Embers Ad Infinitum

Although Long Yuehong has experienced similar scenes time and time again, human beings' fear of the dark and the unknown will never disappear. In the corridor late at night, it is inevitable that there will still be a little bit of fear deep in my heart.

As the light of the flashlight swept, Long Yuehong thought of what Shang Jianyao once said:

When walking alone at night, if you are afraid, sing to yourself!

Before, he dismissed it. After all, he has lived on the floor for 23 years. Even if he has no memories of his childhood, he has been familiar with the corresponding environment for nearly 20 years. He can't go wrong with his eyes closed. the way.

In such a situation, the fear is not too serious and can be completely overcome.

But now, on the unfamiliar 622nd floor, the darkness always reigned over the corresponding area after the light of his flashlight was removed, which made him feel hairy involuntarily.

Could it be more terrifying than those nights of city ruins? Long Yuehong muttered to herself silently, as if her courage had returned.

His strides became larger and faster.

As for the method of singing to strengthen his courage, he did not adopt it in the end.

In such a quiet night, isn't this a disturbing dream?

Thanks to the similarity in the layout of the living floors, the layout of the sewage pipes needs to be considered, and Long Yuehong did not go to the toilet on this floor before turning off the lights, so he arrived at the destination without taking too much time.

This is a public toilet located at the junction of Zones B and C.

In the men's room, the dim light swayed in the gloomy and cold night wind, and the darkness was uncertain, which made Long Yuehong suddenly think of the ghost movies in the entertainment materials of the old world.

Such thoughts disappeared in a flash, and he judged with twenty years of rich experience that someone was turning on a flashlight while squatting in the toilet, dangling around.

Don't know about saving energy rationing! Long Yuehong, who is a D7-level employee, still maintains a frugal spirit in this regard.

The internal energy ratio of "Panga Biology" is only determined according to the rank and position, and you can't buy it with contribution points!

Of course, this is only on the public level. In private, someone will ask you to go to other household appliances if you pay a certain amount.

Long Yuehong looked away, walked to a urinal, and solved her own problem.

In order not to spill it, he also left the flashlight on and stuck it on the back of his hand.

On the back of the T1 robotic arm.

Shaking, and after pulling the zipper up, Long Yuehong subconsciously looked at the place where the dim yellow light flickered,

Suddenly, his eyes straightened slightly.

He saw a faint smog filling the haze, sometimes swelling, sometimes rolling, as if it had its own vitality.

While Long Yuehong frowned slightly, she vaguely heard a suppressed moan.

The groan seemed vague, as if restraining some kind of pain.

With a swipe, Long Yuehong's mind became extremely clear.

His first reaction was to withdraw from the public restroom, thinking about it in the long run, but then he realized that this was within the company, and if something really went wrong, everyone would be affected, and he had no choice but to withdraw.

First confirm what's going on, if it's not right, report it to the order supervision room... Long Yuehong quickly made a decision, turned off her flashlight, and walked towards that compartment step by step.

The closer he got, the more obvious the smoke was, and the moans that contained some kind of pain became clearer.

Seeing the target in sight, Long Yuehong leaped over and jumped over.

The next second, he and the man squatting in the cubicle opened their eyes wide and small.

After a brief freeze, the man was anxious and angry:

"What are you looking at?"

Long Yuehong's mouth moved for a while and said:

"Why don't you close the door?"

The man held a cigarette in one hand and held on to the door with the other, and laughed angrily:

"It's the middle of the night, and there's no one there. What's wrong with opening the door to let the air in?"

Long Yuehong settled down:

"Where did you get the cigarettes?"

Inside "Panga Biology", except for most of the older generation who have passed away and a few people who have been taken out of the habit, other employees do not smoke, so Long Yuehong didn't think about it at all just now.

This thing is a luxury in a sense.

If it wasn't for the fact that the stomach hadn't been cleaned and the buttocks hadn't been wiped, the man squatting there would have wanted to jump up and beat Long Yuehong up.

He said angrily:

"When I was on duty, I bought it in a settlement in the Black Marsh wilderness!

"What's wrong? I'm a new employee, it's normal to have a cigarette addiction!"

When he swept his gaze, his pupils suddenly dilated, reflecting Long Yuehong's iron-black arm.

Only then did Long Yuehong see the other person's appearance clearly: dark skin, yellow teeth, bumpy face, and obvious bloodshot eyes. At first glance, it was a foreign employee who had not undergone genetic modification, and his appearance could only be described as neither ugly nor scary.

