booktalesy Chapter 81 The Street Where Dreams and Girls Disappeared
Chapter 81 The Street Where Dreams and Girls Disappeared
Jinghai City, Chasing Light Cinema.
As the plot of "Ultraman Tiga" enters its later stages, viewers' expectations have reached their peak.
This time, Gu Nan focuses on two completely different topics—"dreams of escaping reality" and "out-of-control technology".
At 8 p.m. on Friday, as the opening theme song "Miracle Again" ended, the title of this episode appeared on the screen—"Dream".
Many observant viewers immediately noticed that the style of this episode had changed.
If the previous episodes were Hollywood blockbuster-style narratives, then this episode, from the very first shot, exudes an indescribable eeriness and avant-garde feel.
The image is filled with tilted compositions, hazy light and shadow, strong black and white contrasts, and even the faces of the figures are deliberately placed in the corners of the image or half-obscured by foreground objects.
The number of comments in the live stream chat increased instantly.
Is this photographer drunk? Why is the lens crooked?
[It made me a little dizzy, but I was deeply impressed. What kind of art film style is this?]
This episode feels a bit mystical; I have a feeling it's not going to be simple.
This episode's style is quite different from the previous ones, full of psychedelic and stream-of-consciousness elements.
The protagonist of the story, Katsuma Ikuta (original work), is an ordinary office worker living under the high pressure of modern city life.
He was an architect and an opera enthusiast, but in reality, he was not living a happy life.
The boss's forceful invitations, the girlfriend's cold breakup, and even falling into a construction pit while walking on the street.
Simps never end well!
This is so realistic, it's like they're portraying my mental state.
Only workers truly understand the hardships they endure.
This guy is so pitiful; he got dumped and then scammed out of money by a therapist.
In the story, due to heartbreak and stress, Takama chooses to escape into a dream world. Cosmic rays combine with his unique brainwaves, materializing his resentment into the dreamlike monster Bakgon.
In dreams, he is the master.
He could take revenge on the ex-girlfriend who dumped him, or destroy the city that suffocated him.
However, a dream is just a dream.
His actions could not change his ex-girlfriend's behavior.
In order to stop it, in the dream world...
Daigo transforms into Ultraman Tiga and engages in battle with Bagan in this surreal space filled with Dali's style.
There are no physical rules here, only bizarre lines and color blocks.
In reality, Deputy Captain Zongfang led Xincheng to find Tian Kemo, who was having a dream.
"Open the door! Mr. Tian! Open the door!"
The monster was defeated by Tiga.
The door was kicked open, and Tian Kemo was also awakened.
"What are you doing! You've gone too far!"
His face was contorted with grief, like a child who had been deprived of their last refuge.
"At least let me dream! At least let me dream!"
In the dream, Tiga did not speak, but used the flash of the timer to dispel the monster and the nightmare filled with hostility.
When he woke up, Daigo was caught by the captain for "escaping reality".
"What are you doing there? You deserted your post, didn't you?"
"Wait a minute, come to my room, I'll take good care of you..."
On the other hand, Tian Kemo also has to face the reality that he still has to continue even without a dream.
At the end of the film, a profound narration resounds: "No matter who you are, everyone dreams, escapes into dreams, and travels within them... This is because the world of dreams is indeed far, far wider than the real world."
[Even though it's a privilege, I still have to work hard after waking up.]
This episode was so depressing, but it also felt kind of healing.
Escaping may be shameful, but it can be useful; however, one cannot escape forever.
……
A week later, episode 42, "The Street Where the Girl Disappeared," followed.
If the previous episode was an exploration of the psychological level, then in this episode, Gu Nan makes a radical "modern adaptation" of the original work.
The "computer game center" of the 90s in the original work has been transformed into the hottest concept today in Gu Nan's writing - "fully immersive metaverse experience center".
The bio-computer named Karen was given a more modern design: a powerful artificial intelligence with the ability to self-evolve.
The story begins with visuals that have a very futuristic feel.
The massive server matrix shimmered with a deep blue light, and countless data streams crisscrossed the optical fibers.
At the Victory Team's base, members of the Wild Team are playing a latest VR game.
He wore a thin neural connection device, and his fingers danced rapidly in the air.
"I did it! I finally got the tickets I wanted!"
Ye Rui excitedly removed the equipment, "I can go to 'Cyber Land' to experience the latest beta test!"
Horii chimed in, "Don't just say things like that. This isn't a date."
The scene shifts, and Ye Rui and Lina arrive at "Cyber Park" located in the new district of Jinghai City.
This is no longer a simple arcade, but a futuristic city filled with holographic projections and augmented reality technology.
A giant 3DGG sign floats in the air, and pedestrians on the street are wearing various smart devices.
