Thanks to flying cars, Li Haojun and Lily arranged to meet at the airport in Kalispell. However, Lily didn't arrive in her vintage plane like before; she simply took a commercial airline flight.
因为有了飞行汽车,这次李皓珺与莉莉的会面地点设在了卡利斯佩尔的机场.然而莉莉却没有像之前那样开着她的古董飞机前来,她只是乘坐了公共交通的航线飞机.
Li Haojun sat in the car, waiting outside the airport terminal. From a distance, he saw her emerge from the front entrance, glance around, spot him sitting in the car, and then walk toward him.
李皓珺坐在车里,在机场大厅外等候,远远地看见她走出机场大厅前门,环视了一下四周,就看到了坐在车里的李皓珺,然后朝这边走来.
Li Haojun marveled at her keen eyesight while admiring her approach in high heels. Today she wore deep purple leggings, her thigh muscles trembling with each step as her forefeet struck the ground in a straight line rhythm. The counterforce from the pavement seemed to send rhythmic ripples drifting into Li Haojun's heart.
李皓珺一边感叹她的视觉敏锐,一边欣赏她踩着高跟鞋一步步走近.今天她穿了一条深紫色紧身裤,大腿的肌肉在每一步前脚掌触地于一条直线的节奏下,随着踏步的地面反作用力抖动,仿佛那韵律的涟漪已经飘进李皓珺的心田.
Lily wore a linen-colored off-the-shoulder cropped tee, its loose hem fluttering in the breeze and creating a striking contrast with her toned waist—a blend of softness and resilience.
莉莉上身穿了一件亚麻原色斜肩短身T恤,宽松的衣襟迎风摆动与她肌肉紧致的腰肢形成了鲜明的对比,柔美中更有几分坚毅.
Her golden hair was divided into fine strands and braided into a sleek, tight fishtail braid. Dark butterfly sunglasses obscured her eyes, but her fiery red lips radiated heat, making her entire presence sizzle.
金色长发被她分成细缕,编了一个紧凑干练的鱼骨辫发型,深色蝴蝶太阳镜遮住了她的眼神,但是正红的火热红唇却让整个人热力四射.
"Is this your new car? It's pretty nice," Lily asked Li Haojun, leaning over and resting her hands on the roof.
"这是你的新车吗?很不错,"莉莉弯腰手扶车顶问李皓珺,
"Yeah," Li Haojun agreed, suddenly feeling like he was driving a luxury car with a call girl. Then he thought, since Lily liked and was good at handling these machines, why not let her try? So he said,
"Want to give it a shot?" as he opened the door and stepped out of the driver's seat.
"是啊,"李皓珺答应着,突然觉得怎么好像有开豪车载应召女郎的感觉,转念一想,正好莉莉也喜欢并且擅长操纵这些机械,不如让她也试试,于是一边说,
"有没有兴趣试一下,"一边开车门从驾驶室里出来了.
"Really? Great!"
"真的?好啊,"
Lily was a bit surprised at first, but when Li Haojun offered to let her take the driver's seat, she happily swapped places with him.
莉莉开始还有点吃惊,见李皓珺主动让出驾驶座,便很开心地与他交换了位置.
She promptly kicked off her high heels and tossed them onto the backseat, then barefoot pressed down on the brake pedal, fastened her seatbelt, and started the engine. Li Haojun asked,
"Won't that cut your feet?"
只见莉莉首先把高跟鞋脱了扔在后座,光脚踩住刹车踏板,系好安全带,发动了引擎.李皓珺还问,
"Does this pinch your feet?"
"这样会不会硌脚?"
"It's fine," he said, skipping the navigation setup. He merely checked the basic controls, disabled the computer-assisted driving system, and hit the road.
"没关系,"说着,也没有设置导航,只是检查了一下基本操作,取消了电脑驾驶辅助,就上路了.
At first, Lily drove in cruise mode, but during starts, stops, and turns, she continually explored the vehicle's handling characteristics and physical limits.
开始莉莉还只是以巡航的方式驾驶,但是在启停与转向的过程中不断地探索着车辆的驾驶品质和物理极限.
As we left Highway 2 and turned onto the mountain road, the immense horsepower of the V10 engine seemed unable to unleash its full potential. Lily rolled down the window, letting the wind lift her hair. Guided by the dual feedback of physical acceleration and the screech of tires against the road, she raced through the mountain pass with a style that was safely controlled yet undeniably wild. The metallic clang of the exhaust and the tire's roar echoed through the valley.
当离开2号高速公路,驶上山间公路,V10引擎蕴含的巨大马力似乎无法施展了,莉莉降下了车窗,让风吹起发丝,靠着体感加速度和轮胎与地面的摩擦声这样的双重反馈,以留有安全余地却又有些狂野的风格,在山间公路疾驰,排气管的金属铿锵声和轮胎的嘶吼在山谷间回荡.
