The red dot on R23-B's wrist began to blink.
Once.
Then a two-second pause.
Then again.
Like some warning light that had originally been hidden beneath the skin.
Chen Yaoting's first reaction was to step back.
“What does ‘recovery’ mean?”
R23-B did not answer right away.
It lowered its head and stared at its own wrist.
The red light slowly spread from a single point into a ring, illuminating the gray interface scar along its wrist.
Cai Mingzhe's face turned grim.
“That isn't an external indicator.”
“Then what is it?”
“An implant.”
“What does it do?”
“Don't know.”
Wang Zhihao couldn't hold back his curse.
“You people are all really good at not knowing anything.”
R23-B suddenly turned around.
“Car.”
Cai Mingzhe froze for a second.
“What?”
“Your car.”
“Why?”
“Leave B2.”
“Where do we go?”
“Get out of Shinrui first.”
“Why?”
R23-B looked up at the ceiling of the parking garage.
“Because it knows I'm here.”
The moment it finished speaking, every light in the underground parking garage went out at once.
The darkness lasted exactly two seconds.
Then the emergency lights came on.
Dim yellow lights flickered on one by one.
Wang Zhihao tensed immediately.
“Power outage?”
Cai Mingzhe pulled out his phone.
“No.”
“Then what?”
“Power to the entire B2 level was cut.”
Chen Yaoting asked, “Who can do that?”
“Administration, central control, or the fire-safety system.”
“What about R17?”
Cai Mingzhe didn't answer.
The answer was already obvious.
A deafening crash rang out in the distance.
Boom.
The gate on the ramp leading upstairs came down together with the fire door.
The green light on the emergency exit on the other side turned red.
Old Zhou instinctively looked toward the exit.
“It sealed off B2.”
Wang Zhihao turned around.
“Didn't you say R17 could only access part of the system?”
R23-B said, “This used to be its old control zone.”
“So this level has higher access privileges?”
“Yes.”
Cai Mingzhe was already running toward his SUV.
“Get in.”
The four of them hurried over.
Cai Mingzhe hit the unlock button.
Nothing happened.
He pressed it again.
Still nothing.
“Damn.”
He opened the door with the mechanical key.
After getting into the driver's seat, he tried to start the car.
The engine didn't respond at all.
The dashboard lit up for a moment, then immediately went dark.
“Did the car get locked too?” Wang Zhihao asked.
“The electronic immobilizer was disabled remotely.”
“Your own car can be controlled by the company too?”
“This isn't a company car.”
“Then why?”
Cai Mingzhe looked down at his phone.
A new notification popped up.
“Unauthorized R23 carrier detected.”
“B2 area entering equipment safety isolation.”
After reading it, his face grew even darker.
“It classified the carrier as hazardous equipment.”
Chen Yaoting looked at R23-B.
“You weren't activated by it?”
“Yes.”
“And now it wants to recover you?”
“Because He Chenghan restored communications.”
“What does one have to do with the other?”
R23-B paused.
“It may mean the R23 program is no longer needed.”
Wang Zhihao frowned.
“Not needed, so they just destroy you?”
R23-B did not correct the word “destroy.”
That made things even clearer.
Cai Mingzhe took a laptop from the car.
“I'll try to unlock the fire door.”
He connected to the company network.
Then logged in.
The screen ran for only a few seconds before a red warning appeared.
“Access privileges overridden by core system.”
“Which core?” Chen Yaoting asked.
Cai Mingzhe turned the screen toward him.
There was only one line:
R17-CORE.
“So it really is them.”
Old Zhou stared at the sealed exit.
“There used to be an equipment maintenance passage on this level.”
Everyone looked at him.
“Where does it lead?”
“The old R17 plant.”
“Wasn't it sealed off?”
“The upper levels were.”
“It still connects underground?”
“It used to.”
“What about now?”
Old Zhou shook his head.
“I haven't been through there in years.”
Wang Zhihao said, “If there's a path, take it.”
R23-B suddenly said, “No.”
“What now?”
“The old R17 plant is within the core control area.”
“So is this place.”
