Cyberpunk: Nirvana of Shoko Toyokawa

[…A cyberpsychopath wanting to return to a normal life is like a person with a peanut allergy wanting to eat jam with peanuts mixed in.]

[Of course, he could try to pick out the peanuts that got mixed into the jam. He could do it himself—which was usually terrible—or he could ask a cyberpsychiatrist to do it...]

Everything around Xiangzi was shrouded in darkness.

However, as Xiangzi approached, she was still able to see some of the situation clearly with the help of the light flashing from the weapons and prostheses that emerged from the broken gaps.

There were three people in the fierce water flow.

To be more precise, two people were holding one person.

The dirty water hit them in the face.

"..."

Xiangzi walked past the three people struggling in the sewage.

The person on the left is Chuhua, and the person on the right is Hailing.

The person in the middle is Xiangzi.

Chuhua and Hailing were holding Xiangzi in the middle tightly and pulling her towards the passage at the back.

And Xiangzi roared brokenly.

Her eyes were red as she fought pointlessly against two expert [Flesh] grippers, moving forward as if to tear her body into pieces.

"..."

Xiangzi paused for a moment beside his crazy self.

Her golden eyes looked down indifferently at herself, who was covered in water and mud, in a mess and looking crazy.

Xiangzi walked past him.

She walked into the passage behind her.

[…A cyberpsychiatrist is like a peanut picker who is very good at picking peanuts. He will try his best to pick them clean for you.]

[But no matter what, the person who has to eat the jar of jam in the end is still the patient himself. ]

[Some patients, facing the fear of "eating jam", chose to jump out of it. But there are still patients who are willing to eat it. Of course...]

Xiangzi walked up the passage.

She saw another self.

This person was carried up the stairs by Chuhua and Hailing.

Xiangzi also walked past this person.

[…The therapist will help the patient prepare some ebastine, levocetirizine hydrochloride and the like, so that the patient can try not to die every time the larynx swells.]

[But contrary to popular belief, the therapist encourages the patient to eat the jam.]

[This may be because most people who work in this industry are sadists with special fetishes, who like to watch patients wail in pain when they swell up like balloons due to tiny peanut crumbs.]

[But more likely, it’s because they saw the money flowing into their accounts. Because every time they provide a bailout, they can earn… rustling…]

The rustling became less steady.

Xiangzi didn't say anything about the rustling sounds that never faded away.

She walked up the steps one by one.

After she walked up a few steps, the rustling sound became steady again.

[…Swish…In the past, we all thought that by the time the new year came, the blockade of [Reclamation New Land Phase 2] would have been lifted…]

The speaker's voice is still distorted.

However, it is not quite the same as the previous distorted tone.

[…But now, January is almost over and the lockdown continues.]

[Everyone who placed bets on the handicap in Hello, Happy World! lost. This blockade cannot be lifted until the problem is solved.]

[The engineering accident was obviously the biggest reason for this incident. Because of a faulty cable, the integrated virus [Zerg] used in the LAN Elk test did not enter the virtual system, but was directly injected into the LAN of [Reclamation New Land Phase 2], causing explosions at many construction sites.]

[The local area network is completely shut down. ]

[If that's all, it's still a good thing. ]

[In fact, [Phase 2 of Reclamation Land] has become a huge poison pool...]

As Xiangzi walked upwards, he saw the light at the top of the passage.

[…New, off-grid engineering facilities have been put into use, but few people dare to stay in [Reclamation New Land Phase 2] anymore.]

[Because all LAN switches, routers and dedicated channels are full of integrated viruses. ]

[The City of Music carried out three large-scale formatting operations on [Phase 2 of Reclamation New Land], but the most cunning parts of those integrated viruses still survived by infecting the brains of refugees and mercenaries wandering around [Phase 2 of Reclamation New Land].]

[No one wants to be a victim of this unfinished disinfection. ]

[These refugees and mercenaries who once would rather die than fall back to the bottom of society now prefer to be detained by the BCPD's Internet monitoring department for 72 hours and then sign an observation agreement that strictly restricts their personal freedom, rather than stay in this newly developed area and have their brains blown out inexplicably in their sleep.]

[The latest "Music City Observation" program pointed out that this is very similar to the problem that occurred in the era of the Internet crash. They believe that a new, small-scale crash is happening, and that the virus named "Zerg" has evolved into a dangerous AI. ]

[But some people think that this is not the case...]

Chapter 309: Onwards

Xiangzi walked up the stairs.

These rustling sounds did not fade away along with the gunfire below. They continued to echo in Xiangzi's ears.

[…The failure of the formatting operation was not because those viruses were AI, but because someone was causing trouble.]

[Someone deliberately infects the brains of refugees and mercenaries with the virus during each disinfection operation to prevent the de-virusing of [Reclamation New Land Phase 2].]

[This new speculation, which was born only last month, received 78% support in the last private survey.]

[The reason for this is, of course, the existence of the most dangerous criminals who are still in [Reclamation New Land Phase 2].]

[A criminal group took advantage of the virus. They collected viruses and used the disconnected nature of data to create Internet bombs to attack police and other people. They hid deep in [Reclamation New Land Phase 2], causing official forces, including the Terrorist Mobile Team, to determine that they were "unsafe to eliminate." 】

[They definitely don't want the virus to disappear. Everyone still remembers the major crimes they committed during the first month of the closure of [Reclamation New Land Phase 2]... attacking the Toyokawa family, attacking the BCPD, attacking [Seven Bands], destroying the quarantine of [Reclamation New Land Phase 2], and causing riots inside and outside the quarantine area... rustling...]

