Secret: The years I served as a foreign aid for the Aurora Club

Chapter 219 Perception and Self-rescue

466
"Susie, do you think I'm still me?"

The golden retriever was a little surprised when asked this question, but he immediately answered with certainty: "You are you, Audrey."

Audrey nodded slightly and paid attention to the surrounding situation with the corner of her eyes: "Thank you, Susie."

"Now, we should go back... Be careful, control your speed, and don't let others notice anything unusual..."

After discovering the influence of extraordinary power in the family castle, Audrey and Susie no longer stayed in the corridor, but quickly returned to their bedrooms to prevent contact with any "wrong" people and confuse their own perception of other people's identities.

Audrey leaned against the door, feeling a little nervous. She could feel her heart pounding as she pressed her palm against her chest.

Susie, a big golden retriever, sat at her feet, her ears pressed against the door, listening carefully to the noise outside.

Even though there was no one around, they didn't feel safe.

"Calm down, Audrey, calm down."

Audrey took two deep breaths and used her extraordinary ability as a "psychologist" to "comfort" herself. Then she analyzed the current situation with Susie and tried to get rid of her current anxious mood.

"In this extraordinary incident, many people had their memories replaced. They sincerely believed that they were another person and acted as another person, and it was difficult for us to judge their authenticity with the naked eye."

"Woof," said Susie.

Audrey frowned. "Just like Tina. Even if the three pieces of evidence you found, Susie, the smell, the clothes, and the footprints, all prove that Tina is a man now, I still instinctively reject calling her 'he'."

"Even though I saw the evidence, I still think 'he' is Tina."

"So does my mom. Now I think my mom should have short brown hair instead of blonde like me."

"It seems that perhaps it is not just their memories that are replaced, but also the memories of others... or cognition?"

Susie tilted her head, her pupils gradually faded and stood up, and Susie's spirituality spread out and touched Audrey's body.

Audrey did not resist, but looked at Susie with burning eyes. She knew that she was using her "psychoanalysis" ability.

A few seconds later, Susie stood up, walked around Audrey, and shook her head firmly:

"Audrey, your spirit is not affected, woof."

This answer made Audrey relax a little, and she was extremely grateful that she had let Susie become her "psychologist" before today's extraordinary events.

However, Susie seemed to realize that there was something wrong with the maid Tina through the smell. In addition, as an extraordinary animal, Susie was not sensitive to the changes in the maids in the family castle, and she discovered the problem by accident.

These changes should have happened recently, because Susie, who is still a "mind reader", should be able to find the problem. But a Sequence 8 "mind reader" cannot diagnose my mind, nor can it help me maintain my cognition...

"Perhaps it's because the other party's sequence is higher than ours?"

"That's possible..." Susie lay down with her chin on her paws, "What should we do now, Audrey?"

The blonde Miss Hall was unable to grasp exactly what was happening in the family castle. She was lost in thought, and by the way, she found a cushion and sat down next to Susie without caring about her image, hugging her knees with her hands, staring at the table lamp opposite in a daze.

"Susie, do you think this was done by a Beyonder?"

"Woo..." Susie's tail wagged, "I think that's possible."

"But my father hasn't expressed any political opinions or led any legal votes recently." Audrey leaned against the door puzzledly, stretched out a hand to stroke Susie's soft hair, and carefully recalled the recent situation.

Earl Hall had been living a leisurely life in his family castle since February, away from the work of the House of Commons. He occasionally participated in some important resolutions through letters, and otherwise participated in aristocratic entertainment, horse riding, hunting and dancing.

Very normal.

As for the Government Employee Examination Act and the Backlund Environmental Protection Act, those were all things that happened a month or two ago.

Now these bills are running smoothly and have nothing to do with Earl Hall anymore. Even if Earl Hall goes crazy or even dies in this incident, these bills will continue to be implemented and will not be affected in any way.

As the daughter of the Earl, Audrey had already known about these things through her parents' influence and her own conscious understanding. Therefore, logically speaking, Audrey did not think that the Beyonder committed the crime, but rather that it was a Sealed Object that got out of control.

"If it is a wild and powerful Beyonder who happened to be conducting experiments in the castle, then this is... still a possibility that should be kept in mind."

She stroked the big golden retriever and whispered to herself.

"But this doesn't explain why I wasn't affected... If it was a Beyonder, I would have affected everyone in the castle and left no one behind."

"Wang."

At this moment, Audrey suddenly thought of something and stood up.

Susie also stood up: "Audrey, what are you going to do?"

"Susie, I have to go out for a while and will be back soon. There is something I want to confirm in person."

As she spoke, the necklace on Audrey's neck suddenly glowed like a star, and the extraordinary item "Lie" that could change one's appearance revealed its spiritual power. Audrey's face changed rapidly, and her golden hair and green eyes changed rapidly.

In just ten seconds, Miss Hall turned into her second brother, Alfred Hall.

