[Science Fiction] Escape from Paint City

The sunshine of autumn is wanton, and there is still a trace of warmth, covering the paint city, and the black mist outside the city, and there is nothing in the vague depths.The fog seemed to be blocked by an invisible barrier, but the people in the city were not affected at all.

Shuichen stepped on the white line in the middle of Qi'an Road Pedestrian Street with ordinary steps.

He was wearing a loose black sweater with an unknown language printed on it.There were five or six empty pockets on the baggy dark green slacks, and it looked like nothing was in them.The flat-brimmed peaked cap blocks part of the sun and casts a shadow over the nose.

He put his hands in his trouser pockets, hummed an unintelligible tune, looked around at the scenery of Qicheng that he had seen countless times, every step seemed to jump up.

He was carrying a double-shoulder rucksack with intact shoulder straps on one shoulder, and as his body rose and fell, he had to pull the backpack that had slipped off his shoulder and put it back on his shoulder every time he walked.In the canvas bag are a sketchbook, pencils of different hardness and types, special pens for drawing, and a folded soft cloth stool.A small white lighthouse charm hangs from the backpack, slapped on the canvas one by one.

Shuichen loves to walk in the paint city every day, walk the streets and alleys, explore every corner of the paint city, and stop to sketch when he encounters a small scene he likes.Having lived in Qicheng for 23 years, he is still committed to embarking on different routes every day, discovering Qicheng from different angles and looking for the unknown world.

The shops on both sides of Qi'an Road are open, with various signs such as music boxes, plants, and stone carvings hanging. These shops do not need to operate to make money, but are only for the display of hobbies and the communication between friends.The store belongs to the private domain. When the protection mode is turned on, outsiders cannot see the situation inside the store. Only guests approved by the owner can enter and exit freely.

People on the street come and go, and they don't talk to each other, only people gather together to take pictures from time to time.Everyone keeps their eyes on the front—the virtual panel projected by everyone's chip—and swipe, click, and type on it.

Residents of Qicheng never have to worry about material life issues. The Science Affairs Office will always provide all food and household, and will always solve all problems.Therefore, people live completely according to their preferences, doing what they want to do, and there will be no conflicts over resource competition.

Every resident will be implanted with a smart chip by the Science and Technology Office at birth.The chip will control part of the brain nerves to handle people's daily life and chores, and choose the most beneficial behavior mode for the human body through simulation to avoid possible crises and diseases.Residents only need to pay attention to their own preferences and enjoy entertainment.

People can still focus on the Internet while walking on the street. When they may bump into people, fall down, or go up and down steps, the chip will control the brain nerves and let the body automatically respond to avoid danger.

When people don't need to work and life affairs are replaced by automatic body responses, offline interpersonal communication also loses its meaning.Meet friends, exchange hobbies, pursue fashion, all of these can be done through the Internet.Everyone posted about their daily life on the Internet, and the online idol created by the Science Affairs Office was even more frantically sought after.

Shuichen is considered a strange flower among the crowd.Except for using the convenient services provided by the Internet, he almost never opens the Internet, and prefers to wander around in the paint city.In order to resist the self-protection mode of the chip, he is keen to do everything by himself, and even deliberately touches dangerous options, ignoring the danger warning of the chip every time he is injured.

In his own words, "What painters need is truth, to use their own senses to watch, touch, breathe, and listen to the real world. Even danger and pain are worth cherishing."

This maverick model was strongly opposed by Shui Dad and Shui Mom.When Shuichen found out that Shuichen intentionally let the thorns of cactus pierce his fingers to bleed, the Shui mother who was participating in the virtual party and the Shui dad who was doing carpentry suddenly stopped, turned their heads and stared at Shuichen for several seconds, and then Roughly pulled Shuichen up and asked him what was going on.

Shui's father and water's mother seemed to be stuck, only cursing and asking, and even planning to take Shuichen to the Science Affairs Office to maintain the chip. This kind of abnormal reaction made Shuichen feel that something was wrong. It was an accident, Shui's father and Shui's mother gave up the idea of ​​taking him to the Science Affairs Office.

This accident caused Shui Chen to resist the Science Affairs Office. He was even more reluctant to use the chip, but he hid his resistance to the chip and only focused on controlling his actions when he was alone.

All the residents have a kind of fanatical admiration for the Science Affairs Office, no one will talk about the badness of the Science Affairs Office, it is the Science Affairs Office that protects Qicheng.

Outside the city of Qi is a black mist that is constantly surging. All the substances thrown into the mist will be completely dissipated, leaving no trace of smell, sunlight cannot penetrate, and sound and signals cannot be transmitted.

It was the invisible barrier opened by the Science Affairs Office that kept the black mist out and protected the residents of Qicheng.The experimental objects thrown into the mist at the beginning of each year—animals, metals, water, and fire—all disappeared in an instant, which proved that Qicheng was still an isolated island isolated by the mist.

Shuichen was afraid of this fog that could swallow everything. He dreamed that the barrier suddenly failed, and the black fog poured in instantly, swallowing people and houses all at once, and the whole city of Qi was plunged into darkness.Sometimes, he also dreamed that he stepped into the mist, and then a flash of light came into his eyes, as if he was about to step into a new world.

This kind of fear and longing is the feeling that Shuichen savors the most when he is alone.He often closed his eyes, feeling the pain spreading inch by inch in his heart, and then slowly receding.Black fog has also become the most common theme of his paintings.

