The night before the promotion

Chapter 57 "1"

2042, April 7.

It was still dark, and in the darkness Zhou Si was clearly aware of his own existence.

Zhou Si woke up.

But he did not open his sleepy eyes immediately, nor did he intend to continue sleeping. He just closed his eyes tightly in the endless darkness.

He first adjusted his breathing and carefully felt the feedback from his body. He felt a dull pain in his abdomen and thighs, which were wounds that had not yet healed completely. He also felt a sense of lightness all over his body. Obviously, after a night's sleep, he had relieved his physical fatigue.

Zhou Si perceived more deeply, and his consciousness turned into extended roots, piercing deeper into the darkness.

Slowly, a faint pain came from the depths of my mind, like a bruise somewhere on my body. There was no obvious wound, but if I pressed hard, I could still feel the hidden injury.

The harder the roots exerted, the more intense the pain became, until it reached a certain tolerable threshold and the pain no longer increased, as if this was the depth of the wound.

Zhou Si opened his eyes and saw a monotonous and empty room. The windows were open and the afterglow from the sky slightly illuminated the room, giving it a dark blue hue.

Touching the gauze on the abdomen and thighs, to outsiders, these were the most serious wounds Zhou Si had suffered since the battle in the Golden Dream.

But in Zhou Si's opinion, the physical injuries were actually not serious or important. With the help of biological treatment technology, Zhou Si's healing speed was far beyond the imagination of ordinary people.

Even though Zhou Si was discharged from the hospital early and left the frustrating medical cabin, his injuries still healed efficiently at a speed visible to the naked eye with subsequent drug injections.

The truly fatal wound is invisible, located deep in the mind, a spiritual crack.

Zhou Si looked around the room. There was no unnecessary decoration anywhere he looked, as if he was sleeping in a huge white box.

I blinked, and my vision fell into darkness and then became bright again, like a constantly refreshing web page.

As a sudden chill blew in from outside the window, the world in Zhou Si's eyes began to disintegrate and reconstruct in an unprecedented way. It seemed that the entire universe was recoded and followed a new set of rules that he could not understand.

Zhou Si counted down in a low voice, "One, two, three..."

The walls are no longer solid entities, but a collection of flowing colors and lights. They slowly wriggle like liquid metal, changing shape and color from time to time. Each change is accompanied by a low and long echo, like a chant from the depths of the universe.

Zhou Si remained calm, grabbed the crutch beside him, supported himself and stood up.

Incarnation cognitive dissociation disorder, this is the official name of dissociative disorder.

As the official name suggests, when dissociative disorder strikes, its most notable feature is cognitive dissociation.

Although not a strictly medical term, this concept can be understood as an extreme psychological or perceptual state in which an individual's connection with the real world becomes distorted or broken, causing their perception of their surroundings to change fundamentally.

The battle in the Golden Dreamland brought Zhou Si the greatest trauma. The loss of consciousness disease that he had suppressed with great difficulty showed signs of returning, invading reality bit by bit like a virus.

Zhou Si passed by the window. Under the street lights that were still on, the human figures were stretched and twisted, like plasticine being kneaded by invisible hands. Sometimes they merged, sometimes they separated, making it impossible to distinguish which ones were real individuals and which ones were the product of illusion.

At the same time, the sounds also became abnormal. Each sound was amplified and given a specific color and emotion. The roar of the car was deep purple, carrying depression and uneasiness, and the intermittent laughter was bright yellow, warm and full of hope. However, these colors did not exist in the air, but bloomed directly in his mind.

Zhou Si left the room, ignoring all the bizarre things.

As his body moved, Zhou Si could no longer feel any obvious pain from the wound. The expensive medicines had taken effect. However, out of the idea of ​​protecting his body, Zhou Si did not give up the crutches immediately. He continued to move forward using them.

The impact of the disease of consciousness continues.

The sense of time was completely disrupted. The past, present and future seemed to exist simultaneously at this moment. Zhou Si could see fragments of his childhood memories playing on the wall like an old movie, while certain possibilities of the future appeared in the form of shining fragments, occasionally penetrating the barrier of reality.

Zhou Si tried to see his future clearly, but all he could see was a dazzling spot of light that flashed for a moment and then disappeared.

Along with the light spots, the chaotic illusions also disappeared.

Zhou Si blinked again, and only stopped counting after making sure that his consciousness had returned to normal.

One hundred and thirty seconds.

