Cyber Ghost Record

Chapter 23: Feathers

Chapter 23: Feathers
One by one, the electrodes left Suger's body, leaving only a fish-pecking sensation on his skin.

He opened his eyes, stepped out of the motion-sensing cabin, and saw the dim lights in the deep-sea room.

Real-world tasks and loans suddenly weighed on his shoulders again.

"Luckily, it worked on the first try."

Shen Ke sat at the table, smoking a cigarette.

When Suger saw her, he was reminded of the scene in the virtual space.

In that deserted city, she broke down his defenses with companionship, comfort, and a subtle, enchanting atmosphere. Then, she used the sounds of flutes, wind, and verses to create a "wine" that transported him to a realm of transcendence.

He may never experience such a wonderful feeling again, but it has been anchored.

At this moment, as he recalled it, all his senses and emotions surged forth without any discernible difference: the twilight, the city, the high wind above the clouds, the distant mountains, and her beside him were all so clear.

That transcendent state of mind instantly dispelled the pressure in Suger's heart, and he discovered another use for the anchor of consciousness.

Shen Ke watched as Su Ge stood there lost in thought. She shook her head and stubbed out her cigarette in the ashtray.

“You used a shortcut, but you still need to keep up with the basic awareness training. At the very least, you need to be able to control your awareness anchor from being easily triggered.”

Suger nodded and began to put on the exoskeleton, but the image in his mind still lingered.

"How long does this memory last?"

He looked at her face. He had understood the meaning of hypermemory before administering the medication, but only now did he truly grasp its significance.

"Forever. If the mental anchor is trained using conventional methods, it can be eliminated, but the consequence of using drugs is that it will be remembered for life."

Shen Ke's expression was somewhat amused, to the point that Su Ge suspected she had deliberately appeared in his consciousness anchor.

"Then I'll remember you." He smiled.

Shen Ke chuckled but did not respond.

Su Ge put on trousers and a jacket, picked up the breathing mask, and found that Shen Ke had also placed the consciousness anchor trainer on the table.

He suddenly thought of something and looked at the motion-sensing pod.

Will my brainwaves be recorded here?

"If you're worried about your consciousness anchor being spied on, you can buy a jammer and wear it later." Shen Ke didn't give a direct answer.

Suger examined the motion-sensing pod. The quick fix did indeed have many hidden dangers. He had originally wanted to test the results on the spot, but now he gave up the idea.

"Get dressed and let's go. The rental fee for the deep-sea room is 1,200 per hour."

Shen Ke's sudden remark startled him, and he quickly put the consciousness anchor trainer into his pocket.

How long did it take us?

"Three hours."

She said this as she left the room.

Su Ge didn't know if this price was higher than the "market price," and since he only had Shen Ke as a channel, he could only passively accept it.

The two returned to the workroom they had entered from, and this time Su Ge and Shen Ke went in together.

Despite being completely covered in prosthetics, "Chengyang Gong" was still flipping through a book in the dark. Su Ge thought of Shen Ke's description of him and was curious about his reading method. Did he listen with his eyes or read with his ears? What kind of information was he reading?
How does he communicate with people?
"Duke Chengyang".

Shen Ke called out.

An air projection screen appeared beside Cheng Yanggong, displaying the amount:

Twelve thousand seven hundred and forty.

The anchoring agent cost 9,000, and the equipment rental fee was 3,740. Besides the exoskeleton, Suger didn't bring any other electronic devices. He paid using a triple-recognition payment system combining iris, fingerprint, and voiceprint, and his balance immediately dropped to 60,000.

Another line of text appeared on the projection screen: "Thank you for your patronage, I will perform a divination for you."

Cheng Yanggong put down his book, sat up straight, and solemnly picked up three copper coins from the table. He clasped his hands together, pressed the coins down, and after a few seconds, the words on the projection changed:
[Water above Heaven below Water, Need]

[With sincerity, light, success, and perseverance, it is auspicious to cross great rivers.]

At this moment, Cheng Yanggong put down the copper coins, picked up the book again, and the air projection screen disappeared.

Su Ge was completely bewildered. He looked at Shen Ke, whose face was illuminated by the blue light of the projection, and she had an expression that showed she was used to it.

"Let's go."

The two left the room.

“What is that?” Sog asked.

"He felt like he had ascended to heaven after receiving these freebies, and he often played with these kinds of things, like Zi Wei Dou Shu, Liu Yao, Tarot cards, and so on."

Su Ge seemed to be deep in thought. After visiting the Temple of the Vidyadhara, he had a new perspective on the metaphysics of this era. Some seemingly mysterious things were just technology dressed up in the guise of metaphysics.

"Does Ksitigarbha know how to perform divination?" he asked again.

"How is that possible?" Shen Ke glanced at him sideways. "You actually know this."

"I heard it."

Su Ge casually brushed it off, not wanting Shen Ke to know that he had contact with the Security Bureau.

……

Leaving the underground world via the same route, Sog noticed that human activity was frequently observed in the passageways and plazas.

Having been in this era for some time, he discovered that the world of this era can be roughly divided into "three layers".

The first layer is the reality he sees with his own eyes, the most desolate and quiet world. The second layer is still the real world, but enhanced by augmented reality technology, it is decorated to be very prosperous, the boundary between reality and virtuality. The third layer is a purely virtual world, such as the temporary virtual space that Shen Ke constructed tonight, and the spiritual realm that Su Ge has heard of many times but has never seen with his own eyes.

People in this era spend the vast majority of their time in a spiritual realm, only occasionally stepping into the boundary between reality and virtuality when they feel like it. As for reality, only marginalized groups who are unable or unwilling to use brain-computer interfaces frequently venture into it.

Shen Ke is also someone who frequently engages in activities in the real world, but compared to those modified individuals whose bodies are made up of various prosthetics, she seems to be doing quite well.

Back in Lu Yingting 1521, Su Ge lay in the oppressive room and suddenly longed for a sensory pod. That thing only occupied a few square meters, but contained an endless world.

The consciousness anchor by the pillow lit up with a green light and sounded a series of notification sounds.

[Brainwave deviation rate less than 0.03%, anchoring successful.]

He finally completed the training for the consciousness anchor, but what appeared in his mind was not the clue of another hibernator, but Shen Ke's face in the virtual space.

This is a consequence of hyperthymesia.

When the nun at the Vidyadhara Temple, who claimed to be a Buddha, said she wanted to save Suge, Suge, in that particular emotional state, felt that Shen Ke was the Buddha who had come to save him.

This feeling would normally disappear quickly after a moment, but now it's become anchored.

He would never forget a woman he had known for less than three days, and every time he used his consciousness anchor afterward, he would meet her again from that moment.

It felt both absurd and enchanting.

A message notification interrupted his chaotic thoughts.

He sat up in bed and saw that it was a message from Yang Guan.

[You are in a dangerous situation. Leave Luyingting Apartment immediately! Don't delay, I'll be waiting for you outside the west gate!]

In a corner of the room, the "feather" that Yang Guan had given him when he left the Security Bureau glowed red, as if it were on fire.

Happy Mid-Autumn Festival!
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(End of this chapter)