Occultist

A month later.

"...We are all familiar with his appearance. He is a reliable partner, a loyal mentor, a kind wise man, and a harbor that silently watches over us from behind.

"In the world of life, he is suddenly like a traveler. Today, he left us.

"Today, many people present here may be like me. They could not and will not know his name in the past. But today, we are all people without names."

Fei Lian took a deep breath, bowed his head in silent mourning.

Everyone bowed their heads.

Gou Chen was lying there peacefully, with a ruddy complexion and a mysterious smile, as if he could sit up again in a second and join forces with his husband to bully others.

But he never will again.

The funeral lasted for a long time, and when it was getting dark, the guests moved to the banquet.

Fei Lian closed the door and drew up all the curtains.It wasn't until this time that a certain invisible man could come from behind and stare at Gou Chen carefully.

"Time flies so fast." Yi Ying said, "When I first met Gou Chen, he didn't even have gray hair."

He stretched out his hand, as if he wanted to touch Gou Chen's white hair lightly, but in the end he took it back silently.

Fei Lian said, "Sir."

Yiying turned his head to look at him, smiled, and said, "You know what? Gou Chen likes to hear people bray like a donkey, but no one has satisfied him. Today is the last day, why don't we learn how to bray like a donkey together?" .”

Fei Lian said helplessly: "Sir, although I don't read much, I also know that donkey braying at a funeral is an allusion from the Wei and Jin Dynasties... When did Gou Chen have such a weird preference?"

Yiying smiled and said, "Okay, I'm lying to you, Gou Chen likes to listen to the donkey playing the piano."

Then, he actually pulled out a piano case from under a certain row of seats, and took out a delicate black violin from it.He adjusted the piano column, put the chin rest on it, and closed his eyes to play.

Yiying's technique wasn't too good, but it wasn't bad either.The unique lingering sound of the violin gradually resounded in the room.

When Fei Lian heard this song, there was sadness and loss, sometimes it was like recalling the past, and there would be short-lived joy.But it all settled down in the end.

After the melody was played, Yiying put the violin there, looked at Gou Chen for a while, then suddenly cleared his throat, and said, "Ang!"

Fei Lian: "..."

He actually learned how to bray like a donkey!

Wait, it turns out that Gou Chen, who looks so stable and honest, really likes to be meowed like a donkey! !

In the evening, Fei Lian filed Gou Chen's files with his own hands.

Just like his elder brother back then, in the eyes of outsiders, Gou Chen had already died in an accident, and even the clothes tomb had been properly erected in the cemetery.And Fei Lian would have this kind of fate, he accepted it calmly.

Yiying was sorting out the mail beside him, and there were still a lot of condolence letters from the brother department.

He picked out one from the inside and read it carefully, pondered for a while, and said, "Fei Lian, I'm going to apply for going out, it's time to go back and have a look."

Fei Lian took the time to look up, saw a capital S on the envelope, and asked, "Is it the SERA laboratory?"

Yiying nodded, and said again: "By the way, bring Bai Lele with you. Doesn't he know me? It would be even better if he knew Xi He...Let Xi He find a way to pry more from him Something comes out."

Fei Lian thought about Bai Lele's current situation, and six dots appeared above his head.

……

So, a week later, in Hall [-] of the SERA laboratory.

Xi He roared angrily: "Fuck you! You non-human creature, look at what you sent to me! Is that still a human being? It's a lump of rotten meat!!!"

"Come on." Yiying said perfunctorily, "Don't you have a psychotherapist? I believe in his strength."

"I don't believe it!" Xi He had an irritable expression on his face, "What the hell did you do! You ruined another living person!!"

Yi Ying said: "Listen to me."

Xihe: "Say it."

Yi Ying said: "Who knew he would be so inexperienced."

A vein burst out on Xihe's forehead.

On the other side, Fei Lian was sizing up the old man: a head of gray curly hair that was neglected, an unshaven face, a rosy complexion, full of spirit.The eye patch was also dirty, the shirt was tucked into the waistband of his trousers, and he was wearing socks and flip-flops.

In one sentence: the old version of nerd.

He is Xi He, brother Fei Lian's mentor, SERA's number one research expert, and the one who picked up Yi Ying back then.

He took Yiying and Fei Lian through the protective doors of the laboratory and walked in.

Yiying leaned over and added in a low voice: "Do you still remember the experiment with the cat in the box? This person did it. It was so cruel. We voted to put frogs in the box, but he defied the crowd and decided Let the cat go."

Fei Lian: "...Sir, it doesn't make any difference if you let the frogs go."

Yi Ying said: "The frog is not the point. The point is that he ignores democratic voting, so he is cruel, he is a SERA tyrant!"

