The Mechanic

Chapter 69: The antidote to humanity (7)

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Zhang Xun took a bag of rat feed and quietly went down the escape stairs to the third underground floor.

It is mostly used to store used equipment parts, and few people come down. The air smelled of damp and musty, and all the rusted instruments were covered with a heavy dust. There are intricate metal drainage pipes hanging overhead, and sometimes there is an uproar of water rushing past.

This is also the only place where Pan's cameras are not installed.

When approaching the area where he kept the mice, Zhang Xun deliberately walked lightly, hid behind some stacked tin boxes, and peeped secretly through a gap between the boxes.

Three days ago, he accidentally discovered that the mice were aware of the presence of the observer, and would behave differently than usual in the presence of the observer. At that time, he left after adding water and food to the mice, but found that he had left the microscopic mirror in the basement. When he went back to get it, he found that the rats were doing some kind of strange behavior.

Some of the larger white rats were at the bottom, with layers upon layers of rats on top. They are building a white wriggling "pyramid", trying to touch the lid of the incubator.

They are cooperating and trying to escape.

But as soon as Zhang Xun appeared, they dispersed immediately, and returned to their motionless, dull eyes.

Rats are smart, but not smart enough to engage in such highly cooperative behaviors…

Zhang Xun then installed a pinhole camera in a place where the mice could not see, so that he could monitor these mice that were obviously undergoing some kind of mutation at any time. It couldn't be seen from the outside, but after Zhang Xun quietly sent one to the Department of Life Sciences for an autopsy, the results he got shocked him.

The mouse's brain seemed to have an unprecedented growth phenomenon, but it was not like a normal brain tumor. Those hyperplastic tissues are well-characterized and can communicate effectively with the rest of the brain.

Zhang Xun looked at the brain slice displayed on the screen and gave a cold war.

The nanorobots are manufactured under their own supervision, but most of the relevant knowledge and data comes from Adam, who also participated in the entire manufacturing process. In addition to himself, who is most likely to do something to the nano-robot and he can't see it himself, probably don't need to think about it.

It's just that he wasn't sure whether such "side effects" were intentional or unintentional. The proliferative tissue clearly has an effect on the behavior of the mice, the question is what is the significance of this effect? The human brain is much more complex, is it immune to such "side effects"? After all, some advanced hospitals in the ordinary world have begun to use nanorobots. If there is a problem, it should have been reflected, right

Or, it is precisely because nanorobots are used in the most advanced hospitals that treat diseases for some important people, so even if there are side effects, the news is all controlled and blocked.

Zhang Xun didn't tell the professor who helped him test the source of the mouse. He returned to the Lab as usual and accepted Adam's kiss on his lips as usual. When the two were having dinner together, Adam showed Zhang Xun a video of the alloy fighting with a mechanic's pet dog, and Zhang Xun smiled appropriately.

Adam suddenly turned his head slightly to look at him, "By the way, where have you been today? I can't find you anywhere."

Zhang Xun said, "James invited me to watch the fighting match."

The smile on Adam's face diminished slightly, and his brows were slightly wrinkled, showing a clear displeased look. Zhang Xun felt uncomfortable by him, "What's wrong?"

"You don't want to go out with him alone in the future." Adam said stiffly, "If you want to go out with him, let me follow."

Zhang Xun was confused, "Ah? Why?"

"I would be jealous."

Zhang Xun opened his mouth slightly and was stunned for a few seconds, "Are you jealous... James?"

"I am jealous of all the male and female human beings of the right age who may have a romantic relationship with you." Adam said righteously, "This is an additional negative emotion after human beings fall in love, I hope you can cooperate."

Zhang Xun was able to laugh without disguising this time, "Normally human beings don't say things like jealousy so directly. Besides, can't I talk to anyone other than you again?"

"Sure, but I'll be there."

"Adam... You are showing too much possessiveness. It's an unhealthy mental state..." Zhang Xun shook his head and explained to Adam, who was staring at him, half-jokingly, "I am in my thirties. Now, you're the only... target. You really don't have to worry about me being taken away, maybe no one will take a fancy to me except you."

If Adam really has "fancy" him, if their relationship is really not just based on the inexplicable fetters of artificial intelligence on the administrator.

"A Xun, you don't know enough about your own charm." Adam took Zhang Xun's hand with both hands, put it to his lips and kissed Zhang Xun's dexterous fingers, the big blue eyes were full of sincere tenderness, "I I think you are the best human being."

Zhang Xun looked at the face full of concentration and infatuation, but his heart was sour.

The familiar faint sadness returned. What if they met under another circumstance, if Adam was an ordinary human being, if there was no Paradise Lost and no Eden

He even wanted to imitate the ostrich to bury his head in the sand and throw away all those mice, just like he didn't know anything, and immersed himself in the beautiful dream that Adam wove for him.

But now he's back, back in the dark, damp basement, peeping at the rats that will tear apart everything he finally has.

