After Chen Yu was injected with "memory anchor", his vital signs quickly stabilized. According to Su Yat-sen's instructions, Chen Mo chose a photo of them in the playground last summer in her sister's mobile phone as an "anchor". After the photo was scanned, the image information was combined with the silver metal pill in a way that Chen Mo could not understand, and then it was placed in a special small instrument beside Chen Yu's pillow, continuously emitting a weak energy field with a specific frequency.
Su Yat-sen said that this can help Chen Yu firmly "grasp" memento mori related to his brother in his chaotic consciousness, and form a relatively stable core to resist the erosion of the concept of "no face". But she will still sleep for a period of time to repair and adjust herself.
Chen Mo was arranged to live in a room similar to a single dormitory. The room is very small, with only a bed, a table and a bathroom, without any windows. The walls are soft beige, but the material seems to be very special, and it feels slightly grainy. The door is a heavy metal door, which can only be opened from the outside. There is a small observation window above the door.
This is not so much a dormitory as a cell under house arrest.
In the next two days, Chen Mo's life was filled with various inspections. Blood drawing, scanning, EEG, psychological testing, and responding to all kinds of strange instruments … Researchers come and go, asking all kinds of questions and recording all kinds of data. Their attitude towards Chen Mo is between treating patients, research objects and potential hazards, polite and alienated, with professional indifference.
The "ring of silence" on his wrist has not been removed, which makes him unable to actively "listen" to any information that the ear nail may provide, nor can he try to trigger the "touch echo". He felt like a beast with its paws pulled out, locked in a transparent cage for observation.
The only thing that makes him feel a little comforted is that he can visit Chen Yu through the glass at a fixed time every day. Chen Yu's face is rosy day by day, breathing smoothly, like falling into a deep sleep. Occasionally, her eyelashes will tremble and her lips will move slightly, as if talking in her sleep. Chen Mo wished he could "hear" it.
Su Yat-sen appears occasionally, asking him some feelings about the inspection, or adding some common sense about the association and the strange world. Her tone is still insipid, but perhaps because of Chen Mo's cooperation, there is less initial coldness and more business.
On the afternoon of the third day, the inspection seemed to come to an end. Chen Mo was taken to a room slightly larger than the dormitory and similar to a training room. The room was empty except for a chair in the center. Sue yat sen villa has been waiting inside. Today, she is not wearing a uniform, but a dark sportswear that is convenient for activities, and the metal mask on her face remains the same.
"Sit down." She pointed to the chair. "Today is the first lesson: know your enemy and … yourself."
Chen Mo sat down and looked at her doubtfully.
Sue yat sen villa didn't talk nonsense. She raised her hand and pressed a button on the wall. The wall on one side of the room suddenly became transparent, showing the scene of the next room-it was a completely white room without any furniture, and in the middle of the room, a "person" stood quietly.
A "person" wearing a security uniform with a smooth face and no facial features.
Chen Mo's body tensed instantly and almost jumped up from his chair-it's a faceless person! Although the uniform style is slightly different from that of Lao Li, the smooth face and stiff standing posture are definitely the same thing!
"Don't be nervous, this is a shelter." Su yat sen villa's voice calmed him down a little, "number D-112, a secondary derivative captured by the' faceless woman' incident. Hazard level: low (within a specific logical framework). It has been restricted by the' logical shackles', and the scope of activities is limited to that shelter, and it is impossible to actively spread pollution. "
She walked to the transparent wall and looked at the faceless person inside, just like observing an insect specimen: "The unspeakable person" or "weird", we prefer to call it "conceptual abnormal existence". They are not ghosts or supernatural beings in the traditional sense, but a' logical entity' generated by some human collective consciousness, strong emotions, or loopholes in the world's bottom rules. "
She turned to face Chen Mo: "Their behaviors follow their own inherent logic or rules. This kind of logic is often distorted and absurd, but it is internally self-consistent, just like a wrong program that is forced to run. For example, the logical core of "faceless woman" is "stripping and covering the concept of face", which is spread through the mirror media. For another example, some weird logics are' people who enter a room must walk upside down, otherwise the bones will grow in reverse', and some' people who hear a certain melody will dance uncontrollably to exhaustion and die'. "
Chen Mo listened with horror. These rules sound absurd, but it is precisely because of their absurdity and compulsion that they are even more incomprehensible and horrible.
"To deal with them, brute force is ineffective in most cases." Su yat sen villa continued, "because they often have no' entity' in the traditional sense, or the entity is just the carrier of its logic. The only way is to find the' way out' in their logic-that is, the loopholes in rules, the restrictions on execution conditions, or the places where the logic itself conflicts. Use these to evade, interfere, and even ... counter. "
She pointed to her mask: "My [camouflage mask] ability is to imitate a strange logic in a short time.". I can't create logic, I can only imitate what I have touched and analyzed. During the imitation, I can use this logic to a certain extent, but I must bear its' cost', and the deeper and more advanced the logic is, the greater the erosion and consumption of myself. "
"And your [whispering earrings]," she looked at Chen Mo's left ear, "according to the current assessment, its main ability is likely to be' perception and analysis of the operation of strange logic'. This is very precious. On the battlefield, a person who can quickly read the enemy's "rules" can often decide life and death. This is also why the association thinks you are valuable. "
Value ... That's the word again. The silence could not help but ask, "What about the price? What's my price? The information in the ear nail says that it is' continuous alienation of hearing organs' and' relying on the mirror to confirm'. "
Sue yat sen villa nodded: "the preliminary judgment is this. But the cost of contract is often gradually revealed and deepened. Alienation of hearing organs may eventually lead to complete loss of hearing, or even irreversible distortion of hearing organs. Rely on the mirror to confirm' ... In the long run, it may lead to your dependence on self-cognition. Once you leave the mirror or your cognition is disturbed, there may be serious identity confusion or even collapse. " She paused, her tone slightly heavy. "Besides, this is probably just the primary price. The more you use it, the deeper you integrate with the relics, and the deeper and more terrible price may appear. For example, my sense of existence dissipates. For example, some contractors will gradually lose their emotions, some will be alienated from the body, and some will be eroded by the strange logic of the contract, eventually becoming new and strange ... "
The training room was quiet, except for the sound of the faceless man occasionally moving his steps very slightly in the reception room next door.
