Chapter 62 - 26: Audio, Blueprints, Code

Chapter 62: Chapter 26: Audio, Blueprints, Code

A chill ran down Yu Xian’s spine. ’According to Senior Sister Yiyi, did TDI’s methods involve hacking into my dream, like a computer hacker?’

"Theoretically, it’s possible." Yang Yiyi nodded, but then she shook her head.

"But from the conclusions of our research, the brain has its own protective mechanisms. For example, ’sleep spindles’ are an incredibly sophisticated self-protection strategy, like a firewall."

Yang Yiyi patiently explained to Yu Xian,

"For example, have you ever wondered why some sounds can wake us up when we’re sleeping, while others don’t?"

Yu Xian shook his head.

"It’s because the sleep spindles ’assess’ and ’filter’ sounds based on their threat level. For low-threat noises, the spindles only allow the sound to reach the primary auditory cortex after entering the ear. They don’t let it pass into your higher cognitive regions, like the prefrontal lobe. That way, you aren’t woken up."

"So... that audio file from TDI managed to guide my dream by... breaking through the brain’s ’firewall,’ the sleep spindles?"

Yu Xian swallowed hard.

"It probably shouldn’t be called ’breaking through.’ It’s more like a form of ’deception.’ If it were a direct attack, the brain would likely have a violent rejection response. Even though I don’t understand the audio’s composition, that should be the principle behind it."

He took a deep breath and asked the second question that had been troubling him.

"Then why is the audio file a ’one-time use’ thing?"

He thought for a moment before adding,

"After I woke up, I tried it again, but there was absolutely no reaction. TDI said I had to download a second audio file and that each one only works once. It feels like... using a key to open a door, only for the key to become useless afterward. What kind of lock would be so wasteful with its keys?"

Yang Yiyi fell silent for a moment. She looked up, her gaze fixed on Yu Xian’s eyes.

"Yu Xian, have you ever considered another possibility?"

"What is it?"

"Maybe it wasn’t the key that changed... but the lock."

A chill shot up from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head. Yu Xian froze as if struck by lightning.

"Senior Sister, are you talking about... my brain?"

"That’s right. In neuroscience, there’s a concept called ’neuroplasticity.’ It’s possible that during the dreaming process, the intense neural activity already altered the neural circuits in your brain, injecting certain information into your basal ganglia."

Yang Yiyi pointed to her temple.

"In other words, on a neurophysiological level, you are no longer the same person you were yesterday. That audio file was designed for the ’old lock.’ Now that your neural synapses have rewired themselves and your receptor sensitivity has changed, the shape of the lock core is different. Naturally, you need a new key."

Yu Xian froze in place. The phrase from his dream—"This behavior will be solidified as your instinct"—exploded in his mind once again.

’So it wasn’t just a statement. Could it be... describing an objective, physiological fact?’

Yu Xian’s fingers dug into the edge of the bench.

After taking a moment to compose himself, he continued asking Senior Sister Yiyi,

"There’s one more thing... The question I messaged you about earlier. Why haven’t I forgotten what happened in the dream?"

Yang Yiyi didn’t answer. Instead, she asked him a question.

"From what you know, do the other people who have entered these TDI dreams remember everything with perfect clarity, like you do?"

Yu Xian paused.

He thought of the seller’s words and the fragmented descriptions on the forums.

He also recalled the ten days and nights of pain and torment.

"No."

He shook his head, his voice trembling uncontrollably.

"The other subjects... when they wake up, it’s just like they’ve had a normal dream. Only some lingering emotions remain, except for... the habit they were trying to form or the things they were forced to remember."

Yang Yiyi seemed to sense something was wrong. She didn’t say anything, just gently patted Yu Xian on the back.

"Let me tell you about the principle behind MCH neurons. This situation might be related to my area of research."

She said, looking at Yu Xian’s profile,

"The primary function of MCH neurons is ’selective forgetting.’ They make us actively forget information from our dreams that the brain deems unimportant, useless, or disruptive. This allows our minds to remain clear and efficient after we wake up."

Yang Yiyi softened her tone, as if telling a fairy tale to a small child.

"The content of dreams is mostly meaningless—random combinations of residual daytime memories or just things our brain makes up. If this ’janitor’ didn’t clear out all the junk information from our dreams, we’d start confusing it with our important daytime memories. Our minds would be cluttered with all sorts of nonsense."

Yu Xian nodded silently.

"So, by that logic, one possibility is that your MCH neurons decided the information from that dream wasn’t ’junk.’ Instead, they treated it as important information that needed to be remembered, so they allowed your hippocampus to store it."

Hearing his Senior Sister’s words, he froze, processing their meaning.

’The MCH neurons thought... that dream wasn’t junk information?’

’But why? I was in that white hell, forced to recite that protocol over and over for ten whole days!’

"Of course, this is all just speculation based on existing theories."

Yang Yiyi sighed, standing up to stretch her slightly stiff feet. It was only then that Yu Xian noticed his Senior Sister wasn’t wearing socks; she had just come downstairs in her slippers.

"There are too many unsolved mysteries in neuroscience. The brain is a black box, especially when it involves an unobservable experience like dreaming. It’s hard to draw any firm conclusions."