Fei Lian said in his heart: Didn't you provoke it?If I didn't have such a good temper, I would have gone berserk long ago...

Next, the three of them went through two layers of confidential doors and a disinfection room, and arrived at the place.

A computational neuroscience laboratory, working on a project code-named "Babel".

Yiying complained all the way: "I think your code name is getting worse and worse. What can happen to something like the Tower of Babel..."

Xi He was very irritable and said, "Can't you show some morals?"

Yi Ying said: "I am a person with comprehensive development of intelligence, body, art and labor."

Fei Lian: "..." Does that mean immorality?

The disinfection door of the laboratory was opened, and there was a particularly sci-fi cabin in the center, in which Bai Lele was sitting.Of course, his real name had been found out, but no one in the room cared about it—everyone was using a code name anyway.

Bai Lele was wearing a helmet, and many lines extending from the helmet were emitting lights of different colors; there was also a huge screen in front of him, which was playing unidentified pictures in a loop.There are two researchers around who are busy taking notes.

Fei Lian thought it was science fiction, so he asked Yiying in a low voice: "Is this an experiment?"

"That's right." Yiying was generous and didn't think there was any need to speak in a low voice, "This helmet is used to stimulate memory cells. I have seen it before."

Xi He sneered: "The one you used back then was much gentler, baby. Now this is electrode stimulation, forcing him to memorize 24 hours a day. Have you seen this display screen? Whenever there is a graphic in his memory, The corresponding neuron will emit electrical signals. After we capture the signal, we will forcefully stimulate the neuron in turn, so that other neurons related to this memory will also be stimulated in a coordinated way. The next time other graphics he recognizes appear, We’ll get new feedback. It’s like putting together a jigsaw puzzle, and once we’ve collected all the relevant memories, we’re trying to piece together a complete narrative.”

I don't know what's going on... Fei Lian looked at the display screen, and gradually realized that there is indeed a pattern in it.

No wonder the project is called "Babel".If it is really successful, it will not be like the legendary insanity technique, where you can peek into anyone's memory if you want to, and even language is no longer an obstacle... It is in fact violating God's forbidden zone.

Yiying had already seen the strangeness, and asked next to him: "So have you finished the fight yet?"

"It's almost finished, give them a few more days." Xi He said, "You can take a look at this first."

He picked up a stack of confidential documents on the table, and the two researchers next to him hurried out.

Yiying picked it up and flipped through two pages, at a slower and slower pace, before finally falling into deep thought.

Xi He said: "It looks familiar, doesn't it? You were there on that street back then. But you are a non-human being, this method won't work if you use it twice..."

Yiying smiled and said modestly: "Yeah, the same trick can only work on me once."

Xi He snorted, the old man had no idea that this was a meme from a famous anime.

After watching the computational neurology lab, the three of them went to the cafeteria for a meal.

During the period, Yiying ordered Fei Lian to tell Xihe all the things that happened recently.

Xi He listened while eating, and the occasional questions he asked were quite sharp.After he finished listening, he said, "I understand. Bai Lele from the Xiyin Society has been arrested, but there is a hacker behind the scenes. Are you here for technical assistance?"

Yiying nodded and said: "If you want to talk about black technology, the laboratories in the world that dare to come out to fight, I guess SERA is still ranked in the top three."

Xi He smiled complacently, and said, "I dare not talk about other technologies, but in the field of computers, we are already number one in the world. It's just that the country is special, so we don't go out to show off. What kind of grandstanding hacker conference in foreign countries , it’s just that it’s all done by the folks, and the real folk masters have already been recruited by our SERA..."

Yiying complained, "It's Zhaoan."

"You care so much." Xi He glared at him, "In the 21st century, talent is the most important thing."

What an old meme, Xi He is indeed an old man... Fei Lian thinks that he may know where some of Yi Ying's old tastes and habits come from. After all, when Yi Ying has no memory, he grew up in SERA "of.

After the three of them finished their meal, Yiying said, "By the way, you should know Fei Lian."

Xihe said, "Well, Zhuanxu's younger brother." (Zhuanxu is the code name of Feilian's brother.)

He looked at Fei Lian, who was sitting obediently, his clever appearance reminded him of the time when Zhuanxu came for the interview.

Xi He's eyes softened, and he said, "I watched Zhuan Xu grow up. He still has some relics. You can go and see them later."

Fei Lian declined, "Thank you, but my duty is to follow Mr.

Xi He looked at Yi Ying again, his eyes changed back in an instant, and said, "Hehe, you have to treat him better, don't let the old man know that you are bullying Zhuanxu's younger brother there again."

Yiying said regretfully: "I'm really sorry, you are late. He has already been ruined by me."

Fei Lian: "???"