- Is it light that gives birth to darkness, or darkness that gives birth to light?

……

Qin Zimin walked on the busy streets of the seventh district, and the smoke and dust blinded his eyes. The streets are lined with low, dilapidated wooden houses, with occasional figures stealing from behind windows and half-tilted eaves.

Those gazes—Qin Zimin must have seen them somewhere—seemed to be in some hunting grounds to the west, numb and cold, and all the features of the soul seemed to fade from his eyes.

Do those count as lives? Qin Zimin couldn't help but think that if there was no soul, it might be like the goods on the assembly line in a factory with black smoke, without features, just like all the products of this era.

I remember a few years ago, when I was still in the academy, the old professor paced the stage and told all the students who were thinking that there were two most dangerous places in the world; One is the post-disaster Global Meteorological Control Office; One, is the headquarters of the "Deep Blue Project".

The old professor himself had worked as a recorder in the general control room, and had watched as the observers gradually lost their emotions and became as silent as a machine. He said that human beings are actually a stubborn race, and there are not many things that can completely defeat human beings, only to gradually lose them in despair.

But he knew that despair had a color, a kind of ash that represented the storm on the screen, the gray that represented the needless struggles of tens of thousands of people. The fragility of life was evident in that moment; He watched through the wide screen as politicians rushed into the airport with the flow of people; He saw the rescue boat, painted orange, capsized in the waves; He heard the wails of the creatures, more real and piercing than the background music of any disaster movie.

He ran away, and he simply left. And now that he was coming back, the buildings in front of him stood out in the midst of the decay. He was somewhat horrified to find that the observatory had been painted gray at some point, like a heavy funeral song.

……

With some trepidation, he followed the guard into the narrow aisle. The lights above him dimmed, and he felt his soul begin to tingle - this was the closest thing to reality in the world; But when reality becomes a dead end, how many people are willing to see it? Mankind knew this fact centuries ago, but chose to ignore it, and it was not until the end of the road that he had the courage to face the truth, which was simply stupid to the extreme.

Qin Zimin was led into the data room, and the iron door slammed shut behind him. He lowered his backpack and found his hands trembling slightly, an emotion called fear, which he thought he had long since lost. What is he afraid of? He didn't panic when he took Selena's pass; He thought that this would prevent his beloved from returning to the surface and going through hellish places to Japan for rescue work; Reasonably, whether it's because of his selfishness or the so-called historical issues, he has a hundred reasons to stop Selena from stepping into that damn place. He didn't know how many people she saved in the end, and he didn't know if he remembered him when the 100-meter wave was taken; All he knew was that when he got the cold cross badge, he realized he was wrong. The Grim Reaper never decides when to visit because of how much you've lost, he arrives as scheduled, ignores your gaze, and takes everything with him.

Now he holds Selena's only relic in his hands. They said it was an absolute miracle that a teammate took the cassette tape on the bed when they withdrew in a panic. He didn't know what he was expecting, could this be Selena's last words? Of course, it's likely to be just a song, a piece of music, or even nothing.

Qin Zimin found an old tape recorder in the cabinet in the data room, and the white plastic case was covered with dust. He carefully placed the tape in, then pressed the button.

"He was an old man, rowing alone in a small boat, fishing in the Gulf Stream;"

"'Fish,' he said, 'I love you and respect you very much, but I'm going to kill you before the end of the day.'"

The tape is the old man and the sea.

He couldn't imagine what kind of place it was, under what kind of dark night, Selena in an orange rescue suit listened to such a helpless story. Did she see her end, or did she know that he would end up crying like a little boy on her scarred bones?

He unconsciously hugged the tape recorder and curled up on the couch, as if that would bring him a lot of comfort, as if Selena had never died. In a trance, he saw himself sitting by the window of the café, and the window was full of huge waves. He watched coldly as Selena was swept away and disappeared without a trace.

……

He was shaken awake.

When I opened my eyes, I was a little nervous black-clothed guard. The tape recorder in his arms had long since gone silent, and he had not heard the old man's end.

"Professor Qin, you can scare me to death. I thought you watched something awesome, and then took the medicine, that one......" The guard breathed a sigh of relief. Listening to his tone, this kind of thing seems to have happened more than once.

"I thought there was 24-hour surveillance." Qin Zimin said apologetically, "After all, it's the data room......"

