Old-time musicians

At a distance of more than ten meters, in a few seconds, some thoughts flashed through Fan Ning's mind.

"Have you started your vacation?" he said hello and exchanged pleasantries.

"Still working like you." Vasius held up his top hat.

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"To me, this experience is equivalent to a vacation." Fan Ning said with a relaxed smile in his eyes, "It seems that Mr. Vasius is also paying attention to the Summer Art Festival in Santa Ramburg?"

“With its popularity, it’s hard not to hear about it.”

"Are you interested in coming to the show on the 21st to listen to the performance of the young artists from Ufranser? I still have a few non-sale internal tickets on hand."

A black and white hard concert ticket was placed on the table in front of the investigator by Fan Ning.

"Thank you. If I can make it in time, I can consider it." Vasius put the tickets away, his voice still not salty.

Fan Ning knew that Tioline's official knowledgeable organization adopted the management model of imperial capital headquarters + county branches. Under normal circumstances, knowledgeable people were responsible for tracking mysterious events in the place of origin or the parties involved in their own jurisdiction. .

An investigator from the Ufranser branch of the Special Patrol Department went to the imperial capital. Either he was tracking and investigating himself, or he was dispatched by orders from the headquarters level to deal with other mysterious incidents.

Fan Ning couldn't think of the third possibility.

After a few short conversations, he turned around and walked towards the front of the train.

Vasius looked at the ticket front and back for a few seconds, and then took out a loose-leaf notebook slightly larger than an adult's hand from his briefcase.

He slowly turned the page page by page, his eyes passing over the old yellowed papyrus fixed in the plastic folder one by one.

There are 11 numbered papyri in total, and they are filled with columnar chords starting in C major or A minor without any initial sharps or flats.

The 11 pages were quickly flipped through from beginning to end, and then the notes page appeared.

These papers are filled with dense text in the format of "musician's name - work title - work number", covering the works of most composers from the Middle Ages to the present, but more than 90% of the text has been crossed out with horizontal lines. In addition, there are a large number of numbers or musical examples.

Vasius's eyes fell on the last two pages spread out.

The handwriting here is still messy. There are more than 20 conclusions that have been retained, and there are a lot of deletions. It can be seen that it has gone through a long thinking process, and conclusions have been repeatedly drawn and overturned.

"Maybe it's a secret message compiled by a composer based on his own catalog."

"Perhaps the actual chord progression is not the original sequence."

"Perhaps the true chord-moving key is not the original key."

"Mysterious chords suspected of external ███ contamination."

"Perhaps it reflects the chord trends of a group of unknown musical works with hidden histories."

“Maybe related to sister arts besides music.”

“…”

He stared at the notes for a while, then took out his pocket watch and was about to check the time when his lazy figure suddenly sat up straight.

The light-shaped outline relief decorated on the pocket watch dial seems to have darkened slightly.

Fan Ning walked towards the front of the train. During the walk, he took out a folded note paper from his chest pocket.

This is some detailed information about this Special Patrol Office investigator that he obtained from the black market a few days ago.

"Joe Vasius, male, about 36-40 years old, a fifth- or sixth-level wise person, the aspects of study may be "Huang" and "Yan"."

"Kill case one, the overall action scene suddenly accelerated, shooting to kill the opponent. Kill case two, hiding the return route in the dream, causing the opponent to get lost. Kill case three, after being seriously injured, he seemed to suddenly return to the place he was six or seven seconds ago. status, shoot to kill the opponent.”

"My public identity is as an art critic, I have profound music appreciation, and my familiarity with the works of unpopular composers is far beyond that of ordinary music lovers."

The number of passengers in Car No. 1 is obviously too sparse compared to the spacious space. At this moment, Lu is sitting opposite Sheeran and Qiong. The three of them are chatting, but Kaplan is still on his sofa, with his sparse hair piercing his forehead. In a pile of information.

"Mr. Adair, the flavor of your drink is a little lacking in personality. It is similar to the follow-up brew of some expensive but flashy coffee shops located in the central city. It may not be the same as the tonality of a first-class carriage..."

Joan is making her suggestion.

"It is indeed necessary to make some improvements." Lu's expression was as serious and polite as ever.

"How long will you stay in the imperial capital this time? Will you come back with us?" Fan Ning sat down next to Lu.

