She Trusts Maps, Not People

My cousin, Sonia Sanders, only trusts OmniGo Maps, or OmniGo, for everything. While waiting for the bus during a trip, the bus that we are supposed to get on pulls into the station. However, Sonia grabs my arm and says, "Amanda, OmniGo says that our bus is only arriving in another ten minutes. This is not our bus!" I watch helplessly as the bus pulls out of the station, ultimately making me miss my flight and forcing me to pay double the price for another ticket back home. Once, after work, Sonia sees the green arrow on OmniGo and floors the gas pedal at a road intersection. She says confidently, "OmniGo says it's supposed to be a green light! That means this traffic light is wrong!" I look at the red light in horror. Before I can stop her, a vehicle driving ordinarily past the intersection crashes right into our car. In the end, my legs have to be amputated, and I become wheelchair-bound, while Sonia only suffers a mild concussion and a fracture. One rainy day, Sonia calls me an Uber to go to my follow-up at the hospital, but she sets the pickup point at a location that is flooded a third of a mile away. I try to change the pickup point to my home, but she snatches my phone away and says, "OmniGo says that this pickup point is highly recommended for disabled people to board. You can't just change the pickup point as you like!" As a result, I fall into a puddle, wheelchair and all. Sonia doesn't even turn back to look at me and leaves me behind. Because of the rain and the prolonged soaking of my wounds in the dirty puddle, I develop a severe infection, which then leads to multiple organ failure. Despite being rushed to the emergency unit afterward, I ultimately die from the infection. When I open my eyes again, I realize that I'm standing at the bus station again. Sonia taps on her phone and leans closer to me, showing me the details on her phone. "Look, Amanda, OmniGo says that our bus isn't arriving for another ten more minutes." Chapter 1 I could see the bustling traffic and hear the noise surrounding us. I felt a brief moment of disorientation as I pinched my thigh hard, not believing my eyes. Ouch! Okay, that hurt! I couldn't believe that I had been reborn again. In my past life, my cousin, Sonia Sanders, was also like this, clutching her phone while confidently pointing at the map on the OmniGo Maps application. She earnestly said, "Look, Amanda, OmniGo can't be wrong. I'm sure the bus driver must have forgotten to change the route number on his bus!" She pointed at the handful of people on the bus and continued, "Also, the bus looks quite empty. It's obviously not the airport express bus we're supposed to be taking." Since Sonia was the one who had volunteered to plan for our trip, I thought that I didn't want to dampen her spirits or make her feel as though I didn't appreciate her efforts, so I hadn't argued with her on that. I naively thought that her reliance on OmniGo was just a sign of a novice trip planner afraid of making mistakes. After all, she was planning for the first time and must be taking extra precautions to be careful. Soon after, I quickly realized that it wasn't because she was being careful at all—Sonia was just an incurable idiot and a stubborn control freak. On this day in my past life, I had watched helplessly as the bus rolled out of the bus station. The bus that OmniGo said would be arriving in "ten minutes" ended up being half an hour late. When we had almost reached the airport, Sonia glanced at the drop-off point on OmniGo and insisted that the bus drop us off there, even if it was the farthest point away from the terminal entrance. She reasoned that it was supposed to be the "best place to park" as it had wider roads, fewer people, and thus less congestion. Ultimately, we missed our flight as a result of that. Since it was the holiday season, ticket prices had surged, and we had no choice but to pay double the price of our initial flight tickets to book a trip back home. However, Sonia pinned the blame entirely on me. "Amanda! You should have insisted harder just now! We would have gotten onto the first bus, and then none of this would have happened! "This is all your fault, so you should pay for both our tickets! Otherwise, I don't mind waiting for another two more days until the flight ticket prices drop again!" I had an important meeting early the next day at work, so I had no other choice but to suppress my anger, accept my fate, and pay for the expensive flight tickets home. However, things only got worse after that as Sonia became even more demanding. Chapter 2 Once, during a business dinner event, I had a little too much to drink and wasn't in the condition to drive, so Sonia volunteered to pick me up. When she reached an intersection in the road, the light was red on our side, but she saw the arrow on OmniGo flashing green. So, to my horror, she floored the gas and shot forward confidently. "OmniGo said that it's