Homo Sapiens

「December 5th.」

The plane landed slowly at Xingdao International Airport.

Chen Yanxiu’s family, pulling their suitcases, was given a harsh welcome by Xing Island’s scorching weather.

His wife, Liu Meizhu, fanned herself with a small fan while complaining, ”It’s so hot! Hotter than summer in Hsinchu.”

”Stop complaining. We should be glad to have a job right now,” Chen Yanxiu said, holding his young daughter in one arm and pulling a suitcase with the other.

Liu Meizhu grabbed her son, who was about to run off. ”Doesn’t your company send people to California? North America would be nice, wouldn’t it?”

”That’s a naive way to think about it. You can get laid off in North America, but there’s no such thing as unemployment within the Homo Sapiens Company. Why would we go there just to live in fear? Besides, the white and black people in North America love to bully us Asians.” As Chen Yanxiu spoke, he recalled being bullied by his white classmates when he studied abroad there.

Watching the crowds of people coming and going in the airport terminal, whose skin color and appearance were mostly similar to her own, Liu Meizhu found herself agreeing with some of what her husband had said.

Just then, an airport navigator holding a tablet spotted Chen Yanxiu and his family of four.

He was a young man. After comparing them to the ID photo on his tablet, he smiled and greeted them, ”Excuse me, are you Mr. Chen Yanxiu and Ms. Liu Meizhu? I’m Immigration Navigator Mao Pengcheng. This is my employee ID.”

”Ah...” With his hands full, Chen Yanxiu quickly nodded. ”Hello, I’m Chen Yanxiu, and this is my wife, Liu Meizhu.”

”Mr. Chen, I need to confirm your identities. I’ll need your cooperation, please.”

”Of course.”

Mao Pengcheng led Chen Yanxiu’s family to an inspection room in the immigration control area.

Inside were two male and one female inspectors, who were there to process the family.

They quickly completed the fingerprint, iris, voiceprint, and genetic identification. This was an essential procedure, mainly to prevent people from slipping through by fraudulent means.

For example, finding people with similar body types and facial features who, after minor cosmetic surgery, might try to infiltrate the Homo Sapiens Company.

After they passed the inspection, Mao Pengcheng said with a smile, ”Mr. Chen, I’ll now take you to collect your exclusive items.”

”There are exclusive items?” Liu Meizhu was very surprised.

”It’s a perk the company provides for every new employee. They’re just some ordinary, free items.”

Although she was a little disappointed to hear they were ”ordinary items,” who doesn’t like free things? So, she happily pulled her son along.

Chen Yanxiu followed close behind, still holding his little daughter and pulling the suitcase.

A short while later, they arrived at the New Employee Item Collection Room within the immigration control area, a space established specifically for new Homo Sapiens Company employees.

After the room’s administrator confirmed their identities, he pointed to a large screen. ”You can each receive a phone and a smart band. The children can each receive a smart band. You can choose from any of these models.”

Staring at the phones and smart bands on the large screen, Liu Meizhu quickly asked, ”Are they all free?”

”Yes, but it’s limited to one per person. They also function as your ID device,” the administrator replied with a smiling nod.

Chen Yanxiu, seeing his wife’s eyes light up, felt a little embarrassed and quickly said, ”I’ll take this black one.”

”No problem.” After the administrator entered the data, another one soon opened the warehouse.

He retrieved a Jade 2 smartphone manufactured by the Manila Optoelectronics Company and loaded Chen Yanxiu’s identification information onto it.

With the phone in hand, Chen Yanxiu began to toy with it.

After some deliberation, Liu Meizhu picked a blue Jade 2 phone and chose smart bands for her two children.

”Sir, Ma’am, the company has arranged your residence at Apartment 605, Building 204, in the Kampung City South District of Johor.”

”Isn’t it on Xing Island?” Liu Meizhu asked quickly.

