Morphogenetic Field

The answer was clearly hidden inside the room before him. Without hesitation, Chu Guang used his authority to unlock the door. Unlike the other rooms in Sector B, this one had never been tidied up. Personal belongings lay scattered across an unfolded folding table, and the bed beside it remained unmade. Curiously, a blue jacket and pants were laid out on the floor, their sleeves and legs spread wide, resembling a person lying prone. Resting right by the cuff of the right sleeve was a retro-styled revolver. It was almost as if... someone had recreated a crime scene. However, perhaps for censorship or other considerations, the most critical element—the corpse—was nowhere to be found, making the whole display look somewhat comical. "...Is this another one of the first-generation manager's sick jokes?" Chu Guang instinctively glanced toward the left wall of the room, but found no bullet holes there. He stepped forward, picked up the revolver, and fiddled with the cylinder to pop it open. There were only five bullets inside. "No blood, no bullet holes, no spent casings... only the weapon and clothes left behind." Walking over to the open folding table, Chu Guang noticed a diary resting on top, alongside a pen about as thick as an index finger. There was a button on the pen cap. Out of curiosity, Chu Guang pressed it. To his surprise, the pen actually emitted sound. "...(crackling static)..." "Do you have anything else to confess?" "Nothing." *This thing is a voice recorder?* Judging by the dialogue, it sounded like an interrogation. Curiosity piqued, Chu Guang continued listening. The interrogator's voice sounded relatively young, while the man being questioned seemed despondent—or rather, utterly exhausted. He didn't appear to care in the slightest about his fate; he only wanted this ordeal to end as quickly as possible. Guard: "...So, what do you plan to do? Punish me for dereliction of duty?" Interrogator: "We don't plan to do anything." Guard: "...What do you mean, you don't plan to do anything?" Interrogator: "When I reported this to the professor, he simply acknowledged it and asked no further questions. When I asked him how we should handle you, he said there was no need. You merely did what anyone in that situation would have done." Guard (agitated): "I'm not begging for your forgiveness! Listen, I made a grave mistake. I... I shouldn't have arrogantly assumed I could play the savior! My arrogance and stupidity ruined everyone. If I had done nothing from the very beginning... maybe things wouldn't have turned out this bad!" The man's voice escalated into hysterical madness before turning into muffled, weeping remorse, until he choked on his tears, unable to utter another word. Yet from start to finish, the interrogator's voice barely showed a ripple of emotion, maintaining the same calm, measured tone throughout. Interrogator: "That is an interesting hypothesis. But since the professor deemed you innocent, I see no reason for you to torment yourself like this. If that doesn't convince you, consider this question: do you believe you are smarter than the professor?" Guard: "...How could I dare compare myself to him?" Interrogator: "You seem quite lucid. Then let me ask you another question. Since you are lucid enough to recognize your intellect cannot compare to the professor's, why did you naively believe that any of this could escape his eyes?" Guard: "...What do you mean?" Interrogator: "What is the subject of our research project?" Guard: "...The morphogenetic field? I don't really understand it. Wait, are you saying the professor knew from the very beginning that I was using that radio to contact the outside world? The survivors at the tire factory, including that Li Xiu—" Interrogator: "When we study the laws of motion of macroscopic objects under classical mechanics, we selectively ignore the fundamental particles that compose them. We do so not because we are ignorant that matter consists of smaller particles, but because there is no need to account for them in such a context." Interrogator: "By the same token, predicting every choice an individual will make across different stages of life is impossible. However, the collective formed by humanity and the developmental patterns of macroscopic events follow discernible tracks. If you are interested, you can mull over this question. In any case, starting from now, you will have plenty of time to squander." Guard: "Is this part of the interrogation?" Interrogator: "In a sense, yes. But the primary objective is to offer you psychological counseling. The professor told you not to blame yourself too much. Everything that occurred here is merely one link among tens of thousands of experiments; we will ultimately achieve final victory. By the way, the person who had been in contact with you is most likely dead. We intercepted another message from the same terminal, but it clearly wasn't sent by him. "Those tire factory survivors want us to take them in, but it's obvious that for every