"I told you, I'm not lying to you. My mental index has not changed at all. So there is no problem with your previous emotional fine-tuning, although my reaction at the time was indeed a bit strange..."
Jiang Zhou pointed at the numbers on the psychometer and said comfortingly.
Seeing Bai Dong's doubtful look on life, he felt really embarrassed.
Her body in the Tartarus interrogation room proved that the other party's professional skills were indeed no problem - she could only blame her for being unlucky enough to meet her at this time.
In order to prevent Bai Dong from completely losing her confidence as a mental adjuster, Jiang Zhou forced her to test his mental index again. Then, using his unchanged mental index, he tried to explain to her that there was actually nothing wrong with her previous adjustment treatment.
"Just... maybe my reaction when I usually express emotions is a bit..."
"Stop talking..."
In response, Bai Dong waved his hand weakly and interrupted:
"Don't talk about it yet, leave me alone for a while, I just want to be quiet..."
As she spoke, she put away the equipment on the table stiffly and mechanically.
No matter what, Bai Dong's current mood is much better than before, when he was hopeless.
Seeing this, Jiang Zhou got up with some relief, walked to the entrance, changed his shoes, and prepared to leave.
"well……"
Before opening the door and leaving, he probed his head and confirmed again:
"No matter what you say, don't think about anything. Also, don't go to Booker and he will tell you that he is quitting. The only mental adjuster in the organization said he is quitting. He knows You have to give me a punishment."
In this era, the mind adjuster is an extremely rare profession. To obtain medical qualifications, talent, perseverance and luck are all indispensable.
Generally speaking, no one who really passes the exam would be willing to stay underground in the resettlement area. In fact, as long as Bai Dong is willing, she can get permanent residence on the upper level of the resettlement area in minutes.
She even said that if she wanted to join a big company, even a super company under the Order of Olympus, it wouldn't be too difficult.
If it was really because of Liao Qi that the only mental adjuster in the organization saw through Hongchen and retired, Booker would definitely become anxious with him.
"Just leave me alone for a while."
The other party replied weakly.
Jiang Zhou opened the door anxiously and prepared to leave.
But halfway through pushing the door open, he turned back as if he suddenly thought of something.
"Sister Bai Dong, how much do you charge for an emotional fine-tuning here?"
he asked carefully.
But these words made Bai Dong, who was halfway packing his things, stop.
"What's wrong? The organization will reimburse you for the fine-tuning of your mood just now."
she replied.
Mood adjustments are billed by the minute and have a high fee threshold.
Although Bai Dong was willing to provide emotional adjustment services to members of the Icarus Liberation Front for free, the organization still insisted on paying according to market standards in order to show respect for senior talents.
In the end, the two parties negotiated and agreed that the organization would reimburse members for their emotional adjustment expenses afterwards, while Bai Dong would charge 60% of the market price - which was almost the cost price. Most of the money was used to pay for the Mental Adjuster Association. Copyright of the latest emotional material library.
"I know, but that's for members of the organization."
Jiang Zhou nodded.
Then he continued:
"I'm asking you if you accept private work? And what's the charging standard?"
…………
Liao Qi didn't know before that the mental adjuster in the organization originally lived in the same community as his mother.
But it's no wonder. First of all, since he has never been adjusted or even installed a prosthetic body in the past, it is normal for him to be unfamiliar with the mental adjusters in the organization.
Secondly, since Liao Qi joined Icarus, he rarely went home.
In fact, he doesn't even think that the Huimin Community on the fourth floor of the resettlement area can be regarded as his home.
This is not a haven for him. Apart from a house for people to live in, there is no warmth and no family affection here.
In a sense, he doesn't even have a family...
When Jiang Zhou used Liao Qi's mandala to unlock the door, the room had already turned on the most appropriate lights in advance.
Soft music echoed the welcoming atmosphere, and the warm breeze, smelling of radiators from the last century, blew in as the door opened.
The figure of a maid was projected on the mechanical arm on the ceiling. She bowed to Jiang Zhou with an impeccable gesture.
"Good afternoon, welcome back, master."
As she said that, she slightly bowed her head towards Bai Dong.
"And you too, the master's guest. In order to provide better service, may I know your name?"
