"What do you think will happen if we destroy these machines?" Wei Dong asked.
"I guess there will be a backlash," Ke Xun said.
"Wouldn't modifying photos count as vandalism?" Wei Dong asked worriedly, pointing to the completely altered photo in Ke Xun's hand.
"I don't think so," Ke Xun said. "I didn't change its nature. At most, I just put something on it, which can be wiped off easily, see?" "
Okay," Wei Dong sighed. "I'm just worried about you. The other three labs have solutions, but this one…"
"Listen, Dongzi, if I become a vegetable too, don't hesitate to kill me. Don't let me suffer." Ke Xun said.
Wei Dong felt a pang of sadness and nodded haphazardly.
Ke Xun didn't want to see Wei Dong grieve for him, so he got up, put the photo back, and stood next to Mu Yiran, watching him examine the documents in his hand.
Mu Yiran glanced at him sideways: "You seem to have made a discovery?"
Ke Xun then recounted his analysis and asked, "What do you think these photos, copied from elsewhere, are intended for?"
Mu Yiran put down the documents in his hand, lowered his eyes and thought for a while before speaking softly: "If we don't speculate on the experimental content, but only consider the photos themselves, what would your reaction be when you see them?" Ke
Xun tilted his head and looked at him: "You really want me to tell you?"
Mu Yiran didn't answer or look at him, just kept his eyelids lowered.
"You can guess even if I don't tell you," Ke Xun said. "But the problem is, this is my reaction, but others aren't. I'm talking about those with normal sexual orientations, um… and possibly excluding fujoshi (female fans of male-male romance)."
Mu Yiran suddenly looked up at him: "On the first night, Cai Xiaoyan, who was normal, was unharmed; on the second night, Qin Ci, who was normal, was unharmed, but Zhang Hanrui, who was a fujoshi, became the test subject."
Ke Xun's eyes flashed: "You mean, the experiments in this lab were aimed at homosexuals and fujoshi?"
"Or you could interpret fujoshi as a group that approves of or supports homosexuality," Mu Yiran added. "To summarize further, the experiments in this lab were aimed at a group with heterosexual tendencies. Here, 'heterodox' refers to the category within the context of that era."
"What if the subjects were all staunch heterosexuals? Wouldn't this lab be rendered useless?" Ke Xun said.
"In fact, isn't Laboratory B practically useless now?" Mu Yiran said. "The 'painting' isn't designed to leave us with a dead end, nor is every obstacle tailor-made for us who enter the painting. If we're lucky, we might pass without anyone losing a single person; if we're unlucky, none of us might even make it past the first day. Remember what I told you when you entered the first painting? Even the 'painting' has bugs. What does that mean?"
"It means the 'painting' isn't tailor-made for us. It's pre-set and doesn't change based on the attributes of the person entering the painting," Ke Xun replied. "So whether each obstacle is a dead end or a chance of survival for us depends entirely on luck. Of course, most obstacles are life-or-death situations."
Mu Yiran nodded.
Ke Xun sighed, then laughed: "Then aren't we extremely unlucky? How did you and I end up in Laboratory D by chance? It's exactly what the 'painting' wanted."
Mu Yiran's expression stiffened slightly, and he picked up the documents in his hand again to look through them.
Ke Xun looked at him, leaned closer and whispered, "Yi Ran, is there anything you want to say to me?"
Mu Yi Ran didn't even lift his eyelids, and said indifferently, "What do you think I should say to you?"
Ke Xun suddenly reached out and took the flashlight from Mu Yi Ran's hand, turned off the light, and the place where the two of them were immediately plunged into a hazy darkness.
Mu Yiran felt a sudden warmth near his ear, and Ke Xun's warm, gentle voice entered his ear: "If we had undergone lobotomy tonight, we might not recognize each other tomorrow morning. Yiran, I think life is short, especially for those of us who are artists, living for today and not tomorrow. We should say what we want to say, do what we want to do, live as we please, and die without regrets. Yiran, missing the good times when we're still here will truly be a lifelong regret."
Mu Yiran remained silent in the darkness, and Ke Xun waited patiently for him. After what seemed like an eternity, Ke Xun began to feel sorry for him and sighed inwardly, thinking it best not to make things difficult for him. Just as he was about to change the subject, he heard Mu Yiran's short, calm voice: "Ke Xun."
"Hmm." Ke Xun suddenly felt a little nervous. He had just licked his slightly dry lips when he felt Mu Yiran's hand encircle him from behind and then... land on the back of his head.
...He ruffled Mu Yiran's messy hair like patting a dog's head and said gently, "You talk too much. Hurry up."
Ke Xun: "..."
He handed the flashlight back to Mu Yiran, then looked around and noticed Wei Dong staring at his black-screened phone with a frustrated expression: "The battery's dead... I'll have to bring a power bank next time I go to the studio."
