Ten Billions of Stardust on the Wire

*Early morning of November 11

"When I was in junior high school, the Science and Technology Week School invited the professor of Faust Technology to give a class, and there were many candidates. There was a debate about bionics in one class. I can't remember the specific topic. Anyway, as you can probably guess, debates on this kind of topic often end in scolding," An Zhuo shrugged.

"At that time they called me a bionic person because I didn't have a father, I was a test-tube baby. I was scolded and cried, and beat the students who scolded me while crying. Later, the professor found the head teacher and invited the parents of the scolding students to the school. My aunt was busy with work and didn't have time to go to school, so the professor sent me home that night."

"I thought the professor was very special at the time. On the way, he told me: Bionic technology can weave the body, but cannot endow a soul. But bionic people are not soulless, and the soul can grow out of the body, which is what they pursued all their lives thing--

{"Teacher, do you believe that people have souls?"

"Yes, everything has a soul, you, me, the worms under the lamp, the trees on the roadside, everything that is alive and breathing is looking for its own soul and sticking to it," the professor replied.

"You..." An Zhuo hesitated. She always thought about school, homework, what to have for dinner, and why her mother didn't come back... She never bothered about her soul, and she didn't even believe in it.

The professor saw An Zhuoyue sitting in the back row through the rearview mirror, "What do you want to ask?"

"I... have you found it? You said that everyone is looking for the soul, have you found it?"

The professor didn't answer immediately, the corners of his mouth trembled, as if melting.He said: "I guess I found it."}

An Zhuo lowered his eyes and continued: "When I came downstairs to my house that day, the professor gave me an old book with gilded pages, "Faust". A very old-fashioned line: 'To the one who loves, love guides the way, for he always strives upwards,' I remember well, and probably forever."

For the one who loves, love guides the way, for he always strives upwards...

Because he always strives to make progress...

Wang Yang thought of Wang Zicheng.The school generally attaches great importance to practical education, and will organize some activities such as "Enterprises Entering the Campus" and "Science and Technology Week". Wang Zicheng was also invited to return to his alma mater to give a speech on popular science.But their school is not in the same district as An Zhuoyue.

"What's the name of the professor you're talking about?" Wang Yang asked.

"Professor Gong, Gong Lan."

Wang Yang felt his throat tighten, "Gong Lan...what are those two words?"

"Here, these are the two words," An Zhuoyue gestured on the glass screen with his fingers.

Gong Lan...Wang Yang was shocked when he heard the name.

familiar.Wang Yang felt that the name was somewhat familiar, but he was not sure. His memory seemed to be playing a joke on him, and randomly smeared mosaics on some scenes and pictures.

"Gong Lan..." Wang Yang repeated softly.

Meng Liang's voice came from the built-in earphone, and he said, "Brother Yang, have you forgotten? Gong Lan is the youngest professor in the Faust Technology Research Department. Serious. Zicheng should have told you, right? They used to be colleagues."

correct!Gong Lan is also a senior engineer of Faust, Zicheng really said that!Wang Yang suddenly realized that the mosaic in his memory gradually became clear.

Wang Yang remembered that he had seen this name on the death list of the R&D department three years ago, and the word "Gonglan" was printed on the upper line of "Wang Zicheng".

But Gong Lan and Wang Zicheng are different.Wang Zicheng is not dead, he disappeared, and Gong Lan's body was found and confirmed.

Wang Yang vaguely remembered that it was raining heavily the day he claimed the body.Gong Lan's files are very clean, there are no living relatives, unmarried, and the body bag in the morgue is like a black swan sleeping in the snow.

The administrator waited until late at night and no one came to claim it, so the leader informed everyone that they could get off work.Wang Yang didn't leave in a hurry, the burning smell still lingered in the room, which was very similar to the scene of the fire, and he felt that as long as he stood here, he could get closer to Wang Zicheng.

Also, there was a person in the rain curtain who did not leave. He seemed to have been standing in the dark for a long time, and he dared to walk into the light when everyone dispersed.

This person is Li Shengfeng.

He traveled 12 districts that night in the rain from another crime scene.He came, but he didn't dare to take a step closer until the night was dark and the shadows were gone.

Gong Lan in the body bag could no longer be seen as a human being, but Li Shengfeng just hugged him, kissed him, kissed his forehead and eye sockets.Tears disappeared in the rain, just like all the past disappeared in time.

Li Shengfeng's family values ​​tradition, and even though laws related to same-sex marriage had been passed at the beginning of the establishment of New Interstellar, his family still could not accept Gong Lan.They have been in love for 14 years, but failed for 14 years.

Sitting in the distance, Wang Yang silently ticked off Gong Lan's name on the claim list, and Wang Zicheng's name neatly fell on the next line of Gong Lan.

Gong Lan and Wang Zicheng are both senior engineers of the Faust R&D Department. The difference is that when Gong Lan learned that his scientific research was related to the design and production of illegal bionic humans, he refused to sign the [Hall of Valor Confidentiality Agreement].

Gong Lan knew that he couldn't change anything. He knew that selling his conscience and dignity could save his life, but in the end he chose to save his conscience.

