The first rays of sunrise have just broken through the clouds and reached New York's Central Park.
Louise, the urban news editor of the New York Times, had already been running for twenty minutes when she received a call from her assistant.
The content is very brief.
"Report to the agency quickly, there is big news!"
Louise is forty-two years old this year. She has experienced two failed marriages and has twenty-seven years of journalism experience. But this is the first time she has received a text message from her assistant suddenly like today.
She stopped, then checked the summary sent by her assistant, and followed...
"Oops!"
…
7:21 am
"Are you sure we are the only ones who have received this package?" The newspaper office was already crowded with people, and it was the first time that the president of the Times started working without wearing a suit.
"Yes sir! We should be the first news agency to receive the package now."
"Well, let's make a good headline first and send it out immediately! We have to grab the headlines before other newspapers react! Hurry, hurry!"
The editors in the conference room went crazy. Their fingers were flying up and down on the keyboard, and multiple press releases were quickly formed.
At 7:30, Louise received a notification downstairs of the newspaper office. When she opened it, she saw that it was the morning news headline issued by n newspaper office. The content was "The truth about 'Player 0' is revealed, and politicians' chess game is inhumane."
Seeing such a title, Louise sighed and quickened her pace.
When I got upstairs, the news had been posted for five minutes. The current number of views was 1.75 million, and the speed was increasing exponentially.
"Withdraw that news! Which damn bastard used such a headline!" Louise cursed as soon as she entered the conference room.
The president was drinking coffee and almost burst into tears when he heard this sentence.
All the editors were shocked when they heard this, and then all their eyes focused on the president.
The president wiped his mouth and glanced at everyone, who hurriedly lowered their heads and started working on their own manuscripts.
Louise came over and threw the contents of the first page in front of the president, and then asked, "Is this the headline you grabbed?"
The president hesitated for a long time without daring to speak. Although logically speaking, Louise, as the editor-in-chief of n newspaper, is not qualified to speak to the president like this, but the reason why this newspaper has been able to occupy a leading position in the news field since its establishment in 2020
Getting a place basically depends on Louise's unique vision.
The assistant came over and said, "It has been withdrawn, but people from the FBI have also come to the door."
"Let them come in, and send everything else out, but not to readers, but to our competitors."
The president was stunned and hurriedly said, "Are you crazy! Louise?! This is shocking news! As long as we get the exclusive report, our newspaper's stock price can double at noon today!"
Louise smiled coldly when she heard this and said, "You are right, Xilan, but our stock price has nothing to do with the dead people no matter how many times it rises! Do you understand what I mean?"
The president was stunned for a moment before he reacted, but he still said unwillingly, "But the things in the package are all solid evidence! It not only records in detail how 'Player 0' was designed,
What was the original purpose, how was the first 'Player 0' born? With these things here, I don't believe they will take any illegal measures against me! You know, this is the United States of America! My lawyer every
Zhou Yuan wants to take three thousand dollars from me!"
Louise ignored the president's "reasonable arguments". She looked at her assistant and said, "Let Harvey and the others receive the FBI and try to buy us as much time as possible. In addition, help me contact the U.S. Divisional Supervision Bureau of the National Security Department."
Said that we have important evidence that needs to be submitted to them."
The assistant took care of everything one by one.
The president was so angry that he grabbed the assistant's cell phone and said, "Hey! Louise! Listen to me! I am the actual person in charge of this newspaper. Even if you have a very high status in our newspaper,
You can’t ignore me either!”
The assistant was already accustomed to this. One phone was snatched away, and he immediately took out another one. This time, he had already left early.
Louise looked at President Xion and said, "If I really ignored you, I could have left the United States and gone to hide in a relatively safe place before anything happened to you. I believe that even if people from the National Security Department find me in the end, I can still hide in a relatively safe place."
The editors who are not in the newspaper office and did not participate in the relevant reports are seeking a chance to survive! But what about you! You were just blinded by the benefits... Do you know that if you make such an announcement, the entire newspaper office will be buried with you? "
The president had calmed down a lot, but there was an unquestionable determination in his eyes. He looked at the editors in the conference room who had stopped typing on the keyboard, and then lowered his voice and said, "Then do you know..."
In that package... there is also a special invitation?"
Louise was stunned, "What special invitation?"
The president smiled bitterly and said, "We are already in the game, Louise, the last round!"
As soon as he finished speaking, the door of the conference room was blasted.
As tear gas was thrown in, a loud voice shouted, "Everyone! Hold your heads and get down!"
And Louise didn't realize until this moment that she could no longer escape after receiving that message...
…
7:39 am
The Internet has exploded. Although n newspaper "timely" withdrew the headlines, the
The number of forwards of this message has exceeded 300 million, and almost all Internet users in the entire Western Hemisphere know about it.
