The Risk of Losing Control

"Today's meeting wasn't for you to discuss academic research!"

Seeing how everyone in the office had fallen into thought over a single estimated figure, the man seated at the far left of the conference table, who looked to be around fifty, tapped the table and reminded them solemnly, "What we need to discuss now is whether recruiting and using a mutant with such a high risk-of-losing-control coefficient complies with regulations!"

"What part of it doesn't comply with regulations?"

Chen Jing frowned and said to the man, "His performance today was excellent!"

"But everyone saw that his mental state was abnormal..."

The man coldly retorted, "The incident involving Pollution Source 041 already showed his crazed side. And in his conversation with you just now, he displayed severe dissociative identity disorder. If someone like that also has such a high mental magnitude, have you ever considered how much harm he could cause Satellite City No. 2—or even the Main City—if he lost control?"

Chen Jing seemed to have heard such words many times before and said directly, "Then what do you want?"

The man was silent for a moment before saying, "When the Mental Mutation research project was first established, there were already clear regulations. If the risk of losing control reached 80 percent, the person absolutely could not be recruited or guided. If the risk reached 90 percent, preparations for immediate disposal had to be made..."

"He may not yet have reached the point where disposal is necessary, but he clearly has an extremely high risk-of-losing-control coefficient!"

"For someone like him, I hope he can remain in a state that allows for monitoring and control at all times."

"In other words, I'd rather keep spending money to support him than let him come into excessive contact with similar Mental Pollution incidents!"

"..."

"Opposed!"

Chen Jing said, "All we can determine right now is that his mental magnitude is extremely high. We can't use that alone to conclude that his risk of losing control is high!"

The man's voice already carried a hint of anger. "He's a patient with dissociative identity disorder!"

Hearing this, Chen Jing suddenly felt something strange.

For some reason, she thought of what Lu Xin had said just now and instinctively replied, "Or perhaps the problem isn't that he can see his family..."

"But that we can't see them?"

"..."

Her words instantly plunged the meeting room into silence.

The man furrowed his brows tightly and shouted, "Have you gone crazy too?"

Another staff member wearing glasses said in a low voice, "It's the same principle as with the Mental Monster. The weather was clear then, and the Crimson Moon was shining brightly. Quite a few people saw the Mental Monster's vague outline, but none of them saw those so-called... family members on him. This also allows us to infer that the Sister he mentioned really was a hallucination, rather than something... that we simply couldn't see!"

Chen Jing shook her head and said no more. In the eyes of others, what she had just said had indeed sounded somewhat absurd.

So she smiled, rallied herself, and looked at the middle-aged man. "If you think the threat he poses while out of control is too great, and therefore want to refuse to guide him, keep him under complete surveillance, or even drive him away, have you considered this? What if he loses control precisely because he lacks guidance, or because certain surveillance or expulsion measures provoke him? Who will bear the risk then?"

The middle-aged man fell silent at once.

In his view, Chen Jing was simply being argumentative, although her argument did indeed leave him with little room to respond.

"Heh heh, there's no need to argue. There's no point in discussing this like that!"

Seeing that the meeting had become tense from the very beginning, an elderly man seated in the middle, with a round, plump face and a genial smile that made him look like an official, chuckled as he tried to smooth things over. "Everyone is doing this for Qinggang City, for the reconstruction of civilization and order. Colonel Chen is thinking more about how to resolve the increasing number of Mental Pollution incidents in the city, while Minister Shen is considering how to avoid the trouble caused by the risk of losing control. Since our goals are the same, there must be a good solution!"

Chen Jing slowly exhaled and said, "My opinion remains the same. I've never believed that potential threats and actual risks of losing control can be lumped together. So many cases have already proven that Mental Mutants handle contamination incidents far more precisely than ordinary people, with the fewest casualties. As for all the dangers you're worried the Mental Mutant himself might cause by losing control..."

"That is precisely why Professor Bai previously proposed guiding and training these Mental Mutants, to prevent them from losing control..."

"Guidance and training are carried out only when the risk of losing control is below a certain threshold!"

Unable to refute her, Minister Shen sneered. "And you want to guide a patient in an extremely unstable condition?"

Chen Jing shot back, "That patient you're talking about just helped Qinggang City avoid a disaster!"

"And he did so without a single investigator being injured or killed!"

"..."

The middle-aged man looked somewhat furious. "There's no need to talk nonsense. My opinion remains the same. According to the original standards of Qinggang City's Mental Mutation research project, this person's risk factors for losing control have clearly reached 80 percent, or even higher. I believe someone like that shouldn't be recruited, let alone guided. If Colonel Chen insists on recruiting him, then you can sign a document afterward. If this person truly loses control in the future, you will bear all the risks!"

Chen Jing angrily slapped the table.

Seeing that another argument was about to break out, Corporal Han Bing, who had remained silent all this time, suddenly spoke.

"Wait, we have a signal from Professor Bai coming in!"

At the mention of "Professor Bai," everyone's expressions turned solemn, and they instinctively straightened their backs.

Soon, the projection equipment on all four walls began operating. Beside the conference table, light and shadows intertwined, outlining an elderly man with a head of silver hair, dressed in a white suit and leaning on a cane. Once the entire figure had finished forming, he nodded to the people around the conference table and said, "I know what you're discussing. I've also read that young man's file!"

Chen Jing hurriedly stood up. "Professor Bai!"

The old man in the white suit nodded at her. "Minister Shen's concern is justified. This young man's risk of losing control is not low!"

"At the same time, his mental magnitude may also be higher than you imagine."

"..."

"What?"

Chen Jing's expression immediately became complicated.

"In my view, even an 80-percent risk of losing control may be an underestimate!"

Professor Bai sighed softly, then turned toward his side and said, "Scan that document and send it to them!"

The projection equipment began working. Soon, an image of a paper document was scanned and displayed before each person, including Chen Jing. Though it was only a projection, the contents of the document could be seen clearly.

"The Crimson Moon Orphanage Explosion?"

As they looked at the heading, everyone's expressions turned solemn.

"This report concerns the time this young man spent at the Crimson Moon Orphanage!"

Professor Bai tapped his cane and said, "Ten years ago, there was a suspected explosion in Satellite City No. 2. The entire orphanage was destroyed, and only two people survived: him and Zeng Xiaolu, who is now the principal of Crimson Moon Elementary School. Of course, their orphanage was unlicensed... And that explosion had many suspicious points..."

"Our department had not yet been formally established at the time. We lacked personnel and the ability to conduct sufficient analysis and observation, so we could only close the case hastily, with the City No. 2 Police Department handling it as an explosion. But now, after reviewing the old files, we've discovered many suspicious points."

"There were no traces of gunpowder or other explosives at the scene, yet every building was utterly destroyed..."

"..."

As Chen Jing listened, her expression gradually grew solemn. "You mean..."

Professor Bai nodded. "According to my analysis, this was very likely a terrifying incident involving a loss of control of Telekinesis..."

"A loss of control of Telekinesis..."

Chen Jing was slightly startled. "A loss-of-control Telekinesis incident that destroyed a three-story building in an instant..."

The projections of everyone in the office grew strangely quiet at that moment—or perhaps astonished.

If having a mental magnitude of three hundred units from the very beginning, without any guidance, was merely astonishing, then what if he had already been capable of causing a loss-of-control Telekinesis incident that destroyed a three-story building ten years ago?

Just how high was his mental magnitude?

It was a figure no one dared to think about too deeply, akin to the difference between a bullet and a bomb!