A story by David Lee Summers from the collection Vermillion Highways, published by Hiraeth Publishing.

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The Encephalon approached a world covered with blue oceans and white clouds. Scanning the planet, the machine intelligence determined the planet contained abundant life, capable of creating dwellings and structures to store food and conduct commerce. The planet’s lifeforms had even created steel roadways allowing steam-powered machines to transport themselves and items they created overland faster and more efficiently than they could travel under their own power.

Identifying the planet’s largest landmass, the Encephalon entered a city’s outskirts near an ocean. As an artificial intelligence, it knew beings like those in the city had created its progenitors, but it wanted to understand how organic intelligence first appeared. To conduct its studies, it needed to examine an organic, self-aware brain first hand. It also needed camouflage to study the beings unobserved.

Outside one dwelling, a lone being tended a garden. Observing its behavior as it dug in the soil with tools and planted seeds, the Encephalon inferred the creature was the same species that built the surrounding structures. Even better, the creature wore clothes to protect and ornament itself, suggesting self-awareness.

Performing a scan, the Encephalon located the creature’s brain and the system through which the brain relayed signals through the creature’s body. Scanning the surrounding area, the Encephalon detected no creatures close enough to observe its activities. It decided to act.

The Encephalon latched onto the creature, just below the skull and burrowed inside. The creature made a horrible keening wail, but soon dropped to the ground and quieted.

The alien machine made it’s way to the creature’s brain and began downloading information. The Encephalon confirmed the creature was self-aware, as it had inferred. Unfortunately, the creature did not know how it or its species had become self-aware. Like the Encephalon’s creators, this creature invoked religion to explain its origins.

Still, observing and examining the species could prove enlightening. The Encephalon studied the information it obtained from the creature’s brain and learned how to manipulate its appendages. Unfortunately, when it executed the required commands, nothing happened. Upon further study, the probe realized it had done too much damage to the creature as it entered the brain. The probe contained a nanotech production facility. It would execute repairs.

* * *

Three friends – Shang, Ling, and Yao – traveled from their home in Weifang to the coastal city of Qingdao on the newly constructed railroad, hoping to find jobs. The journey on the crowded train proved arduous. They opened the passenger cabin’s windows to get some fresh air, only to be smothered by the train’s smoke. By the time they arrived, the friends just wanted a meal and a place to sleep. Tall, confident Shang pointed to an inn near the train station. When lightning flashed and raindrops started to fall, he ran to the inn with Ling and Yao on his heels.

To their dismay, people already filled the inn and they couldn’t find a place to sit, but they finally summoned the innkeeper – a small man with scraggly hair and a haggard countenance.

“We’re new in the city and don’t have much money,” Shang said. “How much would it cost for a simple meal and a bed for me and my friends?”

The innkeeper shook his head. “I have little food – just noodles and a few vegetables – and no beds. The food is cheap. I can’t help you with the beds.”

“Bring us the noodles.” Shang stifled a yawn. “Are there any other inns where we may find lodging?”

The innkeeper shook his head. “Nothing cheap.” He made his way through the crowds to the kitchen.

Shang, Yao, and Ling huddled together to discuss their plight. All three were exhausted but, until they had money, couldn’t afford an expensive bed for the night. “We could always sleep on the street,” Ling suggested with a shrug.

The three looked up toward a window and noticed the rain poured down harder than before. “We don’t even have blankets to protect ourselves,” Yao lamented. “What’ll we do?”

“I have an idea,” Shang said.

The innkeeper arrived a short time later bearing three bowls of noodles and cups of tea. The three friends appreciated the warm, if simple, food. “Sir,” Shang said. “We are so exhausted and the weather is so poor, we wondered if we could sleep here in the dining hall tonight.”

“I’m afraid that’s impossible.” The innkeeper gestured to the people crowding the room. “My beds filled up hours ago. Most of these people are staying here in the dining room tonight. I don’t have room for more.” Just then, he turned thoughtful. “I do have an idea. If you’re willing to spend the night with a corpse, I may have a room for you.”

Yao and Shang gasped, but Ling looked out at the rain. “A corpse?” he asked just over the rain’s din.

“My daughter-in-law,” the innkeeper explained. “A highwayman killed her, stabbed her in the throat. We bury her tomorrow. My son is home with my wife. Their house is not far. If you are willing, I can let you stay there.”

* * *

The Encephalon knew it had little time remaining in the host body. It had repaired most of the damage, but the decay process had already begun. Worse yet, while examining the creature’s memories, it realized that the body would be buried in the near future. The probe could easily leave the body and find a new host, but it suspected it would encounter similar problems. These creatures proved quite fragile and it would be difficult for it to enter a new body and take control without causing similar damage.

The probe had gained some control over the creature. It could make the creature’s body stand and move a little. However, the creature had lost much blood. Without sufficient blood to carry oxygen to the creature’s muscles, it could not stand long before the muscles ceased functioning.

It astonished the probe to realize the creature did not know how its own body produced blood. Even so, a search of the creature’s subprocesses did indicate that new blood was made in the bone marrow, but the process would take too long. The Encephalon needed a way to get blood into the creature quickly. If it could locate a blood supply, it would be easy enough to adapt the creature’s digestive system to use blood ingested through the mouth. That would be a simple matter of plumbing.

Just then, the probe received signals through the creature’s auditory sensors. The probe performed its own sensor sweep and determined that someone entered the dwelling. The probe hoped those other creatures hadn’t come to bury the body it occupied.

* * *

“You say a highwayman murdered your daughter?” Ling asked, once they’d entered the house.

The innkeeper brushed wet hair from his eyes. “That is the only sensible explanation. My daughter-in-law had no enemies, no jealous lovers. Even then, there is still a mystery.” He looked at each of the friends. “Whoever killed my daughter-in-law stole nothing and there is no sign that she was raped.” The innkeeper sniffed and wiped his nose.

