Chapter 7 Chapter Seven Settle Down (Mediation)

"—No matter how you think about it, this is all your mistake! Dave. Big mistake!" Dr. Aeklow scratched at his hair and flicked his tongue unhappily. "The responsibility is not on others, it is all on you who did not deploy guards." "That's what it says, Doctor." Dave Wilson, who was staring at the blue sea through the barbed wire, turned his gaze back to Dr. Aeklow, and spread his arms helplessly. "It is said that 'outsiders cannot influence their decisions', 'if someone watches from the sidelines, even if they do not intervene directly, it will cause silent pressure on the direction of their discussions', and firmly insist that only the six of them should be left behind, no The other person is you, Doctor! I think you still remember?"

"Yes, that's what I claim." The Doctor paced back and forth across the turf gleaming in the sun. "But you can refuse! You are the person in charge here, and you have the right to make decisions about related matters. If you judged that my advice was impractical and arranged for guards, this tragedy would not have happened." "Doctor, I have known you for so long, and I know very well that you are a superb debater. I am afraid that you do not need a lawyer for civil litigation; therefore, I do not deny that the responsibility lies with me." "Of course the responsibility is on you! I'm just helping out out of good intentions, if the responsibility falls on me, it's okay!"

"It would be nice if there were one or two surveillance cameras used to collect data in the past." The wind blowing from the sea brushed his soft and shiny blond hair, Dave squinted his eyes and smoothed his hair. "When I rushed to work overnight to connect water and electricity, I could have dealt with it at the same time, but I was in a hurry." "It's too late to say anything now, the lost lives will never come back." "I have no excuse. It's fine to monitor the screen, at least a temporary phone number should be set up so that they can communicate with the outside world; it's my responsibility not to worry about this."

"Oh! Actually, I can't blame you entirely." Although I was not obliged to act as a peacemaker for the two, I couldn't help but interjected. "No one expected this to happen." "That's true." I don't think Dr. Ecklow was trying to save me, but he backed down. "Especially in this special situation, I don't know when the 'masquerade party' will turn itself into someone else, and some people will even have the idea of ​​hurting others. I really didn't even think about it. The one who hurts is oneself; what's more, even the soul will perish. How can ordinary people expect that murders will happen in this kind of group?"

"Jacqueline"'s long golden-gray hair fluttered in the wind, wrapping around "her" (=me) cheeks; I lifted the strands of hair to my forehead, and looked around the facilities surrounded by high walls and barbed wire. Around the "Management Building" and "Self-Prison", a group of "relevant persons" in casual clothes, white clothes, and even camouflage uniforms were busy shuttling back and forth to collect evidence on the spot; those who gathered in front of the barbed wire to watch their work were " "Jacqueline" (= me), Dave Wilson, Dr. Acklow, and the four red-haired women who followed him like a clone. Dave's subordinate, Weig Waller, stood in the center and conducted the on-site command.

On December 26th, "Jacqueline" (=me) had just finished explaining in detail what had happened since the night of the 23rd to Wilson and the others who had come according to the appointment. Stretchers covered with white cloth were sometimes carried out of the “management building” and their respective death scenes “self-prison” by men in camouflage. Every time a stretcher appeared, “Jacqueline” (=me) counted the number of dead bodies. "them--" On the stretcher in front of him, only a pair of ankles protruded from the white cloth; judging from the skin color, it should be Bobby's body.

"Will they still be counted as earthquake victims?" "They have long been regarded as victims." Dave chose his words carefully, and said, "The cause of death and other important items announced to the public should not be changed separately." Perhaps, instead of calling it a homicide, it would be better to regard it as a death in the earthquake, which would bring much happiness; but in fact, it is quite ironic that everyone clearly escaped death in the earthquake, but was "killed" again in a place where the world can't see . Should this be called blasphemy?Where are their human rights and dignity?I was inexplicably filled with righteous indignation, but if you were to ask me, "How should I deal with it?" I would be speechless.

