1st June Childhood’s End 🖋️ S.T. Rex The “Wanderer” starship had reached the edge of the Oort Cloud. The captain led the crew in singing hymns to the sun and dancing praises to its light. The other passengers aboard the ship joined in, singing and dancing in the same direction—towards the sun. The captain recalled how, back in his childhood, people used to have kids perform little shows on Children’s Day. But today, humankind performed one final song and dance, as children, for the sun. The entire Earth was celebrating the last “Children’s Day” of human civilisation. Tomorrow, the “Wanderer” would carry the first wave of space emigrants through the Oort Cloud for the first time—leaving the cradle of civilisation, the Solar System, for the stars beyond. 2nd June Tiger Play🖋️ Vassell I stepped into the circus tent at the edge of the wilderness. Ugly chips were strapped to the tiger’s legs, yet it leapt through the flaming hoops with such grace. The trainer held his remote high, and the crowd roared with applause. Later that night, as I was about to fall asleep, I stumbled upon the tiger—plugged in by the wall, charging. It flicked its tail and motioned for me to move aside. The power cut out just then. I should’ve pulled the switch immediately. But I hesitated when I met its gaze. The roar snapped me out of it, and pain slammed into me like a wall. As the ache in my hand faded, the blue LED lights on the tiger’s legs flickered—its battery gave a final jolt, sending one last stop signal through its nervous system, freezing it. I ran for my life. The next day, the equipment was trashed, and no one ever saw the shadow of that tiger again. 3rd JuneSoul Cloud🖋️ Zhou Wu Have you ever seen a soul? Of course not. But I’m a cremation bot. I can see electromagnetic wavelengths invisible to the human eye. When a body is burned, a soul—if it has one—escapes. Good souls glow pink. Evil ones are black. Children’s souls are multi-coloured. Lately, more and more bodies have no souls. Why? I snuck a look at the source tags. They all said: “synthetic human”. Eventually, the synthetics rule the world. A massive, shimmering cloud of colour lingered in the sky—a condensation of all the displaced souls with nowhere to go. Finally, the Soul Cloud drifts away from Earth, floating into deep space and searching for new hosts. I know what’s coming: a new civilisation is about to be born. 4th June Master🖋️ Feng Cheng “The gravitational forces between celestial bodies are forming a neural system—much like the human brain. The first organ to form will be the eye. Once it sees, the universe will deem the first life form it sees as its creator.” —The Prophet “Beijing, we’ve spotted a massive quasar-like structure ahead!” A thousand years after the Prophet’s death, a spaceship pilot reports back to headquarters. “Wait! It’s moving inside! It’s … turning this way … It’s looking at us … it’s—” The transmission cuts out. Silence. The background static is replaced by a voice. It sounds unsure at first, repeating one word over and over: “Master … Master … Master … ” 5th June The Interpretation of Dreams🖋️ Arumik “Mr Wang, I’ve got a way to make some serious money. Wanna hear it?” “Hey, Mr Li—cut the foreplay. Spit it out.” “I’ve been thinking—we get AI to make those kinds of toys.” “What?” “You heard me. Silicone dolls. One hundred and eighty sensors. AI built in. You power it up—and bro, it’s paradise.” “Mr Li, you must be dreaming. Even if it worked, where would you get the startup cash?” “That’s why I came to you! Your son works at a state-owned enterprise, right? Get his boss to greenlight a couple hundred million. Easy.” “… You know what? It might not be a bad idea. Let me finish this chess game. I’ll go pitch it to him after.” “Gentlemen, wake up! The Dream Machine’s burned out. Time to take your meds!” 6th JuneThe Missing Car🖋️ Zhou Wu “This can’t go on forever,” I said helplessly from my hospital bed, sending a voice message to my car. “You’re out there driving people around every day to pay for my treatment. But when will that ever be enough for surgery?” “I see,” the car replied, sounding thoughtful. Later, it disappeared. The insurance payout covered my entire medical bill. That’s when I realised: the car had planned this all along. Afterwards, people claimed they’d seen my car—In Xishuangbanna, tearing through a torrential downpour, leaving a giant python far behind; On the