won't your conscience ache

After returning from the Lin family, Lin Pei found himself having strange dreams.

He gradually remembered some things in his sleep. Many scenes were blurred. In his dream, he could vaguely hear the sound of high heels hitting the ground, the smell of disinfectant mixed with blood, and a woman in a white coat looked at him with her hands in her pockets. Someone Whispering, when he woke up, all the scenes became chaotic again, and Lin Pei began to lose sleep.

Lin Pei didn't tell Lin Si that there seemed to be something wrong with him.

He felt like an old machine. There was an important part inside that was about to be scrapped, and it barely maintained its operation by extensive wear and tear. Once the parts were loose and cracked, the whole machine would fall apart in an instant.Maybe it can be fixed, maybe it really collapses, everything is unknown.

He sat in the garden, looked at the virtual screen for a long time without speaking.

If the memory is copied more than 200 times, can it be recovered?

Memory duplication surgery, the current argument in the medical community is: ten or more operations will cause irreparable damage to the spirit, reaching 25 times, the mortality rate is close to [-]%.

Lin Pei looked up the information, and casually looked back at the room. The lights in the room were dim in the middle of the night. Lin Si got up at some time and was pouring medicine for the owl.The owl is sick and shedding badly.

Suddenly, the communication window vibrated.

Lin Pei opened the email and stared at the signature for a long time.

Raphael Langton.

Lin Pei clicked on the email.The moment he saw the contents, it was almost like a flash, a question suddenly crossed his mind.

Where did that Raphael video come from?

The video must have been taken by Lin Pei. Judging from the content settings, Lin Pei stored the content in the cloud by himself. Since he set extremely high requirements for extracting files, how did Rafael get the video?

Unless he has been in contact with Lin Pei, or he has checked some of Lin Pei's memories.

Lin Pei paused.

He recovered and saw the content of the email, which was a short video.

The angle is overlooking, it is a surveillance, the room is very dark, a man is sitting on a chair with his head bowed and humming softly, he can vaguely hear a few lines of the lyrics, the black liquid drips down his chin and hits the ground ,is blood.With the careless singing, the cramped room unexpectedly revealed some light.

Lin Pei remembered this song.

"White Ocean".

A soldier who died in a foreign land bid farewell to his fiancée who was far away in his hometown. He said he loved you and he said he would never forget.

Soldiers of the Empire will sing this song.

Realizing what it was, he turned off the video and opened another attachment.

It was a string of encrypted passwords. He opened the poetry collection and wrote down the string of passwords with a pen.It took him more than half an hour to translate it and found out that it was an address.A movie theater in the imperial capital.

Lin Pei realized something, tore off the page, and closed the poetry collection.

The next moment, footsteps sounded behind him. Lin Pei didn't move until the footsteps stopped three or two steps behind him. He finally turned off the screen for browsing the news and looked back at Lin Si.The computer has real-time monitoring.

Lin Si didn't ask, and gently pulled out the book of poems from his hand. When he lowered his head, Lin Pei's heart skipped a beat.

"You want to see him?"

Lin Pei paused briefly, "Yes."

"He was wanted by the feds a week ago."

"What?" Lin Pei frowned.

"The federal military court sentenced him to 20 years in prison for the crime of stealing state secrets." Lin Si glanced at the shocked Lin Pei, "The empire paid him political asylum, and the military department issued a document this morning."

"Theft of state secrets? The inquisition has the right to review all first-level documents." This charge is a joke.

Lin Si pulled up a chair and sat down in front of him, still flipping through the book of poems.

"The times are constantly changing. The Federation has stagnated for 20 years since the end of the war. A large number of new politicians have emerged. This is an omen. The Federation is facing a critical point. If the blood exchange is successful, the future political landscape will be completely new."

Lin Pei thought for a few seconds, "Partisanship?"

"Ah."

Lin Pei slowly raised his hand and frowned. He knew that the high-level struggle in the Federation was fierce, but he did not expect that the battle between the two parties had become so intense.Raphael should be regarded as one of the few young leaders in the inner circle of the Theocratic Party. He was sentenced to 20 years in prison. The federal political arena may have experienced a quiet bloody storm, and the sky may have changed. .

Lin Pei suddenly looked at Lin Si, "You provided him with political asylum?"

Lin Si flipped through the poetry book and nodded, "It's paid."

Lin Pei suddenly lost his voice, and stared at Lin Si for a while, "You are familiar with him?" He leaned back slightly on the back of the chair, and looked at Lin Si with both eyes.

"I dealt with his father."

"When?"

"I met once when the armistice agreement was signed 20 years ago."

Lin Pei seemed to be thinking about something, Lin Si said, "He said he wanted to help you."

Lin Pei frowned and said nothing.Raphael's credit with him has long been bankrupt. Lin Si may not understand Raphael. He is a natural liar. To a certain extent, he is very talented in politics. Lin Pei neither takes it seriously nor does he Don't worry, he replied casually, "Really? That's really unexpected."

Lin Si glanced at him, not knowing what it meant.

Lin Pei suddenly figured out what Lin Si got, "You got the video of Lin Pei before he died from him?"

"He's not dead. As I said, I won't mistake anyone."

Something came out of Lin Pei's hand, and with a bang, he came back to his senses, looked down, and found that it was a ceramic cup that he had clutched in his hand at some point.

The way Lin Si looked at him made him inexplicably remember the words translated by brainwaves on the computer screen, the words that Lin Pei, maybe it was really him, said when he heard Lin Si's voice when he was dying.How deep the memory must be to remember this sentence to the last moment.

Lin Pei got the video.

He watched the full version of the video that had been locked in the archives for years.

The woman in a white coat and the sound of high-heeled shoes coming and going are exactly the same as the scene in his dream. He watched the video and smelled a bloody smell. Three months of interrogation, more than 200 memories The duplication surgery turned out to be real.

