Chapter 62: Dialectic Game |
Time slipped away. When the lights went out, a darkness so tangible it felt solid plunged the room into an artificial night.
Qi Si curled up under the blankets, silently counting the seconds.
Another two hours passed. Judging it was deep into the night, he slipped out of bed. He stuffed a pillow under the sheet and arranged the corners of the blanket to create the convincing shape of a person sleeping beneath.
He felt his way in the dark to the observation room's washroom. After flicking a row of switches, he managed to turn on only a small lamp by the sink, its light illuminating the large mirror set flush against the wall.
The pale glow of the nightlight cast a faint shimmer over his figure, creating a reflection of shifting light and shadow. On his pallid face, inky pupils filled his eye sockets, the whites barely visible—he looked just like some non-human creature straight out of a horror film.
After using the toilet, Qi Si moved closer to the mirror. He studied his reflection from several angles, even baring his teeth in a snarl. But no matter how he looked at it, the figure in the glass could have been any number of humanoid creatures, but it certainly didn't look human.
Qi Si gave his reflection a mischievous grin. "Looks like the first thing I'll do after escaping," he quipped, "is buy some colored contacts."
He pulled the IV needle from the back of his left hand and gripped it in his right. By the faint light from the washroom, he moved to the door and inserted the tip into the keyhole of the mechanical lock.
Accustomed to using thin wires, he found picking a lock with a needle for the first time awkward. It took him two full minutes to finally jimmy it open.
...
The corridor was dimly lit. Perhaps to save electricity, only one square ceiling light was on every five meters, leaving most of the hallway shrouded in murky shadows.
A hazy mist, perhaps from the humidity, filled the air. Droplets carrying the sharp scent of disinfectant condensed on his skin, bringing a faint chill.
The building, which had appeared so advanced and futuristic by day, now looked utterly dilapidated. Greenish stains marred the grout between the floor tiles, and yellow spots mottled the once-pristine white walls.
Qi Si hugged the shadows, following the route to the surveillance room from memory.
He didn't encounter a single soul. He couldn't tell if Jin Yusheng had cleared the way for him or if the staff were simply derelict in their duties.
Thinking about his next move, Qi Si grinned maliciously. "I hope you won't be too shocked tomorrow when you find me gone," he mused. "And if they make you tear this place apart looking for me, hey, maybe you'll even get some overtime pay. A silver lining, right?"
That's right. Qi Si never had any intention of helping Jin Yusheng kill the "source body." His plan, from start to finish, was simply to escape the research institute.
After all, the source body "Qi Si" was dangerous, and with a full set of the original's memories, wasn't he just as much of a threat? Who knew if Jin Yusheng, in the name of "eliminating a public menace," wouldn't just dispose of him once he was no longer useful?
His promise to Jin Yusheng had been an empty one from the start. All he'd wanted was for Jin Yusheng to remove his restraints and, in doing so, lower the level of observation and surveillance on him.
Jin Yusheng knew him well, it was true. But Qi Si never revealed his true nature to anyone.
Based on Jin Yusheng's perception, Qi Si, being inherently selfish, would stop at nothing to eliminate the source body and ensure his own status as the one and only "Qi Si."
What Jin Yusheng didn't know, however, was that he had zero attachment to the identity of "Qi Si."
Social connections, relationships, self-actualization—at the end of the day, these were all trappings of the human species. He, on the other hand, was perfectly content to be an animal driven by the simple instinct to survive.
What did it matter if he was Qi Si? And what if he wasn't? As long as he was still himself, with his own thoughts and the ability to act, he could be anything in the world. A ghost, a monster, an insect, a demon... it made no difference.
Qi Si followed his memory to the surveillance room, picked the lock with the IV needle, and slipped inside.
The surveillance room was also deserted. In the gloom, a bank of monitors emitted a faint blue glow, serving as the only source of light.
The room, much like his observation cell, was unnaturally clean, containing nothing but the surveillance equipment, a desk, and a chair.
"For such negligent employees, they sure keep their workspace tidy," Qi Si muttered. "Looks like the Federation's public hygiene standards have improved in the last three years..."
With that sarcastic thought, Qi Si sat down in the chair before the monitors, took the mouse, and began manipulating the grid of camera feeds on the screen.
He clicked and enlarged the feeds one by one, memorizing layouts and details. He pieced the scenes together in his mind, gradually building a complete map of the entire research institute in his mental palace.
Using prominent landmarks like the "Emergency Exit" signs, he quickly located the way out and plotted an escape route.
What concerned him, however, was the complete lack of any exterior surveillance feeds. He had no idea what awaited him outside.
It wasn't a major problem, though. He hadn't planned on escaping tonight anyway.
The best plan was to find a surveillance blind spot and hide there for a full day. He would wait until the researchers were in a frantic panic searching for him, too distracted to mind the institute's internal security, and then slip out in the chaos.
