Cyber Heroes

January 2037, Peking.

The northern part of the Republic has to face the cold wave coming from Siberia. Although the time is close to the beginning of spring, the temperature is still severe. Xiang Shan looked out the window and put his hands in his pockets shivering.

Fortunately, after ringing the doorbell, someone came to open the door soon.

The skinny young man who opened the door was none other than Yawgmoth.

After Xiangshan felt the heat rolling in the room, he was happy at first, but within a few seconds, sweat broke out on his forehead. He felt as if a hair dryer was blowing on his forehead, or a heater was working in front of him.

There is even an illusion that "the bangs are permed and curled".

As he walked inside, he took off his coat. Xiang Shan complained: "Are you really not afraid of heatstroke?"

Yawgmoth shrugged: "Why do you think I insist on wearing long sleeves in this environment? It's just to avoid being burned by the air. In addition, there are many cooling patches [a kind of water-based patch that can be attached to the body" under my clothes. A small prop. It can be used to cool down after being frozen and attached to the body. It should be changed every quarter of an hour."

"Oh oh oh oh." Xiang Shan applauded. Only then did he look Yawgmoth up and down. This friend was wearing the kind of white shirt he usually wears in Indonesia - the kind that reflects light and heat very well. There were some bulges under the clothes, and his hair was still wet.

This was obviously to avoid heat stroke, so I poured water on my head.

Xiang Shan sighed: "Do you still have the cooling patches? Give me ten. I want ten."

Yawgmoth walked quickly inside, and soon came over with many cooling pads.

Xiangshan quickly put some on his forehead, face, and neck, and then he felt a little more comfortable.

In just this moment, there was a stain of sweat on his back.

It's hard to imagine that a minute ago, he was standing at the door counting the ice edges under the eaves with his hands red from the cold.

"Oh my god..." Xiang Shan sighed and continued to put an ice cream patch on his lower back.

"You really don't think it's a waste? Isn't it enough to turn the air conditioner to the highest setting?"

"All the plugs are connected to the heater."

Xiangshan stopped what he was doing, thought for a moment, and said, "Brother, have you ever touched the meter? Changing the circuit without permission creates safety hazards. It is illegal here."

"What?"

"Don't overload the circuits in this house and cause a fire."

Yawgmoth shook his head: "No. This room was not meant for civilian use."

"Sigh." Xiang Shan shook his head: "If every human being has to need such a powerful heater to live in the future..."

"This is mainly because the large thermostatic equipment we ordered has not been shipped yet." Yawgmoth shook his head: "If you want to do experiments, you have to heat the room to such a high temperature."

Xiangshan didn't complain about the temperature. In essence, the air conditioning in the experimental area is not for researchers to enjoy, but to ensure the health of experimental animals.

If experimental animals really need this kind of temperature, then naturally the temperature in the laboratory must be raised to this level.

Xiang Shan sighed: "I'm really afraid that I'll catch a cold on the way back because I'm sweating all over."

The two of them walked into the experimental area while talking.

The temperature in the experimental area is even higher than outside. The temperature in the entire experimental area is above fifty degrees. Xiangshan felt uncomfortable all over.

The entire experimental area is filled with heaters up and down. The billowing convection of air actually gave rise to the illusion that "space is distorted."

At the center of the entire experimental area is an insect net. There were several locusts and fruit flies inside.

If you look closely, these creatures are a bit strange.

I don’t know why, but those fruit flies can only flutter on the ground but cannot fly high. The bodies of those locusts are larger. If you move them carefully, the exoskeletons of these small creatures actually show a strange metallic color.

"The body weight has more than doubled, and some fruit flies have lost the ability to fly for long periods of time. Their genes for flight muscles have not been modified, and their strength remains the same."

Xiang Shan wiped the sweat from his head: "What project are you working on?"

"After the 'new creatures' are introduced with brand new genetic information, their appearance and habits change." Yawgmoth smiled: "In order to steal these cuties from the United States..."

"Fuck." Xiangshan hurriedly held Yawgmoth down: "Damn, if this word gets out, you may be accused of 'terrorist actions' and put into the bureau at any time, or even extradited directly! Don't always force yourself to say it. This was 'stolen'! 'Made'! 'Made' here! Do you understand?"

Yawgmoth rolled his eyes: "Come on. Anyone who knows anything knows that it is impossible for this newly opened laboratory to produce such cutting-edge results with such scrap materials. And I am here. These fruit flies It’s one of the projects I’m responsible for in public institutions in the United States. It’s inseparable.”