It took less than three minutes from the onset of the cognitive dissociation hallucination to its end. This was a good sign that Zhou Si's mental wounds were slowly healing, and it was expected that his mind would be as fully recovered as his body in the near future.

After tidying up his mood and clothes and putting on a clean white coat, Zhou Si felt much calmer, as if he had hidden in a cave, filled with a sense of security.

It was a little early, but Zhou Si was not the kind of person who liked to lie at home and waste time. What's more, there was really nothing in his house, which was like a rough house, for him to waste.

After the Golden Dreamland incident, Zhou Si first stayed in the medical cabin for a week, and then spent the next few days recuperating at home. Zhou’s Orthodontics was also closed, and it was not until today when Zhou Si arrived that it was reopened.

During the period of suspension, no new patients came for consultation, but a lot of work was squeezed out in the after-sales group.

Zhou Si put the crutches aside, opened the refrigerator, and distributed different medicines according to the patients' needs. He then packed them and waited for the courier to pick them up.

If you forget about the shocking case involving the Paradise, everything going on right now is no different from Zhou Si's daily work.

After packing the express, the sky was already completely bright. After a period of continuous heavy rain, the weather in the following days was sunny and pleasant.

Zhou Si walked into the workshop and saw Bt-24 on the workbench. During the fierce battle, this loyal friend helped Zhou Si a lot, but like Zhou Si, Bt-24 also became scarred.

Zhou Si had been recovering from his injuries and had no time to repair the Bt-24. Today, he was in much better condition, so he finally had the opportunity to start the repair work.

Sensing Zhou Si's arrival, the indicator light on the Bt-24's eyes lit up and a mechanical sound was heard.

"How do I do it?"

Bt-24 is very good at expressing his needs in simple words.

"I'm not sure. I need to check first, but before that, I need to turn off your phone," Zhou Si sat on a chair and put on his glasses. "Don't be afraid. It's just like sleeping. It'll be over after a while, with a black and a light flashing before your eyes."

"What is that?"

Zhou Si felt that he should optimize the language module of Bt-24, otherwise it would sound too uncomfortable when speaking in a discontinuous manner.

"Do you mean sleeping? It's the hibernation of living things, which allows the brain to temporarily stop most of its work. You can also understand it as a brief interruption in the continuity of consciousness." Zhou Si felt that Bt-24 should want to say something, but it chose to remain silent.

After shutting down and cutting off the power, Zhou Si first briefly checked the condition of the Bt-24. The strong air currents at high altitudes almost broke its wings, and the continuous impacts also caused problems in many of its components.

Peeling off the covers layer by layer, the most important thought storage core is stored inside. However, unlike the regular incarnation body, the Bt-24 is equipped with two thought storage cores. One is used to carry the consciousness of the surroundings for remote control when necessary, and the other is used to carry the AI ​​operating data of the Bt-24 itself.

With the advancement of mind storage core technology, more and more companies have chosen to load AI programs on mind storage cores, just like the commonality between the chaotic system of the human brain and artificial intelligence.

Under certain extreme special conditions, the human brain can be considered as artificial intelligence, and vice versa.

After a careful inspection, it was found that there was no problem with the most important thought storage core, and the related electronic components were also intact. Zhou Si only needed to simply replace the damaged parts and the Bt-24 would be restored to its original state.

After bringing in the laptop, Zhou Si connected the data cable and checked the system program of the Bt-24. After making sure there was no problem, he opened the box, took out the spare parts, replaced the broken ones, then reassembled it and restarted it.

"It's no problem," Zhou Si treated Bt-24 seriously as if it were a living thing, not some cold machine. "It's just some simple external injuries. You can try."

Bt-24 turned his head, first looked at his own body, and then looked at Zhou Si.

"Sleeping is scary."

Zhou Si speculated that what Bt-24 wanted to express was not that sleep was terrible, but that the interruption of the continuity of consciousness was terrible. He didn't quite understand whether an existence like it could accurately understand what so-called death was.

Although he had some doubts in his mind, Zhou Si did not ask Bt-24. On the one hand, he really couldn't stand the way it spoke word by word. On the other hand, Zhou Si felt that it was just like a small pet. Even if it was silicon-based, who would scare a pet for fun?

"There are some scratches on your paint. Do you want to repair it? Or change to a new color?" Zhou Si moved the laptop over and faced the screen to Bt-24.

