Psychics don't die from gunfire

Chapter 2 Physical Links
[“Lead Wire” prosthetic unlocking program, current compilation progress 32%]

If someone peeks at Song Shi’s personal terminal interface at this moment, they can clearly see such a progress bar at the top of the interface.

The only purpose of this program is to unlock the prosthesis.

Most diseases harm oneself, a few can harm others. Among them, cyberpsychosis is undoubtedly the most harmful to others. Plosser has never missed the news of a cyber madman turning a street into a plasma porn film.

Therefore, from the moment they entered the institute, the volunteers' prosthetic bodies were all locked, retaining only basic functions, and their internet access was blocked.

However, this research institute is not a direct subsidiary of the giant enterprise [Jade Pharmaceuticals], but a somewhat marginalized subordinate research institute with limited resource allocation. In addition, although [Jade Pharmaceuticals] is a giant in the fields of bioengineering and medicine, it is not so good at network technology.

So in Song Shi's eyes, this level of locking procedure seemed a bit crude.

Compared to the information offensive and defensive war in the network field, using overwhelming saturated spiritual energy firepower to defeat the opponent from a physical level is what Song Shi is better at. To some extent, Song Shi's network level can only be called second-rate.

--only.

Although Song Shi is not very good at cyber information warfare, he knows enough people.

For those top hackers who roam freely in the lower network domain [Abyss] outside the "Network Firewall", who are qualified to challenge the giant corporations that stand at the top of the sky and look down on all living beings, and who can usurp a city's network domain as individuals, they can never have too many partners with strong frontal combat capabilities.

After being influenced by what he saw and heard, at least Song Shi's vision was not imperfect.

Relying on some unconventional skills taught from time to time by top hackers, or private programs used as rewards, his cyber warfare has embarked on a crooked path - probably similar to "secretly stuffing a musket into the handle when two people are dueling with swords, and I shoot while the other person draws the sword."

Of course it has no effect on top masters, but it can be very effective against second- and third-rate people when they are caught off guard.

and so.

Although he no longer has the network modules and related implants he had in the past, this level of prosthetic lock cannot stop him. This "lead wire" program is the countermeasure program that Song Shi selected from his memory and is most suitable for the current scenario.

Strings of codes quickly appeared on the interface.

Compiled on site.

Moreover.

Who said that this was for Song Shi himself?

······
"Hey, company man, at this moment, are you still unwilling to take off your skin?"

Song Shi spoke this at the same time as the "Lead Wire" program was being compiled.

In Song Shi's eyes, this middle-aged man was dressed in a suit and tie. His clasped hands had a distinct metallic feel, and a closed brain-computer interface was exposed at the back of his head. Taking into account the implant hidden inside his body, the degree of modification was at least 30%.

In Palose, this is a very typical corporate attire, and only those with the various abilities provided by implanted prostheses are qualified for the company's job requirements. A clean natural person is not even qualified to work as an illegal worker in a factory, let alone enter the company.

Of course, it would be even more appropriate if the man had a black suitcase in his hand.

But this kind of dress shouldn't appear here.

This wasn't the high-end office building with dozens of floors in the central hall and white gate area that was brightly lit all night. This was the volunteer service area of ​​the Third Institute of Plosser Mind and Psychology, where the mice who were about to enter the test field should stay.

But after hearing Song Shi’s words, the man still did not react.

He still kept his head down, fingers clasped together, and said nothing.

"Don't you want to talk?"

Song Shi paused for a moment and then said, "Look at what you look like now, a company man."

"Honestly, given your current mental state, I don't think you have a chance of surviving."

When he heard this, the man finally raised his head.

The pupil of the man's right eye, which had not yet been replaced with an artificial eye, was obviously bloodshot, and some of his hair was stuck together at the corners of his forehead, obviously he hadn't taken good care of it for several days. A small part of his skin was abnormally pale, which was a compensatory reaction to stopping taking some kind of stimulant, conservatively estimated to be more than half a month.

But at this moment, the man's expression was quite ugly.

He stared at Song Shi and said in a hoarse voice:
"If you keep talking nonsense, I will pull out your tongue, tie it into a bow, and then stuff it back into your stomach. So now shut your mouth, little bastard."

"Ah"

Song Shi did not avoid the other person's gaze, but instead met it.

"Don't tell me you don't know what "implant mental tolerance" is. Is there a day when there aren't some cyber maniacs killing people in the Palouse Daily? Haven't you ever bet on the Dead Man's Lotto?"

"Oh, I heard that the Security Bureau's morgue can even hold a 'dismemberment exhibition'! Ha! Now, can you tell me that cyberpsychosis can be cured?"

