[APH Mega Bu Ying Lu Zhong] Fools' Carnival

Arthur moved slowly in the red and black world, people with blurred faces were shouting and running around, ruins and wreckage lay across the broken ground, the flames emitted a stench, and thunder rumbled in the distance It seemed that another building fell down, and the sky was like a chaotic mass of purgatory magma.How many people died in the last second?Do architects know that their masterpieces have become nuclear bombs?Does humanity have a future? ... Question marks popped up and disappeared one after another. Arthur had to empty his mind and concentrate on walking to the temporary shelter 200 meters away, otherwise fear and worry would drive him crazy.However, it took him a century to travel such a small distance. During this period, he was awakened by a loud cry. A child with bleeding arms was crying in the arms of an adult. Arthur hesitated, stepped forward to stop them, and took the twins Take off the tie you gave yourself to help the child bandage.

"Thank you." There were tears in everyone's eyes.Every survivor, whether rich or poor, male or female, young or old, joined hands like desperate pilgrims and flocked to the sanctuary, stretching out their dirty and mutilated hands to God.Disaster has swept through every region, and at this moment everyone is just a weak and small life, and there are no more policemen, firefighters or doctors in the world-no one can save them.Arthur kissed the cross, prayer beads and even the Jewish star borrowed from others, and the healthy crowd spontaneously surrounded the wounded and began to sing the mass, and the place of refuge shook like an ancient Noah's ark.

"Arthur! Arthur Kirkland!" A voice interspersed with hymns called Arthur across the crowd, and that voice was his destination.He turned around suddenly, and pulled him out of the crowd with one hand, but he was crazier than the other: "What happened to Alfred and Matthew?!" He grabbed Francis's torn collar.Francis roared in the loud singing: "They are still alive! But the situation is not good, you follow me!..." Arthur left Francis like a headless chicken and walked out quickly, Francis followed closely, and the inferior crosses were scattered A string of red footprints was left on the ground of the golden powder.

"Wherever you are going, I will also go;

where you stay, I will stay;

Your kingdom is my kingdom, and your God is my God;

Where you die, I will die and be buried there. "

--"Bible"

Arthur opened his eyes slowly, and the first thing he saw was the moldy ceiling, which was in disrepair, but it wouldn't collapse on him.He stretched out his hand to the medicine bottle on the bedside table, knocked two pills dryly, but he didn't even taste the bitterness, and sat up straight like a zombie resurrected.After he washed, he went directly to the workshop. Edward usually brought him a bag of bread or cereal, and he read the documents while eating.Levis crouched in front of the computer screen biting his fingers in distress, Edward walked around leisurely as always, Arthur looked up at them: "...Hello."

"What, what's the matter?" Levis stammered, apparently still not getting rid of his fear of Arthur.Arthur didn't stop working: "I didn't have much time before, so let's say it officially - thank you for finding Alfred, and I'm sorry these days, I know I have a bad attitude." Lewis blushed , Edward smiled: "Working with you has also benefited me a lot, and I hope the next task can be successfully completed."

Someone pushed the door and came in: "Bonjour——! That thick-browed gentleman over there, can you come over here?" Francis leaned on the door frame and gave a wink. He didn't come home last night, but he became crazy this morning. Refreshing and refreshed, he swept away the decadence of the previous period, and became a beast again. Arthur closed the pen cap angrily: "What are you doing?"

"Just follow me." Arthur followed him into an unoccupied conference room, Wang Yao was standing by the door, following his line of sight, sitting on the other side of the conference table was restless...Alfred.For the twins who joined the foster family, Arthur used to be both their brother and their father. Sometimes they made mistakes, and Arthur would sit face to face with them and talk like adults.Francis pushed Arthur, he sighed, and sat across from Alfred: "So, what do you want to say?" Alfred was on pins and needles: "It's just... all kinds of things happened before. Thing... I, I know I've done a lot of stupid things! So..." He took a deep breath, "Arthur, I'm sorry!"

