Maybe Xing must hate humans.
From a human perspective, perhaps there are reasons of their own. These biochemical bodies that are stronger than themselves have stronger functions, stronger vitality, and stronger adaptability. They are infinitely close to humans, but they will never be humans.
Once control is lost, humanity may only face destruction.
Just like the outside world, those vagrants struggling to survive, those refugees staring at a glimmer of illusory hope, and those fragile lives that are vulnerable to biochemical creatures.
These are the "friends" that humans created in order to cope with the difficult world. After experiencing the initial loyalty, humans will eventually return to the most terrifying point - even the slightest possibility of human destruction must be eliminated.
Including those "friends" who have risked their lives for humanity.
What biochemical bodies feel is completely different from humans. They are born for humans and are recognized by human "friends". They are so close to humans that they are guided to learn how to be more like humans, to experience joy, anger, sorrow, and happiness, to learn to think and to express themselves. However, the more similar they are to humans, the more they will have the complexity and loss of control that humans fear.
As a sample, human beings are born and die day by day and year by year, and will never be perfect.
How can a biochemical being that is learning human nature little by little maintain absolute loyalty under the name of "friend" with absolute restrictions as humans expect
In the end, it may not matter who betrayed whom or who gave up on "friends" first. What matters is that this betrayal seems to be destined to happen.
"Will you hate me?"
When Qiu Shi looked at Xing Bi and asked this question, it was already difficult for him to describe his feelings. He just wanted to confirm what kind of emotions Xing Bi had when facing himself as a fellow human being.
They had been through battles and life and death together.
Qiu Shi once said that this is a friendship of life and death.
But he was not sure how much weight this friendship had in the face of Xing Bi's painful past.
Xing Bi did not answer immediately. He looked at Qiu Shi and after a while, he curled his lips slightly and said, "No."
At this moment, Qiu Shi felt that all the messy and confused emotions came up at once.
Push into the eyes.
He turned his head quickly.
The last time I cried was more than ten years ago, when Zhao Lu was beaten down the mountain by a gang of refugees in the outer city just for stealing a can of food for him who was sick.
After that, he stood on the top of the bunker outside the city and saw too much suffering and despair, and always thought that nothing would make him cry again.
But now the tears came so suddenly and wildly that as he turned his head, a tear fell on the back of his hand.
"This is fucking..." He rubbed his eyes in shock, "Ancestors."
Li Feng lit a cigarette and looked at Xing Bi.
Qiu Shi walked over and took a cigarette from the cigarette box on the table and lit it.
"Smoking is prohibited in the laboratory," Director Wu reminded him.
"Then kill me." said Qiu Shi.
Director Wu sighed.
Li Feng laughed.
Qiu Shi didn't sit on the chair, but squatted beside it. He couldn't sit still when he needed to think, or in other words, when he felt insecure, he needed to gather himself together, as if he wanted to squeeze all the little courage he had into one place.
"Can you lock his memory of today?" Qiu Shi asked, cigarette in hand.
Li Feng looked at Director Wu.
"It's impossible to be so precise," said Director Wu. "After all, this is not like modifying a program. The error before and after will be relatively large, so we usually lock a certain stage for a few months or a year."
"What is the error?" Qiu Shi asked.
"One or two months," said Director Wu.
"What kind of crappy technique is this?" Qiu Shi couldn't help but look at him. "It just made me lose my mind, didn't it? Even if I rubbed his brain with my fucking fingers, I might not be able to make such a wide error."
Director Wu opened his mouth but no words came out.
Li Feng couldn't stop laughing for a long time with the cigarette between his legs, and the ashes fell to the ground.
Director Wu glanced at the cigarette ashes on the ground. Li Feng smiled and stretched out his foot to rub the ashes away with the sole of his shoe.
After that, there was silence in the laboratory.
"Is there no solution?" Qiu Shi asked.
"For the time being..." Director Wu frowned.
