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墨書 Inktalez
Chapter 12: The Silent Noose and "Recalibration"
I have no idea how I escaped from the glamorous hell of the Galaxy Shopping Center. My memories are like shattered glass, filled with sharp fragments and distorted shadows. All I remember is running like a stray dog through a panicked crowd, surrounded by screams, curses, and that damned, incessantly repeating "maximum alert" in my head, along with the agonizing pain in my left wrist that nearly made me faint.
The studio? Absolutely not! After my 72-hour "vacuum experience," it was likely already filled with surveillance from those bastards at the Lighthouse Society, possibly turned into the next trap. I needed a new hideout, a place where I could temporarily lick my wounds and survive.
I wandered through the city like a ghost for several hours, transferring from bus to subway, then to unlicensed cabs, finally slipping into a rundown motel on the outskirts, where the paint on the sign was nearly gone, looking like a refuge for fugitives. With the last few crumpled bills hidden in my shoe in hand, I rented a room that reeked of disinfectant and the sour smell of vomit from hangovers, with a window that had been taped up after being broken.
Once the door was closed and locked, I shoved a rickety chair against it that looked like it could be kicked down with one blow. I collapsed onto the bed, which emitted an unidentifiable odor and had suspicious yellow stains on the sheets.
The pain in my wrist and dizziness persisted, but what truly nailed me to the cross of despair was everything that had happened in the café.
Xiao Ya's face, pale as paper and devoid of life. The shock, fear, and that faint spark of a plea for help exploding in her eyes. She bit her lip hard as silent tears rolled down her cheeks. Her last silent words…
"Run…"
It must have been that word! She wanted me to escape! She knew what was going to happen next! She knew we were trapped!
And what did she mean by pointing at that incomplete circle? Was it telling me to "escape this loop/trap"? Or did it represent a specific location? Perhaps… a building with a circular symbol? Or the number "0"? Reset? Destruction? Combined with that half-erased cross mark… Did the cross signify danger, and erasing half mean danger was lifted? Or was there a change in plans? If I viewed the mark, cross, and circle as a whole… like some simplified map symbol? Or… some kind of technical totem from Tian's Father's research? Xiao Ya was so introverted; for her to react like that under such tight surveillance was already pushing her limits! She must have wanted to tell me something!
I am such an utter fool! I thought my probing was brilliant; what happened instead? I triggered the alarm myself and pushed her into the abyss! "Target presents a high risk of losing control!" "Initiate Disciplinary Procedure!" Those cold words shot through my chest like bullets! What would they do to Xiao Ya? What would this so-called "forced recalibration" entail?!
Guilt corroded my insides like sulfuric acid. I owed her! I owed Sister Wang! How could I call myself a detective when I couldn't even protect myself?!
And then there’s that Neural Interface implanted in me! That damned Subcutaneous Phantom! Is it mocking my stupidity and incompetence now? What would this Disciplinary Procedure involve? Continuous agony? Consciousness interference? Or… more direct physical destruction?
No! I can't just sit here and wait!
Old K! I must contact Old K! He is the only one who might have encountered similar technology! Even if he had shut me down last time, he must know something about its technical principles—how to block, interfere with, or even remove it! Even if it's just theoretical!
I struggled to sit up, pulling out the nearly brick-like phone and swapping in the last spare anonymous SIM card. I powered it on, and the signal showed only a faint bar. Taking a deep breath, my heart racing, I dialed the number for Old K, the one that had never changed.
Beep... beep... beep...
It rang for a long time, long enough that I almost gave up.
Just as I was about to hang up, the call suddenly connected!
But instead of Old K's signature, infuriating electronic synthesized voice, what came through was a rapid, erratic noise—like signal interference or some sort of coding error! It crackled and buzzed for about five or six seconds before the call was abruptly cut off!
I stood frozen in place, the phone still pressed to my ear, cold sweat trickling down my neck.
What... what was happening?! Was Old K's line being interfered with? Or was it being monitored? Or… was this some kind of warning signal he deliberately sent me?! To tell me something had gone wrong on his end, or… that he had been "silenced"?!
The last straw had snapped. And in a way that sent chills down my spine.
