Cyber ​​Ghost Record

Chapter 68, Section Sixty-Seven: Relapse
"My savior..."

Su Ge remembered clearly that last night, Qian Yun also lost his ability to move due to the electromagnetic pulse.

Is the target still alive?

"Alive." Yang Guan's tone was somewhat somber. "Almost all the casualties last night were from the Security Bureau. We cleared that area beforehand."

Su Ge breathed a sigh of relief. After half a month and the brush with death last night, he had finally come very close to his goal. But he couldn't be happy at this moment; the darkness, the flashes of light, the screams, and the splattered blood were still vivid in his mind.

Not only was it vivid in his mind, but he could actually see two drops of blood streaking through the air and splashing onto Yang Guan's face.

You forced me to do this.

The lights flickered, and the shop owner gritted his teeth as he put down his gun, his face a mixture of light and shadow.

Welcome to [Welcome! Welcome! Happy Happy Happy Dark Dark Dark—]

The noise from the robot malfunction brewed into a sharp tinnitus.

Suger's vision went black.

He felt he had only stumbled slightly.

Countless chaotic images and sounds surged through my consciousness.

The next moment, the tide receded.

He forced himself to sit up and vaguely realized that the ground beneath him had turned into a bed.

To his left was a wall-mounted screen. The scene looked somewhat familiar. After a couple of seconds, he remembered that this was the Security Bureau's lounge. However, instead of showing the Gobi Desert, the screen displayed a window reflecting the firelight from a fireplace, with a beech forest covered in snow outside.

Su Ge opened his mouth, but before he could react, Yang Guan's voice came from beside the bed.

"Wake up."

Su Ge's gaze swept over himself and then fell on Yang Guan.

"How long have I been unconscious?"

"18 minutes, 23 seconds." Yang Guan looked Su Ge up and down. "You're too tired."

Socrates remained silent, recalling the scene before he fainted. He was indeed exhausted, but those hallucinations were as real as holograms of this era; the word "tired" alone could not explain the situation.

Suddenly Su Ge paused. Right behind Yang Guan, in a dimly lit corner of the room, there were blurry lights and shadows floating around, like distant streetlights in a thick fog.

[Folling light syndrome]

The answer is obvious.

He defeated Yue Guocheng, but this also triggered his illness.

"You lie down for a while, I'll go take care of something first, the doctor will be here in two minutes."

Yang Guan got up and left, and Su Ge followed him off the bed. Mental imagery syndrome is a condition that only brain-computer interface users can develop; regardless of whether the doctors can diagnose the problem, he cannot stay here.

"what happened?"

Yang Guan stopped, his questioning gaze tinged with a hint of doubt.

Su Ge understood that the Gu Diao had been exposed. In Yang Guan's eyes, he was no longer the ignorant hibernator. He still maintained a cooperative relationship with the Security Bureau, but that relationship had become delicate. Any unnecessary suspicion could become the final snowflake, breaking the branch and plunging him into the icy abyss, turning him from an informant into a prisoner.

He wanted to evade inspection, but he had to provide a reasonable explanation for his unreasonable behavior.

"He found out my true identity."

"Who?" Yang Guan was taken aback.

“That shopkeeper from last night, the owner of the floating shop,” Su Ge said coldly, “has investigated my background thoroughly ever since I arrived there.”

"Well..." Yang Guan said somewhat guiltily, "It was an accident. He's under control now, and people like Yue Guocheng are rare. At least Qian Yun couldn't possibly know your background..."

Socrates demanded, "How can you be so sure?"

"It's impossible to be completely certain about this, but..."

“I’m in the limelight now,” Su Ge interrupted Yang Guan again, emphasizing his words, “and there will only be more people investigating me. There’s one Yue Guocheng, and there will be a second, a third!”

Yang Guan paused for a moment.

"So what?" He pulled out a digital cigarette, put it in his mouth, and frowned. "You quit?"

"I just hope the security bureau is reliable."

Su Ge left Yang Guan after saying those words.

Yang Guan watched Su Ge's retreating figure. "You'd better rest for a few days first." "I need to go back." Su Ge stopped and turned back. "At least I need to clean up any traces that might expose my identity."

……

In the underground clinic, in the examination room, Chiba Ryoko sat on the sofa with her legs crossed and arms folded, quietly watching Ruan Qiuheng beside her. Before this shady doctor, a semi-transparent image of a brain floated in the room, red and green dots representing neural potentials constantly intersecting and blurring.

The abnormal neural data was recorded by the doctor's blue compound eyes, and a moment later, the door to her left opened.

Looking at Su Ge as he walked out of the scanning room, Ruan Qiuheng said, "Your condition is a bit serious."

As she spoke, she paused tentatively.

"This is very strange. Only long-term exposure to exogenous neural data can trigger psychomotor syndrome, but even unrestrained use of brain-computer interfaces shouldn't cause this so quickly..."

