Drowning in a sea of ​​moonlight

?You can read the warning content first.

Boundless darkness.

Apart from the occasional drip of water on the floor, there was no sound.

This is a cell hundreds of meters underground where the worst prisoners are held. You can't even hear the breathing of the prisoners, as if death itself is being held.

But, on this day, at the end of these beehive-like cells, there sat a guard.

The people in the cell are talking.

... Today, I silently wrote Schiller's poetry again on the floor!Is it great?

said the dark-haired prisoner.

Not even death is invincible in the face of endless torture.

Only this person is an exception.

Under torture and interrogation, on the floor where the floor was soaked countless times with reddish-brown blood, he dragged his body and sat on the only bed in the cell, still smiling like this.

I remember, you like Schiller's poems very much... don't you want to hear me recite one?Mingming, and that Russian mouse are both...

The prisoner spoke, his voice slowly trailing off.

...Listen to me, it's annoying.Then I won't chat with you today.said the prisoner.

I'll tell you a story, okay?You want to hear my story, don't you?

—Occasionally, in this long darkness, the prisoner would tell a story to the guard.

Every story is different.

The original story was weird.Members of a world-saving organization versus a young mafioso.

Under the mishaps, after many dangers and obstacles, they accompany and support each other until they reach the end of their lives.It's such a nonsensical story.

And then, the story of a lonely leader who sees all and the light that saves him.

A story of a child and a kitten.

The story of a couple who lost each other on one Christmas Eve.

The story of two students who reunite after a long absence in a magic school.

The story of a tutor from the West and a young son of the Chinese during the Taisho period.

The story of the Great Old One and his chosen followers.

Like this, many, many stories.

So, talk to me, will you...?Just one word is fine...

Now, on the condition of an unknown number of stories, the prisoner demanded.

No corresponding reply came.

The prisoner lowered his head slowly.

OK, I'm kidding.I know you don't want to talk to me, I don't want to threaten you with this, don't be angry.

It's just that today's story may be the last one.Having said this, I have nothing more to say.

The guard still didn't speak.

He just looked at the distant door quietly, without even moving his eyes.

...I didn't intend to hold you back.This is the request.Because, after I have no stories to tell, you won't come again.

So even if there is only one word, hey, Mister Jinji...

And me……

...Forget it.

I know you will never come again.

I know you...hate me.

Then I'll finish this story earlier, earlier... so I won't bother you.

... Thank you for being able to listen to me tell these stories these days.

said the prisoner.

So, this is my last story.

Under the new government, the world is at peace.

In addition to the occasional disappearances that have been suppressed, there are also terrorist organizations that the Thought Police have worked hard to suppress.

There are even few wars between countries, and these are not things that ordinary people need to worry about at all.

Everyone is equal here, and everyone lives in absolute trust and worship of the government.

All the actions of all citizens are supervised by the ubiquitous "intelligent brain", and all history is promptly corrected and changed to the most "correct" version by the government.

Except for those who occasionally have rebellious thoughts, commit "thought crimes", and are sent to receive reformation reasonably, everyone is extremely "happy".

Dazai bit his pencil, thinking silently, what a disgusting world he didn't want to stay in for a second.

If it weren't for his high IQ and the government's perfect protection measures, he would have succeeded long ago.

But, it doesn't really matter.

Even if it wasn't for such a government and such a society, living in this world probably wouldn't make much sense.

It's just that, living in chaos in this world every day, living a mediocre life, and dying a mediocre one.

...Until one day, he got a strange "book".

After that, he has been searching, is there such an organization in this completely distorted world?

Is there, even just a little bit, the possibility of him finding "happiness"?

Although, probably not, he thought.If they were there, it would be impossible to allow this to become what it is today.

But he is still looking for, in government agencies, pretending to be thoughtless, leading a group of thoughtless robots, in order to make full use of government information and resources.

He decided to "find them" as the meaning of this life.

On this day, he hired a new clerk with a shy smile and a look in his eyes that was a little different from the others.

When Dazai passed by the tea room, he saw him standing next to the oven, and in the oven...

... There is an open can of beer.

Dazai asked, "Is this yours?"

"Eh? No." The clerk stared blankly at his expression, and then immediately showed a look of horror, "I'm very sorry! I know you shouldn't drink beer during working hours. I didn't follow the rules. I..."

"Only this one time."

Dazai said, feeling his heart hit his chest heavily, as if it was about to jump out in the next second, "What's your name?"

"Kuriki Haruka?"

The clerk tentatively said, his tone was very hesitant, but his eyes were fixed on him.

"Well, go ahead."

Dazai kept this name firmly in his heart, waved his hand, and walked out of the tea room with somewhat flamboyant steps.

Of course, the tea room was also monitored, so it was impossible for Dazai to say anything more to that person.

Later, when checking the surveillance, he also deliberately called up dozens of videos, and mixed in the one from this day, trying to confirm whether it was the beer he put.

Although his attitude is a bit similar, it does make people feel a little inconsistent.It seemed that if it were his word (now, Kalanish, or whatever the world is called), there were some things he wouldn't say that way, and some things he wouldn't do that way.