"I have no plans to return to Uvranser for the time being." Lu shook his head.

"Is the railway branch suddenly so leisurely?" Sheeran asked. "As the general manager of the Uflanser Railway System, you can actually leave for so many days. I think you have been almost busy in the past few months. It’s so overwhelming”

"Strictly speaking, my tenure there has officially ended." Lu said.

Surprise flashed in Fan Ning's eyes, and then he tried to understand.

Maybe this is the “normal” speed of career advancement?

Of course, social animals can't understand it after all.

"My rank within the imperial railway system has not changed yet." Lu explained, and then waved to the attendants to refill drinks and snacks.

"I just changed from the head of the county branch to the head of the core department of the head office. The new position is the safety and compliance production director...an unexpected transfer, because the imperial capital has been in a lot of trouble recently."

"Safe and compliant production?..." Fan Ning chewed on the word and glanced at the small book on the table in front of Lu that was open and upside down.

"Gentleman's Newspaper" Collection of Ghost Stories...The dark color scheme and the curious cover title made Fan Ning couldn't help but pick it up.

Lu slowly explained: "In Santa Ramburg, Gentleman's Newspaper is a second-tier social life newspaper with a male-oriented influence. For a long time, the popularity of the main issue has been mediocre. Instead, every issue has been supplemented by 's 'Ghost Stories' column has maintained its mid-tier status in the market..."

Fan Ning read it directly without reading it separately.

The upside-down position is a short story titled "The Cryptoman."

Lu continued to explain: "The 'Ghost Story' column adopts the form of mobile writing, and the contributors are mostly senior practitioners in various fields in the empire. A small number of these elites are keen to write some 'supernatural short stories' based on their own professional background... The author of "Callman" is Mr. Carmen Leon, a famous physicist and designer of the second-generation difference engine. He has participated in the investigation of major railway accidents in Tioleon many times, and has made great improvements in rail steel materials and design. contribute…"

Fan Ning took 2 minutes to read.

The structure of this "ghost story" is very simple, with only 2 characters and a plot of 3 days.

On the first day, when the narrator of the novel was walking along the railway line in the evening, he met the command clerk, who shared his job responsibilities: guiding the trains to pass safely by sending dispatching telegrams, controlling light buttons, and operating mechanical lift rods. The author carefully designed the character's lines to imply that the commander's mental state was abnormally restless.

The next day, the narrator met the command officer again, and after getting acquainted with him, he asked him the reason for his uneasiness. It turned out that when he walked to the signal light he was responsible for yesterday, he accidentally made a gesture of covering his face with his left hand and waving his right hand—— The command officer would often see a certain "ghost" making similar movements under the light. What was even more terrifying was that every time he saw it, a horrific railway accident would occur on the corresponding section of the road. This put the poor commander into great pain and suffering: he knew what was going to happen, but could do nothing. As an ordinary person with a conscience, this was undoubtedly unbearable mental torture.

On the third day, the narrator felt very sympathetic to the caller and came up with the idea of ​​​​trying to help him get out of this state of high anxiety. He contacted the most experienced psychiatrist in the area, but when the two went to see the bellman in the evening, they were told that the poor man had been run over by a train in the morning.

The ghost story ends here in a hurry, but Fan Ning can read the anxiety that permeates the lines.

"This novel is very well written." Seeing Fan Ning close the book, Lu shared his evaluation, "...On the surface it is a ghost story, but in fact it depicts the kind of people who face emerging technologies when the empire's industrial technology develops rapidly. The feeling of being helpless and unsettled.”

Fan Ning nodded in approval: "This reminds me of what I saw in the newspaper last year, about the news report on the trial operation of the Santa Ramburg subway. Many scholars and media expressed serious doubts about the risks of collapse, fire, suffocation and other risks. and worries.”

"Their doubts are not unreasonable." Lu said. "In fact, since the middle of the last century in the empire, a railway accident has broken out in a county almost every once in a while, and it has spread quickly through the society through newspapers. The entire society has always been in a state of crisis. In the atmosphere of heightened anxiety that this ghost story represents.”

