October 23, 2014. Received a call from the client. Call recording 201410231735.mp3.
"Hello, Mr. Zhang."
"Mm, hello. About that matter..."
"We're still investigating. We've already explained the latest developments to you. There are also a few victims' families we're having trouble contacting..."
"Mm..."
"Have you run into anything recently?"
"I... I've been going out lately, and I haven't felt anything strange..."
"You mean those strange feelings you had before are gone?"
"Yeah. That feeling I had before is gone. I haven't seen that bike again, either. I've ridden one a few times myself, and nothing happened. That thing... seems to have stopped watching me."
"I see. So what are you planning to do now? We still haven't figured out that thing's patterns, so we can't guarantee your safety. I'm sorry. It may take us longer to find out more about this matter. As for you..."
"My dad talked to me about it over the last couple of days. I was thinking... some of what he said made sense. My mom's already like that... I suppose you could say that the guilty are punished and debts are repaid... even though I think it's too much. My mom didn't even do anything... What you said last time made sense, too. Those things aren't human; they don't reason with you. I..."
"Are you saying you want to stop the investigation?"
"Mm... Partly it's because of the cost, and partly... my dad's worried that if I keep pushing this... I can just stop using shared bikes and avoid getting involved with that thing. If we keep investigating, I'm afraid... that thing will come after me again. Sorry for making you come all this way for nothing."
"It's all right. This is our job. If you've made up your mind, there are some contractual formalities