Cyber ​​Ghost Record

Chapter 25: The Net
Shen Ke peered through the smoke at the wall, which was covered with holographic photos. These decorations, which were popular in the 1970s and 1980s, are now considered rare.

It played clips of her childhood, adolescence, and adulthood—experiences that shaped her in the past and now help her restrain her dominant personality, which is constantly on the verge of collapse.

Before her adolescence, she, like most children of her time, spent her life in a public care facility. Photos from her teenage years reveal some particularly significant moments: wearing a Nuo dance mask, cutting her long hair, and honoring the gods on her birthday.

One of the photos, showing her playing the harp, is prominently displayed. At that time, she was still using her original limbs and stood out among her peers who had not yet been fully tamed by prosthetics with her exquisite playing skills.

She has an amazing talent for regulating her mind and body.

A photograph revealed a turning point in her life—in a spiritual realm, Marici, sitting on a seven-pig golden chariot, manifested as an eight-armed, three-faced goddess, raising her plump arm adorned with golden jewels and enlightening her with the Ashoka tree in her hand, saying that she "has superior good roots and keen wisdom."

In the next photograph, she is surrounded by countless devout men and women, with a thousand-petaled lotus flower swirling in the void behind her. At this moment, she is dressed in white with white hair, and the "blue hair mark" made by the Bodhisattva between her brows shines brightly. She is the "countering sands" who guards the Pure Land.

After the photo of the sand-counter, the wall was empty.

There were no lights in the room, and smoke swirled in the dim light of the hologram.

She recalled the bewildered question she asked herself several years ago when she received enlightenment: "What do I want to do?"

The Bodhisattva instructed: "The vows of sentient beings are as numerous as the sands of the Ganges; you must search for your Buddha-nature within this endless sea of ​​sand."

Now she tells herself: "Forget it, you're just a sandbox they use to sift through contaminated data."

Shen Ke took a deep breath of the inhibitor, pushed open the door, and walked into the corridor, leaning on the windowsill to look out.

Suddenly, as if sensing something, she frowned.

The cigarette butt burned quietly for quite a while.

She retreated into the corridor.

Her reflection was shown in the windowpane.

The reflection suddenly spoke up: "Haven't you noticed yet? This area has already been taken over."

She looked at the reflection, whose face was distorted, with narrow green eyes burning like will-o'-the-wisps, and fine, sharp teeth faintly visible in its mouth.

Its form seems to be composed of countless characters, with "zero", "one", "yin" and "yang" appearing alternately.

Shen Ke was not surprised; she had long suffered from trance, and this was just her subconscious activity manifesting as hallucinations.

She looked around a few times, then slowly retreated back into the room.

In the holographic photograph on the wall, a teenage girl says, "I can't escape anymore, sigh."

Another four- or five-year-old girl innocently said, "Run, run, I run so fast, hee hee hee hee hee..."

The white-robed, white-haired sand-counting man said serenely, "This day should have come long ago."

A man-looking woman said, "They're from the security bureau. Why did they suddenly lock down this place?"

With a distorted expression, she said, "What else could it be? Either they came for me, or it's that guy downstairs..."

A neurotic middle-aged woman said in a panic, "What do we do now? I told you I shouldn't have provoked him, he..."

A woman resembling a man rationally analyzed, "The only way is to find a way for consciousness to escape." He hesitated, "But the body is a problem..."

An elderly woman said, "I should have changed bodies a long time ago, anyway, I have plenty of backups."

The young girl said, "If you completely abandon your body, you won't be able to suppress it."

The distorted-faced "it" the girl spoke of laughed sinisterly, revealing its fine, sharp teeth without any attempt to hide its expression: "Hehehe..."

The old woman said, "It's better than getting caught."

The sand-counter said, "Why run away? If we can undergo purification rituals as soon as possible, there is still hope."

Her face contorted in a distorted smile, she sneered, "Exorcism? They'll eradicate most of the personality, leaving only the 'obedient' ones. Is that what you wanted, huh?"

The little girl said, "I'm being good, I'm being very good, hee hee."

"okay."

Shen Ke took a deep breath of the inhibitor.

The argument subsided, and the phantoms in the hologram returned to normal.

Now she only has two paths left.

She could either give up resisting, in which case she would be taken for a purification ritual, during which all her thoughts and consciousness would be observed by the divine light of the Rising Sun, and then she would be cleansed of evil and allowed to retain goodness.

Either she forcibly uploads her consciousness, in which case she will no longer be able to suppress the distorted digital personality.

Every path means she will become another version of herself.

The white-haired, white-robed sand-counter suddenly spoke: "All channels are being monitored. Since things have come to this, let's not dwell on it anymore."

The ghost said, "Finding another passage won't be difficult."

"Alright!" Shen Ke frowned, took another drag of the suppressant, only to find that there was only the cigarette butt left.

Her expression remained calm, but it took her three tries to find the right spot when stubbing out the cigarette.

Tuk Tuk!

There was a knock on the door.

Shen Ke looked over, and the surveillance footage was projected onto her brain-computer interface—Su Ge was standing outside the door.

"What?" she asked.

"I can't sleep," Suger said.

……

Su Ge waited for a while, and then Shen Ke's voice came from inside the door:

"come in."

The door slid open, and a delicate, pear-like fragrance wafted out.

In the dim light of the hologram, Shen Ke sat on the edge of the bed surrounded by wisps of smoke, wearing a cool-toned short-sleeved knit sweater and trousers.

"How effective are the consciousness anchors?"

"Good."

"Is it because you keep thinking about the image of the consciousness anchor?" Shen Ke looked him over and curled the corners of her mouth.

“A little.” Su Ge smiled.

"Please sit down." She moved aside to make room for herself.

Su Ge sat down, and Shen Ke leaned back against the wall, letting out a weary sigh.

Suger remained seated, watching her, and she turned her head to meet his gaze.

"what happened?"

"nothing."

This was the first time Su Ge had seen Shen Ke in such a vulnerable state. He looked away and examined the holographic photograph on the wall.

"Are all of these yours?"

"Is it pretty?"

“They look even better in person,” Suger said.

"Are you having trouble sleeping or are you lonely?" Shen Ke asked, a smile playing on her lips.

"Yes, I've been sleeping poorly lately."

"Then find something to do."

"For example?"

"Come here." Shen Ke lay down on the bed. "Put on your glasses."

Su Ge put on her vision device, sat on the bed, and saw Shen Ke's virtual image sit up on her.

This scene is like an out-of-body experience.

Her titanium-white hair blended seamlessly with her white robe. Her feet barely touched the ground, silver rings fastened to her ankles, and beaded chains spiraled up her perfectly curved calves.

Sog thought he had seen a celestial maiden descend to earth.

Immediately afterwards, he received a message from the other party requesting a connection.

……

“The target has already connected to our channel,” Bai Miao said from inside the hovercraft. “Shall we apply electromagnetic shielding to the space where the target is located now?”

"Wait a little longer," Yang Guan said. "We can only confirm her identity once her consciousness has fully entered the network."

“Data has been uploaded, and the target is the dark web; she wants to escape to the dark web,” Bai Miao said.

“Don’t intercept or eavesdrop; these are just tests,” Yang Guan said. “Only when she believes this is a secure channel will she attempt to upload her consciousness.”

“What if it escapes by hiding in this data?” Bai Miao said.

“That’s none of our business,” Yang Guan said. “Li Lou will handle it.”

(End of this chapter)