Thanks to the advent of flying cars, Li Haojun and Lily met at the Kalispell airport this time. However, Lily didn't arrive in her vintage plane as she had previously; she took a public transit flight.
Li Haojun waited in his car outside the airport lobby. From a distance, he saw her walk out the front door. Glancing around, he spotted Li Haojun in his car and approaching.
Li Haojun marveled at her keen vision as he admired her approaching in her high heels. Today, she wore dark purple leggings. With each step, her thigh muscles trembled with the ground's reaction force, as if the rhythmic ripples had drifted into Li Haojun's heart.
Lily wore a raw linen, off-shoulder cropped T-shirt. The loose collar fluttered in the wind, creating a sharp contrast with her muscular waist, adding a touch of strength to her soft beauty. Her long blond hair was parted into a tight, sleek fishtail braid. Dark butterfly sunglasses obscured her gaze, but her fiery red lips radiated a radiant energy.
"Is this your new car? It's quite nice," Lily asked Li Haojun, leaning over and holding onto the roof.
"Yes," Li Haojun agreed, suddenly feeling a bit like driving a luxury car with a call girl. Then, thinking Lily also enjoyed and was adept at operating these machines, why not let her try? She asked, "Would you like to give it a try?" as she opened the door and stepped out of the driver's seat.
"Really? Sure."
Lily was a little surprised at first, but when Li Haojun offered to give up the driver's seat, she happily swapped places with him.
Lily first removed her high heels and threw them in the back seat. Then, barefoot, she pressed the brake pedal, fastened her seatbelt, and started the engine. Li Haojun even asked, "Will this cut my feet?"
"It's okay," he said, without even setting up the navigation. He simply checked the basics, disabled the computer-assisted driving, and hit the road.
At first, Lily was just cruising, but through the stops and starts and turns, she constantly explored the car's handling qualities and physical limits.
When they left Highway 2 and hit the mountain road, the immense horsepower of the V10 engine seemed unattainable. Lily lowered the window, letting the wind whip through her hair. Relying on the dual feedback of the acceleration and the friction of the tires against the road, she sped down the mountain road with a safe yet somewhat wild feel. The metallic clang of the exhaust and the roar of the tires echoed through the valley.
Soon, the car reached the edge of a lake, a lake formed in the mountains. Instead of a gentle slope along the shore, there was a steep slope. A branch of the road led to a facility nestled within the mountain. The massive metal gate looked like a military facility. After verifying their access, Lily led Li Haojun into the facility. A long, unremarkable corridor flanked by doors leading to rooms of unknown purpose, Lily led him to a standard personnel elevator at the end. It resembled an iron cage, dimly lit, and appeared to be a repurposed piece of old equipment.
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However, upon reaching the third basement level, the interior was modern, even cutting-edge. The walls were a smooth silver-gray, the floor was lined with multicolored guide lines, and the lighting was ample. Biometrics, aside from facial fingerprints, were fairly standard. The subsequent procedures made Li Haojun suspect his brainwaves and bioelectrical signatures were being recorded.
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Li Haojun's access only extended so far. Lily first guided him through the standard life support facilities on this floor, then to a number of rooms used by information system users with similar functions. This room contained the human-computer interface for the Kalispell Region's entire integrated social management system, but access was limited to browsing, searching, and data analysis. As Lily briefly explained the situation, Li Haojun gradually confirmed his earlier suspicions. The residents here were indeed controlled by consciousness, down to the level of artificial suppression of different consciousnesses or behavioral motivations. Therefore, riots like those in Boise wouldn't occur here.
As he learned about the system, Li Haojun noticed that this pervasive consciousness control system wasn't just used to prohibit certain behaviors. It also provided a network of consciousnesses for people working in the same or similar fields to exchange information, sometimes even allowing for cross-disciplinary brainpower. This truly astonished Li Haojun, as such developments would undoubtedly lead to a super-human collective intelligence that would inevitably overwhelm any individual.
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However, no system is perfect, and this is no different with the Kalispell ecosystem. Some individual members or social dynamics don't develop as expected. This is why Li Haojun's involvement in management is needed: he needs to verify the actual situation, analyze the causes, and provide recommended solutions. After learning about this, Li Haojun realized he might be facing a complex systems project, so he asked Lily, "Excuse me, can I apply for more expert human resources in different fields? I feel my skills are really limited, and it seems this work may require teamwork." Li Haojun spread his hands and smiled wryly.
"Of course," Lily smiled back, sizing him up for a moment before continuing, "You're still the same."
"What?" Li Haojun was a little embarrassed, unsure of what Lily meant by "the same old thing."
"Haha, you're unwilling to take on heavy responsibilities."
"Oh," he agreed, gazing into her eyes. Li Haojun wondered how much she knew about him that he himself didn't. "But once you accept a mission, you're always reliable. That's why you're here," Lily said, observing Li Haojun's expression.
"Oh, thank you for the compliment, thank you for your trust." Li Haojun didn't know what to say, as he didn't remember anything about her, so he just offered pleasantries.
Lily stared into his eyes for a moment before calmly saying, "I was the one who gave the compliments. It was the company that trusted and appointed you. It had nothing to do with me."
Li Haojun wanted to ask, "Don't you trust me?" but he didn't say it, confused as to why she would say such a thing. Then Li Haojun wondered if he was being overly suspicious. Perhaps he should have focused on the first half of her sentence: that it was she who was complimenting him, not that she didn't trust him. "Ethan, you're distracted," Lily questioned, clearly noticing that Li Haojun had missed her explanation. She stared into his eyes.
"Ah, sorry," Li Haojun replied, then paused for a moment, but after some thought, he mustered the courage to ask directly.
"Sorry, I was thinking about what you said just now. You said it was the company that trusted and appointed me to this position, and it had nothing to do with you. I don't quite understand. Are you saying that I did something wrong before that caused you to distrust me?"
"Oh, you didn't do anything wrong, because your actions were logical and expected. The point I made was that the company appointed you, and it had nothing to do with whether I trusted you or not."
"Oh, so that's how it is. Then..." Li Haojun wanted to ask, "Do you trust me?" But he didn't say it out loud. After all, he and Lily were just colleagues, and it wasn't appropriate to ask such a personal question. But Lily seemed to sense his intention and interrupted him before he could finish.
"Do you trust Emily?"
"Yes, I do."
"Does she trust you?"
"I suppose so."
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But Lily turned away from Li Haojun after asking, seemingly unconcerned with his answer.
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The first day at the Ashley Lake facility passed quickly. On the way back, Lily still drove with the windows open, letting the wind wash over her. However, she no longer drove as aggressively as she had on the way here. Instead, she simply drove in silence, as daily routine.
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and then Add to home screen.