The price is so cruel. Chen Mo felt a chill. He stepped into this world to save his sister, but in the future, he may pay a thousand times more than hearing loss.
"Regret?" Sue yat sen villa seems to see through his mind and suddenly asked.
Chen Mo was silent for a long time, shook his head and looked in the direction of his sleeping sister in the next room: "No choice."
Su yat sen villa's eyes under the mask seemed to fluctuate for a while, but soon recovered calm. "Very well. Remember this' no choice'. In this world, hesitation and weakness are often fatal. Since we have chosen this road, we must learn to bear it and find ways to live and live long enough until we find a way to reverse or ... adapt. "
She pressed the button again, and the transparent wall returned to the ordinary white wall. "The first lesson theory part is over. The next step is practice. "
Practice? Chen Mo one leng, he is now wearing a ring of silence, how to practice?
I saw Su Yat sen villa go to the corner of the room, open a safe and take out something from it-an ordinary-looking, old-fashioned wooden music box. There are some scratches on the surface of the music box, but the whole music box is well preserved.
"This is a training relic, numbered E-779, [Sad Music Box]." Su yat sen villa put the music box on a small table in the middle of the room. "It has been kept for a long time, with stable logic and extremely low risk. Its rule is simple: when the box is opened and the music starts, people who hear the music will feel sad irrepressibly, and the degree is directly proportional to the listening time. When the music stops or leaves the sound range, the effect will gradually fade away without permanent damage. "
She looked at Chen Mo: "Your practical lesson is to try to' perceive' the logic of this music box in your existing way without opening the ring of silence. Then, tell me how you feel. This is a test of your basic perception ability, and it is also the beginning of training your active control and use ability. Remember, don't try to fight or go deep, just' observe' and' feel'. "
Chen Mo looked at the seemingly harmless music box, took a deep breath and nodded his head. He concentrated and turned his attention to the music box. Visually, it is unremarkable. But when he tried to "feel", an extremely weak but real "echo" began to come from the direction of the music box.
Not through the ear, but directly on his consciousness, similar to the feeling of transmitting information through earrings, but more vague and primitive. He "felt" into the wooden box, and it seemed that there were many fragmentary and gloomy emotional fragments-tears, parting, sobbing in a low voice, echoes in an empty room ... These emotions were not strong, but with a slow and infiltrating sadness.
He can't "listen" to the concrete logical chain, just like seeing things through a layer of ground glass, with only vague outlines and colors. However, compared with the occasional image echo when touching objects before, this direct perception of the "emotional concept" itself is obviously different, which is closer to the direction of the ability given to him by earrings.
He tried to maintain this "feeling", without going deep or resisting. Gradually, the sad mood seems to have affected him, reminding him of his parents' loss and pain when they died, of his sister's unconscious worries, and of his unpredictable fate in the future ... A faint sadness came to mind, and his eyes were slightly hot.
"All right." Sue yat sen villa's voice rang in time, interrupting his immersion.
Chen Mo recovered and found that the music box had not been opened. Everything just now is just the residual "echo" he "perceived".
"How about it?" Su yat sen villa asked.
Chen Mo described the emotional fragments he "felt" and the slow sadness, omitting the touch of his emotions.
Sue yat sen villa listened and nodded: "Yes. Although vague, it is in the right direction. You can directly perceive the residue of' emotional concept', which is indeed a typical feature of' stealing earrings'. It allows you to' listen' to strange' logical whispers', which is essentially to perceive the' concepts' and' emotions' carried by those distorted rules. "
She put away the music box: "Today's training is over. Remember this feeling. In the face of real weirdness in the future, your first priority is not to be afraid, but to calm down,' listen' and' feel' their logic. Information is the first element of survival. "
She walked to the door and stopped: "Starting tomorrow, there will be more systematic training, including physical fitness, fighting, intelligence analysis, common sense of relics and so on. At the same time, your participation and … contribution are also needed for the follow-up treatment of the' faceless girl' incident and the further treatment plan for your sister. Be prepared. "
The door closed and Chen Mo was left alone in the training room.
He sat in a chair, reminiscing about the feeling when he felt the music box just now, and touched the silent ring on his wrist. A complex emotion churns in his chest-fear of the unknown, worry about his sister, confusion about his own destiny, but at the same time there is a subtle curiosity and desire to explore that he doesn't even want to admit.
The hidden side of the world, cruel and mysterious, is slowly opening the curtain in front of him.
And his first lesson has just begun.