Latent Syndrome

Chapter 3 3. The night before

The location was chosen in a place that Colin did not expect. He thought it would be in a police station or some other more rigorous office space.

Unexpectedly, I chose a nearby pub.

Perhaps because of the economic depression, there are too many destitute people in Los Angeles. These low-cost places with sports channels on TV and purely for drinking and playing poker are becoming more and more popular.

Due to the rain, there were only a few scattered people in the pub. The industrial style decoration, exposed exhaust pipes and retro bricks made the pub look a bit rough.

Colin thought that women would choose fruit wine or non-alcoholic cold drinks when visiting a place like this.

When the waiter asked,

"Bourbon, bourbon."

Gray put her suitcase on the table and sat on the bench only half way, sitting in an extremely standard posture, like a sergeant after rigorous training.

The waiter was not surprised when he heard this rather tough guy's answer. He had never seen a woman with such a sense of oppression. If she made her unhappy, the consequences would never be good. She did exude such a temperament.

However, Colin drank before going to the police station, and now he was a little drunk, so he just ordered a large glass of draft beer.

"You must find it very strange. I guess you have searched for reports about the female corpse, but found nothing."

Gray opened the suitcase, which contained some document bags and disassembled large gun components. However, Colin did not recognize it. These metal parts had no relationship with firearms at all.

After taking out a piece of information, she closed the suitcase.

"Of course, no one can remain calm after going through that kind of thing. It's like making a B-movie."

Colin tried using the search engine to search for all the key words, but still couldn't see any news. The news must have been blocked, and there was some secret in it.

“What I’m about to say next may sound like fantasy, but it will be helpful in your situation.”

"Please listen carefully because this is complicated and subversive."

"The cause of death of the female corpse was determined to be latent abyss disease, which is a mental illness, or a... supernatural curse."

"Have you read Jacques Lacan?"

Gray drank no less than a hundred milliliters of bourbon in the glass without making any move, as if he just drank a glass of water.

Whether it was Gray's drinking capacity or the so-called latent syndrome, Colin was confused.

"No, I've never even heard of that name."

Colin took out a cigarette, put it in his mouth, and lit it with a cheap disposable plastic lighter.

"He is a relatively influential scholar, and some of his ideas regarding the pathology of latent syndrome will be involved."

"In these arguments, people are in three worlds at the same time: the imaginary world, the symbolic world, and the real world."

"In fact, people are unable to recognize the real world. All sensory experiences are only neural feedback and independent supplements of the brain, rather than the things themselves. People cannot be sure whether the object conforms to their own observations, or even detect its authenticity. They can never witness things. The whole picture, or exaggerating things, this world filtered by personal consciousness, a world unknown to outsiders, is called the imaginary world.”

"As for the symbolic world, you can first understand it as Jung's collective subconscious. It is the human universal spirit accumulated in the deepest psychological level by countless experiences of the same type retained by inheritance, but it is also different, and it also combines the universal values ​​of the current era. , common sense, authority. Everyone has been transitioning from the imaginary world to the symbolic world since they were babies. Different transitional environments have created all kinds of people. Some people are integrated into the symbolic world and become part of symbols or rules, while others are Those who believe that there are too many flaws in the symbolic world, or are dissatisfied with it and need to change it, will lead the times, or become marginalized people isolated by society.”

Gray felt a little thirsty as he spoke, so he ordered another glass of bourbon and drank it down in one gulp.

"Then what is the real world?"

Colin felt that it was unbelievable to hear two people talking about the same thing in one day. This girl who was tougher than a tough guy had both civil and military skills.

"The real world is... the real world. Kant calls it the thing in itself. Language is powerless in front of this world. It is something that transcends matter and spirit. Even if I try to explain it to you, it is just a I am self-righteous, naming and defining based on my experience in the imaginary world. Each name has its own naming rules. It is meaningless to apply the rules infinitely. You can understand it in a popular way as grams. The Sulu-style indescribable nature, our understanding ability will only fall into endless confusion when faced with this nature that is completely free of scarcity.”

Gray looked solemn, and the information in her hand was Colin's investigation report.

"I guess I understand. It's an interesting point of view, but I don't understand how this is related to the female corpse and the underlying disease she was infected with."

Colin finished smoking one cigarette and lit another. He began to doubt the real purpose of Gray's trip. Her behavior did not seem like she was investigating a case, but her target was herself.

This made Colin a little afraid, not knowing what she wanted from him.

"I said, this will exceed your cognitive scope. Latent Abyss Disease is a... mysterious force. We don't know its source or treatment method."

"This cannot be explained in a few words, but we have learned about its susceptible groups and certain principles."

"If one's personal thoughts are derailed from the symbolic world, the immunity to latent disease will decrease."

“Those who are integrated with the symbolic world, these individuals are embedded in civilization and cannot be easily invaded.”

“But people who are out of touch with the mainstream world have weak defenses and are easily infected.”

"Abyssal syndrome is a mental illness that causes people to fall into the real world, penetrate into and enter the indescribable real world, just like slowly falling into the abyss, so it is so named. Due to differences in individual mental qualities, Most people infected with latent disease die."

"Just like your female neighbor, she couldn't withstand the impact of the unknown. She was mentally confused and died violently after a mutation occurred."

Gray looked at Colin indifferently, making Colin feel a little hairy.

"What are you telling me all this for?"

Colin didn't want to make any more detours and went straight to the point.