sentence they speak, at least three lies are told. We will continue tracking and logging surrounding radio signals along with fluctuations in the shielding field's intensity, but we will no longer issue any response. From now on, this task will be handled by the AI, and we will enter true silence. You may rest entirely assured: no one will ever make a mistake again." Next came the sound of a closing door. Then, a long, drawn-out silence. Just as Chu Guang was wondering whether the recording had ended, a sudden gunshot erupted from the pen, startling him out of his intense concentration. "Fuck! Talk about a cheap shot!" "...Speaking of which, what the hell is a 'morphogenetic field'?" Chu Guang vaguely recalled hearing the term somewhere before. Not in this world, but before he had crossed over to this wasteland. Sometime around the 1980s, a Dr. Rupert Sheldrake of the British Royal Society had proposed a highly controversial theory regarding 'resonance.' According to Dr. Rupert Sheldrake's theory, not only did the fundamental particles composing matter resonate, but abstract events could also generate resonance effects. Based on this hypothesis, he designated locations where identical types of events repeatedly occurred as 'morphogenetic fields,' and termed the recurrence of similar events 'morphic resonance.' Naturally, one could easily imagine how ungrounded a conjecture built atop another conjecture was. Just like the countless hypotheses regarding multiverses or extraterrestrials, one could neither reliably prove it true nor reliably falsify it. Even if it appeared seemingly self-evident. "...Could this recording mean that the technology used to project the parallel-world players' consciousnesses into this world is tied to some hypothesis from morphogenetic field theory? "For instance, utilizing some unknown field to cross spatial dimensions and induce resonance between conscious entities? "Ugh... what a headache." Why bother overthinking this crap? As long as it worked, that was enough! Pouring time and energy into dead ends was pointless; once more clues emerged, the ultimate truth would naturally unveil itself. What Chu Guang could deduce from the recording was that research into morphogenetic fields had been Shelter 404's primary subject. Synthesizing that with the information obtained when he first arrived, the project had likely wrapped up over a century ago. Then again, the first-generation manager went by 'the Professor'? That bastard was even more devious than he was. Putting aside the chilling implications of the recording, Chu Guang could now confirm that the guard was indeed the wronged husband mentioned in the *Bloodhand Diary*. And the utopia the first chieftain of the Bloodhand Clan had sought to his dying breath was none other than Shelter 404 right beneath Chu Guang's feet. Chu Guang picked up the untitled diary from the table. The timeline recorded within aligned almost perfectly with the *Bloodhand Diary* he had read earlier. All along, this man had been providing remote guidance over the radio, offering strategies to the first chieftain of the Bloodhand Clan and attempting to help those survivors abandoned across the wasteland. Unfortunately, his good intentions had only paved the road to ruin. The disastrous mess left in their wake had tormented the survivors of the northern outskirts for over a century, lingering until Chu Guang finally put an end to it nearly two hundred years later. To think that Shelter 404 and the Bloodhand Clan shared such a deep history, and that everything had originated from a single radio broadcast. "...What a tragedy." Tsking under his breath, Chu Guang shook his head. He decided to archive this diary alongside the one stamped with the bloody handprint. Aside from the silver revolver, Chu Guang uncovered quite a few good items here—such as a box of 10mm revolver ammunition. The box contained over thirty rounds. Each bullet was as long as an index finger, free of oxidation, and looked brand-new. The rounds looked hefty, packing what felt like more powder than standard rifle rounds. He wondered whether a single shot could drop a Crawler. In any case, taking out a Gnawer with one round would certainly be no problem at all. Chu Guang noticed a silver python emblem printed on the ammo packaging, perfectly matching the silver snake carved into the brown grip of the silver revolver. Examining the revolver in his hand, Chu Guang pondered for a moment before muttering to himself, "I'll call you 'Silver Snake.'" In addition to the Silver Snake revolver, Chu Guang located a baton tucked under the folding table. Then, after rummaging through the storage compartment beneath the bed, he stumbled upon another pleasant surprise. "A red dot sight?" The mount's clamp width was adjustable, perfectly fitting the raised rail on the Silver Snake's barrel. To Chu Guang's delight, the little gadget still held a charge! "2x magnification, adjustable mil-dots... what a find." Of course, Chu Guang had no intention of mounting it on the