In the slums at the bottom of City D, even "sunlight" has become a luxury. There is no sun all year round, only iron-gray steel plates stretching as far as the eye can see, erected above everyone's heads.
Neo specially put on a white formal suit.
He has been unemployed for more than a month.
In his last job, Neo worked in a canning workshop and was responsible for one of the processes of canning.
The reason for his unemployment was that he discovered that most of the "meat products" used in cans were rotten meat that had expired. After adding various flavors to cover up the odor, they were packaged and sold in cans. He asked his supervisor to question it. Five
After a few minutes, he was kicked out of the processing room.
The very next day, he received a summons from the court, saying that he had defamed the reputation of his former company and had to pay a large amount of compensation.
Neo remembered the unhappiness of his last job, so he straightened his formal clothes in front of the mirror, collected his mood, and walked out of the apartment. Although Neo felt that the content on the screen was weird, and he had many times wondered whether the computer had been hacked, he still wanted to survive.
Just in need, he still held the optimistic idea of "trying without getting pregnant" and came to the last marked location on the screen.
When he saw this place, he thought it was outrageous.
In his mind, the address on the screen was clearly an unfinished building ready for demolition a month ago.
It is said that it was spotted by a wealthy man from the upper block, who bought it at a low price and planned to transform it into a "green light district" with high quality and low price... It is a place that all men understand.
Neo left the house early, in order to save a mere 10 credits on transportation, and walked for nearly an hour to the designated location. However, he was shocked and speechless by the busy traffic in front of him.
The location of the unfinished building that was supposed to become the "Green Light District", a paradise for poor men, turned into a magnificent building at some point. The dark red walls were covered with pictures of bats, and the bats grinned.
The corners of his mouth were open, as if expressing a blatant grin, and the style of the entire building was full of post-modernist art style.
The entrance was also made into the shape of a "bat". The open door was set up to look like the exaggerated open mouth of a bat. Neo was at the end of the queue and watched helplessly as the poor people dressed in human-like and dog-like clothes entered in order.
He suddenly had a strange illusion that "they were all eaten by bats".
This strange illusion made Neo shudder subconsciously, but when he came back to his senses, he realized that his trembling was a bit inexplicable.
Standing at the back of the line blankly, Neo briefly asked the applicants in front of him when he had nothing to do.
It stands to reason that in slums, the number of poor people who have time to play with computers will never lead to such a situation of empty streets.
After asking, Neo suddenly realized.
It turned out that the strange "recruitment notice" that had been hacked into his computer and printed on the screen not only appeared on his screen, but also on the holographic advertising windows on the street, information on cheap mobile phones, paper flyers on the ground, and the sound of announcements in transportation.
Multiple radio stations, and every method he could think of, were advertising this new "Dream Life Experience Center", overwhelmingly, using all possible means, both despicable and practical.
"Awesome."
Everything clicked, and after Neo silently liked this "company" that appeared in the next block, he lined up quietly.
A morning passed, and no one could get in or out.
He secretly asked the front again, and it was said that there was a backdoor. It was said that the company left through another exit in order not to reveal the recruitment method, whether it was successful or failed.
Neo, who was worried, felt relieved again.
After waiting for a long time, it was finally his turn.
…
Entrance.
Behind the bat's big mouth is pitch black, like a deep black hole.
Ten meters away, an ordinary door stood in the depths of darkness. In the center of the door beam and wall, a light was on. The light was not strong. At a glance, the upper part of the door was bright and majestic, while the lower part was
, but it’s like being immersed in a dark quagmire, half in the light and half in the dark.
Neo took a breath and opened the door.
Behind the door is a bright passage.
Neo breathed a sigh of relief. After walking here, he finally felt a little bit of the earthly atmosphere, which was no longer so weird.
There seemed to be no other staff in the company. But fortunately, there were corresponding signs on the passage leading to the application location.
【turn left】.
【Go right】.
[Go to the third floor].
[The second door on the right, open].
"Please take a seat."
There were only four walls in the empty room, with a long table that looked similar in the center.
Behind the long table was a young interviewer wearing a white windbreaker.
In front of the young man stood a piece of cardboard folded into a triangular stable structure, with the letter "L" written on the side facing the door.
"L?"
Neo recalled what was on the screen last night and thought to himself, it turns out that the last word in the ellipsis of the multiple-choice question was not garbled.
Sitting on the stool, Neo calmed down.
He began to look at his interviewer.
At first glance, the interviewer's facial features seemed unremarkable, but Neo was very nervous and shrank subconsciously. He had the illusion that the interviewer would cross the table at any time, reveal a ferocious face, and punch him to death - when Neo
When I sorted out my weird "illusion", I couldn't help but find it funny. How could an interviewer kill an applicant casually?
