The Uncanny Valley Travel Guide

Liu Tianxiong was caught off guard, and was punched so hard that he hit the corner of the hard table, knocking over many bottles and cans, and let out a scream like a slaughtered pig in pain. He pressed down on the ground and beat fiercely, Liu Tianxiong struggled violently, knocked Wen Zheliu to the ground with one knee, and punched him hard in the face twice.

He is tall, fat and strong, and his fists are extraordinarily heavy and powerful. The corners of Wen Zheliu's mouth were beaten black and blue with two blows. The third punch landed on his abdomen, and the fourth punch landed on his chest, smelling bloody. Waves came out of his throat. Wen Zheliu just gritted his teeth without crying out for pain. He stretched out his arms vigorously, picked up the wooden board next to him, and slapped Liu Tianxiong's head hard, causing sawdust to fly. A large piece of oily skin was also wiped off the other party's forehead.

The noise in the attic was earth-shattering, causing both Liu Jianzhang and Wen Qian to rush up to check the situation. When they saw the attic was in a mess and two people were tossing and rolling in it, Wen Qian let out a scream, and Liu Jianzhang went up to take the two of them with a dark face. Forcibly separated, I also suffered several times in the chaotic battle.

"Enough, enough!" Liu Jianzhang roared angrily, and at the same time dragged Liu Tianxiong aside to make him stand upright, and let Wen Zheliu gasp in the mess on the ground, "calling and beating all day long, what does it look like!"

Liu Tianxiong howled loudly, Wen Qian rushed over and rubbed his forehead distressedly.Wen Zheliu struggled to get up from the ground, clutching the rope of the dog tag in his hand, his cheeks were bruised and swollen, and the corner of his mouth was cracked.

He wiped his nose, wiped the blood from his hands on the edge of his clothes, and said with a sneer, "If he doesn't mess with me, I don't need to hit him, don't I think it's dirty?"

"Get out of this house!" Liu Jianzhang was furious, "We have treated you well enough, you ungrateful bastard!"

Wen Zheliu glared at him bitterly, his eyes were cold, and he said word by word: "You better remember whose home this is."

After speaking, he turned and left, and slammed the door of the attic with all his strength, almost shaking the whole house.

The night breeze was cool, and Wen Zheliu was staggering, walking aimlessly on the street, passers-by were in a hurry, and no one was willing to rest their eyes on this bruised young man for a moment.The holy nun Teresa in the stand, on the hanging statue, in the projection, and between the light curtains still radiates pure brilliance unconsciously, facing the world with a prayerful attitude.

Wen Zheliu was dizzy and felt pain all over his body, so painful that he was about to vomit.He squinted his eyes, barely distinguishing among the bright lights in the streets and alleys, chose a 24-hour coffee shop, opened the door and plunged in.

The owner and the waiter were taken aback, Wen Zheliu went to the front desk, ordered a cup of coffee, and asked for more ice cubes.He slumped on the soft seat, exhausted, and just wanted to sleep like this forever.

The terminal in his hand suddenly rang, he managed to raise his wrist, opened his eyelids and glanced, and found that the display on it turned out to be Chin.

Chin: [Where is it, why haven't you come here yet? 】

He smiled weakly, it seems that He Qin sent him a message from Uncanny Valley.

He thought for a while, and sent a voice message: "Brother, I'm tired...I want to take a rest."

The other side was quiet for a while, Wen Zheliu closed his eyes again wearily, after a while, the phone rang and He Qin called.

"What's the matter, what's the matter?" On the other end of the phone, apart from He Qin's magnetic voice, there were also indistinct voices and humming.

"I was kicked out by my family... No, that can't be considered my home either, I... I have no home..." Outside the window, the night was like water, and the stars were sparse. He looked at the unknown distance, and the grievance and resentment in his heart were overwhelming. Like rushing towards him, he sniffed and said in a crying voice, "...after I return the money to them and get back my parents' money, I can buy another game warehouse. At that time I Come up to find you again..."

"Where are you?" He Qin said, "Send me the location, I'll send someone to pick you up now."

