Rule Strange: Urban Legends That Don't Exist

Three hundred and sixty-eight months after the advent of the third apocalypse.

Mechanical hive, core area.

Today is the first day of the New Year, which is supposed to be a day off. Ah Wei, who has gray hair on his temples, and his wife Tang Ya got up early.

They used the ingredients they had saved for a long time to prepare a table of meals that they often ate in the sunny days. Seeing that it was approaching noon, they waited hopefully at the dinner table.

When the doorbell rang, Ah Wei immediately stood up, showing agility that is not common in middle-aged and elderly people. He walked to the door in a few steps and looked at the child outside the door whom he had not seen for a long time, with a smile on his face.

"I'm home!"

The baby girl back then has now grown into a tall and graceful girl, and the work clothes of the United Group cannot completely hide her youthful atmosphere.

Like her, most of the children who were born when the apocalypse came have grown up. They have taken over the work of their parents and worked diligently at their posts in exchange for the qualification to continue to survive in the apocalypse.

No small mistakes can be made in any of their work, because any small mistakes may be infinitely magnified by the fragile living environment.

After the third apocalypse, the survivors had suffered enough from the consequences of work mistakes. In order to adapt to such a harsh living environment, they evolved morality and even developed synesthesia——

I don’t know when, the survivors discovered that they had a connection with each other.

Based on shared knowledge and memory, it seems that everyone who survived had synesthesia.

Therefore, they can communicate in real time through synaesthesia, and form synchronized coordination at work in this form——

This ability is also the reason why the survivors can maintain this last fortress in the apocalypse to this day.

They dare not slack off at work, and for this reason, any vacation becomes even more precious.

Tang Ya took the child's hand and pulled her to the dining table, smiling as she watched her wolfing down her meal, as if just looking at her was enough.

Ah Wei couldn't hold it back and asked her:

"Are you busy at work lately?"

Tang Ya immediately stopped her husband's temptation:

"The child finally had a vacation, why are you asking this...eating well is better than anything else!"

The smile on Awei's face was a little awkward and a little cautious. Now is the age when children are most separated from their parents. As a result, she has cut off the communication with them, so they don't know what the child is thinking, even though they are very fond of her. Concerned, wanting to know more about her life, and trying to endure it, not wanting to ruin her vacation.

The girl - although she was thirty years old, Ah Wei and Tang Ya still only regarded her as a girl - after eating some food desperately, she seemed to be in a much better mood and relaxed some of her mental barriers. Her parents Therefore, through synaesthesia, I understood some of her complicated emotions at the moment.

"It's really busy at work."

Ah Wei and Tang Ya were slightly relieved when they heard this answer, because they did not see a heavy expression on the girl's face, nor did they sense any heavy emotions.

The girl talked about her experience after leaving home last time. Although she could see the fatigue in her eyes, the mental activity coming from her synaesthesia was obviously active, which meant that her daughter was in a good mood.

"As you know, although my observation station is small in scale, its operation and maintenance priority within the United Group is very high. Since it is established on the front line, it is relatively dangerous, but there are only two operation and maintenance engineers including me. …”

There was a labor shortage in the mechanical hive a long time ago, and the survivors refused to have children because their expectations for the future were too pessimistic.

With the departure of some old people, the population of the mechanical hive is now less than 20,000.

The frontline positions will soon be vacant, but things like giving birth cannot be forced at all, so the United Group is completely helpless about this situation.

"Each of us is now on duty 12 hours a day. In fact, the pressure is quite high... But our work avoids unexpected situations, which is very important and cannot be taken lightly."

When talking about this incident, some sad emotions appeared in the synaesthesia established between the three members of the family.

It was probably more than 220 months after the third apocalypse... They couldn't remember clearly. The mechanical hive was invaded by an extremely cold spot from the outside, causing a cold wave crisis that almost wiped out all the survivors.

Since surviving that crisis, the United Group has formulated a new [observation station system] and established many observation stations at key locations near the periphery of the mechanical hive to observe various data from the outside world.

"The good news is that in recent years, the outside temperature has been almost constant at minus 260 degrees Celsius and has not continued to drop."

While the girl was eating, she chatted with her parents about some trivial topics.

She didn't want to discuss these things with them, she just wanted to chat with her parents at this time of the New Year.

There are not many opportunities like this, only once a year.

“The group’s expectations for the future are actually very optimistic, because the legendary absolute zero has not yet appeared——

Minus 260 degrees Celsius has lasted for eight full years. During these eight years, the outdoor temperature has fluctuated within a very small range and has never changed significantly.

As long as absolute zero is not reached, the thermal motion of atoms and molecules will not stop, and we have a chance to continue to live. "

Ah Wei and Tang Ya became the girl's most loyal listeners. They said nothing when she told these things, for fear of missing a few words of hers.

The girl ate too fast and suddenly choked. The old father immediately brought the water that had been prepared and relieved the girl's urgent need.

