DPM Chapter 15-Tricky Problem Part 1
Translated by Snowfall77
Fully awake after Ai Lan’s words, Wu Xingyun got up in a single, smooth movement. Darkness blanketed the platform, with only a cold wind hunting, as everyone slept. No one standing guard.
After all, in their situation, a sentry was meaningless.
Wu Xingyun leaned towards Ai Lan. “Tell me. What’s going on? Why do you think there’s a problem?”
Scratching his head, Ai Lan flipped through the record again. “I’m not exactly sure. But, you know, in ancient psychology, they had something called a ‘Freudian slip.’ Meaning the speaker makes verbal mistakes that reveals an unconscious facet of the speaker’s mind or heart.”
“No, I don’t know.” Wu Xingyun shook his head.
Ai Lan regarded Wu Xingyun exasperatedly. “Did you sleep through middle school?”
“My middle school teacher didn’t talk about this,” Wu Xingyun replied. “Only talked about professional integrity and history of psychology. I didn’t learn it that well, and barely passed.”
Ai Lan’s opinion of Wu Xingyun’s intelligence suffered another devasting blow.
After a brief pause, Ai Lan continued: “No wonder you’re only a non-commissioned officer…Never mind, let’s keep it simple. An ancient psychologist called Freud came to the conclusion that from people’s verbal or written errors, you can get a glimpse at their innermost thoughts.”
Ai Lan pointed at a passage in the record. “Here, I noticed you were recording live. And here there are three oral errors. I did analysis and they have to do with confidential Federal information. And then here, his word associations are wrong, indicting a state of extreme, abnormal delusion, and…This…” The psychologist continued listing concerning areas, until a little puzzled, Ai Lan asked Wu Xingyun: “This place, instead of writing ‘Night Shard,’ you wrote ‘Night Star.’ You…that’s awfully strange. What does ‘Night Star’ mean to you?”
Waving a hand, Wu Xingyun said: “That’s not important. You believe there’s a serious problem with Ouyang Liu, but we have no evidence and not much we can do about him. How should we deal with this?”
“Well,” Ai Lan mused for a moment, “If you agree to it, I’ll hypnotize him…”
Startled, Wu Xingyun exclaimed: “Isn’t that against the rules?”
Ai Lan considered the record he was holding, then looked at Wu Xingyun and took out a piece of paper. Federal documents rarely used actual paper, relying instead on electronic chronicling. Unless it was a major decision and needed to be physically signed.
Holding the paper in front of Wu Xingyun, Ai Lan indicated a line saying ‘Authorization for Hypnosis-Captain Ouyang Liu.’ Tapping on the line, Ai Lan said: “So…I need you to sign here. Wait a minute, I need you to keep a record too.”
Staring at the old pencil shoved into his hand, Wu Xingyun was stunned. Within the Federation, hypnosis was considered immoral. In the past, unethical psychologists had used drugs to assist in hypnotizing people, leaving the victims with serious mental complications. Therefore, only under special circumstances was hypnosis permissible. Wu Xingyun felt that, at his rank, he simply wasn’t qualified to sign an authorization.
If Wu Xingyun signed the paper, who knew what the future consequences would be?
On the other hand, they needed to know for sure one way or other about Ouyang Liu’s potential treason.
Feeling embarrassed, Wu Xingyun looked around for someone, anyone, to help him. But there was no one. Wu Xingyun sighed. He was used to following orders, not making the big decisions.
Then Ai Lan dealt the fatal blow. “This is in order to maintain the security of the Federation. Sergeant, you can’t sacrifice yourself? Even if you have to take responsibility, it’s better than letting Ouyang Liu’s treason irreparably damage the Federation.”
Gritting his teeth, Wu Xingyun signed the paper.
Taking the authorization, Ai Lan radiated delight, saying: “Great! I studied hypnosis for a long time, and now I finally get to use my skills for the first time!”
That woke Wu Xingyun up, but it was too late for him to take the signature back. Obviously though, Ai Lan didn’t care all that much about Ouyang Liu’s loyalties, being far too full of glee over the prospect of practicing hypnosis without consequences.
Wu Xingyun’s regret was useless, though, he’d already put pencil to paper. All he could do now was brace himself.
Wu Xingyun grabbed his gun, but decided against wearing a combat suit. Didn’t want to tip their hands to Ouyang Liu.
After waking up Lu Hai, the three men entered the tent where they’d left Ouyang Liu.
Gracefully reclined, Ouyang Liu was sleeping quite elegantly.
Wu Xingyun strode over and roused the sleeping beauty.
