CNS | Chapter 5

Chapter 5, Mechanical Hands

In Shen Ze’s memory, his hands were fair and slender, with well-defined knuckles, as exquisite as his face.

And now, his hands were still long and slender, but most of the flesh had already gone, leaving silver-white metal exposed to the air. It carried the distinct mark of this era, and rather than a pair of hands, it looked more like a pair of murder weapons.

Shen Run could not exactly be said to have any prejudice against human augmentation. Thanks to the many implants in his body, headaches plagued him constantly, pain that went all the way to the bone.

This was the price one had to pay for living in symbiosis with machinery.

There was even now a mental illness called cyberpsychosis. Hallucinations caused by cybernetic implants eroding the brain could turn a normal person into a cruel, bloodthirsty madman.

The higher the degree of cybernetic augmentation, the greater the probability of developing cyberpsychosis.1

From the bottom of his heart, he did not want Shen Ze to become, like himself, a slave to machinery and the network. Back when the two of them still lived together, Shen Ze had not even installed a neural interface.

So when Shen Run saw those silver-white mechanical hands beneath his gloves, his expression stiffened for a moment.

“You…”

He picked up his glass, hesitating, not knowing how to begin.

Following Shen Run’s gaze, Shen Ze looked down and saw that he was staring at his hands. He gave a brief explanation, “Ah, this, it was required for work, so I changed it.”

Phew, so it wasn’t because something had gone wrong.

The worry hanging in Shen Run’s heart eased a little, but he still felt somewhat displeased.

Noticing the change in Shen Run’s expression, Shen Ze asked tentatively, “Brother, are you unhappy? Because I underwent cybernetic augmentation.”

“No, it’s not that.”

Shen Run hurriedly waved his hand. “It’s just a pity. Your original hands looked very nice. Since it was for work, then work should definitely come first…”

As he spoke, he suddenly remembered that he seemed not to have asked Shen Ze what kind of work he did.

“By the way, Xiaozе, you should have graduated from university, right? What are you doing now?”

Shen Ze nodded. “Mm, I studied public relations. I graduated two or three years ago, and now I work at an entertainment company.”

“Public relations?” Shen Run’s eyes widened.

What kind of major was that?

Seven years ago, when Shen Run left, Shen Ze was still struggling with the question of what school to choose. He had originally thought Shen Ze would pick between music and directing, but he had never expected it to be such a completely unrelated major.

“That’s pretty good.” Shen Run did not say much.

He lifted his glass and took a sip. “But Xiaozе, is the work at that entertainment company very dangerous?”

Shen Ze paused, confusion appearing on his face. “What? Why would Brother ask that?”

Shen Run pointed at those mechanical hands. “Aylan Military Industries’ Alpha-X, built with the most advanced force-feedback regulator, capable of firing seven different calibers of bullets.”

Out of professional habit, during the short time the two of them had been talking, Shen Run had scanned Shen Ze’s mechanical hands, uploaded the data to the neural processor, and through the network access pod found the corresponding model and performance specifications in Heimdall’s vast database.

Shen Run’s tone was calm, his face expressionless. “What kind of company requires its employees to be equipped with military-grade cyberware?”

“Really? This is issued uniformly. If Brother didn’t say so, I wouldn’t even know this was military cyberware.”

Shen Ze’s blue eyes were like two crystal-clear glass marbles. At this moment, they were full of surprise, as if he truly knew nothing about these hands.

Shen Run narrowed his eyes. He could sense that Shen Ze was hiding something from him, but the two of them had reunited for less than two hours. It seemed somewhat inappropriate to be paying too much attention to Shen Ze’s past life and pressing him on questions he did not want to answer.

He sighed and voiced the thought in his heart. “Xiaozе, the situation is unstable right now. If the work environment isn’t good, then think about changing jobs. Brother hopes you can always stay safe and sound, understand?”

“I know. Don’t worry about me.”

Shen Ze turned around, lifted his arm to wrap it around Shen Run, and rested his head against Shen Run’s shoulder, rubbing lightly against it.

Shen Run’s whole body stiffened. Why was he hugging me again?

