Near noon, Adam called me, and she made me understand what was going on on their side with just one sentence.

"Hasegawa is crazy." She said.

I immediately asked, "Where are you?" ”

She first gave the name of a regular hospital and then sent me a text message telling me where she was inside the hospital.

Half an hour later, I was on the third floor of the hospital's inpatient department, where Adam sat silently on a bench next to the hallway, like a family member of a patient, across from her was a single isolation room with the door half-open.

I slowly approached the door, glanced inside, and saw Hasegawa crouching alone on a hospital bed, arms folded on his knees, his face lowered.

He was still wearing sunglasses and a mask, staring at the messy sheets like a stone statue at this time, and the whole person exuded a pessimistic and negative atmosphere, as if a man who was not confused, although he had a wife and children at home to take care of, he lost all his belongings ten minutes ago, and even lost the house of his parents who were still alive, so he began to think about whether to use this sheet to twist into a rope and simply commit suicide.

There was another person in the room, a nurse, who was approaching him cautiously, holding a syringe in her hand, which might contain a tranquilizer, and she said in the same deliberate tone that a negotiator would treat a kidnapper, "Hello, sir?" ”

Hasegawa remained silent, because he was wearing sunglasses and a mask, so no one could see his expression.

"Am I coming?" The nurse took another step closer, as if she was walking in some kind of minefield, and if she took a wrong step, she would be crushed.

Suddenly, Hasegawa raised his head and let out a very loud roar from his throat, like a male gorilla in heat treating other males, and even the floor seemed to shake under the roar.

The nurse was so frightened that she threw the syringe to the ground, turned and ran, while Hasegawa lowered her head again.

I hurriedly got out of the way, and the nurse just ran away.

"As you can see." Adam's puzzled voice came into my ears from behind, "He can't communicate at all. ”

"The most puzzling thing about me now is that you just got him into this regular hospital?" I glanced back at her, "You don't even understand this, you can't even understand this, bringing a crazy psyker to a public place will only attract the attention of the police, even if you want to find treatment conditions for Hasegawa, you should take him to an underground doctor." ”

"Unfortunately, I have a bad reputation in the Black Zone, and the underground doctors are not happy to accept my request." Adam reluctantly said, "I even told them your name, and they were even more frightened." ”

I was dumbfounded for a moment and said, "Then I shouldn't have brought him here, I might as well find a random place to lock him up." ”

"Then there will be no one to treat Hasegawa, and I still hope that someone will be able to treat him, even if it takes some risks. You know, in order to track down the mysterious organization, Hasegawa's power is indispensable. Adam said this, paused slightly, and added, "Fortunately, the hospital doesn't know that he is a psychic for the time being, although he is like this now, he is still subconsciously controlling himself and not harming ordinary people." ”

"That's good news, but it's only a matter of time before it's exposed." As I spoke, I changed my words, "I should have strongly warned you before, and you also said that you would tell Hasegawa the truth, but why did things turn out the way they are?" ”

"It's a long story." Adam smiled bitterly.

"You've learned to 'talk long' too?" While teasing her, I walked into the ward and observed Hasegawa up close.

As soon as I approached, Hasegawa jerked his face up.

But unexpectedly, just when I thought he was about to roar again, his face showed an extremely frightened look, and he hurriedly left the bed, and then ran to the corner of the room, while clinging to the wall with his back, and biting his nails nervously, like a human in a horror movie, meeting a ghost in an enclosed space.

His eyes widened and his body stiffened at me.

I know Hasegawa is a little scared of me, but not so scared.

Could it be that in the process of searching for the corpse of the sheepskin killer, he accidentally divined something, and while seeing something that should not be seen, he also saw my face as the "initiator"?

So my face awakens his psychological trauma?

I had to leave the room for a while and close the door so as not to further irritate Hasegawa and force him to make a big fuss in the hospital.

At this time, the nurse who had just escaped came back again, and she said to Adam, "The professor said to come in the afternoon", and Adam said, "I know". The nurse looked uneasily at the room and turned away, seemingly unwilling to linger here for even a second.

Adam turned to me and said, "There is a psyker professor at this hospital who has studied the subject of spiritual restoration, although the fee is not fixed...... It's definitely expensive, but it's still worth it for him to try, so we'll wait here for now. ”

"Okay." At this point, I had no choice but to sit down next to her.

He looked at the ward again and asked, "Then again, didn't you take off his sunglasses and mask when you brought him to the hospital?" ”

"In order to avoid a crisis of confidence within the team after he recovers, I decided to respect his sense of security for his true identity."

Even though she said that, I couldn't help but suspect that she had actually picked it.

Suddenly, she looked at me and said, "Speaking of sunglasses and masks, can I ask a question?" I've been thinking about this question for a long time. ”

"Just ask."

"You're called a Faceling because you're good at transfiguration." She stared at my disguised face, "But I've heard that you still wear a mask when you're officially in action, isn't that redundant?" ”

"It doesn't seem to have anything to do with you." I say.

"It's just that I want to satisfy my curiosity, and for an informant like me, the 'unsolved mystery' of a well-known person like you has a very strong attraction." When she said this, she suddenly clapped her palms and happily added, "It's better than this!" If you tell me the truth, I'll grant you a request, anything. ”

"I'm not interested in this kind of verbal commitment. Give me money if you want to give it. ”

"Okay, I'll give you the money!" She said happily.

"How much?" I asked.

She gave a number.

The price was really not low, and I was taken aback, "You are really willing." ”

But with that number, it was nothing to tell her, and the professor didn't know exactly when it would arrive. Chatting with her here for a fee is also regarded as passing the time.

"I'm actually a fan of yours." She said with a grin, but none of this kind of person's words were true.