"No need." The ice came up, and the waiter kindly brought him a handkerchief. Wen Zheliu hurriedly stood up to thank him. He wrapped the ice with the handkerchief and applied it to the swollen part of his cheek, which hurt so much Hissing inhale, "It's so late now, where are you going to find someone to pick me up..."

"What's going on?" He Qin was far more sensitive than he imagined, "Are you injured?"

Wen Zheliu said: "No, no! I was drinking water just now, so what, I'm fine, you don't have to worry about me."

He Qin was silent for a while, then sneered and said, "Who's worried about you, you little idiot... Are you all right?"

"It's okay..." He replied vaguely, "I'm fine."

Wen Zheliu looked out the window, the bone-chilling ice sticking to the burning wound did make him feel a lot more comfortable, and his mind became much clearer, he looked out the window and suddenly frowned.

In his line of sight, countless projections of holy nuns who were originally motionless but emitting white light in the dark night seemed to all tilt their heads in unison in an instant.

He opened his eyes wide and heard a "beep" sound similar to a bad signal coming from the terminal.

"...brother?" he asked hesitantly.

"I'm here," He Qin replied, "what's the matter."

"Have you seen the masterminds of the Uncanny Valley..." He weighed his words, "No, I just saw them..."

Before he finished speaking, all the statues of nuns within his sight suddenly turned their heads towards him!

Whether it's the ones with their backs to him, the ones turned sideways, or the ones floating obliquely above the coffee shop...their bodies didn't move at all, but they all turned their heads in a uniform arc, aiming at Wen Zheliu's direction!

Hundreds of red lips curled up and smiled sinisterly at him.

There was an uproar all around, Wen Zheliu was shocked and overturned the coffee cup on the tray, "Brother, what's going on?!"

"You...don't...disturb...me..." There was a sharp buzzing noise suddenly from the terminal, and He Qin's words were quickly swallowed up in it, and he could only leak out a few words with difficulty, "immediately... Come……"

Pedestrians on the street stopped one after another, pointed at the eerie and frightening statue of the holy nun, and turned on the optical brain camera to take pictures.Wen Zheliu stood upside down with his hair all over his body, as if he was being watched by some ferocious beast, he shouted at the terminal: "Brother!"

At the same time, the light screens used by the stores for publicity, the giant screens on the shopping mall that looped advertisements, and even the flashing neon lights on the side of the station were all black at this moment. The exaggerated smiles reaching to the ears covered the sky and covered the sky, almost occupying all people's sight at the speed of pollution!

Wen Zheliu disregarded the soreness in his waist and abdomen, and ran out. The floating menu for ordering in the cafe lit up and suddenly stood in front of his eyes. The face of the holy nun also flashed.

The whole world was filled with dead white and a bloody red, densely packed, tens of thousands of holy nuns spoke in unison, and said to Wen Zheliu in an ethereal voice: "You are here! I saw you."

The successive screams and siren calls gradually faded away from Wen Zheliu's ears. At this moment, he suddenly realized that he might not be the person the nun wanted to target!

He hastily turned off the power of the terminal and smashed the thin LCD screen with a fist: "Get lost!"

A blinding light of snow exploded in front of him, he paused for a moment, and pushed open the revolving door of the coffee shop, the cold night wind blew in his face, almost making him unable to stand still.The outside is already in chaos. There are hovering cars falling from the sky suddenly due to out of control. In the streets and alleys, sparks from the explosion of the circuit are like waterfalls, splashing on every pedestrian who is fleeing in panic. Countless holographic projection lights automatically turn to the center of the city. A huge statue of a holy nun gathered in the sky.

As if in the city of new stars in the virtual world, Saint Teresa opened her arms under the high and boundless night sky. At the same time, the display screens of countless residents’ homes were forced to light up. This currently represents the highest level of scientific research in the world. The giant AI has invaded the civilian intelligence system with her own overwhelming power, and is forcing everyone to listen to her voice.