The residents of Qicheng were tacitly calm about this, and they never explored how to leave.

Life in Qicheng is like a paradise, where people are carefree, all troubles will be dealt with by the Science and Affairs Office; all constructions will be started by the Science and Affairs Office; all materials will be provided by the Science and Affairs Office.People only need to take pictures and screenshots, post and follow posts, and netizens will gather to discuss it, and everyone laughs it off, so happy.

In the theme posts about the mist on the Internet, people will update what they threw into it today, study the beauty of the surging mist, and compose music in the style of the mist.If Shuichen posted the painting about the fog, it might get a lot of response.

After walking Qi'an Road, go forward and cross Baoziguai, you will be far away from the new city and step into the old city.

Shuichen's cheerful pace slowly stabilized, and the little song she was humming stopped, as if returning from a fantasy world.

Someone is watching me.

Shuichen raised his hands in front of his chest, crossed his fingers, and thought, this prying sight is very strange, it does not have the excitement of blatantly discovering strange things like the residents of Qicheng - except for this kind of sight, they never About paying attention to others, but with careful observation.

The stalker is vigilant, and the feeling of being spied on is not obvious.But Shuichen is used to capture and magnify his senses of the surrounding environment, he can feel this line of sight floating gently behind his back, sometimes free and sometimes sticky, which makes his heart tickle, the heart beats hotter, and the whole body is unconscious Trembling, wanting to turn around and follow that gaze to catch this mischievous guy.

Hold back, Shui Chen thought.

This man was very shy and careful with himself, if he turned around now, he would definitely be scared away.

Shuichen has been isolated from others for a long time, no matter in reality or on the Internet.Under such circumstances, the sudden appearance of a person who may be different from Qicheng people made him very interesting.

Shuichen couldn't wait to get close to and touch this mysterious stalker, to dig into his depths, to feel the existence of this person.

This kind of interest in people has not been produced for a long time.

Shui Chen was excited inside, his whole body was tense, he covered his mouth and nose with his hands together, and took a deep breath.

Be patient, keep the usual state, bring him into my domain, and then I can possess him.

Shuichen kept his usual pace and walked towards Tangzi's studio.

Waterstar has a studio in the new and old urban areas.

The studio in Xincheng District has been his base in recent years, where his painting tools and most of his new works are located.He is now used to painting with pencils and pens, all of which are the scenery of the city of lacquer, but there are no other colors in the paintings except black, white and gray.

The studio on the side of the pawnshop pond mostly houses his paintings from long ago. He hasn't been here for several years, so the studio has become more of a savings room.

Pawnshop Tangzi Studio is a two-storey single-family building. The outer wall is not bricked or painted. The bare gray concrete is covered with withered and yellow creeper rhizomes, firmly embedded in the flesh of the small building.The two large floor-to-ceiling windows on the second floor were covered by heavy rose-red curtains, making it impossible to see clearly the scene inside the house.

Outside the small building is a small park, where two cherry trees are still stubbornly surviving crookedly. Beside the luxuriant weeds, there is a stone table and four low stone benches, which are also unpainted bare gray.This small park is not surrounded by walls, and there are often cats and dogs who don't know where to bask in the sun and play around here.People who are not familiar with it will never think that this is the private domain of Xiaolou.

Shuichen walked through the small park, and the bushes of uneven height made his figure appear and disappear from time to time.He went up two steps and walked to the front of the small building. After feeling someone entered the small park, he flicked the back of his ears twice.

A virtual panel the size of a book appeared in the void in front of him. Shuichen reached out and clicked twice, turning on the protection mode of the private domain.I saw that the transparent barrier rose from the ground, covered the small park and the small building, and closed at a height of about three floors from the ground, covering the private area of ​​the studio in the form of a semicircle.And in the invisible underground, there is another semicircle with a radius of five meters.

The entire private domain is completely enclosed, and no one else can enter or exit except the owner.

The mysterious follower didn't know if he had noticed this, but he still kept his original speed and walked towards Shuichen.

Shui Chen turned to face the small park, watching intently the stalker passed through the bushes and appeared in front of him.

The follower is a 1.8 meters five, heroic man.Every step the man took was very steady, with a mighty aura.He has a cropped head, his facial features are highlighted, his lips are slightly pursed, his eyes are concentrated, and he shoots like a sharp sword, giving people a sense of cold and stern deterrence.

The strong aura of the man was disturbed by the clothes that didn't match him at all.He was wearing a tight black jacket with studs on the shoulders and a hem that fell just past the waist.The jacket is matched with a pure white T-shirt, exaggerating the pattern of a woman's buttocks protruding from the chest, supported by full chest muscles.Cooperating with the silver-white leather pants that tightly restrained the lower body/body, the man's sense of integrity was broken, making him look a bit lustful.

Shui Chen's gaze vaguely scanned the man's whole body, and finally stopped at the pattern on his chest.

This man's figure is very good, Shui Chen thought, the bones and muscles are very perfect, if only fingers, palms, and more can be used to touch and feel the shape and texture of his body.

Noticing where Shuichen's gaze stayed, the man froze, and unconsciously pulled the hem of the black jacket, and his sharp eyes were interrupted.

Shui Chen turned her eyes to the man's eyes, looked at him, put her weight on her left leg, changed to a more comfortable standing posture, and then a big smile appeared on her face.

"Hello, are you my admirer?"

The author has something to say: This is the first time I write an article, please take care of me~

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