supposed to be a green light now. That traffic light is wrong! Only idiots would stay put!" I was already tipsy from all the alcohol and feeling out of it. However, her words instantly woke me up. I let out a scream of terror. Before I could stop her, however, a truck came flying toward us from the side and crashed into us. I lost all consciousness after the massive crash. When I woke up again, I realized that both my legs were amputated. I'd lost them forever and was now wheelchair-bound. Yet, all Sonia got was just a mild concussion and a fracture. When the traffic police came to investigate the accident, she was still in her hospital bed and defiantly arguing her case. "The traffic light system was off! OmniGo said that it was supposed to be a green light! I am not at fault for this!" After being discharged from the hospital, Sonia then pretended to offer to take care of me. However, she was actually making my life worse. Once, it was raining heavily when I was due at the hospital for a follow-up consultation. Sonia ordered an Uber for me, but she set the pickup location at a flooded intersection a third of a mile away from my home. I thought of asking the Uber driver to pick me up at my home instead, but Sonia snatched my phone away and began acting like some supreme authority, defending her decision. "This pickup point is the best one recommended by OmniGo! You can't change it as you like! The system has already set it as that!" However, just as the Uber was arriving, she suddenly claimed that she had a stomachache. She returned my phone to me, telling me to leave first as she would arrive afterward. I didn't want to miss my hospital appointment, so I had no choice but to wheel myself out to the pickup point she had set. The roads outside had flooded, and the water was already ankle-deep. I couldn't see much ahead of me and ended up plunging headfirst into a large puddle. Sonia arrived much later. She then turned her nose up at me when she saw me struggling in the dirty water. "Really, Amanda? You're a grown woman. How could you still be playing in the puddles at your age? You're disgusting! "By the way, my boyfriend just told me that he's taking me out on a date, so I'm leaving now. Get back up on your own. See ya." With that, Sonia left without so much as a backward glance at me. Due to the prolonged exposure to the rain and the dirty, muddy floodwaters soaking into my amputation wounds, I ended up developing a severe infection, which ultimately led to multiple organ failure. In my final moments in the intensive care unit, my dying wish was just to see my parents again for the last time. So, Sonia called an Uber for my parents, but she dropped them off at a point that was at least a dozen blocks away from the hospital. OmniGo had recommended it as "the best place for drop-off". As it turned out, I never got to see my parents again before I died. My body trembled as an overwhelming wave of hatred and resentment surged through me. Since Sonia trusted OmniGo so much, she could jolly well live her life with the wretched app by herself, then! "Amanda? Amanda! What are you daydreaming about?" Sonia nudged me impatiently when she realized that I wasn't responding to her. I glanced away from her and decided not to waste my breath on her anymore. Instead, I pulled up the transit ticket on my phone. Just as the bus doors were about to close, I quickly scanned my ticket and hopped on. The doors swung shut right after me. That was when I finally turned around and smiled at her. Sonia watched in shock as the bus then pulled out of the station. I looked out of the bus window before lowering my head and sending her a text message. "Since OmniGo said the bus is arriving in ten minutes, you can wait for it." After that, I found myself a seat and sat down, setting my phone to silent mode. I figured that she would also arrive late to the airport and miss the flight, just like in my past life, so I canceled her flight ticket. Although I wanted to see her reaction in person, I believed that it was more important to protect my own life this time. I arrived at the airport three hours earlier without Sonia's interference. Chapter 3 After passing through security, I sat down on a bench in front of the boarding gate, savoring my hard-earned peace. Suddenly, an announcement began blaring across the airport terminal. "This is a missing persons' notice. Ms. Amanda Rockwell, kindly proceed to the service desk in Area A. Your family member is waiting for you there. Kindly proceed to Area A when you hear this announcement. Thank you." The announcement kept playing again and again, but I didn't budge. We were in a foreign city, after all. Who else could it possibly be but the only other person who had come here with me, Sonia Sanders? Only an idiot would try to go and look for her. Before I could board, however, two airport police hurried toward me with Sonia in tow. Sonia's eyes were red-rimmed, and her hair was