Stella didn't sleep well that night.
One moment she was dreaming of soaring into the clouds on her scooter, the next, the bronze lamp in her hand had turned into a sun, bathing the entire city in daylight. When she woke, the sky outside was just beginning to lighten. The rain had stopped.
The first thing she did was rush to the window to check on her old scooter.
It was parked quietly in the bike shed below, still damp, but the red battery bar on the dashboard was steadily pointing at a full charge.
It wasn't a dream.
Stella's heart raced, a mixture of elation and fear washing over her. What was this thing? Some kind of high-tech wireless charger? But it had no plug, no solar panels. Its power source was... her pure kindness from last night?
"This is insane," she muttered, but her fingers once again traced the patterns on the bronze lamp.
She needed to verify it again. A scientific, controlled experiment.
She thought of Grandma Wang next door, whose only companion was a lazy cat named Mimi. The wind and rain had been fierce last night, and Grandma Wang had forgotten to close her balcony window. When Stella left this morning, she could still hear Mimi's distressed cries, hiding in a corner, terrified by the storm.
Stella closed her eyes, concentrating.
She recalled the fond, helpless smile on Grandma Wang's face whenever she talked about Mimi; she remembered the satisfied purr in the cat's throat whenever she fed it treats. A soft, warm feeling bloomed in her heart.
She held the lamp, focusing all of that emotion—that desire for "companionship" and "peace"—into it.
"I hope Mimi can feel at ease. I hope it can feel warm and safe," she murmured to herself.
Hum—
The lamp vibrated almost imperceptibly. The golden flame on the wick flickered to life, steadier and brighter than the night before.
Almost at the same instant the light appeared, Stella clearly heard a contented meow from the next-door balcony, followed by silence.
Her eyes snapped open. She ran to the window and carefully peeked out.
On the neighboring balcony, the window that had been rattling in the wind was now shut. And Mimi the cat was curled up on a cushion on the windowsill, fast asleep, a soft purr rumbling in its throat.
Stella clapped a hand over her mouth to stifle a gasp.
It really worked.
This lamp seemed to operate on some law of conservation she couldn't comprehend. The "kindness" she put in was the fuel, and her "focused hope" was the catalyst, converting it into an energy that could... interfere with reality.
The realization made her dizzy, but it was followed by an unprecedented sense of control. If this energy could soothe a cat, what else could it do?
Could it get her all green lights during her deliveries today? Could it land her an order from a generous customer who would give a huge tip?
Could it even... earn her enough money to pay the rent?
A bold idea began to sprout in her mind like a seed breaking through soil.
Meanwhile, in Aidan's penthouse apartment on the other side of the city.
He stood before the massive floor-to-ceiling window, looking down at the city just waking from the storm. A transparent holographic screen floated in front of him, displaying a 3D energy model of the "Changle Street" area.
The golden orb he had marked as the "source point" had become extremely faint after last night's brief burst, almost blending into the background. But just a moment ago, it had flickered again, ever so slightly.
"Data rewind," Aidan commanded coldly.
The image on the screen reversed, time-stamped to the second. When it stopped five minutes prior, the model showed a faint but incredibly pure energy wave emanating from the "source point," precisely targeting a life form in the adjacent unit.
"Target analysis," Aidan's voice was devoid of emotion.
Zion Chen's voice came through the comms. "Sir, data indicates the target is... a domestic cat (Felis catus). Target's state shifted from stress and fear to deep sleep. Method of interference is unknown. Energy consumption: approximately one ten-thousandth of last night's peak."
Aidan's brow furrowed slightly.
He had deployed the corporation's top "SkyEye" system, mobilizing a city-wide network of quantum sensors, just to barely catch this wisp of energy. And its purpose was... to make a cat fall asleep?
It was like using an intercontinental ballistic missile to swat a fly. Absurd, and incomprehensible.
Who was the owner of this "source point"? What was their purpose? What were the limits and boundaries of this energy?
Countless questions swirled in his mind. As a staunch materialist and a master of technology, he could not tolerate the existence of anything beyond his comprehension. This unknown was a challenge, and more importantly, a threat that had to be controlled.
"Prep the car," he said, turning from the window. "I'm going to 'Changle Street' myself."
He needed to see with his own eyes what kind of person could bend the fundamental rules of the world.
Half an hour later, Stella rode her "fully-charged divine scooter" out of the Changle Street residential complex, full of vigor. Today, she decided to take the initiative and test her luck with her "kindness energy."
Just as she turned out of the complex gate, a sleek, black luxury car silently glided up beside her.
The window lowered, revealing a handsome but stone-cold profile, like an ice sculpture.
Aidan's gaze, like the most precise scanner, swept over Stella, from her slightly worn helmet to her wind-reddened cheeks, inch by inch.
Stella felt a prickle of unease under his stare and instinctively tightened her grip on the handlebars.
Who is this guy? Why is he staring at me like that?
Aidan said nothing, just watched her. His powerful intuition told him that the source of last night's energy was this girl right in front of him. A faint, ember-like trace of that energy still clung to her.
But she looked so... ordinary. Ordinary face, ordinary clothes, even a bit... pathetic.
The stark contrast made him, for the first time, doubt his own infallible judgment.
In the end, he said nothing, just gave a slight nod. The window rose, and the black car merged into the traffic like a phantom and disappeared.
Stella was left frozen in place, a chill running down her spine.
She didn't know that man, but his gaze made her feel as if she had been targeted by a primeval beast, exposed and vulnerable from head to toe.
She subconsciously touched the bronze lamp in her backpack.
Had it... brought trouble to her door?