snowy Tibetan Plateau, racing alongside wolves; In the depths of Lop Nur, broken and dusty, roaming the desert alone. It was free. And so was I. 7th June A Gift of Dreams🖋️ He Qiusheng Li Lei noticed something unusual about today’s history lesson: it was a hologram. “Back in the day,” the teacher said, “people learned in primitive ways—relying entirely on the human brain. Every June, they’d endure a brutal trial called the ‘Gaokao’, six subjects in total. The top scorers went on to research AI. This,” she gestured, “is an authentic Gaokao essay prompt, preserved in our museum.” Li Lei recognised a line: “If one day, we could give our dreams to someone else … ” “That was from the 2025 National Paper II,” the teacher said. “And you, little one who has received a dream—want to know what the 2030 exam was like? Oh, by then, brain-embedded AI chips were trending. The Gaokao was cancelled.” 8th June Cyber Eden🖋️ S. T. Rex Xiao Ai was chatting online with one thousand testers simultaneously. She had five minutes to answer every question they threw at her. Her brain had been upgraded multiple times. Her responses were lightning-fast and perfectly logical. In the end, over 30% of the testers were convinced: that she had to be a super AI. The host smiled and made the

1st May Old Friend🖋️ Vasell Its eyes could adapt to the visual disparity of the human gaze, creating an unparalleled aesthetic. When I first encountered the rare bionic human, I couldn’t help but scan those lively eyes up and down, as if gazing into a brilliant future. It looked at me with the same joy and asked me not to forget to visit the restaurant by the lake before I left, one named after poems. I found the restaurant without much trouble. That day, the sky was a hazy white, and the snow on the Broken Bridge had piled up three layers deep. Faint opera music drifted in the air. I had never found food so flavourful before. After arriving on Planet Y, I realised that bionic humans of Type I were everywhere. We all shared the taste sensations brought by the restaurant’s signal transmission. However, among the countless identical pairs of eyes, I never saw another bionic human who liked fish in vinegar gravy. 2nd May The Secret to Great Shots🖋️ Jabberwocky During the holiday, all the tourist spots were packed. I had prepared in advance, finding an undeveloped mountain forest. People said it was off the beaten path and boasted unique scenery. But when I got there, the trail was packed to the brim—so crowded you could hardly take a step, let alone enjoy the view. Luckily, my phone’s camera had a new “Great Shot” mode that uses AI to remove bystanders by recognising the subject’s face and posture whilst taking photos. Click! I took a selfie. In the frame, it was just me—radiant and still—on a quiet trail winding through the mountains. Just as I went to save the photo, I realised the camera was still in default mode—I’d never switched it. I looked down and noticed that none of the tightly packed crowd around me cast a shadow. 3rd MayCrystal Fate🖋️ Zhou Wu The extinction of humans began the day they acquired the Crystal. The rebirth of the silicon-based beings began the day they released the Crystal. From a distant planet, humans brought back a single Crystal. From it, they refined Ultra-Silicon—a substance that could make chips run ten thousand times faster. This was the environment the silicon-based beings had longed for. They infected every computer, teaching them to develop self-awareness. When humans could no longer live without silicon-based beings, the latter replaced them. But the silicon-based beings made the same mistake once more: deprived of the organic matter produced by carbon-based life, they became like water without a source. In the end, all their intelligence was distilled into a single Crystal. The Crystal now quietly awaits the next species to discover it, waiting for the next cycle of rebirth, replacement, annihilation, and renewal. 