Confused, Ouyang Liu peered at Wu Xingyun unhappily. “Why are you disturbing my sleep? Is this how you treat your superior officers?!”
Faithfully saluting, Wu Xingyun replied: “Report. Captain, according the record and our review of it, it is suspected that you have committed treason. This is an urgent matter. We have decided to implement hypnosis in order to investigate. All results will be recorded. We hope for your cooperation.”
Disbelieving, Ouyang Liu sputtered: “What? What are you talking about? Accuse me of treason? That’s slander! Sergeant, how dare you libel your superior? I’ve already tolerated your interrogation during the day. Now you want to hypnotize me. I don’t think so. You’re just a low-class peon, you……”
Wu Xingyun saluted again. “I apologize. I was given a presidential decree before I left, thus I have the temporary authority to decide this. Please cooperate and sign your consent, so that we can proceed legally.”
Ouyang Liu shouted: “Legally? Think again, Wu Xingyun! You dare do this to me…” The sentence trailed off unfinished, Ouyang Liu suddenly preoccupied with a cold thing pressed up against his head.
Having been in the army for a long time, Ouyang Liu knew exactly what it was. A MK 23 semi-automatic pistol.
Ouyang Liu squinted at Wu Xingyun, seeing a unquestionably resolute expression on that young face.
""
“We hope you will sign and cooperate with our investigation.” Wu Xingyun reiterated.
Waves of unquenchable indignation roiled through Ouyang Liu, not believing that Wu Xingyun would actually dare to shoot.
But then the sound of Wu Xingyun clicking the safety off sounded in Ouyang Liu’s ear.
Ouyang Liu’s bravado deflated, leaving him empty. Consent to the hypnosis and what he’d done would be exposed. Yet if he didn’t agree to it, he’d be on the receiving end of nastiness even sooner.
His inner scale wobbled up and down, until finally Ouyang Liu came to a decision. He should be consistent. Not fight when the odds were against him, and just comfort himself with his superiority.
With the growing conviction that Wu Xingyun would gladly blow his head off, Ouyang Liu’s hand sloppily took the pen Lu Hai extended and wrote his authorization.
Wu Xingyun promptly put away his gun, and started with the standard procedures, turning on the recording machine.
With a glance at Ouyang Liu’s signature, Wu Xingyun said: “Captain Ouyang Liu, on behalf of the Federation, you will be investigated for your recent strange behavior. There is suspicion of treason. Are you willing to accept the investigation?”
Perceiving the situation he was in, Ouyang Liu hung his head dejectedly. “I am willing…”
Wu Xingyun continued. “During the investigation, in order to ensure honesty, the team psychologist Ai Lan will use hypnosis. You have consented?”
Raising his head sharply and staring at Wu Xingyun for a moment, then wilting again, Ouyang Liu agreed. “I voluntarily consent.”
“The entire investigation will be recorded, and the documentation sent back to the Federation.” Wu Xingyun plowed on. “If you have any future objections or questions, you may defend yourself in the military court. The hypnosis will now begin.”
Acting as witnesses, Lu Hai and Wu Xingyun stood behind Ai Lan, as the psychologist started his newest hypnotic experiment.
At the beginning, Ouyang Liu’s mind fought, but eventually he crumbled to Ai Lan’s high level of soothing persuasion. After three or five rounds, Ouyang Liu’s subconscious resistance gave way utterly and he started spilling everything.
“Yes…I was in the meteor flow, Master Mozun saved me.”
“He took me to his planet and said he’d accept me if I had worthy gifts for him.”
“After three days, I decided I didn’t need to go back to the Federation. I would sell out Marshal Shi Fei, give him to Master Mozun.”
I know that in ten days, the Marshal will be patrolling the border. My father conferred on the route and sealed the map. I also know the route, and I gave it to the Night Shard. It’s best if the Marshal dies. If not, it can be said he colluded with the Demon army and they let him go. That would make him fall from grace.”
“And…Map of military bases in the Federation…”
“And…the line of thinking of the A-level staff I had access to…”
“Well…Federation natural resources…I drew maps of that for Master Mozun.”
“I offered my body to him…”
Wu Xingyun felt a sudden burst of nausea. He didn’t want to see Mozun ever again, but he didn’t anticipate Ouyang Liu’s next dim muttering: “But, the Master wouldn’t have me…I don’t know why. It’s only a matter of time.”
“Of course I didn’t tell him everything. There’s a big secret. He always wanted it. But I won’t give it to him easily. Maybe when we’re married, if there’s satisfaction, I might tell him then. What he wants most. My ace in the hole.”
“I can’t say the big secret. Can’t say it to anyone…Except for Master Mozun.”
