bookpower Chapter 696 The Truth About the Program
Chapter 696 The Truth About the Program
Habit is a terrible thing.
It allows a person's behavior, diet, sleep patterns, and even what they might say to be predicted.
That's the essential function of the Desire Bracelet.
The wristbands are constantly capturing employees' behavior patterns, including their physiological reactions to various events. This data becomes crucial for factories to understand their employees.
In this situation, if an employee behaves in ways that deviate from normal behavior, the wristband will naturally record it.
For example, during a time when employees should be sitting at their workstations and working diligently without any external interference, they suddenly stand up for no apparent reason.
In very rare cases, it's understandable.
The wristband can be analyzed as causing leg numbness or neck and shoulder discomfort due to prolonged sitting. These factors drive employees to stand up and move around, which falls within the scope of reasonable abnormal behavior.
But what if dozens or even hundreds of employees do this at the same time?
Because they are too synchronized and their abnormal behaviors are too similar, the factory cannot determine that they are within a reasonable range.
However, its database also lacks a solution to handle this abnormal behavior.
The reason is simple—because the action itself is meaningless.
Yes, the most crucial point was the question the salesperson asked Wu Wang in the break room.
What's the point of standing up?
What Wu Wang wanted was something that was both meaningless and would be judged as abnormal behavior by the factory.
No employee damaged anything, no one spoke, and no one affected work efficiency.
After all, 12 o'clock is exactly lunchtime.
Everyone should have gotten up and gone to the cafeteria.
However, everyone stood up more in sync than usual today, and also stood still for five seconds after standing up.
This does not violate any factory contract provisions.
In this way, the factory's system must do one thing.
That means, just like when we checked the bills before, we need to find out where the root of the problem lies.
Why do so many people exhibit abnormal behavior?
Since the physiological response of the wristband could not be detected, the factory had no choice but to send smiling individuals to conduct the investigation.
It's worth noting that the last time there was such a large-scale instance of abnormal employee behavior was during Zhang Mingyuan's strike years ago.
But that only involved a little over two hundred people, while this time, the anomaly on the fourth floor caused hundreds of people to stand up.
It's impossible for one or two smiling people to conduct a survey of so many employees at the same time.
All the factory can do is mobilize as many smiling people as possible to the fourth floor.
However, since it was lunch break, many employees on each floor were using the elevators to get to the cafeteria. Moreover, the employees on the fourth floor who were involved in the abnormal behavior were mixed in with thousands of normal employees.
Identifying them in a short period of time would be a huge undertaking.
Therefore, the factory's computing power is being heavily skewed towards this meaningless, large-scale anomaly.
All of this was within Wu Wang's calculations!
This is the moment he's been waiting for!
boom--
The moment Bai cracked the maintenance channel access, Wu Wang kicked him away.
The air in the passageway was damp and cold, with a metallic, rusty smell.
This maintenance passage is essentially a mezzanine level between the 28th-floor Wish Exhibition Hall and the 27th floor.
The building isn't as tall as a normal floor; a normal adult male would have to bend over to avoid hitting his head on the ceiling.
The bottoms of all the spherical experience cabins are directly exposed to the ceiling of the maintenance passage, with countless data lines hanging down to connect to the central device deep inside that provides the desired experience, and the central device is remotely connected to the data center.
Because remote, direct access to the data center's firewall would certainly be detected.
Therefore, [Bai] has no way to directly invade the data center from this central device.
Wu Wang's current target is only these hulls.
He moved forward according to the markings on the ventilation duct diagram, and every now and then he could hear the sound of keyboards on the 27th floor below and the quiet conversations of the employees.
The sound transmitted through the pipe walls of the maintenance passage was hazy, as if it came from another world.
Not long after, he arrived at the location where the No. 7 experience cabin was being maintained.
Looking up, I saw a data interface on the base of Experience Pod No. 7, covered with a thin layer of dust.
Wu Wang aimed the bracelet at the excuse position.
The white projection flickered, and a sound followed:
"Reading... Data stream normal... Starting the experience cabin..."
"Alright, sir! Experience capsule number 7 has been activated!"
As soon as I finished speaking, a slight buzzing sound came from above, which was the sound of the experience cabin in operation.
At the same time, inside Experience Pod No. 7, another Wu Wang slowly closed his eyes and began to immerse himself in the experience of wish fulfillment.