“That area is closer.”
“How much closer?”
“If the recovery procedure uses fixed equipment, that equipment is most likely in the old plant.”
Chen Yaoting frowned.
“What kind of fixed equipment?”
“Disassembly, shutdown, data extraction.”
“So that might be where you were serviced before?”
“Possibly.”
Wang Zhihao shook his head immediately.
“Then don't go.”
“The problem is, there isn't another exit right now,” Old Zhou said.
“There is.”
Cai Mingzhe suddenly looked up.
He pointed to the other end of the parking lot.
“The loading area.”
“Doesn't it have a roll-up door too?”
“It does, but it's an old hydraulic model.”
“Can it be opened manually?”
“In theory.”
The five of them immediately headed toward the loading area.
R23-B walked at the back.
Chen Yaoting noticed that its movements were slowing.
“What happened?”
“Nothing.”
“You're walking slower.”
“The recovery procedure has begun restricting output to some of my joints.”
“Can you stop it?”
“Don't know.”
Chen Yaoting glanced at its wrist.
The red light was no longer blinking.
It was glowing steadily.
Worse, several thin red lines had faintly appeared beneath the skin, extending up along its forearm.
“Is this going to kill you?”
R23-B looked at him.
“If I was designed as a recoverable carrier, then once recovery is complete, I probably won't retain autonomous consciousness.”
“So basically, death.”
“If that's how you want to understand it.”
“How do you understand it?”
It was silent for a second.
“Also death.”
This was the first time it had said it so directly.
The group reached the loading area.
The huge metal roll-up door was already down.
There was a red emergency box on the wall beside it.
Cai Mingzhe opened it.
Inside was a manual hydraulic control lever.
“This will work.”
He inserted it and started pumping.
Once.
Twice.
The roll-up door slowly began to rise.
It had risen less than eight inches when it suddenly stopped.
“Stuck?” Wang Zhihao crouched down to look.
“No.”
Cai Mingzhe frowned.
“The hydraulics were locked remotely.”
“Can we force it open?”
“Unless we cut the line.”
“Tool room,” Old Zhou said.
“Where?”
“Ahead.”
Wang Zhihao and Old Zhou immediately went to get the tools.
Chen Yaoting stayed where he was.
Cai Mingzhe was still trying to crack the controls.
R23-B leaned against the wall.
Its breathing was growing heavier.
Chen Yaoting watched it for a while.
“You really need to breathe?”
“Some biological tissue requires it.”
“So you can suffocate too?”
“Yes.”
“Bleed?”
“Yes.”
“Feel pain?”
R23-B looked up at him.
“Yes.”
The answer left Chen Yaoting suddenly unsure what to say.
If someone had told him three hours ago that a “He Chenghan clone machine” was standing in front of him, he probably would have thought of it as nothing more than a piece of equipment.
But now.
It was afraid of being recovered.
It could feel pain.
It could become confused by knowing where its body came from.
It could even die.
Chen Yaoting asked, “Do you have a name?”
“R23-B.”
“That’s a model number.”
“I don't have another name.”
“What about He Chenghan?”
“He isn't mine.”
“Have you ever thought about what you want to be called?”
R23-B looked at him.
“There is no need.”
“There is now.”
It said nothing.
Chen Yaoting didn't know why he had suddenly asked that either.
Maybe it just felt strange to keep calling something that was going to die “B.”
“Let's survive first. We can think about it afterward.”
R23-B nodded once.
Just then, the parking garage intercom suddenly crackled to life.
Bzzzzzt—
A long burst of static.
Then a man's voice.
“R23-B, please return to the designated area.”
Everyone stopped at the same time.
The voice wasn't He Chenghan's.
It didn't sound like an ordinary system voice either.
It sounded more like a recording made by a real person.
R23-B looked up.
“Do you recognize that voice?” Chen Yaoting asked.
“No.”
The intercom sounded again.
“R23-B, the recovery procedure has begun.”
“Please return to the R17 maintenance area.”
“Refusal to submit to recovery will trigger forced shutdown.”
Wang Zhihao and Old Zhou returned with the tools just in time.