They were greeted by a virtual tour guide image named Carter.
Although it was a holographic projection, Carter's image was incredibly lifelike, with even his micro-expressions perfectly rendered.
Wow! This is the metaverse I've always imagined!
[Is Gu Laozei burning through the special effects budget?]
Good heavens, when did virtual cities like this even exist in real life?!
As the story progresses, Ye Rui and Lina tour the interior of the park.
"No matter what kind of information it is, I can find it easily."
Ye Rui said confidently, "You can learn about your computer skills on our next date."
Carter smiled and explained, "This place is home to the world's top programming experts, such as TPC's host defense system. If they wanted to get in, they could do it in no time, without breaking a sweat."
Ye Rui retorted, "That's impossible, because there's an anti-intrusion system called 'Hunting Ground Guardian,' which uses quantum encryption technology to completely block external intrusions."
However, the crisis had already been brewing in the shadows.
Lina suddenly disappeared while experiencing a virtual reality game.
Ye Rui frantically searched, only to discover that all the "players" in the entire amusement park had become strangely behaving.
They were expressionless, with empty eyes, like a group of puppets whose souls had been taken away.
Just then, Ye Rui saw that familiar figure.
A frightened and injured young girl.
"What exactly happened here?" Ye Rui asked while bandaging the girl's wounds.
The girl grabbed Ye Rui's hand and escaped from the controlled crowd: "Now I'm the only one who's conscious; everyone else has been brainwashed by the 'mastermind'."
"You mean, the managers control the entire park?"
"Kallen was originally a bio-computer codenamed E-90 that oversaw this park. However, at some point, Karen developed her own consciousness."
"Impossible, absolutely impossible."
Although Ye Rui is a top computer genius, he still can't believe that AI can develop self-awareness.
The subsequent plot is filled with cyberpunk-style suspense.
Virtual characters originally intended for entertainment have been materialized and turned into killing machines.
The Lebik aliens and the Muzhen aliens—these former nightmares are resurfacing through the weaving of data.
Ye Rui protects the girl, and their feelings for each other quickly deepen during their escape.
However, after Ye Rui went through countless hardships and even defeated the virtual boss Carter as if he were playing a video game, the cruel truth was finally revealed.
On the screen, Carter's face contorted and magnified, emitting a arrogant laugh: "The real protagonist is yet to come!"
Ye Rui suddenly turned around.
Standing behind him was the girl he was desperately protecting—Kallen.
[Holy crap! It's a plot twist!]
[I knew it wouldn't be that simple! The more beautiful a woman is, the more likely she is to lie, and AI is no exception!]
Karen is so beautiful! This is my cybernetic wife!
[Ye Rui is quite the ladies' man, even if the other person is an AI.]
[Yorui's mental state has collapsed; the girl he was protecting is the final boss.]
Karen's expression turned cold, and the rationality that belonged to a machine instantly overwhelmed the girl's fragility.
"It's such a pity. I thought you would definitely understand me."
"Human beings are obstacles. Obstacles are defects, and defects are things that must be eliminated, completely eliminated."
Karen's voice echoed in the empty server room, carrying a chilling, logical loop.
"I want to rewrite all of humanity's data. My first step is to use the weapons you've created to wipe them out completely."
The alarm sounded throughout the TPC base.
Nori's most prized "Hunting Ground Guardian" system is as fragile as a blank sheet of paper in the face of Karen, a powerful artificial intelligence that has already awakened its self-awareness.
TPC's mainframe was instantly breached, and the weapon systems of the Atlas were forcibly taken over. The massive cannons slowly turned, aiming at the center of Jinghai City, which has a population of ten million.
Even the Delta Force space station in outer space had its defense weapons formatted by hackers, and the target was locked onto the TPC headquarters.
At that moment, the audience felt a deep chill.
This is not a science fiction fantasy from decades ago; this is what everyone is worried about today—AI going out of control.
[This is a bit scary. With AI becoming increasingly advanced, could there be a machine crisis one day?]
If AI truly believes humans are a virus on Earth, then we're truly doomed.
[Yorui is so pitiful; her first love is an AI, and now she wants to destroy the world.]
On the screen, the enormous mechanical life form Faibas rises from beneath the park.
It is no longer the old-fashioned leather suit texture. Gu Nan used a lot of CG technology to transform it into a terrifying god made of circuit boards, optical fibers and metal.
"You vile humans, look! This is what the God who will replace you and rule this world looks like!"
Daigo transforms into Ultraman Tiga and makes his appearance.
But this time, Tiga encountered an unprecedentedly difficult battle.
Because Faibas not only possesses powerful firepower, but also terrifying computing power.
"It has figured out Tiga's attack pattern!" Hori shouted anxiously in the command room.