The signal became fuzzy again.

[…Swish… Three months have passed since the guitarist of the popular idol group Sumimi, Mikado Hatsuka, was abducted into [Reclamation New Land Phase 2]. The situation has not yet improved. Honeycomb claimed that this was an "unbelievable" terrorist attack and promoted their new album by the way. ]

[The Wakaba family once again reported the disappearance of their heir. They claimed that violent armed groups in [Reclamation New Land Phase 2] forcibly detained their heir... The rescue work failed due to the stubborn resistance of these vicious criminals, although some people questioned that their rescue work was just a cover, because the documents signed by the Toyokawa family implied that they did not support any invasion of [Reclamation New Land Phase 2]...]

[… In addition… there are multiple allegations that many hostage-taking and resource theft incidents are related to these gangsters roaming deep in [Reclamation New Land Phase 2]…]

[…They moved in privately and occupied the site…Although it is a special area, this behavior still seriously violates the public security management regulations of Lezhicheng…]

【……rustle……】

[…Swish…Why are all the people staring at [Phase 2 of Reclamation New Land]! ? Look around us! The sound of gunfire, artillery fire, everything has become more frequent! Major cases are increasing every day! Don’t you think that both the [Seven Bands] and the Toyokawa family are losing control of the city? More and more small-scale fights are happening! Why don’t they care? It’s as if everyone is preparing for something - can anyone tell me what’s going on! Is it a conspiracy of the Centaurus constellation? ]

[I've had enough of your conspiracy theories! That's your illusion, illusion! This is the City of Joy - is this your first day in the City of Joy? Hasn't the City of Joy always been like this?]

[No - no! The City of Joy is collapsing! It should have collapsed a few months ago, but someone forced it to stay that way, so this false stability has only been maintained until today! This stability is only a thin layer of paper! It just lacks an opportunity...]

【……rustle……】

Amidst these chaotic broadcasts, Xiangzi climbed up the last step.

She walked into the light.

……

The white light in front of my eyes gradually changed from the pure white glare of the incandescent lamp to the flickering light of the ceiling light under the low green roof of the clinic.

Xiangzi sighed softly and stood up.

crunch.

Xiangzi sat up from the green examination bed, which made a slight sound due to her movement.

Up ahead, the cyberpsychiatrist, hearing the noise, turned his office chair.

He turned away from the table piled with medical records, brain wave detection devices, computer workstations, schedules and radios and looked in Xiangzi's direction.

"I woke up."

Xiangzi said.

She skillfully removed the tungsten steel Mewtwo headband from the side of her head and pulled it out from under her long golden-blue hair.

The cyberpsychiatrist raised an eyebrow behind his oversized glasses with multiple analysis plug-ins. He looked a little surprised.

"One hour and fifty-eight minutes." He flipped the record board in his hand and said, "You woke up 1 minutes faster than the last time."

"The new multi-directional tranquilizer combination works very well." said Xiangzi.

She adjusted her collar and placed the tungsten Mewtwo headband on the bed.

"how do you feel?"

The cyberpsychiatrist asked Xiangzi.

"good."

Xiangzi said.

"I thought I had treated enough patients. But it still surprises me every time you say 'OK.'"

The cyberpsychiatrist flipped through the documents in his hands.

He said: "You adapted to using Mewtwo's [Brain Dance Therapy] very quickly. Even when the dosage was increased to 20% to enhance the experience, you didn't look abnormal. You know, most patients would rather undergo physical therapy - rather have sharp probes inserted into the brain-computer system one by one, connected, contracted, and closed, so that the body loses control little by little and falls into a long darkness, rather than watching the experiences that induce the disease over and over again in hypnosis and aversion therapy."

"Brain dance is more efficient. Besides, physical therapy needs to analyze and reconstruct brain tissue." Xiangzi said calmly, "I don't like treatment plans that use the brain roughly."

She stood up and walked from one side of the bed to the doctor's table.

The doctor opened the drawer and took out several silver pneumatic injection needles.

The injection says [β-coupling-human loss antagonist drug].

Xiangzi took them and took a look at them.

She stuffed the syringes into her pocket.

“Are there enough drugs in stock?”

Xiangzi asked.

"Actually, phenobarbital is a little bit..." said the cyberpsychiatrist.

"There will be an external surprise mission next Tuesday. I will arrange someone to keep an eye on it." Xiangzi said.

Xiangzi's righteous eyes lit up.

The cyberpsychiatrist's prosthetic eye also lit up.

Electronic money is transferred from one account to another.

However, the shift is not from Shoko’s account to the therapist’s account.

Instead, it turns from the therapist's account to Shoko's account.

"I've already deducted the medical and drug fees," Xiangzi said. "Same old rules. One month deadline. If anything happens, answer the emergency line."

Xiangzi swept the doctor's right hand with her right hand.

The Mujina Carnival icon lit up inside the doctor's prosthetic eye, showing a [Connected] pattern.

Xiangzi walked towards the low door of the narrow clinic. She took her black woolen coat from the coat rack behind the door, put it on, and opened the door.

Behind the door, two men in black clothes stood there holding submachine guns.

When they saw Xiangzi coming out, they nodded respectfully and moved aside.

Xiangzi took a step forward.

However, she seemed to have thought of something and paused.

She looked back.

"besides."