disheveled. She looked like she was on the brink of insanity. She rushed up to me and grabbed my shoulders, leaning against me as she sobbed. "Amanda! I finally found you! "I thought you got kidnapped by bad guys or something! It's all your fault! Why did you refuse to believe what I said? Why did you have to get on that shady bus just now?" Her situation immediately attracted the attention of the other passengers waiting to board the flight. I even heard a few of them saying softly, "She's the older one, yet she was also the one who wandered off on her own. Look at how worried her younger sibling is!" "Yeah. She looks quiet and sensible. I can't believe she's actually that inconsiderate of others." The other passengers' whispers floated into my ears. Suddenly, I was overwhelmed by the stifling feeling I'd felt in my past life again. However, Sonia still wasn't done acting yet. "I texted you, but you never replied. I also called you, but you never answered. I had no choice but to get the airport police to help me locate you! How could you be so reckless, Amanda?" Sonia was pinning the blame entirely on me. She blamed me for not trusting OmniGo, for getting on the "shady bus", for making her worried, and for causing trouble for her. Obviously, the airport police next to her also bought her pitiful act completely. He frowned at me and said, "Miss, you should communicate properly with your sister when you're out together. "You shouldn't just run off by yourself, even if you're just throwing a tantrum. Look at how worried you made your sister! It's so dangerous for you both!" I looked coldly at Sonia and drew my arm away. "We are not siblings, Officer." The airport policeman paused for a moment. Then, he waved his hand dismissively and replied, "I know. Your sister has already explained things to us. But cousins are still family, are they not? You should both just talk things out." Then, seeing that we had both reunited, the airport policemen decided their job was done and turned to leave. Seeing that the policemen were leaving, Sonia's expression changed to a smug one as she leaned closer to me and asked, "So, Amanda, this is our boarding gate, right? What's the boarding time?" I looked at her calmly and said, "I've already canceled your flight." The smile on Sonia's face froze at once. I thought I even saw her lips twitching in disbelief. "What did you say?" I added casually, "I'm also surprised that you managed to get through security without a boarding pass. Did the airport police bring you in? "Oh, but they seem to be leaving already," I said, jutting my chin in their direction. "If you don't go out with them now, purchase another flight ticket, and get through security, I'm afraid you won't be going home today after all." Sonia's aggrieved expression vanished at once as rage took over, turning her face red. "Amanda Rockwell! How dare you treat me like this?" I couldn't be bothered with her and just said, "If you don't go after them now, they're really going to leave soon." Sonia looked at me, then at the disappearing airport police. She started to panic. She stomped her feet on the ground in anger before turning around and running after them, calling out, "Wait for me!" Chapter 4 The resentment that had been building in my chest since my previous life finally seemed to ease somewhat as I watched Sonia's disheveled figure chasing after the two airport police. The boarding announcement soon came on, and I grabbed my bag and headed toward the gate without looking back. I felt incredibly refreshed after shaking Sonia off my tail. Thankfully, I didn't live with her, so I should be able to avoid her as much as possible. However, that was only theoretical. The reason was that we both worked in the same company. Things only turned out this way because I made a stupid decision that I regretted immensely in my past life. Due to some personal reasons, I didn't start looking for a job as soon as I graduated from college. Instead, I decided to take a gap year. By the time I settled down at my current company after working there for two years, Sonia had graduated from college as well. Back then, our relationship still wasn't as strained. After all, she was the only female cousin I had, and we would always band together and hang out during family gatherings at Thanksgiving or Christmas. When Sonia heard about my company, she asked if I knew of any departments that were hiring. She then submitted her resume and applied for a job there. There was nothing I could do now to reverse the decision I'd made in the past. The next day after getting back home, Sonia didn't send me any more text messages as she used to in the past, as I expected. I was very satisfied with the momentary peace of mind and wished that she would just continue ignoring me and leaving me alone like this. On the first day back at work, our manager, Perry Miller, called everyone in my project team into the conference room for a meeting. "Our