"The work in the production workshop is not bad."

Ah Wei obviously doesn't often talk about these topics with others, so he is inevitably a little embarrassed when talking about it.

"Your mother and I are getting older and can no longer do the brain-intensive work in the experimental field, so we can only help in the production workshop."

The sharp-tongued real estate salesman back then has now become numb due to long-term dealings with machines on the assembly line.

“Now that the assembly line workshop uses printing technology that recombines elements, we are no longer busy all day long like before.

But in order to save electricity, we still can't leave the assembly line, at least we have to do the packaging work. Now that there are few of us, the packaging bags in the warehouse can be used for a thousand years! "

Ah Wei said something that was not funny.

"Maybe the bento you eat every day was packed by your mother herself!"

Tang Ya almost couldn't hold back tears.

Although she restrained herself, the true feelings she inadvertently revealed were still captured by the girl's synaesthesia.

The girl put down the dishes, held her mother's hand, and looked into her eyes:

"I think I'm actually living a pretty good life! People always have to work!"

If Ah Wei hadn't spoken in time, Tang Ya would have burst into tears immediately——

"Baby! Listen! This is because the ideological consciousness is different! Our generation only knew about work, but today's young people can clearly distinguish what is work and what is labor!"

Tang Ya's attention was diverted, and she finally managed to control her emotions, holding the girl's hand:

"What if we... leave and you are left alone!"

When talking about this topic, Ah Wei couldn't help but prick up his ears.

"Actually, it's nice to be alone..."

The girl obviously felt that this excuse was lame when she said this sentence, so she immediately changed it to another way of saying:

"The group has long realized that the population problem is serious, so people in the laboratory have begun to research a printing cabin for bionic humans.

Although the progress is slow due to insufficient computing power, I heard that we already have a clue.

correct. "

The girl took out her mobile phone, opened the official website of the United Group, entered the link to the laboratory, and retrieved the progress of the experimental project of the bionic human printing cabin to show her parents.

“There has been good progress, and the printed bionic humans at this stage are already capable of doing some simple labor tasks.

It is estimated that within a few months, bionic humans that can truly create productivity will be printed!

When the time comes I print a boyfriend, won’t I feel lonely? "

Ah Wei and Tang Ya did not continue to discuss this issue in depth.

They don't want to force girls to find a boy, let alone have children of their own.

In this age where even the air is almost stagnant, everyone's freedom to make choices has become the most important thing. After synaesthesia connects everyone, everyone knows everything, so personal freedom is even more important.

Only unique freedom is what distinguishes each person from the group consciousness generated by synaesthesia.

Suddenly, the girl mentioned a topic that Ah Wei had not wanted to mention for the past thirty years.

"Dad, I heard that you were also an employee of Z Group back then."

Ah Wei's eyes were a little stiff.

The girl felt her father's embarrassment, but still couldn't help but ask:

"What kind of person is he?"

Ah Wei knew who the girl was asking.

Even though he was extremely reluctant, he still recalled those dusty memories and the time of those years for the sake of his daughter.

"He...he's a good man." Ah Wei was a little embarrassed at first, but after a few words, the conversation started. The memories of that year came to mind, and he spoke more smoothly.

He started talking about when he met Chen Yan, then the first apocalypse came, to the establishment of Chen Yan's omnium prosthetic company, and then to him leaving the company because of his own selfishness and the pressure from the outside world...

He told his children what he observed about Chen Yan in this memory.

The girl obviously did not expect that Chen Yanyan was such a complicated person. After her father finished speaking and was immersed in memories, she whispered:

“I hear he’s a big contributor to what we have now.

The synaesthesia that awakens in all of us also comes from him.

Including the fact that the mechanical hive can persist until now is inseparable from the foundation he laid back then...

Especially the knowledge he left for us, which remains in our collective consciousness and has become the theoretical basis that guides most of today's production practices.

Most of the current operating facilities of the Mechanical Hive, as well as the subsequent development plan, were also formulated according to his time in the United Group.

……

Why did he leave suddenly later?

Just to use your own trial to clear the name of the United Group?

That's too ridiculous... How could he be so naive... so pedantic? "

The girl's mood is a little low:

“If he were still here, would we be out of the crisis by now?

Dad, I heard someone say that we actually don’t have much supplies left. Even with the element recombination technology, we can’t produce food without raw materials.

Some people say that in fact, the mechanical hive has no fertilizer and the underground fields have been shut down long ago. The operation and maintenance records that everyone sees are all edited from previous monitoring.

Some people say that the elements in the element storage are actually insufficient, so we have reduced our meat consumption during this period and can almost only eat carbohydrates.

Others say that there is actually a serious risk in a certain location of the mechanical hive, and it will soon be unable to hold on. "

Ah Wei didn't explain all this, he just smiled and interrupted the girl's panic:

“It’s all a conspiracy theory!

