Chapter 32 Chapter Thirty-One
I woke up, but I was really not happy about being woken up by someone like this.
The light broke in suddenly, and I turned sideways, squinting, cursing, and I saw Lee Hunter sitting on the edge of the bed, still holding an aerosol syringe.
"You've taken a lot of sleeping pills and slept all day," he said, "get up and enjoy yourself."
I sat up, wiped the hair sticking to my face, and squinted at Hunter. "Who the hell allowed you to come into my room?" I started coughing as I spoke so hard, and Hunter came back from the bathroom with a glass of water.
"for you."
I drank, trying to throw a fit, but between cramping and coughing, it was all futile.The remnants of the dream escaped like the morning fog, and the bad feeling of loss came suddenly.
"Get dressed," Hunter said, standing up. "The CEO wants you to be in her room in twenty minutes. A lot happened while you were asleep."
"What's the matter?" I rubbed my eyes and combed my messy hair with my fingers.
He smiled nervously, "You can connect to the data network to have a look. Go down as soon as possible and go to Yueshi's room. Seven, I'll give you twenty minutes." He left.
I am connected to the data network.One way to visualize what it's like to be on the datanet is to imagine a small ocean of Old Earth, with varying degrees of turbulence at different times.Ordinary days often show a calm sea with curious ripples.In the crisis of life and death, it shows the waves that change with the wind and the sea with white foam.Today, hurricanes are raging.Logins are delayed, any access channel is the same, chaos reigns over the constantly updated crash waves, the data plane matrix is frantically carrying out storage transfers and major information transmissions, and the big picture is usually just layers of information and political debate Signals, now turned into chaotic winds of fury, abandoned referendums, and outdated situation templates, these things are blown away like tattered clouds by the wind.
"Oh, my God," I whispered, disconnecting the connector, but I still felt the pressure of the flow hammering against the circuitry of my implant and my brain.war.Lightning raid.The imminent destruction of the Ring.Words of impeachment Yueshi.Riots on dozens of worlds.The revolt of the Church of the Shrike on the planet Lusus.Abandoned by the military fleet of the Hyperion system, they desperately tried to save the backyard, but it was too late, too late.Hyperion already under attack.Fear, fear of aggression via teleporter.
I got up and ran to the shower naked, just in time for a sonic bath.I don't know if it's Hunter or someone else, but there's a formal gray suit and cape, and I hurried into it, brushing back my wet hair in damp curls just above my collar.
It is useless to have the CEO of a human overlord etc.Oh no, she won't wait another second.
"You came on time," Meina Gladstone said after I entered her private room.
"What the hell did you do?" I snapped at her.
Yue Shi narrowed his eyes.Apparently, the CEO of the Human Overlord is not used to being spoken to like her.What a stinking pile of shit, I thought.
"Remember who you are and who you are talking to." Yue Shi said coldly.
"I don't know who I am. And who am I addressing, perhaps the greatest executioner since Horace Glennon High. Why on earth would you let war happen?"
.Wan Shi narrowed his eyes again, looking around.Just the two of us here.Her living room is very spacious, dark but cozy, with original art from the Old Lands on the walls.At the time, I didn't care one bit if I was standing in a room full of Van Gogh prints.I stared at Pleasant Stone, and a little light through the shutters showed me this Lincolnian face, which I thought was just the face of an old woman.She also stared back at me for a moment, then turned her head away.
"Oh, sorry," I yelled, but my voice was unapologetic. "You didn't let it happen. You started the war, didn't you?"
"No, Seven, I didn't take the initiative to start a war." Yue Shi's voice was very calm, almost whispering.
"Speak up," I growled at her.I paced back and forth by the tall windows, gazing at the light from the shutters, which moved across me like painted dapples. "Also, I'm not Joseph Seven."
She raised her eyebrows. "How about calling you Mr. Keats?"
"You can call me 'Non-Human'—the guy who criticizes people against people," I said, "so when other giants come, you can say that 'Non-Human' blinded you, and then They'll just pat their butts off and say it's God's will."
"Are you going to blindfold me?"
"I could break your neck right now and walk out of here without a trace of remorse. Tens of thousands of people will die this week. How can you let it happen?"
Yue Shi touched his lower lip. "The future will develop in two directions," she said softly. "One is war and complete ignorance, and the other is tranquility and inevitable complete mass extinction. I choose war."
"Who said all this?" There was more curiosity in my voice now than anger.
"It's true," she glanced at her comlog. "I must declare war in front of the Council in ten minutes. Tell me what news you have from the Pilgrims in Hyperion."