But after all, it is a different world, and some differences are inevitable - Dazai thought so, but found a somewhat intriguing fact.

——It wasn't him who put the can of beer, but another person, and it seemed that he didn't remember where he put the beer in the end.

So what was his motivation?Abusing good people?

...If it was really him, it would make sense, Dazai thought, and suddenly felt a little laughing.

Anyway, it's probably going to be fun later on.

Do you think I'm ridiculous, Mr. Today, said the prisoner.

How I wish I could go back to that moment and start over.If you don't, you won't hate me so much.

His answer was still only silence.

When Li Mu sent him the documents, he brought a piece of snack: "Mr. Dazai, I applied for this from the Ministry of Truth's Logistics Department. Seeing that you didn't eat much at noon today, I thought that if you are hungry in the afternoon, you can eat it." this?"

"..." Dazai smiled, "I'm interested, thank you. Put it there."

"Okay, then I'm leaving, see you in an hour!"

He waved his hand happily, walked out of the office with the documents in his arms, and gently closed the door behind him.

This month, he has not been promoted slowly. After all, he is meticulous and conscientious in his work, and he is considered smart.But of course, Dazai also contributed to this.

Ever since another employee had gotten into a fight with him last week, he'd decided to keep that person within his reach.

Even if Li Mu might not be that person, he must not take such a risk.

Bored, Dazai continued to correct the documents, approved the word "agree" on the "reform application form" to the other employee, and then rang the bell to ask another deputy to take these documents away.

Although this is a lot of torture to people's body and mind, there is no way. People whose brains can't control their behavior can't live no matter where they are.It will only be a matter of time before the next boss sends him to the reform department.

Over the years, he has also sent many people to the reform department.

He looked out of the window, recalling the current situation in that world, and smiled wryly in his heart.

If it were you, you would definitely look at me with condemning eyes.But there is no way.

If you don't, there isn't even a shred of possibility of finding you.

Only by stepping on the mountain of corpses and going up all the way until I reach a high enough position can I have the freedom to run to you with all my strength.

Not long after Kuriki knocked on the door, Dazai tidied up the documents and smiled at him: "Thanks for your hard work."

Li Mu also smiled, and if you look closely, you can see a little tenderness in those eyes: "It's not hard, Mr. Dazai."

Such a seemingly peaceful life ended completely on the day that terrorist organization attacked.

The moment the alarm sounded, he realized that there was a fatal flaw in the information he had.

People inside the government have always known that the so-called terrorist organizations do not exist, but are just fabricated by the government to lure those who have rebellious ideas into the bait, and then send them to the Ministry of Reform.

However, "terrorist organizations do exist", which shows that he is far from entering the real center of power here.

It also illustrates another possibility that sends shivers down his spine.

The employee who was sent to the reform department stood in front of him dripping with blood, held the knife with five fingers that had been deformed by torture, pressed it against his neck, and said to the people behind him, "That chestnut tree is useless, get rid of it!" Right. This person is important, take him away first."

The red-haired woman behind him said with some concern, "Your injury, first—"

"It's okay." The man coughed up a mouthful of blood, and looked at him expressionlessly, the gold in his eyes made him almost dizzy.

——"The Moonlight Society is a terrorist organization."

He alone hadn't considered the possibility.

But he didn't have time to think any more, and he couldn't see anyone else. He could only see the pupils in front of him that made him feel cold, and the blood on that person's face. He heard his trembling voice say, " you……"

How could you be him, Dazai thought, how could you be so seriously injured, how could you be so careless...

Then he remembered that I was responsible for his serious injury.

I signed it myself,

"agree".

In an instant, the severe pain that made it difficult for him to breathe hit, and the blood on that person's body also spread in front of him.

Until his vision was filled with bright red, he felt that there was not a single cell in his body that was not in pain. The pain made him tremble all over, and the pain made him almost want to cry out.

But he didn't, he just raised his hand in a trance, trying to touch the hand holding the knife (the hand with deformed knuckles, because of me, because of me, because of me), but was hit by the handle back, kneeling on the ground.

The strength that the man used did not hold back at all, that blow seemed to break his spine, and the pain from it made his nasal cavity sore.

He finally made a sound, put his hands on the ground, and listened to the painful hoarse, beast-like whine from his own vocal cords.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Today, I'm sorry." He said, "I didn't think...it hurts, I'm sorry..."

The man looked at him with completely lifeless eyes, as if he was looking at a lunatic who was dying.

"..." He smiled desolately, "Although you won't believe it, I know you in another world, and in that world we are... the most important people to each other.

I know your real name is Kalanish, and the name of your organization is 'Moonlight Society', I don't really want to work for the government, I just want to find you..."

Then another knife handle landed on the back of his neck, and his vision was quickly enveloped in darkness. He finally heard Donna's voice saying, "I didn't expect these people to have collected so much information. How did they find it?"

"I'll know after the torture." Jin Ji said.

