Ant colony

I still remember when I was very young, my mother took me to the history museum.I got a fish-shaped hydrogen balloon there, and I liked it very much, but before I was happy for a few minutes, I accidentally let go of it, and it flew away.I ran to grab its string, but missed.I can only watch it float and float, fly higher and higher, and finally become a small dot in the sky.I burst into tears.

All childhood memories have long since disappeared, only this period remains clearly.Therefore, it can be regarded as the first memory of my life.Unfortunately, the first impressive thing in my life is "lost".

Some things always have the nature of floating upward like a hydrogen balloon.All I could do was hold on to the thread and try not to let it escape my grasp.

I went to watch β-Autumn again.She was back to normal, chatting and laughing with me, joking and amusing, as if it was really just a nightmare before.All the indicators detected by the system are also completely normal, so the monitoring level for her has been lowered.

Only I still have doubts in my heart.I still feel like she's hiding something from me.

One day, I had a conversation with Aunt Gamma-Li in Cape Agulhas.The system did not report the abnormality of β-Qiu to her, because the nearest important contact is me, and notifying auntie will only increase her unnecessary worries.I didn't mention it either, but just confided my doubts to her vaguely.

"What should we do if the person we love deeply hides a monster deep inside?"

Auntie smiled lovingly, as if I had asked a childish question, before the famous giant wave at Cape Agulhas.

"Son, don't bring your professional habits into your life. You don't need to see so clearly in everyone's heart, especially for the important people around us."

"Why?" I was a little puzzled - shouldn't we understand the people who are closer to us more thoroughly?

"Curiosity is not always beneficial," the aunt said. "Sometimes you have worked hard to find the truth, and what good do you get? It's like our eyesight. It doesn't need to be extremely fine, and it doesn't need to see every detail A speck of dust. It just needs to see what really matters to us."

Auntie's words certainly make sense.But what is it that really matters?

I'm still closely monitoring every move of 109 and its followers. Number 109 has decided to hold an offline rally on New Year's Eve, and those blind believers responded enthusiastically, but the real Chaos still hasn't shown up.

Until the 27th, everything was calm.I can't tell if I'm anxious or relieved.

That night, the director held a New Year's dinner at her house, and by the way, said goodbye to us.I promised her I'd be there—it was the first time I'd been to a party in eight years.

α-Han agreed to help me dress up.As a result, the two of us struggled together in the cloakroom for an hour this afternoon.

It's all because of her pointing fingers. "Don't listen to the system's advice, it will only make you look exactly like everyone else. Just like the little girl who took her commemorative photos on the viewing platform by the lake, 90.00% of them would choose a red dress and pose in the same shape. Scattered It’s really boring to see dozens of camera crews who look like replicants every night.”

"Then what should I wear?" Without the system's suggestions, I have absolutely no idea of ​​what to wear.

"The easiest thing is to do the opposite of what it says. It tells you to wear red and you wear green. It tells you to wear a dress and you wear shorts."

"What are you kidding!" I threw a short skirt in her face.

"Well, to be honest, I don't understand either." She became serious. "In terms of aesthetics, I am indeed inferior to the system, no, it is lower than the average human level—so in my eyes, you look good no matter what."

"Asshole." I don't count on her anymore, it's good that this guy doesn't make trouble.In the end, I chose a simple champagne-colored evening dress according to the system's suggestion.

Fortunately, α-han has some uses.She is quite ingenious and can help me put on makeup and braid my hair.When her slender fingers shuttled lightly through my hair, I asked, "Are you really not going with me?"

"No. I have work to do. Besides, I was not invited."

"It's because Σ-Lu doesn't know that I'm with you."

"Who told you not to tell the world in advance?"

"It's okay, you just go with me."

She smiled and poked the back of my neck, "Hey, don't you dare to go alone? What's this called, social phobia?"

"Why am I afraid?" I lifted my chin, "I just want to introduce you to everyone."

She stopped what she was doing, and seemed to hesitate for a while, but finally said: "I do have something to do today. Next time, next time I have a chance, I will accompany you well."

I nodded helplessly and said, "Then you should go to bed early. If you are not in bed when I go home, I will not spare you."

"Okay." She agreed readily. "Yes, remember to bring a gift."

