Chapter 119: Basic Logic

Laing Shichen’s sister answered before the first ring even finished ringing.

Emergency lights illuminated Shuyun’s face on the screen, but the image shook as she moved away from the occupied parking level.

Rows of mattresses covered the concrete floor behind her.

Reflective insulation and blankets divided the open space into temporary rooms, while extension cords ran between portable cooling units, electric cookers and fans.

"Tell them to stop immediately," Shichen said without greeting her. He transferred the call to the communications wall and opened Qingsong Residence’s mechanical plans beside her image. "Every intake they covered needs to be reopened."

Shuyun looked toward the corridor leading to the mechanical level.

The distant whine of a drill continued through the call, confirming that the residents hadn’t finished.

"They said the ventilation system is bringing hot air into the building. The temperature dropped on two floors after they covered the vents," she repeated, but her voice hesitated even as she said it.

"The temperature dropped because they stopped introducing fresh air," Shichen explained with a frustrated groan.

He expanded the building’s ventilation network and highlighted the sealed intakes.

His sister had asked him a direct question because she expected an answer she could repeat, but the residents needed to understand what their solution would do.

"If they close the system, carbon dioxide will accumulate throughout the building. The underground levels will become dangerous first because that is where everyone has gathered," he continued. He had thought this was just basic logic.

But that seemed to be in short supply at the moment.

His voice drew the others toward the communications wall.

Zhiyi sat at the neighboring terminal and began searching for Qingsong’s building-management connection. Qinghe stopped beside her, already studying the number of people visible behind Shuyun, while Jingwei and Hanchuan approached from the other side of the room. Zeyu remained near the kitchen entrance with an open package of crackers in his hand.

Shuyun listened until the drilling briefly drowned out Shichen’s explanation. When it stopped, she lowered her voice. "I told them sealing the ventilation sounded dangerous. They reminded me that I teach literature and you design buildings."

Shichen’s attention remained on the plans. "Your occupation doesn’t prevent you from repeating accurate information."

"No, but it apparently prevents them from believing me." Shuyun’s irritation sharpened as she turned the phone toward the crowded parking level. "The residents’ committee authorized the work. If you want it stopped, you need to explain why."

Qingsong had been designed to house 216 permanent residents. Its underground levels could accommodate them temporarily during a fire, earthquake or civil emergency, but they had never been intended to become living quarters for more than 300 people.

The residents had filled the parking lanes with mattresses, moved refrigerators into the common areas and connected several cooking appliances to the emergency circuits.

Every person, fan and appliance added heat to the enclosed space.

Their attempt to reduce the burden on the cooling system had concentrated the building’s population in the area with the greatest need for ventilation.

"Are any vehicles operating inside the garage?" Qinghe asked Shichen, keeping his attention on the ramp visible behind Shuyun.

Shichen repeated the question, and his sister checked with someone outside the camera’s view before responding. "They moved the vehicles outside three days ago because people were worried about fuel and battery fires."

"That removed one source of contamination, but it didn’t make the air safe." Qinghe indicated several people lying on mattresses behind her. "Ask whether anyone has developed headaches, dizziness, nausea or unusual fatigue."

Shuyun raised her voice and repeated the symptoms to the parking level.

Too many people answered.

The overlapping responses became impossible to distinguish, but hands rose across the occupied area.

One woman said her son had slept most of the afternoon. Someone else mentioned vomiting, while a man near the ramp insisted everyone felt tired because the building was too hot.

Zhiyi restored a partial connection to Qingsong’s environmental controls. The readings appeared across the communications wall with several sections missing, but the available information was enough.

Carbon-dioxide levels had exceeded the system’s recommended limit on both underground residential zones.

The highest reading came from the parking level where Shuyun stood.

"Move away from the center of the garage," Shichen ordered as he studied the data. His sister’s image shifted when she obeyed without arguing. "Where are our parents and Nian?"

"They returned to the apartment after dinner." Shuyun crossed between the mattresses and entered the eastern corridor. The noise surrounding her diminished, allowing fatigue to emerge in her voice. "The parking level became too crowded for Father, and Mother didn’t want Nian sleeping down here."

"Keep them there. Close the rooms facing west and use the study and eastern bedroom after noon," Shichen grunted even as he quickly opened the thermal map for their parents’ apartment on the 23rd floor.

It had become warmer than the common areas below, but the temperature remained survivable. "Don’t open the windows, even if the apartment becomes uncomfortable."

Shuyun stopped at the stairwell access panel. "You just told me the garage is dangerous, and now you’re telling me the apartment is too hot."

"I’m telling you which danger can be controlled. The apartment temperature can be reduced by isolating the western rooms. The air in the garage cannot be corrected until those intakes are reopened," countered Shichen with a shake of his head.

His sister pressed her access card against the reader. The panel rejected it, and the stairwell door remained locked.

Shuyun tried again before turning the phone so Shichen could see the red indicator. "The residents’ committee restricted movement between floors yesterday. People were entering apartments to search for food and cooling units."

"The stairwells are part of the emergency egress system. They cannot lock them," replied Shichen, his brows furrowing in confusion.

"And yet, they did," replied Shuyun.

Shichen checked the security controls and found the manual override.

Someone had disabled card access to all three residential stairwells from the underground levels.

The exterior exits still opened, but anyone using them would have to cross the exposed courtyard before reaching another entrance.

The building had survived seven days of extreme heat.

The residents had needed less than one afternoon to compromise its ventilation, alter its mechanical settings and obstruct its internal escape routes.

"Go to the mechanical control room," Shichen instructed while sending the correct route to her phone. "It is on the second underground level, opposite the eastern electrical room. The property manager’s master key will open it."

Shuyun changed direction, though she glanced toward the blocked stairwell before leaving it. "The property manager disappeared on the second day. The residents’ committee took his keys when they entered his office."

"Then find the committee."

His sister entered the corridor leading to the lower mechanical level. As she walked, Zhiyi recovered another portion of Qingsong’s monitoring system.

A row of red warnings appeared across the communications wall.