"Have you had a headache, confusion, or increased appetite recently?"

Gray put her hand on her waist, ready to pull out her pistol and give Colin a fatal blow at any time. The police station is a relatively sacred place. Subject to the spirit of Montesquieu's theory of law, killing people at will will tarnish its essence, so there is no Choose to talk there.

If you choose a remote place, it will definitely arouse Colin's vigilance and suspicion.

But this is different. It can be interpreted as the police detectives leading out the perverted child molestation murderer and killing him in self-defense. All the customers and clerks in the tavern are witnesses, because they hold the certificates and have the final right of interpretation.

"how do you know?"

Colin did have these feelings, and they were getting worse.

"We discovered something interesting as we investigated your neighbor's background and source of infection."

"She is a serial killer on the run. She will choose people with simple interpersonal relationships to commit crimes. People who live in a single apartment and have no friends are good targets for committing crimes, such as you."

"She used that drill hole to spy on your daily routine in order to take action. Unexpectedly, she met you, Colin."

"She was infected when she came into contact with you. It was you who infected her and caused her to die suddenly. You are the dangerous person."

"Generally speaking, people infected with latent disease will die within a short period of time, but those with strong mental qualities who can survive can acquire supernatural special abilities."

"After these people gain abilities, their temperaments often change drastically. They are manipulated by their subconscious and invisible obsessions in the imagination, and choose to commit crimes because they go against mainstream society."

Gray's face was expressionless, and her expression became increasingly cold.

At the same time, Colin also saw her unzip her jacket, quietly take out an exaggerated large-caliber pistol from her waist, hide the pistol in her clothes, and aim the gun at Colin's head.

"I'm going to do some tests on you and ask some questions to determine your controllability. You have to answer them seriously. I can blow your head off at any time."

Gray pulled the bolt of the gun and loaded the bullet without any intention of joking.

This crisp sound penetrated Colin's body like a thunderbolt.

"You must have made a mistake..."

Colin had never been pointed at a gun before. A drop of cold sweat broke out on his forehead. The strong sense of crisis and the intense tension of life and death made his blood surge.

Controllability? Will you be killed if you answer wrong?

But answer the question? Is there a correct answer to that kind of thing?

I will die here.

This psychological suggestion is transmitted deep into the subconscious mind.

Suddenly, his life was threatened, and his neural network was like a bomb, stimulating some of his potential.

He only felt a strong electric current spreading rapidly throughout his body. His body was out of control and controlled by another kind of consciousness, the subconscious that burst out from deep inside his heart.

Click, click, click...

The bones all over Colin's body made a crackling sound like fried beans, and his limbs began to twist in an extremely weird posture. The skeleton of his body was growing rapidly, as if some monster in his body was about to break out of his body, and his skin was stretched open. , the horrifying white bones are exposed, and exaggerated blood overflows.

Gray's single eye flashed with a cold light, and he knew that things would not develop so smoothly. It was very difficult for the infected to deal with the infected. If it were not for the lack of comprehensive strength, he would not have made such a move.

No longer caring whether she was exposed or not, she took out her pistol and shot Colin three times in the head. The caliber of this pistol was comparable to that of a rifle, and ordinary people could not withstand such a huge recoil.

boom!

boom!

boom!

A deadly tongue of flame burst out from the pitch-black muzzle, and all three bullets hit accurately. The power was so frightening that Colin's head exploded, breaking into several pieces of flesh, with red and white objects flying everywhere.

"Everyone leave quickly, if you don't want to die."

Gray's stern face remained unchanged.

However, in such a terrifying battle, without Gray's reminder, the people in the tavern ran away and left through the fire escape or the entrance of the tavern.

The strange thing is.

Colin without a head is still able to move. His body and consciousness transcend the material and spiritual worlds and cannot be imagined by common sense. Patients with latent abyss syndrome are extremely difficult to kill precisely because they have no vital points and must be completely killed to ashes. Destroy it.

The violent Colin's neck was splashed with blood plasma, and the bones of one hand deformed and proliferated into a sickle that shone with cold light.

This kind of scene can scare any mature adult to tears. Now Colin's image is completely like a terrifying monster in a plasma film.

Gray remained unmoved. He opened the suitcase and quickly assembled the large firearm. He was incredibly fast and completed the assembly in almost two seconds.

Colin had already rushed over at this time. He went crazy and chopped all the tables, chairs and furnishings along the way to pieces. The sharp sickle could split a person in half in an instant.

Gray moved faster, loaded a special ammunition into the sniper, and then pulled the trigger.

pound!

There was a loud bang, and the sound alone shattered all the glass in the tavern.

Colin was directly blasted away by this terrifying power, half of his body exploded into blood mist, and the remaining half flew backwards, smashed into the wall and was embedded in it, burning with blazing blue flames.

This kind of flame was so strange that it did not turn into charcoal after burning, but turned Colin into ashes that dispersed at the touch of a touch.

The chest cavity of Colin's monster body emitted an extremely shrill cry, mixed with a hoarse scream like a beast's howl.

The firelight reflected Gray's emotionless face. This kind of movement was like a daily occurrence to her, and she only took a few shots to prevent Colin from pretending to be a corpse.

After burning for nearly half a minute, Colin was not even left with any residue, and he was too dead to die.

Gray's face was expressionless, and she took out her mobile phone, pointing her fingers quickly, typing and sending text messages.

[Number S-2 has been killed. 】