Arthur stared at Alfred's face and did not answer immediately, but folded his arms and folded his legs: "Then how do you want me to react?" Alfred was stunned, and he suddenly raised his voice, " Do you think I will clap my hands and forgive you after I apologize?! Don't take yourself too seriously!" Francis and Wang Yao looked at each other and shrugged helplessly.Alfred's face turned red and white, and he was irritated: "I didn't ask you to forgive me! I just think I should say that to you!" Arthur said deliberately: "'I'm sorry'? You did something wrong What are you talking about? You are an adult, and you are free to do what you want, isn’t it?” Alfred’s aura suddenly dropped a bit, he never said that he could not speak to Arthur: “I was wrong! I shouldn't be running around, I shouldn't be taking risks, I shouldn't... I shouldn't be pointing a gun at you!"

"Oh? That's really interesting. After hearing what you said, I became even angrier, but it wasn't because of you pointing a gun at me." Arthur's mocking expression gradually faded, "I never would because of such things Really angry." He understood that Alfred would never intentionally hurt himself.Alfred looked puzzled and stupid: "What do you mean? Can you explain clearly?"

Arthur gritted his teeth with hatred: "Let me ask you, Alfred, have you ever thought about asking us for help when you were taken away these days? Did you think about coming back after you were rescued, or Talk to us about it? Even a moment before you took the risk, did you feel afraid to return to us and get our protection?" Alfred hesitated for a moment: "...No."

"You are like this! You rushed out without thinking about anything, thinking that you are brave and an omnipotent hero! Are we so unreliable?! We have lived together for more than ten years, and you don't trust us at all!" Ya Ser hit the nail on the head, "What should we do if something irreversible happens? You never told us! Even if you complain or complain, even if we really can't help you, you have to tell us Make it clear! We, I, have been..." He choked up, and Alfred stood up "swish": "No! I'm not..."

"In fact, that's what you did, didn't you?" Francis said softly, and Alfred's justification was stuck in his throat instantly.Wang Yao came forward to mediate: "Pause—you can get along anyway, but I still have to say that no snowflake is innocent during an avalanche, so everyone has their own faults, and no one needs to be harsh. Who——Okay, it's over, please continue." Arthur rubbed his eyes hard, raised his head, his eyeballs slowly turned red, and his voice trembled faintly: "...Alfred, I hope you Remember: Even if the whole world is in chaos, as long as you are in danger, I will run to you."

Then, without waiting for Alfred to respond, Arthur got up and left, closing the door gently.When Wang Yao looked back at Alfred, he was already crying on the table.Francis thought in a trance: From a deep level, Alfred is actually a very selfish person. It is not so much the selfishness of a child who is ignorant, it is better to say that it is an adult's slippery way of going his own way, and he can combine these shortcomings without complaint. The only person who accepted him was Matthew.

A hand pulled Matthew out of the deep sea, and with a long breath, he gradually woke up.It was the familiar room again, and Steve was gone. He forced himself to get up to check the new situation, and found a painting on the table. In the painting was a girl with long hair in sheepskin. Matthew stared blankly. It seemed to have a strong sense of existence arising spontaneously from it, and the handwriting on the paper was uniform like a printing effect. He realized that this was Steve's work. Steve used telekinesis to decompose toner and sprinkle it on the drawing paper. , he is such a genius.In addition, Steve should have something to convey, but the ubiquitous sound broke the silence again: "Good afternoon." If possible, Matthew hopes that he will be deaf and can't hear anything: "If your state Normally, please let us continue the experiment."

"We have prepared a special room for you, so don't let us down." Matthew walked into a brand new passage, the shadow of butterflies flashed in front of his eyes, and the flock of butterflies that rushed towards him covered him in white. Yarn, offer the funeral shroud.As soon as he came back, Matthew was already standing in a space made of mirrors, in all directions, including the top of his head and the soles of his feet. Every time he looked back and turned around, countless himself were looking at himself.Matthew's heart was pounding, and he was already silently calling for Steve.

"Maybe you don't know yourself, so we'll give you a little nudge. Do you know what your power is? How does it work? These things are in our research, and we've After hundreds of years of research, in a sense, we know yourself better than you.” Matthew looked at the stereo like a frightened little animal, “You said you can’t control the ability, and many other people have this situation, But that's not innate. Ability is equivalent to one of your organs. You already have the power to control it, but if you resist it and don't use it, it will degenerate. I believe that you are younger than you are now You are much stronger—so all we need to do is wake up the sleeping you."

