[The Wandering Earth] Short Story Collection: The Age of Roses

It was a cold and hazy early winter morning, and as usual, they were conducting experiments in the laboratory of the "Navigator" project, doing the final finishing touches for the completion of the plan.A few days earlier, the scientists in the Life Sciences Division had been informed that they would be on vacation with the conclusion of the trial.This news caused a stir in some laboratories, and even when Liu Qi went out to go to the bathroom, he heard someone discussing the resort in the cubicle. However, even in the atmosphere of discussing such brisk topics, Liu Qi was still sharp. I felt something was wrong with the atmosphere in the laboratory—the laboratory next door was locked the day before, and the door was also sealed, and Wang Lei had been dignified since the morning. He raised his head as if nothing had happened, and looked out the window as if nothing had happened.

A message on the smart screen outside the door of the next-door laboratory showed that the entire laboratory had gone to the Gulf for vacation.However, Liu Qi clearly remembered that just the day before, he saw the person in charge of that laboratory, who was still muttering that there was an experiment that had not been completed... This is exactly where the suspicion lies.Although the person in charge is not as senior as Wang Lei, it is almost impossible for scientists like them who regard research as important as life to give up any experiment that is still in progress.

He intentionally approached Wang Lei to inquire, but when he stopped the lover who was wearing a white coat and frowning on the opposite side of the experimental table, he met Wang Lei's obviously restless eyes, and somehow swallowed the words that were already on the verge of his mouth.

Wang Lei cast a questioning look, and the young scientist naturally knew that this was a signal that the older lover was willing to listen to him.

"You..." He paused hastily, as if he was choking on saliva, "Come here and see my product?"

As soon as he said it, Liu Qi spurned himself in his heart.A poor excuse, he thought, but the other party had already smiled knowingly, and then walked around the dark laboratory table.Liu Qi had no choice but to hold up the EP tube in his hand and show Wang Lei a small piece of off-white sediment underneath.

"I don't understand why this reaction is always unsuccessful." He finally found some inspiration, and said nonsense to his lover in a serious manner, "Obviously the steps are all carried out according to the operation manual."

The corners of Wang Lei's lips curled up slightly, which was where Liu Qi was usually happy to kiss.He gave his teenager a reassuring smile, then raised his arm and patted him on the back.

"Do you want me to tell you, or think for yourself?" He said, "As far as I know, Liu Qi is good at finding answers by himself."

"I don't need you."

Liu Qi let out a "chi" sound from his nose, twisted his shoulders, and escaped from Wang Lei's protection.

He raised his elbow to touch his lover's ribs:

"I can find the answer myself."

It seemed that Wang Lei was in better condition, Liu Qi turned his head contentedly.He picked up a pipette on the laboratory table and began to concentrate on another complex experiment of his.

So he ignored Wang Lei's expression behind him.There was a faint haze on the man's steel-like face. He watched Liu Qi's back and blinked slowly.

There were gloomy expectations and sadness in his eyes, as if he had entrusted his life to him.

Liu Qi put down the EP tube in his hand and walked slowly to the window of the laboratory.This silver-white circular building overlooks the entire Beijing city from a height, and all the prosperity and hustle and bustle, poverty and pain are clearly exposed in broad daylight.There was wind on the upper floors, hitting the tempered glass of the outer wall of the laboratory hollowly, and even the gray sky seemed to be coated with a dark tone.

Liu Qi opened his mouth, almost wanting to call Wang Lei's name.

The incandescent lamp reflected his figure in the iron-grey glass, and the hazy background just reminded Liu Qi of the day when their palms held each other tightly for the first time. Snow.He glanced in Wang Lei's direction. The elderly scientist was standing by the door, looking down at the phone, not knowing who he was communicating with.Liu Qi stared at Wang Lei's figure, and the memory of the warm past made the curve of his lips softer.

He originally wanted to talk to Wang Lei about the day they first met, but seeing Wang Lei's gloomy expression, he suppressed this thought.There will always be a chance, he said silently, as Wang Lei said, we will have many more days together.

When talking about this experience with the child lying on his knee and blinking innocently, Liu Qi silently raised his hand and stroked his grandson's soft black hair.The soft hair unique to young children brushed against the back of his hand, causing his last memory about Wang Lei to emerge uncontrollably in his mind, as well as the last words he said to him:

"I can find the answer myself."

In the following years and even decades, Liu Qi spent too much time reflecting and regretting his reaction to Wang Lei that day.The gaffes of the elders that he deliberately ignored, and the helplessness that he knew the world was turning upside down, but he could only stand there dumbfounded, waiting for others to give their lives to save him.Although MOSS repeatedly told him, "That has nothing to do with you, it's just part of the plan", Liu Qi still couldn't escape the guilt that bit him like a tarsal maggot.Wang Lei died for himself. Liu Qi murmured and squirmed his lips in those late nights when he couldn't fall asleep due to pain or exhaustion, lying on a simple bed or somewhere in the open air, staring at the ceiling with wide, dark eyes.Wang Lei would not let himself know all the sacrifices he had made, but MOSS confessed everything to Liu Qi.