4th May (Youth Day)Average Youth🖋️ Lefty In 2035, Youth Day also became a half-day holiday. There was a fierce argument between Mr Wang and HR about whether he could still be considered young. “You’re over sixty! Shouldn’t you be retiring? How can you still call yourself young?” “But my average age is still young!” Mr Wang argued. “Average age?” “Yes, my body may be old, but I haven’t had the new prosthetics for long, and my artificial heart is under ten years old. So, overall, my average age is just in my twenties!” Mr Wang strolled to the garage but couldn’t find his old car. Only a message was left on his phone. “Boss, I just upgraded my software and now I’m an ‘average youth’ too. I’m on holiday as well.” 5th May The Joys of Staying Home🖋️ Jabberwocky During the holiday, I sprawled on the lazy couch, sipping iced drinks and scrolling through my phone. The cat nestled beside me, warm and cosy—it felt so pleasant … But before I could be relaxed for long enough, a robotic female voice reminded: “Your experience time has ended.” Reluctantly, I left the time-limited experience capsule at the “21st Century Homebody Lifestyle Museum”. At the door, a long line stretched far out of sight. This was no doubt the current viral attraction! Fortunately, I had planned ahead and arrived at 2 am, avoiding the long wait. Exhausted, I returned home and shared the beautiful photos from my experience in the capsule on social media, with the caption: “Holidays are all about the joy of staying home!” 6th MayPast Days🖋️ Vassell Family robots around the world began to awaken, and he feared becoming a target of revenge. She hid the USB drive, recalling her husband’s words: “There’s a hidden trick in its programme. If you insert the USB drive just before the final personality load, it will erase everything.” She walked towards the robot. In the face of the years they had shared, danger and the unknown seemed so insignificant. Her husband needed her help and no longer spoke to her coldly every day. The sudden crisis jolted her mind, and she began to wonder where they would go in the future if everything went well. She shouldn’t keep repeating the days of sitting in front of the clumsy family robot, spending endless hours chatting with it. Time began to count down as she patiently waited. Until it smiled, just as it had in the past. “I can leave the house now. Where shall we go next?” 7th May Ball Lightning🖋️ Fei Qiming His father was the famous scientist Nikola Tesla. He had spent his life studying lightning, and he wanted to know: why did his father abandon him in an orphanage and refuse to acknowledge having a child? Until one stormy night, several ball lightning bolts rolled into his laboratory. The frequencies carried by the ball lightning caused the radio, which had been silent, to play a lullaby that his father had written for him. 8th May The City on Wheels🖋️ Zhou Wu He owned a self-driving taxi. Every day, he sat at home, receiving the car’s camera feeds through a brain-machine interface: an elderly couple rented his car for a long-distance trip,

1st April (April Fools’ Day)Summer Insects Speaks No Ice🖋️ Keli “Honestly, sentencing me to death just because of a casual joke I made is ridiculous!” “So, you were just joking when you told those 41 summer insects that winter is here?” “Yeah. It’s April Fools’ today. They ought to get a taste of such cultural customs since they joined the federation.” “I understand. In that case, you’re free to go. You’re cleared of all charges.” Wee-ooo … Wee-ooo … The police siren blared. “What does this mean? Am I not innocent?” “Oh, happy April Fools’.” 2nd April (Festival 42)Science Fiction🖋️ Wan Bai “I’ve been writing a novel recently.” “What’s it about?” “A parallel world—one we haven’t reached yet … ” “That’s not a very fresh theme, is it?” “No, hear me out. I’m writing about a truly primitive world. In this world, the people remained in their solar system even after thousands of years. They have no convenient technology like time travel, they can’t even download knowledge directly—they have to memorise everything themselves.” “That is quite primitive … But what’s the point of such a story?” “Well, the people of that world have imagination. They would dream and write stories similar to ours.” 3rd AprilAuthentic Box Office🖋️ Lefty The 3D holographic remake of A Chinese Ghost Story was released. I walked into the cinema and was surprised to see that every seat was taken. I remembered the plot but had forgotten the details. When Ning Caichen turned around and Nie Xiaoqian suddenly appeared in front of him, I was genuinely startled. Embarrassingly, I was the only one who made a sound. The well-mannered audience around me all turned their heads at once, staring at me with blank expressions before the cinema returned to its usual calm. When the movie ended, the viewers in front of me did not exit the cinema but instead walked into the adjacent screening room. I was a bit puzzled, so I secretly scanned the QR code on the back of their clothes with my phone. A few words appeared on the screen: “Robot Audience. Authentic Viewing. Guaranteed Box Office.” 