"The power grid is faulty," Ike thought. "There's also a subway emergency station. There are even airline accidents. He shouldn't have taken the elevator." These thoughts raced through his mind, but it was too late to get out now. The elevator descended smoothly to the negative first floor, and Ike's fears of a malfunction went unrealized. Even the advertising lights stopped flickering, as if the previous events were merely illusions.

Anna pushed her shopping cart through the gray passageway to the underground parking lot, but there was no sign of her mother's car. She picked up her phone and called her mother, but the reception in the basement was spotty, making their conversation intermittent.

As luck would have it, she saw her mother's car turning a corner and waved at it. "Here!" Ike shouted. Moments later, Yingli's car pulled up in front of them, and the three of them quickly loaded the cart.

Yingli, with her short, slightly curly hair and silver-rimmed glasses, looked professional in her small black suit and uniform. Despite her appearance, she was the owner of a small studio. "Why did you buy so many things?" Yingli asked.

Anna replied mischievously, "I bought too much by accident."

"Well, there are more cars behind us, so let's get going," Yingli said, motioning for Anna to get in the car.

Since Ike had left his bike share outside, he didn't join them. The mother and daughter quickly drove away. There were only two ways to get back to the mall from the ground floor: either by elevator or the fire escape. Considering what had happened, Ike wasn't about to take another elevator, no matter how unlikely an accident might be. He didn't want to risk it.

His fears seemed justified when he heard the security

guard on the intercom say that the elevator was malfunctioning and someone was trapped.

Yes, the elevator had indeed malfunctioned, but it was fortunate that it was only a power failure causing a forced stop. The elevator was equipped with an emergency braking

safety device and wouldn't plummet as easily as in the movies. The dramatic scenes in movies were mostly designed for added tension.

But Ike couldn't help but feel uneasy. He wanted to know if the subway shutdown had caused serious casualties, and if the airline accidents were real.

Outside, pedestrians filled the streets, traffic remained noisy, and sirens from traffic police, ambulances, and vehicles mixed with the noise of the crowd, creating a chaotic atmosphere.

Looking up, Ike noticed a strange sight—a white shadow disappearing in the open sky.

Half a clear blue sky, half a red sunset. The unified red sky in the distance cast a bloody shadow over half the city, while the blue reflected the anxious faces of the people, creating an eerie and surreal visual.

Ike's cart reached the subway entrance, and from the evacuated crowd at the intersection, he confirmed that Line 5 had indeed shut down due to a power outage. Fortunately, the casualties were not severe; a pregnant woman had fallen due to the sudden stop, causing bleeding, and a few others were injured in the fall, but there were no major casualties among the passengers.

Ike breathed a sigh of relief. Rumors could easily stir people's emotions. "I've been overthinking this," he realized. He thought about the potential consequences of a major accident on Line 5 and realized that, at best, it would be headline news for a day or two, followed by new entertainment headlines. It might remind people of life's impermanence, but it wouldn't change much in the long run.

"Go home quickly. There will be strong winds and heavy rain

tonight. Don't stay out there! ′

The subway worker urged him.

"Is the subway shut down because of a power grid failure nearby?" Ike asked.

"Yeah, it could be the hurricane."

He knew what he wanted, so he stopped asking. He rides his shared bike home.

The streets were still chaotic, but Ike's heart was no longer troubled.

As for the airline accident, Ike was flipping through his phone all the way home.

There is a lot of news about the aviation accident on the Internet forum. From the video taken by netizens, we only see photos of the plane dragging its long white tail, which looks really low.

But it's also possible that someone deliberately used the focal length.

Because he's already seen people refuting rumors.

Although this was not the Government's response, the best thing is that the Government has not responded so far, which shows that these are just deliberate speculation by people with intentions.

Such current events, especially big ones, are usually updated quickly.

He still preferred to believe the government's statement and decided to wait for the news to come out tomorrow.

Ike's family lived in a slightly more remote area undergoing development, often referred to as semi-suburban.

Following the street for 500 meters, one would reach the end of the road, where a very unremarkable fork led to the neighborhood where the Ike family lived.

Next to the community, there were two seven-story rental houses, typically leased to young individuals who came to work in the area.

Housing was certainly much more affordable here than downtown, which is why the two buildings were primarily rented out.

The majority of tenants were attractive women employed in KTVs, bars, and other nearby establishments.

To the right, 200 meters further down the road, there was a small garden that served as the residence of the street warden. This garden was under the care of the community manager.

Next to it was Ike's house, a little three-story building. At that time, Ike's family had little money.

The buildings in the area weren't particularly attractive, and there were no gardens surrounding them.

His other neighbor was a private convenience store, which happened to be Tom's residence. Tom was Ike's classmate, and this convenience store was owned by Tom's mother.

Time: 15:00 p.m When Ike got home,

Anna and her mother had sorted their shopping, leaving a pile of items on the kitchen counter that didn't require refrigeration.

They bought too much today, and Ike's mom had a headache from it.

"What were you thinking, buying so much?" Yingli asked.

Ike didn't know how to explain it. His phone vibrated, and he saw a text from Nico.

Text message: "???"

He sent three question marks And added

"I saw more than 10 ambulances lined up, how can only one pregnant woman be injured?"

"Why are there so many ambulances?" And then Ike receives a photo from Nico.

"You can look at this picture for yourself. It was sent to me."

"The staff either didn't know what was going on or deliberately said it so as not to cause panic among the people."

"By the way, do you have any food or medicine in stock?"

A stream of words was bombarded like a message delay, and Ike skimmed through them quickly.

Ike opened the photo without hesitation.

A second later, an extremely bloody picture appeared before his eyes.

Blood, guts, limbs, bits everywhere.

Ike looked at the picture carefully, and although the scene was bloody enough, he resisted the discomfort and didn't put down his phone.

He finally found the evidence he was looking for in the photo. Subway station signs are hard to forge.

In other words, this picture is real.

Rather than deliberately seeking out false images from the Internet to create rumors.

Ike was so familiar with the metro stations in the area that the first time he saw the photo he was sure it was real.

However.

What if it's true?

Like Ike just thought, even if there was a major accident at the subway station.

"Tomorrow is just a headline; there will be a new entertainment news story in less than a week," Ike reflected.

It will be completely forgotten by the Internet in less than a month.

Do people care about these unfortunate people who die in accidents?

Then Nico sent another text, and it seemed like Nico really wanted to be a survival expert.

Nico looked a little excited.

"Do you know why amateur radio is banned?" Maybe they just don't want people from all over the world to exchange information! The subway failure hasn't been on the news yet, and I suspect someone is deliberately hiding it."

"In short, there are many strange things about it! Ike! Listen to me, the traffic outside the window is so chaotic that I have a feeling something big is going to happen."

Nico was trying to warn his friend.