Ke Xun reached into his pocket, touched his own dead phone, and suddenly remembered something. He walked back to Mu Yiran and said, "There's something I find strange. Last night I verbally agreed..." The four of us loosened our grip on the power cord, and soon our mouths were gagged. After that, we relied on the stopwatch on my phone. That bright screen was right in front of us; why didn't those 'things' turn it off like they did with my mouth? They just let it stay on until the battery died. What if I had a power bank plugged in? It could last all night! Such an obvious cheat device, why wasn't it banned?"
Mu Yiran looked up at him and nodded slightly: "That is a bit strange."
"Could it be that these 'things' can't see light?" Ke Xun said.
"That shouldn't be the reason," Mu Yiran gestured with his chin to the projector on another desk, "If they couldn't see light, they wouldn't use this kind of device."
"Could it be because the background of this painting is from a long time ago, before mobile phones existed, so these 'things' don't recognize mobile phones?" Ke Xun said.
Mu Yiran pondered for a moment: "That might be one reason, but I have another hypothesis."
Ke Xun: "Tell me."
Mu Yiran: "This research institute studies all projects related to people. To put it in an inappropriate way, it's human-centered. They study the most primitive, authentic, and natural aspects of human beings, not industrial products, technological products, etc., created or modified by humans. Therefore, can we infer that these 'things' are only sensitive to humans and not interested in non-human substances other than the equipment brought into the laboratory?"
"If that's the case," Ke Xun's eyes lit up, and Mu Yiran stared intently at him, "I suddenly had an idea. Dr. Qin, come here for a second!"
Qin Ci walked over: "You've discovered something?"
Ke Xun put his arm around Qin Ci's shoulder, pulled him closer, and lowered his voice: "Tonight you'll be subjected to noise pollution in Lab A. Yiran and I just deduced that these things might not be sensitive to technological products, so I thought of a way that might help you block out the noise, but I don't know if it will work."
As he spoke, he pulled a pair of headphones out of his pocket and stuffed them into Qin Ci's hand: "These headphones of mine have amazing noise isolation. Wear them. Do you have any music on your phone?"
Qin Ci looked at him admiringly: "Xiao Ke, your mind is getting sharper and sharper. I do have a few songs on my phone, all with a soothing rhythm."
"That's perfect," Ke Xun said, "I don't know if they can block out the noise, but even if they can't, music will buffer the harsh, monotonous sounds. If those things aren't sensitive to technology, they shouldn't stop you from playing music. How much battery do you have left?"
Qin Ci took out his phone and glanced at it: "70% left. If I'm just listening to music, the battery shouldn't drain too quickly."
"If all else fails, I can borrow Deng Guang's or theirs," Ke Xun said.
Qin Ci nodded: "Just to be safe, I'd better get ready to go. And that young lady surnamed Li, she might need to prepare an extra one too."
Qin Ci left to get his phone, and Ke Xun looked at Mu Yiran again: "I have another idea. Since those things aren't sensitive to technology, let's use our phone cameras to shine something tonight. Maybe we can find something out, what do you think?"
Mu Yiran nodded.
Ke Xun held out his hand to him: "Lend me your phone."
Mu Yiran took it out, unlocked it, and handed it to him. Ke Xun brought up the camera and first looked at the situation in the laboratory. Just like the first day, there were several gray-white figures in the room, their faces withered and shriveled, their dull eyes devoid of any emotion, but with gaping mouths like black holes, their arms outstretched, their fingers curled, as if trying to break free from something, or as if trying to escape from something.
"Do you think these 'people' could be the victims of the failed experiments mentioned in the experimental log?" Ke Xun said.
"Yes," Mu Yiran said, "I compared the numbers on their clothes with the experimental subject numbers mentioned in the log. Some matched, some weren't in the log, but I think these people should all be." After
looking at the camera for a while, Ke Xun suddenly said, "I'm going to the restroom," and strode out of the laboratory.
Mu Yiran put down the documents in his hand, gazing thoughtfully at a vague, dark corner. Suddenly, Zhu Haowen's voice rang out beside him: "Homosexuality was considered a mental illness in the past."
"So they underwent prefrontal lobe removal surgery in an attempt to cure these 'mentally ill patients'," Mu Yiran continued coldly.
"Could the person who painted this picture have been an anti-homosexual?" Zhu Haowen said, "That's why they painted Laboratory D in such detail, to express their disgust for homosexuals."
"They could also have been homosexuals," Mu Yiran said, "using the painting to expose and criticize."
"But I think, given the context of that era, it's impossible for homosexuals to dare to openly speak out for their kind. Only an anti-homosexual would dare to paint like this," Zhu Haowen said.
"No era lacks fearless heretics." Mu Yiran glanced at Ke Xun, who was stepping in, and his lips twitched slightly in the darkness.