Chapter 47 - 20: The Suicider’s Narcolepsy

Chapter 47: Chapter 20: The Suicider’s Narcolepsy

His gaze fell on the police uniform hanging on the coat rack in the corner.

’Should I tell my cousin?’

If he just sent this clue about the TDI sleep-related project to Yu Zhengze, the criminal investigation team could use their technical resources to follow the lead. They could even request judicial assistance from the MIT Laboratory.

They should be able to quickly find out if these deceased individuals were connected to TDI.

But there were two problems:

First, the way this information was obtained wasn’t exactly by the book. Telling them might get Wen Xiao in trouble.

Second, hypersomnia itself wasn’t a focus of the case. Based on just a hunch, it would sound too much like the wild fantasy of a college student.

Besides, based on the forums and the public information he had found, the project seemed to have been in testing and operation for a long time.

Many test subjects had been living healthy lives for years. This was the main reason Yu Xian had dared to consider participating in the test before.

And whether it was for improving sleep, correcting habits, or simply for entertainment, TDI seemed to have a generally positive impact on its subjects.

This was evident from the mental state of the test subjects, who were clearly excited and satisfied, just like that seller.

But the information Wen Xiao had seen described the suicide victims’ state before death as "dazed and listless, as if they had lost their souls."

The two descriptions didn’t seem to match.

Contradictory information warred in his mind.

On one side were the excited, satisfied test subjects who seemed to have discovered a new world.

On the other were the numb, sluggish suicide victims, like soulless zombies.

’Is it like a drug’s side effect? Some people get treated, while others have severe allergic or rejection reactions?’

Yu Xian felt like he was standing before a colossal black gate, a key in his hand, with no idea whether an angel or a demon was locked behind it.

He glanced at the time. It was almost nine o’clock.

Yu Xian got up and boiled some of the frozen dumplings left over from last time.

After eating, he cleared the coffee table and spread out the stack of his parents’ papers again, continuing his research.

Rain fell outside the window. The refrigerator hummed intermittently, and the tip of his pen scratched across the draft paper.

After some time, his phone, which was sitting beside him, buzzed. The screen lit up—it was the TDI seller reporting his progress again.

"Bro, don’t worry, I’ll have enough points by tomorrow!"

It was followed by three "fist-clasp" emojis.

Staring at the line of text, the sense of anticipation he felt yesterday was now completely gone, replaced by a lingering anxiety.

Tomorrow.

The deadline was set for tomorrow.

’Should I participate in the TDI experiment?’

Wen Xiao’s message from that evening vaguely pointed the Smiler suicides toward TDI.

If he didn’t go, some questions and mysteries might never be solved, and the trail of his parents’ research would go cold right here.

But if he did go... He thought of the smiles on the faces of the dead, the "hypersomnia," and the seller’s euphoric tone.

’Could this be some kind of addictive, or even fatal, trap? Could it... turn me into the next "Smiler"?’

Rational fear and a thirst for answers waged a tug-of-war in his mind, leaving him so anxious he could barely breathe.

’Forget it. I won’t think about this today. I don’t have the invitation code yet anyway. Thinking about it any more is just a waste of energy.’

He checked the time again. It was the early hours of the morning. He washed up, turned off the lights, and fell asleep listening to the radio.

...

He was woken by his alarm on Monday morning.

He groggily glanced at the note on the alarm: "High-Energy Astrophysics." He froze for a moment.

The class had been canceled.

Old Gao, who was never late and always took attendance on time, was gone.

He sat on his bed and looked out at the gray, misty rain and the blue corrugated metal fence of the construction site, then got up.

’I might as well go to the university and continue reading that paper.’

First, he dropped off the birth certificate and application materials he’d received last Friday at the department office. Then, avoiding the crowds heading to 8 a.m. classes, he found an empty classroom.

The classroom was at the end of the hallway, quite out of the way. The windows were closed, and the air smelled of chalk dust.

He found a corner seat by the window and began his research and studies for the day.

The bell signaling the end of class rang through the building, and only then did Yu Xian look up from his notes.