I dawdled with her and almost got late.When I arrived at the director's mansion on the top floor of a tall building in the west of the city, many people had already gathered there.

In addition to my colleagues and subordinates, there are also many members of the municipal committee.When they saw me, they all had surprised expressions on their faces, as if they saw a man ostentatiously on the street.

Σ-Lu came over with a smile and took my arm: "Welcome, welcome, we are all from our own family, we must have a good time today."

She said to everyone: "Look, how beautiful our δ-rou is dressed up. If I were ten years younger, I would definitely not let her go!"

Everyone laughed.I could only smile awkwardly and follow Σ-Lu to the inside.

"What?" she asked me in a low voice, "You came alone?"

"I..." I was most afraid of others prying into my personal problems, so I couldn't help but get nervous.At this time, I suddenly remembered that I still had the life-saving magic weapon prepared for me by α-Han in my hand.

I hurriedly gave the gift box in my hand to Σ-Lu: "Director, this is a gift from me. I hope you like it!"

"Yo, it's becoming more and more human." She squinted at me and opened the package with a smile.

Inside was an old cardboard box.She froze for a moment, opened the box, and her eyes lit up immediately.

"It's hard to bother you." She smiled, "Where did you find this thing? It's really rare."

I sighed secretly, α-Han is really a god.Before, I was always worried about what kind of gift to give, so she asked me what special hobbies Σ-Lu usually has.I said she was fine and always liked to carry a few paper photos on her body, α-han thought about it and came up with an idea.

"This kind of person tends to have a retro aesthetic. Just give her an old antique from the last century, she will definitely like it."

All kinds of famous paintings, furniture, mechanical clocks and clocks, as well as old computers, airplanes and cars immediately came to my mind.Can't help frowning: "What you said makes sense, but I can't go looting the history museum, can I?"

"Look at you, your thinking is more limited than that of an ant." She glared at me, "When it comes to the relics of the 21st century, don't you think that your mind is full of cultural relics in museums? There are too many things left in the 21st century, I You were not asked to send an aircraft carrier."

"Ah, I see, how about a bag of soda bottle caps for her?"

α-han looked at me speechlessly for a while, and sighed: "It's a miracle that your community evaluation score is not negative."

"Hey, don't laugh at me, use one percent of your IQ to help me think again!"

She sneered, ignored me, and turned her head to ponder over her bible-like formulas.But the next morning, as soon as I arrived at the office, I saw a small cardboard box besides a new bouquet of flowers on the table.

This is the gift she prepared for me - a box of world map puzzles left over from the last century.

Although I still don't understand what's so good about this thing, I choose to believe in the one percent IQ that α-han uses for worldly sophistication.Unexpectedly, Σ-Lu really liked this gift so much, her excited expression was like a little girl receiving a Christmas present.

She was thanking me all the time, when a voice suddenly came from behind her: "What's so fun to watch?"

When I turned around, I saw Mayor Ikuro holding a wine glass and looking at us with a smile on his face.

She was wearing a silver evening dress, a string of pearl necklaces, and silver-white hair, making her even more elegant.Her unflappable strength made me straighten my waist, and I called out respectfully: "Mayor."

"This is not the municipal council." She shook her hand. "Just call me Ikuro."

"Look," Σ-Lu held the paper box in front of her, "This child gave it to me, it's really thoughtful."

Ikuro glanced at it and said, "This is a puzzle piece of the world map."

Σ-Lu said with a smile: "That's right. You are still very knowledgeable, you can tell it at a glance."

"I used to play with this thing when I was a child." Ikuro picked up a puzzle piece with his fingertips and played with it nostalgicly. "It's hard to find now."

It occurred to me that we never knew how old Ikuro was.Was she born and raised in some underground bunker?It is entirely possible.

She looked at me suddenly with sharp eyes, and then said to Σ-Lu: "You don't mind borrowing your little friend, do you?"

Σ-Lu was taken aback, then smiled and said, "Please feel free."

"I want to borrow your puzzle." Ikuro took the box without any explanation, and walked to a small round table by the window.

I looked at Σ-Lu in a bewilderment, and she hurriedly motioned for me to follow.I was at a loss. I didn't know why the mayor suddenly had his eyes on me, so I had to bite the bullet and follow her.

