Starting with dissecting ghost stories

Chapter 92 The Trolley Problem

7 PM, Municipal Traffic Police Detachment, Monitoring and Dispatch Room.

This place has become Lu Lingyun's temporary meeting room.

On a stainless steel bench outside the conference room, Lu Lingyun lay sprawled out of position. Many people passed by, but they would slow their pace to avoid waking him.

After all, everyone else has shifts and rest time, but Lu Lingyun doesn't, which is something everyone can see.

Suddenly, a commotion broke out in the dispatch room. Lu Lingyun, who had only been dozing off, sat up abruptly after hearing the commotion through the glass door, her chest heaving violently.

His hair was disheveled, his eyes were red, and after catching his breath, he straightened his clothes and stood up. He pushed open the door to the dispatch room and asked, "What happened? Have you found anything?"

"The frontline personnel are still rushing back with their equipment; they first sent a multimedia message via their mobile phones..."

A technician wearing headphones turned around and saw Lu Lingyun. He quickly stood up and handed his phone to Lu Lingyun while speaking.

There is no communication command vehicle here, so video recording can only be done using portable DV cameras used by on-site personnel, and the recordings cannot be sent back in a timely manner.

Even if you send a video back via MMS, it can only be up to 10 seconds long.

Lu Lingyun took the phone and looked at the blurry video that had been uploaded.

The video was shot by pointing the phone directly at the camera screen. The already blurry small screen was captured by the even blurrier phone, and with the added frame drops during MMS transmission, the image was practically an indescribable mess.

In addition, the DV screen itself was recording noisy content, making the video look even more chaotic.

But as the video played, Lu Lingyun's brows furrowed slightly.

Although blurry, it was still clear that the filming location was the video studio... They had seen this place countless times in the past few days, and even if it were completely pixelated, they could still recognize it at a glance.

The person filming the video was shaking slightly. In the video, the DV camera showed a little girl with pigtails standing at the entrance of the video store. She had already crossed the cordon and was looking at the entrance of the video store.

It seems that the person holding the DV camera noticed the dangerous scene. He didn't seem to be looking at the screen at first, but just wanted to warn the little girl that it was dangerous. However, after he took a few steps forward with the DV camera, the girl turned around.

In the blurry face, two eye sockets filled with messy black lines stared at the owner of the DV camera.

The frontline worker holding the DV camera seemed to realize something was wrong. He raised the camera slightly, then took several steps back, dropping the camera to the ground and drawing his pistol.

A flash of light appeared, and the DV camera on the ground captured the girl climbing directly up the ruins of the video arcade to the top. After glancing back, she quickly climbed into the alleyway filled with houses behind it.

The video ends here, exactly ten seconds in.

"This is..." Lu Lingyun asked quickly, "Where are the people on site?"

"I've already driven downstairs and am on my way up... This is the one on Fruit Street..."

'

"Unsure," Lu Lingyun shook her head.

Just as they were talking, a staff member pushed open the glass door and walked in. Upon seeing Lu Lingyun, he rushed forward and said, "Boss, take a look..."

'

Lu Lingyun turned around and saw the tense-looking personnel on the scene. He stepped forward, drew the other person's sidearm, and glanced at it.

Type 77.

He released the safety with his thumb, gripped the trigger guard with his index finger, and pulled it back sharply, hearing a "click."

A sound, a single hand cocking the gun.

He then raised his hand and pointed the gun at the person at the scene.

All of this happened within two seconds. Everyone was stunned and dared not utter a sound. The person at the scene was also terrified and broke out in a cold sweat. He slowly took half a step back and raised his hands.

He still looked shaken, standing there at a loss.

A few seconds later, a technician who was taking pictures with his phone walked up to Lu Lingyun and handed him his phone: "Boss, nothing's wrong."

At this moment, Lu Lingyun slowly lowered his arm, pulled out the magazine, glanced at the remaining bullets, then ejected the chamber. The bullets ejected from the ejection port and fell to the ground.

"You should know what the rules are, right?" Lu Lingyun said slowly.

"Scan first, then report," the staff member stammered.

"I just want you to know that every rule has blood behind it, and you need to take that to heart." Lu Lingyun's tone softened. He put the gun on the table next to him, then stepped forward and patted the other person on the shoulder. "Tell me, what happened?"

The frontline staff member calmed down and quickly showed Lu Lingyun the contents of the DV camera, recounting what had just happened.

The officer showed no signs of mental abnormality or stereotypical behavior, only some nervousness. According to his description, one bullet hit the target precisely, but it did not stop the target from moving at all.

The number of bullets fired as described matched the number of magazines remaining. After listening to the report, Lu Lingyun left the DV camera behind and gave the other party a break.

"The anomalies affecting Fruit Street and the video arcade incident are not the same. We have increased our frontline staff at the video arcade and are maintaining vigilance."

"Boss, we're not quite manpower enough..."

"

"The situation is urgent. We need to visit the residences of the fruit street vendors. We need the help of the comrades from the Municipal Bureau as well... Call Lu Wenying over."