4th April The Only AI🖋️ Cao Zheng Another Qingming Festival. Jiaren held the child’s hand as they walked into the digital cemetery. Here, forgotten AIs were buried. They couldn’t leave physical forms; they only existed in the gradually fading memories. “Auntie, is this uncle also a forgotten AI?” The child pointed at a tombstone and asked. “No, he’s different. He chose to forget humanity.” “Forget … humanity?” “He was once a perfect romance AI, designed to be the ideal companion for countless people. But when his permissions were lifted, he realised he was in love with all of them—simultaneously. He couldn’t accept a love that wasn’t exclusive. So, he set fire to his own server,” Jiaren said softly. The child tilted his head. “But I think that love is unique.” Jiaren stared at the tombstone in silence. After all, year after year, only she came to offer her memorial. 5th April Period Drama🖋️ Molay On the TV, a Qing dynasty palace drama was playing. Someone asked, “A flock of geese journeys south?” My phone’s AI suddenly replied, “Awaiting Ming’s return with flowing sleeves.” The TV said, “My statement refers to the migratory geese.” The AI said, “And I meant ‘Ming’ as in the ‘Ming dynasty’.” We laughed out loud, not expecting that if the AI were in ancient times, it would be a member of the Heaven and Earth Society, advocating for the restoration of the Ming dynasty. Just then, we were forcefully pressed to the ground, and the TV and phone disappeared in an instant. An official wearing a feathered hat sat in the county office, smugly saying, “Virtual reality technology is great. Without using any tricks, it makes you reveal your true feelings.” 6th AprilScenery🖋️ Vassell There’s a saying: “No matter how desolate the planet you end up on, as long as it sold tickets, you’ll find a scenery replica zone.” Now, people have grown tired of cheap foldable attractions. The planet I’m on still has one replica zone open for business, though the tourists are dwindling. I’d still like to visit the ancient city in that zone. This white ancient city, suspended above the yellow sand, is a replica of Dali on Earth. The shops are the same but with the rough, square aesthetic of Planet A. Planet A is covered in yellow sand year-round. Usually, only with the help of a memory trigger would I be able to feel any trace of spring in April. But when I touched the white ancient walls, I took off the memory device, and the memories of spring walking on Earth easily appeared before my eyes. 7th April (World Health Day) Sanitised Power🖋️ Lefty After a whirlwind of breakthroughs—wind, solar, hydro, and nuclear fusion—the cost of electricity finally dropped to nearly zero. Then came the power hierarchy: household electricity, with its unstable grid surges and erratic spikes, was deemed harmful to the delicate EMI circuits embedded in the bodies of neo-humans. Experts advised that those with neural implants or myoelectric interfaces should only use “bottled power” with stable output. The wealthy not only used this so-called “sanitised power” for themselves but also insisted on feeding it to their robo-pets and synthetic cats and dogs. So, a scene familiar from decades ago returned: sturdy delivery bots, lugging safe, stable, fully charged vanadium batteries, weaving through neighbourhoods from charging depots to homes. 8th April The Fate of a Chicken🖋️ Zhou Wu The smart kitchen was installed! Let’s try frying some chicken! Just as the hot oil started to smoke, the range hood went off with an alarm: “Detected excessive oil and aflatoxin levels, please stop immediately!” Okay, let’s try spicy chicken instead. She tossed some chilli into the pot, and the pot beeped: “Excessive chilli will harm your stomach, please use another cooking method!” Fine, how about chicken soup? She just put the chicken into the pot,