revolver. Putting an optic on a short-barreled close-quarters weapon was pure waste. Conveniently, he had a newly repaired assault rifle that could use this exact upgrade. With the red dot sight attached, it would practically count as a fully equipped weapon. *** Leaving the room, Chu Guang crossed the circular corridor of Sector B, which terminated at the entrance to Sector A. This was the utility sector of Floor B2, featuring gender-segregated restrooms, public showers, and a communal cafeteria capable of seating up to a hundred people simultaneously. It was clear that living quarters here had been quite compact. Residents must have had to stagger their schedules not only for restrooms and showers, but even to line up for meals. Even so, the quality of life was undeniably high. The showers featured a 360-degree panoramic mixed-mist self-cleaning system that eliminated the need to even move while washing. The toilets worked similarly: users simply did their business, and a water wash paired with ultrasonic vibration eradicated nano-scale impurities, bypassing the need for toilet paper altogether. He would no longer have to worry about the newbies grabbing bizarre leaves or fungi in the forest. Chu Guang tested a nearby faucet and was astonished to find running water, which could even be switched to hot. "And here I thought this shelter was an empty husk..." It seemed only Floor B1 had been left bare. Xiao Qi chimed in from the side, "How could it possibly be an empty husk? Master, you saw it just now—people really used to live here!" "Then where did they all go?" Chu Guang asked. "Uh, I don't know." An expected answer. Chu Guang didn't dwell on it. Sooner or later, he would uncover every secret this shelter held. After inspecting these facilities, Chu Guang's preliminary plan was to move the one hundred incubation pods from B1 down to B2. The incubation pods utilized wireless power transmission, allowing them to draw power from any corner of the shelter. Sector B on Floor B2 offered two hundred vacant rooms. While somewhat cramped, upgrading from four-person dorms to private standard rooms would surely thrill the players. After all, to them, it was merely a save point. As for the surplus beds and bedding cleared out from the process, they could be stashed in the empty rooms on Floor B1 for future use. Commuting was even less of a concern. While there was only a single lift connecting the shelter to the surface, the interior boasted eight elevators in total. These included two freight elevators for cargo and six passenger elevators, more than enough to handle players moving between floors. As for the external surface lift, it could always be remodeled later. Worst-case scenario, he could simply tear down the sanatorium, dig a wider shaft, and have the players build him a more spacious outpost up top. None of that posed a real issue. Chu Guang turned the faucet on and off, suddenly asking, "By the way, is there a limit on water usage here?" He had grown sick of drinking lake water and rainwater filtered through activated carbon. No matter how thoroughly it was filtered, it always retained an off-putting taste. Xiao Qi tilted its camera. "Probably not? According to the logs, the shelter's water reserves appear to be replenished by rainfall. Theoretically, as long as there is power, water will be supplied continuously. However, it's best not to export large quantities of water outside. Normal usage within the shelter is fine, since domestic wastewater enters the internal recycling system and is reused after complete filtration. Minor losses aren't an issue, but exporting massive volumes could place a strain on the shelter's water recycling system." Chu Guang nodded. "Where does the filtered waste end up?" "It's probably sent to a fermentation chamber for processing, isn't it?" Xiao Qi guessed. "The resulting fertilizer might be delivered to an agricultural greenhouse on one of the other floors. Or maybe it's vaporized and expelled through ventilation shafts? Either way, so long as there's power, this shelter can run indefinitely! Xiao Qi is super excited to see what's on the other floors too!" Chu Guang: "..." *That explanation told me absolutely nothing.* *Damn it!* After finishing his inspection of Sector A's sanitation facilities and cafeteria, Chu Guang followed Xiao Qi's rolling wheels down a longitudinal corridor, soon arriving at the deepest part of Sector A. This area appeared to be a warehouse. The space was immense, spanning the size of two full basketball courts. Over thirty plastic crates were stacked in a corner, their exteriors labeled with medical supply tags. Chu Guang stepped forward and popped open one of the crates. Inside, he found no medicine at all, but rather rows of wristwatches equipped with display screens. By a rough estimate, there were at least a thousand units stacked here. Slightly startled, Chu Guang asked with hesitation, "These are..." Rolling up beside his calf, Xiao Qi leaned in and supplied the answer right on cue. "They're VMs!"