"A square face, not particularly fair-skinned, and a rather small frame," Cheng Shuangxin recalled carefully. "If there's anything special about him, it's that... he doesn't take side jobs?"
"Not taking side jobs is a special trait?" Zhang Chenyin and 0810 exchanged glances, both clearly puzzled.
"You know how the merit points from this job barely cover living expenses," Cheng Shuangxin scratched his head awkwardly. "I have a family and children to support, so to make ends meet, I take on other side jobs after work. Most people do the same, running errands, delivering things, just to earn some extra money."
"He never takes side jobs?" Zhang Chenyin asked. "And he isn't married? No girlfriend?"
"No, none of that. He's always alone. Forget a girlfriend, he doesn't even have a virtual pet," Cheng Shuangxin shook his head. "As for side jobs, some of us were curious and thought he might have another source of income. We found out that he simply starves. When he has money, he eats; when he doesn't, he goes hungry."
0810 added, "I've investigated his family background. His parents' merit points were just enough for one underground city spot, leaving him with very little to live on."
"You said you were sure you didn't see wrong, that he and his duplicate appeared before you at the same time?" Zhang Chenyin asked again to confirm.
"Yes, I'm sure!" Cheng Shuangxin nodded firmly. "Although we use the same template for avatars and wear the same uniforms, the glowing codes on our chests are different. Each person's code is fixed and unique. He probably didn't expect me to see them. Two identical people stood in front of me for a long time, completely identical from head to toe."
Zhang Chenyin glanced at the code on Cheng Shuangxin's chest. It was only a three-digit number, printed large and glowing. It was ugly, but impossible to ignore, making it hard to overlook.
At the same time, Zhang Chenyin knew this code was automatically generated by the system, and they had no authority to change it.
"They didn't attack you after being discovered? No other actions?" Zhang Chenyin asked. Usually, in such cases, they would do something to cover it up.
"No," Cheng Shuangxin replied honestly. "If they had, I wouldn't be sitting here talking to you. 017 told his identical duplicate to leave immediately, and it logged out and disappeared. When I approached and asked him, he insisted I was mistaken and ignored me, but I'm sure I wasn't wrong."
"That duplicate was so obedient?" This surprised Zhang Chenyin. He had thought a duplicate's appearance would lead to something like killing the original and taking its place.
However, from Cheng Shuangxin's description, it seemed the duplicate ID appeared just to appear.
"Yes, when I investigated after hearing the description, I also saw the duplicate talking to 017. They seemed to get along well," 0810 added. "But when I tried to collect evidence, the duplicate disappeared. No matter how much I asked 017, he denied the duplicate's existence. I also had him physically examined in the real world, confirming he was the original."
"Seeing someone identical to himself appear, wouldn't he feel scared? Why choose to cover it up?" Zhang Chenyin didn't understand. At least his first reaction would be to find a way to eliminate the duplicate.
"Well... I did put myself in his shoes," Cheng Shuangxin suddenly spoke. "Imagine if you're ordinary and lonely, with nothing to gain, barely making enough merit points to survive. Then, suddenly, someone identical to you appears, helping you with daily tasks, obeying you. Would you reject such a duplicate?"
This time, it was Zhang Chenyin's turn to be silent.
Yes, would he reject it?
Would a lonely person, someone with nothing, reject a compliant, labor-sharing duplicate?
"Actually, for people like us, sometimes it gets really lonely," Cheng Shuangxin tried to smile, but perhaps due to his cheap avatar, it looked awkward and helpless. "Of course, the loneliness I'm talking about isn't about having no one around. I'm not extremely antisocial; I join gatherings occasionally, but still feel lonely. Honestly, it feels like I don't fit in with this world, whether real or virtual. The world doesn't need me; my presence doesn't matter."
"It does matter," Zhang Chenyin blurted out. "Everyone has a purpose, whether in the virtual or real world. You have your job, your contributions, your merit points prove it."
Yes, merit points weren't just currency or an economic system. They were a reminder, reminding humanity of their existence's value, their contributions, and efforts.
"Merit points?" Cheng Shuangxin murmured with his head down. "But what can my pitiful merit points do? My so-called job can be replaced by anyone, by AI in the virtual world, by robots in the real world... They could do it better than I can."
Cheng Shuangxin analyzed himself thoroughly, as if wielding a sharp knife to dissect himself inside out, observing coolly from a third-person perspective, without mercy.
Zhang Chenyin and 0810 exchanged glances, unsure how to respond. They knew, from an objective viewpoint, that Cheng Shuangxin was right. Even if Zhang Chenyin disagreed internally, he couldn't think of a better argument to convince 0810.
"If, just if..." Cheng Shuangxin spoke cautiously, "if another 'me' could be with the current me, maybe it would be a comfort, a companion."
Hearing this, Zhang Chenyin and 0810 both turned serious, simultaneously entertaining a terrifying and absurd suspicion—could many people be thinking this way? Could duplicates have already spread?
