The night before the promotion

Chapter 8 Pei Dong
Zhou Si and Pei Dong first met during a company team-building event.

In view of the fact that humans nowadays are increasingly dependent on their embodied bodies and neglecting their own flesh, the company decided to go camping and hiking as a team building activity to let everyone feel the power of the flesh again.

Upon hearing the news, Zhou Si thought the person in charge of the team building had gone crazy. This is Shenwei Technology, the leader in incarnations. Why are you focusing on physical health instead of letting everyone enjoy the convenience of technology?

As a newcomer who had just joined the company, Zhou Si naturally had no power to protest. He could only complain quietly, then picked up his bags, leaned on his trekking pole, and followed the large group into the deep mountains and forests.

It was an unforgettable journey. Zhou Si felt good at first, but soon he could not feel his feet. Then, he felt that he had lost his soul and his body was just moving forward numbly following its instinct.

When Zhou Si came to his senses, he had already lost contact with the main group. The sky was gradually darkening, and the sounds of insects could be heard all around him. There were so many of them, with an average of several hundred per square meter.

Although Zhou Si came from an underdeveloped county, throughout his short life, he had always been bathed in the glory of human technology and had never personally set foot in the ancient wilderness.

In the gradually darkening forest, Zhou Si could only stand there blankly, except for constantly pressing his cell phone which had no signal.

Everything that is happening now is like a common horror story, where a poor guy is lost in the forest, and waiting for him are wandering psychopathic killers, evil spirits bound to this land, and even aliens from outer space.

A ray of light lit up from the dense forest, and then a figure wielding a machete cut through the vines and weeds that were in the way, and came in front of Zhou Si as if wading through puddles of water.

Her ponytail stood up high, her chest heaved violently due to her panting, sweat evenly covered her healthy muscles, and her strong biceps were like juicers that could easily crush anything.

At that time, Zhou Si even had a strange desire, hoping that she would just strangle him a little, but not too hard.

"Oh, you are Zhou Si, right?"

She stretched out her hand, not as a polite handshake, but to pull Zhou Si out of the mud.

"I'm Pei Dong."

This was the first time Zhou Si and Pei Dong met.

Pei Dong is an expert in wilderness survival. With a few slashes he cut a path, with a few axes he chopped out a piece of firewood, and with a few shovels he dug out a hole, and Zhou Si lay down in it and recovered.

While Zhou Si was using a flashlight to shine on the instructions and struggling to set up the tent, Pei Dong had already dug a fire pit and was cooking tonight's food on it. She also made a spear herself, saying that even if a bear came out at night, they could still fight it out.

A female Rambo walked out of the dense forest, and even the most terrifying story became exciting.

Late at night, Zhou Si was lying in the same tent with Pei Dong in a sleeping bag. Being alone with a person of the opposite sex in a narrow space always makes people think of something else.

Zhou Si felt like Guo Xiang who was rescued by Yang Guo. The so-called suspension bridge effect was spreading in his mind. But in fact, Zhou Si did not have much lust for Pei Dong. What he felt was more of a respect and admiration, full of worship for the strong.

After all, there are many beautiful women in this world, but there are not many female Rambos.

"Zhou Si, you know what? When many people talk about the night in the forest, they mostly use words like tranquility to describe it, and then talk about the stars in the sky, twinkling and peaceful."

Pei Dong lay in his sleeping bag, looking at the tent above his head. The roof was made of transparent plastic, and he could clearly see the stars in the dark night.

“But in fact, the forest at night is very noisy, and countless lives are shouting hysterically.”

Zhou Si listened to Pei Dong's words and looked at the stars with her.

For a new graduate entering the workplace, it was an unforgettable experience and also a precious friendship.

Until the accident.

……

"Pei Dong?"

Zhou Si murmured to himself. The impact of meeting old friends again was greater than he had imagined. A feeling of unreality lingered in his heart.

Perhaps it was because that memory that was about to be forgotten was too beautiful, even Zhou Si's usually cold face showed a rare cold smile.

"I never thought we would meet again in this way."

Zhou Si let go of the hatchet, leaned back in his chair, and sighed sincerely, "Life is really full of surprises."

"Yeah, when I heard that the doctor in this clinic was named Zhou Si, I couldn't believe it either. I thought it was just a coincidence," Pei Dong stood there, his body didn't need to rest, "I didn't expect it was really you."

Time has chopped both of them into unrecognizable shapes. When they meet again, there is a lot of strangeness in the familiarity.

Surprised, Pei Dong's voice became lighter, with a hint of sadness, "I thought you would leave this city and switch to an industry that has nothing to do with the incarnation body."