Shen Ze’s hair was parted into two layers, and the little curls on his forehead brushed the hollow of his neck. Shen Run was already sensitive, and with Shen Ze making such a fuss, he felt uncomfortable all over.

With the thought that he wanted to become close to his younger brother again, Shen Run forcefully endured the discomfort and did not stop him, letting Shen Ze rub against his neck as he pleased.

“Brother, what about you?”

Leaning against his shoulder, Shen Ze suddenly asked in return.

Shen Run’s heart skipped a beat. Was it finally coming?

He thought about what kind of lie he should make up, so nervous that sweat appeared on his forehead.

“Is this bar your place?”

A smile playing at the corners of Shen Ze’s lips, he only asked this ordinary question.

Shen Run blinked, momentarily dazed, and forgot to answer.

“Brother?”

“Ah, yes, that’s right, this is my place.” Shen Run touched his nose, somewhat guilty.

“To buy such a big bar in a place like this, it must have cost a lot of money, right?”

“Not really.” Shen Run smiled. “The truly valuable areas in Saint Grange are White Tower District and Oak District on the other side of the bridge. Jade Bay can’t compare to them.”

Just the fact that the entrances to the city were guarded by Phoenix armored soldiers was enough to ensure that Jade Bay would never become a traditional bustling district. Without a pass, or without a local from Jade Bay leading you in, you did not even have the qualification to step inside.

Sam, or rather his son Joshua, had an extremely strong desire to control this district. It was precisely because of that that there existed an intelligence organization like Heimdall, one that monitored the entire city.

Thinking of this, Shen Run suddenly realized a question he had long ago set aside. “Xiaozе, how did you come to Saint Grange, and even get into Jade Bay?”

There was no place here that could be called an entertainment company. There were only underground workshops that made and smuggled prohibited phantom dance discs.

Shen Ze loosened the arm around Shen Run’s waist, turned to face him, and said, “On a business trip.”

He wore a well-behaved smile, his eyes curved, his long eyelashes trembling like butterfly wings.

So beautiful…

Like he was possessed, Shen Run reached out, wanting to touch that beauty.

By the time he came back to himself, his hand was already on Shen Ze’s cheek. Realizing how improper he had been, Shen Run hurriedly pulled his hand back, but Shen Ze caught it in one motion and put it back on that soft cheek.

“Brother, I…”

Just as Shen Ze was about to say something, Chi Yu, with white bandages wrapped around his head in layers, entered Eden with Lu Xius’ support and immediately started shouting the moment he came in.

“Shifu! Shifu, where are you?”

Jiede, standing at the bar, impatiently pointed him in the direction and told him to hurry up and shut up.

Ignoring Jiede’s warning, Chi Yu kept shouting at the top of his lungs, “Shifu! I’ve been made so miserable by you!”

Under Lu Xius’ support, he slowly walked toward Shen Run. “I know that city ranger, but when did you ever provoke the Pioneers, old man!”

Shen Run abruptly stood up from the sofa and signaled Chi Yu to shut up with a fierce look.

Chi Yu was startled, unable to understand why his usually gentle Shifu was staring at him like that.

Crossing his arms, Shen Run first explained to Shen Ze that he had something work-related to deal with. After receiving the other man’s understanding, he left the area by the sofa and walked toward Chi Yu.

“Go upstairs and talk.”

Chi Yu’s eyes widened. “?”

“Why?”

Shen Run walked up to his side and lowered his voice. “My younger brother is here. Don’t mention work in front of him.”

“Younger brother?!” Chi Yu cried out. “Since when did you have a younger brother?!”

As he shouted, he turned back to look, but the neck brace used to support and fix his neck prevented him from completing the motion. He could only catch a glimpse from the corner of his eye of a tall man sitting on the sofa in the corner, his entire body hidden in the darkness, his expression impossible to make out.

A chill ran down Chi Yu’s back. He felt that the man was looking at him, and that gaze was not friendly at all. It could even be called full of hostility.

For some reason, he actually felt that gaze was somewhat familiar, as if he had experienced it not long ago.