I folded my arms across my chest and stared down at her. "If you promise me a few things, I'll tell you."
"If I can do it, I will promise you."
I paused, realizing that there is no way in this world to get this woman to write a blank check that promises to keep her word. "Okay," I said, "I want you to send Hyperion a superluminescent message to take off surveillance on the Consul's ship and send someone up the Hawley River to find the Consul. He was about a hundred and thirty miles from the capital. Ten kilometers away, above the Kara lock. He may have been injured."
Yue Shi bent a finger, rubbed her lower lip, and nodded. "Okay, I'll send someone to find him. As for the release of the spaceship, it depends on what you tell me. Are the others still alive?"
I rolled up my short cloak and sat down on the recliner opposite her. "there's a few."
"Where's Byron Lamia's daughter? Braun?"
"The Shrike got her. She's momentarily unconscious, hooked up to some kind of neural shunt, into the data network. In my dream...she was floating somewhere, with that implanted personality, That is, the first Keats reconstructed personality reunited. The two are entering the data network... To be precise, Wanfang.com. Before, I have never dreamed of this core circuit and dimension, nor have I dreamed of this connected network."
"Is she still alive?" Yue Shi leaned over with a serious attitude.
"I don't know. Her body is gone. I woke up before I saw where her personality entered Wanfangwang."
Yue Shi nodded. "What about the Colonel?"
"Where Kassad was taken by Moneta, this human woman seems to live in the Time Tomb, traveling in time with the Time Tomb. The last time I saw the Colonel, he was attacking the Shrike with his bare hands. Actually, it should be It's a bunch of Shrikes, hundreds of them."
"Is he still alive?"
I spread my hands. "I don't know. These are dreams! Fragments. Bits and pieces of feeling."
"Where's the poet?"
"Selenas was killed by the Shrike. He was impaled on a thorn tree. But then I caught a glimpse of him in Kassad's dream. Silenas is still alive. I don't know what the hell is going on Something happened."
"So, the thorn tree is real? It's not what the Shrike Church preached at all?"
"Oh, yes, it's true."
"And the consul is gone? Going back to the capital?"
"He had his grandmother's Hawk Hawk flying carpet. It was fine at first, but when it got to the Kara Locks, um, I mentioned that, and something went wrong. The flying carpet...and him... fell In the river." I answered her next question, "I don't know if he's still alive."
"What about the priest? Father Hoyt?"
"The cruciform turned him back into Father Duré."
"Father Durley? Or a mindless replica?"
"It's Dooley," I said, "but...damaged. Discouraged."
"Is he still in the valley?"
"No. He went into a cave mound, and I haven't seen him since. I don't know what happened to him."
Pleasant Stone glanced at her comlog.I imagined the chaos that prevailed in this building... in this world, and the rest of the Web.Apparently the CEO retreated here and was alone for fifteen minutes before she addressed Parliament.This may be the last time she will enjoy being alone for the next few weeks.Maybe never again.
"Where's Captain Masteen?"
"Dead. He was buried in the valley."
Yue Shi took a deep breath. "Where's Winterberg and his boy?"
I shake my head. "My dreams are disorganized...and not in chronological order. I think things have happened, but I'm confused." I looked up, and Pleasant Stone was waiting patiently for me to finish. "When the Shrike appeared, the child was only In the next few seconds," I said, "Thor sacrificed the child to the monster. I think it has taken the child to the Sphinx. The Time Tombs are shining brightly. There are... Other Shrikes . . . are appearing."
"So, the Tomb of Time has been opened?"
"right."
Yueshi touched the comlog. "Lee? Listen, tell the comms officer to contact Theo Wren in Hyperion, and the military personnel there. Order them to release the ship we're holding. And, Lee, tell the Governor I'll be there Send him a private message in a few minutes." The machine chirped and she looked back at me, "Did you dream anything else?"
"Images. Words. I don't understand what's going on. Those things are so out of the ordinary."
Yue Shi smiled slightly. "Are you aware that you are dreaming about events that another Keats personality could not experience?"
I didn't say anything, I was stunned by her words.I thought my connection to the Pilgrims was probably through some kind of core-based wiring to the personality implant in Braun's Shuklon ring, through which, through their shared web of raw data, insight into all of these.But that personality has been liberated; the data network should also be inoperable due to the distance.Even a superlight receiver cannot receive messages without a transmitter.
Yue Shi put away his smile. "Can you tell why?"
"No," I looked up, "maybe they're just dreams. Real dreams."
She stood up. "Perhaps, if we can find the Consul, we'll find out. Or when his ship flies down the valley. I have to go to the House in two minutes. Anything else?"
