We Are Not Alike

The little girl looked at the reality anchor in her hand and was silent for a while. Just when Zhang Jue ran out of patience and thought she wouldn't tell him, the little girl spoke slowly.

"My name is Kareena. Robert Scranton and Anna Long are my parents." Hearing her say this, Zhang Jue was slightly stunned.

Dr. Robert Scranton, the very inventor of the Reality Stabilization Anchor. Zhang Jue looked at her and frowned slightly, "I've investigated, and according to the information provided by the Foundation, it seems that the two of them… have no children."

Kareena lowered her head, "Because my parents hid my existence from the Foundation."

"Why-" Zhang Jue stopped in the middle of his sentence because he had already guessed the answer. This little girl, called Kareena, was a reality bender. That reason alone was enough. If the Foundation knew about this, she would be forcibly institutionalized. Just like Dr. Bright's sister.

"So, the reason... Dr. Scranton is so obsessed with reality-bending technology and invented the Reality Stabilization Anchor is to get you back to normal?"

The little girl took a deep breath and nodded, "At least that's what it's supposed to be." Zhang Jue understood what she meant.

The two doctors had worked diligently at the Foundation all their lives, perhaps started because of their daughter's anomalous trait, but the fact that they had devoted their lives to the Foundation could never be attributed to their selfishness alone.

Zhang Jue remembered something and asked, "So the person who offered flowers to Dr. Anna at the cemetery and later erased the staff member's memory was also you?"

"It was me." The little girl hummed, then looked at Zhang Jue with a strange gaze.

Zhang Jue was puzzled by her look, "What's wrong?"

Kareena continued to stare at him, "I also tried to distort your memories, but I failed twice."

Twice? After she reminded him, Zhang Jue remembered that Karina had taken the opportunity to talk to him in the restaurant at the airport and on the plane. Little did he know that it was because she was trying to bend his memory. Zhang Jue had concluded that reality benders were useless to him during the battle with Smollett, but the exact cause was not clear.

The little girl in front of him should know the answer or at least be able to tell him something he didn't know. "Do you know why?" Zhang Jue asked.

Kareena said, "At first, I thought you were also a reality bender and that my powers were nullified by yours, but I was wrong."

Zhang Jue waved his hand, "Don't sell the story. Hurry up and talk. The sun will go down soon."

"You know the Hume Index, right?" Kareena looked at Zhang Jue, and after receiving an affirmative answer, she continued, "For things that exist in this universe, whether they are people or things, they all have their own Hume Index, and it is by that the reality benders rely on for the purpose of bending reality, and you are different from everything."

"How am I different?" Zhang Jue asked subconsciously.

Kareena paused for a second, her brow furrowed as if she didn't know how to describe it to Zhang Jue.

She casually picked up a stone, "For example, if my Hume Index is 100 and this Hume Index is 80, then I can transform this stone. When I try to transform you, I find that your Hume Index is not a specific number, not 0, not 100, not 1000. It's not readable. If you compare us to a strip of data, then you, as a person, are like using a string of special characters of other types where a numeric type should be used, which doesn't make sense at all. You are different from all objects in this world."

So that's how it is. After hearing Kareena's words, Zhang Jue suddenly realized. Kareena was worthy of being the daughter of the two doctors, she spoke in a very organized manner, and her descriptions were very accurate, appearing very professional.

Her explanation resolved one of Zhang Jue's doubts. He hadn't acquired any special abilities from Kareena. When Smollett had exploded himself, he made contact with Kareena but had not developed that feeling of gaining abilities. He had thought that Kareena also possessed a special physique similar to SCP=343, but now it seemed that it was probably because he simply did not possess the basic conditions to bend objects in this world.

100 is greater than 80, 1000 is greater than 800, so reality benders can bend reality to their own will. But if the Hume Index on him is unreadable, even if some reality bender's Hume Index is 10000000, they can't bend him even for a bit.

Likewise, he can't change the world. I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing. The two spoke for a long time on this issue.

Zhang Jue noticed that Kareena's eyes had changed when discussing such a highly specialized issue. I guess under the influence of her parents, and she was also very knowledgeable about it. Still, due to her condition, she could not join the Foundation to continue her parents' unfinished business.

Zhang Jue thought about helping her by introducing her to the Foundation, but then thought that he didn't necessarily have a good reputation at the top of the Foundation, so he finally gave up on the idea.

Kareena asked again about how Zhang Jue had gotten this reality anchor and why he had given her mother flowers, so Zhang Jue told the truth about his encounter with SCP-106. After hearing what happened to Zhang Jue, the young girl was silent for a moment, then smiled.

She wiped the corners of her eyes and returned the Reality Anchor to Zhang Jue, "Since this is what he gave you. It's yours. I just hope… you don't do something bad with it. Well, that's it, or I won't let you off the hook." Kareena lit up her fist and put on a little tween act.

Kareena was slightly jumpy and rebellious, but Zhang Jue could see that she was a very gentle person at heart. She was a reality bender herself, yet she never used that ability to hurt anyone but instead saved the entire plane's passengers without regard for her own safety. Based on this alone, she was stronger than the vast majority of people.

If she were in Zhang Jue's world, she might even be called a Mother Saint by those keyboard warriors.

I don't know what exactly made their worldview twist like this. The two of them gossiped for a while longer as the sky grew dark.

Those passengers have already done most of the things almost, spend the night here, it should not matter. Once Kareena's spirits had recovered a bit, they could use the satellite phone she had manifested to call for help. Zhang Jue's reality anchor would also need a few days to recharge before it could be used again.

The two were about to get something to eat when Zhang Jue inadvertently looked at the distant sea level, then frowned.

"What's wrong?" Seeing that he looked uncomfortable, Kareena asked.

Zhang Jue gulped, his face indignant: "You've gotta be kidding me. Something dangerous is coming. Can't you just let me rest for a while? Damn it!"