The train slowed as it pulled into Central Station.
Lian stepped off before the doors had fully opened, blending into the steady stream of late night commuters. People moved around her with quiet purpose. Office workers heading home. Students glued to their phones. A tired couple arguing softly about dinner.
Nobody looked at her twice.
Nobody ever did.
Kai’s voice came through her earpiece again. “Okay, I’ve been chewing through Chen’s phone for the last twenty minutes.”
“And?”
“And I think we need to look at a hospital.”
Lian moved through the station exit and stepped back onto the street. The city was brighter here. Neon signs stacked on top of each other, taxis gliding through intersections, street vendors still open despite the hour.
“Which one,” she asked.
“Queen’s Harbor Medical Center.”
She turned down a quieter street and started walking toward the parking structure where their bike was hidden.
“Why there.”
Kai answered immediately. “Because it shows the highest number of flagged patients connected to this compound batch.”
“How many.”
“Six confirmed cases. Two already dead.”
Lian didn’t stop walking.
“Cause of death.”
“Officially listed as systemic inflammatory failure,” Kai said. “Which is vague enough to avoid questions but specific enough that it matches the side effect Chen mentioned.”
A bus rolled past her, spraying mist from the wet street.
Lian’s eyes narrowed slightly.
“Are they still using the injections there.”
“Looks like it,” Kai said. “Next shipment scheduled tomorrow morning.”
She turned into the parking structure and headed for the far corner where the motorcycle sat hidden between two abandoned scooters.
Kai kept talking.
“There’s another thing.”
“Go on.”
“The patient files.”
Lian swung a leg over the bike and started checking the ignition.
“What about them.”
“They’re incomplete.”
She paused.
“Incomplete how.”
Kai sighed softly. “It’s like someone scrubbed the worst parts. Basic admission notes are still there. Vitals. Symptoms. But the deeper analysis sections are missing.”
“Deleted.”
“Probably,” Kai said. “Or moved to a different database.”
Lian started the engine but kept the bike idling.
“Can you recover them.”
“I’m trying. Hospital servers are actually better protected than Chen’s phone.”
“You’ll manage.”
Kai chuckled quietly. “I appreciate the vote of confidence.”
She pulled the helmet over her head and rolled the bike slowly out of the parking structure.
Love this story? Find the genuine version on the author's preferred platform and support their work!
The night traffic had thinned but not disappeared. Hong Kong was always moving.
“Distance,” she asked.
“From you? About twelve minutes.”
“Good.”
The motorcycle slid into traffic smoothly.
Kai kept working while she rode.
After a few minutes he spoke again.
“Okay, I found something interesting.”
“Tell me.”
“One of the patients who died yesterday,” Kai said. “Name is Li Wen.”
Lian weaved between two slow taxis.
“Age.”
“Fifty three.”
“Medical history.”
“Pretty normal,” Kai said. “Mild hypertension. No major conditions.”
“So why was he receiving experimental immune therapy.”
“That’s the strange part,” Kai replied. “According to the intake notes he wasn’t.”
Lian slowed slightly as she approached a traffic light.
“Explain.”
“The compound was administered during a routine clinic visit,” Kai said. “The nurse listed it as a supplemental immune booster.”
The light turned green.
Lian accelerated again.
“Which means he had no idea what he was getting.”
“Exactly.”
Silence settled between them for a moment.
The city lights blurred past.
Kai finally said, “I keep thinking about something Chen said.”
“What.”
“Data.”
Lian didn’t answer.
Kai continued, thinking out loud now.
“These cases aren’t random. They’re tracking reactions. Different ages. Different medical backgrounds.”
“Testing variables.”
“Yeah,” Kai said quietly. “That’s what it looks like.”
Lian’s grip on the handlebars tightened slightly.
They rode another few blocks before Kai spoke again.
“You know what bothers me the most.”
“What.”
“The hospital staff might not even know.”
“Some of them know,” Lian said calmly.
“Probably.”
“But not all.”
Kai exhaled slowly. “Yeah.”
A tall white building came into view ahead, lit brightly against the night sky.
Queen’s Harbor Medical Center.
Ambulances waited near the entrance. A few nurses stood outside the sliding doors taking a quick break.
Lian slowed the bike and pulled into a side street.
“Camera coverage,” she said.
Kai was already looking.
“Front entrance is heavy. But the service entrance on the east side is lighter.”
She parked the bike in a dark corner beside a row of delivery vans.
“Security.”
“Two guards inside the loading area. Standard hospital contract guys.”
“Armed.”
“Don’t look like it.”
Lian removed her helmet and set it quietly on the seat.
“Server room location.”
Kai pulled up the building schematics.
“Third floor. Restricted access.”
She studied the building.
“Alternate entry.”
“Maintenance stairwell near the loading dock,” Kai said. “If you get inside you can reach the third floor without passing the main lobby.”
Lian adjusted the gloves on her hands.
“Good.”
Kai hesitated for a moment.
“Lian.”
“Yes.”
“You’re not planning to hurt hospital staff, right.”
Her answer came immediately.
“No.”
He relaxed slightly.
“Good. Because that would make paperwork very awkward for me.”
She almost smiled.
Almost.
Lian stepped out from the shadows and moved toward the service entrance.
Kai’s voice shifted back into focused mode.
“Alright. Camera loop starting now. You’ve got forty seconds.”
The loading dock door sat slightly ajar.
A nurse wheeled an empty supply cart past the opening and disappeared down the hallway.
Lian slipped through the doorway without a sound.
Inside, fluorescent lights hummed softly overhead.
Kai guided her quietly.
“Straight ahead. Turn right after the storage room.”
Her footsteps were silent on the polished floor.
“Guard positions,” she whispered.
“One near the elevator. One at the desk.”
“Line of sight.”
“You’re clear if you stay close to the wall.”
Lian moved quickly but without rushing.
Within seconds she reached the maintenance stairwell door.
She opened it slowly and stepped inside.
The stairwell smelled faintly of disinfectant and old concrete.
Kai spoke again.
“Three floors up.”
Lian started climbing.
Above them, somewhere in the building, the hospital continued its quiet night rhythm.
And hidden somewhere in the system, the answers they needed.
