Gene from the 13th Department of Bright City

"That's not right, Hult, you can't attack so easily! That's not right either. Your willpower is still too weak. Remember that patience is very important. If you can't bear it, you will die."

There was a rough gasp, accompanied by sweat flowing down. On a steel cable, Hert kept swallowing. In front of him was a training robot standing on the steel cable. Helt held a weapon in his hand. , wanting to move forward, but unable to take steps, because the steel rope was swaying slightly, and below was a metal ground covered with spikes. If you fell, you would die.

"Don't you understand what I'm saying? Helt, be patient when you should be patient, and don't hesitate when you should make a decision. If you hesitate, you will die."

There was an extremely serious voice in his ear. Helt looked over and could only see a dark mass. He could not see his face clearly. He was a little distracted. The next second, Helt felt his feet go empty. Instantly he screamed, and looking at the extremely sharp spikes, Helt screamed in horror.

A gentle light hit Helt's cheeks, which were already wet with sweat. He kept panting and swallowing.

"Here, have a glass of water."

Stukov handed over a glass of warm water. After drinking the warm water, Hert felt a little more comfortable, and a picture immediately popped up in his mind. The beautiful face that fascinated him was full of love. There was a killing intent, and the cold blade was pressed against his neck.

Hult couldn't help but touched his neck, and sure enough, there was a wound. He looked at Stukov with a serious expression on the side in shock. It seemed that everything that just appeared in his mind was not a dream, but Hult Te was a little concerned about the dream he had just had. He had had this dream many times, and every time it was as if he was immersed in it.

The serious man who guided Hert in the dream could never see his face clearly. Every time Helt wanted to talk or look at this man's face in the dream, but no matter how many times, he could not see it. When it comes to who this man is, although this man is very strict every time, Helt can feel some warmth from this severity.

"What is going on, Stukov, can you tell me?"

After being silent for a while, Stukov licked his chapped lips, and then closed his eyes.

"Answer me first, Hurt, what do you think of the current system?"

Hurt thought for a few seconds and then shook his head.

"Very bad."

Stukov hummed.

"One more thing, if you come to us, all your past life will be disrupted. Are you afraid of death?"

Hert looked at Stukov blankly. He knew that Stukov was serious. Then Hert nodded, and Hert then lowered his head in embarrassment.

Stukov smiled and nodded.

"That's good. If you are not afraid of death, it will be difficult to survive in the next world."

Stukov stood up, patted Hert on the shoulder, then took out a half-remained cigarette from his pocket, lit it, took a puff and said.

"What you see now and the world you are exposed to is false. We are not human beings!"

Helt swallowed. This fact made him feel a little shocked. Although it was difficult to accept, Helt nodded.

An extremely strong sense of disobedience began to emerge from the bottom of his heart. Everything from childhood to adulthood seemed unreal. Helt met several of his classmates a while ago, and when chatting with them, everyone We talked about some happy things, but Helt never felt real, because it seemed like he was just listening to a retelling. Although there were some pictures in his mind, there was no sense of reality.

This feeling has not happened once or twice. Hult also went to see a doctor, and the answer given by the doctor was that it was claustrophobia in space, with intermittent amnesia. This is also a disease that most people are aware of. Doctor Heerte was also prescribed medicine, but Heerter still didn't feel any better after taking it.

At this time, Stukov took out the medicine placed next to Helt's pillow, took out one and put it in his mouth, chewing it. Helt was a little surprised and immediately reached out to stop it, because This is medicine for people suffering from space claustrophobia and should not be taken casually.

"It's just a mixture of flour and wheat and it has no therapeutic effect at all because cabin fever doesn't exist."

Helt pressed his head. All this sounded too ridiculous, but after hearing it, Helt's memory became a little confused.

"You came here two years ago, right?"

Hurt nodded. He met Stukov after coming here two years ago, and the two have been together for two years.

"I can tell you that I have only known you for three months, but my memory is the same as yours. We have known each other for two years."

Hurt looked at Stukov in disbelief.