DPM Chapter 15-Tricky Problem Part 1
Translated by Snowfall77
Fully awake after Ai Lan’s words, Wu Xingyun got up in a single, smooth movement. Darkness blanketed the platform, with only a cold wind hunting, as everyone slept. No one standing guard.
After all, in their situation, a sentry was meaningless.
Wu Xingyun leaned towards Ai Lan. “Tell me. What’s going on? Why do you think there’s a problem?”
Scratching his head, Ai Lan flipped through the record again. “I’m not exactly sure. But, you know, in ancient psychology, they had something called a ‘Freudian slip.’ Meaning the speaker makes verbal mistakes that reveals an unconscious facet of the speaker’s mind or heart.”
“No, I don’t know.” Wu Xingyun shook his head.
Ai Lan regarded Wu Xingyun exasperatedly. “Did you sleep through middle school?”
“My middle school teacher didn’t talk about this,” Wu Xingyun replied. “Only talked about professional integrity and history of psychology. I didn’t learn it that well, and barely passed.”
Ai Lan’s opinion of Wu Xingyun’s intelligence suffered another devasting blow.
After a brief pause, Ai Lan continued: “No wonder you’re only a non-commissioned officer…Never mind, let’s keep it simple. An ancient psychologist called Freud came to the conclusion that from people’s verbal or written errors, you can get a glimpse at their innermost thoughts.”
Ai Lan pointed at a passage in the record. “Here, I noticed you were recording live. And here there are three oral errors. I did analysis and they have to do with confidential Federal information. And then here, his word associations are wrong, indicting a state of extreme, abnormal delusion, and…This…” The psychologist continued listing concerning areas, until a little puzzled, Ai Lan asked Wu Xingyun: “This place, instead of writing ‘Night Shard,’ you wrote ‘Night Star.’ You…that’s awfully strange. What does ‘Night Star’ mean to you?”
Waving a hand, Wu Xingyun said: “That’s not important. You believe there’s a serious problem with Ouyang Liu, but we have no evidence and not much we can do about him. How should we deal with this?”
“Well,” Ai Lan mused for a moment, “If you agree to it, I’ll hypnotize him…”
Startled, Wu Xingyun exclaimed: “Isn’t that against the rules?”
Ai Lan considered the record he was holding, then looked at Wu Xingyun and took out a piece of paper. Federal documents rarely used actual paper, relying instead on electronic chronicling. Unless it was a major decision and needed to be physically signed.
Holding the paper in front of Wu Xingyun, Ai Lan indicated a line saying ‘Authorization for Hypnosis-Captain Ouyang Liu.’ Tapping on the line, Ai Lan said: “So…I need you to sign here. Wait a minute, I need you to keep a record too.”
Staring at the old pencil shoved into his hand, Wu Xingyun was stunned. Within the Federation, hypnosis was considered immoral. In the past, unethical psychologists had used drugs to assist in hypnotizing people, leaving the victims with serious mental complications. Therefore, only under special circumstances was hypnosis permissible. Wu Xingyun felt that, at his rank, he simply wasn’t qualified to sign an authorization.
If Wu Xingyun signed the paper, who knew what the future consequences would be?
On the other hand, they needed to know for sure one way or other about Ouyang Liu’s potential treason.
Feeling embarrassed, Wu Xingyun looked around for someone, anyone, to help him. But there was no one. Wu Xingyun sighed. He was used to following orders, not making the big decisions.
Then Ai Lan dealt the fatal blow. “This is in order to maintain the security of the Federation. Sergeant, you can’t sacrifice yourself? Even if you have to take responsibility, it’s better than letting Ouyang Liu’s treason irreparably damage the Federation.”
Gritting his teeth, Wu Xingyun signed the paper.
Taking the authorization, Ai Lan radiated delight, saying: “Great! I studied hypnosis for a long time, and now I finally get to use my skills for the first time!”
That woke Wu Xingyun up, but it was too late for him to take the signature back. Obviously though, Ai Lan didn’t care all that much about Ouyang Liu’s loyalties, being far too full of glee over the prospect of practicing hypnosis without consequences.
Wu Xingyun’s regret was useless, though, he’d already put pencil to paper. All he could do now was brace himself.
Wu Xingyun grabbed his gun, but decided against wearing a combat suit. Didn’t want to tip their hands to Ouyang Liu.
After waking up Lu Hai, the three men entered the tent where they’d left Ouyang Liu.
Gracefully reclined, Ouyang Liu was sleeping quite elegantly.
Wu Xingyun strode over and roused the sleeping beauty.