The face is exactly the same, and Audrey has imitated his temperament to about 40% of the original, but he is much thinner than the real Alfred.

"Alfred" was still wearing Audrey's long house dress, which looked very out of place. Audrey suppressed her embarrassment and turned around in front of the dressing mirror in the room, confirming that her current image was indeed strange, funny, and exactly like Alfred.

Susie ran over and looked around at Audrey. Dogs, who were not overly sensitive to human clothing, did not react too much.

But Audrey still couldn't hold it in. This weird scene of "Alfred wearing women's clothes" made the corners of her mouth twitch constantly.

Finally, she opened her closet, took out the women's riding clothes she wore when riding horses, and changed into pants that were easier to move in.

Audrey adjusted her face again, modeled herself after Alfred, and turned herself into a man.

The sense of disharmony finally subsided.

"Susie, just wait here for me."

Audrey gave her instructions again, then put her clothes in order and walked out carefully.

She had a face that she had made up herself and wore riding clothes, so everyone who saw her would think she was a thin and unfamiliar teenager.

On the stairs not far from her bedroom, Audrey successfully met a laundry maid.

The laundry maid came downstairs slowly with a basin of washed clothes, probably planning to hang them on the balcony or in the open space. This maid was also someone she was familiar with, she saw her several times a week, but she couldn't remember her name.

Audrey held her breath and tried her best to look serious. At the same time, she was prepared to "comfort" and "hypnotize" the other party as soon as possible to prevent the maid from screaming after seeing a stranger and attracting others.

Step by step the laundry-maid came down the stairs.

The laundry maid noticed the strange young man standing in front of her.

Audrey was sweating and prepared to deal with any situation.

The laundry maid didn't show any "surprise" expression, and bowed to Audrey naturally:

"Good afternoon, miss."

Audrey was shocked to see the strange man's face, but she nodded naturally and said, "Good afternoon."

Then, Audrey turned half a circle on a whim and asked the laundry maid, "Does my riding clothes look good?" The laundry maid thought she was joking, so she smiled and praised, "It suits you very well."

She could notice the riding clothes, but she wasn't affected by my face... Audrey smiled and walked back to her bedroom at a normal pace, just like she usually did.

The moment the door closed, Audrey exhaled sharply.

Her face quickly returned to normal and her golden hair cascaded down.

Susie immediately ran over, first using "psychoanalysis" and then "comfort". Just as it was about to speak, it saw Audrey wink at it, and Susie understood, sticking out her tongue and circling around Audrey.

After about five minutes, Audrey finally loosened her grip on the handrail.

"Susie, am I still myself now?"

Susie stared into Audrey's eyes and confirmed once again: "Audrey, you are still you. You have to trust the judgment of the 'psychiatrist'."

Audrey was obviously relieved, and then she said:
"Susie, you would never have thought that even after I turned into a completely different person, the maid still believed that I was Audrey."

"Obviously, they have some basis that can directly confirm my identity."

"We have to overturn our previous speculation. This should not just be a modification of memory... Well, what was really modified was cognition, or in other words..."

The maid mistook the strange man for Miss Hall, and Audrey was also sure that a man was Tina, the pastry maid. What is the similarity between these two things?
Audrey suddenly had an idea. She looked at Susie and said in surprise:
"What was replaced was not their cognition or memory, but their identity!"

"So, as long as the identity is still 'Tina', no matter if it becomes a man, an old man or a child, I will still feel that it is Tina."

Audrey continued to speculate:

"I just took the initiative to meet the maid, and now I have guessed the truth, but I still haven't been attacked... If this is not a Beyonder with a bad personality who wants to torture others, then it must be a seal that has gone out of control!"

In most cases, dealing with out-of-control Seals is more difficult than dealing with Extraordinary Beings, because Seals are not in danger of overdrawing their spiritual power and losing control, nor are they afraid of death.

But Sealed Objects often only have instincts and lack wisdom. If they can make good use of the rules, whether it is saving their lives or escaping, it will be much easier than facing Extraordinary People.

Susie wagged her tail happily. "That's right! Woof! So what should we do now, Audrey?"

"We should call for help immediately," Audrey said.

The closest to the family castle is the Storm Church in the northern urban area, but the Hall family are all believers of the Goddess, so this matter will be transferred to the Church of Night through the storm. It will take some time, but not too long.

At the same time, Audrey knew she had another choice, which was to ask Mr. Fool for help.

Audrey looked at Susie who was standing beside her, waiting for her to make a decision, and fell into deep thought.

Mr. Fool is a benevolent god, but I cannot seek Mr. Fool's help immediately when I encounter any problem. He values ​​equal exchange, and I can't offer anything valuable in exchange other than Roselle's diary... If I always seek Mr. Fool's protection unilaterally, I won't grow at all, and will gradually become addicted to it, until one day Mr. Fool hates me...