Song Shi sneered: "I was very polite not to call you a company dog! You are a company employee, don't tell me you don't know what kind of shit the company likes to do the most!"

"Oh, that's not right." Song Shi suddenly stopped.

As if he suddenly remembered something.

"I apologize for what I said just now. After all, you may really not understand the company's affairs now, otherwise you wouldn't come to be a guinea pig like me."

Song Shi patted his forehead and smiled mockingly:

"——Am I right, my respected "former company man"? "

This sentence seemed to really anger the man.

He stood up suddenly, grabbed Song Shi's collar with one hand, and lifted him up. Even though his prosthesis had been locked because of the upcoming medical experiment, retaining only the most basic functions, the composite metal prosthetic arm covered under the bionic skin could still easily break a natural person's head.

Song Shi did not resist, but just stared into the man's eyes.

It seems like a stalemate.

After a long while, the man's fist did not fall. He let go of Song Shi's collar and sat back in the chair.

Song Shi adjusted his collar and sat down as well.

At this moment the door suddenly opened.

The security guard pushed the door open. He was a 1.80-meter-tall man. His bulletproof suit looked a lot shriveled without the ceramic baffle. There was a clear silver etched circuit on the man's face, and his eyes glowed red, obviously having been replaced with implanted prosthetic eyes.

He strode into the room and looked around, obviously having heard the noise.

"What were you guys talking about just now? It's so lively."

The sturdy man held the stun gun in his arms and spoke in an exaggerated tone.

"It's already this time, why don't you look back on your life?" He glanced at Song Shi and the man and sneered, "You're still in the mood to play around? I admire your vigorous energy."

Song Shi and the man looked at the strong man coldly without saying anything.

"Ha, that's really scary. I hope you can keep it up later."

The sturdy man didn't take it seriously. He smiled, shrugged, looked around again, and after making sure nothing had happened, he left the room again.

When the security guard left, the man's voice sounded again. "Well, you're right."

The man crossed his fingers and kept his head down. "Former company employee, huh. A former company employee who is desperate and fired. There is really no need for me to get angry."

Especially for a little bastard from the Deep Moss Area who didn't have much longer to live.

The man didn't say the rest of the sentence.

He sighed in his heart and was about to lower his head again when he suddenly found a hand stretched out in front of him.

The owner of this hand said seriously: "Song Shi."

The man was a little surprised and hesitated. He did not shake hands, but just uttered a few words: ".Marico."

"What do you want to do?"

Marico paused for a moment, then came to his senses and said in a hoarse voice, "Don't tell me nonsense like 'I want to talk to someone before I die'. Since I was admitted to the vocational engineering college affiliated to 'Kanding Manufacturing' at the age of twelve, such nonsense has not fooled me."

"You're not wrong, but you're only half right."

Song Shi's expression became serious, and he said in a deep voice: "I do intend to consider the matter of 'before I die'."

"Why are you here? Don't say it's for yourself."

Song Shi took a deep breath, as if he was lost in some memories, and his voice couldn't help but lowered a little: "I was born in the Romond Welfare House, an orphan placed by the United Government. I won't go into the rest of the story, it's all the same old stuff."

"In short, according to the volunteer service contract, the money will be deposited into the welfare home's public account."

"Are you afraid that someone will take advantage of this money?" Marico interrupted, his expression slightly changing: "Wait, you don't want me to handle it for you, do you?"

"Let's not talk about whether we can survive this damn experiment. Even if I am really alive, why should I help you deal with this kind of shit?" The man sneered, "Just relying on the insignificant "friendship" of two little white mice huddling together for warmth before dying? Then you are more ridiculous than I thought."

"You don't need to handle it completely." Song Shi said calmly: "As long as you can ensure that more than two-thirds of the money is used for the welfare home, in return, you can get 20,000 credit points for that part of the money."

“Also, this is not a one-sided request.”

Song Shi shook his head slowly and stared at the man: "No one doesn't want to live. Although there is a high probability that we will all become cyber lunatics and die here, who can say for sure? Maybe in the end, I am the one who survived by luck?"

"You have funeral affairs to take care of, right? Otherwise, we wouldn't be here." Song Shi said, "Let's make a deal. If we're both dead, then we can forget about it. But no matter who it is, as long as one of us survives, we have to take care of the other's funeral affairs."

“Of course it’s paid.”

Song Shi looked at the man and said, "If it's really free, I'm afraid we don't believe that the other party will comply."

Marico was silent for a moment.

