The Daily Life Of A Cyberpunk Magician-Chapter 105 - 106: New Friends
Jiang Shu arranged his personal belongings, calmly approached the vacant bed, tidied up the bedding, and then lay down.
The bed was a bit hard. ππ£ππ²π°πππ§π π§ππ.πππΊ
He pulled the covers over his head and took a light sniff.
The bedding was freshly washed and had no strange smell.
Inside the covers, he slowly exhaled a shrunken playing card, then dried it off, expanded it to its normal size, and tucked it inside his prison uniform.
Before being incarcerated, there was a ritual: they checked you all over, took your watch, and read out the rules of the Special Prison.
The Character Card inside the watch could not be seen by anyone else without the ownerβs subjective permission.
This was a right to privacy protected by the Main Brain.
However, something that made Jiang Shu somewhat concerned was that without the watch, he could not see his own Character Card, yet the Derivative Entry could still be used.
So how did the people of Lonely City display their Character Cards before the invention of the watch?
And going even further back to ancient times, centuries ago, how did they display their Character Cards?
Of course, there was no answer to this now.
"My name is βYa,β though of course, thatβs just a code name or something. I have a name, and I hope youβll call me by my name," came the crisp, magnetic voice from the bunk next door, "Clo."
His roommate must be Ya.
Jiang Shu lifted the covers and turned his head to look at the other bed, simply answering, "Jiang Shu."
"How did you end up here?" Clo asked, twirling his little hat in his hands.
Captured by Wolf.
Of course, Jiang Shu wouldnβt say that; he continued, "Killed someone."
Clo smiled, "Just killed a person?"
"Yes," Jiang Shu nodded.
"Then your killing must have been quite a sight," Clo squinted a bit and then sped up his speech to explain, "What I mean is, killing is an art. With all art, talent is required. And the people here, they all have talents."
"Heh, whatβs your talent?" Jiang Shu laughed briefly.
"My talent?" Clo seemed to really think about it from his expression, "Iβm good at... Iβm good at teaching."
"Huh?" This response made Jiang Shu pause; he hadnβt expected Clo to say that.
Good at destruction, good at using gasoline and bullets, good at seducing hearts...
According to Yaβs rΓ©sumΓ© (criminal history), those would have been unsurprising responses for Jiang Shu to hear.
Teaching...
Eh, given his current scholarly and amiable temperament, he did somewhat project the aura of a teacher, but this didnβt seem right at all.
"As a child, I dreamed of becoming a teacher," Clo licked his lips, his paper hat unraveling in his hands, folded into a clumsy and cute little paper crow.
But it was white, so it should be called Paper Crow.
"I enjoy the feeling of imparting knowledge and educating. If others can understand my thoughts, that makes me happy. Yes, I like philosophy, history, and... psychology." Cloβs tone was unhurried, melodious like a spring breeze, "I wanted to tell them that there are things more beautiful than machinery in this world, like the body and the spirit and such. However, they wouldnβt listen, so I ended up here."
Jiang Shu said, "Are you trying to justify your crimes?"
"I am indeed guilty," Clo placed the paper crow on the cabinet by his bed, drawing two black eyes on its head, "But Lonely City is a city with original sin, and no one is exempt. Thatβs why I am here."
Uh, here we go with this again. Itβs not me whoβs in the wrong, but the whole world?
Boring.
Jiang Shu shifted his gaze, blaming the dark side of the world for his faults, was really somewhat petty.
By contrast, he had a greater appreciation for pure evil.
Even if one were corrupted by external factors, it was simply gritting oneβs teeth in retaliation against the world, one might repent but certainly not shift the blame.
But Jiang Shu didnβt speak again.
For the next seven days, he would try his best to figure out the details about Ya, whether he could get the answer or not, he would file for an appeal after seven days to fight for a second judicial trial.
Such a criminal wasnβt worth spending too much of his energy on.
Seeing that Jiang Shu was no longer engaging with him, Clo didnβt say much more, and the shared cell fell silent.
At six oβclock in the evening, prison guards opened the doors of each shared cell, checking on the inmates one by one.
"Letβs go, Mr. Jiang, itβs time for dinner," Clo said as he picked up the white crow from the cabinet, carefully placing it in the pocket of his prison uniform, slightly to the upper left, with only the head of the crow poking out.
"Mm," Jiang Shu nodded. He stood up, feeling a bit groggy from the long sleep, but very comfortable.
Inmates in shared cells had the privilege of dining in the ground-floor cafeteria, with plenty of time allocated for their mealβan ample hour and a half. This time could be freely used, with a large recreational area available outside the cafeteria.
"Letβs go, meet some new friends," Clo said with a smile, his mouth tilting upwards. He stepped out of the door and walked away.
His steps were light and variable in speed, his shoulders swaying rhythmically.
...
That was an irritating way to walk.
Jiang Shu could feel something had changed about him.
And when had those paper crowβs eyes turned dark red?
Black, red, do the eyes represent different personalities? So the current Ya was the real him? The one who excelled at destruction?
Jiang Shu speculated silently. With his extensive experience watching mystery films, he wasnβt too surprised by such occurrences in places like these. He simply took note of it as a reference.
Jiang Shu noticed that here, almost all the inmates walked alone, with only a very few in pairs or trios.
Were there no gangs here?
Jiang Shu found it strange; wasnβt it portrayed differently in movies?
After ascending a staircase and walking some distance, Jiang Shu arrived at the cafeteria.
The setup was simple, the space vast. On the eastern side of the cafeteria, a huge cabinet was embedded into the wall. Inside the cabinet, neatly arranged fast-food trays awaitedβthe inmatesβ dinner.
Inmates used their wristband IDs to open the cabinets and take their meals. Nearby, several fully armed prison guards stood ready.
Jiang Shu followed Clo to collect his meal and then sat down at a table in a corner to start eating.
The vast cafeteria was filled with only the faint sound of conversation while the rest focused on their food.
However, Jiang Shu noticed a detail; everyone ate their meal very slowly, savoring each bite as if waiting for something.
Dinner was Western style, with pasta, starchy meat patty bread with red and white dipping sauces, and a thick mushroom soup.
It tasted better than Jiang Shu had expected, and he quickly finished his meal, but as he prepared to get up, he was stopped by Clo.
"Donβt rush off, dinner time isnβt over yet," said Clo as he sliced his loose meat patty with a plastic knife and forked a small piece into his mouth.
"Hmm?" Jiang Shu didnβt understand.
"The guards havenβt left yet, just wait and see. Every day..." Clo grinned, "thereβs always a good show."