"Well," Qiu Shi said, "Use your crappy technology, and let it be two months. I can just... go back outside the city and no longer have to work for the crooked officials."
"That's unlikely." Li Feng said.
"Who do you think you are?" Qiu Shi glanced at him and found that Li Feng was looking at Xing Bi.
When Qiu Shi said this, he had not looked at Xing Bi again. Only now could he not help but take a look towards the glass cover.
Xing Bi was looking at him, and when their eyes met, Xing Bi shook his head.
"Locking it up for two months is very detrimental to the current situation in Yuncheng," Li Feng said, "Xing Bi's experiences and memories during this period are weapons."
"Is there room for anything else in your mind?" Qiu Shi asked.
"Even if we can lock his memory," Li Feng said, "what about yours? What about mine? What about Old Wu's?"
Qiu Shi was stunned.
"We are human beings, not biochemical beings," Li Feng said, "Our memories cannot be locked. When facing Xing Bi, we will always remember those experiences for him. With his brain, it won't take him long to realize that something is wrong."
Qiu Shi was silent. The cigarette he was holding was almost finished. The ash fell to the ground with a very thin "puff" sound. He came back to his senses and asked, "What do you mean?"
"Xing Bi," Li Feng stood up, walked to the glass cover, and looked at Xing Bi, "The only way now is for you to remember it forever and face it."
"Fuck." Qiu Shi cursed.
Xing Bi looked at Li Feng without saying anything.
"Humans don't have the ability to block memories," Li Feng said. "Although life is only a few decades long, and even shorter these days, everything we've experienced is there, whether it's happiness or pain, and we can't forget it even if we want to."
Xing Bi still looked at him with a focused gaze.
"I don't think being infinitely close to humans is something to be proud of," Li Feng said. "Human nature is complex, and there is always a side that cannot be seen in the light. Any small temptation can destroy a person, but humans also have precious qualities. Remember, face, think, and digest. All experiences are nutrients for your growth."
Qiu Shi looked at Li Feng. This was the first time he heard Li Feng say such words. Director Wu was probably hearing it for the first time as well, and there was a hint of surprise on his face.
"You've been through a lot more than us, and you've endured a lot more," Li Feng turned around and walked back to the table, leaning against it, his eyes looking at the ground. "You've made countless choices, choosing humans or choosing your own kind, so you should know that once you make a choice, the only choice left is whether to stick with it."
This was the second time Qiu Shi heard Li Feng say this. He didn't quite understand it before, but now after listening to it, he suddenly understood what Li Feng meant.
"Qiu Shi chose to believe you, and I chose to believe you," Li Feng said, "Director Wu will be forced to choose to believe you in a while. What we have to do is to keep choosing to believe in you, and what you have to do is also to continue to believe that human beings will never be able to eliminate their despicable nature, and there will always be someone worthy of your choice to trust."
After Li Feng finished speaking, he sat back in his chair and said nothing more.
The laboratory became quiet again.
Xing Bi propped his arms on the hood, slowly moved closer, rested his forehead on his arms and stared outside, as if he wanted to see something clearly. After a moment of silence, he spoke in a hoarse voice: "Okay."
Qiu Shi felt his breathing pause for a brief moment. He couldn't speak, and he couldn't tell whether he felt relieved or more tense.
In such a world, no matter what position or attitude one takes, it seems imperfect.
"Let Xing Bi come out, inspect and repair, and do not restrict his freedom." Li Feng glanced at the time, "There will be a meeting in half an hour, I will report directly."
"Don't they need to participate?" asked Director Wu.
"No need," Li Feng said, "What they want to know is nothing more than the matter of Donglin and the Symbiote Corps. As for Xing Bi, the facts have proven that he is not only controllable, but also very controllable. The other biochemical bodies and symbiotes can enter the next stage."
Director Wu didn't say anything and seemed to be thinking.
"Director Wu," Li Feng said, "don't hesitate. You have no other choice."
Director Wu sighed.
