Cyber ​​Ghost Record

Chapter 8: The Anchor of Consciousness

Yang Guan left after he finished speaking.

Su Ge was not surprised by Yang Guan's reaction. Before hibernation, if a Qing Dynasty person from the early 19th century had volunteered to help him with programming, he would have refused even more quickly.

But he needs to find the hibernator through Yang Guan.

If that hibernator was also on a secret mission, the reason he went missing might be that he had already found his organization.

After thinking for a while, Su Ge got out of bed and went to the door, but Yang Guan was no longer there.

The silver-gray corridor was minimalist to the extreme, with floor-to-ceiling mirrors embedded in the walls, displaying portraits and information of men, women, and children.

He tried to leave the room without any hindrance. The ventilation system in the corridor was decorated with several translucent holographic plants. The air brought by the swaying branches and leaves was moist and fresh, like a morning breeze with a thin mist in the forest.

He reached the end of the corridor, saw some side paths, and decided not to explore any further, returning to his ward to rest.

The Gobi Desert in the wall would adjust its perspective as he watched, and even with a clock displayed in the upper right corner, his senses could hardly tell that it was fake.

As he admired the scenery, he tried to organize his thoughts. A series of unverifiable guesses kept surfacing in his mind, but he soon grew tired and simply stopped overthinking.

The silhouette of a camel crossed the distant horizon, accompanied by the faint sound of bells. He gradually cleared his mind, almost forgetting that he had arrived in a strange era.

Two hundred years later, the Gobi Desert remains desolate and vast. The ceaseless wind blows through the gravel and coarse sand, where scattered red willows and camel thorns grow. After the cold night, the sun rises eternally.

Two hundred years ago, this was the scene he saw on television. Two thousand years ago, the camel drivers traveling all over the country must have seen the same scene.

……

Suger didn't know when he fell asleep.

He had a dream in which he and a few friends went on a trip, packed their luggage, and boarded a green train from Jiayuguan to Dunhuang.

He was chatting and laughing with his friends when he turned around and saw that the blue cloth on the green train seats had been replaced by blue felt, trimmed with red corduroy, and spread over the saddle of the camel's hump.

His friends were all gone, and only the faint sound of camel bells remained. He rode his camel alone.

The sun shone blindingly white on the sand, the heat distorting everything. The sky was cloudless, and a gigantic mirage faintly appeared on the Gobi Desert. The entire sky looked like a blue-painted stone wall, painted with dragon kings, yakshas, ​​bodhisattvas, and Buddhas—all alive.

A graceful celestial maiden, scattering flowers and carrying a konghou (a type of Chinese harp), descended to the mortal realm from among them. Her gauze robe brushed past him, and a gentle breeze lifted him into the air. He soared through the sky like an eagle, and the camels on the ground rapidly shrank in size. He raised his head, and the mirage in the sky grew even larger.

Suddenly, the mirages changed. The bodhisattvas and Buddhas transformed into generals, then investigators, and then into a bald, gray-haired man who had abducted him. He was unable to move, as if he were experiencing sleep paralysis, and could only watch helplessly as the doctor flicked an injection needle from his fingertip and approached him.

When he suddenly sat up and raised the non-existent gun in his hand, he realized that he had just been dreaming.

He lowered his hand, staring blankly at the Gobi Desert depicted on the wall, recalling the green train from his dreams. More than two hundred years had passed, yet these memories felt as recent as if they had happened just last week.

……

The clock on the wall, following the changing day and night of the Gobi Desert, has recorded seventy-two hours.

On the afternoon Yang Guan left, the doctor performed a holographic imaging scan. Su Ge took the opportunity to probe and learned that he had undergone a full-body scan while he was unconscious, and no implants were found in his body or brain.

The aftereffects of hibernation, combined with his injuries and the exhaustion from that night, made him sleep almost twenty hours a day, like a cat.

