Chen Hao stood at the door of the energy cabin, his hand still on the doorknob. The indicator light was green, meaning the person inside had already gone in. He glanced down at the magnetic clipboard in his hand, then looked up at the notice board at the end of the corridor.
The paper was blown around by the wind again.
He didn't move. Nana's voice was still reminding him in the earpiece: "Target has entered a high-risk area, initiate tracking?"
"It's closed," he said. "We're not arresting anyone now."
He turned and walked back slowly. The sound of bowls and chopsticks clattering came from the direction of the canteen; breakfast was almost over. Most of the crowd had dispersed, but a few workers remained sitting in a corner, eating steamed buns.
He walked to the booth, placed the magnetic clip on the table, and took out a newly printed booklet from his pocket. The cover was colorful, depicting a little person in protective clothing smiling as they scanned a QR code to register.
Susan's design.
He turned to a page where it read in large print: "The rules aren't meant to control you, they're meant to save you from taking the blame." Below it was a picture of someone who hadn't registered, having had all their points deducted by the system, squatting in a corner with a long face.
He smiled and closed the booklet.
“I know that man.” He walked up to a chair and raised the megaphone. “But he’s not the focus today. The focus is on each and every one of you.”
No one looked up.
“I know you think it’s useless to explain it once.” He paused. “I used to think so too. The teacher would read the rules aloud in class, and I would draw little figures on the floor. But it’s different now—this booklet isn’t a list of rules, it’s an instruction manual.”
Someone looked up.
"I'll teach you how to live more easily," he said. "For example, this: you have to queue up with points to apply for resources. You think this is restricting you? Actually, it's protecting you. Yesterday, Old Wang tried to cut in line for some parts, but someone reported him and he lost five points. He came to me complaining, and I said, 'If you had accumulated enough points in advance, who could stop you?'"
There was laughter from below.
"Someone asked if entering the energy bay in the middle of the night is a violation?" He looked at the crowd. "Yes. I've written down the names, but I won't name them. They'll be listed at next week's briefing. Anyone who has received three or more warnings will be publicly announced throughout the base."
The noise subsided.
“I’m not trying to scare you,” he said. “I just don’t want someone to say, ‘I didn’t know I couldn’t do this,’ when something goes wrong.”
He jumped off his chair and handed out booklets to the people in the front row. "One for each person. If you don't understand, scan the code and Nana will read it to you."
Nana's voice immediately came from the broadcast: "First rule: Unauthorized collection is prohibited in ecological protection areas. Accidental contact with mycelium may result in reduced penalties, while malicious damage will disqualify the explorer."
Chen Hao turned to look at her. The robot stood in the doorway, its optical modules flashing a steady blue light.
"You're quite cooperative."
"Database data shows that memory retention increases by 62 percent after repeated information is received seven times," she said. "Daily broadcasting is recommended."
“Then we’ll broadcast it,” he said. “Starting today, it will ring once on the hour.”
At noon, he convened a meeting with three people in the conference room. In the center of the table were seven printed pages, all of them first drafts of promotional brochures.
“You review the technical parts.” Chen Hao pushed the document to Karl. “Don’t write things like ‘abnormal energy field coupling,’ just write ‘the machine will explode.’”
Carl frowned: "Too rough."
"Only those who can understand the rough parts can comprehend it," Chen Hao said. "We're not publishing papers; we're preventing accidents."
Susan pointed to one of the pages: "I condensed the seventeen points into seven scenarios. Eating, sleeping, repairing equipment, taking samples... each with an explanation of the consequences."
Nana continued, "A voice module has been embedded. Scanning the QR code will trigger the explanation, and it supports pausing and repeating."
"Great." Chen Hao nodded. "Print fifty copies and send them out this afternoon."
"Where to send it?" Susan asked.
"At the entrance of the canteen, outside the shower room, at the entrance of the maintenance station, next to the turnstile in the ecological area, and next to the sofa in the rest area." He listed them one by one, "Wherever people spend a lot of time, that's where I'll put them."
"How about adding a reward system?" Carl said. "For example, you could get a point for scanning a QR code and learning for three minutes."
“Okay,” Chen Hao said. “Go set up a screen, and you’ll get it if you answer the questions correctly.”
At 3 p.m., the first brochure was put on the display stand.
Chen Hao stood outside the cafeteria, watching. A worker walked by and casually picked up a book. He flipped through a couple of pages, tore off a piece of paper, and wiped his hands.
He didn't say anything.
After a while, another female worker stopped to look. She scanned the code, listened for a while with earphones in her ears, nodded, and put the booklet into her work bag.
Then more people gathered around and asked, "What does this 'subjective intent assessment' mean?"
