The reflection in the mirror grew more unfamiliar by the day. As absolute rationality ate away at me, the boundary between W and me blurred further. That conversation I had glimpsed on the deep web, steeped in inhuman composure, had sounded like an alarm bell. But it rang against a soul already numb, stirring only hollow echoes.
I knew I was sliding into the abyss, but the "efficient anesthesia" W provided had nearly robbed me of even the strength to struggle. Every time I opened that encrypted list, every time I smoothly completed a "surgery," it felt as though I had tightened the noose around my own neck another notch.
Yet W did not seem content merely to provide a list of assignments. They began to reveal a deeper desire for control.
A new target appeared-an oil tycoon who stirred up trouble in the international energy market and took pleasure in destroying the environment and manipulating the governments of small nations. Beside his name, in addition to the usual "optimization recommendations," was a new option: [Suggested execution window].
They were no longer simply supplying methods and targets. They were beginning to try to control the timing of the "surgeries."
I stared at the option. The shackles within me, accustomed to everything running "smoothly," stirred faintly, as though urging me to accept this further "service." Less thinking, a lighter burden, greater efficiency. How tempting.
But a lingering trace of stubbornness, something that still belonged to "Lin Chen," kept me from clicking immediately. I tried to devise the oil tycoon's end on my own, as I once had. A violent headache and a sluggishness in my thoughts struck instantly, stronger than ever before. The "thing" inside me protested frantically, refusing to return to an "inefficient" mode.
In the end, I gave in.