*

I pondered the wording, and after a moment, said, "There are four reasons. ”

"There are so many of them?" Adam was surprised, and then straightened his seat, "Listen up." ”

"Not to be so serious, and it's not such a great reason." I said, "The first reason is very simple, I didn't know how to disguise myself in the early days of the Black Zone, so I always wore a mask, and now, the mask has accompanied me through many battles. Just like a fighter pilot would place some seemingly inconsequential mascot in the cabin, to me, this mask is my own mascot. ”

"It's psychological comfort, but it doesn't seem sufficient?" She nodded, "So, what about the next one?" ”

"The second reason is that I have already made some names through the image of the mask, and although others do not know my true face, they recognize my mask. If I suddenly take off my mask and do something, other people don't know it's me. I said.

"In other words, your 'brand effect' has been bound to the mask?" She smiled and asked, "But that seems a little strange." Isn't it a good thing if you do something and others don't know that you did it? Especially for someone like you, who is not a psyker but has provoked a lot of blood feuds, shouldn't you pay more attention to concealment? ”

"That brings me to the third reason I'm going to talk about." I said, "Do you know why people are afraid of clowns? "Like Europe and the United States in the previous life, there are many people in this world who are afraid of clowns.

She pondered for a moment, then asked, "Because people can't see through the clown's mental activity?" ”

"That's it, although the clown is a funny image, but it doesn't look like a human makeup and performance, but it makes people unable to observe mental activity from the clown's expression, and people will be afraid of this human-like and inhuman image, and unconsciously imagine whether there is an unknown horror hidden under the clown's costume." I patiently said, "The mask is also a truth, the real horror is not the mask, but the fear of the unknown." When a person is walking at night and sees another person walking in a strange mask, he will develop a sense of fear, and if the latter suddenly rushes over and does not say a word, no one knows what he wants to do, then the former's fear will soar to a higher level. ”

Hearing this, she seemed to realize something, lowered her head, and fell into thought.

It didn't take long for her to suddenly look up at me, as if she had figured it out, and asked, "I understand." ”

"Can I understand it this way: you think that no matter what, you are a mere mortal who cannot use psionic powers, and even if you can kill one or two psionics with your fists, the other psionics will still judge you with preconceptions and cause you more trouble." "And if you put on a mask, use psychological techniques, and play yourself as a mysterious masked man, then in the eyes of other psykers, you are no longer a simple ordinary person, but an indescribable monster, an incarnation of terror, a symbol of the unknown, violence, and death." ”

She was right, but I was embarrassed to hear her describe it, as if I was trying to dress myself up as the dark villain of a fictional story, and other people could see through it.

But on the surface, he still had to be calm, and said in an unmoving tone: "Yes." ”

She didn't seem to think that this was naïve at all, but her expression was quite serious, nodded to herself, and asked, "But isn't it a little inappropriate for you to tell me so directly?" ”

"There's nothing wrong with that, even if you record and video here and distribute the information, there is no evidence to prove that I, who is talking to you at this time, is the real Faceling." I said, "Besides, it's not like no one has deduced the truth, but it still doesn't stop me from doing it, and they will still be afraid when they should be afraid." ”

"You're right, psychological effects are not known in the brain and can be psychologically immune." She said, "So, what about the last one?" ”

"The last reason is that people tend to think that what they are exposed to is the truth after they have exposed the lie." I said, "So when they try their best to finally see my face under my mask, they think it's the real face, but it's hard for them to think that even this 'true face' is what I can seem." ”

"Under the mask, there is still a mask." She realized.

"Exactly." I nodded, and then added, "But unfortunately, for some reason, everyone now knows that I'm a 'Faceling' who is good at disguise, so this trick doesn't work anymore." ”

"But it's still a valuable experience, and it's worth learning, thank you for the advice." She said with sincerity on her face.

*

Watching her fiddle with her phone and transfer the promised money into my bank account, I had other ideas.

In fact, I didn't be honest just now, and there is a fifth reason that I deliberately concealed.

The fifth reason is that the mask is a half-hearted attempt to stifle fear on a psychological level.

When people communicate with other people, they can grasp the mental activities of other people by observing their expressions, and it can be said that facial expression language occupies a key position in the communication between people, and when a person says "I'm happy" with a straight face, the other person can know that he is not happy through the expression of the former.

However, facial expression language is also a double-edged sword, I can observe other people's faces and figure out other people's mental activities, and at the same time, I will also be clearly aware that my own face is being observed by other people, and my own mental activities are being speculated by others. As soon as I show pain or fear, others can instantly realize that "this person is in a psychologically vulnerable position", and this terrible expectation makes me very uneasy.

But just by wearing a mask, I am equivalent to being independent from the "confrontational relationship between observing and being observed", and I am able to unilaterally observe other people's faces, but not be observed by others.

This kind of unequal communication relationship makes my easily frightened mind, and even in the fiercest battles, I can produce a sense of despicable security.

Essentially, I'm just an average person, a weak person.

If you want others to mistakenly think that I am strong and that I cannot be bullied, you have to keep playing.

It is true that the "mask" is a symbol with multiple psychological meanings, and wearing the mask for a long time will cause irreparable alienation to one's own psyche, but if the "alienated self" can reach the "ordinary self" beyond the reach of the "ordinary self", then I will gladly accept this alienation.

"Tell me about you." I forced myself to regroup, "Didn't I tell you to stop the search for the body of the sheepskin killer?" Could it be that Hasegawa didn't listen to the advice and insisted on going his own way? ”

"Not really, Hasegawa he's listened to the advice." Adam sighed, an unlucky look on his face.

This sentence was unexpected, and I immediately asked, "What the hell is going on here?" ”