"Senior brother, senior brother, I'm here, let's start."

A familiar voice woke me up, and I opened my eyes to see Li Feifei standing in front of me with a bottle.

I was in a bit of a trance, as if something was wrong, but I hadn't come back to my senses yet.

"Senior brother, I made this test sample myself." Li Feifei's familiar accent completely woke me up.

"What? Where am I? I blurted out.

"You're in the lab, why do you suddenly ask that?" Li Feifei said strangely.

I looked at her intently, then looked around me. That's right, standing in front of me is Li Feifei, I am in the atomic absorption laboratory, and I suddenly remembered that I was teaching Li Feifei to use atomic absorption.

No, there's still something wrong, how could I be here, shouldn't I have woken up from bed? I struggled to think about it, and to my horror I discovered a reality that I couldn't accept. I took out my phone and the time on the screen was 3:55 p.m. on August 16, 2017.

I remembered that I had tossed and turned on the night of the last August 16th, and when I woke up, I found that it was the afternoon of August 16th. This terrible situation started the day before yesterday, when I woke up to find myself standing in front of a mirror; And yesterday, around 11 a.m., I woke up in the lab while I was doing an experiment.

What happened? Is my time getting shorter at an accelerated rate? Why is this space-time cage getting smaller and smaller? Are the aliens still punishing me? But I didn't try to run away again, what the hell is going on? I stood there stunned, frightened, my brain racing like an overheated processor. Li Feifei, who was concentrating on the laboratory next to her, didn't care about all this.

Am I wrong in my inference? The shortening of time is not because I'm trying to escape, but for some other reason? Or maybe the aliens found out what I had discovered and started to compress my time, maybe even trying to kill me? Or was the compression of time part of an alien experiment that just happened to happen to me to escape?

"Senior brother, it's done, and the concentration value of lead is 1.61 mg/L." Li Feifei finished the test sample and turned to me.

1.61 mg/L, I heard the familiar number again, which at least proves that I am still in the space-time cage of that August 16th.

"Oh... I groaned, my eyes glazed over.

"Senior brother, what's wrong with you?" Li Feifei was curious when she saw my frozen expression.

"Fei Fei, let me tell you something." I decided to find someone to confide in my fears.

"What's the matter?" Li Feifei was even more curious now.

"I'm locked in on August 16th."

"What? Lock?... What locks in? "Li Feifei didn't understand my consciousness.

"I'm locked in on August 16th." I repeat what I just said.

"I... I don't understand what you mean. Li Feifei seemed to be stunned by my words.

"Fei Fei, did you watch Stargate last night? Are you most afraid of rats? Did you change jobs because you liked change? "I think back to the previous conversations with Li Feifei on August 16.

"Wh... What the? What are you talking about? Li Feifei seems to have been completely blinded by my words.

"I should have talked to you a few more times, so you should trust me." I kind of regret that I didn't learn more about the people and things around me in the days ahead.

"Wait... Brother, what the hell are you talking about? Why didn't I understand anything? How do you know I watched Stargate yesterday? I don't remember telling you. ”

"You told me, but not on this plane." I tried to make her understand all this.

"Time and space? What are you talking about? "Now Li Feifei is already confused, she doesn't seem to think about what happened to me at all.

"About 20 days ago, I found out that I was locked in August 16th, and I started to have no tomorrow, and every day of mine became August 16th, and I just watched the day repeat itself before my eyes. You come to me every day to teach you atomic absorption. Do you understand? I'm locked in on August 16th. "I tried to explain that this was the first time in a long time that I had told people in the world what had happened to me.

"This... How is this possible? "Li Feifei's eyes are wide open, she has been confused by my sci-fi story-like plot.

"Trust me, it's all true, it's the first time I've exposed it to someone else." My eyes were fixed on her, hoping to convince her to believe my words with my sincere eyes.

Li Feifei looked at me blankly, although the plot was even more bizarre than the sci-fi TV series she watched last night, she didn't seem to be able to find the loopholes in this story, especially unable to question my eyes.

"I... You... I believe you... But I still can't accept such stories. ”

"I didn't want to accept my story, but something like this really happened to me without warning."

"The more serious problem is that I find that this repeating space-time I am in is shrinking at an accelerated rate, and I don't know anything about it, but I feel like I may not have much time left." I was terrified and uneasy.

"What? Why is this happening? What the hell is going on? "Li Feifei was transmitted by my uneasiness.

"I don't know, I don't know anything." My emotions were almost out of control.

"Senior brother, don't worry, speak slowly. Don't worry, let's go to dinner together after work, you tell me slowly, I'll see if I can help you. ”

I didn't really think about what she could do for me, I just wanted someone to talk to, I didn't want to live in this world that could destroy me at any time, I needed to release the fear and insecurity in my heart.

"I thought God was looking after me to give me eternal life in this world and to restart the whole world for me. But before I had time to enjoy the joy of this life, I suddenly found that I was locked up here alive, and I couldn't get out of City C, nor could I get out of August 16th. Then I noticed that my time was getting shorter and faster, and I woke up this afternoon to find you standing in front of me. "Amid the quiet sound of the piano in the café, I told Li Feifei about it, and gradually began to calm down, trying to share and confide in her about my situation.

"I can't believe it's true, but I can't deny the look in your eyes." Li Feifei gradually understood what I meant, although she still felt that it was too bizarre, but she still chose to believe my words, at least here, when we looked at each other, she chose to believe me.

"I don't know why, I even suspect that I am a guinea pig of aliens, I even suspect that this world is just a phantom of nothingness, including you, it is just an illusion created by aliens for me." I explained what I was thinking now.

"Me? I'm the real me, I'm not a phantom, and I don't think your inference is wrong. At least from my point of view. Li Feifei denied my inference.

"Who knows, maybe you don't even know that you are an illusion? What if it's aliens who fabricate consciousness for you? I asked her rhetorically.

"Well, I can't argue with you, but I'm sure I'm not an illusion." Li Feifei was a little determined.

"What should I do now? I could be killed or taken away at any time. I asked helplessly.

"I don't know, your time is getting shorter at an accelerated rate? And it was discovered from two days ago? Li Feifei found this even more unbelievable than the repeated August 16th.

"Yes, I counted, and today is my 24th August 16th. August 16 is repeated a total of 23 times, plus the normal August 16th of the first day, today is the 24th. "I decided not to mention my terrible experience of robbing a bank, and now that I think about it, it was simply the stupidest thing I've ever done in my life. I should have spent more than ten days searching for the truth behind the scenes, looking for my way out; Or maybe I should at least take that time to enjoy my life, because it might be the last time of my life.

"Didn't the time shorten in the first 20 days? Why did it suddenly shorten it? ”

"I don't know, I once suspected that aliens were punishing me because I tried to get out of City C on August 16th, 21st. The next day I found out that I didn't get out of City C, and the time started to shorten, and then I realized that the time was shortening at an amazing rate, which was the time to accelerate the contraction. "I tried to think about the whole thing, but I didn't find any rules or information in it.

"If that's the case, when will your tomorrow begin?"

"I don't know, I don't even know if I have a tomorrow." I seemed depressed and helpless again, really didn't know anything about my future, no, I didn't know anything about all of this.

Time passed quickly, and the lights of the café gradually dimmed. Suddenly, we realized that the music had stopped, and I looked around as if it was just two of us customers, when the waiter walked in.