I collapsed onto the bed like a rag doll drained of all strength. The suffocating silence surrounded me, broken only by my heavy breaths filled with despair and the distant, mournful cries of wildcats outside the window.
What now?
Wait to die?
Would the Lighthouse Society find this rundown motel? When would the "Disciplinary Procedure" descend upon me?
I felt like a prisoner awaiting execution, suffering in this filthy, cramped room. Time lost all meaning; every second felt like a century. The light outside shifted from dim yellow to pitch black and then back to a pale dawn. I didn’t close my eyes; I felt like a true walking corpse. Any little sound—a footstep in the corridor, water dripping from pipes, even a mouse scurrying across the ceiling—would make me jump as if electrocuted, my muscles tense and cold sweat pouring down.
My mind teetered on the brink of collapse. Paranoid thoughts twisted around me like vines. I felt countless eyes watching me from behind the walls; the moldy stains on the ceiling formed mocking faces, and even the air was thick with a chilling metallic scent of scrutiny. The tingling sensation in my left wrist became sharper and more frequent, as if that "ghost" were impatiently tapping on its cage.
However, one day passed, then two days...
The anticipated thunderous strike never came.
There was no excruciating pain, no invasion of consciousness, no direct punishment of any kind.
This eerie silence before the storm was more tormenting than any torture. What kind of game were they playing? Cat and mouse? Or were they assessing the remaining value of me, this "experimental guinea pig"? Or perhaps they were concocting some more insidious and malicious plan?
Just as I felt I was about to be completely strangled by this silent noose, my mental defenses on the verge of collapse, that chilling stream of thought, directly affecting my brain, descended upon me once again!
【Node Li Mo (temporary designation Delta-4), deviation in behavior and subsequent stress response fully recorded. Risk assessment: High. Current status: Unstable but still possesses basic execution capability. Potential value: Re-evaluating…】
It’s here! The final judgment!
My heart tightened instantly! Re-evaluating? Was this to give me one last chance, or… my final utility?
【Given that Node Delta-4 has exhibited an unexpectedly high tendency for autonomous interference during adaptive stress testing, while simultaneously revealing vulnerabilities in its underlying cognitive framework, it has been decided to initiate the 'Forced Recalibration' procedure.】
Phase two?! How much longer would this go on?!
【New task directive: Data Collection.】
Immediately, a new stream of information was forcefully injected into my consciousness like a cold syringe:
【Target: Zhang Wei. Identity code: 310XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX. Occupation: XX Technology Company, Software Testing Department, Junior Staff. Address: East City XX Community Building X Unit X Room XXX. Additional information: This company previously provided short-term outsourcing testing services for the ‘Singularity Project’ (Project ID P-07B, terminated ten years ago).】
【Task: Within the next 48 hours, obtain the Wi-Fi Password for target Zhang Wei’s residence through non-contact means, and use pre-installed tools to scan and upload all network activity Data Packet from his connected devices over the past 72 hours.】
The requirements were clear: absolute secrecy. No form of physical intrusion or direct contact was permitted. The target must not be disturbed, nor should any third party be alerted. The task had to be completed independently.
This was a deep test of my information infiltration abilities, environmental adaptability, and precision in interpreting commands. I needed to execute the mission like a ghost, leaving no trace behind. The completion of this task would determine my eligibility for the next "synchronization" phase. Filter out the noise and focus on the core. Failure meant the value of the node would reset to zero.
The information flow was interrupted.
I sat on the bed, dazed, my mind buzzing and my limbs feeling icy cold.
Zhang Wei... XX Technology Company... Singularity Project outsourced testing services?!
Damn! It wasn’t a random target after all! This seemingly ordinary Zhang Wei must have some hidden connection to either Lighthouse Society or Tian Yucheng's research, whether in his past or present work! They weren’t just testing me; they genuinely needed Zhang Wei's network data! And I was the chosen one, the expendable asset selected to carry out this high-risk espionage mission?!
They wanted me to be a hacker? To steal the privacy of an ordinary person who might hold crucial information? And I had to do it using that damn thing implanted in me, something I didn’t even understand?!
This was worse than killing me outright!
Not only did they want to use me, but they also intended for me to bear an unshakeable guilt!
And did I even have a choice?
“Node value reset to zero”... those words loomed before me like a cold gravestone.
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