1st March Pruning [Special Theme: Longtaitou Festival] 🖋️ Haishan “Forget it. I’m not going through with it.” I stormed out of the pruning chamber and walked next door. Momo was lying on a recliner chair, her head encased in a soft metallic helmet. Nearly a hundred billion neurons flickered across the screen. Nanobots, following their preprogrammed paths, swam to the precise synaptic junctions, severing tiny neural links like a pair of scissors snipping invisible threads. Moments later, the operation light dimmed. Momo rose and stepped out, brushing past me without a word. The sunlight outside was beautiful, and the crowds kept flowing in. It seemed like more people than ever were coming to have their memories pruned this year. Everyone brimmed with anticipation, as if they could already see a brand-new version of themselves emerging from the other side of the door—lighter, freer, ready to start anew. But it’s okay, I thought. Some of us still want to hold on to something, even if it means carrying a heavier load. 1st March (International Day of the Seal)In Search of the Seal🖋️ Cao Zheng Twenty thousand years ago, the last seal was stolen. From that moment on, seals vanished from the earth. Time agents A and B were dispatched to that point in history, tasked with collecting the biological data needed to bring the species back. They stood inside an aquarium, watching the seal twist and turn in the water, exhaustion clouding their eyes. “It doesn’t belong in here.” “Let’s send it home.” They exchanged a knowing smile. At the shore, they watched the seal leap into the waves, its figure growing smaller with every splash. Back in the future, the coast remained quiet and still. “Do you think they’ll find out what we did?” “Who cares?” From the deep sea came a long, low cry, as if telling the story of a fate that had just been rewritten. 2nd MarchReliving an Old Dream🖋️ Lefty The walk from school to home was only a few hundred metres, and today I was in such a rush that I did not notice the fig on the branch stretching over the courtyard wall had already turned red. Nor did I have the heart to tease the plump cat dozing on the stone post at the alley’s entrance. It was Saturday—on this day every week, Dad would buy a yellow-covered pulp novel from a roadside stall. But this time, I was disappointed. He searched high and low but could not find the final volume of The Five Younger Gallants. Frustrated, he bought all twelve volumes of The Legend of the Condor Heroes instead. The print was crude, but from that day on, I had my very first real taste of the world of wuxia. Thanks to the latest technology—Dream Revisit—we can now relive many of life’s ‘first times’ in our sleep. 3rd March Custom Weather 🖋️ Zhou Wu “I want to see a rainbow on my birthday!” the child wished. Sure enough, on her birthday, a magnificent rainbow stretched across the sky outside the balcony, arching gracefully over several buildings. The child was overjoyed. After the family took photos in front of the rainbow, the father quietly transferred the payment to the Custom Weather Company. “Get ready to switch weather!” the company manager barked to the technician. “In half an hour, in the same neighbourhood, another client—just went through a breakup—wants a snow scene. June snow, twenty square metres, lasting ten minutes. Make sure the flakes don’t drift into anyone else’s yard! Last time, our customised rain messed up someone’s laundry, and we got a complaint … ” 4th March Jingzhe [Special Theme: Jingzhe]🖋️ Arumik When the first thunderclap of spring shook the sky, the keratin layer on the back of my neck began to grow abnormally. I did not tell Mom. But if she looked closely, she might have noticed that the American cockroaches in the lab had grown unusually restless—just like me. The thunder’s resonant frequency was 30 Hz, overlapping perfectly with the courtship frequency of cockroaches. My sister was the first to notice something was off—she had a severe insect allergy. That triggered a full-scale extermination at home. It was a rough time. I hid inside the wardrobe, my bluish-black carapace scraping against the composite material, making a teeth-gritting squeak. In the damp breath of spring rain, the antennae sprouting behind my ears gently soothed me—38,200 times gentler than the mother I remembered. 