While the two were chatting, the two girls opposite also finished reading this ghost story. Sheeran raised his head: "Indeed, I was deeply impressed by the major railway accident of the Cherubini four years ago. That incident caused 159 people died and 70 people were seriously injured. Just from the fact that the number of dead exceeds the number of injured, we can see the tragedy of the scene. "

…How did this topic come up today?

Listening to everyone chatting enthusiastically about the railway accident, Fan Ning couldn't help but take a few more glances at the sunny pastoral scenery outside the car window.

During the journey, everyone chatted intermittently, sometimes exchanging a few words, sometimes closing their eyes to rest or looking at the scenery.

Several hours later, Fan Ning brought up the original source of the topic again: "...So, you said that you took the position of Director of Safety and Compliance Production of the Railway Corporation because the Imperial Capital has been in a lot of trouble recently?"

"Production safety issues." Lu said, "Since the third quarter, safety production accidents have occurred frequently in Santa Ramburg. There have been dozens of large accidents, and there may have been tens of thousands of small, medium and micro accidents... Our new business During the trial operation period of the subway, there were dozens of near-miss accidents, large and small, and the railway system also had several accidents involving serious injuries or deaths of individual people... It is the same as in other industries, just a few that I know In large factories and construction sites, accidents such as explosions, poisoning or landslides have caused more than three-digit deaths..."

"Due to the pressure brought by public opinion to the House of Commons, the Industry, Energy and Transport Committee has made rectification requests to several relevant cabinet departments. However, the rectification reports of these guys seem to be serious, but in fact they push the responsibility for the accident to layers upon layers. Personally, I believe that 'the low quality of grassroots workers and managers led to the accident', and only admit that I have shortcomings in 'supervising the company to do a good job in personnel management'..."

Fan Ning frowned when he heard this and asked: "What is the cause of the safety production accident? What is the investigation?"

"Common reasons." Lu said: "Judging from the investigation results, the direct cause is either machine failure, worker misoperation or managerial negligence, but even the latter believes that 'the root cause of the accident lies in the low quality of grassroots personnel.'" It’s also extremely stupid…”

"Tell me something that I have the right to speak. For example, the example of the railway commander mentioned in the ghost story. Judging from the authoritative data of Tioline in the third quarter - on average, each signal room has 714 trains passing through it every day, and at the peak of the station, During the period, the train throughput exceeded 1,500 trains. These operators worked in two shifts 24 hours a day, guiding a train through on average every 2 minutes, sending a telegram every 1 minute and 8 seconds, and switching indicator lights every 35 seconds. Once you control the mechanical lever, there will be 3-10 special scheduling tasks that need to be coordinated every day..."

Fan Ning felt sweat on his forehead.

This compact and zero-error-tolerance work rhythm has already made him feel anxious.

The technical content may not be too high, and practice makes perfect, but just imagine, you must do it correctly every time, otherwise the two trains may collide...

The piano player can still hit some dirty notes, the conductor can still have some flaws, and the music is colorful.

"This job, if it only lasts for a few days, how about five or ten years? Damn it." Fan Ning estimated that even a knowledgeable person like himself would eventually develop psychological problems.

He completely understood where the anxiety and guilt of the commander in the ghost story came from - it was difficult for him to think clearly whether he was to blame for the accident. Reason might indicate that "he had really tried his best", but As a normal person, we cannot accept perceptually that the bloody accident was caused by "misoperation by oneself or the other party's commander."

"It is natural to think that most industrial workers in other fields also work in this kind of fast-paced and risky jobs." Lu concluded at this time, "... Therefore, the number of safety production accidents in Santa Ramburg was high in the third quarter. , on the surface, it seems that practitioners suddenly relaxed, slacked off, and became derelict in their duties... But in fact, this is an inevitable phenomenon under the wave of Tioline industry..."

As Lu was talking, he suddenly heard "clang" and "tongtongtong" several times.

The entire car shook violently, and Fan Ning thought it was similar to the shaking of a manual transmission car due to misoperation of the clutch.

The train began to slow down at a faster rate, and at the moment it stopped, everyone rushed forward.

Stopped on the wrong bus? How could there be such intense commotion? The passengers looked around confused.

It's not a stop, but the sunny scenery of mountains, fields and towns is still outside the window.

Lu's originally calm and calm face suddenly darkened. He slapped the table, stood up, turned around and shouted:

"What are you doing? Where is the train conductor? Come out!!"