Soon the car reached the shore of a lake—a mountain-fed lake with no gentle slopes along its banks, only steep cliffs. A branch of the highway led to a facility nestled within the mountainside, its massive metal gates suggesting a military installation.
很快车子行驶到了一个湖边,这是一个在山间形成的湖泊,没有湖畔的缓坡,只有陡峭的山体,公路的分支通向了一个位于山体中的设施,巨大的金属门仿佛是军方设施.
After verifying their access credentials, Lily led Li Haojun into the facility. A long corridor stretched ahead, unremarkable in every way. Along both sides were doors leading to rooms whose purpose remained unclear. At the corridor's end stood an ordinary personnel elevator—a cage-like structure with dim lighting, seemingly repurposed from an old facility.
认证权限后,莉莉带着李皓珺进入了设施内部,一条长长的走廊没有什么特别的,走廊两侧有一些门不知道是做什么的房间,走廊尽头是一个普通的人员电梯,就像铁笼子一样,灯光昏暗似乎是老旧设施改造利用的.
However, upon reaching the third basement level via elevator, the interior facilities proved contemporary—even ahead of their time. Walls transformed into smooth silver-gray surfaces, while the floor featured multicolored guide lines and ample lighting. Biometric authentication extended beyond facial and fingerprint recognition to include iris scanning as standard. As the process continued, Li Haojun began to suspect his brainwaves and bodily bioelectric signals were being recorded.
但是当乘坐电梯到达地下三层,内部设施却是当代甚至超前的,墙壁变成了光滑的银灰色,地面有不同颜色的导引线条,照明充足.生物识别除了面容指纹,虹膜还算常规,接下来的操作李皓珺甚至怀疑自己在被记录脑波和机体生物电信号特征.
Li Haojun's access privileges ended here. Lily first familiarized him with the routine life support facilities on this level, followed by rooms used by visitors accessing information systems with similar functions. These housed the human-machine interface for the entire social management system of the Kalispell region, though access here was limited almost exclusively to browsing, searching, and data analysis.
李皓珺的权限就只能到这里了,莉莉带着他首先熟悉了这一层的常规生活支持设施,然后就是一些功能相同的信息系统访问者使用的房间,这里有着卡利斯佩尔地区整个社会综合管理系统的人机交互界面,但是这里几乎就是只有浏览检索和数据分析的权限.
As Lily provided a brief introduction, Li Haojun gradually confirmed his earlier suspicions: the residents here were indeed being controlled by consciousness, with precise suppression targeting individuals based on differing mindsets or behavioral motivations. Consequently, unrest like that in Boise would never occur here.
随着莉莉的简要介绍,李皓珺逐步验证了自己之前的猜测,这里的居民果然是被意识操控的,并且精确到不同意识或者行为动机的人为压制,所以这里不会发生像博伊西那样的骚乱.
During his exploration of the system, Li Haojun observed that this pervasive consciousness control system served not only to prohibit certain behaviors among Kalispell residents, but also enabled individuals engaged in the same or similar occupations to form consciousness networks for information exchange. At times, it even facilitated cross-disciplinary and cross-professional mental collaboration. This revelation genuinely astonished Li Haojun, for such development would inevitably foster a super collective intelligence capable of overwhelming any individual.
在了解系统的过程中,李皓珺注意到这个遍及整个卡利斯佩尔的意识操控系统不仅仅是用于禁止居民的某些行为,它还能为从事同一个或者同类型工作的的人提供意识组网用于交互信息,有时候甚至是能够跨专业和学科的脑力参与到一起.这一点确实让李皓珺有些震惊,因为这样发展下去显然会形成超级的集体智慧,必然碾压任何个人.
However, no system is perfect, and the Kalispell ecosystem is no exception. Some individual members or social dynamics have not developed as anticipated, which is why Li Haojun's involvement in management is necessary. He must verify the actual situation, analyze the causes, and propose solutions.
然而任何系统或许都不是完美的,这个卡利斯佩尔生态圈也是一样,因为有些个体成员,或者社会动态并没有按照预期发展,这就是需要李皓珺来参与管理工作的原因,他需要核实实际情况,分析原因提供建议解决方案.
After learning about these circumstances, Li Haojun realized he might be dealing with a complex system project and asked Lily,
了解到这些情况之后,李皓珺发现自己面对的或许是一个复杂系统项目,便问莉莉,
"Excuse me, may I request additional expert resources from different fields? I feel my own capabilities are truly limited, and it seems this task might require a team effort now," Li Haojun said, spreading his hands in resignation and offering a wry smile.