"Do you still remember the time two years ago when you, the most rookie, almost killed me because of a mistake?"

Hert nodded. This incident is unforgettable for Hert because the memory is too strong. Two years ago, due to Hert's negligence, two completely opposite machine parameters were entered into the machine program. As a result, the machine broke down while Stukov was working. In just a few minutes of malfunction, Stukov almost died. In the end, although Hert corrected the machine parameters, Stukov still lived. It took a week for him to come out of the hospital.

Hult blamed himself very much for this, Stukov patted Hult on the shoulder and said.

"Actually, I died in that machine accident, and the young man who caused the parameter error in my memory was not you, Hert, but another young man. You also know that young man. He was from the potato shop. The clerk, Janov, and that's when I died for the 29th time."

The memory began to become more and more confusing. Hert clearly remembered it very clearly, but such a memory was false. It was difficult for Hert to understand. At this time, Stukov pointed at his brain and said.

"As I said just now, we are not human beings, we are just clones of human beings. All our memories are programmed by AI programs, converted into biological signals that the brain can remember, and then forcibly implanted into the brain. Yes, my memories from childhood to adulthood are like this.”

Hult was still a little in disbelief, Stukov continued.

"Want to give it a try? Cut open my head. There is a memory implanted signal chip inside."

Hult swallowed and looked at Stukov, who had a serious face, but Stukov immediately laughed out loud.

"If you open my head, I will die. Hurt, do you believe what I say?"

Hurt is still struggling. If Stukov had said this in the past, Hurt might have found it difficult to agree with and understand, because everyone was the same.

"Usually when they implant each person's memory, they will implant an unforgettable thing in each person, and the other memories are basically the same, because the AI ​​​​is correcting the memory in everyone's brain 24 hours a day, we are more like It is a robot with implanted memories. Once any disorder occurs in everyone's memory, these disordered memories will be immediately deleted and fresh memories will be re-implanted. In fact, most of us only have a life span of three years. Not even."

Hult looked at Stukov in confusion.

"Then why do you still have the memories from before?"

Stukov turned around, and then pressed the back of his head with some difficulty. He gritted his teeth and suddenly tore off a piece of scalp. He grinned in pain for a moment. Hert looked at Stukov in a daze. Under his scalp, there is a white bright crystal stone that exudes a faint shimmer.

"This is an information recorder that all of us rebels will carry. It will record the correct memory and then transfer it to a nearby database for storage. When we die and are recreated, the rebel organization will immediately People will find us and implant the right memories into us.”

"Won't it be discovered?"

Stukov laughed.

"What do you think we are Helt?"

"Didn't you say we are clones?"

Stukov laughed.

"Sometimes we are slaves, sometimes we are human playthings, sometimes we are fertilizer, and sometimes we are even food. Do you remember that I often remind you not to eat meat?"

Hurt looked at Stukov in shock.

"All the meat sold here is made from the parts of cloned human bodies that do not need to be decomposed. You will always only see dried meat, not real meat, because these meats are wholesaled from the merchants in the starry sky. Finished product.”

Hult covered his mouth and felt nauseated for a moment, Stukov quickly added.

"In the past three months that we have known each other, I have been reminding you not to eat meat, or I have been trying to save money to move to a comfortable place. In short, I have used various reasons to prevent you from eating meat. Do you remember?"

Hert's uncomfortable mood calmed down a little, but he still had many questions in his head. Then Stukov took out a black metal machine and pressed it on the back force, making a beeping sound. Stukov raised his head in pain, and the scalp that had just been torn open by Stukov returned to its original shape. He held a towel and wiped the blood that was still seeping out.

"We clones are just living in a virtual memory society built by AI, and only managers are real humans. Now our clone front is fully prepared to seize the space station by force."

Helt didn't know what to say, because he had seen the power of Tianji Space Kingdom with his own eyes.

"Is it also a lie that the previous great fortune was destroyed by weapons?"

Stukov laughed.