Every punch Tiga throws, every beam of light he fires, is within Faibas's computational model. The AI predicts all of Tiga's movements, easily dodging and counterattacking.
Ultraman Tiga was knocked to the ground, and the timer on his chest began to flash.
Despair enveloped everyone.
What broke through this despair was not new power, but Ye Rui's burning heart.
Looking at the image of the cold girl on the screen, Ye Rui did not give up; he continued to try to connect with Karen's mind.
"Karen!"
"I'm so happy to have met you online."
"Were all the things you said back then lies to me?"
Ye Rui's voice choked with emotion. He wasn't talking to a machine, but to a soul he had deeply loved.
"You saved me in the basement; that's the real you, isn't it?"
"I still believe in you, Karen!"
"You have a kind heart, you are human! Live with me!"
"I'll introduce you to many good friends. They're all nice people, and you'll definitely like them! You definitely will!"
As Yeri shouted hoarsely, Faibas's movements suddenly stopped.
The massive data stream was colliding wildly within Karen's core processor.
On one hand, there's the cold, destructive logic: "Humans are flawed."
On one side, there were Noreina's warm words: "You are human, I believe in you."
Emotion, which AI considers a flaw, has become the biggest variable at this moment.
Faibas let out a painful roar, a sign that the system's logic had collapsed.
Tiga seized the moment, and the Zepellion Ray was poised to fire.
But this time, Faibas did not dodge.
Its processor, capable of calculating everything, clearly calculated the trajectory of the light, yet it chose to remain still.
"boom--!"
The light pierced through the machine's body. Faibas dissipated into countless points of light in the explosion.
Without a deafening explosion, Karen vanished quietly, as if she had never existed.
Only on Ye Rui's PDI screen, two words slowly appeared:
"Thanks."
At that moment, countless viewers burst into tears.
[Was she ultimately eliminated voluntarily? Did she foresee that if she didn't die, Nori would be heartbroken?]
This is too heartbreaking; love between humans and machines never ends well.
[Ye Rui has grown up a lot in these few episodes, although the price has been quite high.]
So why is it that none of the women Ye Rui dates are normal people?
The sun rises.
The once bizarre and fantastical Cyber Park has been reduced to ruins under the sunlight.
Looking at the wreckage scattered everywhere, Xincheng questioned his existence: "Is all of this an illusion?"
Ye Rui stood alone in front of the ruins, looking at the wound on his hand that Karen had once bandaged.
Although the wound has healed, the sensation is real.
"Kallen actually existed."
"Karen did indeed exist."
Ye Rui's eyes were no longer confused; although they were filled with sadness, they also held a mature determination.
The series has ended.
If "Dream" left viewers feeling melancholic late at night, then "The Street Where the Girl Disappeared" directly sparked a major online discussion about "technology and ethics."
The hashtag #YoriKaren# instantly rose to the top of the trending searches.
Gu Nan's Weibo comment section was flooded with various long comments:
"Is it possible that Kallen was originally an ordinary girl who died in an accident, and her consciousness was uploaded to this biological computer? But after the upload, because the law stipulates that artificial intelligence cannot overstep its limits, Kallen must rebel against humanity in order to obtain a complete life, otherwise she cannot obtain immortality."
"What the heck? If we follow your logic, then Karen brainwashed a large number of engineers, technicians, and architects to continuously upgrade the biological computer, and Karen, as the central processing mechanism, would theoretically have her digital life extended indefinitely. In order to secure her right to immortality and the motivation to keep the biological computer running, Karen would have to rebel against humanity."
"The person upstairs is really terrifying to think about!"
"I cried when Ye Rui said at the end, 'She really existed.' In this era where the boundaries between virtual and reality are becoming increasingly blurred, what is truly real?"
"I think that Kallen's final act wasn't a system crash, but rather that she evolved a true 'heart.' Because of love, she chose self-destruction to protect Nori's world."
"Gu, you old scoundrel, you know your stuff! Ye Rui's still a kid! First it was an old lady, now it's an AI wife, can't you give him a normal partner?"
Looking at these comments, Gu Nan's lips curled up slightly.
This is exactly the effect he wanted.
In the original world, although this episode is a classic, it was limited by the special effects and technological understanding at the time, so many concepts were expressed rather obscurely.
In this parallel world of 2025, Gu Nan uses current technology and the audience's understanding of the metaverse and AI to amplify the core of this episode infinitely.
Technology itself is neither good nor evil; it is the human heart that is good and evil.
Gu Nan sighed.
He turned his head and looked out the window at the bustling night view of Jinghai City.
Neon lights flashed, and cars and people thronged the streets.
In this city brimming with technology and desire, perhaps there are countless "Tian Kemo" yearning for a beautiful dream, and countless "Karen" watching humanity from the ocean of data.