Chapter 163: You can’t punch a dream.
The three detectives were floored. If not for systems falling, they would have considered this fiction.
Liwu’s eyes narrowed. "How?"
Doctor Mu hesitated. "I don’t know how and I can’t explain it, but look at them. Don’t you people have machines or something for testing system activity? Test them an see. The more time we spend talking, the more danger the children will be in.
We can keep them fed through tubes and do whatever we can to keep them alive and healthy, but we don’t know how long this will last. It could last a couple of hours, days or years.
The parents who can’t afford to financially support their children who are in comas will give up and pull plugs. For all we know, whatever is trapping them could kill them. Just...help the kids."
The three detectives exchanged uneasy glances. He Xiao Yi scoffed "Dreams don’t cause comas, accidents do. Sickness does. And if this involves a system, then a host did. A person did."
Liwu twisted her lips slowly, "A dream system." They would have to check the records of registered system hosts and see if something like existed.
She stepped closer to one of the children, a girl clutching her blanket, even though she was unconscious. Turning to Linlin, she said. "Try to see if you can senses something."
With a medium sized detector which looked like a phone, He Xiao Yi walked through the rows, sweeping the device over each child. The screen showed faint threads of energy curling around the children’s temples. Invisible to normal eyes, and system hosts alike. But, it was the confirmation that a system host was involved.
When he relayed this to Liwu, she straightened, voice firm. "We will treat this as a crime scene. The hospital must be secured. Staff must be interviewed, parents too. Anyone who saw something unusual" Her head tilted to the right and she looked at the doctors. "Before we figure this out, you cannot admit new patients. The hospital is official locked down. No talking to the press, or anyone else."
The doctors rushed off to spread the word and discharge patients that were not in need of urgent care. Liwu made calls to the precinct, asking for extra support.
Chief Abby’s tone was grim, as expected. "Are you sure its twelve children?"
"Yes Sir, I counted them by hand personally. He Xiao Yi did the scan and confirmed the involvement of a system host. The doctor thinks its some kind of dream system."
Chief Abby’s chair squeaked as he pushed it back to stand. Liwu could see the picture too clearly in her mind. "Yes," he said with a sigh, "We are looking through the information to see if there is such a thing. If there is nothing...."
"The crime scene is the hospital Sir, so the perpetrator must be here as well." Liwu interjected. "We haven’t found any other children or adults reported to be in suspicious comas. That is why I am eighty percent sure the perpetrator is here."
Chief Abby groaned. Liwu could picture him reaching for a cigarette now. This was going to be one of those cases that commanded a lot of attention from the higher ups. If a system host was invading dreams and causing comas, who would dare to sleep? "I have a call from the Commissioner, do everything you can to catch the perpetrator as quickly as possible."
As soon as he ended the call, her mother called and she answered it with fictional exhaustion, because she could tell that real exhaustion was on the way.
"Hello, my all seeing mother."
"That is a fact. No time for pleasantries, let’s cut directly the point. What is this about a dream system?"
Liwu explained to her just as she had done with Chief Abby. "Now I cannot be certain that this is what we are looking at. It is only a suspicion raised by the doctor. But, he was the first to recognize that something was wrong, so we can’t dismiss his words. Don’t we have someone in the Bureau whose system can identify other systems?"
"Aang is already delivering her." Alix replied. "But she has other appointments so you only get her for thirty minutes."
"I will take it." Liwu said, kicking a wall, to get rid of a bandaid that was stuck to her boot.
After ending that call, she took another one from Weijun. The news of the hospital’s closure had reached city hall already. Liwu had a feeling that talking to him was going to be annoying. None the less, she took the call because he was the mayor of the city. A matter as big as this one had to involve him.
"Dear..." Weijun started softly, as if he was going to be friendly. "What have you done? You visit a hospital and less than thirty minutes later it is put in lockdown mode."
She raised her brows. "Who called you?"
"Angry parents who wanted to transfer their children to bigger hospitals but were told that I the mayor had forbidden it!"
His answer cause her brows to knit tightly. "I said no such thing. He Xiao Yi must be the one behind that. But, I am sure you are aware that twelve children at the hospital are in a weird coma. It’s too bad you have a real job, or else, you would be freaking out over this one." She huddled closer to the wall, to avoid being crashed by a nurse pushing a medicine cart as if she was in the race of her life.
The lights dimmed as her figure disappeared into a ward. Then, cell signal was briefly cut, for five seconds, before returning. Liwu was still on phone, but the rest of the people in the hospital had no cell service at all. This was the work of the Bureau. The back up she had asked for had arrived.
"I have to go now." She said.
"Wait." Weijun shouted. "Mo Xia has mentioned something about a dream system host. I know something about that too but I have one question. How do you plan to deal with an enemy that fights in the subconscious? You can’t punch or shoot a dream. How do you plan to catch and stop such a criminal?"
She ignored his questions in exchange for information. "I need to know everything you know about systems and dreams. And I mean everything Weijun. If you have a such a host in your little collection that you think is a secret, bring them to me right now. This is not a request, it is an order from your wife and superior officer."