Wang Zhihao's expression changed when he heard the last sentence.
“What does forced shutdown mean?”
R23-B said, “Probably exactly what you think it means.”
Cai Mingzhe suddenly looked up.
“That’s not right.”
“What?”
“The intercom message wasn't sent by R17.”
“How do you know?”
“This intercom system isn't connected to the old core.”
“Then who sent it?”
Cai Mingzhe quickly checked the control records.
A few seconds later, he stared at the screen.
“Someone logged in from outside.”
“Where?”
“Hsinchu.”
R23-B immediately looked over.
“Shengwei?”
“No.”
“Then where?”
Cai Mingzhe ran a reverse lookup on the IP address.
A location appeared.
Hsinchu Rehabilitation Medical Center.
Building B.
Everyone fell silent.
The place where He Chenghan was.
The first thing Chen Yaoting thought was:
“Was it him?”
Cai Mingzhe shook his head.
“Not necessarily.”
“But he just sent a message through the system.”
“Yes.”
“And now someone else has logged into the company's intercom from there.”
“Yes.”
Wang Zhihao couldn't help saying, “So He Chenghan woke up?”
R23-B immediately denied it.
“Not necessarily.”
“Then who else could it be?”
“Care staff.”
“Someone from R17.”
“Someone from R23.”
“Anyone who can access Building B's intranet.”
The intercom sounded again.
This time, the message was different.
“Chen Yaoting.”
Everyone's expression changed at once.
It no longer called R23-B.
It called him by name.
“Do not assist the R23 carrier in escaping.”
“The carrier presents a risk of personality deviation.”
“It may pose a threat to the original holder.”
Chen Yaoting looked up at the intercom speaker.
Wang Zhihao said quietly, “Wasn't it just helping us uncover the truth?”
“It's not from the same source,” Cai Mingzhe reminded him.
That point was crucial.
The R17 core was on one side.
Now Building B in Hsinchu had revealed another.
And the message He Chenghan had left moments ago was:
Don't trust R17.
Don't let any R23 carrier find me.
That meant He Chenghan himself did not trust these carriers, at least not completely.
Chen Yaoting turned to look at R23-B.
It knew what he was thinking too.
“Are you planning to find He Chenghan now?” Chen Yaoting asked.
R23-B was silent for a moment.
“I was.”
“What about now?”
“I don't know.”
“What if he tells you not to go?”
“I want to know why.”
“So you'll still go?”
“If I can make it there alive.”
The intercom suddenly cut out.
At that same moment, R23-B dropped hard to one knee.
Its right hand braced against the floor.
Chen Yaoting immediately went over.
“What happened?”
“The right leg joint went offline.”
“What?”
“Forced shutdown has begun.”
Cai Mingzhe's expression changed.
“Can you remove the recovery module?”
“I don't know its location.”
“You don't even have a complete diagram of your own internal structure?”
“I don't have a complete diagram.”
“Do you have a diagnostic interface?”
“Yes.”
“Open it.”
R23-B sat down on the floor.
It closed its eyes for several seconds.
Then it said, “Four nodes are beginning to shut down.”
“Which four?”
“Right leg motor function.”
“Left hand sensation.”
“Visual backup.”
“Independent power supply.”
Cai Mingzhe immediately seized on the last one.
“How long until the independent power shuts down?”
“Eighteen minutes.”
“What happens when it shuts down?”
“Entering hibernation.”
“Can you turn it back on?”
“External maintenance authorization required.”
“So once you go to sleep, they can only take you back?”
“Yes.”
Wang Zhihao cursed.
“The tools are here. Let's get out first and talk later.”
Old Zhou brought over hydraulic shears and a pry bar.
Several of them crouched beside the roll-up door.
Cai Mingzhe found the hydraulic lock line.
“This one.”
Old Zhou cut it immediately.
The first cut didn't break through.
The second did.
Hydraulic fluid sprayed everywhere.
The roll-up door instantly dropped.
Bam!
Wang Zhihao nearly got crushed.
“Fuck!”
“It’s depressurized now,” Cai Mingzhe said.