"请问,我能申请更多不同领域的专家人力资源吗?我觉得自己水平实在有限,现在看来这项工作可能需要一个团队协同,"说着,李皓珺双手一摊,惨笑,
"Of course," Lily smiled back, studying him for a moment before adding,
"You haven't changed a bit."
"当然可以,"莉莉也笑了,打量了他片刻接着说,
"你还是老样子,"
"What?" Li Haojun felt a bit awkward. He didn't know what Lily meant by "the usual."
"什么?"李皓珺有些尴尬,他不知道莉莉所说的老样子到底是指什么,
"Heh, you're not willing to shoulder the heavy responsibility."
"呵呵,你不愿意承担重任,"
"Oh," she replied, meeting his gaze. Li Haojun wondered how much she knew about him—things even he himself didn't understand.
"哦,"答应着,望着对方的眼睛,李皓珺不知道她还了解自己多少连自己都不知道的关于自己的事情.
"But once you take on a task, you're always dependable—that's why you're here," Lily said, studying Li Haojun's expression as she spoke.
"但是一旦接受任务你总是可靠的,这就是为什么你会在这里的原因,"一边说着,莉莉一边观察着李皓珺的表情,
"Oh, thank you for the compliment, thank you for your trust," Li Haojun didn't know what to say, because he couldn't recall anything about Lily, so all he could manage were polite platitudes.
"哦,谢谢夸奖,谢谢信任,"李皓珺不知道真的该说些什么,因为他不记得关于莉莉的任何事情,所以只剩下客套话,
Lily stared into his eyes for a moment before speaking calmly,
"The praise is mine, but the trust and appointment of your position come from the company—it has nothing to do with me."
莉莉盯着他的眼睛看了一会儿,才平静地说,
"夸奖是我,信任并且任命你职位的是公司,与我无关,"
Li Haojun wanted to ask her, "Don't you trust me?" but the words stayed unspoken. He couldn't fathom why she'd say something like that. Then he wondered if he was overthinking it—perhaps he should focus on the first part of her statement: that she was the one complimenting him, not implying she didn't trust him.
李皓珺想问她,难道你不信任我吗?但是没有说出口,不明白她为什么会说出这样的话.紧接着李皓珺又想,是不是自己多心了,或许应该把重点放在她说的前半句,夸奖自己的是她,而不是她没有信任自己.
"Ethan, you're zoning out," Lily said, clearly noticing that Li Haojun had missed her explanation earlier. She stared into his eyes and questioned him.
"伊森,你走神了,"显然莉莉注意到了李皓珺刚才错过了自己的讲解,所以盯着他的眼睛质问,
"Ah, sorry," Li Haojun replied, falling silent for a moment. After some thought, he mustered the courage to ask directly,
"Sorry, I've been thinking about what you said earlier—that it was the company that trusted and appointed me to this position, not you personally. I'm not quite sure I understand. Are you implying that I did something wrong before, which made you not fully trust me?"
"啊,抱歉,"李皓珺答对着,有些沉默,但是想了又想还是鼓足勇气直接发问,
"抱歉,我在思考你刚才说的话,你说信任并且任命我职位的是公司,与你无关.我不太理解,你的意思是不是,之前我做错了什么事,导致你不是很信任我."
Oh, you won't make any mistakes because your actions are logical and predictable. My point is that the company appointed you—it has nothing to do with whether I trust you or not.
"哦,你不会做错什么事情,因为你做事是符合逻辑的,也是可以预期的,我的话的重点是公司任命你,和我信不信任你没有关系,"
Oh, I see. Well then... Li Haojun wanted to ask, "So do you trust me or not?" But he held back. After all, he and Lily were just colleagues—it wouldn't be appropriate to ask such a personal question.
"哦,是这样,那么..."李皓珺想问,那你到底信任我吗?但是没有说出口,毕竟他和莉莉只是同事关系,不好问这么私人的事情.
But Lily seemed to sense his intent and cut him off before Li Haojun could finish,
"Do you trust Emily?"
但是莉莉似乎察觉到了他的意图,没等李皓珺说完就打断他说,
"你信任艾米莉吗?"
"Yes, I trust her."
"嗯,我信任她,"
"So does she trust you?"
"那么她信任你吗?"
"I suppose so,"
"我想是吧,"
Little did anyone know that after asking the question, Lily turned her head away from Li Haojun, seemingly unconcerned with his response.
谁知莉莉问完就自己扭过头就不看李皓珺了,似乎也并不在意他的回答.
The first day at Ashley Lake Facility passed quickly. On the way back, Lily still kept the car window open, letting the wind blow against her, but she no longer drove as aggressively as she had on the way there. It was just a silent, routine drive.
很快在阿什利湖设施的第一天就过去了,回程路上,莉莉依旧敞开车窗,让风吹着自己,但是不再像来的时候那样激进地驾驶了,只是无言的日常行车.