"You mean...?" Matthew felt ominous.The sound said: "Your ability is the most potential one I have ever seen. It is created out of nothing and uses imagination to affect reality. Compared with painting, you will not know what its real purpose is. You have a lot of time, Until the real you wakes up. Until then you must stay here, and if you still refuse, we will take coercive measures."

"No!" Matthew cried out in despair.Even Steve can't make something out of nothing, is that doctor crazy? !But if he does nothing, Meg will suffer!The power of the stereo was cut off, and Matthew gradually realized that the group of people were serious. No matter how much he yelled, no one would pay attention to him. He hit the mirror hard with his fist, and the mirror did not move at all. He realized that this was not an ordinary There is a mirror, but a smooth wall made of alloy, which cannot be shaken by manpower. How long is he going to stay in this ghostly place?Will he still see Alf?Matthew sat slumped on the ground, looking back at this empty and small space, he could only see his own distressed appearance, he pressed against the mirror, and put his palms together with Steve's, Steve stared at him, and he also stared at Steve husband.

"We were exiled from the world," he said.

Alfred muttered "I'm sorry" in his heart, then took out Matthew's notepad from his backpack and opened it to read, watching the signature change between M·W and S·W, his face was still calm.The only thing that touched him was a sentence left by S.W: "Even though you have lived together for more than ten years, you may know nothing about a person." Yes, he has lost count of the lies he has told everyone Yes, but this guy alone has no right to accuse him.Alfred noticed the date of the remark was two weeks ago, on their last night in Los Angeles, when he and Matthew had a little argument in the bathroom, which the nasty guy had taken advantage of.Although I don't want to admit it, it seems that the only person who can save Matthew now is Steve.

"What are you looking at?" Alfred was startled by a sudden voice, and he closed the book with a guilty conscience, which seemed to mean that there was no silver 300 taels here.Wang Yao walked into their dormitory and glanced at him with probing eyes: "That's Matthew's diary." There is no doubt about it.Alfred tried to divert attention at a loss: "We can't let go of any clues."

"So what did you find, Alfred Holmes?" Alfred lowered his head, and suddenly looked at Wang Yao: "You are a person who can keep secrets, right?" Sure—at least I'm definitely a useful person. What, want to talk about it?" Alfred nodded firmly.

The only two times Alfred has met Steve face-to-face are two weeks ago and five years ago.Matthew may have thought they were hiding it well, but they couldn't hide it from Alfred. Since he was 12 years old, Alfred discovered that Matthew sometimes turned into another person on Sunday nights. That person was very similar to Matthew. But they were always two people. Alfred was afraid of the existence of that person for a time, fearing that that person would snatch Matthew one day, but then he gradually understood that that person—Steve, was only for Matthew But a living shadow.

Alfred knew that Matthew was not an ordinary person. He possessed incomprehensible power and burden. Even though Alfred was by his side, he still couldn't overcome his innate desire to die.After two years of patience, they stumbled to their 14th birthday. At that time, Arthur had just graduated from high school and was accepted to the university of his choice, so they held a celebration party in the attic with Francis, and the twins saved money to send Arthur wore a Gucci tie, and Arthur couldn't help but went to the bathroom and cried for a while.

The scene of that night is still vivid in Alfred's memory. The narrow attic is decorated with their handmade LED bulbs. When the lights are turned off, young people drink and party in the glistening night, and Matthew's face is full of birthdays. The cake was colorful and creamy, the twins kissed Arthur from both sides of the cheek, and Francis coaxed and took all the videos that could become black history, including the hell scene where the drunk Arthur took off his shirt and jumped out of the window.The Chicago lights outside the window are just beginning to shine, and it is a scene of prosperity. Who would have expected that all this will soon be reduced to ashes?

Matthew went to the bathroom halfway, and when he came back, Alfred noticed something unusual, and Matthew became Steve.From Matthew's point of view, he must want Steve to join them in their joy.Steve tried his best. He pretended that Matthew was smiling happily. Unfortunately, his acting skills were so bad that Alfred couldn't stand it, and he ruined the atmosphere of the next party.After the party was over and the mess was cleaned up, Francis carried Arthur to the bed and left. There were only messy crumbs on the floor. Alfred called to Steve who was going to replace Matthew: "Hey."

