Interrogation

After the news was sent out, their work continued, even though the atmosphere remained sorrowful and solemn.

A technician checked the voice recorder, and then everyone not involved was asked to leave. They were going to hold an internal meeting about the audio on the recorder.

Besides the technical staff and doctors, Xu Chen was also among those asked to leave.

Xu Chen didn't think the matter was over, though. He hadn't been told he could leave, either. Most importantly, no one had brought him a confidentiality agreement to sign, which was practically mandatory for something like this. Come to think of it, he had signed quite a few confidentiality agreements lately.

"...Yeah, I'm wondering the same thing. If there was nothing wrong with the drug pump, why did it administer an overdose?"

Xu Chen looked up, his attention drawn to two doctors nearby. They had also just been asked to leave, and, apparently because of what had happened, they were eager to discuss the malfunction of Old Ge's drug pump.

From what they said, Xu Chen gained a rough understanding of how the drug pump worked. A threshold requiring the injection of a sedative was set based on Old Ge's vital signs, particularly his heartbeat. Once that threshold was exceeded, the pump would administer one unit of sedative, enough to restore his heartbeat. If it fell below the threshold after the dose, no more would be injected.

The drug pump malfunction puzzled Xu Chen too. If Old Ge hadn't seemed to be uninvolved in anything concerning national security or classified information, he would have suspected premeditated murder.

"Has Xibo Medical Instruments gotten back to us?"

"They got back to us ages ago. They said they'd send an engineer to take a look, but they mostly said the drug pump was unlikely to malfunction and suggested we look for another cause."

"Hah, passing the buck again?"

"I mean, is it possible—if the drug pump wasn't broken, what could have caused it?"

"Not broken? In that case, wouldn't it have to be abnormal data from the vital signs monitor? Or a malfunction in the monitor itself?"

Another doctor nearby joined the discussion. "How could that be? That vital signs monitor was one of the best batches our hospital has. The technology might not be world-class, and its data might not be as accurate as theirs, but it's definitely good enough. And most importantly, the machine can really take a beating."

"It won't break?"

"The quality really is that good. Even after they've expired, small clinics and hospitals buy them up, and at a pretty good price."

"So the monitored data was abnormal?"

"That... can't be, can it? If that's the case, wouldn't that mean Old Ge's heart rate still wasn't maintained even after an injection of more than 12 mg? What kind of strong heart is that? What kind of superhuman constitution?"

Xu Chen looked at the doctor when he heard that, suddenly feeling that he had a point. Old Ge had indeed been quite agitated in his final moments. If intense emotions had sustained his movements, they really could have caused his heart to beat fiercely. After all, the human body had the potential for a sudden burst at a critical moment.

The door to the meeting room nearby opened. The sound drew everyone's attention, including Xu Chen's. It was Captain Chu who had opened it.

Captain Chu glanced at Xu Chen, his expression less than pleasant. Then he turned to the technician. "Engineer Cheng, we need technical support. Please come in for a moment."

"Oh, oh, okay."

After the technician went in, the door closed again.

The doctors resumed their conversation, but this time they didn't say the data might really have been abnormal. Perhaps they too felt the possibility wasn't very high.

Xu Chen understood. In fact, compared with human potential, he trusted science more.

The potential humans unleashed in a crisis or at a critical moment was nothing more than the fight-or-flight response. The brain issued commands that caused glandular organs to secrete various hormones, such as adrenaline, temporarily enhancing the body.

But propofol was extremely powerful. Even though Xu Chen had never studied anesthesiology, he understood that there was no way an anesthetic like that could have no effect at all. What was the fight-or-flight response against a modern medical sedative? That was why the doctors were able to make their judgment.

The more one studied medicine, the more one felt that human willpower wasn't much after all. Every response was an illusion produced by the body's physiological mechanisms. Sever the spinal column, and no matter how tough a person was, they couldn't stand. Get hit by a stun gun, and no matter how formidable you were, bioelectricity couldn't compete with an external electric current.

But Xu Chen felt that perhaps it really was as that doctor had said.

While Xu Chen was still thinking, an unusual sound came from nearby. Then a squad of armed soldiers jogged over in formation, surrounded everyone present by the door, and questioned them one by one.

There weren't many people by the door. After questioning a doctor, a soldier nearby looked at Xu Chen and said, "Your name?"

"Xu Chen."

"All right, he's the one."

Then, utterly bewildered, Xu Chen had his arms twisted behind his back by a group of soldiers, had bracelets put on him, and was taken to a room full of iron bars. Xu Chen saw that it was just like the interrogation rooms on the legal affairs channel, where plenty of suspects in orange clothes obediently confessed their crimes.

After the soldiers secured Xu Chen to a chair behind the iron bars, two public security officers came in. They exchanged salutes, and then the two officers sat down behind the interrogation desk. One of them picked up a notebook and pen.

It was a standard interrogation setup, just as Xu Chen had imagined it would be after he was fitted with silver bracelets. The only thing was, he still didn't know what he had done.

"Go on, then. Name?"

Xu Chen wanted to protest his innocence. He was a good, law-abiding citizen who had been called a well-behaved child since kindergarten. After growing up, he had been even more diligent about doing good deeds. He might not have earned the title of good citizen, but he had at least earned the title of good student. How could he be arrested like a criminal?

"Xu Chen."

Xu Chen answered obediently. He was a little curious to know what he had actually done.

"Age?"

Xu Chen honestly gave them all his information, though he didn't know what they wanted it for.

After asking a whole bunch of questions about this and that, the two officers looked over the notes and then looked at Xu Chen with solemn expressions. Xu Chen understood that the big question was coming, and he couldn't help sitting a little straighter in his chair.

"Come clean. How did you damage the recording equipment?"

"Huh?" Xu Chen was dumbfounded. He had imagined countless possibilities, but the voice recorder had never occurred to him. Had he forgotten to turn it on before going in to record? No, that wasn't right. He had turned it on exactly as the technician had instructed, and he had even checked it while recording.

"I don't know! Why would I damage that thing?"

The two officers exchanged a look, deciding he was a tough nut to crack. "Hmm? You didn't damage it? Then did you have some kind of anti-recording device on you?"

"Why would I bring something like that? Don't falsely accuse an innocent man!"

Xu Chen immediately grew anxious.

"All right, we don't have much evidence right now. But if we find evidence, it'll be too late. If you confess beforehand, your culpability will be reduced somewhat."

"I didn't do it, and that's that!"

"Is that so? Fine. The recorder didn't fail completely. We can still recover a few fragments. Tell us honestly about your conversation with Old Ge."

"All right..."

In the large conference room, everyone was watching the screen, where Xu Chen was recounting his conversation with Old Ge in the interrogation room, spilling everything in detail.

Captain Chu felt a little uneasy and said quietly, "Sir, isn't this a bit inappropriate? We know perfectly well he didn't do it."

"Shh! This is important. There's no speech at all on the recorder, and we need to know what happened. Rather than complaining here, you'd be better off thinking of a way to compensate him."

Captain Chu was helpless. Looking at Xu Chen on the monitor, he felt the young man was really a bit unlucky.

Interrogation was a discipline in itself. In particular, to extract every bit of information Xu Chen knew, the criminal investigation department had told the interrogators that Xu Chen was a real criminal, so they would interrogate him without holding back, using the full methods they would use on a criminal.

The interrogation methods wouldn't cross the line, since a record had to be kept. It would just take a little longer, all within the law and regulations. Mainly, they asked some questions over and over, then compared the answers for changes to determine whether Xu Chen was lying, using that to open up what they believed was a breach.