Died in the earthquake disaster - it is the best to take everything with this sentence.Telling the truth about their deaths won't necessarily restore their dignity—that's all I can believe. "By the way, you—" Dr. Ecklow stared at the pensive "Jacqueline" (=me) and said, "Who are you?" "Jiang Lifu Tom, that Japanese." "Oh! By the way, that's right, you were the only one who spoke standard American English, and I actually forgot all about it. What is the original owner of your body doing now?" He had just explained the ins and outs in detail, but he seemed to have forgotten it again.

"Jacqueline" (=me) silently pointed to room "4" of "Self Prison". "Ah! Yes...that's right, she entered 'you'. Then she—" "Fall on the bed." "Dead?" "Dead." "Speaking of which, you might—" The doctor glanced at "Jacqueline" (=me) bitterly, and looked up at the blue sky. "It's too impulsive!" "We didn't cause this commotion voluntarily either." "I know, of course I do. It's not just Dave's fault; in a way, I'm responsible for how it turned out."

"Oh? Danny!" Dave looked at the doctor in surprise. "How did you become so conscientious when you spoke? It's completely different from just now!" "Don't call me Danny, Dave. And, by the way, I don't blame myself for the decision to leave the six of them alone." "Oh? Then why are you blaming yourself so much? Please give me your advice for future reference." "What I blame myself is that I can actually leave them with a little hope. If the murderer knew that his body might recover, no matter how desperate he was, he wouldn't have done such a stupid thing as killing someone!"