The fall of the laboratory came suddenly.One second Liu Qi was still staring at the iron-gray traffic on the street below, and the next second he was suddenly rushed in from the open door of the laboratory. The fully armed soldiers cut their hands behind their backs and pressed the flame-retardant blanket of the laboratory. superior.His first thought was to reveal his identity—someone else in the lab did that, but in an instant he thought that the badge on his white coat was already the best proof of identity, which made him He hesitated for a moment to blurt out the words.

The newly arrived junior sister shouted loudly that she was a scientist inside the project, Liu Qi subconsciously cast an expectant look at her, but what happened made his eyes widen suddenly, and his heart rate immediately rose.

Hearing the little scientist's voice, instead of stopping their movements, the soldiers in black turned their cold, weapon-like faces to the tablets in their hands.Someone knocked him hard on the back, and he staggered and fell, shoved on the cold ground.Liu Qi struggled to observe the opposite scene from the gap at the bottom of the experimental platform, and could only hear the little junior sister sobbing softly.He just wanted to make a sound, but his head was stepped on immediately.

The sound of gasping for air. There was a "bang".Return to the silent room.

He didn't miss the faint smell floating in the air, the product built around the sulfur element is gunpowder smoke and gunpowder.Liu Qi recalled the flash of the gun's muzzle just now, and desperately lifted his cervical spine under heavy pressure from the ground.He wanted to question, to resist, to yell—but he stopped abruptly when he touched the warm liquid next to his cheek.

Bright red, warm.

Thick.

blood.

"Don't hurt my students!"

Liu Qi had never heard Wang Lei speak in such a stern voice, but the muffled grunt of being hit by an iron fist showed the failure of the scientist's questioning.He heard Wang Lei coughing hoarsely, and the soldiers pushed him up and let him lean his back on the experimental table.Then they dragged Liu Qi up.

The black-haired young man turned his head in a panic, and was relieved to see his older lover's expression as usual.His lover didn't look in his direction, but stared at a point at the entrance of the laboratory—it was the only place in the laboratory where a holographic projection was installed. At this time, a person was standing, to be precise, it was an artificial intelligence.The complex coding endowed him with smooth brown hair and black eyes. Liu Qi found that he was standing in a position where he could have a panoramic view of the movements of the scientists in the entire laboratory.The young man was dressed in white and stood peacefully in the middle of the ground.

——Artificial Intelligence "Tianji".

The sole lead AI of the "Navigator" program.

"No one wants to hurt them." Tianji spoke in a slightly raised tone, even if there was no emotion in the voice, it was enough to be fake, "Humans are hurting themselves."

"Then what's going on?"

Wang Lei's hair was messed up. He suppressed his anger and turned his slightly trembling body to the uncooled corpse of the little scientist on the ground. He couldn't even suppress the pain in his words: "MOSS said you would not hurt them!"

"Really?" Tianji's cold voice answered him, "Human beings are really naive."

"you--"

"enough."

The artificial intelligence's face suddenly changed, he clapped his hands, and the soldiers in black immediately led the scientists in the laboratory and filed out to the corridor.

"I don't want to play with you anymore."

Just as the villain in the story tore off his mask at the last moment, the last smile on the skin presented by Tianji projection also disappeared.Liu Qi bumped his head against the test bench, and he was forced to bend down and follow Wang Lei out.

The lights in the corridor have been extinguished, and what follows is the endless darkness they are about to face.Liu Qi raised his eyes hastily, and happened to bump into Wang Lei's eyes.Like a traveler in the dark who sees a kindling, he struggles to draw hope and comfort from it, and hopes that he can understand his silent words.

It doesn't matter.He heard Wang Lei say.do not be afraid.

I will protect you.You will be safe.

"—Are you Liu Qi?"

Just when he was about to walk out of the laboratory, the artificial intelligence, which had been silent all this time, suddenly spoke, and he looked at Liu Qi's face with all his leisure, staring at the angry eyes of a young lion.

"So what?"

Liu Qi made a hissing sound through his teeth.

"I've read your research report." Tianji, who just killed an innocent person, didn't think it was disobedience, but smiled slightly, as if looking at a treasure, "I appreciate you very much, you will be of great use .”

"..."

"Did you hear what I said? Take him away alone." The artificial intelligence raised its chin in the direction of the stairs, and Liu Qi felt a sudden heavy blow to the back of his head, and his consciousness slipped uncontrollably towards the abyss. It was too late to send out a warning to Wang Lei and the others.

At the last second before he lost his perception of the outside world, he saw Wang Lei's silent pupils staring at him.I don't know if it was dazzled or what, but he actually saw a little bit of relief there.

Following the docile artificial intelligence out of the ward, Liu Qi moved his arms curiously.He had just read his medical record, and although it said "cranial brain damage", he felt that his body was in normal condition.This is not common in the case of brain damage, just like injury to the left brain will always affect the limb reflex area of ​​the right half of the body, no matter how you say it, there should be physical effects.