“Lift together.”
The three of them grabbed the bottom of the door.
“One, two, three!”
They lifted.
The door was incredibly heavy.
Up to twelve inches.
Sixteen.
Twenty.
Old Zhou shoved the pry bar underneath.
“Enough room to crawl through.”
Wang Zhihao went through first.
Then Old Zhou.
Cai Mingzhe looked back.
“Yaoting, bring him.”
Chen Yaoting looked at R23-B.
“Can you walk?”
“Left leg works.”
He draped one of R23-B's arms over his shoulder.
It was much heavier than he had expected.
Not a normal person's weight.
At least two hundred eighty pounds.
“How much do you weigh?”
“One hundred twenty-seven kilograms.”
“You're only telling me now?”
They moved forward inch by inch.
R23-B dragged its right leg completely.
When they reached the roll-up door, a problem arose.
The gap was only about twenty inches high.
Its body was too thick and heavy to squeeze through easily.
Cai Mingzhe had already climbed outside and was pulling.
“Lie on your side.”
R23-B did as instructed.
Chen Yaoting pushed.
The two people outside pulled.
They were halfway through when the parking garage intercom suddenly blared a shrill alarm.
“Recovery carrier detected leaving the isolation zone.”
“Beginning Phase Two recovery.”
Cai Mingzhe's face changed drastically.
“Faster!”
Chen Yaoting pushed with all his strength.
R23-B's chest had just cleared the door when, suddenly, the sound of metal doors opening came from deep inside the parking garage.
Click.
Click.
It wasn't just one.
It was a whole series.
Chen Yaoting looked back.
In the direction of the old R17 area, the maintenance doors that had been sealed shut lit up green one after another.
One by one, they opened automatically.
Something walked out of the darkness.
The first.
The second.
The third.
All humanoid.
Their heights varied slightly.
Their walking styles were different too.
But under the dim yellow lights,
every face
was He Chenghan's.
Wang Zhihao saw them from outside the roll-up door and shouted, “Fuck! Hurry!”
R23-B turned back too.
For the first time, its expression was not calm.
It was unmistakably afraid.
“They aren't here to help me.”
“How do you know?” Chen Yaoting asked.
“Their condition is wrong.”
“What’s wrong with them?”
“Their eyes.”
Chen Yaoting looked more carefully.
Those He Chenghan faces were not focusing normally.
Faint red dots glowed inside every pupil.
The same as the recovery light on R23-B's wrist.
“They've been taken over?”
“Yes.”
The first one began to move faster.
Walking.
Then faster.
Finally, it broke into a run.
A hundred yards.
Eighty.
Chen Yaoting pushed R23-B with everything he had.
Outside, Cai Mingzhe and Wang Zhihao pulled together.
Finally,
its entire body slid out.
“Yaoting!”
Wang Zhihao lay on the ground and reached for him.
Chen Yaoting immediately started crawling through.
The footsteps behind him were getting closer.
Fifty yards.
Forty.
Half his body had just cleared the door when a hand suddenly grabbed his ankle.
The strength was astonishing.
Chen Yaoting was dragged backward.
“Fuck!”
Wang Zhihao held on to his hand with all his strength.
Cai Mingzhe came over to pull too.
Both sides strained at once.
Chen Yaoting looked back.
The one holding him was one of the He Chenghan carriers.
Its face was almost pressed against the floor.
Red light flickered in its eyes.
It wasn't looking at R23-B.
It was looking at Chen Yaoting.
Its mouth moved.
“A21749.”
A chill went through Chen Yaoting.
“Let go!”
The carrier did not release him.
Instead, it said, “The original holder has ordered us to bring back the current holder.”
The sentence left everyone frozen at once.
Chen Yaoting immediately understood.
“Who gave the order?”
The carrier answered, “H-001.”
He Chenghan.
Not R17.
Not the company.
But the same person who had just told him himself, “Don't let any R23 carrier find me.”
The next second, it added:
“Chen Yaoting must reach Hsinchu before He Chenghan awakens.”
“Otherwise, the original identity will be permanently invalidated.”