An Zhuoyue said: "My aunt took me to visit the professor's house, and thanked Professor Gong for taking care of me. I know the relationship between Professor Gong and Captain Li. They are very good people. I went to them again during the Spring Festival one year. It was only then that I learned that Professor Gong had passed away.

"Captain Li didn't talk much that day. He just let me taste the dishes he cooked and asked me if they were good. I said they were delicious. His eye circles were red, and the scar on his forehead was also red. He said I lied to him, Said that I knew how to lie at a young age. He said that only the dishes made by Professor Gong are delicious.

"I didn't lie to him, Captain Li's cooking is delicious, but he can't taste it anymore.

"When I got home that day, I found "Faust" that Professor Gong gave me. Do you know Officer Wang, I have read that book for a long time. At the beginning of the story, Faust mortgaged his soul to the devil to continue his life. Wait for him There are two kinds of endings, the first ending: Faust dies, and the soul belongs to the devil;

The second ending is also the ending created by the author: Faust died, and when the devil was about to harvest his soul, the soul was snatched away by the angels and sent to heaven. "

Wang Yang thought of the mural of Faust's Ascension painted by Yu Linyuan in the secret room of Blue Mill 20370—an old man smiled painfully under the heavy oil paint, and the angels surrounded and pulled him, flying towards the radiance cast by the Virgin.The devil was annoyed and cursed in his lust, and he lost the bet with God.

The devil Mephistopheles did not get the soul pledged by Faust, the fallen soul was snatched away by the angel and thrown to heaven.The angels sang: "For the one who loves, love guides the way, for he always strives upward."

Like Wang Zicheng, the engineers who signed the [Hall of Valor Confidentiality Agreement] and lived in the dark are Fausts who sold their souls to the devil.They choose to live in sin, looking forward to a chance to be redeemed by the light, although the chance is slim.

And Gong Lan never sold his soul.He frankly chooses death, chooses to burn in fire, and chooses to be innocent in the world.He was not Faust to begin with.

Just as he once answered An Zhuoyue's words: "...all things have animism, and everything that lives and breathes is looking for its own soul and sticking to its own soul... that is what they pursue all their lives."

Gong Lan has survived Li Shengfeng's ten years of fighting on the frontier of life and death, but he has not survived the flimsy non-disclosure agreement.A hundred years of life is nothing more than scorched earth, but Gong Lan left too hastily, and Li Shengfeng couldn't bear it.

Wang Yang recalled the information on the death of members of the "Association for Ecological Protection and Respect for Bionic Humans" provided by An Zhuoyou: On December 128, 12, Li Shengfeng died of suicide at the age of 20.

At that time, Wang Yang did not believe the authenticity of this information.He believed that Li Shengfeng's suicide was pure nonsense, and nothing could crush the will of that kind of person.But the reality is like this, nothing is indestructible, even the sharpest Mo Dao has a moment of curling.

Li Shengfeng died in the flames of suicide. This is not suicide, but a martyrdom.

Those are things of the past, but in many moments, only when the past is in his heart, can he appreciate the horror in it——Wang Yang's palms felt cold, and he began to doubt himself——

"Why did I not recall anything about Gong Lan and Li Shengfeng at all when I saw "Li Shengfeng Died in ***" for the first time on November 11?"

"Gong Lan died in the fire, Li Shengfeng died, such an obvious connection, why didn't I think of it at the first time..."

"Why didn't I remember who Gong Lan was until An Zhuoyue mentioned Professor Gong, and Meng Liang reminded me who Gong Lan was in the headset..."

Wang Yang felt that the process of his memory gradually clearing up was very similar to the process of triggering a node and gradually transforming into a high-definition video, as if it had been recorded in advance... Wang Yang has never found any deviation in his memory since he was a child, until now !

But he didn't have any more time to think about his own problems—suddenly, the ground under his feet shook, and all the lights in the deep corridor and the white room went out!

An Zhuo's sharp screams were mixed with the noisy voice from the earphones.The shock lasted for ten seconds, and the tide was like a wave, as if a giant ax from the hell abyss slammed on the floor, wall, and ceiling, shaking every structure and foundation of the shelter. fear.

When the lights gradually turned on, Wang Yang saw An Zhuoyue on the glass screen covered in blood, huddled in a corner with her knees huddled in the corner. In the moment of darkness, she tore off the contacts on her head, and the blood dripped down the tip of her nose and chin. On the ground, the soft white is dyed into bright red.

"Brother Yang? Brother Yang! Are you listening?" Meng Liang yelled through the earphones, the background sound was abnormally chaotic, "Brother Yang is in trouble! Someone airstrikes the [Danger Shelter] building!"

"Air strike?!" Wang Yang immediately opened the universal gateway, and information about the air strike exploded on the Internet.In the live video, multiple aircrafts hit the [Dangerous Shelter], and five huge dark cavities were drilled on the surface of the building. Burning and explosions continued, thick smoke was transpiring, and fireballs rolled and fell on the surface of the building, like an angry Balrog spitting out flames. .At this moment, Wang Yang was standing in the depths of the building that had been attacked.

And there is a familiar sign on the tail of the crashed plane, the sign of Yan Mansion!Yan Zhengdong? !

Government officials attacking government agencies? !How can it be?

Wang Yang vaguely felt that the world was in chaos.