Ikuro sat down in front of the French windows.The view here is excellent, overlooking the whole city.The criss-crossing superconducting magnetic levitation tracks and the endless flow of vehicles and airships are shining in the night, like a magnificent river of lights.

I sat across from Ikuro and watched her dump a box of puzzle pieces onto the table.

"I also have several boxes of puzzles at home." She said, "There is also a pure white one, and each piece is distinguished by its shape. People in the last century have so many tricks."

I forcefully answered: "Do you like to collect cultural relics?"

"No. Actually, I'm only interested in paper books. Puzzles and other gadgets are just for fun."

I thought the mayor hadn't come to discuss ancient puzzle games with me when he suddenly called me alone.But what she was going to do, I really didn't know what to do, and I became more and more confused.

As if seeing my doubts, Ikuro smiled and said, "Have you ever thought that jigsaw puzzles are actually a very philosophical game? Our society is like a huge and cumbersome jigsaw puzzle. In his life, he can only find some fragments of it, and he will never be able to spell out its whole picture."

I nodded in agreement: "Yes. Everyone's understanding of society is one-sided."

"In the early days of civilization, it was fine." Ikuro said as he picked out some pieces and put them back together. "People with high status and knowledgeable people can roughly guess the outline of this figure. Later, this puzzle became larger and more complex, but the intelligence of human beings to process information has not improved much. Reflect In politics, as John Adams said, 'Despite all the progress humans have made in all other areas of science, governments have balked and are not governing in the same way as they were 4000 years ago'. Even the rulers at the top of the society, at best, have a few extra fragments in their hands, and their ignorance is only half a step away from ordinary people."

I watched the Australian continent gradually pieced together under her hands, and fell into deep thought.

She continued: "So, they think they are doing beneficial things, but it often backfires. Some of them are desperately accumulating capital, but are eventually swallowed by the monsters of capital; some think that destroying the enemy will allow them to get more resources Unexpectedly, they end up with the enemy in the end; some fool the people, thinking that they can sit back and relax in this way, but they don’t know that the destructive power of fools is like a flood of beasts, and even they can’t control themselves. All things in nature, even paramecium, can seek advantages and avoid disadvantages However, the best elites of mankind could not do it. If it were not for the emergence of social management tools like the system, only a few human beings would be doomed to be unable to effectively manage a collective of billions of people with only the wisdom of a few human beings. It would only be a matter of time before society collapsed. "

I looked up in a daze, still not knowing what she meant by telling me this.

There was a gleam of intelligence in her gray eyes. "Son, don't blame me for nagging. I just want you to remember a truth. No one - even if she is an unborn genius - can think that she is infallible. Individual wills are fragments, the difference is only the size That's all. Only the collective will can see the whole picture of the puzzle."

I nodded again and said, "I remember."

"If I remember correctly, your university major is history?"

"Yes."

"Then what do you think of human history?"

This question is so vast that I feel it is beyond my competence.I tried my best to search for the professional knowledge that had long been dusty in my mind, but I still managed to recall some.

"I think human beings have long been longing for our current society, but it was impossible to achieve it because of backward technology."

"Oh?" Ikuro smiled slightly, "This view is a bit new. Many people think that our current society is an innovation only in modern times."

"In fact, it has been conceived in our traditions for a long time." I said, "Many religions in ancient times had an invisible ledger, which recorded the good and evil deeds of a person's life, and used them as the basis for being judged after death. Credentials. This is the most primitive point system. Currency is also a point system, but it is still too one-sided and too simple. Human nature is to hope to get the most detailed records and make the most perfect plan. But because of the lack of computing power, Records are often unfair, and planning often backfires. But that's not the fault of records and planning, it's just people's incompetence."

I didn't expect that I could speak such a long paragraph fluently, and I looked at the mayor's expression nervously.

She didn't have any obvious reaction, but said: "From your point of view, those who oppose the existing system are actually opposing the pursuit of all mankind since ancient times. This is not only anti-system, but also anti-humanity. Yes ?"

If it was a month ago, I would have definitely answered "yes".But now, I just feel that something in my brain is churning into a mess, and I can no longer firmly believe in what I said.

I can't help being horrified.I try to think about other people's thoughts every day, but forget to look at myself.When did my thoughts gradually change?