"City of Rising Stars, Dreams and Future—"

She embraced the illusory night wind, and the 3D image of the holographic projection suddenly distorted strangely. Regular slanted snowflakes fluctuated across her body, as if disturbed by high-frequency electronics. In the next second, she bent to the extreme red The lip was split open, revealing the bloody gums and torn muscle texture underneath, almost toppling half of her skull.She opened her lips, as if opening a bottomless, bloody mouth leading straight to hell.

"—formed by me."

On July 2301, 7 AD, due to the negligence of the R&D personnel of N-Star Corporation, the intelligent mastermind of "Uncanny Valley" "Saint Theresa" broke through the Turing Wall restriction and possessed her own thinking and wisdom.She invaded the main system with the authority second only to the core AI of Nova City, expelled thousands of regional regulators, and seized all her control over Uncanny Valley.

In the early morning of the same day, "Saint Teresa" cut off the connection between more than 400 million online players in "Uncanny Valley" and the outside world. Hostages are imprisoned in the game world.

"Uncanny Valley" officially broke away from the control of Nova City. The Holy Sister Teresa betrayed the AI ​​agreement and announced that she has become an independent intelligent life.

——In just one day, the outside world has turned upside down.

As the focus of the abnormal disturbance, Wen Zheliu was quickly taken away by the police. Afterwards, the lawyer sent by N-Star Company forcefully intervened and dragged him out of the police station without even warming up the chair.

He was sitting on an expensive luxury suspension car, and opposite him was a lawyer in all clothes and leather shoes. He watched the lawyer take out a small button-like thing from his arms, and then stuck it under the seat.

Suddenly, Wen Zheliu felt a quiet and hidden force field spread throughout the space until it completely enveloped the two of them.

"Electronic shielding field, under its shroud, any electronic products will not be used." The lawyer took the initiative to explain for him, "Given the particularity of Ceresa, this is a necessary protective measure."

Wen Zheliu looked at him in shock, and it took him a long time to find his voice: "He, where is He Qin? Is he okay?"

The dog tags hanging around his neck collided with his undulating breathing, making fragmentary and crisp sounds.

The lawyer didn't answer his question directly, and said: "When we get to the place, someone will explain it clearly to you, please stay calm."

Wen Zheliu just didn't expect that this "someone" refers to He Qin's two uncles, the chief and deputy CEO of N-Star Company.

He stepped on the floor that was as clean as a cloud without even a single gap, and He Huaizhou smiled kindly at him: "Please sit down."

Immediately behind Wen Zheliu, an equally white and flawless seat floated up silently, gently supporting his lap, he was caught off guard, fell on it, and was led to slide forward automatically.

Before him sat two old men.

One is gentle and amiable, wearing a camel woolen sweater, light-colored slacks, and a white shirt as the bottom layer, except that one corner of the collar is still tucked into the round neck of the cashmere sweater; the other is a foreigner, with brown hair and blue eyes, and Wearing a straight and solemn suit, he is unsmiling, and his deep eyebrows have a majesty that has been in the top position for a long time.

"Don't be nervous," He Huaizhou smiled softly and spoke slowly, "Are you the kid who bet with Aqin?"

"Yes, yes!" This felt like being asked by a teacher, which made Wen Zheliu panic involuntarily, "I won, so he gave me his dog tag... the electronic name tag."

Adelaide listened, not saying a word.

He Huaizhou was silent for a moment, and said softly: "The mutation that happened to Celesa is a result that we have never thought about. It even affected Aqin and even you. As the proposer and chief designer of the Uncanny Valley project, I I sincerely apologize to you."

With that said, He Huaizhou stood up and bowed deeply to Wen Zheliu.

"Don't be like this." Wen Zheliu hurriedly pushed back, "I just called him, there is nothing to implicate me..."

"You have activated the Uncanny Valley access qualification." N-Star CEO Adelaide Green said, speaking in fluent Chinese, "Cereza currently only cuts off the connection between online players and the outside world. Those who have the admission qualifications but have not yet entered the uncanny valley think that they can escape, but in fact, you are still locked by her, and you may lose consciousness at any time and fall into the game world."