She whispered, "I've seen the news. They said you..."

"It's all over," Zhou Si interrupted Pei Dong, looking calm, "Besides, you are also one of the victims, aren't you?"

Pei Dong was silent for a moment, and a helpless laugh rang out from the speaker, "Yes, we are all victims."

After stopping to recall the terrible past, Pei Dong focused her attention on the present. She looked at her friend whom she had not seen for a long time, and then looked at the wall behind Zhou Si.

Those colorful banners caught the eyes of the two men.

Whenever Zhou Si saw these things, besides feeling some humor, he felt more of an inner accomplishment and realization of his self-worth.

When a person falls into a huge void, only some sense of life's value can anchor him firmly to the boundary of reason.

After reminiscing about the past, Zhou Si got down to business. "Pei Dong, is there anything I can help you with?"

He hesitated for a moment and asked, "Are you or your relatives or friends suspected of suffering from the disease of consciousness?"

Although "Zhou's Orthodontics" is a clinic, Zhou Si does not have a medical qualification certificate, and this is not an officially recognized formal clinic.

This place is more like a repair shop than a clinic.

Zhou Si only diagnoses patients suffering from Lishi disease. In the case that society does not recognize the existence of this disease, Zhou Si's client base can be roughly divided into two categories. One category is people like Luo Yong, who show signs of being out of control and are forcibly diagnosed by Zhou Si; the other category is people who actively seek Zhou Si out after being introduced by others.

Pei Dong belongs to the latter, and at the same time, she knows very well what is being treated here.

The atmosphere fell into an eerie silence. Zhou Si waited patiently. He had already vaguely realized that the patient was Pei Dong himself.

Zhou Si couldn't help feeling sad when he thought about his old friend suffering from such a disease, but more often, he felt helpless about his fate.

That accident, no, everyone involved in that project, seemed to be cursed.

Zhou Si took the initiative to speak, "You are suffering from the disease of separation, right?"

Pei Dong was not ready, or perhaps she was not ready to reveal all this in front of an old friend.

Under Zhou Si's relentless pressure, she answered vaguely, "I guess so... I'm not too sure."

"Pei Dong, we were both core employees of Shenwei Technology. It can be said that you and I know more about mind recognition technology and incarnation shells than most people in the world."

Zhou Si's voice hardened, and he asked in a accusing tone, "Don't say you're not sure. Is it yes or no?"

Pei Dong responded cooperatively, "Yes."

"What exactly happened? Is it related to the accident?"

Zhou Si's eyes swept sharply over the avatar shell in front of him, "After that, we all received psychiatric treatment and were told to reduce the use of the avatar shell."

He sneered, "The doctor said this is for mental stability and to prevent mutation, but we all know that they just dare not face the existence of the Li Shi disease." Pei Dong said nothing in response to Zhou Si's rebuke. This incarnation body did not have any subtle changes in expression, nor did it have any eye contact, let alone any body language.

It was just a cold machine, standing there coldly. There was no emotion on the mask, only a monotonous white, like a hard stone.

"I know, but life is always full of helpless things, Zhou Si."

Pei Dong raised her hands. Even after bionic processing, she could still clearly feel the boundary between machine and flesh and blood.

"what happened?"

Zhou Si's tone softened. He realized that Pei Dong had been through a lot since they separated four years ago, and that many things had turned her into what she was now.

He turned his attention to Pei Dong's avatar body and asked puzzledly, "Nursing avatar body? Are you working in a nursing home?"

Pei Dong shook his head, and the mechanical joints in his neck made a rustling sound.

"No, I don't work in a nursing home," she said quietly. "This nursing avatar is for me to take care of myself."

Zhou Si was stunned, his eyes full of confusion, "Take care of yourself?"

"Later... a lot of things happened later," Pei Dong summoned up the courage to explain everything to Zhou Si, "For example, our project was shut down by the Supervision Bureau, and we both resigned and lost contact with each other.

Or... I was in a car accident and now I'm bedridden, relying on my avatar to take care of myself."

She wanted to give a wry smile, but all that could be seen on her avatar's body was the flat, featureless, pale mask.

"The accident was serious. I spent all my savings just to stay alive. But even so, I was just 'alive'."

Pei Dong calmly recounted the blank time.

"My spine was fractured and my spinal cord was damaged. Only one arm could move with some effort. The rest of my body was completely numb. I was completely reduced to a corpse that could still breathe."

The suppressed sadness was like overflowing water, spreading quietly. Zhou Si lowered his eyes and remained silent.

"I'm sorry, it's not that I don't want to come see you in person, but my body can only lie in bed and can't move."

Pei Dong paused for a moment, sorting out his feelings and his words.