Confused, Ouyang Liu peered at Wu Xingyun unhappily. “Why are you disturbing my sleep? Is this how you treat your superior officers?!”
Faithfully saluting, Wu Xingyun replied: “Report. Captain, according the record and our review of it, it is suspected that you have committed treason. This is an urgent matter. We have decided to implement hypnosis in order to investigate. All results will be recorded. We hope for your cooperation.”
Disbelieving, Ouyang Liu sputtered: “What? What are you talking about? Accuse me of treason? That’s slander! Sergeant, how dare you libel your superior? I’ve already tolerated your interrogation during the day. Now you want to hypnotize me. I don’t think so. You’re just a low-class peon, you……”
Wu Xingyun saluted again. “I apologize. I was given a presidential decree before I left, thus I have the temporary authority to decide this. Please cooperate and sign your consent, so that we can proceed legally.”
Ouyang Liu shouted: “Legally? Think again, Wu Xingyun! You dare do this to me…” The sentence trailed off unfinished, Ouyang Liu suddenly preoccupied with a cold thing pressed up against his head.
Having been in the army for a long time, Ouyang Liu knew exactly what it was. A MK 23 semi-automatic pistol.
Ouyang Liu squinted at Wu Xingyun, seeing a unquestionably resolute expression on that young face.
""
“We hope you will sign and cooperate with our investigation.” Wu Xingyun reiterated.
Waves of unquenchable indignation roiled through Ouyang Liu, not believing that Wu Xingyun would actually dare to shoot.
But then the sound of Wu Xingyun clicking the safety off sounded in Ouyang Liu’s ear.
Ouyang Liu’s bravado deflated, leaving him empty. Consent to the hypnosis and what he’d done would be exposed. Yet if he didn’t agree to it, he’d be on the receiving end of nastiness even sooner.
His inner scale wobbled up and down, until finally Ouyang Liu came to a decision. He should be consistent. Not fight when the odds were against him, and just comfort himself with his superiority.
With the growing conviction that Wu Xingyun would gladly blow his head off, Ouyang Liu’s hand sloppily took the pen Lu Hai extended and wrote his authorization.
Wu Xingyun promptly put away his gun, and started with the standard procedures, turning on the recording machine.
With a glance at Ouyang Liu’s signature, Wu Xingyun said: “Captain Ouyang Liu, on behalf of the Federation, you will be investigated for your recent strange behavior. There is suspicion of treason. Are you willing to accept the investigation?”
Perceiving the situation he was in, Ouyang Liu hung his head dejectedly. “I am willing…”
Wu Xingyun continued. “During the investigation, in order to ensure honesty, the team psychologist Ai Lan will use hypnosis. You have consented?”
Raising his head sharply and staring at Wu Xingyun for a moment, then wilting again, Ouyang Liu agreed. “I voluntarily consent.”
“The entire investigation will be recorded, and the documentation sent back to the Federation.” Wu Xingyun plowed on. “If you have any future objections or questions, you may defend yourself in the military court. The hypnosis will now begin.”
Acting as witnesses, Lu Hai and Wu Xingyun stood behind Ai Lan, as the psychologist started his newest hypnotic experiment.
At the beginning, Ouyang Liu’s mind fought, but eventually he crumbled to Ai Lan’s high level of soothing persuasion. After three or five rounds, Ouyang Liu’s subconscious resistance gave way utterly and he started spilling everything.
“Yes…I was in the meteor flow, Master Mozun saved me.”
“He took me to his planet and said he’d accept me if I had worthy gifts for him.”
“After three days, I decided I didn’t need to go back to the Federation. I would sell out Marshal Shi Fei, give him to Master Mozun.”
I know that in ten days, the Marshal will be patrolling the border. My father conferred on the route and sealed the map. I also know the route, and I gave it to the Night Shard. It’s best if the Marshal dies. If not, it can be said he colluded with the Demon army and they let him go. That would make him fall from grace.”
“And…Map of military bases in the Federation…”
“And…the line of thinking of the A-level staff I had access to…”
“Well…Federation natural resources…I drew maps of that for Master Mozun.”
“I offered my body to him…”
Wu Xingyun felt a sudden burst of nausea. He didn’t want to see Mozun ever again, but he didn’t anticipate Ouyang Liu’s next dim muttering: “But, the Master wouldn’t have me…I don’t know why. It’s only a matter of time.”
“Of course I didn’t tell him everything. There’s a big secret. He always wanted it. But I won’t give it to him easily. Maybe when we’re married, if there’s satisfaction, I might tell him then. What he wants most. My ace in the hole.”
“I can’t say the big secret. Can’t say it to anyone…Except for Master Mozun.”
