Chapter 17: The Call

As she continued scrolling down, she began to come across various other kinds of information. For instance, the Capital Agricultural Academy had named a newly cultivated hybrid crop that could achieve remarkably high yields even under harsh conditions. Elsewhere, a crime had occurred in a remote star system, and in another place, the local inspection bureau had once again uncovered a case of black-market online fraud... The range of news was dazzlingly diverse.

The coverage spanned from unknown peripheral star systems all the way to the central capital star, seemingly encompassing the entire trajectory of human life across the galaxy. Everything, no matter how distant, was condensed into a single section through written reports and updates. In just a short while, one could grasp how vast and expansive the sky of life truly was.

These news pieces, whether explosive or mundane, novel or commonplace, could all be found here, making it easy to become engrossed. For this reason, she dared not linger, only skimming through the section to get a sense of how it functioned.

Still, despite her caution, Jiang Hui nearly missed her stop, so absorbed was she. It was clear that, no matter the world, mobile devices held the same "dangerous" allure, with a power to easily captivate and distract.

She stepped off the city bus just before the doors closed. Seeing from her navigation that she still had some distance to cover on foot and feeling too indifferent to search for a route in her current state of ignorance, she simply summoned a small flying vehicle to take her straight home.

At last, she arrived. Jiang Hui now stood below, gazing up at the towering apartment building.

Apartment 385 rose over a hundred stories high, piercing the clouds, requiring her to tilt her head back just to glimpse its upper reaches.

This was a type of eco-friendly apartment common in future concepts. Each floor featured open spaces along the edges, filled with plants and flowers arranged harmoniously, resembling tiered gardens. It felt less like a residential building and more like a luxury hotel or office tower. The outer surface, made from the era’s distinctive high-tech materials, shimmered under the natural light, creating a beautiful sight at first glance. Living inside must be an even finer experience.

Based on the fragmented memories left in her mind from the original occupant’s time here, she had stayed in this place for a few days. Despite feeling gloomy throughout, she found the environment and quality of the apartment quite good.

Truly, technology was a blessing for humanity. Ordinary people across the stars could live in homes comparable to the most prestigious residences on Earth—a genuine benefit of the times.

She paused, locating the entrance from memory, preparing to “visit” the original occupant’s apartment. Just then, a previously blank light screen suddenly flickered to life. A voice box appeared in the center of the display; instinctively, she tapped the small phone icon beneath it.

The box vanished, replaced by a video feed showing a person’s half-length portrait. The figure was dressed in formal work attire, smiling warmly with a friendly demeanor.

But she had only been here a couple of days and didn’t recognize this person. Nor did the original occupant seem to know them.

As she searched her memory for clues, the other party spoke first: “Ms. Jiang, hello. Sorry to disturb you. I’m Andy from the After-Sales Department of Helios Group. I’d like to arrange a meeting with you. Are you available now?”

Helios Group? After-sales? She hadn’t purchased anything. But then she recalled—the name was familiar. Mr. Carlet had mentioned it before; it was the company behind the intelligent system.

The original occupant’s accident and prolonged lack of medical aid seemed linked to this intelligent system, which had malfunctioned and shut down at the critical moment. Had Jiang Hui not later awakened in this body and accidentally rebooted the system, given the extent of blood loss, this body likely wouldn’t have survived.

It was puzzling, though: the accident wasn’t caused by the system, so why should the manufacturer be held responsible? After all, products come with after-sales service, but surely that didn’t cover accidents.

Indeed, the system had no emergency medical functions and couldn’t prevent accidents at home. However, it was required to have an emergency alert function—to report incidents even if it could not provide aid.

This was a strict regulation across the galaxy: such products must have real-time alarm capabilities. Even if the user turned off the device, a safety mode had to remain active; complete shutdown was forbidden.

At the time of the accident, as the system managing the entire apartment, it not only failed to detect the abnormality promptly but inexplicably shut down. Only when Jiang Hui awoke in this body and accidentally restarted the system did it finally function.

After thorough investigation, the inspection team concluded it was a case of system malfunction. Helios Group, as the manufacturer, was held liable and required to compensate Jiang Hui.

Mr. Carlet, a kind-hearted man, had discussed the compensation matter with her, understanding she lived alone and had suffered such an accident.

Helios was a well-known robotics research conglomerate in the inner star systems. Though only emerging in recent decades, it was backed by significant influence and had grown impressively in a short time.

In recent years, they had stepped up efforts to compete with similar firms, launching over a dozen refined smart home management systems.

However, their rapid expansion had come at a cost: quality control slipped, and their products caused multiple accidents. Although home automation wasn’t as demanding as professional-grade robotics, and prices varied greatly, these mass-market products contributed the bulk of the company’s income.

If their reputation in this sector collapsed, it would be difficult to recover.

Thus, upper management had been continuously working to improve their products and production lines. Yet, before any real progress was made, problems arose.

The TM series was their worst product to date—released only a year ago but already involved in three accidents. This latest incident was even more serious than the previous one, involving an unawakened individual. It was a close call that nearly resulted in a fatality.

Upon receiving notification from the inspection team yesterday, the R&D department held an overnight meeting, and the next day, executives decided to halt the TM series line and initiate a recall of all older models. No matter the cost, they were determined to resolve this matter completely, lest the entire company be dragged down by these defective products.

There was much work to be done on their end, but the more urgent task was to reassure the victims of this incident.

Fortunately, the affected party had been rescued and treated at a mid-level district hospital, now out of danger. Upon learning of their discharge, Helios Group promptly assigned a dedicated representative to handle the case.

This call was meant to gauge Jiang Hui’s response.