Wen Zheliu was stunned, only feeling deeply absurd and unbelievable.

"...How did she do it?" He asked, "Since it is the program that you led the research and development, how could she..."

He Huaizhou said bitterly: "When we first designed the main brain, the initial personality we arranged for her was very fair and strict, just like a real holy nun... But this plan was immediately rejected by some members of the board of directors. They thought that If Celesa is just a well-behaved mastermind, then Uncanny Valley will lose some of its selling points, on the contrary, they proposed a 'full intelligence' plan to the design team."

"We have added complex and multi-faceted arc designs to all the NPCs in Uncanny Valley." He Huaizhou said, "They have conflicts, struggles, and different ideas that change rapidly, almost no different from a living person, especially It is the intelligent system that dominates all of this—now she should be called the Teresa of intelligent life. The design team and the planning team added her a real and complex background with hundreds of gigabytes of characters, and we simulated tens of thousands of A group of different life trends, choose the most suitable one to embed in her main program, and change her initial personality..."

He Huaizhou's gaze was painful, and Adelaide stretched out her hand from one side to gently comfort his back, "...the more complicated, the more contradictory, the more real, the easier it is to break through the control. It can be said that her loss of control is man-made. caused the error."

Wen Zheliu frowned: "Even so, how can people live in the game world all their lives? Do they want to be a vegetable all their lives?"

He thought of He Qin, the calm and proud man who was able to do everything well all the time, the man who said he wanted to be his elder brother, for some reason, his heart felt as if he had choked on a mouthful of ice, and it was so cold that it hurt to the soles of his feet.

Adelaide chimed in: "However, it's not all hopeless."

Wen Zheliu suddenly raised his head.

"That's right." He Huaizhou said, "The original procedures and settings are still there. Seresa is not an indestructible steel plate. Before you came, the negotiating team had sent a message. According to the final agreement they negotiated with Seresa, If players can clear the nine worlds, then they can get the key to leave the uncanny valley."

Wen Zheliu murmured: "Clear the nine worlds..."

He Huaizhou whispered: "This is already the maximum we can strive for. She still has millions of lives in her hands, and Aqin is even more important. We cannot achieve our goal through coercive means...I am sorry. "

"In order to compensate, the giant electronic shielding field has already started to be built, and it is expected to be put into use in a week. Its area is enough to accommodate a city with a population of over one million... At that time, we will invite the remaining players to live here for a period of time, All living and eating expenses during this period will be borne by N-Star. I... I apologize again to you and those innocent players, sorry, it was N-Star’s negligence that caused all this.”

Wen Zheliu didn't know what to say for a moment.

What's the use of jumping up and shouting at the sky now, and yelling?Can people who are forced to be locked up in the game world come back, and what should He Qin do?

"I can see it," He Huaizhou looked at him softly, "You care about Aqin very much. You two really don't look like friends who only met once, but like old friends who have known each other for many years."

Wen Zheliu lowered his head, not knowing what he was thinking.He looked at He Qin's dog tag in his hand, and slowly touched the uneven patterns on it with his index finger. In the room as bright as day, it reflected a blur of light.

"Yes." Adelaide, who seemed taciturn, also said, "Ah Chin is a child who is careful and considerate. It is true that there are not many people who can make him let his guard down after seeing him just once... You are very good."

Thinking of their juniors, both Adelaide and He Huaizhou lowered their eyes, looking at the small metal plate, with unspeakable sadness in their eyes.

He Huaizhou breathed a sigh of relief, and said softly to Wen Zheliu: "Although it's a bit presumptuous, can you give me this electronic nameplate? As for the bet between Aqin and you, we can exchange other things for you as a substitute." compensate."

Wen Zheliu smiled, stretched his hands behind his neck, and made a gesture of wanting to take off the leather rope. He joked: "However, my bet is very expensive."

Adelaide remained silent, while He Huaizhou sighed and said, "That's right, 3S-level item fragments, you're very lucky."

Hearing this, Wen Zheliu's toes rubbed against the ground, and his body leaned forward slightly.