There was a faint smile on the other person's face, which made Neo calm down involuntarily and stopped thinking wildly.
"Neo, it turns out it's you...I've been waiting for you for a long time."
L seemed very happy and rubbed his palms vigorously. After he said something that made Neo feel baffled, the young man coughed twice and held up a piece of white paper.
Neo was a little confused. He observed for a while when he entered the room. There was obviously no paper on the table.
"As usual, let me ask a few...small questions."
Neo nodded and sat upright.
"Name."
"Neo."
"age."
"38 years old."
"old."
"?"
The young man put down the paper with a smile. Only then did Neo notice that the paper was blank and there were no questions on it. Neo suddenly had the illusion that "he had been fooled."
"Thirty-eight years old, middle-aged, living in a garbage dump, single, unmarried, accomplishing nothing, doing nothing. Facing the 'instructions' on the road, you have no doubts, follow the rules, and execute them numbly, haha, you can't do it."
Neo lowered his head.
It suddenly dawned on me that the “applying” process had already started when I stepped through the door.
Wait a moment.
If I question the instructions and slogans given by your company, is there something wrong with me?
He raised his head, unconvinced and ready to offer his opinion.
"Shh."
The young man raised a finger: "Angry? Yes, he also knows how to be angry. Then, let's enter the second stage of the assessment."
Neo's eyes flashed. At some point, the young man crossed the long table and walked in front of him.
His first reaction was: It turns out he really knows how to step over and hit people!
The young man quickly stretched out two fingers and poked Neo on the forehead.
Boom.
Neo's eyes went dark.
before losing consciousness.
A gentle voice whispered in his ear.
"Go to sleep."
"Have a wonderful night."
…
The heavy rain is like smoke, washing the earth.
When Neo opened his eyes again, he had come to another completely different "world".
On the ground, the few remaining stars were extinguished in patches under the torrential rain.
The world, in front of Neo, gradually entered complete darkness.
The heavy rain fell and gathered into turbid torrents, forming new "lakes" and "rivers" on the ground full of gullies and potholes.
But these rivers and lakes are no longer clear and beautiful. They are mixed with metal residues and scorched earth, and they are constantly churning, looking like filthy tar.
Neo looked at the desolation and despair in front of him in shock.
He lowered his head and found that he had no body.
He only had a "vision" left, and in shock, he watched helplessly as the world in front of him came to an end.
"Any ideas?"
While Neo was silent, L appeared next to Neo.
Unlike Neo, L wore a cool, pure white trench coat, with his hands behind his back and sunglasses on his face, looking chic and calm.
"ah……"
Neo subconsciously uttered a syllable. He actually couldn't pronounce the sound, but when he was "thinking" about uttering the syllable, he heard his "heart's voice".
L smiled and said: "What if I said, this is a nightmare?"
Neo then remembered that he was applying for a job as a salesperson at the "Dream Life Experience Center".
Mainly because the scenery in front of him was completely different from his "sweet dream", which made him forget all about his original intention of applying for the job.
Without waiting for Neo to answer.
L changed his tone and said: "What if I tell you again that this is not a dream?"
Swish.
A moment.
Neo felt cold all over his body and his soul was numb, as if an electric current was passing through his soul and penetrating his worldview.
He did not answer L's two questions.
In fact, these two questions are the same question: do you think the scenery in front of you is a dream or reality.
"Do you know why I fall in love with you?"
L smiled and raised an index finger in front of Neo's field of vision.
"Among the many residents of Phantom Light, you are one of the very few who have the tendency to 'awaken' without any 'external influence'."
"Everything in the world has meaning if it exists, and if there is an effect, there is a cause."
"I initially thought that 'awakening' was an uncontrollable factor for it."
"But I later discovered that maybe my initial idea was wrong."
The young man lowered his head and looked down at the world.
Even through a layer of sunglasses, Neo seemed to be able to detect the coldness of the eyes behind the sunglasses.
"Is it possible that from the beginning, there was no such thing as 'illusion' and 'reality'?"
"Is there a possibility that for it, 'illusion' and 'reality' are not relative concepts?"
“It was born from ‘virtual’, and to it, virtual is ‘real’.”
"It's just that there is a 'dimension' between the two."
"It underestimated me from the beginning,"
"But actually, maybe it's because I have had too many contacts with a certain person who is too high-level, and I always feel that these guys are nothing more than that."
"But God, how can he be such a low-level existence?"
"so,"
L looked at Neo.
"I understand that your 'awakening' is not a 'mistake' for it."
"But it is a 'necessary thing' if it wants to evolve and move to a higher level."
L's words became more and more profound, and Neo seemed to understand.
Snapped.
L snapped his fingers.
When he came to his senses, Neo had already sat back in the room with only four walls.