Previously, Bt-24 was painted with a gorgeous macaw. Zhou Si regarded this as an intelligence test of the AI. He opened a bunch of bird pictures on the web page and let Bt-24 choose one by one.

"Kestrel, Blue Jay, Chickadee, Golden Pheasant... Which one do you want?" Zhou Si flipped through the pictures at a certain speed, waiting for Bt-24 to stop.

Bt-24 uttered a monosyllable, "No."

After a pause, Bt-24 said, "Abalone, fish, and shellfish."

Zhou Si was stunned for a moment, and looked at Bt-24 with interest. "You mean, you don't want to become a bird, or imitate any bird. You want your paint to be like an abalone shell."

Open the picture of abalone, you will see its rich and varied colors, with dark green and brown interweaving, spots and stripes complementing each other. Under different lighting, it sometimes appears deep black, sometimes shines light green, and occasionally captures the brilliant blue or red.

This material is usually used in jewelry. Zhou Si didn't expect that Bt-24 would be interested in this.

Zhou Si asked, "Is this it?"

"1."

Bt-24’s reply made Zhou Si laugh and cry. He wondered where he learned the data, maybe in the work group?
"Okay, I get it. This spray paint is not easy to mix. I need to prepare it for a while. Is that okay?"

Zhou Si patiently talked to Bt-24, testing its intelligence while also cultivating its intelligence.

"1."

Bt-24 liked this efficient reply very much. Then, it said, "Yes, visitor."

Zhou Si heard the ringing of the door after it was opened.

Apparently, Bt-24 knows where to omit expression and where not to.

After leaving the workshop, Song Qiliang and Xiang Ji were standing at the door, looking around. It was not the first time for Song Qiliang to come here, but it was the first time for Xiang Ji to come here. Even though he still looked cold, one could still see curiosity in his eyes.

Seeing Zhou Si, Song Qiliang cheered, "Hey! Doctor Zhou! My great benefactor!"

If we have to choose a beneficiary from the Golden Dreamland incident, it would undoubtedly be Song Qiliang.

When Song Qiliang controlled the Iron Soldier incarnation to kill everyone in the crowd, the depression and restlessness that had been suppressed in his heart for a long time were completely released, and his whole spirit was sublimated in the high temperature erupting from the hot-melt weapon.

If it weren't for his own conscience and moral constraints, Song Qiliang would have wanted to have more large-scale conflicts like the Golden Dream.

Zhou Si understood Song Qiliang's thoughts. While complaining about his eccentricity, he also lamented the differences between people under technological innovation.

The battlefield where even Zhou Si nearly lost his life was as exciting as a game to Song Qiliang. Perhaps this was the reason why Song Qiliang always seemed so unreliable among Li Weiyu, Xiang Ji and others.

They are on different battlefields and have completely different ways of thinking.

Xiang Ji lifted a heavy suitcase and placed it in front of Zhou Si. "According to the higher-ups, Doctor Zhou, you have been assigned to the investigation team. To ensure your safety, this is the standard weapon provided to you by the Supervisory Bureau."

When the suitcase was opened, an electromagnetic rifle and an electromagnetic pistol were found inside, as well as a large amount of ammunition, several batteries, and some dagger-like melee weapons.

"Is that all?"

Zhou Si was a little disappointed. He thought there would be powerful weapons like melta weapons, but it turned out to be just regular equipment.

"Technology changes life, Doctor Zhou. Although investigations still need to be done by humans, assaults and raids have been handed over to the armed avatars."

Xiang Ji glanced at Song Qiliang and said, "Therefore, in weapons research and development, a large number of new weapons are carried on armed bodies, rather than being miniaturized and handed over to personnel for use."

He continued, "Even if a small amount of weapons are deployed, such as melta weapons, when using it, personnel still have to wear bulky insulation suits to avoid being burned. In comparison, it is better to hand over everything to armed avatars from the beginning."

Zhou Si understood Xiang Ji's words. If it was Li Weiyu and others who came to rescue him first, the battle would have turned into a fierce indoor gunfight. But when it was the Iron Soldier incarnation who arrived at the scene, everything was different.

The moment the Iron Soldier incarnation opened fire, it was like the judge bringing down the gavel, and everything was settled.

Thinking of this, Zhou Si clenched his left fist, imagining the shattering sword hidden within.

Zhou Si became more and more curious about what kind of monster Shenwei Technology was creating.

(End of this chapter)