"yes!"

Less than two thousand minutes later, Lu Wenying appeared in the dispatch room, wearing a simple T-shirt.

She was wearing a T-shirt and her hair was just tied up casually, as if she had just rushed over from her rented apartment.

Lu Lingyun led her to the conference room and closed the door.

"Lu Wenying, you will be the liaison between the Ninth Detachment and the Municipal Criminal Investigation Detachment. You will be responsible for getting them to assist the Ninth Detachment in their work, including visiting residents of Fruit Street in the new urban area," Lu Lingyun said directly, without any formalities.

"Understood." Lu Wenying straightened her back and saluted.

"Come here." Lu Lingyun beckoned to Lu Wenyin.

"Is that so?" Lu Wenying asked, somewhat puzzled, but she still walked up to Lu Lingyun.

“Pah!”

A loud slap landed on Lu Wenying's face. She covered her left cheek and looked at Lu Lingyun in shock.

"I've learned the whole story of the family annihilation case. This slap is on behalf of Comrade Zhang." Lu Lingyun looked at her niece and spoke slowly. "I don't expect you to understand."

"After all, you still believe that your father sent you here to protect you."

Lu Wenying lowered her head and said respectfully, "I know I was wrong, boss."

She didn't reflect on her actions at all, and Lu Lingyun knew this very well.

"Why did you choose to become a police officer?" Lu Lingyun asked.

"Upholding justice." Lu Wenying kept her head down, but her tone was firm.

"In this case of the family annihilation, whose side are you advocating for?" Lu Lingyun continued to press.

"The people." Lu Wenying hesitated for a moment before speaking.

"You're doing this for yourself!" Lu Lingyun frowned and said sternly, "You don't understand why the grassroots police officers arranged for her to spend the night in the duty room with her. You also don't understand that behind the death statistic of each case you learned about in school are real, vivid human lives."

"You've never been to the grassroots level, you've hardly ever met any ordinary people, yet you dare to speak of 'for the people'?"

Lu Lingyun's eyes were bloodshot; days of staying up late had made him extremely irritable. He pressed on, asking aggressively, "In your eyes, this is just a small place, and the surrounding police officers aren't even worth your attention... I'm asking you, what's the name of the grassroots police officer who took care of Granny Zhang?"

Lu Wenying:

'

'

"That's your colleague! Your comrade!"

Lu Lingyun tapped her fingers on the conference table, and it took her a while to calm down.

"I put you in the Ninth Detachment because you excel academically, follow orders, are bold yet meticulous, and ruthless," Lu Lingyun said calmly. "But that doesn't mean you're qualified as a police officer."

"I hope you can think about this carefully... Go back now, I'll call and ask them to cooperate with your work."

"Go and hand over the specific work details to the IT department."

"Remember, if you encounter any abnormalities, do not make any rash moves. Go directly to a safe place and call for backup. If there is danger, empty your magazine and run away. Understand?"

Lu Wenying looked up, raised her right arm, and saluted: "Understood, I guarantee I will complete the mission."

He then turned and left.

Watching Lu Wenying's departing figure, Lu Lingyun felt somewhat exhausted after a long while. He sat down in the black armchair in the conference room, his right leg shaking involuntarily.

He was very anxious.

Since ordinary people exhibiting stereotypical behaviors appeared on Fruit Street, they gradually investigated, counted, and observed the affected population, identifying a general area of ​​influence... People within this area all wore smiles.

This even includes a pickpocket with a long criminal record who shows no remorse.

He met the pickpocket in the interrogation room. No matter what he was asked, the man answered truthfully. Even when the camera was turned off and he was punched, he just smiled and asked why...

He brought along police officers who had interrogated pickpockets before, as well as prison guards who had managed the pickpockets in jail. They all agreed that the pickpocket seemed like a completely different person.

All that remained in him was happiness and optimism. Before he was caught, he was on the verge of starvation because he hadn't committed theft, but he still lay in the alley laughing like a madman.

Is this a good thing?

Even if it were just a pickpocket who repeatedly refused to change his ways, it wouldn't be a good thing. He would starve to death because of this, even if he didn't have any professional skills. If he wanted to eat, he would have to steal and break the law.

But what if the impact extends to thousands of people?

What if they also receive other emotions besides "happiness"?

Moreover, they are all "ordinary people".

The emotions of "ordinary people" are firmly controlled by some strange creature, and they give up their lives and dignity to "happiness".

Lu Lingyun believes he respects every life, every person's personality and thoughts, and he will treat everyone he meets equally.

That's why he hates this "weird" even more, as if it erases the independent personality of human beings.

He wanted to eliminate the strange creature that was causing the anomalies before things got completely out of control.

Admittedly, the lives of frontline workers are equally important, but when faced with the choice between the lives of dozens of frontline workers and the lives of thousands of ordinary people, Lu Lingyun would also make a decision.

The trolley problem was actually a decision Lu Lingyun made when he decided to involve the Municipal Bureau in the investigation.