"It's hard to say." "At least what I said may have contributed to his self-abandonment. If he had hope of recovery, he might give up his stupid thoughts and start his life again! But I coldly assert that there is no possibility of recovery. .” "But, doctor, it's easy to give people hope, but isn't it more cruel to write empty promises indiscriminately?" "Yes, if it's a blank check." "Is it a bad check?" Dr. Ecklow's answer was a little slower, which surprised Dave; first he smiled wryly, but his eyes suddenly flashed with professional sharpness. "Slow...slowly, Dr. A." "Don't call me Dr. A, why do you always say you don't listen? I have been correcting you for twenty years." "This kind of thing is irrelevant. Your hope is just a blank promise?" "I don't know any more than you do." "Please speak clearly." Even "Jacqueline" (=me), an outsider, can easily imagine that Dave should rarely speak so excitedly. "Is...do you have a way to stop 'Masquerade'? Really?" "If there was one, we would have used it long ago." "Do you think I'll believe that excuse, Doctor. I bet you wouldn't experiment with Madame if you knew a way to stop the 'Masquerade Ball'; because you'd choose to be one with Madame forever." "Huh? So—" "Jacqueline" (=me) didn't intend to disturb, but couldn't help but sigh. "Is this lady the doctor's wife? I thought it was his daughter..." "Mr. Tom." That face, full of courage like the protagonist of a horror movie, approached me with a smile on it. "It's rare to have this opportunity. Do you want to experience all of a woman's life? For example, giving birth, it is quite a heroic experience!" "So the Doctor has..." "While she—" The doctor put his arm around the red-haired woman's shoulders. "When the labor pains started, we swapped; then it was my scapegoat until the son was born. It was a very precious experience! No matter how deep-rooted chauvinist you are, from now on you can no longer despise women. I recommend you to try it out.” "Huh? I don't need it... It should be said that I am grateful." "Doctor, don't be sloppy." Dave smiled wryly, as if he had regained his sense of normalcy. "It's such a time, please explain clearly, explain clearly! Do you have any clues about the way to stop the 'masquerade party'?" "If I say yes—" Dr. Acklow raised his eyebrows meaningfully. "Are you going to restart the 'Second City' project immediately?" "That question is of no concern to the Doctor." "Unfortunately, Dave, I don't know a way to stop 'Masquerade'. I can swear it's the truth. But—" "but?" "However, I noticed one thing. This is related to the basic function of the personality transfer system—" "Why did you wait until now to talk about such an important matter? It should have been twenty years ago..." "Didn't I tell you?" "what?" "This matter was mentioned twenty years ago, in the 'Second City' laboratory. However, I didn't say it." "Who said that?" "You!" "Sorry, what did you say?" "You said it, on December 23rd twenty years ago." "I..." Dave seemed quite confused, pressing his hands on his chest through the tie. "What the hell did I say?" "The function of the 'Second City' must first materialize the human self that originally belonged to metaphysical existence; this is the basis of everything. Therefore, based on our scientific level, it is absolutely impossible to analyze the personality transfer system-didn't I say that that day Are you harsh on your wife? You don’t remember?” "After all, it was all twenty years ago... However, I seem to have a little impression." "You don't remember, I'm in a lot of trouble! At that time, didn't you teach the childish me like this? ——Doctor, since they are all materialized, we should be able to see these selves, right?" "Oh..." Dave didn't seem to be able to predict how the topic would develop next; he still put his hands on his chest in confusion. "That said... I said so." "Simply put, that's what happened!" "You just say 'this is the case', I still don't understand at all!" "In other words, at first I firmly believed that the exchange process could not be carried out without materialization of personality; however, after listening to what you said, I began to have doubts. Of course, the concept of materialization of this system may be completely different from our level; just , your sentence 'since the personality will materialize during the transfer process, it should be visible', gave me an opportunity to change the direction of thinking—maybe, when the personality is transferred, it still maintains a metaphysical form; no, it should be said The idea of ​​'swapping', 'transferring' and all that stuff is inherently wrong - I'm starting to be so skeptical." "In this case... what does it mean? Whether it has gone through the materialization process is another matter. Don't you want to say that there has been no exchange and transfer at all? After all, there is already—" "Essentially speaking, it can only be described as an exchange; however, the description of 'exchange' hinders a fundamental understanding." "I don't understand it at all." "How should I put it...for example, 'she'—" The doctor pointed to the head of "Jacqueline" (=me). "Whose brains do you think belong here?" "Of course... Jacqueline Tucker's!" "That's right. It is indeed a Japanese personality named Toshio Tomae who is 'entering' her body now; has his brain also moved here? Absolutely not, the brain is still Jacqueline Tucker Yes. But the 'personality' inside