Match

——No one would want to try the violent means that Lorraine mentioned.

My ribs and cheekbones ached dully, and the feeling of being broken by a punch was still as clear as ever twenty years later.

Ci Li will never forget the boy named "Cyril" who was insulted and trampled on in the dirty and narrow streets of the Dark District, grew up in a garbage dump, and competed with wild dogs for food. He was a taciturn guy, and because of his incredibly black eyes that seemed to be able to swallow everything, he was called "the child of the devil and human", "a madman who doesn't care about his life".

The feeling of being suffocated by the boy's beating was so severe that it seemed to overwhelm his throat. Twenty years later, when he heard the word "violence", Tseri felt as if his larynx was being broken.

He stared at Lorraine for a long time, and his anger made Ci's big red curly hair, which had a strong vitality, burn like a flame.

In the old prejudice of some Western countries, red hair represents barbarity, violence, and ignorance, just like blonde hair is always tied to stupid beauties.

Ci Li laughed, his chest trembling, and his shirt shaking tightly.

Ivy silently moved away from him, worried that his shirt buttons would be torn open by his wild breast muscles and bounce onto her face.

She would have screamed.

"I have applied to supervise this investigation," Lorraine said. "Given your previous interrogation scandal, I have the right to correct your mistakes."

He did not use the word "stop" but "correct".

This word made Tsiri snort in dissatisfaction, but the difference in status ultimately prevented him from saying any words of opposition. He just made a vicious and disdainful sound, so subtle that it was unclear who he was scolding.

"Little bastard from the ghetto."

Lorraine showed no emotion.

The soldiers who received the order entered in an orderly manner and took Ivy and Song Xu away. No one paid attention to the small screen of Song Xu that was still playing the "member-only advertisement". Ci Li took a curious look and heard the deputy asked nervously: "Do we need to detain them separately?"

"Forget it," Tseri smiled lazily, his upper teeth shining for a moment. This extremely frivolous and sloppy man had a glittering one-carat diamond inlaid on his teeth. "Looking at his IQ, this is the end of his life."

Song Xu turned his head seriously and said, "I feel like something is wrong."

"Yes," Ivy replied seriously, "He should be scolding you."

She was still thinking about the phrase "little bastard from the slums", which sounded like an insult to her, but Ci Li was not familiar with her...the phrase was more likely directed at Lorraine.

...Can these two words be related to Lorraine?

Ivy didn't understand.

Song Xu glared at him and was about to turn around when a black mask covered his face. He subconsciously took a deep breath, which smelled nothing, but his rationality was lost in an instant.

Oops, it's an inhaled anesthetic.

When Song Xu fell down beside her, Ivy, who was also covered with a black mask, was still mad. She didn't notice anything wrong. When she heard the sound of a heavy object falling to the ground, she turned her ears and heard Ci Li's puzzled voice: "She is so durable?"

"She was not sensitive to anesthesia," Lorraine said. "I vouched for her as a husband and teacher. I didn't need to knock her unconscious and send her to the interrogation room. I just blindfolded her - she wouldn't remember anything."

Ivy was stunned: "What anesthesia?"

Ci Li laughed: "Are you still like when you were a kid, trying to find perverted satisfaction from protecting these little things?"

Ivy heard Lorraine's voice: "I hope you can follow the rules."

Lorraine did not continue to give her inhalation anesthesia, and the soldiers put another layer of something on her mask, so she could not hear anything. The loss of senses made her uneasy, and she even thought that it would be better to be anesthetized smoothly.

Ivy discovered that common anesthetics were ineffective against her when she was in high school. She fell off the horizontal bar during training and cut her leg. The doctors at the school hospital only knew how to perform traditional anesthesia and suturing, but Ivy found that those anesthetics could not paralyze her nerves, and she still had a clear sense of touch.

Each subsequent injury required spending more money to go to a private hospital for treatments that required fewer stitches—or more advanced nerve-numbing drugs.

If Yu Mo was not a doctor, Ivy's family would certainly not be able to afford such high medical expenses, nor could they afford such advanced nerve-paralyzing drugs. Who knows how much more pain and suffering they would have to endure.

Fortunately, there is Yu Mo.

Looking back on her short-lived first love, Ai Wei had no resentment towards Yu Mo, but only felt lucky that "it was him";

Just like now, she would also feel that the person who successfully matched with her was "fortunately Lorraine".

According to the interrogation process, Lorraine could not say anything to Ivy until Ci's interrogation was completed.

Ivy drank two bottles of water in the military review room, went to the bathroom three times, and finally waited for the late Tsiri to come and rape her.

The interrogation room here is much larger than the one in the police station, and there are more torture instruments, which are more exposed. Ci Li seems to want to use the things behind her, the cross that can hang prisoners, the ice bucket with sharp iron spikes, and some tools that are not known what they are used for but look scary.

Tsiri took off his military jacket with a swish. The edge of his black shirt was embroidered with pythons and intertwined golden phoenixes. He looked at Ivy with interest and smiled, "The last person who interrogated you was Robert? He is a typical android hater... He would rather imprison you by mistake than let any fish slip through the net."