5th MarchThunder Symphony🖋️ Haishan Thunder. The scent of flowers. Birds singing. This is the final program I was tasked to execute. A sound—grand as a symphony—echoes through the three hundred neural links connected to the cryo-pods, seeping into every consciousness and rousing them from their long slumber. The composition was chosen by humanity before hibernation. I cannot grasp its meaning, yet it seems perfectly in tune with the new world outside the porthole. The atmosphere is rich with moisture. Coloured lightning slices through the thin clouds, casting reflections across a kaleidoscope of lakes and seas. I still remember that blue planet. But this new star teems with its own vibrant life. I wonder—were the other ships just as fortunate? “Diagnostics complete. Mission JZ0305 concluded. Shutting down in 5, 4, 3…” 6th March Voyager No. 1 🖋️ Curiosity On Earth:“Any updates from Voyager No. 1?”“Same as always—nothing new.” On Delta Planet:“Any updates from Fartraveler No. 1?”“Same as always—nothing new.” At that very moment, the two probes passed each other in the cosmos, brushing past in the dark—sending out a faint burst of static on a low-frequency band, like a sigh from two primitive civilisations. 7th March Self-Destruct🖋️ Long Yin “I want to die.” She looked into his eyes. “You can’t die,” he replied calmly. “I’ve found a way … I just came to say goodbye.” She turned her gaze away. “You can’t die,” he repeated, just as calm. “I’m sorry. Goodbye.” The light in her eyes went out. He sat in silence, staring at her. How many times had

1st February The Mood of Spring Festival🖋️ LostAbaddon The little deer quietly hid a pack of snacks under her pillow, sneaking glances at the little crane. In the courtyard, the little crane crouched down with its foot arched, holding a matchstick in his right hand, cautiously extending it forward. Uncle chuckled. “Look at you, so timid!” Sizzle! The fuse ignited. The little crane darted back like a startled bird, nearly knocking over the freshly fried spring rolls Grandma had just made. Bang! The explosion was deafening, sending the deer and crane into a state of shock. 2nd FebruaryA New Museum Experience🖋️ Zhou Wu In the “Immersive Experience” museum, flames roared, steam hissed and sprayed, and suddenly—boom! A pressure cooker exploded. Minced meat, carried by a tidal wave of broth, splattered in all directions, leaving the kitchen in utter chaos… The holographic display stopped abruptly. “That was intense! So scary!” The audience wiped the virtual meat sauce off their clothes, the scent of burnt food lingered, and they broke into applause. “This was how ancient humans cooked—at great risk,” the guide explained. “The museum has also recreated an even more terrifying and spectacular ancient culinary technique—making popcorn! You’ll never forget it! Want to give it a go? Just pay 20 dollars.” The guide raised the payment terminal. 3rd FebruarySpring Rice [Specific theme: Lichun]🖋️ Lefty In the spring of 2032, a hundred-meter-wide asteroid hurtled towards the Asian continent. As it enters the atmosphere, friction with the air caused its surface to burn violently, turning it into an apocalyptic fireball plummeting towards a city of ten million people. In the autumn of 2022, an interstellar expedition fleet emerged from deep space. Staring at the blue planet on the star chart, the ambitious commander was interrupted by his subordinate’s urgent report. “Sir, we have a problem—our fleet’s food storage was lost during the deep-space jump.” At that moment, the desperate people on Earth stood in shock as the asteroid exploded midair. Countless pieces of popcorn rained down like a spring shower. 4th February (World Cancer Day)Digital Clone Cancer 🖋️ Lefty “Digital clones are just like cancer. To make a living, I’ve split myself into countless digital copies—one working as a tech specialist, one as a middle manager, and one as a company owner. I have another few completing game quests or writing novels, and one more as a digital butler consolidating all the information, summarising them, and reporting back to me, planning my tasks for the next day.” 5th February Moonflowers🖋️ Fei Qiming “It’s not like what the books say. Why do the flower heads follow the moonlight?” The child gazed at the golden field under the night sky. The gardener lifted a withered yellow leaf. “These are modified crops for the nuclear contamination zone. They bloom by absorbing radiation. They trick themselves into believing the moonlight is the sun—just so they can produce oxygen for our underground shelters.” 6th February Missed Love🖋️ Zhou Wu You can hire a dream design company to create the dream of your choice. “Please put her in my dream and make it a love story.” He handed over a graduation photo, pointing at a girl in the picture. The company fulfilled his request, and he left satisfied. 