Red wine poisoning case 1.6

At the end of the stairs was a cold, white laboratory, with countless monitors embedded in the walls, data flowing silently.

In the center of the room, a boy of about ten years old sat in a wheelchair, his skin so pale it was almost transparent, with several electrode wires attached to his wrists. His eyes were large, but empty, as if they were not of a living person.

The boy's lips curled up mechanically the moment he saw Fan Jinci:

“You’ve finally come back to see me, brother.”

—The sound is electronically synthesized, and each syllable is frighteningly precise.

Fan Jinci's pupils suddenly contracted.

He recognized the face.

Twenty years ago, the youngest experimental subject in the laboratory, Yan Kang, designated M-12, died during his third neural remodeling surgery.

And now, this "child" is smiling at him, its eyes shimmering with artificial blue light.

Fan Jinci's breath hitched for a second, then everything went black and he collapsed.

Yu Yan caught Fan Jinci, his fingers instinctively reaching for his carotid artery—his heart was beating fast but steady.

"Take him up first," Jiang Zhaoyan said in a low voice. "Something's not right with that thing."

Situ Jin had already retreated to the top of the stairs, his face pale: "His joints... are mechanical."

The boy in the wheelchair tilted his head, and the electronic voice remained innocent: "Is my brother tired? I can wait for him to wake up."

Li Weimian's hand rested on her sidearm, but she hesitated to draw it—she noticed the old tag on the boy's chest:

"M-12 Yan Kang | Neural simulation accuracy 97.3% | Memory loading complete"

Wen Lin was a little scared: "So...this is an AI doll?"

“No.” Li Weimian stared at the stitches on the boy’s neck. “It’s a living-mechanical hybrid—a ‘work’ replicated using real human bones and artificial nerves.”

Everyone fell silent.

Finally, Yu Yan picked up Fan Jinci and said coldly, "We'll deal with him when he wakes up."

After settling Fan Jinci in the bedroom, everyone went their separate ways.

Jiang Zhaoyan inspected the laboratory's control panel and found that all data files were encrypted; the only file that could be opened was a video log.

"M-12's neural synchronization rate has reached a critical value, but the memory module still has defects. LH insists on 'awakening' him, even if only the mechanical parts remain..."

The video suddenly cut off, and the last image was a pair of hands wearing rubber gloves adjusting the electrodes on Yan Kang's head.

Wen Lin found a pile of scrapped parts in the corner, among which was a small mechanical hand with the following engraved on the palm:

"A gift for my brother"

The handwriting is childish, like a child's.

Situ Jin noticed an anomaly in the laboratory's ventilation system—all the airflow was directed towards a hidden compartment. Prying it open, he found a row of test tubes containing liquids of different colors; the labels were faded, but the markings were still legible.

"M-0 Neuroinhibitor", "M-12 Memory Carrier", "LH Ultimate Protocol"

Li Weimian found a leather notebook at the bottom of the control panel. The gold lettering on the cover, "Observation Record," was already faded.

Turn to the first page:

"M-0 (Fan Jinci) exhibits extremely strong neural adaptability, but its self-awareness is too strong and needs to be suppressed periodically."

M-12 (Yan Kang) has a stable synchronization rate and well-developed emotional module, making him suitable as a 'sibling template' for implantation...

The middle dozens of pages record detailed data from each experiment—brainwave frequency, pain threshold, memory erasure success rate, etc.

But the most crucial last few pages were neatly torn out, leaving only a line of blurry text:

"When M-0 sees M-12, the experiment's final phase begins."

In the bedroom, Fan Jinci's eyelashes trembled slightly.

Yu Yan held his hand, his thumb unconsciously rubbing the scar on his wrist.

Outside the window, another downpour began.