Light, Short, Prose

(1) A Self-Aware Person

When I was young I discovered I had a secret.

That I could see numbers in my eyes.

Back then, I didn't think much about it.

Until one day, when I was seven years old.

As I approached a corner, the numbers in my eyes would rapidly decrease with every step I took.

And when the numbers were about to reach zero, as I was about to go around the corner.

I stopped.

At that instant.

A car hurtled past, missing me by five centimetres.

The car crashed into a wall on the other side.

I was uninjured.

And time seemed to reverse as the densely-packed numbers returned to my vision.

I grew up and started school.

I learnt how to add and subtract.

I tried to make sense of the numbers in my eyes.

I discovered that this wouldn't be enough.

I had once asked other people if they could also see numbers in their eyes.

But they all thought that I was being mischievous and joking with them.

Since no one believed me, I could only keep this secret to myself.

Until I learnt how to multiply and divide.

A minute is sixty seconds.

An hour is sixty minutes.

A day has twenty four hours.

So there are roughly 31.56 million seconds in a year.

At that moment the numbers in my eyes read 2365278281.

I calculated this on paper as being approximately equal to seventy five years.

Could this be my remaining life expectancy?

It seemed slightly ridiculous at first.

I discovered many hidden factors that would change the numbers in my eyes.

Like exams.

If I chose C for this question then the numbers would quickly go down by ten seconds.

But if I erased that and chose B, the numbers would rise by seven seconds again.

Regardless of whether the answers were right or wrong, I finished the exam paper with numerous changes made to ensure the least time was lost.

Yet when the results were revealed, I only scored 63 marks.

The answers that reduced the numbers the least weren't necessarily correct.

And I had thought that the numbers in my eyes could help me cheat in these situations.

I could only rely on myself now.

So from then on I did these questions seriously.

The year I had my college entrance exam, I went through the exam paper properly and did all the questions.

Yet when I had just finished the last question, I discovered that the numbers in my eyes had gone down significantly.

I thought I had calculated wrong, but I checked my answer thrice and found it to be correct each time.

I worked out on paper that the missing time was worth five years.

I changed my answer to be wrong and the time went up again…

A good grade in exchange for five years of my life.

I smiled bitterly, how ironic.

I hesitated but for the sake of my future, I gave up the five years.

I achieved a high mark.

The day the results were announced, I discovered that I had successfully made it into a key university in the city.

On the way home I was over-excited and didn't pay attention to where I was going. I missed my footing and fractured a bone, meaning that I had to rest for three months. And the time in my eyes also reduced, which made me realise something.

I needed to constantly monitor any changes to the time shown in my eyes, because sometimes a change could happen in a split-second. I didn't want my lifespan to be reduced by such a great margin again.

Of course, there were still many unexpected events.

"Stop, listen to me and don't go into this tunnel!" I shouted.

"Are you crazy? What are you trying to do when we're all having fun?" My friend looked at me discontentedly.

"Stop, I'm not going anymore." I shouted again.

"What are you saying?" My friend said with an expression of anger.

The car slowed down slightly but had no intention of stopping.

And the numbers in my eyes began to decrease.

I quickly threw myself forwards and pulled the handbrake.

The car stopped.

"Are you mad? Lunatic!" The three other people in the car all looked at me peculiarly.

"Sorry, I'm not going anymore. Don't worry about me." I immediately got out of the car.

"We're on the highway right now, why are you going crazy?" My friend said indignantly.

But I simply walked off further and further away in the direction we came.

It was safe now, the numbers had returned to their normal level.

And my friends had driven off.

What they later faced was a rockslide from a mountain that engulfed the entire tunnel.

No one survived, and I didn't know what to do.

I began to flee from the crowds, as I was scared that the numbers in my eyes would decrease.

I became uncommunicative.

And began to act according to the numbers in my eyes, every minute, every second.

But the time was still decreasing.

And it would inevitably continue to decrease.

The twenty year old me.

In my eyes, there were only thirty five years left.

I clearly hadn't even done anything, so I began to escape.

The laboratory was the quietest location at my university.

My grades were good, so I thought that I could become a scientist.

Because every time a test tube was about to explode, regardless of whether it was mine or someone else's.

I would know in advance and run far away.

After graduation.

This was a pharmaceutical company manufacturing health products.

And I was the head pharmacist.

It wasn't because I was particularly clever, but rather because I could avoid danger.

I didn't know the ingredients in the drugs either.

But every time when doing experiments, I would always try injecting the substance in myself.

I wouldn't actually do so, but bring it right up to my skin instead.

I would then be able to see if the time in my eyes would decrease or not.

If the time decreased then that would mean a failure.

No decrease would indicate success.

As for cases where the time increased.

Sorry, in these five years I haven't seen a single occurrence.

Alas, how ironic.

Until that day.

As I was adjusting the amounts of different chemical compounds in a test tube.

I inadvertently knocked over a needle that was stained with the drug from the test tube, such that it was now pointing to me.

The numbers in my eyes had actually increased due to this drug.

From that moment onwards, I memorized the ingredients.

I began to constantly experiment.

Every time, I would dip the tip of the needle in a different drug and point it at myself.

I was wild with joy as I added all sorts of drugs.

If the time decreased, I would return to the previous formula.

Just like this. At first, the time would only increase by one or two seconds.

Later, the time actually began to increase by the tens and hundreds.

All the way until infinity.

I had invented a drug for immortality.

I ecstatically drew up the needle and injected the drug into my body.

Incredibly refreshing.

And then I felt a stifling pressure appear in my body.

I began to crave certain things.

And the numbers in my eyes rapidly rose.

Until they formed a horizontal figure of eight  ∞ .

…

"Hello everybody, I am front line journalist Xiao Mei. We've just received the news that an unknown organism has apparently appeared at this pharmaceutical company. Come with me to check it out."

"Over by the videographer? Why did you just turn and run?"

"Is there anything strange behind me? Ahh…"

A buzzing static screen appeared on the televisions of each and every household watching.

Everyone nearby put on their coats and prepared to escape.

Because a zombie had come.