When Chang Huaien woke up, it was as if he had a nightmare. He opened his eyes suddenly, and when the ceiling came into view, it seemed to be spinning, familiar but a little strange, the remnants of the nightmare cast a shadow on his heart, this familiar and strange feeling, could not bring him a sense of security, but made him feel abnormal. He sat up suddenly, only to realize that he was on a bed in a room.

There is no bedding on the cheap iron-framed bed, even the mattress is rough and the furnishings around it look old, and the stickers on the walls have been mottled with time. There are some childish graffiti in the corners, and horizontal lines drawn in order to measure height when I was a child. Except for himself, there was no second person in this cramped room - Chang Huaien soon realized that this was not even a normal room, and he couldn't tell where the familiar and unfamiliar feeling in his heart came from, but some details in the room made him feel that a sane person would never be able to stay in this room for too long.

He thought back to how he got here, but he didn't have any memory as he slowly remembered who he was and what that nightmare was all about. He remembered the net ball, and his own deep dive in consciousness, and even what he had seen in the bottomless abyss of the depths of that sea of consciousness. There are many memories of the situation that have become blurred, and he knows why, that terrible existence and desperate struggle, it is impossible not to hurt himself. It's normal to not think about too many things yourself, but there are some things that you can't forget, otherwise your adventure will become meaningless. Thankfully, the incomparable fear still existed in his heart—this fear made him remember the "monster" firmly, and compared to the things related to that "monster", other memories could be lost. As soon as he remembered the situation, his body couldn't help but tremble. He almost wanted to go into the cupboard and hide, but on the other hand, there was also a strong joy in his heart. The fear was normal and worth it, and he couldn't wait to tell some of his colleagues about what he saw. But the top priority is still to figure out where you are.

Chang Huaien noticed it immediately. The strangeness of the place he was in, the seemingly strange and somewhat familiar details, seemed to be full of a hint that he had encountered many times in his life of consciousness walking. He was almost certain that his current self was not back in the real world, but only in a state of consciousness walking, and the question was which state of consciousness was here. If you can't figure out the source of this conscious world, it's hard to get out of it—when you're unconscious. Falling into a strange world of consciousness is nothing short of a disaster. The world of consciousness is so chaotic that it's easy to get lost in it if you don't mark the "coordinates" in advance. Almost all consciousness walkers will lay an anchor point in the feedback of "reality" on self-consciousness, so that they can wander in other worlds of consciousness and return with the help of this anchor.

But. Chang Huaien suddenly found that the "anchor point" that he had strengthened with various means in advance had disappeared. Although this does not mean. You will completely lose the opportunity to return to "reality", but to return in this "lost" state, it does require more formalities and luck.

However, he was able to survive the impact of that "monster". I was lucky enough. Chang Huaien thought so, he was not discouraged at all, as a consciousness walker, his control and regulation of the mind were far stronger than that of ordinary mysterious experts. He quickly suppressed the fear of deep diving. Because that "monster" does not appear here, although this fear is engraved in the bones and may not be forgotten for the rest of my life, it is still possible to suppress the impact of this fear on the mind.

Chang Huaien stretched his body, fear made his body a little stiff, but after the activity, his body gradually warmed up, and the feeling of stiffness began to ease - the feedback of this consciousness world is real and realistic enough, Chang Huaien couldn't help but think that if it was another consciousness walker, it might not be able to distinguish the difference, this is actually a consciousness world. It is precisely because there are many differences between the world of consciousness and the material reality, and the consciousness walker is more sensitive to this difference than anyone else, that he does not fall into the world of consciousness and cannot extricate himself. However, if the world of consciousness is sufficiently in line with material reality, it is theoretically possible for even conscious walkers to hide it.

It is such a world of consciousness that is close to material reality, and Chang Huai'en understands his own activities and the feedback of the environment around him, savoring and capturing the differences in it, and he can hardly prove that those differences exist, making him firmly believe that this is a world of consciousness, only out of his experience and intuition as a top-level consciousness walker.

