Of course, in the eyes of other people outside, Nangong Xihe is a pitiful girl who has been dead for many years. They have even visited her body with their own eyes and seen her body nailed into the coffin.
Sent to the incinerator, and finally turned into a box of light ashes.
Only Troy knows that it is just an empty body whose brain has been taken away long ago. The real Nangong Xihe is still living here, living underground in the Chunshen ruins, living in endless, never-ending reincarnations.
Although nearly eight years have passed, Troy still did not dare to break through this layer of paper and tell Nangong Xihe in the virtual world the truth about everything. He did not even let her daily actions deviate from the original destiny.
track.
The reason why Troy is so careful is because he is very afraid of the so-called "mental fragility." Although this theory was proposed by French scientists as early as the 1960s, it has not been fully verified until now.
Possibility:
That theory holds that human consciousness must be maintained through continuous interaction with the external world. Even a person with a completely normal and healthy brain condition, if he has to temporarily lose consciousness and fall into a coma due to some accident, will not be able to survive.
If he stops communicating with the outside world and obtaining information, his self-awareness will slowly fade over time.
If we assume a more extreme example, a person is locked in a dark room, and apart from providing him with normal food, he is not given any extra information, and he is not allowed to communicate with the outside world, even the slightest sound or sound.
If there is no change in color, then after a period of time he will either go crazy or fall into a sluggish state that is difficult to communicate with - both of which indicate that the person's self-awareness has been partially damaged.
This theory also believes that no matter how rich the imagination of the imprisoned person is, no matter how happy he is in darkness and emptiness, as long as the brain determines that he has not received information from the outside world, his self-consciousness will still collapse unsustainably.
Go down.
It's just that such an experiment is not only inhumane, but no one is willing to personally participate. What's more, no matter how it is arranged in reality, it is impossible to truly make a person locked up forever without receiving other information. But Troy has it in his hands.
He can do it with his own technology. As long as he cuts off everything Nangong Xihe feels in the virtual world, he can observe the other party's true reaction.
But of course Troy would not do this, because he himself is a believer in this theory, so he knows that if he wants to preserve Nangong Xihe's sanity for a long time, he must constantly instill external stimulation into her, and make her believe it and feel that the world is
Reality comes from external non-self stimulation.
And once her belief in this aspect is shaken and she realizes that she lives in a world created by her own memory, it is difficult to guarantee that her personality will not gradually collapse.
On the other hand, once the originally predetermined destiny experienced by Nangong Xihe is changed, her self-perception logic may also be affected, thus laying the hidden danger of doubting the authenticity of the world. This is also the case.
It's something that Troy doesn't dare to try for the time being - at least he doesn't dare to take such a risk until more useful information is collected.
However, he also understood that living a mechanical life without conscious awareness in the continuous cycle of reincarnation cannot be considered living at all. Even if Nangong Xihe cannot be completely returned to the real world, at least she must be allowed to live in the virtual world.
In the world, experience a new life that you have never had before.
Therefore, research must continue, and my current research progress is far from enough——
Troy drank up the black tea in one gulp, with a rare hint of tiredness on his face. He took out a group photo in the corner of the drawer, seeming to recall some past events, and looked at it dreamily.
There are several faces in the photo. The one standing in the middle is Professor Yuan, with his female assistant next to him. Surrounding them are the students Ye Suling, Nangong Xihe, Troy and others who seem to be making a fuss...
...Zhang Ke?
That's right, that was where Yuan Qiushi should have been. Judging from the reluctant expression on his face, deliberately standing farthest away from Professor Yuan, and the way Ye Suling held his hand intimately, this person should indeed be there.
It's Yuan Qiushi.
But the appearance in the photo is indeed that of Zhang Ke. Although it is a bit more youthful and immature than his current appearance, it is basically impossible for a boy in his early twenties to have a dramatic change in appearance.
Everyone recognizes that this is Zhang Ke.
What's more, just from the slightly loving and meaningful look in Troy's eyes when he looked at the photo, we can know that this person cannot be the second person besides Zhang Ke.
But when faced with this strange situation, Troy not only didn't feel the slightest bit strange, but calmly stroked the old photo and murmured to himself, "It's a pity that I can't go back."
There is indeed no going back - even if we put aside the issue of incompatibility between Zhang Ke and Yuan Qiushi, some of the people in this photo were killed by gangsters in the museum bombing; some quit after that.
Some majored in history and changed careers to become police officers; some were affected by the explosion and lost their arms and legs, and now they don’t live like a human being at all——
There was another person who was blown into a vegetative state. Soon after, her vital signs were in critical condition, and the doctor was almost about to issue a death notice, but before that, her brain was taken out by Troy and stored underground without seeing the light of day.
As a result, no one was able to stick to their original intentions, or even be a complete person - thinking of this, the smile on Troy's face that seemed to never fade turned into a bitter smile.
Even though she seemed to be the most carefree person among this group of people, no one realized that she had replaced Nangong Xihe's existence - she had hypnotized everyone directly related to her and made them
Forgot the previous contact with Nangong Xihe, and implanted new memories woven by Troy.
Just because before Nangong Xihe closed his eyes, he begged Troy for one thing——
"I know that I will die soon, but I hope that you can inherit my life and see the world for me. If you still can't find your past, then continue to live in my life."
Troy decided to fulfill her last wish before she lost consciousness in the ruins, so now Troy borrowed Nangong Xihe's name and became the youngest professor in the history department in her place, engaged in archaeological excavation research.
However, Troy did not give up his original identity. After the explosion, as Troy, he also left the history major and returned to his original job in the biology department, engaged in brain science-related work.
Only a person like him, whose brain is unusually smart and whose processing and response speed is extremely fast, can manage his two identities without any contradiction.
But Troy knows that such contradictory identities are not easy to maintain. For example, Zhang Ke and Ye Suling outside the stone gate are probably discussing their own affairs now, right?