The Another program is an interactive program independently developed by Jiang Zhou, the general manager of the Janus project, that allows users to upload digital personalities to communicate with the outside world.
After a hundred years and countless upgrades and iterations, in today's era, stand-in programs have become the most useful tool that allows humans to enter the sea of data.
Scan the body and generate a substitute that can be perfectly driven by the user's biological brain to enter the online world. Turning the originally abstract online world into a state that most people can understand and interact with - this has become the most effective way for humans in this era to explore the Internet, which has long surpassed human imagination.
However, there is a huge risk in doing so - after the substitute program is destroyed, it is likely to be used by malicious programs wandering in the abyss dark web. Then it becomes their path to invade the brain-computer interface and sneak into the basic reality.
This has truly caused countless crises in human society in the past. Even the effects of some of these crises continue to this day—for example, the autonomous proliferation of drones that have sealed off the skies and seas.
However, fifty years ago, there was a cold-blooded genius who solved this problem once and for all.
She designed the so-called "apoptosis program" - pre-installed in the brain-computer interface. As long as it detects that the Abyss Wanderer's stand-in has died in the Abyss Dark Web, this program will immediately activate the automatic apoptosis of brain cells.
As long as the Abyss Wanderer dies along with his substitute, there is no need to worry about being exploited by malicious programs.
It was also after the advent of this technology that it became the consensus of human society that death in the Abyss Darknet was equivalent to death in reality.
In fact, in today's era, the "apoptosis program" has completely become an important part of the "Styx Firewall".
Only now, after Jiang Zhou's stand-in program was destroyed, the apoptosis program that killed his body was not activated.
"Normally, you should be dead by now. However, your situation has some special features that I didn't expect...
"You have two substitutes."
At this moment, Hecate, who was sitting lazily at the stern of the boat, said this.
As the ferry boat swam farther and farther, Jiang Zhou felt that his strength was getting stronger and stronger.
Now, he has gradually changed from being unable to move to being able to barely stand up and sit up.
After listening to Hecate's words, Jiang Zhou looked down at his open palms - he could clearly feel that under his skin, there was a layer of plastic steel armor.
Although there are no reflective objects such as mirrors nearby, details such as these all indicate that what he is currently controlling is Liao Qi's stand-in program.
Although Jiang Zhou's substitute has been destroyed, his consciousness has entered Liao Qi's substitute. Therefore, the apoptotic program is not triggered to kill itself.
"Then can I use this substitute to return to the base reality?"
After pondering for a long time, Jiang Zhou asked - no wonder the first thing he cared about was this, regardless of the dangers in the abyss and dark web, which were as dazzling as a department store. My own brain radiation sickness cannot support me to stay in the abyss dark web for a long time.
Regarding this question, Hecate shook her head slightly, pushing him into despair:
"I persuaded Sir Charon to bring you back from the River Styx just to avoid this situation from happening."
Hearing this, Jiang Zhou subconsciously turned his head to look at the rickety boatman who was holding up the long pole without saying a word. The latter seemed to feel his gaze and turned back to smile sarcastically at him, revealing his jagged waxy-yellow teeth.
"If you have this idea, then I suggest you just jump into the River Styx and swim back by yourself, so as not to waste my computing resources."
Charon, the ferryman, said this in a hoarse voice as if he might die at any moment.
Styx...
Jiang Zhou noticed this word.
The firewall that stands between the World Wide Web and the Abyssal Dark Web is called the Styx Firewall. No matter from which angle you look at it, the River Styx that Charon mentioned earlier is most likely referring to the firewall.
In this way, the malicious program in front of us, which claims to be Charon, the ferryman of the underworld, is probably related to data "smuggling"?
Bring data from the World Wide Web or even basic reality to the Abyss Dark Web, or bring out information and data from the Abyss Dark Web.
Jiang Zhou guessed what areas the other party might be responsible for.
At this time, Hecate on the side continued to explain:
"If you just go back like this, your avatar that does not match the living body will be recognized by the terminal as a malicious program, directly triggering a break in continuity."
In other words, as long as he remains in the Abyss Dark Web and does not try to cross the Styx Firewall to go back, can he still survive?
Recalling what Hecate said earlier, Jiang Zhou concluded.
Of course, this is not a long-term solution.
In addition to the possibility that he would die from radiation sickness, there was another major prerequisite - that is, his body, which was still lying in the deep submersible, would not be killed by the guys outside.
All in all, nowadays, if you extend your head, it is a knife, and if you shrink your head, it is also a knife.
The only difference between the two is that one of them will kill you faster, while the other will kill you more thoroughly.
Thinking of this, Jiang Zhou couldn't help but sigh.
But no matter what, the current situation is better than if he died suddenly in the first place. No matter how bad the current situation is, there is at least a chance of recovery.
Thinking of this, he looked at Hecate again and expressed his sincere thanks.
In response to this, the goddess of the dark moon replied expressionlessly:
"As for the remuneration you should pay me, we will talk about it later. At the moment, you need to pay the ferryman the copper coins for crossing the river. Please solve it yourself. I cannot interfere."
Jiang Zhou was stunned for a moment.
Did you still have to pay?
In mythology, every soul who takes a boat to cross the River Styx needs to pay copper coins to the ferryman. Therefore, the funeral custom in many places is to put two copper coins on the eyes of the deceased... But you won’t even Do you have to imitate this?
"Wait a minute, where are we driving to?"
Jiang Zhou asked quickly.
Charon, who was holding the boat, replied:
"We have just crossed Acheron and are entering Sethus. Next we will cross Styx and finally reach the Narcissus Plain, where you will disembark and join the wanderers. Have a great time.”
Acheron, Sethus, and Styx are all names of the River Styx, which respectively represent the River of Resentment, the River of Lamentation, and the River of Oath-Keeping.
In Greek mythology, the Narcissus Plain is where the souls of the "ordinary" dead will go - they often have neither enough sins to enter Tartarus to receive punishment, nor enough glory to enter the Elysium to enjoy bliss. , and in the end can only wander on the plains full of daffodils forever and ever.
Saying it means not saying it...
Jiang Zhou couldn't help but complain silently, and then he thought about it - in order to prevent high-level beings from catching keywords, these AIs often deliberately do not speak human words and use myths as metaphors to hide their purposes.
In order to figure out what they want to do, he should try his best to understand the meaning behind them in the current context.
Wandering...
So Jiang Zhou found this keyword.
In Abyss Wanderer, there is such a concept that can match this word.
The hesitant.
It refers to those people whose spirits are trapped in the abyss and dark web, and who need to spend a lot of money and resources every year to maintain their physiological functions.
Just like myself now.
"So, you want me to help you find a specific wanderer on the Narcissus Plain?"
Jiang Zhou asked.
Charon heard the words and remained silent.
The lonely boat sailed a long way forward, until they crossed several tributaries, and when they came to a river of lamentation made entirely of tears, it spoke:
"That man was once my steed, but now, his body is trapped and locked in Tartarus, while his soul wanders in the Narcissus Plains.
"If you can succeed, in addition to being able to pay for your return trip, I will also introduce you to a corpse stitcher who can sew up the broken double for you so that you can return to your own world. "
(End of chapter)