“Dr. Ruan.” Chiba Ryoko raised her chin and looked quietly at Ruan Qiuheng.

“I just want to know the cause of the illness.” Ruan Qiuheng glanced at Chiba Ryoko. “I’ve emphasized that we should try not to receive external neural data during treatment, but it seems no one is taking my words to heart.” She looked at Su Ge. “Sit down over there.”

After Su Ge sat down in the white chair in the equipment room, Ruan Qiuheng said again, "The treatment plan needs to be changed. Now it will take five courses of treatment to control the condition. During this time, we should try not to receive external neural data..." As she spoke, she glanced at Su Ge again, "At least, we should avoid the source of stimulation."

The silver helmet slowly descended, and the electrodes inside the helmet gently touched Suger's scalp.

"What kind of stimulation?" he asked.

"The causes of mental imagery are complex. Meaningless signal interference, feedback from the external environment—these are all stimuli. Often, it's simply the emergence of subconscious thoughts that can lead to illness. There are many things to pay attention to: avoid environments that make you uncomfortable, maintain emotional stability, and avoid complex thinking..."

“Mental imagery isn’t that scary,” Chiba Ryoko said abruptly.

Her lip gloss reflected the tiny, holographic light spots, and her voice was like the misty haze in the neon lights.

"Your hallucinations, auditory hallucinations, and daydreams are often manifestations of your instinctive desires. They are revelations. The future and destiny are unpredictable, but your choices are already predetermined."

Some data turbulence emerged in the synchronous continuum neural network of the [Traveler/Type C] robot Chiba Ryoko, turning into fleeting bubbles—the apartment was cramped and dark, and images of digital demons, sand counters, men, women, and children appeared around her.

That night, she illegally uploaded her consciousness, becoming a true demon and monster. It was forced, but it was an inevitable result.

Twenty minutes later, the treatment ended, and Suger left the machine.

"How are you feeling?" Ruan Qiuheng asked.
"Feeling better." Su Ge pressed hard on his temples. "My head still hurts a lot."

“Headaches are normal. The problem with psychomotor syndrome is the uncontrollable hallucinations. The equipment here can't precisely locate the neurons. After all, you're only receiving non-invasive therapy, so I can only help you control the symptoms. At best, I can only prevent your condition from worsening,” Ruan Qiuheng said. “But recently, an opportunity has arisen. I've found a way to buy a set of the latest equipment. If you're willing to invest, then…”

Suger was immediately tempted, but then he thought of his own tight financial situation. A device that could cure levitation would undoubtedly be a cash cow for the underworld, requiring an investment of at least tens of millions. Even if he were willing, it would only be wishful thinking.

He vaguely sensed the probing meaning in Ruan Qiuheng's words—not a test of the investor's financial resources, but a test of a patient with a secret.

“Sounds good.” Chiba Ryoko spoke first. She walked to Su Ge’s side and smoothed out the wrinkles in his collar caused by the equipment. “If the treatment is effective, you will receive this investment. Give it your all, Dr. Ruan. You have three more treatment sessions.”

Ruan Qiuheng's gaze lingered on Chiba Ryoko's profile for a moment.

"I am a doctor, and doctors will do their best for every patient."

"Is that so?" Chiba Ryoko smiled and lowered her hand.

“I’ll prescribe some medicine for you this time.” Ruan Qiuheng looked at Su Ge. “Take the medicine regularly, and take a couple more pills when you’re emotionally unstable.”

"Do you have inhaled ones?" Suger asked.

Ruan Qiuheng remained noncommittal. Outside the clinic, the intern received a message from the shady doctor.

[A course of dopamine receptor antagonist, formulated as an inhaler.]

A moment later, the intern entered the examination room and placed the aluminum box of medication on the table. His gaze swept over the mysterious patient and the Walker Type C robot in the room, suppressing his curiosity, and he lowered his head without looking any further.

Su Ge picked up the medicine and left with Chiba Ryoko. Ruan Qiuheng watched their departing figures, his blue compound eyes reflecting the data stream on the instrument screen beside him.

Outside the underground clinic, the two walked among the poor patients whose bodies were pieced together with cheap prosthetics.

Suger opened the medicine box and pulled out a cigarette-shaped dopamine inhibitor.

"Want one?" he asked.

Ryoko Chiba stopped in her tracks, raised an eyebrow, and curled the corners of her lips into a smile.

"Every medicine has its side effects," she said.

Suger smiled, bit the filter, and pressed the ignition button on the medicine box. A fragrant aroma of incense mixed with the smell of medicine filled his lungs. He suddenly recalled a light, pear-like scent.

He recalled when he first met Shen Ke, there was always a wisp of smoke curling from her fingers. After she was taken away by the Security Bureau, she stopped doing that. He slowly exhaled a puff of smoke and glanced at Chiba Ryoko's retreating figure. Perhaps it was because of this incarnation of Chiba Ryoko, but he always felt she had become a different person.

Let's bury our heads in the sand for a while.
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(End of this chapter)