Don't listen to the nonsense from colleagues and forums. Over the years, there have been similar negative remarks every year. But hasn't this been how we have managed to survive over the years? "

The girl felt the firmness in her father's emotions and nodded.

But this did not strengthen her faith with her father.

She got the news from the United Group's internal network, and it was the result of discussions at a formal internal meeting of the United Group.

These bad news are all true.

She was very confused, and like every ordinary person facing an irresistible doomsday, her heart was filled with fear.

She blocked out her fear. She didn't know what to do because she was completely helpless in the face of such an ending.

The awareness of impending doom made her even more miserable.

She hid her emotions because she didn't want to make her parents so sad.

The observers at the observatory know best what the outcome will be - either a riot breaks out due to hunger, or they are frozen for a moment by the extreme cold and lose their lives.

At this moment, nothing makes sense.

In short... In short, don't let your parents fall into the pain of sobriety with you.

……

After lunch, the girl was leaving. Her annual leave was only half a day, which was despite overdrafting her colleagues' working hours.

She had already enjoyed the family affection that was so important to her, and she had to return to her job, to that small house that could be invaded and engulfed by the extreme cold at any time.

Ah Wei and Tang Ya sent the girl to the entrance of the big elevator, then turned and walked back.

The two of them were somewhat lost.

When is the next meeting?

Will there be a chance to meet again next time?

Their generation has witnessed everything that happened, so they cherish the time in front of them the most.

……

Instead of going home, they headed down the street to the central conference room.

This place is usually used as the office location of the United Group stationed on the street. At certain special moments, it plays a vital role——

A wedding hall, or a celebration hall to celebrate the birth of a new baby.

In this era when there is almost no hope, a very small number of newborns have almost become synonymous with hope.

Because the number of survivors has decreased, the United Group has been able to direct a large number of resources, including medical care and supplies, to the newborns.

The news of the birth of a new baby became one of the few pieces of information that could be brought to people in those years. The reproductive nature engraved in genes made people feel happy when they had offspring.

Under the same fate, even if the newborn is not of their own blood, they will be born with sincere joy in their hearts.

People can't ignore the getting lower and lower temperatures outside, just like they can't ignore the decrease in yield in the experimental fields and the simultaneous decrease in smiles on everyone's faces.

The number of newborns has been slowly decreasing until now, the number of newborns born every year is in the single digits.

When Ah Wei and Tang Ya arrived, the conference room had already been hung with lanterns, and there were even some small firecrackers placed in front of the door.

In their neighborhood, almost all the people who were on vacation today were here. People gathered here, with a joy that was rarely seen on their faces.

Joy spreads among the crowd through synaesthesia, and hope spreads among the crowd.

After a moment, with a loud shout, everyone fell silent.

The newly born, swaddled newborn was taken out, and the office staff read out the child's name in the most solemn voice of his life.

Some were so moved that they shed tears.

This kid is lucky because he will enjoy the maximum investment of materials and people.

He is also unlucky because no one knows how long humanity can hold on.

Everyone has to walk around in front of the baby, and they have to give blessings to the child. I don’t know when this custom appeared. People only remember that when this custom appeared, everyone regarded it as a child. Of course.

Ah Wei took Tang Ya's hand and came to the baby like he saw his own child for the first time thirty years ago.

His voice trembled because he was so excited:

"Child...child, I hope you..."

He had been preparing for today's ceremony for three whole days. His blessings were written on several large pieces of paper and he was memorized by heart.

But at this moment, when he said it, it only turned into four simple words:

"Peace and peace."

Suddenly, an excited and distorted howl came from outside the conference room:

"Hahaha! We don't have to die! We don't have to die! Everyone can survive! Hahaha! Everyone, please read the announcement on the website!"

As long as the name of the website is not mentioned, it is undoubtedly the official website of United Group.

Ah Wei took out his mobile phone in confusion and opened the official website of the United Group, only to see the red top announcement that he had not seen for a long time appeared——

"Instructions for Mass Production of Heat Transfer Blockers"

Ah Wei suddenly couldn't read the text on the announcement clearly.

The strong emotions coming from synaesthesia made him aware of everything that happened——

What my daughter said is true. The last human civilization in the mechanical hive was really on the verge of collapse before this moment.

Now, thanks to the invention of a new type of cold protection technology, humans can continue to extract resources from extremely cold environments.

Moreover, the modified mechanical hive itself will no longer be affected by extreme cold.

This seems to be a type of technology that did not originally exist in the human technology tree. It was developed alone by a genius boy from a compulsory school. This boy was once considered to have mental problems, but after the invention was announced, , this young man transformed from a psychopath into a genius inventor.

In any case, with this kind of technology, mankind finally survived this apocalypse.

People cheered, and excitement spread throughout civilization through synaesthesia.

The excited cheers awakened a broken spirit that had been sleeping for a long time.

The last wish came true.

Personality, spirit, will... everything, everything, is thus completed.