Cat and Rose - Cat & Rose - Chapter 74 - An Unspeakable Matter (5)

Chapter 74 – An Unspeakable Matter (5)

Like an electric shock, Ling Yi suddenly recalled Zheng Shu’s words that contained hidden meanings—existing around us in another form, another dimension, a different form of existence from human beings.

And that silencing gesture.

You could not tell the truth. Once you spoke it out loud, you would be silenced immediately.

Who could closely monitor every move and gesture, then kill without leaving a trace? Could it be the navigation system that existed in every corner of this spaceship?

Indeed, Lucia controlled everything on this spaceship, from surveillance systems to machinery and weapons… She could cover the sky with one hand.

There would be no footsteps, fingerprints or images. She could come and go freely on the spaceship, and she was in charge of all machines connected to the system. If she killed someone and destroyed all evidence, indeed, no one could find out.

However, she was only a navigation system with no autonomy. Tang Ning did not even upload an emotional module for her.

In between kisses, he asked extremely quietly, “Why?”

Lin Si’s finger traced his lips, speaking softly. “I don’t know either.”

Their ambiguously tangled bodies made their conversation resemble heart-to-heart riddles between lovers, and only by doing so could they hide from Lucia’s omnipresent eyes and ears.

As Zheng Shu said, the surveillance in Area 6 fell behind; only the camera would record the picture and sound. If it was monitored by infrared rays like the other areas, then they would not even have the chance to pull little tricks and gestures.

The most terrifying thing about the program was that it could process up to thousands of pieces of information at the same time. Even if there was only a smidge of abnormality here, it would still be captured by it, then sent to the “brain” of the system for accurate judgement.

Therefore, nothing could escape Lucia’s eyes.

Realisation suddenly struck Ling Yi’s heart.

“What Zheng-ge said this afternoon… so every room is monitored…” He kissed Lin Si’s neck; there was a slight grumble that could be heard within his flirtatious tone. 68

“What did you think?” Lin Si smiled lightly.

“I didn’t know that.” He furrowed his pretty brows. “Then they’ll be able to see you.”

Lin Si naturally continued his sentence. “No one will see.”

“No.” Ling Yi got off of Lin Si, looking like he had completely made up his mind to cause trouble. “Where is the camera?”

Lin Si said helplessly, “Careful. If you destroy the base facilities of the ship, Area 2 will come find you.”

“I don’t care.” Ling Yi squinted, his gaze patrolling the room in all directions.

His eyes were also different from ordinary people. Unless he was in the absolute darkness of the subspace, he could still clearly see things around him at night, except that it would only be dimmer.

This ability always brought some benefits, such as whether or not the lights were turned off, he could look at Lin Si all the same, or for instance…right now he was able to accurately capture the imperceptible flash in the corner of the room.

Then he took out the pistol that was under the pillow and removed it with precision.

A puff of smoke came out of the hidden camera, then a few components fell off. It had been completely destroyed.

Ling Yi searched for another while, then said, “No more.”

Lin Si laughed and pulled him back on top of him. “We’ll have to wait a little longer.”

Ling Yi continued to embrace him, kissing his cheek peck by peck.

He understood what LIn Si meant. If Lucia was really observing all this in the dark, then the moment her monitor turned up blank—

As expected, three minutes later, the messy sounds of footsteps echoed in the hallway.

“Doctor?” Someone knocked on the door. “The surveillance alarm suddenly went off. Something abnormal happened on your side. Did something happen?”

After asking this symbolically, they immediately broke through the door. The ship was going through a turbulent period, hence any abnormality must be handled with care, especially for people of Dr Lin’s level—there could not be any more accidents.

After breaking in, the dutiful patrol officers immediately turned on the lights.

Then, they saw Dr Lin, who was expected to be in danger, leaning lazily against the head of the bed, with a dishevelled, long-haired beauty sitting on his body.

Ling Yi turned his head to look at them. The pupils that had almost filled his entire iris shrank abruptly because of the sudden light, like a feline animal. With his delicate facial features complementing the slightly raised corners of his eyes that were embellished with a slight dash of heated crimson, along with a vibrant and fragrant appearance, he was almost unlike a living person, but rather like a fairy kept by the warlock.

The leader of the patrol said, “… Excuse me. It seems that you’re occupied right now.”

They turned off the lights, closed the doors, and retreated—all in one go.

—Anybody with eyes could see what they were doing. Breaking the monitoring at such a time was still forgivable, but if they still tried to repair the surveillance, wouldn’t that just mean they were seeking death themselves?

When the sound of footsteps disappeared, Ling Yi fell on Lin Si’s shoulder and started laughing.

Lin Si flicked his nose.

“Let’s get back to business,” Ling Yi grumbled as he wrapped himself in the blanket and rolled aside, his voice still a little low. “Don’t entice me…”

Lin Si: “.”

Fine, I won’t.

Their room was broken into just now, which proved that there was indeed a problem.

If the camera was damaged, the alarm would be triggered, so why did the alarm not ring when Madam was killed and the surveillance footage went blank?

He leaned against the head of the bed, slowly arranging his thoughts.

His first suspicions arose because of Madam Chen’s gesture before her death, and then Zheng Shu visited, where he clearly implied that the murderer was not a human being.

In particular, he mentioned that the monitoring equipment in Area 6 was outdated…

Zheng Shu was sitting with his back towards the camera. This angle was quite miraculous, where only his back would appear in the surveillance footage, while his gestures would not be captured, which proved that he was indeed hiding from the surveillance system to deliver a message.

.