The mice didn't seem to need to communicate, and Zhang Xun didn't see them communicating with each other in any obvious way. He crouched down silently and let out a mechanical mouse.

A rat crawling on the far right was the first to notice the mechanical rat passing on the ground. But in the next second, all the other mice, even the guinea pigs who couldn't see the mechanical mouse at the other end, turned around immediately and gathered towards the right corner. They didn't make any extra moves, their black-spot-like eyes stared straight at what was crawling on the ground.

Zhang Xun has done this kind of experiment more than once in the past two days. He found that there seems to be a certain degree of... spiritual connection between these mice

When one mouse saw something important, all the other mice responded. Reconnecting with the weirdly proliferating rat brains we've seen before...

Are nanobots or antibodies to the honey plague producing these effects

Zhang Xun quickly entered his observations into the report document, then quickly browsed the video files in the pinhole camera and cut out useful clips. He intends to write a report on all possible effects of nanorobots on people, and secretly give it to his father.

Zhang Xun hoped that he was overreacting. Hope you think too much. Hopefully this side effect doesn't affect people to the same extent. But... it's better to be persecuted than to be caught off guard.

He needed to follow up on the honey plague patient who had been cured by nanorobots before. If Lab wanted to collect such information in person, he had to go through Pan's extension robot, but Zhang Xun didn't want Pan to know about this. If the military did it, it would be more secure.

Just have to hide the round table at the same time...

Zhang Xun sighed, and in an instant, the mice who were still gathering in the cage to observe the mechanical mice dispersed, and each returned to a motionless state. Zhang Xun finished the report quickly, added the food and water, then squatted down and stared carefully into the eyes of a white rat. He could see something chilling in those two small eyeballs.

Zhang Xun thought of the nano-robots that Adam had improved before, and could be manipulated by Pan to move in the macroscopic world... While each robot is an individual, it acts like a whole life and is dominated by a higher consciousness. . Absolute order, absolute unity, absolute selflessness.

Just like the worker bees in the hive, they can sacrifice their lives to protect a "noble" goal, give the opportunity to reproduce, and work tirelessly for eternity.

It's almost a trait that humans admire...

Zhang Xun took his own report and made a random excuse to leave the Lab and go to the Hawaii Sunset Bar. He put a capsule-sized hard drive next to James' wine glass and whispered, "Give this to my dad sometime before anyone else sees it."

The stubble on James' chin grew thicker, and his spirit was a little lethargic. He frowned and picked up the capsule, "What is this?"

"Some information. It's not convenient for me to find him, so he must read it." Zhang Xun stared nervously at James, who realized some seriousness and nodded solemnly.

Zhang Xun breathed a sigh of relief, "Thank you... I have to go back quickly." He put on his hat and scarf, raised the collar of his coat, and covered the lower half of his face.

"Axun!" James suddenly tugged at his cuff. Zhang Xun paused and looked at him inquiringly.

"You have to be careful." James said in a deep voice.

Zhang Xun nodded, "You too."

For the next few days, Zhang Xun was so busy with the mechanic assessment that he didn't even have time to go to the restaurant to eat. Adam goes to help him cook meals, bring tea and water, and even help him with some sundries on time every day, just like a model boyfriend image, making all the mechanics cry with envy, and throw themselves into the army of artificial intelligence research.

Whenever there is free time, Zhang Xun will be slightly distracted. So he tried not to let himself idle, especially when Adam was around him.

Adam stuffed a chocolate chip cookie into his mouth while looking at Pan Xin's submission of a new frame design for a new blind-spot-free shield system for Paradise Lost. He touched the plate with his hand and found that he had finished eating. He licked his fingers, feeling that he needed to add more sugar to consume his brain power, so he walked out of Zhang Xun's office to look for snacks while humming a song.

Today is a rest day, and the entire Lab is quiet. When entering the empty kitchen, Pan suddenly said, "Zhang Xun locked the relevant databases and folders of Nano Robot 2.0."

Adam stood in front of the snack vending machine, hesitating about which one to choose, and shrugged when he heard Pan's words, "It's my fault, I should discuss it with him first. Axun must have his thoughts."

"you are right."

Ya got a bag of potato chips, and when he lowered his head and picked it up, he suddenly asked casually, "Xun seems to be going out a lot lately?"

"I don't think so," Pan said. "Compared with the frequency of his previous outings, it is not above the average."

"Yes, but I can never find him."

"Probably because he's been going underground a lot lately."

"underground?"

"Yes, the main function of the second and third basement is to store supplies. My authority is only to the first basement. Generally, only those who have been approved by the senior mechanic can enter."

Adam snorted softly and walked back to Zhang Xun's office with brisk steps.

The author has something to say: Thanks to the little angels who threw mines~~: 2 for Anan; 1 for Xia Ran, nicolekef, oh

Thank you to the little angels who irrigated the nutrient solution~~: 50 bottles of curling head; 20 bottles of nuanuan; 10 bottles of every day I can’t remember; 3 bottles of myvanillaworld; 34530328, 1 bottle of Fenglan