SOTOPIA: Artificial Pseudo-God

Maynard and Steven sat in their office, listening numbly to tape three.

Perhaps they used a tape to transcribe the content of the bug, from which they could hear the sound of pacing in the room, the sound of breathing between conversations, the regular shaking of the clock in the room, and even the flipping of the paper on the table, and the light collision of the pen and the paperweight. sound.

"—In this way, the information sent by 'Raven' is accurate enough. It's a pity that once he dies, the remaining clues will be interrupted, and next time we can no longer place all bets on one person." In the tape, Roberts Talking to someone on the phone, but all they could hear was Roberts himself.

"The firearms and personnel are the same as last time, imitating the configuration of the training bureau. Yes, Miranda will provide the specific assault location. 'The extent of the attack'?" Roberts seemed to laugh. "That's the extent to which we can force the other party out. Our own casualties are not the point. If necessary, it doesn't matter if we only leave one or two witnesses. Ah, and that experimental subject, don't let him die, it will be useful in the future .”

"Fraser will probably use this as an opportunity to make a move. Yes, after all, he was born in MI6, and his intelligence capabilities may be even stronger than before. Except for me, let your people keep an eye on it. Fraser is that It is not easy to deal with a lunatic who can tie himself to a nuclear bomb and detonate it for his own plan, not to mention that there are other ruthless characters around him."

"Don't be kidding, Alexander, that guy has duplicity on the outside, and he is still a schemer who is far less upright than he looks on the outside. I'm afraid he's busy getting me out recently. As long as someone else takes the position, whether it's Sare or Westeros, treat them much more gently than I do."

"But this kind of moderation will hurt America," Roberts said quietly in the recording.

"Let's stop here." Maynard reached out and pressed the pause at the right time.He raised his eyes and looked at Steven, who was standing opposite him with a cloudy expression, with mixed feelings in his heart.He ejected the tape and put away the evidence through the anti-fingerprint glove. "There are too many high-level people involved in this matter, and I don't want you to be involved."

Steven clenched his fists, and used a deliberately low voice to cover up the surging indignation in his heart: "You heard it all, Greert almost counted me and Kay in."

"We haven't done voiceprint testing yet, so we can't confirm the authenticity of the recording," Maynard reminded.

"I read the autopsy report and the identification of the deceased." Steven no longer intended to conceal the fact of his private investigation. "The people who attacked us on the highway were indeed former Delta members. We also found out the money from Mrs. Schneider in the deceased's bank card. These people had money transactions with Greert."

Maynard sighed, took off his gloves, and looked at his subordinates with an almost helpless expression.He took a document out of the drawer, folded it and put it in his bag. "I see what you're trying to say. You mean, they're Mr. Greert's personal soldiers?"

Steven felt that this expression seemed too much, but he couldn't find a more suitable one.And Maynard has already stood up and hooked him: "Before that, let's go to a place first."

"Where are you going?" Steven didn't move immediately, but looked at Maynard warily.

"To the birthplace of that Moskevich."

They did find Sotopia's experimental base hidden in the mountains.

The place is already empty—it’s probably inappropriate to call it a “building,” because the main body of the building, except for the two floors on the ground, is excavated downwards depending on the terrain, presenting the shape of an underground experimental base closed on all sides.A two-kilometer-long unremarkable road leads to the main road outside the main gate, and there is no sign at the intersection. Even the branch road itself can only be found from the satellite image.

The interior of the building is completely open to the outside world. FBI staff are busy collecting evidence, but they have limited clues.The surveillance video has long been taken away by the researchers, and there are only a few extra pieces of paper left in the file cabinet in the reference room, which are all insignificant daily necessities purchase lists.On the other hand, the group of laboratories located on the second basement floor retained some information related to the Inspector project.If the time goes back to a month ago, this place should still be a scene of researchers busy walking; now, the "Temple of Knowledge that Sees Everything" is deserted like a concept map full of modern elements.

It was also at this time that Steven saw the scene in his dream for the first time.