The only difference was that he didn't have the Desire Bracelet on his hand.
Of course, there's no cow-and-cat hill on its head either.
This is a clone created by Wu Wang using the [Seven Star Steps of Heavenly Gang].
Before entering the maintenance passage, he created four clones to enter the Wish Exhibition Hall. Three of them lay down inside experience cabins numbered 7, 12, and 19 to reserve their positions, while the third pretended to come for consultation and was responsible for diverting the Wish Consultant away from the workbench.
This was a method that neither Li Shuang nor Zhang Mingyuan had ever imagined.
In their view, if Wu Wang wanted to activate the three experience cabins in sequence, he would need at least three employees to help him.
Otherwise, the experience cabin cannot be activated if no one is detected inside or the wristband is scanned.
Now, the three Wu Wang clones have fulfilled the condition of having someone inside.
[Bai] bypassed the wristband scanning in the maintenance channel, or rather, allowed Wu Wang's wristband to scan three experience cabins.
Wu Wang quickly moved on to the next experience cabin.
Startup successful on the 12th!
On the 19th... it started successfully as well!
The moment the three experience cabins were activated in turn, Wu Wang felt the metal plate beneath his feet vibrate slightly.
Then he heard a voice.
It was the sound of some kind of machinery operating, deep and powerful, like the beating of a heart.
"Sir!" [Bai]'s voice rose slightly: "There's a response from the workbench!"
The sound came from the bottom of the Wish Consultant's workbench.
This also means that something on the workbench above has risen up.
Just then, the Wish Advisor was lured away by Wu Wang's clone.
That so-called external program USB drive appeared all alone in the Wish Showroom.
It's like a genuine wish being displayed in public.
The next second, a black and white figure jumped out of the ventilation duct.
Little Hill, the cow cat!
In a corner where no one was watching, he walked with elegant cat-like steps to his workbench seat.
He then slowly stood up.
Its two front paws are as flexible as human hands, grabbing the USB drive and pulling it out.
The moment the USB drive left the workbench, the space where it had been placed slowly closed, and the entire workbench returned to its original state, as if nothing had happened.
Xiaoqiu held the USB drive in its mouth, then resumed its cat-like walking on all fours, silently hopping back into the ventilation duct.
It also reached out its paw to close the pipe door.
"Meow~"
[Boss! We succeeded, meow!]
Hearing Xiao Qiu's voice coming from afar in the passage, Wu Wang also put on a smile.
Watching that small figure run quickly towards me, the USB drive in its mouth so conspicuous. After casually taking it, the "White" feature in my bracelet began its intrusion and analysis of the USB drive.
She was very cautious when dealing with systems like data centers, which were of paramount importance to the entire factory.
Now you have a USB drive that is completely independent and has no ability to resist.
Then naturally there are no more concerns.
The raging data stream swept over the small USB drive like a tsunami.
The safety locks above are practically made of paper compared to [Bai].
In no time, she obtained the contents of all the programs on the USB drive.
It was at this moment that her expression became somewhat strange.
With a tone full of confusion, he said, "Sir... this thing seems a bit different from what we imagined?"
Wu Wang raised an eyebrow and said, "Oh? Tell me about it."
While communicating with [Bai], Wu Wang walked towards the entrance to the maintenance passage he had previously entered.
He did not follow the agreement he had made with Zhang Mingyuan to go to the data center through the maintenance channel after obtaining the USB drive.
Besides investigating the talent incubation center more specifically, the most important thing is that Wu Wang doesn't trust Li Shuang, including Zhang Mingyuan whom he met in the ventilation duct.
Admittedly, the external program does exist, which proves that the other party did not deceive me.
But Zhang Mingyuan's behavior at the time felt too proactive to Wu Wang.
As if afraid of not doing it, they explained the entire process in detail, even going so far as to use themselves as bait to make it happen.
Perhaps such a sacrifice seems heroic to normal people, but to Wu Wang, a guy with a negative charisma, this fearless sacrifice seems more like a staged trap.
On the contrary, Zhang Mingyuan, whom I met at the experience sharing session and career planning consultation, was more in line with the behavior expected of the former leader of the Solidarity Union.
Be patient, calm, and plan carefully before acting.
It also carries a touch of naive romanticism.