"No, Jenny, all records of this lady's visit will be deleted after we leave, without leaving a backup. Also, where is my mother?"
"Ms. Ma Wei fell asleep an hour ago and is in a deep sleep state. It is not recommended that you wake her up."
The AI butler whom Jiang Zhou called Jenny replied like this.
"Notify me five minutes before she wakes up, and turn on the secret chat mode in the living room so as not to disturb her sleep."
Jiang Zhou said this and immediately put on the indoor shoes handed over by the robotic arm.
Jenny nodded:
"Everything has been set up. What would the host and guests like to drink?"
"I just want black tea..."
Jiang Zhou said, turning to look at Bai Dong beside him, who only then came back to his senses.
"Then let me have a cup of black tea too, without milk or sugar."
Bai Dong quickly replied.
Jenny bowed again, and then she turned and walked towards the kitchen - although she was just a 3D projection, she still had to go through this process for the sake of atmosphere.
"Vista Jeanne Home System? Which model?"
Bai Dong asked in surprise after sitting on the sofa in the living room.
In her impression, such a home system is very expensive. At least not something a family like Liao Qi could afford.
"The tenth generation is an old version. Based on the area of my home, the monthly subscription fee is about 2,000 Orei."
Jiang Zhou replied:
"In short, all the money I make every month is basically spent on this."
Vista Jenny is an artificial intelligence butler service under Vista Intelligent Control Company. It is basically equivalent to hiring a professional nanny to take care of all aspects of the home 24 hours a day. From home decoration and upgrading to grocery shopping and cooking, everything can be arranged without leakage.
And the equipment installation is completely free, only a monthly service fee is charged.
However, if you cannot afford the service fee and choose to unsubscribe, you will need to compensate for a large amount of equipment dismantling and depreciation costs - this is very reasonable. Vesta is the god of the kitchen in Roman mythology, and since ancient times, it is easy to send gifts to gods. Difficult.
Of course, if you really can't afford it in the end, Vista Intelligent Control will also thoughtfully introduce loan channels.
Bai Dong didn't reply, but took a sip of black tea.
"I rarely come back here, but my mother really needs someone to take care of her. So in the end I had to subscribe to this. To be honest, compared to when I usually go home to take care of her, the monthly fee of 2,000 Orei puts more mental pressure on me. Much lighter.”
Jiang Zhou said.
Bai Dong has heard that the organization has always taken special care of Liao Qi, and the monthly subsidy given to him is enough for him to live on. But even so, he still worked three jobs outside.
It turns out that all the money was spent here...
"so……"
Bai Dong said, turning to look in the direction of the bedroom on the side.
"Is that your mother?"
she asked.
Jiang Zhou put down the imitation bone china plastic tea cup and said:
"Yes and no."
Immediately, he did not show off and continued immediately:
"For less than an hour every day, she will live as Ma Wei, my biological mother. At other times, even in dreams, she will be the heroine in a simulacra movie. And live.
"I took a look, and the closest she was to me was Audrey Bergman, a star in the entertainment industry who was ill-fated. Every day she was moved between many handsome men with very different identities, but who also loved her deeply. I was worried that I should How to break out of that complicated emotional quagmire.”
“Identity Anchoring Disintegration Syndrome?”
Bai Dong asked seriously.
"It's already late."
Jiang Zhou nodded.
Identity anchorage disintegration syndrome, a type of cyberpsychosis. Most of the patients are people who are addicted to simulator movies or who have used low-quality memory for a long time. A typical symptom of this disorder is that patients are unable to properly anchor their identity and believe that they are someone else.
Early manifestations include being addicted to simulator movies and unable to extricate himself, and unconsciously imitating the tone of characters in simulator movies when speaking. After entering the advanced stage, strong hallucinations and auditory hallucinations will occur, and the surrounding environment will be perceived as an environment consistent with one's imaginary identity.
For example, when you eat cheap krill cakes, you will feel like you are eating premium tomahawk steak. Or you may recognize the people around you as characters in a simulator movie. If the people around you don't cooperate with your acting, you may become hysterical.
"When it was most serious, she would call me a different name every day after I went home. I had heard that acting with the patient could improve the condition, but I couldn't even keep up with the speed at which she changed her identity."