Then, Chang Huaien quickly made such a judgment - this world of consciousness is definitely not the world of consciousness of a certain person, or even the world of consciousness jointly created by some consciousness walkers, this kind of process that is incomparably close to material reality is almost "the theoretical limit of what human beings can do", but because it is the theoretical limit, it is impossible for human beings to rely on their own strength, and even if it is achieved, it must be unconscious, through an extremely complex complex complex interaction mechanism close to the upper limit of theory.

Perhaps this is still in the collective human subconscious, Chang Huaien judged. This is because the collective human subconscious does have the possibility of creating a near-realistic world of consciousness – because it itself represents the limit of consciousness of the concept of "human".

Taking this judgment as the starting point, once again associating and adjusting to better fit the possibilities in his cognition, Chang Huaien guessed after a while that this world of consciousness may be composed of the power of the repeater. What is the true face of the repeater, Chang Huaien knows better than most people, in the ocean of the collective human subconscious, he has more than once "observed" the visualization of the repeater, of course, the repeater in his cognition, in fact, does not have a fixed "image", but is based on the "human collective subconscious" can exist zài concept product, however, this does not prevent him from intuitive imagination, to give such a thing a one-sided and intuitive image - for everyone, The true form of the repeater is not the same, but. In the days when Chang Huaien was diving, it often appeared in the form of a "fortress".

Chang Huaien knows that the form of this "fortress" actually reflects his expectations for the repeater. Cyberball needs such a solid fortress to continue to fight against Shinrikyo Doom, the Nazis, and even the impending apocalyptic fate.

"I'm in the repeater of the Cyberball?" Chang Huaien muttered to himself, but. This speculation is very close to the "truth" that he recognizes, or rather, he hopes that this is the truth. If you are really inside the Cyberball Repeater and your "anchor" is completely gone, this situation can be linked to some of the Cyberball plans that you already know. Of course, for a normal person, his current state is definitely not gratifying, but it is enough to make Chang Huaien feel at ease. Because, he is not a normal person, but a consciousness walker who has experienced great terror. He guessed his situation, and felt that such a situation was much better than the worst outcome.

"Anyone? Fire? Catwoman? Omi? Ms. Mayne? Chang Huaien shouted a few times into the empty room.

No response.

He walked straight to the door, which had no window to see the outside and what was going on behind the door was completely unknown. And this unknown seems to be a kind of judgment of his fate, which makes him a little nervous. He took two deep breaths. That's when the door opened.

Before the scenery outside the door came into view, a strong light burst out, and Chang Huaien couldn't help but raise his arm to block his face and close his eyes. After a few moments, the light faded away, and he realized himself standing in a huge living room. The old-school style decoration makes the whole hall look antique, dignified and elegant. In front of him, the couch was gathered around the fireplace, which was blazing. The burning wood crackled and sparks burst out from time to time.

There are already people sitting there.

"Takakawa?" Chang Huaien was quite familiar with that figure, and in his temptation, the young man turned around, nodded steadily at him, and said in a pleasant manner: "Congratulations on surviving, Mr. Chang Huaien." ”

Chang Huaien looked around and saw that the door he came out of had disappeared, and the place where the room was located had turned into a coffin, as if he was a dead man who had just come out of the coffin.

"What the hell is going on? What about them? Chang Huaien asked, walked to the sofa and sat down, and picked up the hot black tea on the coffee table. Although there are many questions, he is no longer in a hurry, nor is he anxious, Gao Chuan's appearance is enough to prove his guess, if it is not safe here, then, in this world, there is no safer place. The heavy responsibility he shouldered, the information obtained from the deep dive, finally had a chance to be delivered. Although the room or the hall were not familiar to him, he still felt like he was back in his own home.

"I think they'll be coming over soon." Takakawa replied.