is Toshio Tomae—do you know how this contradictory situation can be reasonably established?" "How would I know? Maybe something went wrong in my head—" "That's the correct answer." "what?" "I said, that's the correct answer, Dave. In this case, now 'her' is temporarily out of her mind, thinking that she is not an English woman named Jacqueline Tucker, but a woman named Jacqueline Tucker. Toshio Tomae's Japanese man." "Please..." Dave seemed to think that the doctor was joking with himself, rubbing his temples and sighing. "Please wait a moment." "It's also a fundamental question—what is human self-existence?" However, the doctor is serious. "Recall the content of the discussion between my wife and me at that time. The human self is not an entity, but is established through the mutual recognition of plural selves-we have said that, right?" "In other words, is it a relative thing?" "You know it very well! That's right. For example, what is the basis for you to be Dave Wilson? The basis is that you and the people around you believe that you are Dave Wilson. You can only rely on this common 'Errors' exist. Not just you, of course, but all human beings." "Common...mistakes?" "What would happen if no one around you recognized you as Dave Wilson? There would be no such thing as you in society—in other words, there would literally be no Dave Wilson. You exist as yourself because everyone, including you, 'mistakes' you as Dave Wilson." "Misidentified? But..." "It's misidentification, because human existence is not absolute. We can point to a stone on the side of the road and say it is indeed a mineral called stone; but no one can say that you are really a Dave Wilson people." "I am indeed me!" "Really? Even if you show a stone to someone who has never seen it before, he can be sure that it is a stone; but can someone who sees you for the first time automatically recognize that you are Dave Wilson? No! Maybe you Call it nonsense, but it is the best proof that human beings exist through mutual recognition—that is, relativity.” "general speaking--" "Jacqueline" (=me) couldn't help but interject. "Although 'I' is an out-and-out 'Jacqueline Tucker' under the common perception of the society, but 'I' have an illusion in my own mind, mistakenly thinking that I am Toshio Tomae?" "exactly." "However, this alone can't explain it? If the personality transfer is not a substantial transfer, but just a mistake in the brain's self-identification, how to explain the memory problem? For example, now 'A' mistakenly believes that he is B, and' B' mistakenly thought that he was A; then the 'masquerade party' happened, when 'A' thought he was A again, logically speaking, the memory of 'B''s mind when he mistakenly believed that he was A should not stay in 'A' ' in your head, right? But, from our experience, no matter how many 'masquerades' a personality goes through, it retains a coherent memory; and why?" "Quite a sharp accusation. As you said, logically speaking, every time a 'masquerade' occurs, the same personality should lack the memory of that period; however, in fact, everyone's memory is coherent .I don't understand that either." "I don't understand..." I wanted to complain, "You are too irresponsible!" But I shut my mouth again. "There are many things that I don't understand, and there are still a lot of problems that don't make sense. For example, if this phenomenon is purely due to a brain error, it should also happen separately? For example, 'A', 'B' ' and 'C' mistakenly believed that they were A at the same time. But in fact, the illusions of all members occurred simultaneously and interactively; at first glance, it seemed that the personalities were really exchanged or transferred. This phenomenon is consistent with memory Can't explain it either?" "That's true..." "In the end, I still don't understand anything. However, I believe that the principle of 'the mind makes mistakes in self-identification' is basically correct; on this premise, rethink the memory coherence of the same personality and the simultaneous identification of all members. Mistakes, etc., will naturally come down to a certain assumption.” "What assumption?" "Whenever a 'masquerade party' occurs, all members will be 'supplemented' with the necessary memory and given 'adjustments' to avoid the same personality appearing repeatedly at the same time. In other words, the 'masquerade party' is not a Acquired traits, but it occurs when the 'control tower' repeatedly produces 'force fields' to interfere with members. Of course, the interference method surpasses the existing laws of physics, so it is completely unaffected by distance or shelter—" "Please... please wait, Doctor." "Jacqueline" (=me) heard Dave stutter for the first time, and his expression was quite stiff. "Your so-called 'control tower', shouldn't it be the 'Second City'? Do you think that the 'Second City' is a 'control tower' that generates a 'force field' and makes 'adjustments'?" "Is there anything else?" "So you don't think that if there's no 'control tower', the interference will go away and the 'masquerade party' will stop?" "Of course I think so! Could there be other conclusions?" "Are you serious?" "What are you talking about? You want me to make it clear, to make it clear!" "Could it be, do you want to destroy the 'Second City'?" "I think this is a good opportunity! Dave. Anyway, the 'Second City' is beyond the capabilities of our human beings. Since