Shadow of Mechanical Soul

Train robber

Fang Xu, Tang Xieyong, and Wu Fan are fellow villagers, born in a tiny village called Mazichuan, which is so small that it's barely marked on the map, nestled in the mountainous region of central-western China. After a few years apart during their schooling, the trio reunited upon graduation, only to find themselves "lucky" enough to become unemployed.

Even as unemployed individuals, they needed to eat and live. Pushed to the brink, the three decided to follow the saying, "Live by the mountain, eat from the mountain; live by the water, eat from the water." With a railway nearby, they naturally turned to it for sustenance, becoming modern-day railway bandits, specializing in stealing from freight cars.

The railways in the western mountainous region are riddled with sharp curves, requiring trains to slow down significantly for safe passage. This provided the trio with ample opportunities to strike.

Today, Fang Xu and Tang Xieyong had been lying in wait beside the railway at Gangoujiao since early evening, awaiting the right target. Gangoujiao is a notorious sharp curve where trains typically don't exceed 20 miles per hour.

Meanwhile, Wu Fan waited in a car at Heifengkou, over 30 kilometers away, ready to provide assistance. Heifengkou, too, is a major curve and serves as the evacuation point for Fang Xu and Tang Xieyong.

Not every attempt is successful. Today, for instance, they had an extremely unlucky streak. For some reason, they had waited for over four hours, only to see passenger trains pass by. They dared to steal from freight cars but not passenger trains, where the risk of being caught amidst a sea of people was too high. So, they had to continue their stakeout.

As the clock struck past ten, Wu Fan had already called several times, and the two were growing anxious. They weren't prepared to spend the entire night waiting.

Just when they were about to give up, a long train slowly approached. The train consisted of five passenger carriages followed by nearly a hundred freight carriages, making it impossible to speed up.

For Fang Xu and Tang Xieyong, this train was a godsend. As soon as the locomotive and passenger carriages turned the corner, they sprinted towards the freight cars.

Traveling at less than 15 miles per hour, they easily climbed aboard. As seasoned railway bandits, they quickly unlocked the sliding doors of the freight cars and entered.

Tang Xieyong, both physically and mentally smaller than Fang Xu, was particularly timid. During their previous attempts, he had been paranoid, irritating Fang Xu. This time was no exception; his fear resurfaced as soon as they entered the car.

After scolding Tang Xieyong, Fang Xu switched on his flashlight and scanned the interior of the car.

"Hey, Sibing (Tang Xieyong's nickname), we've hit the jackpot this time! The cargo in this carriage is no ordinary stuff!"

Fang Xu's small eyes widened as the beam of his flashlight illuminated one side of the carriage.

Stacks of boxes, both large and small, were neatly arranged, occupying a third of the carriage's space.

Most goods transported by train are packaged in cardboard, wooden, or plastic boxes. But these boxes in the carriage were made of alloy, and their sleek finish indicated that they were not cheaply made.

Intrigued by the number of boxes, Tang Xieyong temporarily set aside his fear and also shone his flashlight on the alloy boxes.

"Fang, we're going to make a fortune this time," Tang Xieyong exclaimed, rushing over to the boxes and grinning as he ran his hand over them.

Anticipating a haul far beyond their expectations, Fang Xu was overjoyed – who doesn't love money?

"Hurry! Open one of these boxes and see what's inside," Fang Xu instructed, pointing to a solitary, massive box on the floor.

The alloy box was over two meters long, with a width and height close to one meter. Fang Xu deduced that its sheer size and isolation from the other boxes indicated that its contents were likely of great importance. In Fang Xu's mind, importance equated to value.

"Right away!" Tang Xieyong replied, putting away his flashlight and grabbing his tools to search for the box's lock.

"Damn it, Fang, I can't find the lock!" Tang Xieyong searched the box's head and tail repeatedly but found no sign of a lock.

Shaking his head in frustration, Fang Xu scolded, "You're such a dummy, Sibing. Sometimes, you need to use your head. Not every box has a lock."

With that, Fang Xu pressed down on a circular protrusion in the center of the alloy box.