client for the Southland Amusement Park project, Mr. Vincent Lafelle, doesn't seem very keen on collaborating with us," he said gravely. "I asked around and learned that he is a huge mountain-hiking enthusiast. So, I've already contacted him and arranged for our team to go on a mountain-hiking expedition with him this weekend. We'll be hiking Emerald Peaks." Perry then looked around the office and said seriously, "We must prepare meticulously for this upcoming activity. Failure is not an option!" As soon as the words left his mouth, Sonia stood up from her chair like an overzealous student and said, "Mr. Miller! You can leave all the preparation work to me! I guarantee that everything will be executed flawlessly!" She stood with her chest puffed out, her voice loud and bright, attracting everyone's attention to her. Lexi Jackson, who was sitting next to me, nudged my arm and asked quietly, "Amanda, I remember you posting about hiking up Emerald Peaks in the past, didn't you?" Then, she raised her hand and said, "Mr. Miller! I think that Amanda should be put in charge of this expedition instead. It would be safer, because she's more familiar with the route there!" I felt my heart drop in my stomach. This was bad. As expected, Sonia's face darkened at once as she looked at me with a resentful glare. She then began berating me in public. "You want to put her in charge? Mr. Miller, don't let her fool you! Did you know that she couldn't even properly plan a trip I went with her two days ago? It was all because of me and my OmniGo that we didn't end up getting hopelessly lost! "She even got annoyed with me in the end! She left me alone at the bus station, bought her own ticket herself, and came back first! "How could you let an irresponsible person like her take charge of such an important project? What if she loses the client in the middle of the mountains?" She expertly twisted the tale and pointed all fingers at me, painting my actions as reckless and irresponsible. My colleagues began looking at me in a negative light. Even Perry frowned at that. I figured that trying to explain myself to a room full of people who didn't know any context would only make me sound like a joke. Seeing that I was keeping quiet, Perry believed Sonia's explanation and waved his hand dismissively at us. "Alright. That's settled, then. Sonia will be put in charge of things. "And you, Amanda. You should learn from Sonia and be more responsible in the future." Chapter 5 Sonia immediately looked smugly at me, her lips curling into a wide, gloating smile. It was pretty obvious that her so-called "preparations" consisted of nothing more than relying on OmniGo for the "most deadly hiking trail" on Emerald Peaks. However, it was too late to confront her now. It would only make me look petty if I did, and there was no point in doing that anymore, anyway. I just had to wait for the moment when everyone finally saw her true colors. … The weekend soon rolled around. The rest of our project team had gathered at the foot of the mountain long before our agreed-upon time. However, Sonia and Vincent were nowhere to be found, even after we waited for ages. Perry's face only got darker and darker the longer he waited. He wouldn't stop checking his phone impatiently. "What's going on with Sonia? Why is she so unreliable? She's just picking someone up!" About 20 minutes later, an Uber finally arrived, stopping at the road intersection at least 200 yards away from us. The door opened, and a man in a windbreaker got down first, his expression thunderous. It was Vincent. Sonia was completely oblivious to the fact and continued pointing at OmniGo on her phone while excitedly chatting with him. When they finally met up with us at the base, Perry hurriedly went up to greet Vincent and said, "Hello, Mr. Lafelle. We're so sorry to have kept you waiting." Vincent just dismissed him with a wave of his hand, trying to suppress his anger. "Honestly, Mr. Miller, your staff member, Sonia, is really something! A true genius, in fact. "There was a massive sign at the entrance saying 'Emerald Peaks Scenic Trail,' but she refused to let the Uber driver drop us off there. "She insisted that he drop us off at the junction far ahead, because OmniGo recommended it as the best drop-off point for hiking. We ended up going around in circles three times!" Everyone's eyes were on Sonia at once. Sonia looked aggrieved as she said, "But I only wanted Mr. Lafelle to have the best hiking experience! OmniGo can never go wrong!" I nearly scoffed out loud. Vincent obviously didn't want to continue arguing with her anymore. He inhaled deeply and said to Perry, "Forget about it. Let's just begin the hike now." Sonia perked up at once. She reached into her backpack and retrieved a printed-out map, spreading it out in front of everyone. "So, everyone, I've already planned the hiking route for today!" She then pointed to an exceptionally steep path and said, "We're challenging