"How long have you been here?" Chang Huaien was a little curious, "This is inside the repeater?" ”

"Yes, inside the repeater." Takakawa said, "My prosthetic body is being adjusted, and my consciousness is being put here to assist Marceau in environmental construction. He had long been accustomed to the environment here, and he had long since lost the emotional fluctuations that occurred when he first realized that this world of consciousness was abnormal. However, he felt that everyone who came into contact with this world for the first time would be as shocked as he had been before, no, more than him, because he knew better than anyone how powerful and mysterious the "Spiritual Integration Device" really was. This world seems to be a "state of consciousness", and the outside world of the "material state" is relative, but in terms of actual relationship, it is not so superficial. After the internal environment of this repeater is roughly completed, it is very close to the location of the ruling bureau - therefore, to call it the world of consciousness, it is actually very narrow, to be precise, this is a "number jù hedging space" that is extremely close to the ruling bureau, if the time dimension is extended, it is also "temporary", but compared to the general sense of "temporary number jù hedging space", this world is very stable.

Its prototype is the "Holy Land" depicted in the "Heavenly Gate Project" of the Doomsday Shinrikyo Religion.

Theoretically, the world that is infinitely close to the material outside world is the "holy land" of the cyberball. It's just that it's just taking shape, and many details still need to be adjusted. This is a very tedious and professional thing, in fact, most of the time only "Marceau" himself can do it. Perhaps Omi and Dorothy, as well as Chang Huaien, the strongest consciousness walker in front of them, can cooperate in this deep level, but the prosthetic Takakawa has already experienced that he is not this material.

His most outstanding work. Actually, it's just this hall. Outside of this hall, there is a wider world and more "people", among which are Hakkei and Sakiya. He even knew that, in a sense, none of these "people" were fakes, and the Sakiya and Hachisei, in this world, were different from the Sakuya and Hachisei, as if they were in another parallel world, but. They are also real—the Sakiya and the Eight Views that can be observed in this world, as well as the Akiya and the Eight Views observed in the physical outside world, are more like part of the conscious activity of the fully conceptual "Sakiya" and the "Eight Views".

It is very cumbersome to explain in detail, and human consciousness is never as good as the surface of one's observations, maintaining only one self, one dynamic. Just as after the same operating system is opened, people can open various software and desktops based on this operating system, but. Even if you close the software and desktop, it doesn't mean. All active programs are shut down - many "programs" that are not directly visible on the surface are active in the background, maintaining the entire operating system.

The study of consciousness by Takakawa is not as specialized as Omi and Dorothy, but many of the related concepts explained by them are explained. Still assisting Marceau in the construction and adjustment of this world, it gradually became clear. He couldn't tell if this was the "truth," but at least, he could explain the world of repeaters relative to the material outside world. Relative to the ruins of the Ruling Bureau, and even relative to their own state, the various characteristics that are reflected.

For example, when he is sitting in this place now, he is not just "conscious" sitting, but he is completely in this world of repeaters, including the physical body.

"It's a wonderful world." In the explanation of the prosthetic Takakawa, Chang Huaien, who came to this world for the first time, couldn't help but sigh, "As a consciousness walker, this place really subverts the cognition of the conscious world in my heart. You say that before we enter, you and me, and even go off with them—then, when we come in, what will become of us, who are already in this world? What happens when we leave? ”

"Nothing will change." Takakawa Yoshita was well aware of this issue, and he was equally perplexed at first, but the theory of Omi and Dorothy once again gave a good explanation for this state: "There is no need to distinguish oneself. It doesn't make sense to think about yourself in this world after you leave here, or before you enter here. Because, human beings can only observe themselves, only one self. ”

"What do you mean......" Chang Huaien thought for a moment, as if he had thought of something.

"Time theory and parallel world theory often have the assumption that when one goes back in time, or travels to a parallel world, and sees another self." Prosthetic Takakawa paused and continued: "Whether or not this situation exists is not considered for the time being, but there is a distinctive feature among them......"

"Is this a guess from a third person's point of view?" Chang Huaien almost showed a sudden expression.

