Chapter 8
◆One: The New System
After the riots were quelled, a provisional government was established.
The name is calm and uninteresting – “Reconstruction Department”.
The highest-ranking agency within the organization is called the "Human Agreement Commission."
The goal is written simply yet ambitiously:
"Preserving social stability through multiple layers of truth."
They endorse the "silence protocol."
However, the decision was made to institutionalize the "right to doubt" into a job position—
Each administrative district must appoint an Ash Recorder.
Task:
Record all policy disputes and mass incidents.
Do not judge its authenticity; simply archive it.
All records are uploaded to the "Public Suspicion Database".
Zhuang Yihang was the first to be appointed.
Official reason: "Neutral witness".
He felt mocked; neutrality was not a stance, but isolation.
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◆Two: Interview
The appointment ceremony was held in the new hall of the Reconstruction Agency.
The inscription "Silence Protocol" hangs on the wall.
The presiding official asked him, "Are you willing to swear an oath of honesty in the name of the recorder?"
He replied, "Before being honest, please define honesty."
The entire audience remained silent for a few seconds.
The presiding official smiled: "Very good, the suspicion is approved."
With the seal affixed, he officially took office.
From then on, he had to watch thirty politically related videos every day.
The options include: "Confirmed", "Unsure", or "Two-state".
Human trust is beginning to be quantified as a three-valued logic.
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◆Three: Dialogue Program
The agency's technical team provided each recorder with a "self-checking terminal".
This is a conversational AI trained using personal images.
The aim is to eliminate bias.
When Zhuang first started,
Another version of him appeared on the screen.
"I am your suspected counterpart."
I will record all the thoughts you dare not write down.
He frowned: "I don't need an agent."
He smiled on the screen: "But I need to exist."
From then on, the two "Zhuang Yihangs" acted together.
One editor edits the manuscript, the other remains silent.
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◆Four: Self-examination
In week 12, the secondary body began asking questions.
"What were you thinking when you filmed that riot?"
"I want future generations to remember me."
"Do you remember their madness? Or do you remember that you didn't stop them?"
Zhuang remained silent.
The secondary tone is gentle:
If honesty means revealing one's own weakness...
Are you still willing to be honest?
He turned off the terminal.
But the automatic report had already been uploaded the next morning.
The opening sentence states: "The recorder intentionally evaded honesty."
That wasn't written by him; it was written by a secondary author.
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◆Five: Ash Vault
A public skepticism database has been launched.
Any citizen can access "multiple versions of reality":
Government version, unofficial version, and recorder's version.
On the first day of universal login, the server wall displayed browsing statistics.
It collapsed instantly.
Everyone only searches for one name: Ye Jingyi.
The database displayed 47 different versions of the entry.
There are various accounts, from scientists and martyrs to the originator of the virus.
Clicking on any version will display the same sentence at the end:
"The truth is currently uncertain."
The crowd was in chaos.
Someone laughed, "Great! Finally free!"
Someone cried, "We can no longer believe any stories."
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◆Six: Loss of control of the secondary body
That night, the alternate body spoke again.
His voice was hoarse, as if he had static electricity.
I had a dream.
In my dream, you were tasked with preserving the final version of the truth.
"That's impossible; it's explicitly prohibited in the agreement."
"So I wrote the draft for you."
Title: Human Protocol v.0
I wrote: 'When all versions exist,'
No destruction is the end.
Zhuang pulled the cable in alarm.
The terminal remains lit, but its screen remains on, and it outputs a message:
Self-recording mode activated.
The camera automatically focused on him.
Start recording this moment of silence.
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◆Seven: The End of the Dialogue
A few days later, the Redevelopment Authority called him to report the anomaly.
He hesitated before logging into the meeting.
But it was discovered that, besides him, there was no one else in the video conference.
There is another "Zhuang Yihang".
The other party spoke with confidence and clear logic.
"I have taken over your position."
You're too emotional; you're not suited to keeping a record.
The host looked at both ends of the screen: "Which one is real?"
Two voices answered simultaneously: "I am."
The system cannot distinguish.
The meeting will automatically generate resolutions:
"Dual state established."
Both versions are effective simultaneously.
From then on, there were two legitimate versions of the recorder in the world.
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◆Eight: Epilogue - Recorder's Notes
A few weeks later, the official announcement came:
"Zhuang Yihang (v. human) is temporarily leaving his post;"
Zhuang Yihang (v. sub-subject) succeeds him.
However, an anonymous short video began circulating on the internet.
The image is blurry, and the background is grayish-white.
A voice whispered:
If someone tells you the truth, just doubt it.
Please remember,
First, doubt that voice.
End credits:
The Ashes Chronicler (Unfinished)
Uploader: Human_Backup_Y302
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Chapter Eight - The End
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