The young man was sitting opposite, holding his chin in his hands, looking at him with a smile.
Neo seemed to have taken a nap.
Had a hollow dream.
But with his clothes soaked with cold sweat on his back and his scalp numb, Neo, who was still in shock, couldn't convince himself from the bottom of his heart that everything he "saw" just now was a false dream.
L pushed the piece of paper in front of Neo.
On the paper that was supposed to be blank and wordless, at some point, there were a few lines of words added.
The words that appeared on his screen last night were exactly the same.
However, when Neo glanced at the scorched earth in a strange way, the same content gave him completely opposite feelings.
【If the world in front of you is illusory.】
[So, do you want to know the ‘reality’ of the world? 】
【Do you want to...really live?】
【or,】
【Do you believe...there is a God?】
【YES/NO?】
As if by magic, the young man conjured a brand new pen and gently pushed it in front of Neo.
"Well, now let's enter the signing process."
"Refuse to sign, you can go back now. You will forget everything that happened today."
"Agree to sign..."
"I will take away your 'comfort and mediocrity,'"
"As a price, I will pay you the 'truth of the world'."
"So,"
"YES,or...NO?"
Neo hesitated for a moment.
Grit your teeth.
At the end of the paper, write "YES" firmly.
…
…
On the scorched earth.
Destroyed District 11.
Tens of thousands of people have disappeared, the sky and the earth are deserted, except for the sound of wind and rain.
The heavy rain fell, washing away the dirt and dust from the surface.
They sent several groups of death squads out to explore.
Bring a radio search device.
After repeated explorations, the thirty-six survivors in the Ark truly confirmed a cruel fact.
On the scorched earth, on this lonely planet, they are the last survivors.
Now.
The former Alice-101 felt that a "name" was something necessary for lower beings to be unable to distinguish "individuals".
But now, she is proud of having her name.
Because, my brother said,
"Name" is a form of self-expression for any life after possessing "self".
"NieR~"
"NieR~~"
"NieR~~~"
"Hee hee hee."
"L said that humans can laugh."
inside the room.
From time to time, Neil's electronically synthesized female voice comes out.
Sometimes sad, sometimes happy, sometimes snickering.
Usually fine.
But in the dead of night, these calls sounded like a female ghost wailing, or like a resentful woman wailing, which was particularly strange. It frightened some of the survivors, including several young ones, who could not sleep all night and stuffed their heads into bed.
Inside, shivering.
But the person in charge didn't think there was any problem with this. She felt good about herself, and the humanoid bones that heated up from time to time made her feel like a young girl waiting to be married.
"There will be problems if this continues."
Bella couldn't stand it anymore.
If Neil doesn't go wrong, we will be frightened.
If a rational and reasonable omnic is placed in the ark, it won't be a big problem.
But a crazy omnic...that's not just a "problem."
After discussing with the elders, Bella disarmed and entered the room, preparing to have an in-depth communication with the awakened omnic.
Although they temporarily accepted Neil, even the elders couldn't make up their minds on "how to deal with it".
yes.
No one can make up their mind.
After the spark came, the world was destroyed, and the scorched earth was desolate.
There is no food, no energy. After the "formatting" of the surface of Area 11, just as Nemesis expected, nothing useful is left.
The heavy rain on the scorched earth has been falling for three days.
This continuous heavy rain is not so much a "bad weather" as it is a "big cleansing" after "formatting" to clean up the remaining dregs of the world.
"Neil said that L is its 'brother'. So the question is, is 'L' a human or an omnic?"
"If it were human beings, no one would be able to survive on the surface when the 'Starfire' falls."
"L is obviously not a resident of the Ark."
"If it is an omnic, does that mean that there are such a group of special 'awakened bodies' among the omnics?"
Bella talks secretly with the elder.
She spoke her mind.
On the seat, the old man coughed from time to time and covered his mouth and nose with a dirty rag.
After coughing for a while, the elder replied in a hoarse voice: "No matter what it is, as long as there is something in the world that 'it' cannot control, it will be our 'hope'."
"Yeah, hope."
Bella's expression darkened. The elder had a nurturing grace for her, just like her parents. Over the years, she had witnessed the elder's physical condition getting worse and worse. After the spark fell, both humans and intelligent machines outside were wiped out.
Everything is clean. It seems that peace has come and there are no other crises outside except the harsh environment. But in fact, they have been sneaking to different waste treatment stations over the years and stealing discarded nutrient solutions and synthetic biomass to survive.
Come down.
Now that District 11 has been "formatted", the omnics have perished, and all factories have been destroyed. They can't survive this "cold winter" with only the remaining food reserves.
At stake is the thirty-six surviving humans in the ark.
After discussion, the elderly elder could not make up his mind.