“Shut up…” Shen Run gritted his teeth, very much wanting to give his already hole-ridden head another hammering.

Chi Yu cast aside his other thoughts and looked at the stairs leading to the second floor, wailing, “Can I not go? My legs really hurt…”

“Tsk.” Shen Run made an impatient sound. “Lu Xius, carry him up for me.”

Lu Xius said nothing. He easily hoisted Chi Yu up, ignored the young man’s struggling protests, and strode up the stairs.

Scene 7

“I thought you’d be lying in the hospital for a few days before waking up.”

Shen Run looked at Chi Yu, who was carried on Lu Xius’ shoulder, and teased him with a smile. “How does it feel to have a hole opened in your head?”

Chi Yu lay on Lu Xius’ back, his expression tragic. “Very painful, so I simply changed to an iron skull, titanium alloy.”

He pointed at his bandaged head, as if he were not joking.

Lu Xius, expressionless, dismantled Chi Yu’s act. “Herman used the best medicine from Evergreen Bio. You’ll be fully recovered tomorrow.”

“Fuck you, Lu Xius! It wasn’t your skull that got smashed, try it yourself and see whether it hurts!”

Chi Yu clenched his fist and hammered Lu Xius’ broad, strong back a few times.

“Speak.”

Once again entering the room at the end of the corridor, the obnoxious employer had already left, but the scent of his perfume still lingered in the air.

Frowning, Shen Run used the access pod connected to the convergence network to turn on the room’s fresh air system, while also lighting a cigarette.

“That dead priest, was he one of the Pioneers?”

“Yeah, that wandering tribe that’s like some charlatan cult.” Chi Yu nodded like a chick pecking at grain. “He wasn’t some priest, that group of wanderers just likes dressing like that.”

Before the Free War broke out, Yalan had already seen a large wave of unemployment because of the financial crisis, and tens of thousands of people had lost their jobs and homes.

The war that followed forced these homeless drifters into exile. While seeking a new life, people who shared the same hardship banded together. Between the urban wasteland and the highway, a group called wanderers was born, gathering in the name of family.

The Pioneers were a wanderer tribe active in the Laurel Archipelago west of Saint Grange. At the beginning of the Free War, relying on several members who had come from hacker backgrounds, they hijacked several warships and then set up camp on the islands.

“Wanderers? Those fucking people are obviously a bunch of pirates.” Lu Xius, leaning against the wall and smoking, suddenly spoke. “Whenever the weather gets bad, those bandits drive the warships they stole, infiltrate the network systems of passing cargo ships, hijack signals, and extort toll fees.”

“Have they come to Saint Grange recently?”

Shen Run rubbed his temples, searching through his memories related to the Pioneers.

“Uh…” Chi Yu first looked confused, then understood what had happened. He scratched his face and looked at Lu Xius.

Lu Xius’ usually unchanged expression also showed a bit of embarrassment. He raised a hand to scratch his hedgehog-like hair and lowered his head.

“Ah.” Shen Run drew out the sound, making an ambiguous exclamation. “Looking at your expressions, you all know.”

Chi Yu nodded, his tone a little shaky. “We know……”

Shen Run laughed once. A group of heavily armed bandits openly entering Saint Grange, such an important matter, yet it had not appeared in the reports submitted to him every week.

“So, I’ve been bypassed now?” His tone was easy and natural as he stretched out his legs and placed them on the coffee table.

Chi Yu widened his eyes. “N-no… not that serious, right…”

Lu Xius touched his nose. “Brother Shen, I’ll check this matter right away.”

“No need.” Shen Run closed his eyes. “I probably know whose handiwork this is. I’m in a good mood today, so I’ll allow him to live until tomorrow.”

He lifted his leg and kicked Chi Yu once. “Hurry up and say it, I still have things to do.”

“Oh, oh.” Chi Yu’s arm was still injured, and with his Shifu kicking him like that, he winced in pain.

“A few days ago, at that floating car accident in Oak District, I happened to be at the scene and casually saved someone. He said his name was Silver Butterfly.” His expression was odd. “If I’d known at the time that he was a Pioneer, I definitely would have ignored him, and I would have stabbed a few more times into his corpse.”