"There's a question," I said, "who am I? Why am I here?"
That tiny smile was there again. "That's a question no one knows, Mr. Cy-Keats."
"I'm serious. I think you know this better than I do."
"The kernel sent you here as a liaison between me and the pilgrims. Also, sent you to observe. You, after all, are a poet and an artist."
I made a noise, stood up, and walked slowly with her towards the private teleportation door.That door will take her to the House. "What good can observation do in such an apocalyptic time?"
"Go and find out, then," said Pleasant Stone, "go and see the end of the world." She handed me a microcard that I could use with my comlog.I plugged it in and glanced at the touch display; it was a universal authorization chip that gave me access to all portals, public, private, and military.This is a ticket to the end of the world.
I said, "What if I get killed?"
"Then we'll never hear the answer to your question," said CEO Yueshi.She touched my wrist quickly, then turned and stepped through the portal.
During those few minutes, I stood alone in her room, admiring the light, the silence, and the art.There's a Van Gogh painting on the wall that's priceless and beyond the reach of most planets.This painting shows that the artist is present.Madness has existed since ancient times.
After a while, I started to leave.Relying on the memory of the comlog, I followed it through the maze of government buildings, and finally found the terminal of the central teletransmitter.I went inside to discover the end of the world.
There are two long-distance transmission channels in the world, and they go straight through the ring network: the central square and the Tethys River.I teleported to the central square, where one end of the Qingdao-Xishuangbanna half-kilometer commercial street leads to Xindi, and the other end leads to the short seaside commercial street in Yongpuxing.Qingdao-Xishuangbanna is the world that is about to suffer the first wave of attacks. Thirty-four hours later, it will face the onslaught of the Ousters.Xindi is on the list for the second wave of impact, and even with that fact announced now, the invasion is still more than a standard week away.And Yongpu star is inside the ring network, and there are still many years before it is attacked.
There are no signs of panic here in Qingdao.People are drawn to the data network and the big picture, not to the streets.Walking down that narrow alley, I could hear Pleasant Stone's voice from a thousand receivers and private comlogs, a strange soft-spoken voice, while all around me was the loud yelling of street vendors I could hear the hiss of tires on the wet road as the trams buzzed past the transport deck overhead.
"...nearly eight centuries ago, a leader told his people on the eve of the attack—''You ask me, what strategy do we have? I say to you: Let's go to war then, in space, on land, in the In the sky, in the sea, with our strength, with the strength that justice and justice give us, let's go to war. This—this is our strategy..."
There are troops from the military headquarters near the teleportation area between Qingdao and Yongpu Star, but pedestrians still flow there as usual.I wondered in my heart when the army would occupy the pedestrian street in the central square for the transportation of military vehicles.I wondered whether these cars were going to the front or retreating.
I stepped in and entered Yongpu Star.The streets there are still dry, and thirty meters below the rocky walls of the central plaza, the ocean spews occasional splashes.The sky was as usual, menacing in ocher and gray, the ominous color of dusk at noon.The little stone shop glowed with lights and goods.I realized that the streets here were much less crowded than usual, empty; people were standing in shops, sitting on stone walls or stone chairs, their heads bowed, listening intently.
"... you ask, what is our goal? I will answer two words: victory. Victory at any cost, victory no matter how horrible, victory no matter how long or difficult the road must be. Because, Without victory, none of us will survive..."
The line at the Edgartown Junction terminal was short.I entered the code of Infinitus Sea and stepped in.
The sky was cloudless and green as usual, and the sea beneath the floating city was a darker green.Seaweed farms float on the horizon.Away from the central square, there are fewer people here.There was hardly anyone on the boardwalk, and some shops were closed.A group of men stood by the kayak dock, listening to the sound of an ancient super-light receiver.Yue Shi's voice is flat, with a metallic texture, floating in the air full of seafood.
"...but now, the troops of the Ministry of War are massing to their posts, without emotion in their hearts, with a firm determination, with the conviction that they will save not only all worlds in danger, but Everything that is the overlord of mankind, we will not fall under the tyranny of the most evil and cruel people, and we will not let it stain history..."
Eighteen hours later, the Infinity Sea will face invasion.I looked up at the sky, with some expectation in my heart, wanting to see signs of hordes of enemy soldiers there, signs of orbital defense and space army activities, but there was only the sky, the wind and the sun, and the lightness of the city on the sea. Shake gently.