Two meals were delivered to him daily, the main dish being a porridge-like substance composed of various nutrients. His excrement was tested in the urinal in the ward, and the composition of the porridge was adjusted according to his digestion. After a few days, his excrement contained almost no unabsorbed nutrients, only metabolic waste.

Every morning when he opened his eyes, he could clearly feel that he was in better physical condition than the day before. He was not tired as easily, so he began to leave the ward and go for walks.

The security bureau's medical office was larger than the inpatient wards of any hospital he had ever visited, with a maze of interconnected passageways, and no maps or directions could be found on the walls. The doors to the other wards were welded shut, and the corridors were always empty.

Aside from the cleaning robot, he only saw two investigators walking side by side. However, they didn't seem like normal people either. Judging from their body language and facial expressions, they seemed to be communicating, but they were both eerily keeping their mouths shut and not making any sound.

He missed Yang Guan a little; the investigator was the most human person he had ever met.

On the morning of the third day, the doctor's holographic image brought the notification of discharge.

"You can go now, but be careful not to leave anything behind."

Socrates had nothing left to lose.

He left the ward, and arrow lights illuminated on the floor, guiding him through the corridor and lobby to the elevator. More windows appeared, and the space became less enclosed. Through the glass curtain wall, he could see the outside environment was gloomy, with towering buildings connected by crisscrossing aerial tracks, resembling the drooping aerial roots of a banyan tree.

He followed Arrow to an office where he met Yang Guan again.

A woman appeared beside Yang Guan, her features perfectly proportioned, as if sculpted. Her black hair cascaded over her shoulders, so glossy and black it seemed not to be keratin but rather woven from carbon nanotubes.

"This equipment was provided to you by the Hongshan Medical Association."

Yang Guan gave Su Ge a new perspective.

Socrates took it and asked cautiously, "Is this safe?"

Nothing is absolutely safe.

Yang Guan then took out another object, its casing dark red, about the size of a lighter. He pushed it along the table towards Su Ge.

"Connect this when you wear the Vision system."

“What is this?” Sog picked up the “lighter”.

“We call it a feather,” Yang Guan said. “You can think of it as a personal defense module. This thing is connected to the Li Lou, you remember, right? It’s the bureau’s security system. If it detects any evil spirits invading the device, the feather will take countermeasures.”

Suger picked up the "feather" and felt a heavy, solid sense of security.

Yang Guan then said, "There's one more thing; I've considered your idea."

Suger looked up in surprise. "You mean... the investigation?"

"Ah."

Yang Guan nodded.

“I used to think that since you haven’t undergone bio-modification or had a prosthetic body implanted, you don’t have the ability to deal with danger. But you can also look at it from another perspective: at least your body won’t be invaded. In special circumstances, you might be able to play a role.”

"I've submitted my application, and you have a chance to be temporarily hired. Of course, the chances of approval are slim, so don't get your hopes up too high."

He then took out a flat, disc-shaped object and pushed it in front of Suger.

"If you have the time, think about this. If you can learn it in a short period of time, the chances are much higher."

"This is?"

"Mind Anchor Trainer".

“A consciousness anchor?” Sog picked up the flat plate.

"Anchoring consciousness is a basic skill for anomaly investigators; some people also call it a mind lock or a thought lock. There are tutorials in the training device; take a closer look when you get home."

"Thanks."

Suger packed up the two items, and upon hearing the word "home," he didn't know where to go.

……

As Yang Guan stepped out of the room, Bai Miao's voice rang in his ears:

“You didn’t need to make a special trip. How could the bureau possibly hire a hibernator? You’re just giving him unrealistic hope.”

“In his time, only the social elite could afford to hibernate,” Yang Guan said.

"So what? He's out of touch with the times," Bai Miao said dismissively.

"Yes, it's hard for most people to accept this kind of change. That's why many hibernators commit suicide."

Yang Guan glanced back at the room. He hadn't changed his mind. Su Ge couldn't help in any way, but he could give this hibernator a direction to live.

Even if hope is unrealistic, it's better than nothing.

(End of this chapter)