"What's the matter, Alf?" There was no Matthew's warmth in Steve's smile.Alfred confronted the intruder in the dark attic: "You...what's your name?" He chose to go straight.Steve looked surprised: "Are you drunk?"

"I'm not asking about Matthew, but about you. Who are you?" Steve's smile was instantly suppressed, his whole face darkened, and he changed from Matthew into another person inconceivably: "What do you want to do?" Alfred was a little annoyed, this was obviously his line: "I am the one who asked the question." Steve was restless for a while, as if hesitating under some kind of restraint, but he spoke anyway: "He took me the The name is 'Steve'." Alfred immediately realized that he had the upper hand now, so he struck while the iron was hot: "Why are you pestering Matthew? Are you planning something?" The childish boy tried his best to pretend to be stern look like.Steve looks more anxious: "I'll never hurt him! He needs me."

"Don't talk nonsense there! We are always by his side!" Steve was about to reach out to attack Alfred, and he tried his best to hold back: "You don't understand anything!" Alfred's first reaction was Surprised, this is ridiculous: "We have been together since we were born!" Steve trembled in pain: "In this case, I should not exist, because you are the one who confides! It is you who did not fulfill your mission and I I had to replace you, I'm not a tool, don't drive me away when you run out of it!"

"What are you talking about..." Alfred didn't understand Steve's words at all, and in the blink of an eye, Steve rushed into the bathroom.Alfred barely restrained himself, and it was Matthew who came out of the bathroom.He didn't dare to let Matthew notice the clues, but Matthew, who seemed to be thrown out suddenly and at a loss, saw him, said in panic, "Go to sleep", and walked into the bedroom as if nothing had happened—he didn't know what happened just now— —Alfred has confirmed the difference between Matthew and Steve, and Steve will not tell Matthew what happened tonight.This is the secret of the three of them.

All in all, it is impossible to get rid of that guy, so you can only adapt.Alfred pretended not to know Steve's existence, went to bed early every Sunday night or didn't go home at all, just to avoid the extra person, this strange behavior was called "the phenomenon of worship" by Arthur .Alfred often wondered why no one noticed Matthew's abnormality except him?Because "Judgment Day" left too much mess, he kept silent for the next five years, but Matthew's condition not only did not improve, but it became more and more serious, and he is helpless until today.

"Do you know what I'm thinking of now?" Wang Yao interrupted Alfred without warning, he looked up at Wang Yao, "You're lying again." Alfred shrugged and kept Silently, Wang Yao continued on his own: "I won't understand your difficulties. My top priority is to learn about Matthew's whereabouts from your mouth. Several speculations have come to my mind, and I will not call Francis is here to test the polygraph, but I will keep an eye on you." He wrote a few words on the paper, and then began to stare at Alfred, the clear and straightforward eyes are really hard to hide:

"First, you know that Steve is the product of a supernatural power." Alfred blinked his eyelids, with a dangerous look on his face, even though it was just the beginning.Wang Yao continued without changing his face: "Second, you have a hidden ability, or you know that Matthew has it. Third, compared with when he was young, Matthew's ability has been greatly weakened, and this is exactly what you Hope. I guess it was a certain incident as the dividing line that changed the trajectory of Matthew's life. Can you tell me what happened?" "Nine years old..." Alfred sighed, " A friend of his died in an accident when he was nine."

"He never mentioned it." "Because he didn't want to think about it." Alfred's attitude was a little irritable.Wang Yao thought for a while and chose to continue: "Fourth, Alfred F. Jones is keeping a secret for Matthew, he deceived everyone including Matthew... Fifth, he is trying to control his life .” Alfred’s pupils shrank a little, and Wang Yao showed him the paper with the words written on it: “‘Steve’ and ‘confidant’, in fact, you understand what they mean, but the person involved Matthew was kept in the dark because you blinded him in the name of 'protection'. He had no idea what was happening to him, and the only person who could help him chose the safety of a cage..." He paused , "One last guess: you are Steve's creator and master."

For a few seconds, the room fell into a terrible dead silence, and then Alfred replied bluntly: "For the above questions, my answer is all—yes." Wang Yao was stunned, and then realized that he had lost He smiled helplessly: "What kind of cunning beast did I force out?"

The answer was so straightforward, so it was both a truth and a lie.