He sat up straight and carefully looked at the young man in front of him for the first time. After a long while, he spoke: "It's a pity for a boy like you to die here."

"If you join the company, you will definitely go further than me." The man shook his head and showed a hint of self-mockery: "At least before the value is squeezed out, you can live a good life, which is better than being a guinea pig here."

He closed his eyes and opened them again, taking a deep breath.

"Now that we can't get online, how can we sign a contract? A simple verbal promise won't convince others."

Taking a glance at the top of the personal interface, there is a line of text that says [The "Lead Wire" program has been compiled and can be released].

So, Song Shi stretched out his left hand, pulled out a data cable from the metal interface on his wrist, and looked at Marico.

"Physical link."

Song Shi said slowly.

"Using our personal certification signature will also have legal effect even if you do not apply for Dark Crystal Credit's witness service."

[Dark Crystal Credit] is also one of the nine giant companies in the [Corporate Alliance]. Unlike the "Emerald Pharmaceuticals" which is also a giant company, the former's fields are credit platforms, commercial investments, financial services, and market regulation.

The contract was signed very quickly.

At this time, neither side has the energy to set any text traps.

Song Shi also learned about Marico's situation - after confirming that the [Lead Wire] was successfully inserted through the physical link, he had enough time to listen to the latter's story.

Two months ago, Marico, a third-level engineer working at Kangding Manufacturing, had his department completely cancelled due to the poor market environment in the past two years, and the human resources manager took advantage of the situation and provided flexible employment to a large number of people including him.

Because of the non-compete agreement, Marico could not find a job in the same industry for a year. He had been able to make ends meet by secretly taking on some private work and with the non-compete subsidy provided by Kangding Manufacturing. Unfortunately, the bankruptcy of a listed company a month ago destroyed everything.

Marico holds stock in the company.

This listed company, which focuses on the manufacture of heavy industrial equipment, was originally thriving, but due to a series of internal scandals and wrong decisions, its cash flow had long been on the verge of collapse, but it had been forcibly covered up over the years - until recently, when everything could no longer be covered up.

Many talents were shocked to find that this company, which was relatively well-known in the industry, had long been reduced to a mere shell, and the senior directors had left early, leaving behind only a mess.

When they arrived at the company's headquarters building, they found that there was only an intelligent customer service robot that kept repeating the service voice.

But this had nothing to do with Marico. He just heard everything from the news the next morning when he was about to open a tube of Coptis chinensis and mustard protein cream. Then he opened the stock market software and found that the stocks in which he had invested a lot of money had turned into a pile of waste paper.

Originally, this could only be described as "injury to the bones", not "hitting the bottom of the valley".

But the premise of all this is based on Marico's original position as a third-level engineer.

Whether it was his own housing loan, the installment bills for implants he had purchased in the past to improve his competitiveness at work, or his daughter who had just been admitted to a company-affiliated middle school and needed high tuition fees, all of these suddenly became an incredibly terrifying pressure.

As for re-loan.

Marico lost his job, his assets shrank significantly, and his personal credit rating dropped two levels, making it impossible for formal institutions to provide him with a loan.

Marico didn't even dare consider the "quick loans, emergency loans, and fun loans" that were hidden on various erotic websites. The background of these underground loan sharks was street gangs, and the interest rates were ridiculously high. Once they couldn't pay back the money -

Now Marico can still hope that the new drugs in this research institute might be of some use, but if they don't work, he will be the only one who dies.

But he couldn't pay back the gang's high-interest loans, so he either had his organs dug out to pay off the debt, or served as a "zombie technician" without self-awareness. His daughter was taken away to be an ordinary sex doll, which was considered a good ending.

If you are unlucky and are forced to undergo various body modifications due to some people's special preferences, you will fall into the abyss forever and live a life worse than death.

So Marico came here anyway.

At least this is one of the giant companies standing at the top of the corporate alliance, a subordinate research institute of [Emerald Pharmaceuticals]. Aren't big companies always more reliable than gangs?
Song Shi didn't say anything.

In his previous life, he was not very active in the [Corporate Alliance], but he had stayed there for quite a long time, and even accepted employment from a giant company and participated in a corporate war. Song Shi had seen too many such things.

The collapse of a listed company can only occupy the headlines for less than a week, but who knows how many cockroaches will be fleeing in the ruins of the collapsed high-rise building because their homes have been destroyed?

Although he scoffed at the idea of ​​"talking to someone before dying", after talking about it, Marico's spirits were obviously better, and even his tone became much gentler. He even talked about some of his past experiences.

But Song Shi understood it in his heart.

——It won’t be long before Marico dies here.

(End of this chapter)