"If you encountered such a situation, would you report it?" 0810 asked, then emphasized, "I mean you personally, or your colleague in your shoes."
Cheng Shuangxin thought for a moment, then shook his head, "If the duplicate didn't harm me, helped me, and obeyed me, I wouldn't report it."
He added timidly, "And I'd be extra careful not to be discovered, treating it as my little secret."
Hearing this, Zhang Chenyin and 0810 felt a chill. They could only hope their suspicion was wrong, or the investigation would be incredibly difficult.
Because in any investigation, the biggest obstacle was always—key participants not cooperating.
The conversation ended there. More information couldn't be gleaned through simple questioning.
Before parting, Zhang Chenyin thanked Cheng Shuangxin, "Without your report and cooperation, this might have stayed hidden much longer."
Standing in front of the café, looking at the hazy street view, Cheng Shuangxin paused mid-step, then turned back, "Actually, I'm jealous. I'm jealous that it happened to him."
With that, he left without looking back.
Watching Cheng Shuangxin's retreating figure, Zhang Chenyin sensed a contradiction—he was timid and self-deprecating, yet sometimes bold and crazy.
"Is this humanity?" 0810 asked out of nowhere.
"Yes, this is humanity," Zhang Chenyin understood what 0810 was asking.
On their way back, the two chose to walk, understanding each other perfectly. In the digital world, with enough merit points, you could choose any form of transportation for convenience, efficiency, or coolness.
Of course, choosing to walk usually meant having too much free time.
But in this era, "free time" itself was a luxury.
Especially for humans, time was incredibly precious. Even Zhang Chenyin often lamented, wishing for 48-hour days.
Yet now, he chose to walk, a time-consuming method, because he needed to observe and think.
"No conspiracy reveals itself at the start saying—'I'm a conspiracy,'" Zhang Chenyin muttered. "They usually appear in a confusing and numbing way, making you feel comfortable, then slowly devour you until revealing their true nature, swallowing you whole."
"That's you, and that's why conspiracies won't target you," 0810 stated plainly.
"What do you mean?" Zhang Chenyin looked at 0810. The girl's expression was still cold, her tone devoid of warmth.
"If you encountered a duplicate, what would you do?" 0810 countered.
"First, I'd reject it, then find a way to eliminate it," Zhang Chenyin answered without hesitation. It was his instinctive reaction, his most honest response.
"What if the duplicate could help you, accompany you, and obey you? Would you still do that?" 0810 pressed.
"It's just a shell that looks like me, and probably only exists in the digital world. How could it help me? My brain, my experience, my emotions... what could it duplicate? If I feel lonely or troubled, I can talk to friends, to my mother. The more it obeys, the more I'd suspect something's wrong, and want to get rid of it faster," Zhang Chenyin found it laughable.
0810 nodded, "Yes, that's you. But you can't represent humanity as a whole. The diversity of humans means unpredictability. No one can fully grasp another's thoughts, just like we didn't expect Cheng Shuangxin's final words—his report was out of jealousy."
Hearing this, Zhang Chenyin fell silent. He stopped walking, leaning against a wall, watching the passing avatars and AIs, feeling the digital world was incredibly empty for the first time.
He once saw this place as another human territory, newly conquered land. But now, looking at it all, it felt unfamiliar.
This was City R, the City R he created, his proud work.
The avatars and AIs moved swiftly, with various transportation means. Sometimes he only saw a blur. Not everyone had the time to pause like he and 0810 did. He could use his position to inspect and make them stop, but thinking it over, it wasn't necessary.
Such an inspection would take forever.
"We need to find a way to confirm if there are other... victims." Saying the last three words, Zhang Chenyin hesitated, feeling "victim" was inaccurate.
Some people would hope to become victims, seeing it as a reward, not a punishment.
They wouldn't consider much, or rather, they didn't need to.
"Find patterns," 0810 suggested, then frowned slightly, "But the area is vast. Investigating so many people requires significant time and effort..."
"You're wrong. Our first step is to confirm," Zhang Chenyin corrected, "Confirm the scope, check if other letter cities have similar issues, see if there's a corresponding reflection in the physical world. We don't need many samples, even one or two will do."
He pulled his hand from his pocket, sighing deeply, "If it's already spread, resolving each case is unrealistic. We need to address the source. But... where is the source?"
He felt so frustrated he wanted to turn on the weather system and make it rain to clear his mind.
Seeing Zhang Chenyin's low spirits, 0810 suddenly asked, "Want to hear some good news?"
"Good news?" Zhang Chenyin looked up sharply, desperately needing good news.
"The concert has been delayed due to some uncontrollable factors. If you go now, you might still catch it," 0810 looked at him. "Want to go? A celebration."
The contrast of 0810's icy demeanor saying "celebration" was striking. Zhang Chenyin almost felt she was talking about a deathmatch instead of a concert.
"Go! Definitely!" Zhang Chenyin nodded vigorously.
He hadn't planned on attending, but he needed to adjust his mood now.
This was the underground city's way of life—there was no perpetual sadness.