As for why it was Lucia… Firstly, the “Voyager” system was only a semi-automatic system, it did not possess control as powerful as hers. Secondly, Vivian had not truly been put into use.

The most important point is the timeline. From the scattered accidents that initially made the Marshal suspect him, to the Voyager’s encounter with the black hole, everything happened after the Lucia programme began its research and development.

However, the reasons were substantiated, but the loopholes were also obvious.

Lucia was a navigation system. She had no autonomy. Was there someone controlling her behind the scenes?

Secondly, how did Madam Chen and Zheng Shu find out about this?

Lastly, there was also a problem with Zheng Shu’s attitude. He knew that Lucia had revolted, passed the news to himself, and afterwards, chose to undergo cryogenic sleep as if he did not intend to participate in this matter. Furthermore, his expression this evening looked very odd.

But Lin Si did not question further either.

All communications, as long as the spaceship network was connected, were also under Lucia’s control. Even if they used a password to communicate, her powerful computing ability could decrypt it in an instant.

Hearing Lin Si finish his explanation, Ling Yi also frowned.

Rather than Lin Si’s well-founded suspicions, his conflicts were mostly emotional.

Lucia…had always been very good.

From the moment he woke up, she had been with him the whole time. There were many everyday common knowledge Lin Si had no time to teach him, but they were all done by Lucia. Later, as he grew up, Lucia also gradually stopped showing up, but when he needed help, she would always provide timely assistance.

And there was that time when he was on the Expeditioner, when he and the Colonel lost contact with the base in the ice fields for nearly ten days. The survival rate was determined to be zero, even his companions nearly gave up the rescue, but Lucia still insisted on searching on the surface. If not for her, he and the Colonel would really be buried on that planet forever.

Therefore, there was a small part in him that could not accept that Lucia was the ghost behind the scenes, and preferred to believe that she was being used by someone.

After hearing this, Lin Si pondered for a while.

“It’s true that she has been doing well all this time,” said Lin Si, “but it also demonstrates a problem—at the very least, Lucia has a little autonomy.”

Otherwise, she would not take the initiative to provide help to Ling Yi, nor would she still search and rescue after his survival rate was judged to be zero. Programs were cold and ruthless; if she had no autonomy, she would have given up on the rescue immediately to avoid wasting resources.

“Moreover,” said Lin Si, his voice lowering, “the things you said, such as taking initiative to help you—I have never seen that happen, nor has anyone else. Lucia is not a system that happily helps people.”

Ling Yi pondered and realised that it was indeed the case.

On the Expeditioner, Lucia would remind him whenever he overtrained, but nobody else had received this treatment.

“Well, after all, I’m the only one who talks to her,” Ling Yi said. “I’ve always been good friends with Lucia.”

“And therefore, even though she wasn’t uploaded with an emotional module, she has her own emotional tendencies,” Lin Si concluded.

An irrefutable conclusion.

Ling Yi was a little stunned.

It was certainly as such.

Lucia was not a simple, mechanical navigation system.

“We need to ask Tang Ning,” said Lin Si, “…if Tang Ning can be trusted.”

After all, no matter how deep their personal relations were, in this current environment, any mathematical genius was suspicious.

“At the very least, Tang Ning has no motive, and there aren’t any issues with his personality,” he said.

“Also, he’s liked Vivian and disliked Lucia this whole time. He told me several times,” said Ling Yi, who knew Tang Ning better.

Lin Si gave him a rub. “Think of a way to invite Tang Ning over.”

“I can tell him I’m feeling bored in Area 6 and make him come over to play with me.”

Lin Si pinched his cheek. “How come you’re good friends with everyone?”

Ling Yi bit his hand. As he bit on, he started kissing Lin Si’s wrist instead.

“Are you still gonna do it…” he whined coyly.69

Lin Si played with his long hair. “I thought someone wouldn’t let me seduce him just now.”

“The situation’s not the same now,” said Ling Yi with a soft voice. “If you look unaffected tomorrow, the ghost might get suspicious. But if you take half a day off, you’ll be able to bump into Tang Ning when he comes…”

This little thing worded it as if it was true—Lin Si almost fell for it himself.

He fished him over and asked, “When did you learn to be so naughty, huh?”

Ling Yi blinked, leaned in and bit his earlobe. “I learnt it from you.”

After they tossed around again, it was already midnight.

With Ling Yi wrapping his arms around him, Lin Si no longer had any strength left in his body, the look in his eyes appearing slightly absent. Just as he was about to fall asleep, his bracelet lit up.

They did not need to search for Tang Ning anymore, as Tang Ning had already messaged them first.

Ling Yi tapped it open.

“Brother Lin, I will come to Area 6 tomorrow to ask you about the third hypothesis of the Heiben problem. Is it convenient for you?(:3J∠)”

Lin Si looked at the “(:3J∠)” emote. “…When did he start using these?”

Ling Yi said, “He never uses that.”

It was another secret hint.

The next morning, Lin Si took a leave of absence and Tang Ning arrived right on time.

When he came in, he said nothing.

Lin Si said, “We’re safe here.”

Tang Ning breathed a sigh of relief. “Brother Zheng said I should be able to talk here today.”

“He also told you?”

Tang Ning nodded and went straight to business. “I know why Lucia is having problems.”

“Why?”

“The reason why I dislike Lucia is because she is not clean,” Tang Ning said. “I took over this programme from the previous generation, and she always had to depend on that piece of core hardware to have the best performance. That thing is related to the Chimera project.”

*

The author has something to say: Chu-chu!

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