Cyberpunk: Nirvana of Shoko Toyokawa

Page 91

Outside the dark corridor, Hai Ling, who was sitting sideways on a motorcycle operating the brain-computer interface, heard footsteps and raised her head.

Ruoye Mu, holding a mask in his hand, walked out of the corridor.

At this moment, she looked sad.

"..."

Hai Ling looked at Mu like this.

"let's go."

She said that Xiangzi had asked her to take Mu home.

Mu nodded.

The engine roars.

"Have you decided?"

Hai Ling asked.

It is a question, but it is actually affirmative.

Because Mu accepted the mask.

However, Mu remained silent and said nothing.

"Ms. Toyokawa also said that there is still some time before the operation begins."

Hai Ling sensed Mu's sadness. She said slowly:

"Take your time to think about it."

"After all, this is a matter of a lifetime."

Chapter 11 Masquerade ( rewards plus more)

Another Saturday has arrived.

This is the third Saturday since the Avex Research Base implemented a fully closed management system.

The "highest level emergency" order issued by President Kuroiwa is still in effect.

[Demon Dog] Armored vehicles were parked one by one near the building. Under the anti-aircraft gun turrets that buzzed with green lights indicating that they were in use, mercenaries holding Kalashnikov A-80 heavy rifles walked back and forth.

Within the base.

staff dorm.

The corridor was quiet, without a sound. On both sides of the wall, there were many posters that had been torn off. It was vaguely discernible that they originally had words like "Oppose Illegal Detention" and "I Will Sue You to Fengchuan". Some traces were newer, while others were older.

But there are no posts in recent days.

Tread, step.

The sound of footsteps echoed in the corridor. A male Avex employee carrying a large banner that read "Call my lawyer!" appeared at the entrance of the corridor, carrying a bucket of glue and a brush, striding angrily.

He looked to the left and then to the right, obviously not very satisfied with the situation.

"Hey! There's someone here!"

he shouted.

"Where are all the people? Didn't we agree to gather downstairs every morning to make our accusations?"

Is that so... is that so... is that so...

His voice echoed in the empty corridor.

"Hey, stop yelling! Did you travel to the moon a few days ago!?"

Another female employee poked her head out from upstairs and shouted:

"Didn't management explain this on Monday?"

"Monday! I fell asleep on Monday! When I was making the complaint last week, the mercenaries knocked me out with an electric shock gun! They injected me with a nerve-blocking sedative, and I slept all week except for eating, drinking, defecating, and urinating! I didn't recover until this morning!"

"Oh, you woke up just in time!"

The female employee locked the door with her key, hurried downstairs, and said:

"Hurry up and go to the research building! If you go too late, there will be no room!"

"What position? Why are you late? Um, are you protesting?"

The male employee looked puzzled and wanted to catch the female employee to ask her for clarification.

"Hey, don't catch me! I'm going to be late too!" the female employee shouted, "Let's go! Management apologized on Monday - they said this situation will end soon! However, due to special circumstances, it can't be stopped immediately, and we have to wait for a while! To express their apology, they invited artists to perform stage plays and band performances!"

"Performance? Is that all you can do? And you're apologizing - that's like not explaining anything at all!"

the male employee yelled.

"Then what can you do!"

The female employee had already trotted away. She turned back and said loudly:

"Can you beat the mercenaries? Or do you not want to work anymore? Hey, there's a show, do you want to watch it? I have to leave first!"

……

When the female and male employees arrived at the first floor of the Avex Research Building one after another, the place was already crowded with people.

The first floor of the research building, which was originally very empty, was surrounded by employees in three layers inside and three layers outside. The employees in the outermost layer even squeezed to the edge of the glass door.

"Hiss... Oops! It's all my fault for oversleeping!"

The female employee stamped her feet in frustration and immediately squeezed inside.

“Hey…Hey!”

The male employee wanted to ask more about what happened during the week, so he also squeezed in.

"Don't push!"

"Hey, what are you doing!"

"Hey, forget about those two guys, just listen to me! You know what? I just saw the performers! Oh, they are all very beautiful!"

"Really? Hey, I heard that the popular artist Sanjiao Chuhua is here too. Did you see her?"

"I don't know! Everyone is wearing a mask, it looks so mysterious!"

