A SCIENCE-FICTION STORY
南极终曲
A teenage girl secretly boards the yacht of an aging dancer on his final journey to Antarctica.
With them is Lao Bai—the last southern white rhinoceros in the world.
The dancer says he is taking Lao Bai home. He is also traveling to a funeral.
Only later does the girl realize that the funeral is his own.
THE JOURNEY
The dancer is returning to the Antarctic city where he grew up, and taking Lao Bai back to the zoo where the rhino was born.
But Antarctica is no longer the place he remembers. War and climate change have left cities in ruins and species disappearing one by one.
As they travel through what remains, the girl begins photographing what they find.
At first, the camera is simply a gift.
Gradually, it becomes something else.
A way to remember what may soon be gone.
THE LAST OF HIS KIND
Lao Bai is the last southern white rhinoceros alive.
The dancer has brought him back to the place where he was born. In the ruins of an old zoo, Lao Bai encounters what remains of the rhinos that once lived there.
The dancer tries to explain what the animal must be feeling.
The girl stops him.
“您又在以人类的视角揣测动物的心理了。”
“You’re looking at the animal’s mind from a human point of view again.”
“我把我所认为的‘灵性’强加给了它，但我并未征求过它的意见。”
“I imposed what I considered ‘spirituality’ upon it, without ever asking what it wanted.”
THE SURVIVOR
The girl is not actually the dancer’s fan.
Her best friend was.
Her best friend was the one who wanted to follow the dancer’s yacht. The girl followed because she did not want to leave her friend alone.
When her friend fell into the sea, she survived—and her friend did not.
Much of the journey is therefore not only about the deaths she encounters, but about a death she has already carried with her.
Her friend died while chasing what she believed was the one bright thing in her life.
NOT A SAINT
In this world, artificial performers can imitate human artists so convincingly that the distinction between the original and the imitation has begun to blur.
The dancer has spent much of his life helping others. Near the end of his life, however, he begins questioning even his own goodness.
Was it compassion?
Guilt?
Vanity?
A desire to be remembered?
Could an act still be good if the person doing it was not entirely selfless?
“我的崇高究竟是纯洁无瑕的还是带有杂质的，甚至我的崇高是不是真实的……这些问题，我都无法给出答案。”
“Was my nobility ever pure, or was it mixed with something else? Was it even real? I have no answers to these questions.”
“既然没有答案，那么意义就在探知的过程中。”
“If there is no answer, then perhaps meaning lies in the search itself.”
MEMORY
Throughout the journey, the girl keeps taking photographs.
Near the end, the dancer gives her one final responsibility.
“请把你拍的照片，还有我们的故事保存下来。”
“Please preserve the photographs you took—and our story.”
“记住他们，还有我。你现在是世上最了解我的人。”
“Remember them—and me. You now know me better than anyone else in the world.”
THE FINALE
At the ruined zoo where he first performed as a child, the dancer prepares his own funeral.
Lao Bai lies nearby.
The girl watches.
The dancer performs one final time.
Lao Bai dies during the performance.
When it ends, the dancer appears to die too.
“我会好好活下去的。”
“I will live well.”
ONE LAST PAGE
After the girl leaves, the dancer moves again.
Alone, he retrieves an urn.
He returns to the small backstage room where his story began, holds the urn, and finally goes to sleep.
“但是不管您是……这场旅行都是真实的。”
“Whatever you are… this journey was real.”