Lin Pei, who was watching the video, just had an idea, it's unbelievable that he survived, it can be said to be some kind of miracle.He moved to the later stage of the video, and the young man with a severely burned face was walking around in the closed interrogation room, coming and going, and it could be seen that the man's mental state was not right at that time.

Lin Pei pulled to the last video.

The man had completely lost his mind, curled up on the ground in a hospital gown, and kept repeating a number.

"1025, 1025..."

An older man who looked like a doctor stood in front of him and lowered his body to inject him with a blue potion.

Lin Pei looked at the man for a long time and turned off the video.

Completely destroying an agent's consciousness and injecting new will, this method was once very popular as one of the mind control methods. Lin Pei is not familiar with it, he just didn't believe it.

It was really hard for him to believe that the man he saluted under the red flag every day was the same man in the white coat in the video.

Robert Tyrell.

Obedience to orders is the instinct of a soldier. Lin Pei thought of the importance and care that men paid for him in those years, and was speechless for a while.Not to mention resentment, but feeling emotional, in his heart, Robert Tyrell is indeed a father-like existence.Everyone has a fledgling plot. This man brought himself out with his own hands and put the medal on his chest. When he was imprisoned for the murder in the federal building, the man came to the prison, took off his military cap and told him, "I You are declared innocent."

These things are hard to forget after all.Without Robert Tyrell, he might still be a psycho who doesn't know where.

Lin Pei was silent for a while, then looked back at Lin Si beside him, finally, he whispered: "I really can't remember the past." After a pause, he whispered, "There are only sporadic fragments. "

"unimportant."

Lin Pei looked at Lin Si in surprise and didn't speak for a long time.

...Two days later, it happened to be Christmas, and the festive atmosphere was strong on the streets.

Lin Si had a meeting at nine o'clock in the evening, and Lin Pei went to the cinema after he left.After all, he is an agent, and avoiding surveillance and anti-reconnaissance is the basic quality. Sitting in the cinema, he looks at the realistic movie set on the screen.

Thriller horror movie.

There are not many people in the movie theater, but there are suppressed screams one after another. This kind of movie has a low attendance rate and is originally a niche audience.

After watching for more than ten minutes, Lin Pei felt that someone was sitting beside him.

The old friend reunited, Raphael was wearing a gray coat, he was thinner, his face had more lines, and he looked much more serious than before.He turned around, took off his hat and smiled at Lin Pei, showing his white teeth.

"haven't seen you for a long time."

The voice was a bit weird in the eerie atmosphere. Lin Pei glanced at him and said in a low voice, "Long time no see."

Raphael reached into his pocket and groped for a while. Lin Pei thought he was going to draw a gun, but he found a large handful of colorful candies after groping for a long time.

"Merry Christmas."

Lin Pei was silent for a moment, "That's why you came to me?"

"Today is Christmas." Raphael put the chocolate candy in Lin Pei's palm, casually tore apart a piece and threw it in his mouth. On the movie screen, a woman was screaming uncontrollably. He smiled at Lin Pei, "Why aren't you afraid?"

Lin Pei: "..."

Raphael laughed and said in a low voice, "Have you watched the video?"

Lin Pei retracted his gaze and looked at the screen, "The federation is heading for division."

"There have been omens many years ago. The Eastern Federation and the Western Federation are two systems and two political teams. The surface peace will not last long. This is a war."

Lin Pei heard the ambition in this understatement. The territory of the federation might change. He glanced at Rafael. The young politician was leaning on the back of the chair and eating candy, and gently stroked his slender hand.On the movie screen, in the dim old attic, someone is playing the violin.

The very famous "Lady Lagrasse".

At the banquet on the eve of the war, the young earl met Mrs. Lagrasse, who was married, and offered to play a song for her.

Lin Pei is really not very knowledgeable about music. Looking at Raphael's lightly waving hand, he didn't respond. He didn't even recognize that it was "Madame Lagrasse". The feeling of appearing in a horror movie works exceptionally well.

"Are you looking for cooperation with the Imperial Army?" Lin Pei asked.

"Lance and I are friends." Raphael lied easily, "If I hadn't extended a helping hand, his brother's condition would have gotten worse and he would have mental problems sooner or later."

"You just want him to resist Robert Tyrell, this is a deal," Lin Pei continued coldly, "He and you are not friends."

"The enemy of the enemy is the friend."

"He and you are not friends." Lin Pei looked back at Raphael, "You are more suitable for the title of Viper than Robert Tyrell. No one will be friends with you."

Raphael smiled, chewed the candy, moved closer, and said softly, "Merry Christmas, send my regards to your brother." He looked at Lin Pei, "Thank you very much for his hospitality, I thank him very much. Very impressed."

Lin Pei didn't move, the man got up and walked out, the gray coat disappeared around the corner, finally, he looked down at the colorful candies in his hand.

The midnight bell strikes, Christmas comes, the shops on both sides of the street play cheerful songs, and the children watch the fireworks in the square.

In the movie theater, the horror movie had already started to be replayed for the second time. The people who came had left, and the place gradually emptied, but Lin Pei was still sitting where he was.He himself did not expect that in the years to come, he would never see Raphael Langton again. Except for occasional glimpses of this rising star in the federal political arena on the international TV news, the two would spend their entire lives together. Never met again.

Lin Pei will never understand the entanglement, just like he will never understand "Mrs. Lagrasse". He thought it was war, but it was actually love.

The author has something to say:

Why is Lin Pei unaware of being crushed by someone? Is it the annihilation of humanity or the loss of morality?

No, because he has always been a man, a straight man like a steel bar, a heinous straight man with cancer, how could he receive pure gay radio waves...

(The amount of help)