"That's why you don't understand. Did you see the poster? It says it's a masquerade-themed stage play and band performance! There are masks, of course!"

"Hey, don't make it so that you're the only one who knows about this, okay? Who hasn't seen the poster? I just didn't know that if it says it's a masquerade theme, people will come wearing masks! It also says it's a puppet theme, but there's no strings attached to it."

"Stop arguing about things that are not worth discussing! Hey, how many people are there in the band? It's pitch black on the poster and I can't see clearly!"

"four people?"

"Five people! I see five people coming!"

"Hey! Are you guys discussing the artist who just came here? I saw it too! Hey, did you see clearly? The one with the golden green hair looks like the daughter of actress Mori Minami!"

"Mori Minami's daughter? You mean, the child star Wakaba Mutsu? She hasn't had any commercial performances in a while!"

"Yes! Don't you think they look alike?"

"You've definitely made a mistake! Data scans show that the man is called Mortis, and he uses a different ID number than Ruoye Mu! Celebrities' accounts are encrypted at great expense, and they don't use multiple identities! Look - Sanjiao Chuhua also uses a pseudonym Doloris, but the ID number is the same!"

"Aren't we not connected to the Internet? Do you remember the ID numbers of Sanjiao Chuhua and Ruoye Mu?"

"I have a photo album of celebrities in my brain—I compared it with the brain scan!"

"Ugh...keeping a celebrity photo album in the brain...so disgusting..."

"Ouch! You—"

The late female and male employees squeezed past the noisy gossiping employees. In front of them, the center area of the first floor of the building could be vaguely seen.

There, the huge atrium leading to the fourth floor was enclosed by an electronic fence, turning it into a large empty area. Inside the large empty area, a gorgeous black and red Gothic curtain had been drawn. A drone hung a huge prop chandelier and was suspended in the air. The venue was covered with a red carpet, and on the carpet was a long dining table. Behind the dining table, there were large props covered with cloth.

The area around the patio and the corridors on the second, third, and fourth floors were also filled with people, all leaning their heads out to look down.

"I'm afraid everyone in the research base is here..."

The male employee just sighed at the sight. Suddenly, with a "click", all the lights turned off.

The field suddenly became pitch black.

"It's about to begin, it's about to begin!"

Someone in the crowd shouted, causing another slight commotion.

beep--

The environment in the venue became darker, almost pitch dark. The radio played the flute sound that signaled the start of the performance.

The crowd was in commotion, then gradually quieted down.

When the crowd was completely quiet.

The singing sounded in the middle of the stage.

【Alas, my love you do me wrong】

【To cast me off discourteously.】

A beam of light fell from the sky and landed in the center of the stage.

The only one who was revealed in the promotion, Sanjiao Chuhua, who goes by the pseudonym Doloris, sat in the center of the stage, raised her head, faced the light, and sang a cappella.

【For I have loved you so long】

【Delighting in your company.】

Chapter 92: On Stage

when.

Another beam of light shone from the side of the stage, falling on the two girls in the dark.

One had long blond-blue hair and wore a mask that covered the upper half of his face and the right side of his face. The other had long blond-green hair and wore a mask that covered the lower half of his face and the right side of his face.

Both of them were dressed exquisitely, wearing complicated black and red dresses. From a distance, they looked like a pair of puppets.

All the audience followed the convention and used their artificial eyes to scan their information.

However, the identity interface that someone had scanned before going on stage was now covered with a black bar and nothing could be seen.

Upon closer inspection, even the information about the third girl named Doloris, which had been revealed before the show started, was also covered up.

This is the stage. She is now just a [doll] with golden hair.

Just like everyone else.

On this stage, everyone is a puppet.

“You sing really well.”

The blue-and-golden-haired puppet spoke, addressing the golden-haired puppet.

"...!"

The golden-haired puppet was slightly startled, and after seeing who was coming, he lowered his head with a little sadness.

“This is a song my friend likes,” she said.

"Really?" The golden-blue-haired puppet still held the hand of the golden-green-haired puppet and stood there. She asked:

"Are you going to the masquerade, too?"

"Onee-sama." The golden-green-haired puppet reminded.

"Oh no." The golden-blue-haired puppet raised his head, "The moon has already..."