When I came back to my senses, Ikuro was looking at me with interest, and said quickly, "Yes."

"I knew it, you are a child with ideas." Ikuro smiled and picked up the glass. "Okay, you go to play with your friends. Tell Σ-Lu, I will play with her puzzle again, and I will return it to her intact later."

I turned my head and saw that the director was still standing not far away, looking towards us intentionally or unintentionally.I stood up, thanked Ikuro and said goodbye, and went back to the chief.

As soon as I walked in front of Σ-Lu, she grabbed me and asked in a low voice, "What did the mayor tell you?"

I replied: "Start with the puzzle, and tell me the principles of social management."

Σ-Lu smiled: "That's good."

"what?"

"Come on, come over and have something to eat first." She pulled me to the long table, brought me a piece of pastry, and then said: "You are on the system's recommendation list. Maybe you really have a chance to succeed."

"Me?" I thought it was a little funny, "I shouldn't have any advantage."

"Yes, you are younger and your organizational skills are not strong enough. These are disadvantages." She said, "But if you can really catch the bug this time, it must be a huge contribution. The situation is different. gone."

We're not in the secrecy zone right now, so she didn't say the word Chaos outright, but we both knew it.

"But I don't have any expectations," I said.

With three days left until December 12th, whether or not Chaos finally shows up, we'll also have to do a closing net before the party on the 30th.

Because No. 109 has no entity, it is impossible to meet the "worms" in reality.Of course, we can let the system design a fake mechanical body for No. 109, so that it can fully participate in reality from the "dream", but this is too risky, so we did not consider this option.

At present, No. 109 has attracted 149 hidden "worms" around the world.As long as they can all be captured, it can be regarded as a huge gain.And Chaos, if he doesn't show up this time, he may have seen through our deception, he may be really indifferent to the fate of his kind, or he may even be dead.

For some reason, when I said the words "no expectations", I felt a sense of relief.The director looked at me in disbelief: "δ-rou, when did you become so pessimistic? It's not the last moment, everything is possible."

"Director, I'm a little tired too." I sighed.

Σ-Lu was stunned for a moment, and said sternly, "What are you talking about? You are only 30 years old, and you still have a long way to go. How can you be tired now?"

"The director is still very young."

"Alas." Σ-Lu put the wine glass heavily on the table, stood with folded arms, and said after a long time, "I have worked in the Vulnerability Management Bureau for 30 years. When I came here, I was a young man who didn't understand anything. Now my daughter They're all in college."

Her eyes swept across the laughing guests, and there was a kind of warmth in her eyes. "Look at these people, how happy they are. But happiness is also very fragile. Once society loses order, what will happen to them? When you have children, you will gradually feel how meaningful it is to maintain order." You have to at least wait until the new generation grows up and has a qualified young successor before you are entitled to be tired and hand over the heavy responsibility to your children."

She patted me on the shoulder: "I can leave with confidence because of you. Look at your back, who is there now?"

I am silent.I had never realized before that the director had valued me to such an extent.But what if I let her down in the future?

Suddenly, a system prompt sounded in my ear: "Don't panic, don't panic, don't panic."

This signal is a code word between me and the system, from "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy".It means that a major anomaly was detected.I was startled, and looked at the director: "I have to go back to the bureau."

"You see, I can't talk about the last moment, everything is possible." She smiled, "Go, your opportunity has come."

I'm not as excited as she is.The code word "don't panic" inexplicably aroused waves of panic in my heart that I had never felt before.

I didn't have time to change, so I left Σ-Lu's house in a formal dress and high heels, and boarded the airship that came to welcome me.People on the side of the road cast admiring glances at me. They must have thought that I was going to a feast, but they didn't know that I was embarking on an unknown journey that might lead to hell.

On the airship, I looked at the gorgeous night view of the city and revisited the entire context of the "Bait Project".

All the decisions are made by me and the bureau chief, and let the system handle some work in the form of individual small tasks.In this process, once the key data is reported to us, the system will clear it.Only it has sufficient permissions to delete data.And any human being, even the chief engineer of the data center, cannot use a large amount of computing power to steal and clear the confidential data of the system without review.This is why the "worms" in the past have only been dedicated to finding ways to escape the system records, and once they find that the records have been generated, most of them will directly commit suicide.