"That's true. Indeed, if we want to overthrow all existing systems, we need to face a super weapon that can destroy us in an instant, but it is not impossible, because we now have a powerful trump card in our hands, and Support from the higher echelons of humanity.”

Hult looked at Stukov in confusion, and then Stukov pointed at the time with his watch. It was already 9:31 in the morning.

"At 10 o'clock in the evening, I will take you to a place. Today is our day off. What else do you want to know?"

"The same goes for Katerina."

Stukov's expression fell and he shook his head.

"Kajerina's time is running out. She has recently begun to suffer from genetic decay and may not be able to survive for long."

Helter looked at Stukov in shock, and he had already stood up from the bed.

"She has lived for two years and 10 months, which can range from half a year to one or two months. She is the important trump card we hold. In the end, she will die."

Stukov said, and Hert looked at Stukov with some difficulty.

"Is there any way I can do it?"

"This is War Boy, a war for the future of our clones."

Hert lowered his head, not knowing what to say for a moment. His mind was very confused and his mood was very low. He could only live for three short years before he died, and he had to make a living in his life. Labor force creates value for this country.

Helt was a little angry in his heart, but at the same time he was also powerless.

"The only thing you need to understand is Hert. You can either join our clone front with the determination to die, or you can continue to be an ordinary person. Choose one of the two."

At this time, Hert suddenly became panicked.

“If we talk about these things now, won’t AI know about it?”

Stukov said with a smile.

"AIs tamper with and check our memories, usually only when fresh clones enter the space station, and when something happens that the managers need to cover up, because reading our memories will damage our brain cells. , causing our lifespan to end prematurely. There is a personal production value calculation in AI. If our output cannot even recover the cost, it will be a loss for the starry sky merchants, so the AI ​​will only use it when necessary. It can read information from our brains. In normal times, it only functions to implant a small amount of memory to complete our personality."

Stukov stood up as he spoke, took out a new cigarette, lit it and coughed violently, and soon a touch of bright red blood appeared in Stukov's hand.

"Especially for people who are about to die, AI will never read the memory, because this will only accelerate my death."

Stukov said and returned to his bed.

"You still have more than ten hours to think about it, Hult. Our plan will start soon. Whether the AIs will read our memories also depends on our vitality, because our life cycle is very short. It is short and cannot pose much of a threat to humans.”

Seeing that Stukov had closed the cabin door and closed his eyes, Hert was completely confused at this time. He knew that he had no choice. It was the same no matter which side he was on, or he could continue to live in a false plantation. Enter the memory, or choose to resist, but no matter what, it will only lead to death.

"Can I do something?"

Helt asked himself. In just over a day, the world in front of Helt had undergone earth-shaking changes, and then Helt left the room.

When he came to the ground and looked at the bustling people, Hert looked at everything in front of him in a daze. These people were all clones. Only the Blue Star soldiers chatting with some people on the side of the street were human beings.

Hert felt that all this was a bit incredible and unreasonable at the same time. The anger in his chest made him feel extremely uncomfortable. Many things in his past memories were false. Now Hert understands this sense of violation and It's not caused by claustrophobic symptoms, but everything that was originally was false.

"Hey, Hult, I heard that you had an appointment with Katerina last night. How was it?"

At this time, a man in work clothes not far away came over. He was Jenov. Stukov said that in his memory, the person who caused the machine failure due to his mistake was not him, but Jenov.

"G293817!"

Helt suddenly said a series of mechanical work codes, and Jenov looked at Helt in confusion.

"G309183731?"

For a moment, Jenov in front of him pressed his head in surprise.

"What is this? How could I say it all of a sudden?"

Hert just smiled slightly. Nowadays, Jenov's identity is just a clerk in a potato food store. In his memory, he has been working here for 8 years. Because he was born with a bad brain, he can only be reduced to the lowest level. lower class citizens.

"By the way Helt, how was last night? Did you succeed?"

Hurt just smiled and said.

"She just used me to get rid of some entanglements."

Jenov sighed and said with some regret.

"Such a good woman, oh, what a pity, she is indifferent and rejects all suitors. Helt, do you think there is something wrong with her?"

