Memory inheritor

Chapter 244 Exploring the Mystery (Part 2)

"Would it have a serious psychological impact?" Shen Qing pondered for a moment. "Didn't you say that the feeling of consciousness interaction is similar to dreaming? Just a nightmare, right? I think many people have had this experience. Is it really that scary?"

Wei Hongsi asked, "Have you ever had nightmares?"

Shen Qing said, "Of course I've done it! Sometimes I dream that I'm about to submit a manuscript but still can't write a song, and I wake up in the middle of the night in a fright."

Wei Hongsi said, "We usually use a scale of 0 to 10 to assess the intensity of subjective fear, where 0 represents no fear at all and 10 represents the most extreme fear. Your nightmares are caused by work pressure and creative anxiety, and the intensity of fear is probably between 3 and 4."

Shen Qing was quite surprised: "Only level 3 or 4? Isn't that scary?"

Wei Hongsi asked, "Have you ever experienced nightmares? What's commonly known as 'sleep paralysis'?"

Shen Qing thought for a moment and said, "It seems like I haven't had that experience. But I've heard quite a few stories about it; there must be many people who have had it, right?"

Wei Hongsi said, "It is indeed quite common. The intensity of nightmare fear mainly stems from two factors."

"First, the body cannot move. When a person is dreaming, the brain shuts down the body's movement switches to prevent the body from performing the actions in the dream; this is a safety protection mechanism. However, in a nightmare state, the consciousness is already awake or semi-awake, but the body's movement switches are still not turned on."

When a person is conscious but unable to move, the amygdala in the brain is activated, generating a sense of crisis and fear.

"Imagine you're fully aware that you're lying in bed, but you can't move a single finger or make a sound, as if you're locked inside your body. Isn't that a terrifying feeling?"

Shen Qing nodded involuntarily; just thinking about it made her feel suffocated.

Wei Hongsi added, "The second factor is the hallucinations that occur during a nightmare. These hallucinations include the continuation of previous dreams and the reasons the brain creates for the current inability to move the body, which is called 'filling in the blanks.' Things like 'sleep paralysis,' 'possession by a ghost,' and 'ghostly figures' further intensify the subjective sense of fear."

"If it's just the first factor, the fear intensity is probably around level 3 to 5, similar to a normal nightmare. If it's a combination of both factors, the fear intensity will reach level 6 to 9."

"Nightmares are terrifying, but the fear quickly subsides after waking up, and the most frightening scenes are rapidly forgotten. This is the brain's protective amnesia. The reason why nightmares cause a more intense fear is that you want to wake up but can't, and you can't actively end the feeling."

Shen Qing said, "It does sound quite scary. But since this situation is relatively common, it means that most people can handle it. Am I right in my understanding?"

As she spoke, she looked at Liu Lu again. Because she had never had this experience, she wanted to see if others would agree with her point of view.

Liu Lu nodded slowly after a moment of contemplation.

Wei Hongsi said, "Your understanding is not wrong. But the feeling during conscious interaction is more terrifying than a nightmare."

Shen Qing asked, "Have you already experienced it?"

Wei Hongsi was taken aback for a moment, then said, "No, I figured it out through analysis."

Shen Qing smiled and said, "Then let me hear your reasons."

Wei Hongsi said, "Take Zhou Huai as an example. When our investigators interacted with him consciously, the scene they were in was Zhou Huai's dream. Everything they saw and heard came from his conscious level."

"In Zhou Huai's brain, there is the consciousness anchor implanted by that organization, the totems and creeds that he regards as his faith, and a fused consciousness entity. Although these three are essentially one, they will appear in different forms and exert different effects."

"We can imagine Zhou Huai's dream as an independent world, with his consciousness anchoring at the ruler of that world. Any other consciousness that intrudes will be strongly suppressed, either merged or eliminated. This level of psychological impact far exceeds the feeling of having a nightmare."

Liu Lu nodded silently as she listened.

Last night, after two infiltrations, Xiao Zhou reported feeling intense fear. This is certainly not because Xiao Zhou is timid; being selected as a reconnaissance officer for the mind infiltration operation demonstrates exceptional psychological resilience. Wei Hongsi's analysis provides a good explanation for Xiao Zhou's fear.

Liu Lu knew that she would be serving as a mind infiltration investigator, which was something she had to face.

Shen Qing pondered for a moment, then asked, "If I were to take over from the scouts and infiltrate Zhou Huai's dream to guide him into revealing the secret, the situation I would face would be different from that of the scouts, wouldn't it?"

Wei Hongsi nodded and said, "You're right. But we still don't know how Zhou Huai will react after discovering your consciousness has infiltrated him."

It seems that Shen Qing has grown a lot during this period of research work and is no longer the novice she used to be. She has keenly noticed the differences.

Shen Qing said, "So the risks you're talking about are actually unknown to some extent?"

Wei Hongsi said, "The unknown itself is a risk."

Shen Qing lowered her head and thought for a moment, then looked at Wei Hongsi and said, "Didn't you say I have a talent for 'cognitive restructuring' and 'emotional reshaping'? Fear is also an emotion, so wouldn't I have an advantage in dealing with this problem?"

Wei Hongsi pondered for a moment, then asked, "Are you really that keen to try?"

Shen Qing said, "Since I'm the most suitable for this task, why not let me try? We wrote the song 'The Brave,' we can't just act like cowards, can we?"

Wei Hongsi could cite a whole host of counterexamples, but seeing Shen Qingming's bright and determined eyes, he didn't say a word.

Finally, he nodded and said, "Okay, let's give it a try."

Shen Qing asked with a smile, "So when does it start?"

Wei Hongsi said, "Perhaps tonight is fine, is that convenient for you?"

Shen Qing nodded: "Okay!"

Wei Hongsi took out his phone, got up and walked to the French windows, called Feng Weixu, and asked about the progress of the new port equipment and system upgrade. He learned that it was underway and would be completed in about an hour.

He then inquired about the progress of Shen Qing's neurosemantic package development. Feng Weixu said it was complete and asked him to send a copy to the Third Research Institute for backup.

Then Wei Hongsi called Zheng Han again to discuss the consciousness infiltration plan for that night.

After making two phone calls, the matter was settled.

It was already dark outside the window, with a few stars twinkling in the night sky. The city lights below shone brightly, far more dazzling than the night sky itself.