The library plaza was a sea of anxious, milling people.
Following the rupture, Professor Zhang's crackling broadcast announcement and the first wave of messengers (like Ahmed) had worked: people were coming. But they weren't organized. They were just... gathering.
Over a thousand people were now in the plaza, but there was no assembly, no leader on a stage. They stood in small, self-protective clusters, separated by profession and age. Students here, alumni there, event staff near the library doors. They were all just waiting. Waiting for someone to tell them what to do. The air was thick with rumors, hushed crying, and the constant, panicked question: "What is going on?"
This was the "loose assembly" Li Wei (Michael) had called for—a scared, leaderless crowd, waiting for at least 15 minutes as more and more people trickled in from the dorms and surrounding buildings.
Meanwhile, during this chaotic gathering...
Emily ran, her mandate from Deputy Mayor Li clear. She reached the main dormitory complex, the oppressive silence a stark contrast to the plaza's building panic. She took a deep breath and shouted, "Everyone inside, come out! Gather at the library plaza! Deputy Mayor Li is there!"
A few windows opened. A bespectacled male student poked his head out. "What's really going on? Is it..."
Emily didn't have time. "Just come to the plaza! It's safer together!"
She met Xie Yun (Vivian) on the stairs, who agreed to help notify the women's floors. Emily ran to the men's dormitory, but the scene was different. She heard hysterical shouting from room 203.
"...See! They did something, brought us to this ghost place!" "Wei Lin (Wayne), stop bringing sci-fi plots into reality!"
Emily knocked. The door flew open and a student, Wei Lin (Wayne), lunged out, his eyes red. "I know you! You're from the Physics Department! You people did this!"
"Are you fucking insane!" Another student, Bai Yuyuan (Brian), grabbed him from behind and slammed the door, locking it. "Miss, you better go! He's... traumatized!"
Emily stood, stunned, as a girl's heartbreaking wail came from downstairs. "No! I want to go back! I don't want any time travel!"
The sound drew the scattered students in the hall into a stagnant whirlpool. They all stopped, dozens of eyes turning to her. The atmosphere was no longer confused; it was oppressive.
"What the hell is going on?" a girl's voice cut through the noise. "Is this something your Physics Department did?"
"What's this 'unknown situation' in the broadcast?" "I looked outside, all the buildings are gone!"
Emily tried to use her authority. "Everyone, listen to me, Deputy Mayor Li wants everyone to gather at the library—"
"Deputy Mayor Li? Why is he here?" "She's from Physics! Listen to me—"
Then a harsh voice rose above the others. "So why is it you, this blackie, coming to notify us?"
A dark-skinned, muscular male student stepped forward, his eyes filled with irrational hostility. The word pierced through the noise like a red-hot needle, straight into Emily's eardrums. Rage surged from her abdomen.
"Is this fucking really the time for that?!" she roared. "Does my skin color fucking matter?!"
Her explosion created a momentary silence.
"Grab her! She must know something!"
Several male students began closing in. One reached out to grab her arm.
"Don't fucking touch me!" Emily's voice was hoarse and sharp. She stepped back, glaring fiercely. Her reaction was so fierce they instinctively stopped. They'd expected a panicked girl, not a cornered beast that would bite.
"Can you use your fucking brains?" Her voice was full of incredible exhaustion. "If we really had the ability to bring everyone here, why would we send me alone to stand here surrounded by you? Are we insane?"
Her logic was clear, but in a panic, logic was useless. "Then why aren't you afraid at all?" a girl shrieked. "All emergency manuals say stay put! You're telling us to run to the library! That's a trap! A gas chamber!"
Emily was so angry she almost laughed. "Dangerous my ass! Deputy Mayor Li and the professors are all there! You think they'd lead the way into a gas chamber?!"
"That's what you say! Maybe you're the observer!"
Completely enraged, Emily stopped trying to explain. She raised both hands in surrender. "Alright, I confess. I'm a Three-Body alien. The fleet arrives tomorrow. Satisfied?"
The front row froze. The joke wasn't funny. "Wait..." Someone's voice trembled. "If it really is an alien civilization... that's the only explanation..." "She's from Physics! She knew all along!"
The crowd began backing away, a primal fear of an unknown species replacing their anger. "No! I was joking!" Emily's voice cracked. "I'm human! Earthling!" But the more she explained, the more they retreated.
Just then, someone in the crowd threw up. Just bent over and puked right there on the pavement. "Fuck—" One of the advancing students jumped back, looking at his shoes in disgust. The sound, so mundane and gross, punctured the entire dramatic buildup.