Hert could only feel a little embarrassed. After chatting with Jenov for a while, Hert once again talked about a string of mechanical codes, but this time Jenov just looked confused.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm just memorizing some mechanical codes recently, and I can't help but blurt it out. Don't worry about it."

After chatting for a while, the two separated. Hert was wandering on the street, and he came to the door of the dance bar. The dance bars were closed during the day, but some dancers were rehearsing in the basement for the night. programme.

Helt was wandering around the dance bar and met many acquaintances. Helt said that he had a day off today and wanted to visit the dance bar again tonight.

In fact, Helt wanted to take a look at Katerina. She was like a gem on Space Station 69. She was dazzling no matter when and where. Helt's love for Katerina was no longer a day or two. Not now, but two years. In the two years in my memory, he would come here often. Like most people here, everyone admired Katerina.

He stayed there until noon. After eating at a nearby vegetarian restaurant, Hert brought a lunch back to Stukov. When he got home, Stukov had not gotten up yet.

Hert sat quietly on the sofa, and at this time he noticed that something was wrong. Then Hert hurriedly opened the door of the sleeping cabin. Sure enough, Stukov was motionless and not breathing. Hert subconsciously The rescue signal was pressed.

In less than 5 minutes, the Blue Star Army came in with doctors. After conducting some routine inquiries, Stukov was immediately taken away.

"It's okay. This is just a normal phenomenon. Don't worry. He is just temporarily comatose because he has a serious illness and will be cured soon."

"But he's not breathing?"

Hert asked, but the Blue Star Army people immediately explained, saying that because some medical machinery was implanted in the body, these machinery malfunctioned, so it seemed that he was not breathing. They insisted that Stukov Just passed out.

After Stukov was taken away, Hert stayed at home quietly. He didn't know what to do. Tonight, Stukov obviously said that he would take him to a place, but now Si Tokov was dead, Hurt was sure of this, Stukov was indeed dead.

It was evening. After eating the lunch he had brought for Stukov, Hert went to sleep. Heldt didn't sleep a wink for almost the whole night.

9 a.m. on November 1st

Half asleep, Helt heard a noise and hurriedly got up.

"Stukov?"

Hert looked at Stukov holding breakfast in disbelief, and he stood in front of him lively again.

"after all."

Stukov turned around and pointed to the back of his head. There was still some blood there, and it looked like a memory crystal had been implanted there.

"This is the 30th death. I don't know how long I can last this time."

Hult swallowed.

"Listen up Helt, no matter what others ask you, you must never say that you saw me die."

Helt hummed, and sure enough, as Stukov said, Helt was taken away by the Blue Star Army just after breakfast. He was detained on the grounds that he had violated regulations during the repair of the space station deck a few months ago. He was taken over for questioning.

However, they kept asking about Stukov throughout the whole process, and Hurt could only say something based on his feelings.

"By the way Helt, you found Stukov unconscious last night. Did you feel anything strange?"

"At first I thought Stukov was dead, but when Stukov came back this morning, I found out what happened. I was really scared to death."

The person asking the question on the opposite side smiled, and then motioned for Hurt to pay a small fine, and then he could leave.

This kind of life is cold and frightening. Stukov was created in such a short time. If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes and touched it with his own hands, Helt really couldn't believe it.

"I'm back Stukov."

As soon as he stepped through the door, Helt found that the lights in the room were a little dim, but the next second Helt smelled a scent, a smell that Helt was all too familiar with.

The lights came on, and Katerina, who had dressed up and looked radiant, was sitting on the chair, but Stukov was nowhere to be seen.

"Miss Katerina, this."

Katerina stood up.

"You have to do something tonight if you want to join us!"

Helt was a little nervous. Katerina came over. Helt seemed even more embarrassed and couldn't look directly at Katerina.

"You have to kill a human, or a clone."

"Why?"

Helt looked at Katerina in shock. She didn't look like she was joking.

"This is a prerequisite. If you can't do it, I will kill you tonight."