Jiang Zhou said.
Bai Dong sighed slightly when he heard this, and then said:
"The prevention effect of Identity Anchoring Disintegration Syndrome is far greater than the subsequent treatment. When she was addicted to simulator movies, you should have informed her of the dangers..."
"she knows."
Jiang Zhou replied.
Bai Dong was stunned for a moment.
"Back when we lived on the seventh floor, my mother made a living by copying pirated simulator movies. She saw many people who suffered from mental problems caused by simulator movies."
"Then why is she still..."
She doesn't understand.
Mimetic movies are not physically addictive, and patients can clearly realize that something is wrong with them at an early stage, especially those working in related industries.
"She probably did this voluntarily."
Jiang Zhou answered vaguely, and then asked:
"Can fine-tuning a terminal patient's mood improve her condition?"
In this regard, Bai Dong shook his head with regret:
"It cannot be said that it is completely hopeless, but the possibility of complete recovery of terminal patients can be said to be negligible."
Seeing Liao Qi's expression darken suddenly, she immediately added:
"Of course, it is still possible to stabilize your mother's condition, or at least stabilize her mental index from continuing to decline."
As she spoke, she began to take out the instruments from the bag she had brought.
"In addition, please tell me more about your mother's illness. For example, you said earlier that she 'voluntarily' allowed her condition to worsen. What happened? This is very important to my understanding of the treatment plan. Choices matter.”
Bai Dong said quickly.
As she spoke, her previous feeling of decadence was gone, and she seemed to be back to her usual capable and confident self.
But Jiang Zhou hesitated for a moment. But in the end, Liao Qi's past was brought up.
…………
Liao Qi's father died in the acquisition of a sewage treatment plant that year - he was laid off because the replacement of prosthetics could not keep up with the factory's demand. He was also forced to find a veterinarian to connect the original arm because he could not repay the previous prosthetic loan.
Eventually died of postoperative infection.
After that, Liao Qi was raised by his mother Ma Wei alone.
His mother decided that if she wanted her son to avoid the same fate as her husband, she must make him a regular employee of the company, become a master, and get ahead.
So, she saved money and spent money to send Liao Qi to the talent incubation center opened in the resettlement area in Pluto Shen. I hope he can pass the company's assessment and become an intern employee of the company.
At the beginning, Liao Qi also studied hard and did not want to disappoint his mother.
However, in the face of a promotion rate of less than 1%, the students around me can use high-priced memory to accelerate learning, but I just rely on my biological brain to stay up late at night to read. He failed again and again.
Originally, the so-called talent incubation center, from Jiang Zhou's perspective, was essentially just giving false hope to the people at the bottom. In Liao Qi's memory, the only person who was born a commoner but was promoted through counterattack was a man named Lu Yuan in the same year - but he was extremely talented. After the brain-computer interface was installed, the Hongqiao brain area mutated. Extremely developed, he was eventually recruited as a hacker candidate.
But Liao Qi's mother didn't think so. She put all her expectations for the future on her son. But with the example of Lu Yuan, she firmly believed that this was a way out with visible results.
Or maybe, she actually knew deep down in her heart that this was futile, but she still needed such a goal to numb herself.
Because once she gives up this pillar of belief, she will immediately collapse completely.
However, after experiencing failure again and again, Liao Qi finally gave up.
He couldn't see the meaning of continuing to stay in the talent incubation center other than continuing to waste his mother's hard-earned money.
The expectations his mother constantly placed on him, as well as her increasingly aging and tired appearance, put great mental pressure on him.
It made him feel extremely suffocated.
Eventually, the conflict between mother and son broke out.
At that time, he was kicked out of the house by his mother, and he was angry and did not come back. He went to join a street gang alone.
Originally, Liao Qi thought that instead of burning money in the talent incubation center, his mother would be able to live a good life by relying on her own work.
But about a year later, after he came home from a gang that was prosperous, he discovered that his mother had gone crazy.
"What was the trigger that caused the conflict between you at that time?"
Hearing this, Bai Dong interrupted and asked.
Jiang Zhou took a deep breath and recalled the mandala pattern chosen by Liao Qi.
It was a broken toy.
He slowly said:
"Because my mom smashed my favorite toy."
(End of chapter)