Ivy was helpless: "I have passed political review many times."

"Those reviews are not even as strict as Lorraine's," Tsiri held his chin with one hand, "Are you the guy who matches him 100%? Yes, both are kids from the slums, very suitable."

This was the second time Ci Li mentioned the word "slums" in a disdainful tone.

In Ivy's memory, although Lorraine's parents were not extremely powerful or wealthy, their family background was also very good, which was definitely related to the word "slum".

She asked, "What?"

"Hmm?" Ci Li was surprised. "He chose to marry you, but he didn't even tell you this? Poor little thing—"

"Lieutenant General Tsiri," Lorraine's stern voice rang out from the monitoring room, "Please do not mention any information that is not relevant to the case. I can accuse you of a violation."

Ci Li shouted, "I know, I know, it's really annoying."

He looked at Ivy again: "Okay, let's get down to business. According to the testimony, you chased 'Baiman' to the dark zone. At that time, could you confirm that the other party was a 'bionic man'? Or was he a human from the beginning?..."

Behind the monitor, another general who was also in charge of supervision shook his head: "What kind of stupid questions are these? Can't Tsuri have a little intelligence in his head besides women?"

Lorraine said nothing.

He folded his hands on his military-pants thighs and stared at the monitor.

All of Ivy's detailed physical examination reports had been uploaded to the system. Everyone had seen all her data from childhood to adulthood. There was no problem and she was very healthy. The signature of the doctor who did the blood test did not attract much attention. After all, the probability of having the same name was too high. As Ivy's childhood sweetheart, Yu Mo participated in every blood test afterwards, which was normal.

——The abnormal DNA comparison report remained with Lorraine, and he did not tell anyone else.

Xin Lan stood behind Lorraine and made the report in an orderly manner.

"…We found a shop that was openly providing Chinese medicine and food therapy, but was actually secretly providing solar energy replacement for bionic people," Xin Lan said. "We have arrested all the people involved, but unfortunately the bionic people immediately activated the self-destruct program after being discovered, so we got nothing."

Lorraine said, "What about customer tracing?"

"All those registered have been investigated, and they are all ordinary people," Xin Lan reported. "Because the Chinese medicine and food therapy store is well-known and indeed effective, many people like to receive food therapy there, including not only some government officials, but also school teachers... Doctor Yu Mo is one of the customers."

Hearing the word "Yu Mo", Lorraine was unhappy.

Xin Lan's blue eyes sparkled. He couldn't analyze Lorraine's mood at the moment. Was it because he heard the name of Ivy's first love, or was it because this person would make Ivy's current situation more delicate?

The biggest reason Robert accused and suspected Ivy of helping androids hunt ordinary humans was that people around her were always inexplicably involved in android-related cases.

The general next to him was puzzled: "Yu Mo?"

"Um."

"This young doctor is very good," the general said. "My child had an asthma attack last time, and it was he who gave him first aid in time and saved his life... Is he imprisoned?"

"No," Xin Lan explained with a smile, "After the inspection, there was no problem, so he was sent away. Thank you very much for using your precious vacation time to supervise this case."

The general laughed: "Hector invited me, how could I not come? I know he hates androids, and his wife must be innocent..."

A detailed examination can distinguish a bionic person from a human being; it is not a beating heart that promotes blood circulation and supplies blood to various organs, but solar panels. Most of these things can be disguised as a heart, but after a scan with professional instruments, experienced doctors can see the problem.

Yu Mo and Ivy both do have a human heart.

Lorraine didn't move. He said nothing and watched the situation in the interrogation room.

Ivy was very smart. She answered questions fluently according to what he taught her and did not fall behind at all.

Under the supervision of Lorraine and another respected general, Tseri obviously restrained himself a lot. After using a lie detector to prove that Ivy had not lied, he decided to release her with a stroke of his pen in disappointment.

——If it weren't for the warnings from Lorraine and another general, he would have wanted to torture Ivy three times.

Tseri does not believe that those painless lie detectors can really detect lies. Only pain and lessons can bring truth.

This does not mean that the suspicion has been completely cleared. Before the real murderer is found, Ivy may be detained again at any time.

——As for Song Xu who fell into the trap, he was also released smoothly, but he was given a stern warning not to go crazy in the army again; in addition, this crazy behavior would affect his future political review. At least, when Song Xu applied to join the army, he needed to undergo rigorous psychological and IQ tests.

The heavy handcuffs and leg cuffs were finally removed, and Ivy was taken away again with a mask on. She didn't know where she was being taken. All her senses were isolated, and there was only a pair of hands guiding her from the side.

The hand was handed over within ten minutes. The familiar, powerful hand wearing a black leather glove led her for a distance until her knees touched the soft leather bed and the mask on her head was removed.

Ivy saw a room that looked like Ace's.

With a large, simple black bed and a cold marble tabletop, this bedroom is extremely simple, so simple that it looks like it can be used only for sleeping, and for many different kinds of sleeping.