Tens of thousands of secrets about "Player 0" that were originally silent in the online world suddenly exploded.
Some of them are true and some are false.
Some people revealed that they had been humiliated as a participant in the "Player 0" game, and they only managed to save their lives by relying on their own will to survive.
There are also people who claim to have been a member of "Player 0" and mock the current network security as a big joke. In the dark web, where most netizens cannot see, there are some real power holders.
They are monitoring every user active on the Internet at all times, and can use their methods to favor or punish these Internet users anytime and anywhere. They are like a group of real gods on earth! They have begun to gradually take over real society.
!In the future, those who can access this level will be the real winners!
In addition, there are other secrets that are more or less related to "Player 0" that have been exposed, but most of them lack sufficient evidence to prove and their credibility is not high.
However, a wave of discussions about "Player 0" has taken shape on the Internet.
At around 8:01, the Los Angeles Times disclosed a batch of secrets and corresponding evidence related to the hot words being discussed on the Internet.
This move was like an undersea earthquake, instantly triggering a "cyber tsunami".
The huge wave that originally only stayed in the Western Hemisphere has swept across the world in an instant, and even many countries with proprietary network protection architectures have not been able to escape.
…
Around 9 a.m. Beijing time.
Yougege, who is in his hometown in Xuzhou, saw articles on some self-media platforms about the hidden secrets of "Player 0".
The reporter is a self-media expert with 150,000 fans. He claims to have obtained exclusive news from the Associated Press and will explain in detail the recent events around the world to the audience during the next live broadcast.
A vicious incident caused by "Player 0".
But this article only existed for three minutes before disappearing, and even the entire registered account of the self-media expert was shut down for rectification.
Yougege knew that the domestic situation would not allow such people to speak nonsense for the sake of traffic, but she also looked forward to the official mainstream media's reports on this incident and their corresponding opinions.
At around 11 noon, all major official platforms of the China Division of the National Security Department simultaneously updated reports on the "Player 0" scandal.
In this 13,000-word report, the China Division of the National Security Department not only explained the concept of "Player 0" in detail to readers, the formation and the causes and results of corresponding vicious incidents, but also related to these incidents.
The identity information of the China Division personnel of the National Security Department has been made public. We hope that the majority of netizens will give positive feedback and assist the China Division of the National Security Department in conducting internal clean-up in a timely manner.
After reading the report, Yougege had a rare smile on his face.
This "Player 0" incident is the second major network information security incident since the "Mysterious Code" incident. The two incidents have their similarities but also have their own characteristics.
As the instigator of the "Mysterious Code" incident, Yougege still has vivid memories of what happened back then, but she never thought that after many years of reaching an agreement with the National Security Department, the National Security Department itself would be in trouble and cause such a big scandal.
.
Putting down the tablet, Yougege got up and went to the living room.
Several visitors from far away have been waiting for a long time.
After seeing Yougege come out, the tension and anxiety on their faces finally eased a little.
One of the Indians clasped his hands in front of his chest excitedly and said, "Sir, please save those children, they are innocent! They don't know that the program they designed has such a big loophole! And in
After what happened, they tried their best to make amends! So, sir! Please! We must save them!"
Yougege smiled slightly at the Indian and said, "Mr. Wangdu, don't worry, those children are all members of the First Front. They are the stars of the future. I will not let them be involved in this unreasonable disaster, but they are still there after all."
In India, before I intervene in this matter, they still need you as their wing to protect them, so, Mr. Wangdu, you should return to the country immediately."
Wangdu was stunned for a moment, then hurriedly thanked him, "Thank you, sir! I will return to China right away! Don't worry, I will do my best to protect them!"
With that said, the Indian hurried away.
Seeing Wangdu leave, the remaining three people asked questions at the same time, and then stopped awkwardly.
Finally, one of the older ones spoke first, "Sir, I heard that you have dealt with all the A-type players, right?"
Yougege responded calmly, "This doesn't seem to be something you should care about, right?"
The middle-aged man was stunned when he heard this, and then hurriedly knelt down in the tunnel and said, "Sir! My daughter and son-in-law participated in this without my knowledge, and used some of the organization's resources as bargaining chips. This matter has seriously violated the taboos within the organization.
They deserve to be severely punished! But please see that they are all my family members, please let me be responsible for this matter!"
This middle-aged man said this in Japanese.
Yougege looked at the haggard-looking father, feeling a little unbearable in her heart, but she still replied coldly, "You don't have to beg me like this. Since there are regulations within the organization, it will naturally be handled in accordance with the regulations, and... as far as I know...