The cage surrounded by floor-to-ceiling glass has no private area except the bathroom, there are piles of books everywhere, and the unmade bed is also scattered with written paper.

Steven's eyes widened.He pushed open the door of the laboratory and walked into the hell where Moskevich had lived for more than 26 years.The same strong smell of ink and paper, the pure white structure inside the building and the transparent glass room give a cold visual experience, remove the information and knowledge in the books, and find no way to find the depressive situation of the meaning of life - nearly 1 days and nights of the parties Desperation rushed over him in an instant, making the 32-year-old strong-bodied detective with empathy for atypical characters feel as if he was being choked by the god of fate with a mocking face.

At that moment, Steven suddenly understood why Moskevich would rather die than return to this safe and peaceful place, even though he didn't even object to Sotopia itself.

Just like the previous dream, the phantom of Moskevich suddenly appeared in front of Steven's eyes, but this time Moskevich looked like a teenager, or younger.The white-haired boy whose height did not reach his chest stood in front of the glass window, leaving only a fragile and sensitive back for himself.

Somewhat similar to Caroline, the boy has slightly longer short hair, a simple white short-sleeved shirt and knee-length shorts, with bare feet on the soft dark carpet, and a ring-shaped identity on one wrist Signage—Of course, it may also be a miniature medical device that monitors physiological status in real time.The boy's arm may have been implanted with a biochip, but after anesthesia, the process will not cause any pain, but he may feel unwilling for his fate when he inadvertently looks at the tiny scar later.

——If he hadn't left the laboratory in the first place, he might have saved himself a lot of trouble.But does such a "happy" result really meet my expectations?

Steven is hallucinating again.But this time, the air around him was no longer silent; it was his imaginary boy Moskevich who spoke: "Am I destined to be like this?"

"You're older than me, and you've seen more. Tell me, is this supposed to be my whole life?"

Steven has heard of some cases of "scene reappearance" caused by specific environments, such as the World War I army that appears and disappears in the thunderstorm that people talk about, and the erratic figure of the deceased owner in the abandoned castle.Some are images left behind by physical materials burned to discs under extreme conditions, and more are self-deceiving self-processing and interpretation.

What he heard and saw was mostly the latter.In other words, it was Steven who expected Moskevich to ask him this question; just as he expected, he gave an answer that would not change.

Steven held out his hand.As if to overlap with the phantom of the young Moskevich, he pressed his palm against the cold glass wall, as if the real world he longed for was beyond this thin cage.Thinking that the other party would hear it, Steven responded in an inaudible voice: "No, you deserve a better life."

Maynard saw Steven's expression and movements in his eyes.

"Okay." Steven was pulled out of the abyss of thinking by Maynard's hand on his shoulder.He turned his head and saw Maynard walking to the bedside in the laboratory, picking up the abandoned manuscript there. "Compared with the experimental materials, most of these complicated books and things that have nothing to do with the experiment have been left behind. Look at this—" Maynard handed one of them to Steven.

Steven took it and saw that the strange handwriting on it was probably written by Moskevich who had lived here.The content of the manuscript is almost unconstrained, and most of it is based on personal understanding and theoretical framework proposed by the books on the bed, but there is nothing related to the actual topic other than the books.

Maynard coughed twice, and continued: "There are two things that I did not keep from you, but I can tell them now. The first one: the people from Sotopia once looked for me. That person told me that Moskevi It’s almost time for Qiben to leave the laboratory. If the accident hadn’t happened, he might have left his status as an experimental subject of the ‘artificial false god’ and become a free man. Look at these relatively fresh manuscripts, there are no test propositions on them, and the researchers have already Do not give him any further analysis orders."

Steven squeezed the piece of paper in his hand.

"And the other one," Maynard pulled out a document from his bag and handed it to Steven grimly. "This matter is still kept secret from others, but it has something to do with you."

After skimming through the contents of the document briefly, Steven couldn't help being stunned: "When did this happen?"

"A few hours ago." Maynard put away the file. "Mr. Greert has been suspended for investigation on suspicion of treason."