The only thing that could be considered a display was the many glass test tubes of varying sizes and lengths placed on the wooden shelves.

Ivy sat on the bed obediently, looking at Lorraine in her black military uniform. She wanted to thank him, but his expression was very cold...even colder than when they first met. Something unexpected must have happened, Ivy thought uneasily.

"In the case of Berman, I will find the real murderer and clear you of suspicion," Lorraine said as he took off his black gloves, "but before that, you need to answer a question for me."

Ivy said, "What?"

Lorraine asked, "Who are you?"

Ivy didn't understand what he meant: "Ah? I'm Ivy, have you lost your memory?"

"I've seen all your psychological tests since you were a child, including consultations with psychiatrists," Lorraine leaned over and looked at Ivy, "You have a certain degree of emotional avoidance disorder. Simply put, because of the fear of loss, you sometimes refuse to enter into an intimate relationship-"

"Maybe it's because of my failed first love," Ivy said immediately. "You should know that I was the one who got dumped, and it hit me hard."

"You didn't behave like this in your first relationship," Lorraine pointed out sharply, "Your so-called 'liking Yu Mo' was just your daddy issue. It wasn't true love. You've never loved anyone, not even your parents—"

His cold words made Ivy feel sad.

"...Your words hurt me," Ivy clenched her fists and tried her best to control her emotions, "You described me as a heartless bastard."

"I'm sorry, I'm not like your beautiful first love, who will say those sweet words to make you happy but are actually useless," Lorraine's words were like a sharp dagger, "You need to face reality."

"What reality?" Ivy said, "You really hurt me, teacher."

The word "teacher" has never been so hurtful. Lorraine paused for a moment, but calmly said, "Since elementary school, you have told many psychiatrists about your troubles, the wasteland scenes you dreamed of, your body corroded by acid rain, the real pain, and the exposed bones... right?"

Ivy said quickly, "Because I did experience that acid rain, and my parents protected me."

Lorraine nodded: "It seems that you have indeed dreamed of these scenes."

Ivy reacted and couldn't believe it: "You lied to me?"

"No one is too cautious - your parents protected you?" Lorraine said, "To be honest, we just found the body of five-year-old Ivy in the wasteland. She died of severe corrosion caused by acid rain."

A detailed DNA matching report was handed to Ivy. He was frank and indifferent, looking down at Ivy's every expression. When she heard these words, she was only stunned and shocked... If it wasn't for his excellent acting skills, then she really didn't know.

Ivy quickly flipped through the report and became more shocked the more she read.

She was stunned: "What do you mean?"

"Your parents underwent memory-clearing surgery," Lorraine said indifferently. "I found their surgery application report and records. The reason was that they wanted to forget the tragic events that happened to humans under acid rain and avoid serious psychological trauma."

Ivy said: "But this..."

"You are 'Ivy' after the age of five. Your DNA is exactly the same. You are most likely the product of cloning, or another medical masterpiece..." Lorraine looked down at her, "But your memories before the age of five do not belong to 'Ivy' - at least, the source of that part of your memory is not pleasant. Your unfortunate family and serious lack of parental love and desire have caused you to suffer from mild emotional avoidance disorder and a certain daddy issue. You get excited about discipline and admonition, which proves that you lacked attention in your childhood and were even abandoned by your loved ones. The development of a person's personality is closely related to childhood experiences, and your various unconscious manifestations are obviously inconsistent with the relaxed and harmonious family atmosphere of 'Ivy' -"

Ivy had the illusion that she was being peeled off layer by layer, and she shouted, "Enough."

Lorraine pulled down her hands that were about to cover her ears. Under his sight, she seemed to be exposed, completely naked in front of him.

"You can tell me the truth," Lorraine looked at her, his voice slowed down for once, even steady and reliable, "I can help you."

——Compared to the harsh words just now, this tone can really be called gentle.

Ivy wasn't sure if he was pretending.

She shook her head: "I don't know anything."

There was too much information and her head hurt. Too many things happened today. The amount of information that came one after another made her brain overloaded. She was struggling to think and was thinking slowly.

...Acid rain, corpses, clones, she knew nothing. If she was not Ivy, who could she be?

Is Lorraine lying to her? What could his purpose be?

If everything he said was true, then from whom did her memory come?

Who is she?

But at this moment, she suddenly felt confused.

"...Use a polygraph or some other interrogation tool," Ivy said, "then you'll know if I'm lying."

Lorraine didn't use a polygraph.

He leaned over and looked at Ivy carefully: "No need for a polygraph, Ivy."

Slender fingers calmly took off the hair band that Ivy used to tie her hair, and her messy hair fell on her shoulders. Lorraine lowered her head and touched her T-shirt stained with the scent of Terry's perfume.

The wooden shelf behind him was filled with various short and long glass sample tubes.

At this moment, Ivy suddenly understood why these experimental tools appeared here.

Like a scientist concentrating on an experimental sample, Lorraine looked down at her with a stern profile.

“I will give you a detailed examination,” he said. “Your eyes will tell me whether you are human or not.”