With time to kill, Qi Si sifted through all the camera feeds one more time but found no sign of the source body, "Qi Si."
This was logical. As the institute's most important asset, the source body would be under top-level security and certainly wouldn't appear on any standard surveillance feed.
Jin Yusheng, likely afraid the Weird Game would detect his interference, wouldn't dare lift the security measures prematurely and reveal the source body's location for him.
What Qi Si needed to do was use a process of elimination to identify a few potential locations for the source body and then search them one by one. Of course, he had no time for that at the moment.
Calmly, he rested his chin in his left hand while his right worked the mouse. He selected an hour-long segment of footage from the same time yesterday, set it to loop, and began replacing the live feeds in the areas he planned to pass through.
First, the director's office. I'll search it top to bottom while it's empty. Maybe I'll dig up some dirty little secrets I can use as leverage later—blackmail for some seed money after I get out.
While I'm at it, I'll pick every mechanical lock I find and search every room I can get into. Finding a weapon for self-defense would be a bonus—it'd definitely improve my chances of getting away clean.
By the time I'm done with all that, there won't be much time left. I'll spend the rest of the day holed up in a blind spot, waiting for a lapse in security to make my move.
Having run through the plan one more time, Qi Si was in high spirits. He left the surveillance room, humming a quiet tune.
But as he stepped over the threshold, he caught sight of a nearby corridor window from the corner of his eye, and his own eyes narrowed to slits.
On the grimy glass, two bloody handprints had appeared without warning. They were plastered greasily against the surface, thick, dark blood still trickling down from them.
The lights began to flicker erratically, as if from a bad connection. A sticky pus oozed from the cracks in the floor, pulsating like a living thing as it coiled around Qi Si's ankles.
The appearance of these bizarre phenomena was like flipping a switch. Qi Si felt as if countless pairs of eyes had suddenly materialized behind him, staring at him with predatory intensity.
He whipped around, but saw only the stained yellow wall. There was no one there. And... there wasn't even a shadow where his should have been.
On the glass window, the blood was slowly coalescing into lines of text:
Weird Name: Clone Research Institute
Weird Source: "Evolutionary Divergence" Instance
Exchange Cost: 500,000 Points
Exchanged by: Jin Yusheng
Arrival Date: September 3, 2035
Twelve hours had passed since he'd first opened his eyes, and now, finally, Qi Si saw the first clue related to the Weird Game.
Something that non-players could never see... something terrifying, yet intimate... something that bridged the gap between instances and reality...
In the shadows, the dark-haired young man's lips pulled back into a strange, hyena-like grin. "So, the entire research institute is a Weird entity, brought from the game into reality. At night, it reveals its supernatural side. And they left a poor, helpless little clone like me all alone in here? How thoughtful of them."
The joke fell flat the moment he said it, failing to amuse even himself.
He squinted at the words on the glass for a long moment before pressing his hand against one of the bloody prints, ignoring the filth. He adjusted his position slightly until his hand aligned perfectly with the print.
The print was a perfect match, fitting the contours of his own hand as if he had been the one to place it there.
"Is this trying to tell me... that this handprint is mine?" he wondered. "A deliberate misdirection? Or a clue about parallel worlds?" A thousand theories flashed through his mind, and this time, his smile held a spark of genuine amusement.
Those not chosen by the Weird Game cannot know of its existence, and anyone who knows of it must have been chosen. So, as a clone who is aware of the game, does that make him a player?
If not, his very awareness contradicted the fundamental rules of the game. But if so, why was there no countdown timer in the upper-left corner of his vision?
Unless... he was still inside an instance, and the disappearance of the system interface was just part of the challenge.
A malicious part, designed specifically to deceive him.
Qi Si quickened his pace, heading for the surveillance blind spot he'd located earlier.
In the corridor, pale lights flickered, illuminating a floor streaked with suspicious, dark grey stains.
Bloody handprints multiplied on the walls and glass on either side of him, as if chasing some formless entity down the hall.
The sharp stench of what smelled like fermented disinfectant grew stronger, steeping him in a musty odor, as if he were beginning to rot along with the building itself.
Qi Si stopped at the edge of the surveillance blind spot.
Before him stretched a long, dimly lit corridor. The floor was not tiled, the walls unpainted. It looked less like a part of the research institute and more like the cloister of a ruined temple.
A thick, grey-white fog had risen from nowhere, obscuring the scene. Peering through the haze, he could faintly discern several dusty, human-like figures—some sprawled on the floor, others hanging from the ceiling, and still more leaning against the walls.
Holding his breath, Qi Si moved closer. The moment the thick fog enveloped him, he finally got a clear view of the figure nearest the edge.
The features were faint, like smoke, the lips thin and pale. It was him.
A dreadful premonition seized him, and he looked up at the hanging figure.
Its head was bowed, its limbs pierced by fine threads that suspended it in the air like a marionette. The build... it was his own.
All the bodies here... they were all his.