Yu Yong'an · Alternate Timeline｜The Moment of Awakening
He awoke without any warning.
It wasn't the jolt of a dream,nor the pull of sound or pain,but something deeper—a long-awaited signal, echoing silently within,finally calling every fiber of his nervous system back into place.
His eyes opened.A narrow shard of light seeped through the crack in the wall.The air held the faint scent of metal—like the echo of history, layered and left behind.
The floor beneath him was cold, synthetic,spacious yet without adornment.He had awakened here countless times before,had even doubted whether he truly existed in this place.But today was different.
He did not rise.He did not speak.He simply lay still—and felt, drop by drop,the weight returning to his body:
Memories that were not his,languages once disjointed,actions of another man,now reshaped into his own recollections.
—
He took a deep breath—slowly,as if relearning how to breathe.
His heartbeat was a fusion of two rhythms—one steady,one once frantic.Now, they pulsed as one.
He knew where he was.He knew that within this body,there was no longer just one "I."
And in that moment,there was no pain.No doubt.Only the quiet certainty—that he had finally awakened,whole.
—
A shimmer passed through his eyes.Not from the change of light,but from within—something deep inside had finally aligned.
It was clarity in its most absolute form:the chaos and dislocation no longer needed explanation.He was no longer a version,no longer a projection.
He was Yu Yong'an.And also the name that once survived between fractures.He was the one chosen to remember everything.
—
He slowly sat up.
The world remained still.Unchanged.Only he had shifted.
He knew—this was not rebirth.Nor was it redemption.
This was the momenthe could finally choosehow to end the nameless distortion of time.
—
This was the awakening.Silent.But unwavering.No one came to greet him.No one came to say goodbye.
Because he—was the letter never sent,now opened by his own hand.
—
He didn't rise from bed immediately.Because he noticed something—
His body was respondingto a gesture not learned by him.
His hand moved, reaching behind his neck.There had once been a scar there—an old wound left during an emergency,a crack once torn open on Zhang Yian's skin.
The scar had healed,but the touch remembered.
He had never lived through that moment.Yet he could recall the angle,the sound,the cold of blood soaking into the collar.
This wasn't memory.It was re-enactment—a stage cue etched into the body,a trace left by a performance through time.
—
He finally stood.
His steps were steady,but his balance had changed.
His old posture was gone—replaced by a slight forward lean,his left shoulder subtly withdrawn—
Zhang Yian's stance.
He didn't correct it.
Because he understood:Integration was never about erasure.It was about coexistence—two lives folded into one body.
—
The space around him was quiet.
This was the lowest level of the LUOYEH facility—the Expiration Zone:where memories that were untrusted,unverified,and no longer updated were archived.
In these past years,he had come here as Zhang Yian,quietly piecing together versionsno one else believed.
But now, returning as himself,he felt a strange peace.
As if this roomhad been waiting for him all along.
A wall-screen flickered, long forgotten,displaying a message sealed in sleep:
[Authorization Reactivated]Merged Subject: YUNGAN-22Access Permissions Open · Partial Writing Enabled
Yu Yong'an placed his hand on the scanner.
What had once belonged to Zhang Yian—now opened freely for him.
He understood:this was Zhang's choice.A silent passing of the torch.
—
He moved to the right-hand data wall,where a row of folders sat, labeled:
X-ZONE / MULTIPLE TIMELINES — RESIDUAL IMAGERY (UNRESOLVED)
He opened one.
Inside was a faded photograph of a real-world corner—a shadow misaligned,a man standing in timebut never aligned with space.
He stared at the image,fingers brushing its edge.
A thought rose within him:
"Everywhere you walked—still holds you.
So then… do I still hold you too?"
He didn't know whose voice that was.But the tone—
was longing.Or perhaps, a prayer.
—
Ten minutes later,he activated the LUOYEH terminal.
A message blinked onto the screen:
[Come see me.][I know you're awake.]
—Bai ZhimingTimestamp: 3 minutes ago.
—
Yu Yong'an smiled softly.
It wasn't the smile he once wore.Nor was it Zhang Yian's.
It was—
his,after everything.
He closed the folder,and whispered:
"Alright. I'll come see you.
But not to ask.
This time, I'm here to tell you—
I remember."
—
This was awakening,after integration.
From this moment forward,he would no longer ask who he was,but why all of this happen.