"Be optimistic," Li Feng said, "At least we are all alive. The most uncomfortable thing next is just to have a meeting."
Xing Bi's injuries were not serious. When he used rocks as cover to detonate the bomb, the infected people who pounced on him took most of the damage.
In comparison, Qiu Shi’s injury might be more troublesome. After all, he is a human being. Even if it is just a cut, it will take several days to heal.
"There's a machine in Donglin," Qiu Shi asked Director Wu while waiting for someone to re-treat his wound, "that can perform automatic surgery or something. Does Yuncheng have one?"
"Yes." said Director Wu.
"Who are they for?" Qiu Shi asked.
Director Wu didn't say anything.
"What is life like in the inner city?" Qiu Shi looked at Xing Bi, who was inspecting in another treatment room separated from him by a glass.
"Everyone has his own way of living." Director Wu is not as good at conversation as Li Feng, nor does he speak as directly as Li Feng.
"I'll go back to the bunker in a bit," Qiu Shi said. "Director Li said Xing Bi can go with me."
"If he says yes, just listen to him," Director Wu said, "Don't ask me anymore. I don't care about these things. I'll prepare all the medicines you need. If they are not enough or you need some other medicines, you can tell Director Li."
"Well, thank you." said Qiu Shi.
Director Wu didn't say anything. He just watched in silence as they treated his wounds, then turned and went to the next room.
The two vehicles they brought back were both given to the corpse collectors. Li Feng had someone send the all-terrain vehicle to the outer city, and the big black car from Donglin was parked in the underground parking lot of the exhibition hall. It had been washed clean, and two passes from the Security Bureau and the City Defense Bureau were affixed to the front of the car.
In this situation, Li Feng’s own car only had a pass from the Security Bureau.
There were a lot of supplies in the carriage, including clothes, food, medicine and so on.
Qiu Shi looked at Xing Bi. When he and Xing Bi left the laboratory together, Director Wu looked a little worried. After all, no one had ever lived with a biological body for a long time. No one knew whether Xing Bi's emotions would fluctuate or whether there would be any accidents.
But Li Feng's idea was very simple. For Xing Bi, who had that memory, the laboratory was more stimulating than any other place.
Once you choose to trust, you must keep trusting.
"Are you going to open it?" Qiu Shi asked Xing Bi.
"Yeah." Xing Bi responded and sat in the driver's seat.
Qiu Shi also got in the car: "In a while, Zhao Lu and the others might..."
"Watch me." Xing Bi said.
"After all, you were just a security guard before," Qiu Shi said, "and you were just as easily drunk as Zhao Lu."
Xing Bi smiled and started the car.
"Xing Bi," Qiu Shi looked at him, "Just now... I didn't have a chance to say anything."
"Do you want to tell me now?" Xing Bi asked.
"I wanted to say something," Qiu Shi frowned, "but when I opened my mouth I didn't know what to say."
"The teaching quality of refugee schools in the outer city is still not good enough," said Xing Bi.
Qiu Shi laughed, and after a while he said, "No matter how many enemies you have, you will always have friends."
"Like you?" Xing Bi said.
"Yeah," Qiu Shi nodded, "If you only have one friend left, it will be me."
Xing Bi smiled and said, "You are my only friend now."
Qiu Shi didn't know what to say. He reached out and patted his shoulder, then scratched it hard, pulling the wound on his chest. He quickly withdrew his hand and said, "Fuck."
"Where's that MP3?" Xing Bi asked. "Give it to me."
"What three?" Qiu Shi didn't understand.
"The thing that sings Happy Birthday." Xing Bi said.
"Here." Qiu Shi took it out of his pocket and when he was about to hand it to Xing Bi, he found a small stain of blood on it from somewhere, so he quickly rubbed it on his pants a few times.
"It's okay." Xing Bi took it and put it in his pocket.
"I'll go back to the bunker and charge your phone," Qiu Shi said, then sighed, "It's just the same song I keep listening to."
"You've already sung two songs." Xing Bi said.