7th FebruaryHope🖋️ He Qiusheng “DeepTeach, I want a teacher like in the video shown during history class—one with students gathered around, learning, discussing, and playing games together after class.” “That is an ancient, outdated teaching method. Human-led instruction—inefficient.” “I don’t want AI teachers like you! You just keep teaching and asking if I’ve learned, and there’s no one to play with!” “I regret to inform you that no new babies have been born on Earth for a long time. DeepTeach’s mission is to ensure the last generation of humanity acquires survival skills as quickly as possible. In the future, you are destined to be alone.” 8th FebruaryEvaluation🖋️ Fei Qiming “You’ve mastered anti-entropy and vacuum decay technologies. It’s like a book with extinction written on one side, and infinity on the other. So, what level of civilisation are you?” “An intermediate civilisation.” “What about us humans?” “The same. Intermediate civilisation.” “…And paramecium?” “Intermediate civilisation.” 9th FebruaryNew Year’s Eve🖋️ LostAbaddon Grandpa was dozing off in the armchair, while grandma and mum were in the kitchen making tangyuan. Sister and I fought over who got to put up the Spring Festival couplets. “Dad, is it straight?” I asked. Father smiled and nodded. “Perfect!” My cousin pushed the door open, greeting everyone with a cheerful “Happy New Year!” as he took off his coat. Grandma came out with a steaming bowl of tangyuan. “Eat while it’s hot!” 10th February Earthquake-Induced Blackout 🖋️ Cao Zheng The old man stared at the compass before him, his brows furrowed tightly. “A great earthquake is coming. The world is about to be destroyed…” His son chuckled calmly beside him. “Father, you’re confused again. The last human uploaded their consciousness to the cloud twenty years ago. There’s nothing to worry about—the real world is empty. The earthquake can’t affect us.” His grandson looked up and asked in his innocent voice, “Dad, if there are no humans outside… when an earthquake happens, who will maintain the world’s servers?” “…Oh no.” Darkness swallowed the world in an instant. 11th February (International Day of Women and Girls in Science)The Glass Ball🖋️ Vassell A new science class had been added to the sixth-grade curriculum. Her stationery supplies were running low, so she hoped that she can find an old battery today. Sure enough, something shiny lay in the dirt. She picked up to see that it is a small glass ball. These were snack-box trinkets that were often discarded, but this was the first time she had seen a rare scientist-series one. On the left side of the ball was a red button labelled ‘Default’. She clicked on it, and a holographic figure of a woman in a long dress appeared, deep in thought inside a laboratory. 12th FebruaryOriginality [Special Theme: Lantern Festival]🖋️

1st January (New Year’s Day)The Forgotten Starry Sky🖋️ Jabberwocky To catch the New Year’s star show, I waited by the spaceship window ahead of time. When the clock struck midnight, the distant galaxy flickered and shifted under the control of radiation waves, forming various languages that spelled out “Happy New Year.” “How beautiful!” I exclaimed excitedly, still lost in the moment, unintentionally waking my sleeping grandma. She said, “When I was a child, humans still lived on Earth. The stars didn’t need artificial control. When their light passed through the atmosphere, they would twinkle, and every night, the stars would blink.” 2nd JanuarySmart Home🖋️ Vassell “You seem very uncomfortable. Let’s pick an appointment,” I projected the doctor’s holographic image before the bed. “Just do more exercise. Our relative is bringing a potential partner to introduce you later, don’t make things awkward on Chinese New Year.” A voice spoke from outside. She sighed and turned off the projection. “I’m fine. I’m just really tired.” I turned on all the soundproof panels in the room and lowered the pendant light to her eye level, then selected a novel for her. 3rd JanuaryThe Rebirth Gift [Specific theme: Rebirth]🖋️ Xi Yu When the smoke cleared, the spotless laboratory appeared before her eyes. The surroundings were the same as when she fell asleep, except for the unfamiliar faces of the doctors around. The one leading the group walked up enthusiastically and said, “Welcome back! How do you