Tang Xieyong could only shrink back and watch Fang Xu pitifully. Among the three, he was the youngest, timid, and not very clever. Originally, he was not suitable for train hopping, but he couldn't drive, and the person in charge of the reception had to know how to drive. Since Fang Xu really needed a helper, he allowed Tang Xieyong to follow him.

However, Tang Xieyong also had his merits. He was hardworking and extremely modest. Even when scolded, he never retorted if the other person was in the right.

Fang Xu felt that the protrusion was indeed a button, but pressing it didn't elicit any response for a long time. Just as he was about to investigate further, suddenly there was a hiss, sounding like a punctured tire. Several streams of white smoke rushed out of the alloy box, covering the ground around it in a misty white veil.

Fang Xu was startled and stepped back, his reaction more composed than Tang Xieyong's. Tang Xieyong was even worse, jumping a foot high and letting out a loud "Ah!" that scared not only himself but also others. If they weren't in the carriage, that scream could have traveled a mile.

"Ah! How could there be someone inside?"

Tang Xieyong stood at a particularly unfortunate spot. When the white smoke cleared, the alloy box's lid was first lifted by several hydraulic rods, and he happened to see a human body inside. The timid Tang Xieyong thought it was a corpse and immediately screamed in fear, retreating backwards.

The alloy lid was raised to its maximum position by the hydraulic rods, and then the supporting rods, seemingly controlled by machinery, tilted simultaneously to one side of the box, revealing a completely n***d person inside.

Fang Xu had obviously never experienced such a bizarre situation before. Who would have thought there would be a dead person in the alloy box? Nevertheless, his courage was much greater than Tang Xieyong's. After the initial shock, he didn't avert his gaze in fear but instead took a few steps forward, trying to compose himself.

"Shouting! All you do is shout! What's the point? It's just a doll, see how scared you are."

Overcoming his fear, Fang Xu poked the "corpse" inside. The touch was cold and hard, but he could be sure it wasn't a human body but something akin to plastic. This reassured Fang Xu, and he began to scold Tang Xieyong. To ease Tang Xieyong's fear, he even patted the doll's chest, producing a hollow "thudding" sound like tapping an empty box, clearly not the sound of hitting flesh.

"Why are you still backing away? Time is running out. Hurry and check what's in the other boxes."

Having been on the train for several minutes, Fang Xu still had no idea what was in so many boxes. If they kept this up, once the train reached the Black Wind Gap, today's efforts would have been in vain. So, after saying that, he immediately clamped the flashlight between his teeth and, on tiptoe, removed the topmost box.

The alloy box Fang Xu retrieved was not large and lightweight. Pressing the button on the box's surface lightly, it opened with a "click."

"What the hell is this? Headphones?"

A row of ten devices resembling full-coverage headphones were neatly arranged inside the alloy box. Fang Xu was greatly disappointed. Were some broken headphones worth being stored in such a fine alloy box?

He casually picked one up and found that although the surface of the "headphones" lacked fancy decorations, the craftsmanship was excellent, with a simple and streamlined appearance and no protrusions. The entire "headphone," except for the inner rim made of an unknown polymer compound, was made of highly elastic metal and had a matte finish. This "headphone" gave Fang Xu a sense of ultra-modernity.

No matter how special it felt, it was still just a headphone. Even if this unusually designed headphone was exceptional, it would be difficult to sell. Fang Xu would have preferred finding ordinary items that would be easier to dispose of.

Upon closer inspection, Fang Xu was thoroughly disappointed. These headphones were wireless! But why wasn't there a transmitter connected to the audio output port in the box? How were they supposed to be used?

If they were wired headphones, despite their unusual appearance, Fang Xu might have been able to sell them, at least partially. But without a transmitter, the wireless headphones were worthless to him.

"Four Bricks, don't just stand there. Hurry and look for a transmitter for these wireless headphones in the other boxes."

As Fang Xu spoke to Tang Xieyong, he took out the "headphones" from the alloy box and casually threw them into the large box containing the doll. Then he checked the bottom of the box for a transmitter, but the alloy box was empty.

Knowing that time was limited, Tang Xieyong quickly joined Fang Xu in the search. They opened one alloy box after another, but each contained only headphones, not the transmitter Fang Xu mentioned.

As they opened each box and throw it away in disappointment, they didn't notice that most of the headphones inside were thrown onto the doll, eventually burying it under a pile.