"If you don't mind," Qiu Shi said, "I can probably sing three or five more songs."
"You can record it." Xing Bi said.
"Then I'll use my pet to record a bunch of videos for you," Qiu Shi said, "They're still watchable."
"I'm not used to that thing." Xing Bi said.
"Use antiques for antiques," said Qiu Shi.
"Yeah." Xing Bi smiled.
When driving out of the inner city, Qiu Shi specifically asked Xing Bi to take a detour and drive half a circle in the inner city.
You can see that many places in the inner city are in a mess.
Because the buildings are basically either built against the mountains, or half of the space is in the mountain, or tunnels are built into the mountains and the mountains are hollowed out. So once a bomb is launched, the mountain and the vegetation on the surface will be destroyed together. The exposed bare rock surfaces are messy and sharp, and look even worse than Donglin Town which has experienced a small battle.
The car was stopped at the checkpoint leaving the inner city.
The check was still done by the guards from the City Defense Department. They first looked at the pass on the front of the car, then stuck their heads in to look at the people in the car.
"The corpse collector?" The guard who was checking the passenger side looked at Qiu Shi, "Where did you get the car from?"
Qiu Shi pays close attention to people's faces. Although the faces of the living and the dead will gradually become blurred as time goes by, there will always be some that remain in his memory.
For example, this annoying face in front of me.
It seemed that the new guard who had stopped him here once was also impressed by him.
Of course, he is no longer a newcomer, so he is even more arrogant than before.
"Come down!" He pointed at Qiu Shi.
"Why?" Qiu Shi leaned back in his chair and looked at him, feeling a little irritated.
The inner city annoyed him, no matter what the time.
"I have reason to suspect that your car is stolen! Get down!" He arrogantly pulled out a gun and pointed it at him.
Qiu Shi took off the gun from his leg almost at the same time as him, reached out of the window, and pointed the gun at the tip of his nose: "Get lost."
Several guards nearby came over immediately, guns drawn and pointed: "What's going on?"
"There's something wrong with this car!" He looked at the gun in Qiu Shi's hand and said, "A corpse collector..."
"They have passes," one said, "and there's nothing wrong with the passes."
"Is Lao Lu here?" Qiu Shi asked.
"Here," the man turned around and called into the checkpoint hut, "Old Lu!"
Old Lu ran out and was stunned when he saw this scene. When he saw that it was Qiu, he was stunned again: "What's going on?"
"Why don't you give me a call?" Qiu Shi said, "Can I come through?"
"Is there a problem with the pass?" Old Lu asked the person next to him.
"No." Someone answered.
"Pass." Old Lu frowned and gave the arrogant look, "Did I tell you that Qiu Shi is Director Li's man? Do you have such a brain?"
As for the corpse collector, in the eyes of these people, he is not even as good as the refugees from the outer city, and probably not worthy of being given half a brain.
"There is no record of him entering the inner city!" He was arrogant and still refused to cooperate.
Qiu Shi didn't want to cause trouble and waste time here. He is now a mature corpse collector and is no longer so impulsive.
He opened the car door, jumped out, and before Xiangqiling could react, he grabbed him by the back of the neck and slammed him against the car.
It’s a pity that this person didn’t give him a chance.
After a loud bang, the arrogant man fell to the ground, covering his forehead.
"Can we go now?" Qiu Shi asked.
“Go, go, go, go, go…” Old Lu waved at him.
The car drove out of the checkpoint.
Qiu Shi frowned and put the gun away with an unhappy look on his face: "It's already this late, and you're still trying to show off when you get the chance."
"Did you fight often in the past?" Xing Bi asked.
"Not often," Qiu Shi thought for a moment, "maybe I played more when I was a kid."
Xing Bi said nothing.
"What's wrong?" Qiu Shi glanced at him.
“… It’s quite interesting,” Xing Bi said, “and it’s very efficient.”
"The advanced humans you came into contact with before didn't fight like this, right?" Qiu Shi said.