As you know, the team responsible for cleaning up the Japanese area has not brought back any live targets, and you do not need to come forward anymore."
The middle-aged uncle trembled physically and mentally when he heard this. His eyes were round, and after a long time he trembled, "Yes... sir..."
"Okay, get up. It's better not to use such gifts in China." After saying this, You Gege looked at the other two people.
These two people were originally very eager to speak, but after hearing what You Gege said just now, they fell silent.
Yougege sighed and said, "I asked you to give up your identity on Gaia and follow me to Earth in the hope that you can help me. But now, the organization has just started to improve, and something big has happened. And
It's really disappointing that your family is still involved."
The two silent people listened and stood up at the same time and said, "Sir, we know that if you do something wrong, you should be punished, not to mention that this time the matter has reached this point, but... Mr. Z is one of the elders after all, so
I hope sir can spare his life."
Yougege was stunned after hearing this. She obviously didn't expect that these two people would plead for an earthling.
only……
Yougege shook his head and said, "Lao Xu's matter is not my choice, but his own choice, so even if I hope he lives, he may not be willing to sit down and talk to me again."
What he said sounded extremely lonely.
The other three people present looked at each other and saw a trace of sadness in each other's eyes.
After a long time, You Gege felt a little tired. She waved her hand and said, "If nothing happens, you can go back. Don't come here again for a while. The organization will not arrange things for you anymore. Just stay with me."
Spend time with your family.”
After hearing about his family, the middle-aged uncle swayed, but still said respectfully, "Thank you, sir! Take care, sir!"
Several people left.
Yougege returned to the place where she usually stayed most - the study.
There is a huge mirror in the study room, which faces the desk.
When Yougege reads a book, she can completely see herself and everything behind her.
But the existence of this mirror is not to reflect her beauty, but to facilitate her conversation with her other self.
…
"Things are going as you want, and the world is getting more and more chaotic. Isn't this exactly what you want to see? Why are you sighing again?" You Gege asked.
"Huh...when did you learn to be so mean and mean?"
"It's not that I'm being sarcastic, it's that you're making me less and less understandable." Yougege said sternly, "If you really came back to Earth just to destroy it, you could have done it more than ten years ago!
At that time, I was no obstacle to you! But why? Why did you agree to cooperate with the National Security Department? You even chose to stay in China?"
"There are so many whys...don't you think you have too many questions?"
"No, you are running away from something. I have already felt it. You have been wandering in the ocean of numbers for twenty years before entering the central rappel. You definitely don't want to see all your efforts go up in flames! Don't you?" Yu Gege?
Pressing harder and harder.
But she... chose silence for the first time.
"Stop talking? Haha... If you really don't want to talk, why not switch with me? It seems more suitable to think about problems here, isn't it?" Yougege tentatively suggested.
The person in the mirror raised his head and looked into each other's eyes.
Yougege actually didn't hold out much hope this time. She tried countless times to return to her body and find herself, but failed every time.
For more than ten years, she has silently endured the punishment that should not have been hers. In that dark and dark underground place, there was no hope of survival.
Only Su An, her son, unexpectedly brought her a different experience of existence.
It was then that Yugege rekindled his belief in living.
After staring at each other like this for half a minute, Yougege started to get scared and wanted to dodge.
She spoke.
"Okay... I'll leave it to you for the next few years."
The words just fell.
Yougege suddenly felt a sense of comfort like a spring breeze.
That was something you would never feel in the darkness... She looked at her hands and everything in the study in disbelief.
All these things that could only be glimpsed through that impenetrable layer of glass in the past are so real.
Yougege's eyes were red, and she touched her face with trembling hands, tears falling down.
When she cried with joy, she tightened her body and hugged herself tightly. She felt like she was reborn, but she just wanted to cry!
…
By early morning on the 24th, at dawn, tens of thousands of protesters had gathered outside the U.S. Capitol building. They blocked the streets, holding high signs with "human rights" and "hypocritical cyber security" and demanding that Congress severely punish the many participants involved.
Members of Parliament and senior ministerial officials.
National security outposts in various places were also besieged by protesters.
Almost at the same time, an organization called the "New Paris Commune" waved and shouted in front of the Arc de Triomphe. They held high the banner of "De-elitization! De-network surveillance!" and demanded that the government give a positive answer to the "Player 0" incident. However,
Until the evening of the 24th, the French government did not issue any statement, but the Supreme Supervisory Committee of the National Security Agency took away a number of senior managers and special service personnel from the French National Security Agency.
The China Region of the National Security Department also cleared out a group of relevant personnel who were suspected of participating in the "Player 0" game to make illegal profits, exploiting public network security loopholes to illegally sell personal user information, and using this as a threat to coerce users into participating in the "game."