Heaven's Gate is the first world on the invasion list.I stepped into the VIP portal on the mudflats and stood on the top of Le Fujin overlooking this beautiful city, which is really worthy of the name.It's late night here.It's late, the artisan street sweepers are out, their brushes and sound waves buzzing the cobblestones, but there's movement here, a long line of silent crowds at the public terminal at Le Fong Tsin's apex, and a queue at the portal in the Promenade. The queue is longer.I could see the tall figures of the local policemen in full armor, in their brown shock armor, but if the army troops had come here to reinforce them, they would not have been seen.
The people queuing up were not local residents - almost certainly the landowners of the Lifujin Summit and Promenade had their personal portals - they appeared to be workers from a reclamation project a few kilometers away in the fern forest and park .There was no panic and very little conversation.The procession marches forward, looking like a family suffering patiently and suffering, trudging toward the attraction of a theme park.They carry nothing bigger than duffle bags and backpacks.
I wonder, are we so concerned about saving face that even in the face of invasion, are we still so calm?
Thirteen hours from now, Heaven's Gate will face an invasion.I pressed the communication log to enter the global situation.
"...if we can stand up to this threat, then our beloved world will remain intact, and life on the dying Ring will pass into a sunny future. But if we surrender, then the entire Ring, the Overlord, we know Everything, everything we care about, will sink into the abyss of another dark age, when the light of science is turned upside down and human freedom is taken away, this time the dark age will be infinitely more sinister and endlessly dark.
"So, let us cheer up, meet our responsibilities, and let us all take up our responsibilities. If the human overlord, its protector, and its alliance can last for thousands of years, human beings will still say: 'That was their best moment.'”
Somewhere below the city, which was still and fresh, the shooting began.First came the chatter of steel spear guns, then the deep hum of riot stunners, then the screeching, hissing of lasweapons.The crowd in front of the Promenade portal rushed towards the terminal, but riot police emerged from the park and switched on their halogen searchlights, dousing the crowd in the glare. Issue an order for them to rearrange themselves or disperse.The crowd hesitated for a moment, the procession writhing back and forth like a jellyfish caught in a chaotic current, and then—they heard the sound of firing louder and closer than before, stimulated by it—again Go to the platform of the portal.
Riot police fired tear gas and stun gas canisters.Between the mob and the teleporter, a violet blocking field whined and suddenly appeared, stuck between them.A line of military electromagnetic vehicles and security skimmers flew low over the city, searchlights poking downward.One of the beams hit me and stayed on me until my comlog flashed an interrogation signal, then the beam moved away.It started to rain.
An Zhiruosu is nothing more than that.
The police have confirmed that the public terminal at the top of Lifujin is not in danger, and they are stepping into the portal of the private atmospheric protection body I just used one by one.I go elsewhere.
Military commandos guard the lobby of the government building, vetting incoming teleporters.But in fact, this portal is one of the most inaccessible entrances in the Ring.I went through three checkpoints and arrived at the administrative and residential wing, where my apartment is located.Suddenly, the guards ran out, chased away the others in the main hall, secured the subsidiary hall, and Yue Shi hurried out, surrounded by a group of advisors, assistants, and military leaders.Surprisingly, she saw me and stopped, as did her squire.Yueshi spoke to me through a wall of sailors in combat armor.
"Mr. Inhuman, what do you think of the speech?"
"Fantastic," I replied, "very inspiring. If I'm not mistaken, it's a plagiarism from Winston Churchill."
Yue Shi smiled and shrugged slightly. "If you want to plagiarize, plagiarize the masters that people have forgotten." Her smile faded, "What news is there on the border?"
"People are starting to understand the reality they're facing," I said, "beyond the panic."
"Me too," said the CEO, "what's the news for Pilgrim?"
I'm surprised. "Pilgrim? I haven't...dreamed yet."
The crowd of followers and the imminent event began to drive her, driving her into the hall. "Maybe you don't need to sleep with these dreams anymore," she cried. "Try."
I watched her go, now I can go to my suite, I walked to the door, but a sudden loathing for myself, turned my head and left.Filled with fear and shock, I was running away from this horror that was coming at us all.I would love to lie in bed, not go to sleep, pull the comforter tight to my chin, cry for the ring, cry for baby Rachel, cry for myself.
I left the wing of the house, walked into the central garden, and wandered along the gravel path.Tiny remote-controlled objects buzzed in the air like bees, and one drove alongside me through the rose garden, and followed me to a place where, among misty tropical plants, The sunken path has nine twists and eighteen turns, and finally, I came to the old area by the bridge.I sat on a stone chair, and I remember talking to Yueshi here.
Maybe you no longer need to sleep through these dreams.try it.
I lifted my legs up on the chair, put my hands on my knees, pressed my fingertips to my temples, and closed my eyes.
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