Embarrassment is all embarrassment, Long Yuehong asked further:

"Then why, why were you moaning just now?"

"Is it okay to be constipated, brother?" The man's attitude became quite good.

Long Yuehong gave a dry laugh:

"I just came back from the field, and my spirit is still tense, and I overreacted. I'm sorry."

"Understood." The man looked easy to speak.

He paused and said:

"Okay, why don't you stand in front of me like this? Uh, no, can I close the door?"

"Yes, yes." Long Yuehong was extremely grateful that the light was dim at this time, unable to illuminate her own face.

As soon as he finished speaking, the door of that compartment turned back and closed.

The man inside was silent for a few seconds and said:

"Which action brigade are you from, where did you get the mechanical arm?"

"I'm from a special operations team." Based on the principle of confidentiality, Long Yuehong could only give a rough answer.

He asked curiously:

"You care what the robotic arm does?"

The man in the compartment sighed and said:

"I'm a foreign employee. I'm not qualified to do genetic improvement, and I often have to go to the surface to perform tasks. In order to survive, I can be transferred to the back office. It's a good deal to exchange an arm for a mechanical arm."

Long Yuehong thought for a while and said sincerely:

"very expensive."

"Hey..." The man in the compartment sighed again.

Long Yuehong didn't tell him that he could get a biological prosthetic transplant for free if he lost his arm during the task, but he had no choice, and it was impossible to get those with good abilities, because the loss of an arm would inevitably lead to serious bleeding, and the probability of not being able to be rescued was actually not low, especially if he was physically ill. This is especially true when it is too late to heal on the surface.

He turned around and walked outside the public toilet.

With such a comparison, he suddenly felt that his current situation was quite good.

It would be better if there were no missions anymore... Long Yuehong was thinking, while using a flashlight to illuminate the surroundings casually.

He saw graffiti drawn with chalks of various colors on many walls, some deep, some childish, some exaggerated, each with its own characteristics.

This is exactly the same scene as many places on the 495th floor.

The same is true for other residential layers.

For some reason, Long Yuehong was inexplicably delighted.

This is the performance of foreign employees beginning to integrate into the company, and it is also a symbol of the birth of offspring among them.

Thinking of this, his pace of returning to Room 59 in Area B accelerated a lot.

After walking three or four steps, Long Yuehong stopped and turned her ear.

It seemed possible that he might have heard voices just now.

After listening carefully for a while, he found nothing but snoring.

"Sure enough, I still haven't completely relaxed..." Long Yuehong laughed at herself and shook her head, and walked towards No. 59 in Area B.

…………

The next morning, room 14 on the 647th floor.

Long Yuehong and Bai Chen walked in hand in hand, and found that Shang Jianyao was the only one in the office.

His posture was very arrogant, he pushed the chair back to the limit, and put his feet on the table.

"Where's the team leader?" Long Yuehong let go of Bai Chen's hand and asked subconsciously.

Shang Jianyao responded with a bright smile:

"you guess."

Lost again? Long Yuehong wanted to answer this way, but suddenly the back of her neck felt cold, and she woke up in a fright.

If the team leader is wandering in the corridor and she hears me saying bad things about her behind my back, I will be in big trouble! Her hearing is different now! Long Yuehong glanced back suddenly, but did not find anyone passing by outside.

But out of the corner of his eye, he saw Bai Chen quietly withdrew his hand from the back of his neck.

Long Yuehong stared at the past, and saw the slightly raised corners of Yu Baichen's serious expression.

He also smiled a little.

"Woof woof!" Shang Jianyao called out.

Long Yuehong was a little embarrassed when the phone in the office rang.

"Hurry up and pick it up." He hurriedly said to Shang Jianyao.

Seeing Yao's indifferent face, Shang said:

"It must be for Dabai, and she's not here. I don't know what reason to give her if I pick it up. It's better not to pick it up."

"That's right." Long Yuehong thought for a while, and felt that this was the reason.

Bai Chen didn't object either.

The jingling phone rang for a while, and finally stopped.

After another ten minutes, Jiang Baimian walked into the office.

She didn't explain anything, and greeted the team members with a normal expression.

Not long after Jiang Baimian sat down, the landline rang again, making a tinkling sound.

She picked up the microphone, put it close to her ear, listened for a while, said "hmm" twice, then turned to Shang Jianyao, and shouted:

"Hey, I'm looking for you!"