"It's about seeing if you genuinely don't understand or are pretending not to," Chen Hao said. "For example, if you step on some mycelium and say you're lost, we'll check the route records. If you circle around three times before stepping on it, then it's intentional."
"What if I remember it wrong?"
"Write clearly when you submit your log. If you don't, then there's no excuse."
The man said "oh," took the booklet, and left.
By 6 p.m., all five display stands were set up.
Susan and two volunteers were hanging up posters in the eco-area. The posters depicted a little person wearing a straw hat holding a sign that read, "I only collect fallen leaves, I don't dig up roots." Next to it was the text: "Diagram of the permitted collection area."
Carl was adjusting the screen at the repair station. The first scrolling message read: "Resource applications must be submitted in queue based on points," followed by a smaller line of text: "Cutting in line will be photographed, and the photo will be displayed on the wall."
Nana's announcement came on time: "Today's rule reminder: Ecological protection red line - accidental violation will be exempted from exemption, malicious violation will be punished."
Chen Hao sat on a bench outside the cafeteria, holding a feedback form in his hand. It read: 89 people scanned the code, 43 passed the quiz, and 47 handbooks were collected.
not much.
But he knew it was better than yesterday. Yesterday, zero people scanned the QR code, zero people asked questions, and zero people gave feedback.
At least now someone is willing to ask, "What does this mean?"
He looked up at the bulletin board. The newly posted sample booklet was secured with magnetic clips and reinforced with transparent tape. A breeze blew by, and the edges of the paper trembled slightly, but didn't curl up.
"Did you get a new clip?" Nana came over.
“The old ones were rusty,” he said. “We replaced six of them.”
"The system detected that you walked 20,000 steps today."
"There's no other way," he laughed. "Standing and talking for three hours straight makes my feet numb."
"It is recommended that the time of the presentation be adjusted tomorrow to avoid the peak mealtime."
“No,” he said. “We have to ambush them while they’re eating. If we run away as soon as they finish, who’s going to come back and listen to you?”
Susan walked over, holding a tablet. "The posters in the arts district are all up. I even made a kids' version, with a little robot saying 'Don't litter your batteries!'"
"That's good," Chen Hao said. "Kids will watch it, and adults will watch it too."
“There’s a problem,” she said. “Some people have asked if there are digital versions of these diagrams. They want to save them on their phones.”
“Yes.” Chen Hao turned to look at Nana. “Send it to the internal network shared folder and name it ‘Easy-to-Understand Rulebook’.”
"Uploaded," Nana said. "It will be pushed to all employees' devices simultaneously."
The final broadcast ended at 8 PM.
Chen Hao was still outside the cafeteria. A repairman walked over, holding a booklet in his hand.
"Is the example on page three referring to Li Wei?"
Chen Hao did not answer.
"I knew it," the man chuckled. "I was wondering why they suddenly started doing publicity."
He turned to the middle page of the booklet and pointed to a picture: a little man sneaking into the energy bay with a big red X above his head.
"This drawing is quite lifelike."
Chen Hao reached out and took the booklet, pressing the edges back together. The magnetic clip clicked shut.
“Starting tomorrow,” he said, “we will put a pen next to each display stand so that anyone with questions can write them down.”
"You really let people write on it? Aren't you afraid it'll get scribbled on?"
"If we're afraid, we won't let go," Chen Hao said. "We have to give it a try."
The man nodded and left.
Nana walked over and said, "Today we've scanned the code 126 times, a 143 percent increase from yesterday."
"Not bad," Chen Hao said. "Let's continue tomorrow."
"Should we add more interactive content? Like a daily quiz?"
"Take a look first," he said. "Don't do too much at once, or you'll get annoyed and nobody will pay attention."
He stood up and stretched his shoulders. His back was a little sore from not sitting all day.
Susan came over: "Someone took a picture of the children's poster and shared it. I saw someone in the group asking if they could print a copy to take home."
“Yes,” Chen Hao said. “Tell Nana to grant her download permissions.”
“A QR code link has been added,” she said. “It can also be shared to a private chat channel.”
Chen Hao nodded. He knew the news had begun to spread. Not through shouting, not through punishment, but through gradual, subtle infiltration.
He walked to the first display stand and checked if the brochures had been blown away by the wind. No. The clips were secure, and the tape was strong.
The corridor lights shone down, reflecting off the paper. The little figure with the smiley face drawn on it looked quite energetic.
“Actually,” he said to Nana, “I don’t expect everyone to follow the rules. I just want them to know that the rules are real.”
Nana didn't say anything, but simply brought up the broadcast list.
The next broadcast will sound on the hour.
Chen Hao stood by the booth, holding a new magnetic clip in his hand. He opened it and clipped it into the lower right corner of the manual.
The metal clasp makes a crisp sound when it clicks shut.
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