PBS Ch20: Friend

This small rock cave was quite comfortable for resting. The temperature was significantly higher than outside, but the single passageway that led in and out made one feel a bit uneasy.

“If someone were to block us here,” Qiu Shi started eating his third can of food, “even if they only blocked one end, with us crouching and bending to escape, we probably wouldn’t get out.”

“No,” Xing Bi said, “those chasing us would also have to crouch and bend to follow.”

Qiu Shi thought for a moment and laughed, “Makes sense.”

“So both ends need to be blocked,” Xing Bi said.

“Damn,” Qiu Shi immediately poured the soup from the can into his mouth, “let’s hurry up and go.”

“How are your ribs?” Xing Bi asked.

“The ones you broke?” Qiu Shi packed his bag.

“It wasn’t me who broke them,” Xing Bi said.

“Yes, yes, it wasn’t you who broke them personally,” Qiu Shi thought for a moment, then turned to look at him, “that can’t be counted as you, right?”

“I only have memories of those forty minutes,” Xing Bi said.

“That’s harsh,” Qiu Shi remembered what Curator Wu had said about locking bioroids’ memories for control and other things, “How much memory do you have now?”

“If I can’t remember it, how could I know how much there is?” Xing Bi said.

“Who locked it?” Qiu Shi asked.

“The General and Mr. Long,” Xing Bi said, “there were others earlier, but I can’t remember them.”

“If someone dared to lock my memories,” Qiu Shi said, “I would eat them raw, no sauce needed.”

Xing Bi smiled.

“Don’t you hate them?” Qiu Shi looked at him and said, “Don’t you hate… humans?”

Xing Bi was silent for a while, then looked at him, speaking in a very low voice, “I was born for humans, a friend who will never betray.”

Qiu Shi was stunned, not speaking for a long time.

Born for humans, never betray.

“What does that mean?” Qiu Shi asked.

“A bioroid’s vow to humanity,” Xing Bi said.

He didn’t know what kind of mood Xing Bi was in when he said this, but he inexplicably felt a sense of sorrow, just like when he heard Xing Bi sing that birthday song.

“What about humans?” Qiu Shi asked.

“Humans what?” Xing Bi curled his lips slightly. “What would you say to your gun?”

“How can that be the same?” Qiu Shi said, “Are you a gun?!”

“I am,” Xing Bi said. “We are weapons, tools that can kill, go to dangerous places, clean houses, repair cars, cook meals, take care of children, and even alleviate loneliness.”

Qiu Shi didn’t know what to say.

“I am just a weapon that can kill,” Xing Bi said.

“Do you still think that now?” Qiu Shi leaned closer to him.

“What else?” Xing Bi retorted.

“The people before the war,” Qiu Shi frowned, “did they all think like that?”

“Harsh environment, air pollution, infections everywhere, more and more patients,” Xing Bi said. “Fewer and fewer children, what else could they think?”

Qiu Shi said nothing.

“So, what do you think?” Xing Bi tilted his head. “What am I?”

“I don’t know,” Qiu Shi said. “The partner they forcibly assigned to me—very strong, smart, and mouthy—occasionally makes me feel very dangerous, but with you around, I also feel very safe.”

Xing Bi looked at him.

“Someone I can instinctively trust…” Qiu Shi also looked at him, “a friend.”

“A friend?” Xing Bi asked.

“More or less,” Qiu Shi said. “I don’t have many friends. It’s not easy to stay alive these days. After all we’ve been through, the threshold shouldn’t be too high.”

“Isn’t that high enough?” Xing Bi smiled.

“High? I don’t understand you at all,” Qiu Shi said.

Xing Bi didn’t say anything else and suddenly moved closer, extending his arm to hug him.

Qiu Shi was stunned but quickly hugged him back, gently patting his back.

Xing Bi didn’t let go, continuing to hold him.

So Qiu Shi didn’t move either. Though it looked a bit funny, in this small cave where they couldn’t stand up straight, the two of them kneeled on one knee, facing each other, hugging.

Qiu Shi didn’t know why the usually stoic Xing Bi would act like this, but he did want to hug Xing Bi, not for anything else, just for that phrase that seemed somewhat cruel to him, “vow.”

“It seems that it’s just as we initially speculated,” Curator Wu stood before the entire glass wall, watching inside, “symbionts can achieve some form of connection through the fungi within their bodies, reading or sharing thoughts.”

