In the three-story entrance hall of Watson Building, elevators No. 1 and 2 are out of order and are being repaired. The remaining elevators were already crowded with people waiting. Because it is a centralized building, the number of elevators is far lower than the demand for rapid access. In addition, problems often occur during operation, and congestion has become the norm in the lobby. Munch had had enough of the pain of queuing today, so he picked up Bane and chose to take the stairs.
The elevator hall is located in the center of the Watson Building. Two rings of thick reinforced concrete walls rise close to the elevator hall. The cavity formed in the middle of the wall is designed as an evacuation staircase. Above the fourth floor are centralized units, with traffic corridors extending into the cavity on each floor and spreading evenly along the circle to form an organic whole.
Munch lives on the twelfth floor, which is not too high. He opened the safety door and looked up. There was a small skylight for lighting at the top of the tall and narrow wall. The lighting lights on both sides are arranged alternately, lighting up the steps and evoking a sour smell. Munch put Bane down and let him lead the way while he followed behind.
There are usually very few people walking on the evacuation stairs, and the spaces on both sides are filled with household garbage and daily debris. Munch covered his nose. He couldn't ask everyone to be as high-quality and polite as him, so he could only move forward silently. Under the overhead light, the shadow behind him moves from the dirty ground to the moldy wall on the left.
Bain was extremely excited and ran back and forth at the exit of the transportation corridor between Munch and each floor. When Monk reached the 11th floor platform, Bane ran towards him with a broken simulated mechanical puppy in his mouth. The joint of the puppy's hind legs was broken, and engine oil was leaking out. Before Monk could react, Bain turned around and continued running forward. His limbs happened to step on the pool of engine oil on the ground. His soles slipped and he rolled towards the platform on the 11th floor.
Iron railings are erected on both sides of the platform. In order to save costs, the simplest hollow style is adopted. The intervals formed by horizontal and vertical grids are relatively safe for humans, but for the small Bane, they are completely useless as a barrier. Once through the railing, you fall directly onto the glass roof of the entrance hall. A height of more than twenty meters is fatal to Bain.
Bain's horrified scream echoed in the stairwell. Munch rushed over and dived forward to the top, trying to catch it, but he still missed it by a few centimeters. Munch's fingertips slid past and towards the railing. The gap flew away. Bane tumbled in the air, eyes tightly closed due to the weightlessness.
Munch felt breathless in his throat, desperate. Suddenly, the shadow under Munch's feet passed behind him and flew quickly under Bain, forming a black net that tightly caught him. After hovering in the air for a few seconds, he was safely sent to Munch. around. He finally breathed a sigh of relief and picked up Bain, unwilling to let go.
Munch lives in Room 23, Area A, on the 12th floor, located at the corner of the corridor. After identification, Monk opened the door and entered. The room is small in size and simply furnished. When you open the door, you can see two large-area glass curtain walls. Outside the curtain walls is a circle of high-density commercial buildings. The reflected light illuminates the room. From time to time, the mechanical roar of drones and aircraft can be heard outside the noisy window. .
On the right side of the entrance, close to the glass curtain wall, there is an FL-2 suspended bed that is facing obsolescence. Opposite the bed is a full-height bookshelf filled with various types of books, most of which are related to the keywords of biology, machinery, transformation, and energy. There is also a work table made of lightweight mixed materials in front of the bookshelf, and the surface of the table is stain-free. There is also a mechanical arm inserted on the wall next to it. This is all the furnishings in Munch's room.
He walked to the window, pulled up the curtains on both sides, and then collapsed on the bed. The parts of the suspended bed collided with each other, making a squeaking sound. Recalling what happened on the traffic corridor just now, I was still a little scared. If it weren't for the shadow under my feet, Bain would have been... Munch didn't dare to think about it, but Bain seemed not to be affected at all and entered again. into a deep sleep state.
After resting for a moment, Munch stood up gently and walked to the bookshelf. In the second column from bottom to top, and in the third grid from left to right, stands a book with a white cover. There is no text on the cover, only a hand-drawn picture: two simple figures standing opposite each other in a mirror image relationship, with a golden flower blooming in the middle of the figures. Next to this book, there is a red copy of "Apocalypse of the Upper and Lower Realms", standing upright and hard.
With the development of science and technology today, few people use pens to record and describe. This traditional method has been replaced by various faster and more advanced methods, but Munch still insists on writing with pens. He likes pens and The feel and sound of paper rubbing together.
Munch took out the white-covered book, sat at the workbench, took out his pen, and opened a new page. The record is as follows:
"Time: the evening of August 25, 2075.
Location: No. 19 Seekerstrasse, Noord District
Details of the incident: Shadow sneaked into the pants pocket of a young man named Beverly Andrew without warning and stole a black X-03 memory card. The latter was confirmed by the police to have disappeared that night.