Mao Pengcheng explained, ”Johor is also part of the Xingdao Branch’s territory. Besides, your work will be in Kampung, so this is a nearby arrangement. You don’t need to worry about the amenities; they’re comparable to what you’d find in the Xingdao Port Area.”

”Really?” Liu Meizhu was still a bit skeptical.

But Chen Yanxiu, who had familiarized himself with the Homo Sapiens Company’s system, was quite confident. He quickly said to his wife, ”Don’t worry! I’m sure the facilities over there are just as good.”

”I hope so,” Liu Meizhu said, a bit sullen. She clearly wasn’t convinced. She had never even heard of Kampung City in Johor and assumed it was some rural backwater.

Mao Pengcheng was used to the confusion and hesitation of newcomers. He didn’t offer further explanation, but continued, ”You can activate the navigation system on your phone. The system’s assistant can guide you to Kampung City.”

”Thank you,” Chen Yanxiu said quickly. He then opened the navigation on his phone, and after he entered the destination, the system assistant promptly listed several routes.

By this time, Mao Pengcheng had already left.

Sitting on a bench, Liu Meizhu asked, ”Honey, how do we get there? Should we take a taxi?”

”Doesn’t look like it. There’s a subway between Kampung City and the Xingdao Port Area. We can take it directly.”

Hearing this, Liu Meizhu’s expression brightened considerably. ”What? There’s a subway? I guess this ’city’ is pretty close to Xing Island after all!”

”Let’s go,” Chen Yanxiu said, not bothering to elaborate.

In reality, the Xingdao Branch had its own metropolitan area. Subways were planned for all the cities within it. As part of the Xingdao metropolitan area, some cities in Johor were already connected by subway.

The Homo Sapiens Company didn’t like investing in megacities, which resulted in relatively balanced development across all the cities in the metropolitan area. There wasn’t a situation where amenities were all concentrated in a single core urban district.

The family walked out of the airport’s immigration control area, and not far away was a subway station.

Many other passengers were also heading toward the subway station.

Unlike ordinary subway stations, the ones built by the Homo Sapiens Company were generally located in strata more than 100 meters underground, so you could only go down by elevator.

In the elevator.

”Do we need to buy tickets?”

Hearing his wife’s question, Chen Yanxiu shook his head. ”No, we can just swipe our employee cards. It’s free for the kids.”

”So convenient!” Liu Meizhu said, looking at the employee card in her hand.

A middle-aged man next to them, who was wearing a special prosthetic limb, smiled and offered a tip, ”The employee card and phone can be used to ride the subway, buses, and taxis directly. The company rarely uses cash internally. If you lose them, you should get them replaced right away.”

Chen Yanxiu glanced at the middle-aged man and nodded with a smile. ”Thanks for the tip, sir. Are you also Chinese?”

The middle-aged man smiled and shook his head. ”I’m one of the Mon people. I learned Chinese from my old squad leader.”

”Oh, so you were a soldier?” Chen Yanxiu asked, a little surprised.

”I retired from service this year. Now I’m a gym teacher at a school.”

In truth, this middle-aged man had participated in the Assam War. During the fighting, he was caught in a sudden artillery barrage from the Tianzhu Army and lost a leg in the explosion.

It was one of the harsh realities of war; even the New Humans weren’t omnipotent, and all sorts of accidents could happen.

As they chatted, the elevator reached the underground station.

Before they parted ways, the middle-aged man reminded them, ”We’re here. Don’t get on the wrong one. The blue cars are for the local subway, and the white cars are for the main line inter-district trains.”

”Thank you, we’ll be careful,” Chen Yanxiu replied gratefully.

After about 17 minutes, a train pulled into the station.

Guided by the system assistant on the phone, the family boarded the train bound for Kampung City.

It was a train with only three passenger cars. The seating inside was very spacious, and there were special racks just for luggage and other items.

Chen Yanxiu took a random seat. Just as he finished stowing his suitcase, a familiar voice suddenly sounded from behind him.