In the laboratory on the other side of the glass, a group of researchers was conducting cognitive tests on four first-level biological entities. Curator Wu quietly introduced the experimental results to a man beside him, saying, “Number three is the strongest. After symbiosis is complete, he might become the main body, able to control second and third-level symbionts, possibly even first-level bioroids.”

“Does that mean,” the man said, “second and third-level symbionts can possess abilities stronger than they actually are, like the second-level hidden guard that Xing Bi and the others brought back?”

“Yes,” Curator Wu nodded. “If a first-level main body can control other first-level symbionts…”

“Then we wouldn’t need to consider whether they are 100% controllable,” the man said.

“Yes, just ensure the controllability of the main body,” Curator Wu nodded.

“Speed up the process,” the man said, “they’ve clearly already succeeded.”

“Understood,” Curator Wu said.

The man turned to look at Li Feng.

Li Feng, who had been leaning against the wall, stood up straight and said, “Mr. Long.”

“Don’t you have anything to say?” Mr. Long asked.

“No,” Li Feng said.

“Can this experiment be done on humans?” Mr. Long asked Curator Wu.

“For example…” Curator Wu hesitated, quickly glancing at Li Feng.

“For example, people like Qiu Shi who have immunity,” Mr. Long said.

“That would be meaningless,” Curator Wu said. “Currently, there’s only one Qiu Shi, and we can’t conduct experiments.”

“Only one?” Mr. Long also looked at Li Feng.

“Only one,” Li Feng said.

“Director Li can find bioroid warehouses,” Mr. Long said, “and only find one Qiu Shi?”

“Unactivated bioroids don’t move around,” Li Feng said. “Humans hide.”

“Can we do something with him?” Mr. Long asked again.

“Curator Wu has drawn his blood,” Li Feng said. “There’s nothing special about it.”

“Yes.” Curator Wu nodded. “We haven’t found the reason for his immunity, so we can’t do much for now.”

“Maybe try chopping him up and eating him,” Li Feng said.

Mr. Long glanced at him and said, “You still have something to say.”

“No,” Li Feng said.

“Let’s go to the eighth floor,” Mr. Long said.

“Okay.” Curator Wu nodded.

“I’m going to the checkpoint.” Li Feng didn’t want to go to the eighth floor. “The city defense department is strengthening fortifications in the inner city today; I need to check if the supplies are in place.”

“Such a trivial matter doesn’t require a director to go personally,” Mr. Long said. “You haven’t seen your spoils of war with your own eyes, have you?”

The eighth floor is not actually on the eighth floor; it’s below the exhibition hall. Among the secrets Li Feng can currently access, it’s the deepest level, but he doesn’t know the exact level, maybe the eighteenth.

It’s a “warehouse,” storing unactivated bioroids.

Li Feng didn’t know about this place before. It was only when he found the blueprints of various underground warehouses that Qiu Shi helped him locate, where the pre-war bioroids were sealed, that he first learned such a place existed in Yun City.

Including the ones he found, there are at least hundreds of bioroids stored on the eighth floor. Curator Wu has counted; there are over a hundred first-level hidden guards alone. Over a hundred Xing Bi’s are an impressive combat force.

Mr. Long was different from the General. Mr. Long didn’t want to start another war. Even the smallest-scale war now could be a disaster for the tiny Yun City. Li Feng believed this.

But there were some things that couldn’t be looked at directly. Even if it’s just for precaution, one glance could change your inner self.

One by one, capsule-shaped glass containers were neatly arranged on the enormous shelves, with robotic arms regularly adjusting the positions of these “capsules” on the shelves, maintaining and monitoring the “vital signs” of the bioroids inside.

At a glance, the scene was both spectacular and suffocating.

Curator Wu accompanied Mr. Long as they walked through the rows of shelves, followed by two technicians and Minister Liu from the Emergency Affairs Department. Only Li Feng stood at the entrance, not moving forward.

Mr. Long didn’t mind his obvious non-cooperation. As they left after the tour, he even patted Li Feng on the shoulder: “When you have time, check on Director Zhang.”

“Okay,” Li Feng responded.

“Any news from Xing Bi?” Mr. Long asked again.

“Nothing since the disconnection,” Li Feng said.

“The General has always been suspicious about the disconnection, believing that someone on the company’s side has ulterior motives,” Mr. Long glanced at him, “I am under a lot of pressure.”

“I understand,” Li Feng said.