we can't control its functions, it is of course impossible to apply it to peace or military affairs; this The conclusion was drawn as early as 20 years ago, but the U.S. government is not willing to give up on the Yellow River, thinking that although it cannot be used now, it may be possible in the future, so it chooses to preserve the "Second City" in such a deformed way. This decision It was wrong." "But--" "Don't get me wrong, I'm not advocating that as long as the 'Second City' is destroyed, the 'Masquerade Ball' will definitely stop; this is just my assumption, and the basis is extremely weak, and it can even be said to be delusional. Of course, I am also very clear, the above There's no way those dead-headed people would accept the proposal; though it's clear..." "But very eager to try?" "Me? I don't care! If my wife wants, I can try it, otherwise I don't intend to actively try. I'm used to using my wife's body, after all..." He smiled slightly at the red-haired woman beside him. "It's been twenty years!" "I'm here to declare—" Dave glanced at me as if he had suddenly discovered the existence of "Jacqueline" (=me); he seemed to regret disclosing too much secret in front of ordinary people, so he hesitated for a moment, but In the end, he continued with a firm attitude: "The 'Second City' cannot be destroyed. This is an established matter. As early as 1970, 'we' had already shouldered the obligation to preserve it for a hundred years." "You guys are really working hard! I don't even think that the Cold War has ended, and the Berlin Wall has been dismantled long ago. It's a waste of the state budget to put so much effort into keeping this useless waste." "One hundred years—no, no one knows what will happen in fifty years; neither the world situation nor human scientific capabilities can be predicted by us now." "I'm really reluctant to part with you!" "No matter what you say, a given is a given, and only the current president can change this decision. No, not even 'he' can change it; in my personal opinion, I bet the final conclusion will still be It is immutable." "I understand. After all, it is a unique 'device' in the world! I can't understand the government's reluctance. Looking back now, the time when the governor couldn't resist the development of the residential area in S City was perhaps the only chance to destroy it. gone." "That's right, that's right; Doctor, your proposal is twenty years late. Even if this 'experiment' to destroy the 'Second City' is nothing more than a personal delusion, I hope you will mention it less in the future." "It's meaningless for you to say these things to me. Didn't I just say that? I've resigned to my fate! My wife and I are already used to this state. It may not be appropriate to use the negative term 'used to', but it should be said that I am satisfied." .” "That's really—" Dave seemed to be introspective and lowered his voice for his unknowingly didactic tone: "It couldn't be better, both for you and your wife." "However, there are also people who refuse to accept their fate." Dr. Aikelow's gaze turned to "Jia Guilian" (=me). "That's why it's up to you to declare yourself why the only possible way to stop the 'Masquerade' cannot be implemented - to destroy the 'Second City' -" Looking back at No. 4 "self-imprisonment", Dr. Ecklow suddenly smiled. "—Oh! It seems..." He pretended to be funny and waved to the figure walking out of the "4" room. "The key 'dead' has also been successfully resurrected!" It is "I" (= Jacqueline) who approaches us staggeringly and staggeringly.She was "dead" alone in bed due to a severe hangover, and now she is finally recovering to the point where she can walk. "You..." "I" (=Jia Guilin) ​​managed to raise my out-of-focus eyes and stare at "Jia Guilin" (= me). "Is it okay to be a little modest? Really. This body is not yours alone! Don't you understand?" If the listener intends this sentence, it sounds meaningful; of course, she should have said it unintentionally... No, I have begun to indulge in the self-abuse of "good at" again, so I have to reflect on it. "It's all right if you want to drink to your heart's content at Christmas." Perhaps I showed a disheartened expression unconsciously, and "I" (= Jacqueline) took a step back. "But please bear your own hangover, don't pass it on to others!" "It can't be helped! Who knew that the 'masquerade' would happen as soon as I got drunk? I didn't mean it." "Oh!" Maybe I have had a similar experience with my wife!Dr. Acklow laughed happily. "What a perfect timing!" "Not funny at all!" "I" (= Jacqueline) crouched on the grass with her head in her arms. "I'm dying, you really can drink! I really don't understand how people who love to drink are so stupid to ask for it?" "Okay." Dr. Aikelow still had a happy smile on his strange face, turned to Dave and said, "Since these two people who refused to accept their fate are all here, you can take what the relevant people in the government said Tell them the matter again!" "... What is the established matter?" "I" (= Jacqueline) was rubbing her temples, while frowning and looking at the people who were collecting evidence at the scene; seeing that no one answered her, she turned to "Jiaguilin" (=me) anxiously. "Hey, what were you talking about just now?" "No... just, uh..." "Jacqueline" (=me) paused, and looked at Dr. Ecklow and Dave. "I think you'd better not know, because it turned out to be a blank promise."