"Yes, this is an association with the state of the person when observing the person from the perspective of a third party." "However, according to the theory that human beings can only observe one self," Takagawa said, "for those who travel through time and space and enter parallel worlds, the so-called 'past self' and 'parallel self' are meaningless when they complete the time travel. ”

"Because, he is already his 'past self' and his 'parallel self'." Chang Huaien said: "No matter from which third party's point of view, he who may exist will not appear when he observes himself." He doesn't bump into the other self, because where he is, 'self in different time and space' is just a secondary concept that extends from other concepts, and there is no zài in reality. ”

"Yes, when we come to this repeater world, we are the us of this repeater world, after we leave, we can only observe ourselves who have left the outside world, at that time, relative to us, 'us in the repeater world' is only a secondary concept based on ourselves, just a concept. In the eyes of Marceau, who is forever observing this world of repeaters, it is just a state of our subconscious activity. We have developed the concept of 'us in the repeater', so that a more precise state of subconscious activity has been formed in response to this concept. In fact, even without this concept, our subconscious state of activity will still be reflected in this world, but that kind of activity is something that we cannot grasp or observe. ”

"Yes, human beings have no way of knowing what state their subconscious is." Chang Huaien nodded, "We who have not arrived here, and we who have existed here are still us, but because we can't observe it, it is meaningless. When we arrive here, we are who we are, and we who have existed here lose our meaning. It's not just a matter of consciousness and matter, it's more of a philosophy. ”

"I think so too, and in fact, we can't parse repeaters other than using philosophical concepts." Takagawa said calmly, "During this time, I have been thinking that maybe philosophy is the source of 'mystery'. ”

"In fact, the occult and philosophy have always been inextricably linked." Chang Huaien said: "A mysterious phenomenon always embodies one or several philosophical ideas, and philosophy is not without right and wrong, but only the equation of mental activity, just as Newtonian mechanical equations have limitations, every scientific equation has its limitations, and the equations of thinking 'philosophy' also have their limitations, and they are only limitations, not errors." ”

"Philosophy is so profound." "I think that when the concept of 'philosophy' appeared, the equation of philosophy had already shown limitations—it should not have been defined. ”

However, it is impossible to know without definition. It is the limitations of human beings themselves, which lead us to know that nothing can appear in an infinitely broad form. Chang Huaien calmly replied: "And the human definition of 'limitations' is also relative and narrow, and when we can describe things and concepts in words, things and concepts have lost their original essence. When we talk about what we should or shouldn't do, zooming in on that level, it becomes meaningless. Any meaning should be based on 'cognition' and 'observation', don't you think? Mr. Takakawa. ”

"So, what can we do with things that we can't know, what we can't observe?" Prosthetic Takagawa stared at Chang Huaien and asked.

"I have become a state of 'unknowable and unobservable' in my concept." Chang Huaien said: "This is the only way, but don't you think that such thinking is also meaningless? ”

"Perhaps, I can't imagine what kind of state I am in when I can't know or observe." Prosthetic Takagawa smiled distressedly.

"I'm interested to know, why did Mr. Takakawa ask this question?" This time, Chang Huaien stared at the righteous body Gao Chuan with burning eyes.

"For, our enemy, perhaps, is such a kind of existence." Yiti Gao Chuan said: "Mr. Chang Huaien, I think, you have already seen, that terrible storage zài. ”

Chang Huaien's pupils couldn't help but constrict: "You also saw it?" ”

"Mr. Chang Huaien, have you forgotten where we are? This is the repeater, the depths of the human collective subconscious that ordinary people cannot reach. Prosthetic Takagawa smiled and said, "To put it simply, anyone who comes to this world is actually out of a deep diving state. ”

"I almost forgot." Chang Huaien shrugged, "However, even so, not everyone can observe the 'outside', otherwise, this world should not be so normal." That storage zài just observed it, and it almost made me braid. ”

"No, Chang Huaien-" At this time, a girl's voice came from behind Chang Huaien: "From the perspective of scientific common sense, you have indeed braided your hair." You are just a philosophical ghost called 'Chang Huai'en'. (To be continued......)