Motive speculation: The street lights were out of order that night, the light was dark, and moonlight was the main source of lighting when unusual movements occurred. The alley was closed for construction, and the space was narrow... Perhaps the dark and closed environment would have a negative impact on the shadows, leading to uncontrollable theft? Not sure, waiting for more cases to be verified.
Time: The evening of August 26, 2075.
Location: Watson Building evacuation stairwell, 11th floor traffic corridor platform.
Details of the abnormality: Bain rolled down the stairs and almost fell over the railing because his foot stepped on engine oil. The shadow flew out and formed a net under Bane, saving him and sending him safely to the platform, where he immediately returned to normal.
Motive speculation: An unexpected situation occurred. My heart rate was extremely high at that time, estimated to reach 120. Shortness of breath and chest tightness. There was only one thing on his mind, which was to save Bain. Perhaps the shadow could sense the thoughts and physical state of my mind and make decisions consistent with my thinking. It is more likely and needs to be verified by more cases. "
Munch put down his pen, glanced at the normal shadow at his feet, and continued to write in the blank space below the content he just recorded: "In order to commemorate Shadow's dog-saving behavior, we decided to give it a name from today on for convenience. Call it my new partner. Well, I decided to name it from today on..." Munch stopped writing again, recalling the various works he had read and the heroes in various myths and legends, and at the same time He raised his head and scanned the full bookshelf. "Well, since it is a shadow, it is the incarnation of darkness. Let me call you... Xiao Hei." Munch solemnly wrote Xiao Hei's name on the white paper.
Munch opened the previous records and found that it had been two years since the abnormality occurred in the shadow. From the first time to today, Munch will record every abnormal situation in detail in this white paper. Munch turned to the first page, but before he could read it, he only heard a sound in the room: "Update completed." ", and then a glass of warm water was handed to Munch through the robotic arm. "Xiao Meng, welcome back. We have detected serious water loss in your body. Please replenish it as soon as possible." Munch took the water cup and said with a smile: "Bobo, I miss you so much."
What Munch was talking to was a voice artificial intelligence assistant, a research result left by his father Anthony. When Ovid gave it to Munch, it was contained in a ring-shaped annular reservoir. After activating it, Monk discovered that it was equipped with an intelligent core driver that was not available on the market. According to the pronunciation rules of letters, it was roughly pronounced as "Polito". This is why Munch named it Bobo.
It can achieve self-update and evolution based on the use objects, operating environment, data analysis, etc. From the time Munch activated the program at the age of ten to now, Bobo has completed hundreds of iterative updates, and is now an intelligent assistant with both supercomputer computing power and adult human thinking.
Munch held the water glass and took a sip. The temperature was just right. He said to the face composed of complex code on the workbench: "What changes have you made in this update?" Since last year, Munch has rarely added update code to Bobo's program, trying to allow him to develop as freely as possible. , in order to stimulate his thinking consciousness to the maximum extent. Bobo called up the update log, and the text and code covered the entire workbench.
"This is the 123rd update. In addition to repairing previous security vulnerabilities and strengthening logical and ethical identification. The most important thing is that I can perfectly adapt to your implanted body. Not only that, there is a network Wherever there is a screen, there can be my presence. Wherever there is a screen, there can be my image!"
The human face composed of codes wandered around the workbench. When it passed Munch's arm, it was instantly transferred to the screen of the implant, and then disappeared. Reappears on the mode selection window of the suspended bed, and then disappears. The room fell into silence. Until Bobo's voice sounded in Munch's ears: "Open the curtains. Look at the other side." Munch walked to the curtain wall in a few steps and opened the blackout curtains to both sides. In the commercial building opposite, the giant advertising screen was playing the advertising screen of New Life 5.0. Bobo's code face appeared on the writhing model, turning the display product in her hand into a mist. Tuo Jinhua, whom Ke liked, quickly returned to him.
Munch was so shocked by the scene that he just opened his mouth that he said for a long time: "You just spoke in my ear, how did you do it?" "Simple, I can enter your implant and then I can communicate with you through it. The eardrum conducts sound signals." Munch was very emotional, which meant that he could wake up Bobo anytime and anywhere, seek help, and completely break the limitations of space.
"It has been detected that your heart rate is too fast. It is recommended that you calm down immediately because you still have important work to complete." Monk nodded, closed the curtains again, and returned to the workbench. Seeing the white paper placed on the side of the workbench, press the corners of the book neatly and put it back on the bookshelf.
After Bobo's reminder, Munch remembered something important and pressed the hidden button under the workbench on the right. The workbench immediately flipped over, revealing a pure black dynamic LCD screen. The surrounding lights lit up, and a half-meter-high The holographic image operating area rose in front of Munch. There are two countdowns in different colors in the top area: one shows 67 days in blue font, and the associated event is "Shangyu Vocational Qualification Examination Registration". The other one displays 2 hours and 37 minutes in red font, and the associated event is "Accept task invitation".