Therefore, it is almost impossible for my plan to leak.Unless the system betrays us, or one of the chief and I leak the secret.However, "almost" is not the same as "exactly".There is no perfect plan, and no absolute security.As long as humans exist, there will be ways to create loopholes.

Today, for the first time, I have a vague hope that such a loophole really exists.I hope that the person with the pseudonym Chaos has seen through everything, and is not really arrogant enough to think that he can take the risk and save those who have fallen into the urn.

I rushed into the empty confidential laboratory and opened the new report of the system with trembling hands.

When I took one look, I felt my blood coagulate all over my body.

The task I gave the system is to closely monitor the 149 "worms" who regard number 109 as Chaos. If any similar content is found in the various messages they receive, it will be judged as abnormal, and the source of the information will be traced.

Fifteen minutes ago, the system discovered that they had all received the same password.The person who sent the code was quite cunning, and still carefully escaped all monitoring without leaving any trace of identity.However, the system still had a major breakthrough this time, and it at least tracked the coordinates of the message she sent.

And this coordinate is very familiar to me - that is the white sandy beach where "death birds" gather near α-Han's house.

“建议分析从19:00至23:00，坐标半径2公里之内的所有记录。”系统说了好几遍，单调的声音不停地在我耳边回响。

I closed my eyes and said a word with difficulty: "Okay."

"Analysis results will be completed within 1 hour."

I ignored it, and left the Vulnerability Management Bureau with vain steps, and flew to the mountain hut full of warm atmosphere.

On the airship, I opened my clutch bag and took out a small gun.It has multi-factor authentication and only I have permission to use it.I've actually only used it once, except for training.That was after the mechanical army cleaned up the "worm nest" in a no-man's land, I went to check the scene.An enemy who was seriously injured and survived exhausted his last strength and threw a homemade improvised explosive (l) bomb at me from behind the dune.

The bomb (l) has failed and has not exploded.And I instinctively turned around and shot her through the chest.

The blood seeps quickly into the quicksand, forming an abstract picture.I didn't feel anything at the time, but I gradually discovered afterwards that the abstract painting was engraved in a corner of my memory and could never be erased.

I put the gun back in the bag.The airship descended slowly.I saw that there were no lights in the house, and there was silence all around.At this moment, this warm home looks like Schrödinger's box in my eyes. I am not sure what is waiting for me inside after opening it.

I walked in the door, and there was no sound in the room, and a dim yellow light came on to illuminate me.I knelt down and gently picked up a pair of shoes that were left at the door—the soles were clean and there was nothing.

I took off my high heels and went into the bedroom.

α-Han lay on the bed with his back facing me.She was fast asleep, breathing slowly and softly.

According to her location history, she was at home throughout the night.However, these records can no longer convince me.

It is 00:24 now.In more than 30 minutes, the system will check all the records around the white sand beach.If I find any clues, all I can do is end everything with this gun in the bag.

I can't say whether the idea is crazy or sane.All I know is what happens to those who end up in correctional facilities.I will not subject her to this torture.

"If there is such a day, please shoot me to death." Her words lingered in my mind.

I will kill her, and then I will kill myself.

With the faint light, I looked at her peaceful face.She actually listened to my words and obediently rested.I suddenly began to wonder again: If she was really doing those thrilling things, how could she sleep so soundly?

In the final analysis, everything is my own random speculation.A piece of music, some words, a secluded beach near her home, what kind of evidence are these things?I wish so, I wish so.I'd rather accept the fact that I'm a skeptic than have the slightest chance that this outrageous suspicion will come true.

Time passed by second by second, and every second was like a knife cutting my nerves.I really want to wake her up, question her personally, and unravel the mystery that has troubled me for many days.But I dare not.Just imagining this scene drives me crazy.

The sound of the system suddenly rang in my ears like a ghost, and I almost jumped up in fright.

"Unfortunately, no abnormal records were found."

I felt the floor under my feet being pulled away, and I seemed to be falling and falling rapidly in the void...

I knelt beside the bed, throwing my clutch aside.

The author has something to say: that pure white jigsaw puzzle is called "Pure White Hell", and it is sold online... (Not an advertisement. You can think about it next time you buy a gift for a male friend. Straight men are generally very interested, haha )