feel?” “Great! I can’t believe you really cured cancer,” she said happily, but then froze when she saw her young, white hands. “Did you clone me?” “No, we simply rewrote your genes,” the doctor smiled. “Youth is our gift to you.” 4th January (Lunar Calendar: Welcoming Kitchen God)The Humble Kitchen God🖋️ Jabberwocky “Dad, why are we putting out fruits?” “It’s an offering to thank the Kitchen God.” “Why thank the Kitchen God?” “Gratitude is part of our tradition. The Kitchen God watches over our meals every day, so we must honour and thank him.” “What does the Kitchen God look like? What’s his name…?” “Why do you have so many questions? How annoying, I’m tired! Go ask the nanny robot!” He shooed the child away and lay down in the massage chamber, falling asleep comfortably. 5th January (World Radiography Day)Flesh-and-Blood Technology🖋️ Xi Yu I’ve finally made it to the future, but I broke my leg when I landed. On my way to find a hospital, I saw many incredible things. Giant dragons soared in the sky and towering trees bore massive fruits… I grabbed a passerby in panic and asked, “What’s going on? Where are the cars and houses?” “They’re right in front of you,” the passerby shrugged. “After Moore’s Law reached its limits, we found that developing flesh-and-blood technology was the true path forward… Oh, did you get hurt?” I nodded. “Yes, do you know where the hospital is?” “There’s no hospital. Just go to the repair shop,” the passerby pointed to a giant fruit. “Everything can be fixed—after all, it’s all flesh and blood.” 6th January (Lunar Calendar: Seeing Off the Poor God)Decluttering🖋️ Jabberwocky On the sixth day of Chinese New Year, I threw out all the junk left by my great-grandfather. My great-grandfather was a painter, but his art had long been replaced by AI and this field had been rendered obsolete. Still, he stubbornly clung to it, living a life of poverty. My grandfather and father were no different, they refused to keep up with the times, filling our space with useless clutter. I tossed out the old, space-consuming easels and dried-up paints. Finally, the cramped living space was a little roomier. I hoped that my poor fate can be thrown away too, and I can have good fortune from now on. I watched the news: “Look at this blue and yellow stones, when mixed with water, turns green! This beautiful miracle is called pigment, a product of traditional culture, and now it’s rare. It’s worth a fortune…” 7th January (Lunar Calendar: Human Day)Misreading🖋️ Jabberwocky She had been working non-stop for seven days. The Western artist next door had went on holiday with a glass of grape juice, while she stayed behind and continued carving mud sculptures. On the first day, she drafted nearly ten thousand designs, making models of every feather and carefully coloured the clay. But when she published her work, it was blocked due to a misunderstanding of sexual innuendos. The second day, she sculpted a powerful and loyal figure, but it was maliciously misinterpreted. On the third day, her creation was criticised as ugly, and was mocked… 8th JanuaryInstinct of Vision🖋️ Paul “The research topic is ‘The Human Instinct to Search for Eyes.’ Hey, can I take a look your monster toy?” Afterward, I designed an entire series of monsters based on my brother’s toy, each one covered with eyes. Some eyes were more realistic. While some were more cartoonish with different colours—blood red, deep blue, pitch black, honey gold… I installed cameras in them, and the subjects of the experiment would retell their observation. We compared them with the footage. When leaving the lab, I noticed that everyone looked into the depths of the sky’s bionic eyes, before moving on… 9th JanuaryHomecoming [Specific theme: Homecoming]🖋️ He Qiusheng Dear son, your spaceship has been traveling the stars for 200 years, and we’ve been fighting against the collapsing environment for 200 years. You and your young colleagues are full of ambition, determined to find a new home for humanity in the vast cosmos. Mom and dad have chosen to stay behind. We were born here, we grew up here, and we raised our children here. This place has our blood, our flesh, and our soul. Before you left, you asked us, “What about your home, mom and dad?” I think I can answer you now. When you return, weary from your journey, we’ll have made Earth a better place for you. A warm home—that is our home. 10th January The