"Has anyone seen Chen Wei?" a girl pushed through, her voice cracking. "I can't find him anywhere..." Now others started remembering people they couldn't find. "Liu Yang was in the library—" "Where's Professor Wang's group?"
The mob's momentum was gone, fragmented by personal, immediate fears. The student who'd made the racial slur still glared at Emily, unconvinced, but with no crowd behind him, he spat to the side and turned away.
Xie Yun (Vivian) came over and handed Emily a water bottle. "Thanks," Emily's voice was hoarse. "Earlier... is everything outside really gone?" Emily nodded. "Malls, roads, all gone. Just... wasteland." They stood in silence. "Actually," Vivian said, "you did well. At least most people are walking." Emily smiled bitterly. "They're walking because... when people are afraid they instinctively want to be together."
Back at the library plaza, the crowd had swelled to over 1,500. The formless panic was hardening into a need for action. Michael, seeing the critical mass, knew he couldn't wait any longer.
He climbed onto the edge of the large, decorative flowerbed, waving his hands. "Everyone, please quiet down! Listen!" His voice, amplified by a small portable speaker, crackled over the crowd.
He gave a brief, formal speech, his voice strained but steady. He introduced himself as Deputy Mayor Li Wei (Michael), confirming he was the senior official present. He didn't offer false hope or theories; he stated facts: "I don't know any more than you do. But we must maintain order. We will wait here for rescue." He announced that Captain Wu Dui (Walter)'s team was already patrolling. This took several minutes, a necessary anchor of officialdom.
He then passed the speaker to Dr. Zhao Ming (Martin). Zhao Ming was pragmatic. He stated his "obligation" to ensure "life safety" and made an immediate, actionable request: "I need volunteers to inventory the clinic. Medical students, nurses—please come to me now." A small group immediately formed and hurried off. This took another few minutes.
This broke the spell. A middle-aged man with graying hair stepped forward. "Deputy Mayor Li! Wang Lixin (Wilson), Engineering. We must inventory all available supplies—food, water, tools. I can lead that."
"Good," Michael said, pointing at him. "Engineer Wang Lixin is in charge of supply inventory. Anyone who can help, go with him." Another group splintered off as Wang Lixin shouted directions, a process that took another five minutes.
The crowd, restless after nearly fifteen minutes of announcements, began to murmur. A new voice, younger, cut through the noise. "Deputy Mayor! That's not enough!" A student, Lu Qingshan (Lucas), was pushing his way forward. "We need an information system. A bulletin board, right here, to post updates. A central source of truth."
"Just... just do it," Michael said, overwhelmed.
"I think it's stupid!" another voice, sharp and arrogant, replied. It was Zheng Zhiqiang (Marcus). "What is this, an RPG? You the Guild President?"
The two began to argue, their voices rising over the crowd. As the debate grew, other students—Liao Jiaqing (Diana) and Li Junhao (Jason)—shouted valid concerns about "information monopoly" and "verification." The assembly bogged down in a chaotic, multi-person argument, the crowd growing more restless as it dragged on.
It was at this exact moment, nearly thirty minutes after the rupture, that Emily and the last wave of students returned from the dorms, exhausted and shell-shocked. They rejoined the main crowd just as the argument on stage was peaking.
Emily, standing in the crowd, saw the pointless debate. This was something she could do. "I'll join," she said, her voice still hoarse. The crowd parted for her as she walked forward. "I'll help, Qingshan. I have experience in intelligence analysis. This is a good idea."
Her decisive act broke the stalemate. Junhao stepped up beside her. Zhiqiang, seeing Emily, scoffed but joined as well.
Michael watched the small group form, relieved. Professor Zhang returned from the broadcast room. The plaza was still in chaos, but the first reluctant seeds of organization were being sown.
Back in the clinic, Dr. Martin Zhao looked at the mostly organized medical supply list, quietly closed then reopened his eyes. The list's contents really were only this much. He breathed out heavily, patting his forehead, muttering: "Just these things, probably can't even ensure basic medical hygiene."
At the supermarket, supply group volunteers were counting supplies. Under leader Engineer Wang Lixin's direction, everything was orderly. Unlike Dr. Zhao's worried face, Lixin's mouth even had a slight smile. Maybe I can seize this opportunity to accomplish something?
Strangely, for Lixin, a middle-aged man whose life was predictable, he felt neither fear nor panic, but was somewhat secretly pleased. Deep down he'd always had a spirit wanting to "make trouble," and this "time travel" was the ultimate opportunity.
With people taking the lead, in a sudden crisis where no one had response plans, this group of transported people reluctantly began to act.