After seeing off Mr. Long, Li Feng followed Curator Wu back to the laboratory, where the symbiosis experiment was still ongoing. Li Feng stood before the glass wall, looking at the bioroids inside: numbers two, three, four, and five. Number one was Xing Bi, so numbers two, three, four, and five also had their own names.

Li Feng glanced at the name of number three, Lin Sheng.

“Aren’t you going to the checkpoint?” Curator Wu walked up and stood beside him.

Li Feng clicked his tongue.

“Do you want to contact Qiu Shi?” Curator Wu asked.

“Yes,” Li Feng nodded. “How long has it been since he broke through the limit?”

“Three and a half hours,” Curator Wu said. “Everything is normal so far. Better contact him while you can.”

The data from Xing Bi should have theoretically been lost as of yesterday, but since they never conducted a maximum distance test, no one knew for sure how far the data could be received. They had to contact Qiu Shi while they could still confirm Xing Bi’s normal status.

Li Feng originally wanted Qiu Shi to contact him first to see if this more unstable undertaker could cooperate. But it had been two or three days with no message from him.

“As for Xing Bi’s situation,” Curator Wu said, “the report to Colonel Xu tomorrow…”

Li Feng pulled out his gun and pressed it against Curator Wu’s head, “Delete it.”

“What are you doing?” Curator Wu looked at him, surprised but not too much.

“I’m forcing you to delete it,” Li Feng said.

Curator Wu sat down in front of the row of instruments and sighed, “Even if you protect Xing Bi, you can’t protect the ones inside.”

“I’m not protecting Xing Bi,” Li Feng said. “I just want to protect my peaceful days.”

“Do you think Xing Bi is in a controllable state?” Curator Wu asked.

“He can be,” Li Feng said.

“What do you mean?” Curator Wu didn’t understand.

Li Feng didn’t answer; he walked over to sit down, opened the system, and waited to connect with Qiu Shi.

A white light spot appeared on the back of his hand. Qiu Shi, who was bending over and squeezing through the passage with Xing Bi, paused: “They even installed a light on my hand.”

“Li Feng is looking for you.” Xing Bi glanced back.

“What could it be?” Qiu Shi suddenly felt nervous, “Could it be…”

“A normal contact, this is just a task,” Xing Bi said.

Qiu Shi put on his headset.

To be honest, when he heard Li Feng’s voice, he actually felt a sense of relief.

“If I didn’t contact you,” Li Feng said, “were you planning to just leave it at that?”

“I was waiting for you to contact me,” Qiu Shi said. “How would I know what’s going on with you? Maybe you got caught and locked up in a dungeon.”

“Close enough,” Li Feng said. “Where are you now?”

“Almost at the river,” Qiu Shi said. “We need to find some nomads to get a boat; we probably won’t cross the river until tomorrow morning.”

“Xing Bi’s status?” Li Feng said.

“Everything is normal,” Qiu Shi glanced at Xing Bi.

“So far, the lab can still receive data feedback from Xing Bi,” Li Feng said.

Qiu Shi was stunned.

“You really don’t plan to tell me a single truth,” Li Feng said.

“I can’t trust you,” Qiu Shi said.

“Xing Bi’s data has been deleted,” Li Feng said. “This call won’t be recorded either.”

“I can’t see that,” Qiu Shi said.

Li Feng didn’t speak.

“Li Feng,” Xing Bi spoke up.

“Yes,” Li Feng responded.

“There’s a symbiont following us,” Xing Bi said. “If it gets close enough, it will affect me.”

“Understood,” Li Feng said. “Do you know who it is?”

“Not sure,” Xing Bi said. “Contact time was too short.”

“Avoid contact,” Li Feng said immediately. “Avoid contact.”

“Got it,” Xing Bi responded.

“Do you know Lin Sheng?” Li Feng suddenly asked.

Xing Bi paused and said, “Yes.”

Li Feng didn’t say anything more; he just repeatedly instructed them to ensure safety, avoid contact, and not cause too much conflict before reaching Donglin.

After the call ended, Qiu Shi took off his headset and looked at Xing Bi: “Why did you tell Li Feng the truth?”

“Sometimes you have to choose someone to trust,” Xing Bi said. “The data has already been returned; this matter can’t be hidden.”

“This means you might be uncontrollable,” Qiu Shi looked at him. “Do you know what that means?”

“I know,” Xing Bi said. “But Li Feng never believed I was controllable from the beginning.”

Qiu Shi didn’t speak, still looking at him.

