Am I Dead, Is He Dead?

Wei Li Na woke up to the smell of burning synthetic fiber and the familiar scent of burning hair. Just like when you go to the hair salon for a perm, and the attendant forgets you exist, so your hair gets fried. "Yah! I think I'm done… wash my hair now!" In her mind, Wie Li Na was yelling, but in reality, she had only let out a soft whimper.

Wei Li Na drifted in and out of consciousness, struggling to wake up, as she knew some part of her body was burning. Finally she felt a sudden jolt, a short wave of electricity sparked from her brain to her spine, forcing her to sit up straight. "Young Mistress Li Na, Young Mistress Li Na!" It was the familiar voice of Dave, an artificial intelligence being who has been her shipmate and constant companion for the last few years.

"Dave! Dave Oppa! Did you just electrocute me?" Wei Li Na finally had her eyes wide open. "Where's the spaceship? And where are you? Aren't you attached to the ship's central computing system??"

"Young Mistress Li Na, I've downloaded myself into your implanted microchip before the ship exploded. We've successfully reached home planet Earth. You've been unconscious for three hours." Dave rattled along, and Wei Li Na realized he was talking inside her head. Wei Li Na had a microchip implanted in the frontal cortex, just under her Divine Third Eye. It was a piece of very delicate technology that was both organic and synthetic, to seamlessly connect her mind to the space ship she once navigated.

"This is Earth?" Wei Li Na looked around. The sky was clear, she could actually see the sun. There was grass and flowers everywhere, it was early spring. So much natural scenery, and she obviously wasn't in a greenhouse. "Did we actually succeed going back in time? Dave, can you confirm?" There was a constant ringing in her ears, but she could hear Dave's voice loud and clear. She was getting dizzy and disoriented, she held on to her consciousness with pure will power.

"Apologies Young Mistress Li Na, I am unable to confirm our present date or location at the moment. We have also sustained massive damage and depleted huge amounts of energy while crossing the wormhole to get here." Wei Li Na was suddenly reminded about the smell of her burning hair, she touched her head and puffs of smoke covered her eyes.

"Damage report, Dave. Hurry!" Wei Li Na tried to feel her body, patting herself around randomly. She could see patches of red flesh, her space suit was in tatters.

"Sixty percent of your skin is burned, mostly secondary burns. A few blisters, but nothing fatal. You also have a concussion, expect to experience some head trauma for the next two days."

"En" The feeling of wanting to vomit was strong, but aside from that, she didn't feel any pain. Aren't burns supposed to be painful? It could be the head trauma, she might be in shock, and temporarily could not feel pain. She was lucky to be alive, she knew that. This was a suicide mission. Her own Second Brother had sacrificed his family for this mission. She wasn't complaining.

Before anything else, Wei Li Na knew she needed to survive. Wei Li Na forced herself into a meditative state, to activate her Divine Third Eye. It was very weak, she could no longer see 3,000 parsecs in all directions like she used to. But she could still feel her way at least ten to fifteen kilometers in one direction, as long as she concentrated hard enough.

"Dave, there's a river seven kilometers, northwest. The terrain is slightly sloping down. Let's go there first." Wei Li Na had started referring to herself as the collective "we" to mean herself and Dave, who now shared the same body. When she spoke to Dave, it was out loud with her voice. To outsiders it looked like she was speaking to herself. But Wei Li Na didn't have to think about this now. Finding water was first priority.

She took out Star Born, a retractable staff and halberd of the sharpest blade. It was made from a metal not found on Earth. An incredibly precious weapon, more valuable than diamonds and gold, Wei Li Na could not bear to leave it behind. Although heavy, weighing more than twenty kilos, she kept the retractable weapon strapped to her back. Aside from a small medical kit, some dry rations in her pocket and the clothes on her back that were mostly burned off, Star Born was her only precious possession in this world.

Right now she was injured and needed a walking stick. Wei Li Na retracted a metal baton the length of her arm and Star Born flexed into its real length. A straight and mighty staff, a foot above her head. Wait a minute, wasn't Star Born a lot shorter than this? Did she get shorter, or did Star Born get longer? It was a little strange, but a minor detail Wei Li Na did not dwell upon, as she still needed water.

Very slowly, leaning on Star Born, the mighty weapon of the heavens reduced to a walking stick, Wei Li Na wobbled seven kilometers to the river she detected with her Divine Third Eye. When she got there, she gently stripped what remained of her clothes, careful to separate the flesh from cloth. She still could not feel pain, so she was extra careful, to avoid even more damage to her skin. Dipping in the cool running water, she noticed her red burn rashes turn pale, closer to her natural skin color. She waded and dipped her head for half an hour, untill she decided to take off her underwear.

Wei Li Na was wearing a very tightly fitting, nylon sports brassier, that strapped her glorious girls close to her body. This brassier was a sturdy elastic and was very difficult to take off, more so now with her burn injuries. But she needed to check her chest for any hidden wounds, and she also wanted to take a proper bath in the river, so she braced herself for the struggle.

Both hands in the air, pulling the brassier above her head, Wei Li Na wiggled for a good few minutes before the elastic popped off. She breathed out in relief, and took a cursory look down at herself. This can't be right? Have my girls gotten smaller? Brows furrowed in deep thought, Wei Li Na didn't like this feeling. Something happened to her body. She's shorter. Her melons are no longer a cup B. They're nearly flat now! Did she lose weight? She tried to focus on her reflection on the water, but the water was too murky and unsteady to return a clear reflection of her image.

A little puzzled and a little disappointed. After washing her underwear in the river water, Wei Li Na carefully walked back to shore, feeling for smooth stones to step on under the water. "Dave, can you do a second assessment of my body. Other than the recent injuries, I'm feeling strange" Dave agreed, but it will take an hour to do thorough tests for a full body check up. That was fine. Wei Li Na still had to regroup, and think about her next step. She still has a mission to accomplish.

As fate would have it, and isn't that the nature of fate? Always unexpected, bringing both fortune and calamity. But fortune for who, and calamity for who?

"Aiyaa!" Wei Li Na stepped on something big and soft under the water. Was it a fish? With lightning reflexes, her hand cut into the water with an iron grip and pulled out… the head of a man. Is he dead?