He had two unread messages on his phone. They were from Shi Zuozhou, whose username was "Gala to Mu Gaoshou".

"Old Yu, are you on campus? If so, let’s meet at Cafeteria No. 2 for lunch."

He packed his things and left the classroom.

A cross-breeze in the hallway, carrying a fine mist of rain, sobered him up considerably.

Cafeteria No. 2 was as steamy as ever. In their usual corner by the window, Shi Zuozhou and Yang Yiyi were already eating.

Shi Zuozhou wasn’t cracking jokes or even looking at his phone. Yang Yiyi had dark circles under her fair-skinned eyes.

The atmosphere today was a bit gloomy, probably because of yesterday’s sudden, abnormal site announcement and that strange vote.

They all had a tacit understanding not to bring it up, each just quietly eating the food on their plates.

This silence lasted until they were halfway through their meal.

"Take a look at this. Isn’t this that collider project you guys were talking about yesterday?" Yang Yiyi’s voice was hesitant.

Yu Xian and Shi Zuozhou leaned in. On the screen was a news flash.

The source was several heavyweight departments with a joint signature, including the authorities for natural resources and the ecological environment.

It was an official notice with a red letterhead. Generally, with these documents, the fewer the words, the bigger the news.

"Official Reply on Suspending Approval for the Super-Large Circular Hadron Collider Project"

Yu Xian was stunned. Shi Zuozhou’s eyes went wide.

His gaze quickly scanned the main text:

"...In view of the project’s massive investment scale, controversial technical path, complex geological conditions of the proposed site, and insufficient assessment of its ecological and environmental impact... following a joint review by multiple departments, it has been decided not to approve the project for establishment. It is recommended that the proposal be returned for re-evaluation."

What...?

"It was... rejected?" Shi Zuozhou struggled to swallow his food. "How is that possible? Didn’t they just announce the site was confirmed yesterday? And today it gets killed?"

Yu Xian stared at the bright red document title, feeling as if his thoughts were a tangled mess.

This was too abnormal.

Normally, for a major national-level scientific infrastructure project like this, all the relevant departments would have already communicated and reached an informal agreement long before the National Science Academy submitted it for review.

After the scientific evaluation and internal vote of approval by the Major Scientific Project Advisory Committee, the National Science Academy and the High Energy Institute would be responsible for the proposal.

Once that step was passed, the subsequent administrative approvals—including project establishment by the national development commission, funding from the finance ministry, and environmental review by the environmental agency—were usually just a procedural "rubber-stamping."

As long as it aligned with the country’s overall strategy, it would almost never get stuck at this stage.

What’s more, passing with a landslide vote of "9:2" indicated that the scientific community and some higher-level authority had likely already reached a consensus.

Yu Xian checked the publication time: 10 a.m. today.

In other words, the National Science Academy had just submitted the urgent, even rushed, site proposal.

And then, on the first working morning of the week, the administrative departments had mercilessly rejected it?

And it was a joint rejection by several departments.

The reasons for rejection were very "official" and would be reasonable under normal circumstances. But for a project of this level, which usually gets special handling for special cases, it seemed extremely disjointed.

"What is this?" Yang Yiyi frowned. "A battle of titans?"

"One side is desperate to push it through immediately, and the other side can’t wait to reject it?" Shi Zuozhou scratched his head.

"The scientists over here are in a huge rush, but the approving officials over there are just casually saying, ’Nope, this doesn’t follow regulations’?"

Yu Xian looked at the news, and his sense of dissonance grew stronger.

This seemed to be more than just a matter of "not following regulations."

To him, it felt more like... a "confrontation"?

A confrontation between the scientific community and the administrative departments?

He thought again of the final words on the blackboard and that one dissenting vote.

"I am guilty. I have failed all of humanity."

If Professor Gao had died to stop this project, then wasn’t this rejection exactly what he would have wanted?

’Is this a good thing, or a bad thing?’

It was like watching a scene replay, history repeating itself.

Around them in the cafeteria, other students were chatting and laughing, but the three of them fell back into a deep silence.