the most difficult trail today, called the Challenger. It leads straight to the peak of the mountain and promises the best scenery up there!" I frowned and objected to her idea at once. "No way. We can't take this path. It rained a few days ago, and this path is full of gravel and sharp rocks. It's also very muddy and slippery, making it extremely dangerous." Sonia's expression fell at once. "Amanda! Just shut up if you don't know anything about it!" She brought out a laminated document and waved it in front of us. "See this? It's a tour guide license! I'm a professional! "Also, OmniGo already said that this trail may be a difficult one, but the scenery makes everything totally worth it. It's perfect for experienced hikers!" As she spoke, she purposely glanced at Vincent from time to time. She was trying to get Vincent to agree with her to take this trail today. Jade Turner, who was also in our group, chimed in, "Sonia is right. Since we're already here, we should definitely do something exciting to make the experience worth it! The hiking trails with stairs are boring and for old people, anyway!" Perry hesitated. He looked at Vincent instead. Vincent was indeed intrigued by what Sonia said, especially after she said that the trail was "perfect for experienced hikers". "Let's take the Challenger, then. I like challenges." Sonia smugly raised her chin at me once again. When I tried to examine the trail once more, she immediately put away the OmniGo map like she was protecting it from me. Chapter 6 Lexi was the only one who came close to me and whispered, "I think you're right, Amanda. We should be more cautious now." I nodded at her, but I was tense, and my guard remained up. It was sunny when we hiked up the mountain. Sonia was exceptionally good at small talk, and she managed to get Vincent beaming and praising her with just a few words. When we finally reached the peak, panting and catching our breath, Sonia eagerly pulled out her phone and told everyone to pose for the camera. "Alright, everyone! Mr. Lafelle can take the center. Let's take a group photo at the top of the mountain together!" Perry also smiled in satisfaction in the photo. However, when we decided to go back down the trail after a short break, a colleague began sneezing repeatedly. A thin mist had surrounded the peak of the mountains, and the wind had also turned cold and chilly. I stood up and pointed at another path leading down the mountain that was paved with steps and said in an unusually firm tone, "Let's take this route down the mountain. The scenery might not be as pretty, but we will definitely be able to make it down before dark." Sonia exploded at once. "Why should we listen to you? OmniGo says that the way we came up is the safest way to go back down! "Are you trying to be irresponsible again? What are you going to do if anything happens to our client?" She was trying to throw me under the bus again. I glared coldly at her and said, "Take a closer look at the weather before you start talking." While we were arguing, the mist had already thickened into a fog, and the visibility around us had dropped considerably. The temperature had also dropped by a few degrees. Jade, who kept clamoring for excitement earlier, was only wearing a thin jersey, and her lips had turned purple. She shivered in the cold. "It's so cold…" Before the words were out of her mouth, her eyes suddenly rolled to the back of her head, and she fell backward stiffly. "Jade! Jade, are you alright?" I immediately rushed up to her and caught her before she hit the ground. I then held a hand to her forehead and arms. I was shocked to find them as cold as ice. This was bad. She was suffering from hypothermia! "Quick! Lay her flat in a sheltered spot and take out all the dry clothes you have in your bags to cover her body. And if you have any hot water with you, bring it out now!" I barked out orders as I hurriedly took off my windbreaker and covered Jade's body with it. Everyone was shocked and stunned by the sudden situation and scrambled to do as I said. However, Sonia grabbed me by my arm and began screaming at the top of her lungs. "Are you crazy, Amanda Rockwell? We can't stop here!" She then shoved her phone under my nose and showed me a red, blinking dot on OmniGo. "OmniGo says that there's a hut about 300 yards from here. That's the best place for first-aid rescue! We must bring her there before calling the ambulance!" All of the pent-up anger in me finally exploded. "Are you out of your mind? Moving a hypothermic person is the worst thing you could ever do! You're going to kill her if you insist on moving her!" "I'm a professional! I have a tour guide license!" Sonia screamed. She then reached over, trying to tear the clothes off Jade's body. I couldn't stand it any longer and slapped her hand away. Then, I pulled out a badge from a deep pocket in my backpack and threw it on the rock right in front of her. "Then take a look at what I have!"