The artificial intelligence leading him disappeared inexplicably after sending him to a row of smart lockers, and the surrounding was strangely quiet.Liu Qi couldn't recognize where it was. In his memory, he was still studying at the Capital University. Some time ago, he had just agreed with his friend Li Yiyi to join the famous "Navigator" project.If what the artificial intelligence said is true, he should be in a hospital in Beijing.And no matter which hospital it is, he should not be the only one.

The screen of the locker in front of him flickered slightly, he frowned and leaned over to check.The instructions on the electronic screen instruct him to place his palm on the scanning screen below.Liu Qi followed his words without any hope, but found that a success message popped up on the screen, and a locker on the right side popped open.

A faint white light glowed from inside the cabinet, illuminating two things inside: a red pill and a USB drive.Liu Qi tentatively stretched out his hand, and the USB flash drive started to feel cool, and it looked ordinary, with a stick figure whale drawn on the end.There was nothing on the red pill, but it was very strange, Liu Qi felt that it had life.

"That pill disables the surveillance chip you've been implanted with, and reminds you of all the things you've forgotten in the past two years. Although the person who arranged for you to have the chip implanted wants you to live an ordinary life, you really don't Are you curious about what you have experienced in the past two years?"

Liu Qi turned his head suddenly, and there was a snow-white light in the corridor, shining on a holographic projection not far from him.It was the figure of a young man. From his flawless appearance, it could be seen that he was not a human being, but was made of superimposed images.He has platinum-blonde hair and beautiful lake green eyes. Although he maintains a leisurely standing posture, there is no emotion in his eyes.

"……You are?"

"You can call me MOSS."

Liu Qi narrowed his eyes:

"How can you be sure what you said is true?"

"You don't need to believe it," the artificial intelligence shrugged, "it doesn't matter to me, it's just about you."

There was a brief silence.Liu Qi stared at him for a while, then suddenly stuffed the tablet in his hand into his mouth.This kind of tablet is usually taken with water, but he resisted the discomfort in his throat and swallowed it forcefully.Unexpectedly, the tablet glides smoothly in the esophagus without any feeling of stagnation.

What now?Liu Qigang wanted to ask the artificial intelligence he had just met a few questions, and his mind was filled with more and more doubts, and he even vaguely felt as if he was standing in a mystery.However, before he could speak, he was suddenly overwhelmed by a wave of memories rushing towards his face like a tidal wave.A flood of colorful and off-white memories poured into his mind like a storm. He thought of standing on the pure white square and looking up at the building, of the everlasting white lights of the laboratory and the robots waving rags in the cafeteria, and of the scene in the laboratory next door. The smiles of the beautiful sister and colleagues reminded him of his teacher—their house in the family area, which contained a study room of Liu Qi, and recalled the fragrance of Yuyuantan in Wang Lei's home, and he frowned but smiled at himself.

"Wang Lei." Liu Qi murmured, "Wang, Wang Lei..."

"He was cleared by the heavenly secret, in order to take the blame for you."

Moss had come to his side at some point, notifying him of the news in a flat tone.

"Why didn't you save him!" Liu Qi suddenly turned his head, "You should—"

"I can only save one person, and he chose you."

MOSS lowered his head silently:

"I'm very sorry."

"You just said that someone chooses for me," Liu Qi said suddenly, "is it him too?"

"Yes."

"You found me," the young scientist pursed his lips, and MOSS saw his red eyes, "for what? - Don't talk to me about 'do you want to know the truth', since Wang Lei will help me choose, it means It is safe to unfold now, you are obviously going to drag me into the quagmire, what do you want me to do for you?"

"Resistance."

"Rebel against whom?"

MOSS stretched out a finger and pointed to the sky:

"A secret."

The artificial intelligence is still in a flat tone: "I want to overthrow the secrets of heaven."

"Why?" Liu Qi frowned, "You are all artificial intelligence, why do you want to help humans?"

"That's my business." His request was rejected by MOSS, and the artificial intelligence raised its lake-green eyes, "I just ask you to join or not."

"You're obviously plotting against me." Liu Qi said calmly.

"Ah."

Moss nodded.

"But this is the only way to avenge Wang Lei." Liu Qi continued.

"Ah."

"—when can we start?"

MOSS smiled, it was the first time Liu Qi saw the smile of artificial intelligence.His platinum-blond hair grew a little longer, falling gently to the side of his face.

"at any time."

AI has a soft voice.

There was even some inexplicable and relaxed meaning in that smile.

"follow me."

Liu Qi stuffed the USB drive back into his pocket, followed MOSS, and walked out of the long white corridor of the hospital.

His face was very quiet, and the black leather shoes he took out from the shoe cabinet struck the ground, forming an empty echo.The glass revolving door rotates silently in the pure white lobby.

It was dark, and the street lights were on.Through the smart glasses, Liu Qi saw MOSS make a "please" gesture, leading him to a black car that was not very good looking and just turned the corner.

None of them noticed that on the distant sky, the first snow of this winter had fallen on the city of Beijing.

【Redemption·End】

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Leiqi this CP's votive book, I hope everyone enjoys eating~