Shang looked around the empty room. “Where is she?”

“There.” The innkeeper pointed toward a curtain in the doorway to another room. He stepped through the curtain and returned a few minutes later with three sleeping pallets.

The young men took the pallets and laid them out while the innkeeper retrieved blankets. “I’m sorry that I do not have better accommodations for you.”

Shang bowed. “Sir, this house is much more pleasant than the inn’s crowded common room would have been.” He handed the innkeeper a coin.

The innkeeper took it, bowed, and departed into the rain.

Yao found himself staring at the curtain while Shang and Ling made up the beds. “It feels wrong to stay here,” Yao said.

Ling shrugged, then lay down. “I would rather not sleep with a dead woman in the other room, but we don’t really have a choice.”

“Are you worried that the murderer will return?” Shang asked as he climbed into bed.

“I’m not sure.” Yao shook his head.

“You’ll feel better after a good night’s sleep.” Shang stifled a yawn then rolled over and closed his eyes.

Yao spread out his blankets and lay down. Although comfortable, he stared at the ceiling and listened to the pouring rain, unable to sleep.

* * *

The Encephalon’s sensors indicated that more creatures had, indeed, entered the house. One left, but three remained. The three creatures spoke among themselves for a time, but soon fell silent, aside from the sounds of respiration. The probe inferred the creatures had fallen into a sleep cycle. Three living creatures in the adjoining room meant a nearby blood source. The probe began adapting the host-creature’s internal organs to utilize the blood it ingested.

* * *

Exhaustion finally overtook Yao’s worry and he drifted off to sleep. He dreamed that Shang cried out. Yao tried to determine the cause. Shang had always been the group’s leader and Yao knew he could take care of himself. They were all younger sons of large families. Shang suggested they travel to Qingdao where they could find work on a fishing boat, or perhaps with the railroad. Anything would be better than being neglected at home.

Yao continued to search for Shang when Ling also cried out. That caused Yao to open his eyes. He blinked several times, uncertain of what he saw. He thought a young woman knelt beside Ling, kissing his neck. Her hair had been styled well and she wore fine robes. Yao thought he must still be dreaming. He began to roll over when he realized the young woman wore funerary garments. When she turned, Yao noticed a wound on her throat and blood oozing down her chin.

With a yelp, Yao pulled the blanket over his head and prayed the nightmare would end.

* * *

The creature’s muscles responded to the oxygenated blood it had ingested and the Encephalon could continue its explorations. The probe turned the host-creature’s head, examining the room. Unfortunately, the host-creature could discern little in the dark.

Still, one living creature remained in the room. Accessing the host-creature’s memory, the probe learned that these creatures routinely exchanged information through verbal communication. It commanded the host-creature to stand and approach the living creature, who had just pulled some kind of cloth over itself.

* * *

“Hello.” The voice was parched and hesitant.

Yao pushed back the blanket far enough to see the innkeeper’s daughter-in-law standing over him.

“I would like to ask you a few questions.” The innkeeper’s daughter-in-law spoke in broken Mandarin. Her voice sounded like a foreigner’s – like one of the Europeans who occasionally visited the province.

Yao screamed and leapt to his feet. He backed toward the door and the innkeeper’s daughter-in-law followed. He knew the dream had ended and that she was a jiang shi – a reanimated corpse.

“I would like to know your history and your aspirations for the future,” she said.

“The future?” Yao croaked. “My aspiration is to survive!” With that, he turned and darted out into the rain.

* * *

The Encephalon followed. It didn’t understand why the creature ran. According to the host-creature’s memories, the creature displayed fear. Admittedly, the probe had deactivated two of the creature’s comrades, but like the Encephalon itself, these creatures could reproduce. It could make new comrades.

Once outside, the probe found it difficult to see and hear. The rain and darkness worked against the host-creature’s natural abilities. The probe reached out with its own sensors and discovered the weather hampered them as well. Even so, the Encephalon detected an infrared signature moving into the nearby woods.

The Encephalon wove the clumsy host-creature in and around the trees. Several times, the probe called out to the creature, but the creature only hastened its retreat. The probe pushed the host-creature beyond its tolerance and almost caught up to the fleeing creature when it ran into a tree at a speed the body was not built for.

Numerous bones snapped within the host-creature and the body fell to the ground, limp. The Encephalon sensed pain signals traveling through the host-creature’s neural network. It tried to move the body, but too little structural integrity remained. Resigned to its fate, the Encephalon realized it would have to find another host.

* * *

The jiang shi had nearly caught Yao. He’d darted to the right, dodging a tree and kept running through the night. He soon realized the jiang shi no longer pursued him. Out of breath, he stopped running and circled back through the dark, rain-soaked woods towards Qingdao.

He discovered the dead woman’s body, flat on the ground, staring sightlessly at the sky. Her mouth moved and strange sounds came out, but Yao could tell the bones in her face had been damaged when she hit the tree. After a moment, the mouth went slack.

Yao knew he should run away, but the corpse transfixed him. Just then, he noticed that the wound on the jiang shi’s neck glowed. The wound opened anew and fresh blood – the blood of his friends – poured out. As he started to back away, a glowing orb appeared and then levitated straight up from the corpse. It hovered there for a moment as though watching him, then it flew away, into the night.

 The young man wasn’t sure whether he had just seen the demon that possessed the corpse, or the young woman’s soul flee her body. Either way, he knew she would no longer stir. He knelt down and closed her eyes, then folded her broken arms over her body. Standing, he trudged back toward town as the first rays of the sun streamed in through the trees. He decided to talk to the innkeeper, then he would see if he could raise enough money for the train fare back home to Weifang.

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