“We can only trust him,” Xing Bi said.

“Alright,” Qiu Shi said. “As Li Feng said, this is the wisdom of our ancestors.”

“Which ancestor lived only a hundred years,” Xing Bi said. “What species has such a short lifespan?”

Qiu Shi laughed, “If your memory wasn’t locked, would you never forget anything?”

“Yes,” Xing Bi said. “I can remember every word you’ve ever said.”

“…You don’t need to remember so clearly,” Qiu Shi said.

Half of this tunnel through the mountain was naturally formed, while the other half showed signs of artificial expansion. However, it was clear that no one had been here for a long, long time; there were only traces of animal droppings and small bits of animal bones.

This tunnel, dug through over a hundred years ago and seemingly long abandoned, might have been forgotten by everyone.

But for Xing Bi, it was a clear memory.

Remembering things that no one else knows always feels a bit lonely.

Luckily, now there was someone else who remembered.

When they emerged from the other side of the mountain, Qiu Shi turned around and took a good look, trying to deepen his memory.

But after just a few steps, the entrance had completely disappeared into the rocks and grass. Forget about deepening his memory; he couldn’t even find a reference point.

The river they needed to cross was very wide. As the sky darkened, the opposite bank’s outline was completely invisible; only the glimmering water and the sound of the river hitting the shore could be perceived.

“This river is really wide.” Qiu Shi stood on the mountainside, somewhat amazed.

“Follow the river upstream for a while,” Xing Bi began to descend the mountain with him, “Open the map. There are many nomads around here, most of whom are unfriendly.”

“Where are we going to find a boat?” Qiu Shi opened the map. Although it somewhat affected his vision, seeing only two small dots representing him and Xing Bi was reassuring.

“Just take one if we find it,” Xing Bi said.

Qiu Shi touched the gun on his body and asked, “Have you done this before?”

“No,” Xing Bi said.

“Then why do you sound so confident?” Qiu Shi said.

“I think you’ve done it,” Xing Bi said.

“Your brain isn’t working well after a reboot,” Qiu Shi said. “The most I’ve done is rummage through dead bodies.”

The road on this side of the mountain was much smoother, possibly eroded by the river. There was no grass or trees, and there was no place for people to hide; they only needed to watch for any movement in the forest on the right.

But in such a place, finding a safe campsite was very difficult.

Qiu Shi took out two bottles of water from his backpack and threw them into the river.

Xing Bi glanced at him.

“What?” Qiu Shi said. “No thanks needed.”

Xing Bi smiled and said, “You’re welcome.”

Qiu Shi didn’t say anything else and quickened his pace.

The surroundings were quite quiet. The sound of the river masked many other noises, making the state of being surrounded by unknowns unsettling.

After walking for almost an hour, everything seemed normal, contrary to Xing Bi’s words about the area being populated with nomads.

“You need to update your memory,” Qiu Shi said. “There’s no one here. We’ll be lucky to find a plank.”

Xing Bi suddenly stopped and looked ahead.

Qiu Shi followed his gaze.

About a hundred meters away, there were several dark shadows.

“Trees?” Qiu Shi drew his gun. The map didn’t show any biotic or living entities there.

“No.” Xing Bi paused for a few seconds and slowly walked forward.

The river reflected light, and after walking a bit, Qiu Shi could see what they were.

Seven or eight wooden stakes were stuck into the riverbank.

Each stake had a person impaled on it.

“Tribal conflict?” Qiu Shi felt a chill.

“Not people,” Xing Bi said. “Bioroids.”

“What the hell? Someone’s killing bioroids?” As soon as Qiu Shi finished speaking, he felt a slight movement underfoot.

Before he could look down, his right foot was caught by something, and a strong force dragged him toward the mountain.

There was a trap!

Damn it!

Qiu Shi dropped to one knee, supporting himself, and drew the knife from his boot.

Xing Bi stepped on the rope, pulling him towards the mountain.

Qiu Shi cut the rope with one stroke, jumped up, and raised his gun.

But the map showed no active targets.

“They’re in the mountain,” Xing Bi said, just as a series of muffled sounds came from the mountainside.

Gunshots.

There had to be at least a dozen.

As Xing Bi tackled him to the ground, Qiu Shi heard bullets whizzing past his ear and hitting the ground.

“Are you bulletproof?” Qiu Shi felt his voice was a bit hoarse.

“Of course not,” Xing Bi said.

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