"You know me. Although I work in the field of incarnation, I am very resistant to incarnation. If it is not required for work, I don't want to upload my consciousness into these cold machines."

Pei Dong stroked himself, his bionic arm caressing his steel body, "But just like a joke of fate, the more I hate it, the more I can't leave it."

"At first, I was desperate for a long time and even had thoughts of suicide, but the funny thing is that I couldn't even commit suicide at that time."

Pei Dong said, "When my mental state improved, I bought this nursing avatar, uploaded my consciousness into it, and took care of myself."

"I didn't give up hope. After consulting Shouheng Life, they developed a treatment plan for me that was enough to repair my injured spinal cord and get me back on my feet. But the price of that treatment plan was too expensive. Maybe I couldn't save that much money even if I worked for a lifetime."

Pei Dong added, "But just like a goal, people always need something to look forward to in life."

"and then?"

Zhou Si took a deep breath. Maybe because the air pressure was a little low, he had difficulty breathing.

"And then? Then, in order to make a living, I chose to become an incarnation laborer."

Pei Dong smiled and said, "I don't like the feeling of loading my consciousness into a machine. It's like a kind of alienation of the self. Not to mention, after that accident, we discovered that this spiritual alienation does exist."

Zhou Si nodded silently, he knew what Pei Dong was referring to.

At the beginning, it was during the testing of the project that Zhou Si discovered the existence of the Lishi disease, the evil source of human spiritual alienation.

At that time, many qualified people went crazy, like zombies who had lost their souls.

"But I have to admit that my telepathic technology and my incarnation body saved me. Although my body is still paralyzed in bed, my consciousness can follow my incarnation body and step into this world again."

When talking about this, Pei Dong's tone became much more optimistic. "I found a job as a forest ranger. My daily job is to project my consciousness to the Greater Khingan Range, a thousand kilometers away, and control my flying falcon-shaped avatar body to inspect for special situations such as wildfires."

“Just like covering one’s eyes makes one’s other senses sharper, when my physical body was paralyzed, the sensory stimulation brought by the incarnation body was stronger than I imagined.

I control the flying avatar on a daily basis. In order to accurately capture ground information, the camera has a very powerful pixel capability, which is much clearer and more realistic than what humans can see, just like..."

Zhou Si made a timely analogy, "It's like human vision is 480p, and the senses projected to you by the avatar body become 4k."

“That’s pretty much it.”

"So what's your problem? Pei Dong," Zhou Si asked, "what's wrong with your body that makes you feel like you have a disease called Lishi."

"I was fired a few months ago," Pei Dong said suddenly, "Just like the current wave of unemployment, they found cheaper avatar workers."

"At first, I thought it was nothing, just a job change, I could still make a living, but since then, I have become more and more unbearable to myself."

Pei Dong raised his hand and pointed at his eyes, the pair of black cameras.

“Once you have seen the incomparably clear and real world, you will no longer be able to tolerate the turbid and blurry world.”

Zhou Si understood Pei Dong's meaning, "You can't stand the backward visual function of the nursing avatar. In fact, even the visual ability of humans can no longer satisfy you."

"It's not just visual, Zhou Si," Pei Dong expressed his feelings, "When I close my eyes and load into the machine, I can fly freely at an altitude of ten thousand meters and travel through the vast woods."

"But when I opened my eyes, all I saw was a room that stank of excrement and a dark ceiling."

Pei Dong said dimly, "Sometimes, I feel that uploading into the incarnation body is the real awakening, and when my consciousness returns to the body, it is the beginning of another nightmare."

Zhou Si felt a little stuffy in his chest, partly because of the depression caused by Pei Dong's story, and partly because of the past events brought up by Pei Dong.

Since the accident, Zhou Si deliberately kept a distance from everything in the past, but now it has caught up with him and is lingering around.

"Is it also from this moment that you began to have some extreme thoughts? Maintaining the connection between consciousness and thoughts for a long time, refusing to acknowledge your human body, or even wanting to make some... transformations to your body?"

Pei Dong first nodded and then shook his head at Zhou Si's examples.

"No, Zhou Si, there were a few moments when my thoughts were even more extreme than this."

"For example?"

Pei Dong did not respond to Zhou Si immediately, as if the consciousness hidden beneath the steel was brewing words.

Finally, Pei Dong's voice sounded again, without any emotion, like cold metal.

"For example, I was thinking about our project that was shut down by the Supervisory Bureau and the research that Chen Wen-Ge failed to complete. That was enough to free all of humanity from the shackles of material things."

Pei Dong said in an absolutely rational tone.

"Become an immortal, ascend to immortality."

(End of this chapter)