Try your best first, Audrey. Susie and I are both Sequence 7, and we can help each other and protect ourselves... Let's leave here first and pass on the message. If the Church of Storms or the Church of Night don't arrive in time, I will immediately pray to Mr. Fool.

But now, asking for help from the "fool" is not the only means.

Wait, as "Miss Audrey Hall", it is impossible for me to leave the family castle easily. If I insist on leaving, it may trigger a bad chain reaction.

Audrey looked at Susie.

Susie tilted her head and looked at her.

"Susie, I have something to trouble you with." Audrey said seriously, "You should have been looking for tunnels in the castle garden recently, right? Have you found anything?"

"Yes, there's a little hole under the fence that's hidden by the bushes, but you can't get through, Audrey."

"It's good to have it."

Audrey breathed a sigh of relief, turned around and walked to the table, picked up a pen and quickly wrote a few lines. Then she folded the note, put it in an envelope, and stuffed it into the pet bag that Susie often used to deliver letters.

"Susie, leave the castle, go outside, and find a way to deliver this letter to the pastor of the Storm Church."

"I will wait for you to come back. While you are away, I will stay in the bedroom and seek help by other means."

467
Amon was walking on the road, playing with the Tudor Empire gold coin, and his expression was a little unhappy.

Behind him, everyone on the street stood there quietly, waiting for the parasite's instructions.

The identities of these people are disordered and affected by it. Amon's parasitism is equivalent to covering their current identities with the identity of "Amon". As long as the parasitism ends, the residents will return to their previous appearance and constantly prevent him from approaching the manor area on the outskirts of the city.

Amon was not good at using methods like the "Master of Secret Puppetry" to control these residents to perform normal city life. If they just stood there, they would soon be discovered by the church.

He didn't know if it was his illusion, but he felt that the sun was not as warm as before.

To be on the safe side, Amon would release the previous parasite after walking a certain distance, and parasite the people who were currently blocking his way.

"It's probably stopping me like this because it's really hiding there?"

"No matter what, it will be disadvantageous for me if I continue to waste time like this. It only wants to escape, and I have to kill it."

The further north they went towards the manor area, the greater the resistance they encountered. Amon felt that this could no longer be explained by simple obstruction.

When he turned a corner, three or four "travel vehicles" produced by the Steam Church suddenly rushed out of the noble villa in front of Amon. They were all black, with three sets of twelve wheels, and a chimney towering on the top like a ship, with white smoke drifting out of them.

This steam-powered vehicle is bulky, large, and has a limited load capacity. Apart from running faster than humans, it has no other advantages. Only steam machinery enthusiasts will buy it.

However, this time, three or four of them came out and rushed straight towards Amon, blocking the streets in all directions, which reminded Amon of the tanks in the atlas.

"You want to stop me this way?"

Amon immediately stole the thoughts of the steam-powered vehicle drivers, and in the instant their minds went blank, these bulky vehicles collided with each other, making a loud noise and explosion.

The shells of these vehicles were strong enough that they did not fly apart and kill passers-by.

But at this moment, Amon suddenly noticed that a small area of ​​the sky above his head darkened, and a dark cloud floated above his head against common sense.

These steam-powered vehicles are not coming for me, but they want to separate me and expose me to the Church of the Storm?
Well, according to Amon's habit, we will fight with the Storm Church, and try to parasitize the opposing bishop, or parasitize the "Manufactured Punisher" to anger the opponent, and wait for an opportunity to escape.

But am I just an ordinary Amon?
Amon chose to do the opposite. He pretended to touch his head, but in fact he immediately made the monocle on his right eye disappear. He then pushed his hair back and used hairspray to turn his black, slightly curly short hair into straight brown hair.

Then, Amon raised his hands and said to the dark clouds in the sky:
"I have no hostility, as you can see, I am being targeted."

"This incident was caused by the theft of my extraordinary items, which resulted in casualties in your jurisdiction. I am very sorry."

"If you are willing to give me some help and let me recover my out-of-control extraordinary items, I am also willing to help you solve this incident."

He was extremely sincere and gave in on the spot - the Storm Bishops were a group of reckless men who would only respond to soft words and not hard ones - and he did not use his ability to "deceive the mentor", but gave the right of judgment to the Storm Bishop himself who was watching this place.

The other party must have noticed it. The Storm Bishop did not immediately let Amontian strike with lightning. Perhaps he is a rare bishop who can think and plan. If he continues to use "deception" at this time, it will have a counterproductive effect.

Tell the truth, but not the whole truth.

TBC
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Amon: You thought I would run away, didn't you? I surrender!
*Corrected the identity of the Storm Bishop (I wanted to pick up Essnek and use him again, but found that it was not possible.)
Corrected from Sequence 3 Ace Snake to Sequence 4 Lurmi. (This person really exists and was mentioned by Earl Hall. He is a rare intellectual Storm Bishop.)

(End of this chapter)