"On the surface, this program would send an instruction from the factory's data center to play a loop of the factory's handling of employees' behavior and the operating principles of the wish store's products through each person's wristband, which would prove to all employees that this is a corrupt factory."
"But there's an encryption program underneath this one."
Bai's tone became serious.
Wu Wang even detected a hint of anger in his voice.
"This encryption process transmits specified data into another person's wristband."
"And this specific data is the soul of a living person like me!"
This caused Wu Wang to pause slightly.
A soul that exists at the data level, just like [White]?
“Yes, sir, I’m quite sure.”
"Just like what my brother Hua Wuyou and Bai Ta did, they completely put a person's soul and memories into a new body, thus achieving a level that is infinitely close to resurrection."
Bai's voice became slightly strained, as if he were gritting his teeth.
"But in the Eternal City, everything is fake data. It is impossible to create a real flesh and blood body. At most, it is just another piece of code that carries backups, like a peanut."
"But in this factory, everyone is a real person with flesh and blood."
"If this program is activated, the soul hidden in the data center can select the most suitable target through countless bracelets and swap their soul with its own."
"At that time, the unlucky one chosen will become the soul of data, and it will come back to life in the other person."
Hearing a description like "white".
Wu Wang paused for a moment.
But Little Hill, standing nearby, tilted his head and asked in confusion, "Meow?"
Boss, I think this sounds like possession.
Wu Wang laughed in exasperation at this.
He looked at the ventilation duct entrance of the wish exhibition hall ahead and said:
"That's right, this is fucking possession!"
"Is someone trying to make a fool of us?"
"Then I really need to have some fun with this guy!"
This damn external program isn't meant to disrupt the factory at all.
Rather, it is used to allow a data soul to find a suitable body to possess.
Who is the soul behind this data?
Zhang Mingyuan? It seems like he's the most likely candidate.
After all, there was also the suicide note left by Ke Ming that pointed out that he had tampered with his own records, and the way to obtain this external program was also told to him by Ke Ming.
That is very likely because Zhang Mingyuan, after being reformed back then, regained his self-awareness.
However, he also noticed that his body could no longer return to a normal state.
There's no way to completely escape the factory's control while staying here.
The factory's transformation is irreversible.
So he thought of the factory's method of injecting extracted memories into the body.
This refers to the method for creating the "Return of the Deceased" item.
If you infuse your memories and soul into a new body, wouldn't that be the same as being brought back to life?
As for the physical bodies produced by the factory, Zhang Mingyuan naturally looked down on them; they were not even as good as the modified bodies of the Smiler.
Therefore, he set his sights on the health of his employees.
Only these are the freshest, most normal, and most natural flesh and blood bodies.
Once he is reborn from the experiences of the other employees, he can either organize another, larger strike or simply find a way to slink away from the factory.
At least, he regained his freedom.
Just as Wu Wang was pondering this, the [White] icon in his bracelet reminded him: "Sir, a smiling person has taken the elevator to the 28th floor. The target is very likely you."
After all, Wu Wang had been the most prominent problem figure on the fourth floor during this period.
Even with [Bai]'s manipulation, the surveillance could prevent him from interacting with those who stood up and behaved abnormally.
However, the factory still treated him as the prime suspect.
At that moment, Wu Wang returned to the Wish Exhibition Hall.
Watching his clone not far away, asking all sorts of bizarre questions while dragging the Wish Advisor along.
He winked at the other person.
The next second, Wu Wang, the clone, suddenly pointed in the direction of the elevator and exclaimed, "Holy crap! So many smiling people! Bro, did you get into trouble?"
These words startled the wish consultant, who turned sharply to look at the elevator.
The instant he turned around, his clone vanished from the spot and returned to Wu Wang's shadow.
Wu Wang himself instantly teleported to the position in front of the clone.
Everything is so natural.
From that moment on, he was the annoying kid who spent the entire time in the showroom and making things difficult for the wish consultant.
What kind of thief infiltrated the maintenance tunnel? What kind of mastermind is behind this large-scale anomaly?
Not familiar, not familiar.
As for the USB drive...
Wu Wang swallowed it whole.
Surely the factory wouldn't make him cut open to see how many bowls of noodles he ate?
He could only put his hands on his hips and say that he did eat two bowls, and that he didn't even pay for one bowl.
He'd have to make them pay for three more bowls of food! (End of Chapter)