The guard also knew the next story.

The prisoner was brought in and tortured, but he refused to say anything...unless the guard came to see him.

Then he will be like a different person, becoming cautious and well-behaved, telling him little by little the government's secrets, and telling him so many interesting stories.

If it was in a peaceful age, maybe the guards would soften their hearts.

But this is war.A brutal war that risked their lives, and the freedom of everyone else.

Each of them has less than a few years left to live, at the expense of strengthened physical fitness.

In a world like this, a world without magic, without supernatural powers, without the power to help them overcome the laws of physics and defeat those people, they have nothing but the will to die.

Countless important companions have been killed or injured so far.Under stricter ideological control, it is extremely difficult to just recruit new companions, and it is impossible to expose the survivors to any risks other than necessary.

Besides, there is no reason to believe the nonsense of the enemy.This person holds a high position in the government and has countless lives on his hands. It is impossible to bet on whether he will find out with his conscience.

Prisoners figured this out, too.

He understood that from the very beginning, everything was twisted.He would do things for the government in order to be able to find them, and that was what would keep him from gaining their trust again.

Looking back, it couldn't be more clear, that Li Mu was just an ambitious idiot, with a little more brains than other idiots, knowing how to use his emotional flaws, and even got his own ideas.

The reason why he claimed the can of beer was probably because he couldn't completely conceal the...hope in his eyes at that time.

But now, he can't feel anything related to hope.

Although he said he wanted to do it all over again, in fact, even if he did it all over again, what could he do?

Even if he has never joined the government, but lives as a civilian, he will be subject to stricter surveillance and brainwashing because of the talents he has shown since he was a child.

What's more, there are too many civilians in this world, and they have no reason to come to find themselves alone;

Although some civilians have the potential to awaken the spirit of resistance, most of them are informers who will completely destroy the organization.If you want to succeed, you still need to obtain relevant intelligence from government officials.

If you don't help the tyrant, you won't meet him at all, and helping the tyrant will make them always stand on opposite sides and hurt each other forever.

...Obviously, we should love each other, obviously you want to liberate me and rescue me from this sea of ​​suffering, and I will stand by your side willingly.

If it were in another world, wouldn't it have ended like this?

If I do it again, will there be a world where everything is clean and clear, I love him, and he loves me.

I really want that kind of world.

The prisoner said, I want to advise you until you defeat that government.I really want to.

...But I'm already, too tired, Mr. Today.

The guard didn't know whether he was calling himself or through himself, calling someone else.

In the end, can you... give me a hug, I'm really cold.said the prisoner.

I only have... one wish.

No answer.

The guard still sat there quietly, as if he didn't hear this sentence at all.

……Ha ha.What the hell am I talking about, of course you won't agree.Hope it didn't bother you, just forget about it.

The prisoner said, lying back on the bed, curled up under the covers.

You still, like before, wait until I fall asleep... then go...

The guard did so, and left without a sound, his black clothes lost in the shadows, as if he had never been here before.

What he just didn't know was that this time, the prisoner wasn't asleep.Instead of huddling under the quilt, he tried to close his eyes, pretending that he was falling asleep with him.

This time, the prisoner just watched his receding back, silently, silently, clutching the quilt, curled up, silently... tears streaming down his face.

The cell was vacated the next day.

According to reports from those who visited the prison in the morning, the prisoner here somehow opened the handcuffs, and then used his clothes and a hook on the ceiling to end his own life.

He didn't leave any last words, nothing, the only traces of his life in this world are some untrue and false information about the government, and that absurd, many stories.

The wind blew up, as if to sweep this decayed world clean.

The guard stood there, looking at the ruined street under the roof, looking at the records in his hands and all the stories dictated by the prisoners. For some reason, he felt pain in his heart that had not been seen for a long time.

But he turned around in the next second, put on his coat, and said to his companion, "Let's go. Go to the next city."

— to continue an endless war in this twisted dark mad world.

The author has something to say:

WARNING: Major character death.Depictions of bloodshed, hints of torture, captivity, and psychopathy.

This is a fictional story. The world view is completely different from reality. The psychology of the characters has been simplified and the negative emotions have been amplified. It can be regarded as the dream of the main character; please cherish life!

The content of converting the BE of this chapter to HE will also be released. If you want to read it, you can move to the next chapter.

The title pays homage to Neil Gaiman's AStudyinEmerald;

The content is a tribute to George Orwell's 1984.

The dialogue inside the prison is left out of quotation marks to highlight the fact that time has almost stood still in these two episodes, and that the psychology of both has been twisted.

Kuriki Haruka's name has no special meaning. He chose a name with the same three characters as today and sounds somewhat similar.

I wrote this article because I promised that there would be a BE (in fact, I wanted to turn it into HE for countless times in the process, orz), it may be a little too hard, and friends who feel too cruel can move to the if in the previous chapter. The story of this chapter is really HE, absolutely HE.

Friends who want to recall the mood of wanting BE at that time can also review the previous plot before leaving **.

Thank you very much for your support, I will continue to work hard!