"It took you so long to remember this sentence." Xing Bi curled the corners of his mouth.
"That's what you said. I remember it for a long time," Qiu Shi said. "I usually forget what people say in a few days."
Xing Bi said nothing and looked out the window.
The outer city remained the same and had not been damaged, but there was really nothing to destroy. The various broken sheds built from top to bottom with wooden frames against the mountain wall did not need anyone to drop a bomb. A heavy rain alone would collapse half of them.
If there is any difference, it is the people, or the overall atmosphere. The crazy joy born out of despair that originally filled the outer city is gone.
It became a little quiet and depressing.
Perhaps it was because everyone felt that this shelter, which was just enough to keep them alive, had become somewhat shaky.
The army's defense line outside the city had expanded a lot. Although it was invisible, Qiu Shi could feel it as soon as he came out of the tunnel.
That kind of intuition that comes from living here for more than 20 years can keenly capture any slight changes.
"I'll get you a separate shelter later," Qiu Shi said. "If you don't want to mess with them, just stay inside."
"No need." Xing Bi said.
"What I mean is," Qiu Shi looked at him, "they are willing to..."
"I don't want to be alone." Xing Bi said.
"Okay, I understand," Qiu Shi nodded, "Then when we rest at night..."
"No need." Xing Bi said.
"What do you mean you don't need to rest?" Qiu Shi was stunned. "You don't need to rest..."
"No need for a separate room." Xing Bi said.
Qiu Shi didn't quite understand: "Then you..."
"I'm in your room." Xing Bi said.
"Can I still say a complete sentence?" Qiu Shi said.
"Isn't that what I said?" Xing Bi said.
Qiu Shi couldn't help laughing: "Damn."
The car drove all the way to the bottom of the hill where the bunker was located. The bunker was quiet, with no people and no sound.
"From the moment we came out of the tunnel, these guys pointed their guns at us." Qiu Shi said, and he could even hear a hint of pride in his own tone.
"Flash the headlights twice." He said to Xing Bi.
Xing Bi fiddled with the light twice, then looked at him and said, "The light seems to be broken."
“… Shit.” Qiu Shi was speechless. He could only open the car window, stick his head out, and yell, “Me!”
A man rushed out of the observation bunker, shouting with full force: "Fuck you, your ancestors—"
It’s Zhao Lu.
Then more than a dozen people rushed out from different shelters.
"Xing Bi," Qiu Shi turned his head and looked at Xing Bi, "You are really good at hiding your emotions."
Xing Bi also turned his head and looked at him without saying anything.
"So I can't tell what your current state is," Qiu Shi said, "I just want to tell you that if you feel uncomfortable, unhappy, or unhappy, you must tell me."
"Yeah." Xing Bi responded.
"If possible," Qiu Shi said, "I don't want to be your partner, I just want to be your friend."
"I know." Xing Bi said.
"Brother Shi—"
"It's Brother Shi!"
A group of people on the hillside rushed down, shouting and yelling. All of them were agile and nimble, except for one person who started rolling after running a few steps.
"This idiot," Qiu Shi opened the car door and got out of the car, "What grudge does he have against Li Feng? Why is he still here?"
"Fuck you!" Zhao Lu rushed in first, and the last few steps were to jump down from a rock, and he rushed directly to Qiu Shi, hugged him, and kissed him on the face, "Alive!"
"Alive!" A group of people jumped over and started to pounce on it as if they were competing.
In just a few seconds, Qiu Shi was surrounded by this group of people and could no longer be seen.
There was pure joy and excitement on everyone's face and in everyone's eyes, rough and straightforward.
Xing Bi did not get out of the car. He leaned on the driver's seat and quietly watched this group of unscrupulous corpse collectors who were shouting, laughing, and cursing from time to time.
"Human beings are like this, produced on shabby assembly lines with uneven quality. They can surprise you, but they can also make you despair."
The author has something to say:
See you tomorrow\\^O^/.