Looking at Chi Yu’s gritted-teeth expression, Shen Run understood what had happened between his disciple and that Silver Butterfly.

Thinking back to that miserably dead corpse, that Pioneer was short. Although his face had been smashed to pieces, one could still tell he had a sweet appearance, which did indeed suit Chi Yu’s usual taste.

“So this time it wasn’t a scam for money, but a scam for sex?” Shen Run teased.

Chi Yu’s face reddened, and he lowered his head. “That guy kept ignoring me, no matter how much I asked him out, he wouldn’t come. Later, when he heard I was living in Jade Bay, he asked me if I knew Sleeve Blade…”

He glanced at Shen Run, his eyes full of guilt. “I swear! Shifu! At the time I just wanted to know what he was looking for from you. I was afraid he meant to do you harm!”

“Do you even believe that yourself when you say it?” Shen Run kicked him again. “Cut the nonsense.”

“Aah——”

Chi Yu clutched his arm and howled, “A-anyway, I had already taken off my pants, and he kept asking me about you, asking whether I knew of a chip, the name was especially long, and that guy had an accent too, I couldn’t understand a word.”

“I said I didn’t know, and he immediately changed expression and kicked me away. How could I just stop there? So… so I just……”

Chi Yu was too embarrassed to repeat what he had done, and mumbled past the details, “After it ended, I habitually hacked into his neural processor. I wouldn’t have known without looking, but once I looked, I was scared half to death. That guy was actually a Pioneer!”

“Who in the neuro-hacker circles doesn’t know the Pioneers, a bunch of madmen with something wrong in their brains, a group of charlatans who spend all day thinking about how to punch holes in the River Styx. I put on my pants and ran back to Eden to find you, but seeing you sleeping so soundly, I didn’t have the heart to disturb you.”

You weren’t too embarrassed to disturb me, you were afraid I’d find out what kind of disgusting thing you’d done.

Shen Run did not expose his disciple’s lie, and signaled for him to continue.

“The Pioneers are a bunch of despicable bastards! They had automatic location tracking coded into the ICE. By the time I discovered it, Silver Butterfly was already on the way to Eden.”

“What could I do? I could only run, but just as I got out of the building he caught me red-handed. He tied me up and took me to that industrial park, then started questioning me again about you, Shifu, and that damn chip.”

“And then that city ranger appeared and ‘heroically saved the beauty’?” Shen Run said lightly, as a joke.

Chi Yu’s face was full of indignation. “What heroically saved the beauty? That ranger blacked out my cyber-eye and access pod as soon as he came up. My eyes were full of gibberish, and I couldn’t even see his face clearly.”

“He invaded your access pod?” Lu Xius frowned. “Our anti-intrusion program was designed personally by Brother Shen. How could that happen?”

“I thought that was weird too. Before I knew it, I’d been invaded, with no warning at all.” Remembering what had happened then, Chi Yu could not help shrinking his neck, his eyes full of fear.

“No data fortress is completely watertight. Don’t think of me as that great.” Shen Run straightened up and stubbed out his cigarette. “Continue.”

“That madman asked him why he was looking for Sleeve Blade. The two of them said a whole bunch in some language I couldn’t understand, and although I couldn’t see, I could tell from Silver Butterfly’s tone that what he was saying probably wasn’t anything good.”

“Every time Silver Butterfly said something, that madman would punch him once, and in the end he actually beat him to death with his fists. Then… then he started chasing me!”

Chi Yu covered his face, unwilling to recall that nightmare-like scene. “He’s a pervert, really! He clearly could have killed me directly, but he insisted on letting me run, giving me hope that I could survive.”

Chi Yu suddenly remembered the two questions that city ranger had asked him, and the top of his head, not yet healed, started hurting.

He looked at Shen Run. “Shifu, why do I feel like that madman’s feelings toward you are a little strange?”

“What do you mean?” Shen Run did not understand.

“He asked me if you were doing well, and also asked whether you had a lover.” Chi Yu’s expression was strange.

“He also asked me to bring you a message…”

“He told me to tell you, long time no see.”