系统异常 章首故事
Sneaker的低光手电照出了走廊磨损的油毡瓷砖上的每一条裂缝。门的右侧排列着黑色的无声舷窗。它们旁边的键盘上，诡异的红灯不停地闪烁，表明自动锁还在工作。大雨敲打着窗户，偶尔闪过的闪电干扰了他的夜视。毫无疑问，这个地方让我毛骨悚然，Sneaker想。他向Shane和Walks-the-wyld发出信号，让他们朝目标前进，目标被关在隔壁三扇门的牢房里。自从约翰逊先生第一次提到目标的位置，他就对这次行动有不好的预感。
“兰顿精神病院?” Duster扬起她那圆滑的精灵眉毛问道。
“我向你保证，这个东西不会对你的团队构成任何威胁” 约翰逊先生回答说，就好像他提前打好了草稿一样。
”是啊,没错!” Duster厉声说。Sneaker看了她一眼，打断了她的话。
“所以他一开始为什么被关在那里?“他问道。”这里不是监狱，所以他不太可能是罪犯。”
“我想……在你们这一行，有人听说过人工诱发精神分裂症(AIPS)吧?”
“你是说那个人变成了矩阵猴子? 他得了Apes?” 很难没听说过人工诱发精神分裂症(AIPS)，又名Apes。64年全球网络崩溃时，人们被困在了网上，他们表现出各种奇怪的混乱——如果他们活下来了，没有变成植物人，那就是这样。他们对这些可怜的人尝试的治疗越多，成功的报道就越少。
“就像我说的，Sneaker先生，他不会对你或你团队的任何成员构成危险。现在，我们成交了吗?”
“Sneaker，你来不来看一下?“ Shane的声音把Sneaker的注意力拉回到了他的队友们聚集在的牢房门口。“看看这个——手动输入键盘! 这里的一切是老式的! 安保系统和他们的主网络、摄像头和其他所有东西都是隔离的，那次入侵完全是浪费时间。只是收集无用的电磁信号罢了。”啊，该死的小电线……搞定了。头?”
Sneaker一只手里拿着泰瑟枪，用另一只手拉开了门。在这个加厚的立方体牢房里，一个十几岁的兽人蜷缩在角落里，用手遮挡住手电筒的灯光。“走开。”
“我们是来——”Sneaker被Duster突然的诅咒打断了。
“走开!“ 孩子的声音在狂奔者的耳边轰隆作响，把他们吓得晕头转向。他入侵了我的通讯链? Sneaker心想，他痛得弯下腰来。Duster的手指在一个隐形的AR显示器上疯狂地跳动着，她试图重新控制她的通讯链，一条细细的血流从她的一只耳朵里渗出来。Walks-the-wyld靠在门框上，把通讯链的插头从耳朵上用力扯掉。
“那些声音!”你带来了声音!让我一个人呆着!”
Sneaker举起双手，平静地说:“孩子，没人会伤害你的，我们——”
“走开! 他们在叫我，但我不想去! 别管我!”
巨大的声响让Sneaker跪了下来。如潮水般的数字图标和诊断弹窗充斥着他的视野。由于恶心和眩晕，他抱着头倒在了地板上。但为时已晚，他那尖锐刺耳的耳塞上的安全切断装置启动了。由于耳聋和方向感缺失，他完全听不到队友们的低声尖叫。
劇透 - :
Sneaker’s low-light revealed every crack in the hallway’s worn linoleum tiling. Doors with silent, black portholes lined up to the right. Eerie red lights blinked steadily on the keypad next to each, signaling that the automatic locks were still engaged. Heavy rain pummeled the windows, and the occasional flash of lightning interfered with his night sight. No doubt about it, this place gives me the creeps, Sneaker thought. He signaled Shane and Walks-the-wyld to move forward toward their target, held in the cell three doors down. He’d had a bad feeling about this extraction, ever since Johnson fi rst mentioned the target’s location…
“The Renton mental asylum?” Duster asked, her sleek elven eyebrows rising.
“I assure you, the subject poses no danger to your team.” The Johnson answered as if he had the conversation scripted.
“Yeah, right!” Duster snapped. Sneaker cut her off with a look.
“Why’s he being kept there in the first place?“ He asked. ”It isn’t a penitentiary institution, so he’s probably not a criminal.”
“I assume in your … line of work, you have heard of Artificially Induced Psychotropic Schizophrenia?”
“You mean the guy’s ridin’ the ’trix-monkey? He’s got the Apes?“ It was hard not to have heard about Artificially Induced Psychotropic Schizowhatever, aka the ”Apes.” People trapped online when the global network went down in ’64 expressed all sorts of weird disorders—if they survived and weren’t turned into vegetables, that is. The more treatments they tried on these poor souls, the fewer successes were reported.
“As I said, Mr. Sneaker, he poses no danger to you or any member of your team. Now, do we have a deal?”
“Sneak, you comin’ or what?“ Shane’s voice over the link ripped Sneaker’s attention back to his crew huddled around the cell door. ”Get this—a manual keypad! Everything here’s old-style! The sec-system’s isolated from their main network, cameras and all—waste of time that hack was. Pickin’ up wifi emissions, though. ’Ack, freakin’ tiny wires … got it. Boss?”
Taser in hand, Sneaker pulled the door open. Inside the padded cubic cell, a teenage ork cowered in a corner, shielding his eyes from the fl ashlights. “Go away.”
“We’re here to—” Sneaker was interrupted by Duster’s sudden curse.
“GO AWAY!” The kid’s voice boomed like thunder in the runners’ ears, sending them reeling. Did that just come over my link? Sneaker wondered, doubling over in pain. Duster’s fi ngers danced frantically over an invisible AR display as she tried to regain control of her commlink, a thin thread of blood oozing from an ear. Walks-the-wyld leaned against the doorjamb, ripping the commlink plug out of his ear.
“THE VOICES! YOU BRING THE VOICES! JUST LEAVE ME ALONE!”
Sneaker raised his hands in appeasement, “Kid, nobody’s gonna hurt you, we’re—”
“GO AWAY! THEY’RE CALLING ME, BUT I DON’T WANT TO GO! LEAVE ME ALONE!”
Sheer volume brought Sneaker to his knees. Waves of digital icons, and diagnostic screens flooded his vision. Swamped with nausea and vertigo, he fell to the fl oor, clutching his head. Too late, the safety cutout on his screeching earplugs kicked in. Deaf and disoriented, he could not hear his teammate’s muffled screams.
