SOTOPIA: Artificial Pseudo-God

They finally waited for the supporting convoy.

Under the principle of "prioritizing the escort of key evidence", Moskevich, who was both a suspicious witness and an important "evidence", was sent to the car sent by the FBI. Steven et al made an inquiry.Although the inside story is complicated and confusing, the physical evidence at the scene is clear enough. The extreme hypothesis of "the detectives were ordered to kill the policeman" was quickly ruled out, and "finding the real culprit" and "excavating clues about Sotopia" were also merged into the same investigation path.After returning to Los Angeles, Steven saw Moskevich again.

Moskevich had already changed into a clean hospital gown.The accident that happened in front of his eyes not long ago did not seem to have any sequelae, and the white-haired young man who was regarded as a breakthrough in the investigation still seemed to stay out of it.Steven knew that his identity and his job required interventions that went so far.Back in Los Angeles, as soon as Moskevich entered the control area of ​​the special office as planned, his mission was officially completed-his duties did not include being a long-term bodyguard for the investigation target (or nominal witness), or It takes a whole day to sit and wait in front of all kinds of people in the inquiry room.What's more, it is running between agencies and departments to collect materials according to chapters, looking for problems, and when necessary, go to dangerous areas to find clues related to Sotopia, and do nothing more than a small amount for the "grand idea" of state-centrism under the 23rd agreement. work.

To him, Moskevich was supposed to be just a special person in the sense of a job that disrupted vacation arrangements and put his life at risk—as it should be.

Maynard soon learned of the accident on the road, and gave Kay an order to hitchhike and be admitted to the hospital for treatment. Steven, who seemed to have been idle, naturally walked with her as a friend and colleague.It was also on this occasion that after a brief negotiation with the guarding colleagues, he and Moskevich met alone in the ward—interestingly, several of their conversations seemed to be related to the hospital.

Steven didn't plan to stay for long.As agreed with Moskevich, he brought some books.Moskevich's injury has not yet fully recovered, and his daily life is still dominated by eating, sleeping, and reading, but his condition has improved a lot.From Kay, Steven heard the rough schedule of the investigation.If there is no accident, he will be sent to an observation center called a sanatorium the next day, and the long-term investigation of him will start from here, and the end will be far away.

Moskevich knew nothing about it.

"I didn't expect to see you again," he said to Steven. "If it's possible, it would be great if you were the one responsible for the inquiry later. It would be easier to communicate."

Steven used his expression to tell him that there was little hope, and said helplessly: "The job of arranging work is far away from me."

"I remember you said you wanted to resign?"

"Yes, I hope you can slander me a few more words in front of my boss in the future, so that I can get out as soon as possible."

"Haha, you are so funny." Moskevich smiled gently.The books Steven sent were piled up on the bedside table by his hand, and the thick covers that were no longer new were incompatible with the clean, pure and chilling atmosphere of the hospital. "I do hope you don't resign before I leave here, or I'll be bored."

—Then I'm afraid I'll have to stay here for a few more years, if you can actually win back your freedom from Greert.

Steven thought so, but didn't tell the truth about everything he knew. "Could it be that my decision to stay or stay has to take into account your request?" He heard himself ask in mockery.

Moskevich seemed to be in a good mood, and he was quite receptive to Steven's joking tone, even a little cooperative: "Let me experience the joy of interfering in other people's lives, isn't that good?"

"I thought you only liked reading and thinking."

"In fact, I have the same common problem as most people: I want to know everything, but I don't want to spend time reading."

"But you still read it. It must have been more than 20 years."

"Twenty-three years," Moskevich corrected. "That's because I didn't have a choice at the time—to be precise, I didn't have the awareness that there should be a choice, and I thought that this was the whole of life."

"It's not too late to choose now." Steven comforted.But when he found that Moskevich was watching him, this instinctive comfort quickly turned into unspeakable guilt while practicing his job.Moskevich looked him in the eye, as if waiting for the moment when he would be bewildered and look away.

But excessive calmness and natural lack of response will become flaws.

"I had such a feeling last time," the young man said in a steady tone, with a hint of probing and dismantling. "You seem to be deliberately avoiding a question about 'time', and I don't think your avoidance makes sense."

——The question is not "whether it makes sense", but how those high-level officials decide.

Steven sneered, but his expression didn't fluctuate much: "Moskevich, it would be better if you could understand this kind of 'avoidance' as 'I don't know'. I said that I am just an errand, can you The amount of intelligence shared was very limited."

"Contradictory. You obviously don't want to stay here any longer, but you are still so cautious. I don't understand."

"'Unable to understand' is the human condition."

"Then I'll ask straight to the point: Did you come here this time under the instruction of any superior?"

"I don't deny it." Steven's answer was very frank, just like Moskevich.

Moskevich's tone became blunt: "I have said it more than once. I know a lot, but what is of value to you is quite limited, and it is impossible to produce any important information that will set you on fire."

Steven didn't show weakness either: "I've heard you say it more than once, but it's not me who can make a judgment. I hope you can have basic patience."

"But it should be built on the basis of full mutual trust."

"Do you trust me?"

Moskevich froze.

Steven seized the opportunity to start the topic: "To be honest, before I came here this time, my troublesome boss gave me a piece of advice—it was about you."

"...What is it, you can't have too close a relationship with a witness?"

"Closed in a sense. He reminded me that to re-examine your identity, you cannot completely rule out the possibility that you have a deeper connection with Sotopia. What's more interesting is that he went out of his way to 'tell this hypothesis to the witnesses. No problem either'."

"Your boss is really troublesome." Moskevich sneered.

"And they think you are more troublesome." Steven replied calmly. "Before getting into the ambulance, you hid a scalpel. When we were alone in the car, I was watching the situation outside, but you were watching me. If the situation was not right, you could have cut my throat from behind, and then Find a way to escape. At the end of the day, you just want to use me and the FBI to get rid of Sotopia's control over you, and you don't care about the price of this process."

Moskevich didn't seem to feel guilty at all, but admitted the fact very bluntly: "So you found out. But there is one thing that needs to be corrected-I didn't plan it this way from the beginning, at most I would only put the knife holder Threatening you on the neck to take me out."

"I have already prepared for this, so let me 'don't feel guilty'? Fortunately, when you said you wanted to be friends with me, I was almost moved." Steven suddenly felt that the heroism at that time was a bit funny.

"To each other, after all, the things I concealed are not of the same magnitude as you. The relationship between us has been built on the basis of mutual use almost from the beginning."

Steven shrugged noncommittally.After tearing away the careful pretense completely, he felt unexpectedly relieved: "Speaking of which, we are at least part of the Ministry of Justice's establishment. It's probably not a wise choice to blackmail an agent who is on a mission."

"Is it wise to imprison someone who has no intelligence value like me? This doesn't seem to meet my expectations."

Steven couldn't believe it for no reason: "... Could it be that your expectations are so optimistic?"

Moskevich's eyes were even more indifferent, and his tense expression was full of doubts, which was completely different from the previous gentle and steady: "It seems that the information I have is wrong, and I have missed such a critical issue. Then I will Ask again: What is the relationship between your FBI and Sotopia?"