"Actually, it's not necessary." The guard hesitated, "Seriously, now the government wants the people to know the seriousness of the matter, because there are still many people who are reluctant to leave with luck." As for the information, it's nothing, after all, I can't think of anything more terrible than the end of the world. ”

Qin Zimin thanked the guards and staggered out of the room. Although there were many former colleagues here, he didn't want to meet and catch up at all; Otherwise, what are you going to talk about? The storm in Tenna is getting out of hand, and thousands of people are smashed into pulp? The Maldives is officially gone, and the surrounding island countries are in danger?

He didn't think these were the right topics to discuss in the lazy afternoon sun.

Walking out of the slightly heavy building, Qin Zimin decided to go back to the ground.

The elevator was not big, and more than a dozen people were loosely squeezed out, all soldiers wearing black uniforms to change the guard. The elevator rose rapidly for about twenty seconds before stopping, and the cold wind poured in from the sliding door. The foot of Mount Elbrus was cold and silent at this moment, and the moor, covered with white snow, lay quietly outside the iron gates.

This is the so-called inland area, the place of delayed death. Qin Zimin thought, maybe one day the shell brain had a convulsion, and he would be buried directly in the soil.

After walking around the wasteland for a while, he suddenly felt lonely. Three years after Selena left for Japan, he quit his job at Project Deep Blue. He found the job boring, and for five years he watched too many people die needlessly, just in search of the so-called "pre-civilization super-large underground city". Headquarters claims that they ended up under a rock layer that was too thick to make contact with the outside world. But he knew that the exploration teams had all died under the collapse of the undersea tunnel. They are like demining gophers, dying in the most remote corners of the world with blood and hope for the so-called human race.

……

Qin Zimin felt that he should find something to do. He still has a lot of savings, and Selena has left behind a large sum of money that will last him for the rest of his life in the shelter.

He first got on a plane to China, then took the subway to Changchun. The local guide who made an appointment online was waiting for him at the gate of Changchun No. 1 Shelter. When he got into the jeep, the guide began to chatter: "Professor Qin, it is really very rare for people to go to Changbai Mountain now. Seriously, if it weren't for the very attractive price you offered, I wouldn't have made this trip. Do you do research? I thought a professor like you should have been assigned a nice house down there, and I'm busy sorting out my papers. ”

The shelter is not beautiful at all, oppressive and heavy, and it is simply a prison barn. Qin Zimin thought silently in his heart, but he still said, "I'm the Deep Blue Project." Come out and relax. ”

"Ah, the Deep Blue Project." The guide fell silent suddenly.

He didn't say anything all the way to the foot of Changbai Mountain. It wasn't until he got out of the car that the guide whispered, "Did those people really find Elysium in the end?" ”

"What?" Qin Zimin paused.

"My son told me he was going to the United States. I asked him what he was going to do, and he said he was going to find Elysium 10,000 meters down, and he said he was going to save the planet, like Superman. I opened a beer and celebrated with him. The guide scratched at the top of his half-bald head with some self-deprecation, "He hasn't called home for a year." The last time I went to the General Administration of Evacuation to apply for a pass, I found out that the family of five had got two tickets. It was my son who went to the bottom of the sea to get two more tickets for his two sisters. Can you help me ask, when will he come home? ”

"Ah, he ......" Qin Zimin originally wanted to tell him that all the teams that had set off in the past year had lost contact. But he hesitated. "Yes, what's your son's number?"

"CN1048, ah, thank you so much, Professor, I'm really sorry for your trouble." There seemed to be a little more energy in the guide's eyes, "If that stinky boy comes back, please be sure to talk to me." Here's my phone. ”

Qin Zimin took the crumpled business card and looked at it, with the words 'Changchun Automobile Sales Manager' written on it. But he vaguely remembered that with the observation of the meteorite apocalypse seventeen years ago, almost all car companies were on the verge of bankruptcy in an instant, after all, there was no room for private cars in the cramped shelters.

It seems that this is another unemployed. He said secretly in his heart.

The guide on the other side also happily told the cause of Tianchi, and it seemed that he would soon see his son returning triumphantly in a magnificent military uniform.

That night, in the hotel at the foot of Changbai Mountain, he had a dream, and in the haze, it seemed that a young man with a difficult face was struggling in the sea wearing Batman's clothes. One moment the sea turned into the earth, and the next it became countless people. They groaned, screamed, and waved their hands and feet, and the young men held them up, and below them was a huge city, and countless people looked up to him as he was buried in the crowd.