"So keep a low profile, keep a low profile!" Xiang Shan gritted his teeth: "What the hell, as long as a few months pass, the instruments and medicines are in place, and a skilled accountant is found to operate them to make the expenses appear larger than they actually are, these things will be I can clear my name! You have already achieved it over there, so if you repeat it here, it won’t be a big problem, right?”

This is why this laboratory must use this method to maintain high temperatures. Yawgmoth arrived a little early, and the instruments he ordered from Xiangshan hadn't arrived yet, but the experimental animals couldn't wait.

This is actually impossible.

After leaving the research institution of the United Nations University, Yawgmoth worked in a laboratory with state background in the United States, and along the same path as before, he created two astonishing new lives.

Let’s call them metal-based fruit flies and metal-based locusts.

And these gadgets were all sent to Xiang Shan from the United States by Yawgmoth under the hood. The origins of these fruit flies are the most mysterious. Yawgmoth first dipped fruit fly eggs on a cotton swab, then pretended to pick out his ears with his face and hid the eggs in his body to avoid the disinfection process every time he entered and exited the laboratory.

Human body temperature is only 37 degrees Celsius. The active temperature of metal-based organisms is above fifty degrees. So Yawgmoth isn't worried about these little creatures hatching.

When he got home, he collected these things and hid them in various places.

Until he came to the Republic.

However, the earliest batch of eggs can no longer delay hatching.

In order not to waste these precious experimental animals, Yawgmoth and Xiangshan had no choice but to arrange the laboratory in this way.

"Oh, this?" Yawgmoth shrugged: "I refuse to pay royalties when using my own achievements. And..."

The young man rolled his eyes at Xiang Shan: "Are you sure that the method you just mentioned is not commonly used by bureaucrats to embezzle funds and enrich their own pockets?"

"Use magic! Defeat magic!" Xiang Shan emphasized: "People have to bow their heads under the eaves, understand?"

"Hey. If you were willing to bow your head, I would still be in the United States." Yawgmoth said lazily: "Remember what you once said, 'Director'."

"I've long since stopped being a director." Xiang Shan tore off the cold patch on his forehead and said, "Give me a new one."

"It's in the refrigerator, go get it yourself."

Xiang Shan threw the cooling patches into the trash can, then picked up a few more and stuck them on himself.

"And what? What's your latest knowledge?"

"Due to the abnormal increase in body density, most bugs are unable to move normally. Their innate instincts cannot adjust this." Yawgmoth shook his head: "This is not good news. Of course, there is good news. They They can still absorb glucose. The oxidation process of ATP still exists in their cells, but part of the energy can be replaced by electrical energy. Proteins and other things can also be absorbed normally. If I were still there, I should probably get this news. ”

"Ah ha, it sounds pretty good." Xiang Shan nodded: "Then what?"

"I'm trying to get them to mate." Yawgmoth shrugged: "Theoretically, the gametes of protists and the gametes of organisms that have undergone metal-based genetic modification surgery still share most of the genetic information in the cell nucleus. Just watch The cell nucleus can produce fertile offspring. However, the gametes of metal-based organisms will lose activity at room temperature, while the gametes of protists will lose activity at high temperatures. So the two can never be combined."

"I have discussed with my colleagues over there before whether an organism that has undergone metal-based genetic modification should be considered a subspecies of the original species, or a brand new independent species - some taxonomists even want to give it another Separate a separate kingdom. Just like the animal kingdom and the plant kingdom. Because they have some genetic information, they are not native to the earth at all."

Xiang Shan nodded: "I'm off topic, brother. I'm off topic. Come back and talk about mating."

"Ah ha, yes." Yawgmoth nodded: "Mating. In fact, it is very likely that due to immature technology, we accidentally changed other genes of fruit flies. Many fruit flies have become sexually mature after , wouldn’t emit the correct pheromone—or would that pheromone be destroyed quickly in the heat?”

"Anyway, these little things just can't learn how to have sex."

"And even if there is an incident, no one knows how it happened."

Xiang Shan rolled his eyes: "Will mankind enter an era in which all people have abnormal habits? Most people are unwilling to have sex normally, so we still have to develop artificial wombs and implement a socialized parenting system? It was not easy to find it. Hope, I don’t want the human population to plummet after one generation.”

"You don't have to worry about this." Yawgmoth showed a proud expression. He picked up a petri dish from the experimental table and held it up to Xiang Shan's eyes: "Take a good look at the gadget on this sugary agar block."

Xiang Shan concentrated his eyes and found that inside the transparent substance of the petri dish, there were some tiny black dots... squirming?

Yawgmoth laughed loudly: "I knew we succeeded!"