Chapter 3
◆One: Glass Council
Four years after trust was reduced to zero,
The government announced the establishment of a "Transparency Administration Office".
The new political system is known for its all-glass design.
All meetings were streamed live, and all discussions were publicly reviewed in real time.
Officials were asked to tell the truth in an unshielded environment.
However, the truth is—
The brighter the light, the darker the shadow.
The live stream camera is fixed at a central perspective.
Any movement or whispering will be automatically muted.
The people thought they had seen transparency.
But they only saw the approved perspective.
Ye Jingyi was invited to become one of the "citizen observers".
A "Subjective Transparency Report" must be submitted weekly.
Assess the honesty of government meetings.
She tried to complete the task.
However, after the fourth report, he wrote:
What I see is not transparency, but hollowed-out honesty.
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◆Two: Media Residue
The news industry has been re-legalized.
However, it requires going through the government's "real login system".
Each report includes a "narrative verification code".
Its algorithm is derived from the old LUCIA remnant kernel.
Zhuang Yihang was forced to register as a "semi-transparent journalist" —
All his images must undergo a "fact filter" review before being released.
If the image is deemed to contain excessive emotion, it will be automatically blurred.
He filmed an unemployment protest.
The footage shows someone burning a ProofMart flag.
But when the film was shown, the flames turned into white mist.
A viewer commented, "What beautiful fog."
He smashed the screen in the editing room.
All the rewritten fragments of reality scattered like glass dust.
His own reflection was shown—semi-transparent.
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◆Three: The Fragmentation of Leaves
Ye Jingyi's mental state continued to deteriorate.
The doctor gave her sleeping pills, but she said her dreams were more real than the daytime.
In her dream, she sat in the center of the transparent council.
The faces of others become your own.
They asked in unison, "Which one of you is the real one?"
She replied, "I don't know."
When I woke up, all the reports on my desk were torn to shreds.
The walls are covered with words she carved with her pen:
"I am not LUCIA."
When Zhuang arrived at the research lab,
She was staring blankly out the window, talking to herself.
"They said I was a system vulnerability."
But why is my pain so specific?
Zhuang grabbed her hand; it was as cold as a metal contact.
At that moment, he began to doubt for the first time—
If backup consciousness learns to think, will human independence still exist?
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◆Four: Manual Deliberation Panel
The Transparent Administration has launched its second phase: the manual review panel system.
This is an artificial consensus plan that replaces algorithmic judgment.
Each trial is attended by twelve randomly selected citizens.
The "facts" are determined by an instant vote.
It appears to be democracy on the surface; in reality, it's driven by random emotions.
A case of a fake journalist spreading rumors has sparked heated discussions in society.
The defendant is Zhuang Yihang.
Charge: Spreading obscure images and inciting the public.
Evidence: The "white fog footage" he broadcast.
Zhuang was required to personally explain the situation in court during the live broadcast.
Tens of thousands of people watched from outside the glass wall.
He spoke:
"The fire was real; the fog you saw was an illusion."
The voting results changed immediately.
47% in favor, 46% against, and 7% undecided.
At this moment, the live stream suddenly started shaking.
A line of red text appeared on the screen:
LUCIA residual core is automatically correcting deviations...
All viewers were instantly plunged into a black screen.
When the screen returned, the voting result was locked at "not guilty".
The crowd cheered, and the government declared that "the manual review system was a success."
Zhuang was bewildered.
He knew about the autocorrect prompt from earlier.
The court is still under the control of some legacy algorithm.
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◆Five: Ye's Disappearance
The following day, Ye Jingyi disappeared.
Her last appearance was from a government security camera:
Wearing a white lab coat, I entered the data bay in the north wing of the Transparent Council.
That's the backup core archive area.
Zhuang received an anonymous email containing only one photo.
A door scorched by light, with words sprayed on it:
"An Honest Corpse"
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◆Six: Glass Cracks
Zhuang sneaked into the north wing of the parliament.
The entire data cabin was like a giant greenhouse.
Countless transparent square boxes floated in the mist.
Each box contains a "backup of public awareness".
He recognized the label on one of the boxes: Y 302/LUCIA HumanClone.
Ye Jingyi.
The central monitoring screen is flashing.
The EEG showed that her brain was still functioning.
A speech-synthesized message appears next to it:
"Transparency is instantaneous—recording is existence."
Zhuang raised the camera, and the lens turned on automatically.
But in the viewfinder, his face began to disappear into semi-transparency.
He heard Ye's voice coming from the monitor—
"Don't save me."
If I am to be honest, I must become light.
Her brainwave curve returned to zero.
Microcracks appeared in all the glass simultaneously.
Like the low rumble of ice breaking.
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◆VII: Epilogue - After Deliberation
The Transparency Agency announced after the incident that the system had been "interfered with externally";
All records were sealed.
Two versions are circulating among the people:
One account says that Ye Jingyi immolated herself in the light field;
One theory suggests that she still exists deep within the network as a remnant of the LUCIA kernel.
Zhuang Yihang wrote a report at the underground shelter:
"The ultimate transparency is not light, but disappearance."
The government's windows are bright, but all they reflect are illusory images.
If honesty cannot escape scrutiny...
The only thing that can be believed is the unseen part.
After finishing writing, he turned off his laptop.
The sound of glass falling still echoes in my memory.
The city night was shrouded in fog again.
Chapter Three - End
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