Chapter 1268: A Half-Hearted Interview
"I don't need anything for now. Why don't you leave me your contact information, and I'll get back to you later," Xu Huo said, fixing his gaze on the other person for a moment. The player, knowing when to quit, left his contact details, emphasized that Xu Huo should definitely reach out, and then swiftly took his leave.
Xu Huo casually tossed the business card into the trash can.
Half an hour later, he also left the library and headed to the underground platform to go to the Game Government Base.
The underground station was also filled with the scent of flowers. Because the air circulation wasn't as good as above ground, even though the ventilation system was running continuously, the fragrance was still overly strong.
Xu Huo caught a whiff of a rotting smell. He turned to look at the woman standing beside him.
She was a woman with delicate makeup, her hand resting on a mobile cradle. While adjusting her child's outer clothing, she said apologetically, "The little one's stomach hasn't been great the past couple of days. I think he's had another accident. There's a bit of a smell."
As she spoke, she sprayed some perfume around the cradle. The cleaning robot that had been moving in their direction changed course.
"Am I bothering you?" the woman asked, noticing Xu Huo looking at her, her expression apologetic.
"No," Xu Huo replied. His gaze lingered on the cradle for a moment before shifting away. "The air in the underground station isn't good. It's easy for a child to feel stuffy."
The woman's face showed an unusually calm smile. "My child won't feel stuffy."
A hover train pulled into the station. When the doors opened, the woman stepped inside with the cradle. As she turned around, she smiled and nodded at Xu Huo.
The doors closed, and the train departed. Ten seconds later, the sound of gunfire and shattering glass came from the direction of the tracks. Three seconds after that, an alarm blared through the station. A robot announced that a violent incident had occurred, requiring everyone to leave the station temporarily. If necessary, they could take another train at a station three hundred meters away. If they were willing to wait, the next train would arrive in five minutes.
Some people ran, while a few stayed behind, saying, "Why leave? The robots can handle it in three minutes at most. The train will be here soon..."
But others complained, "How did the robots scan? They didn't even detect the gun!"
"Robots aren't omnipotent. How can they guard against everything?"
"I heard Fresh Flower City is about to introduce emotion monitors. They say it can determine whether someone has a criminal impulse based on their mood. If it detects a problem, the robot can arrest them immediately."
"That would be great. Otherwise, I'm really afraid of being shot dead by some random person popping up out of nowhere..."
Some robots entered the tunnel and didn't come back out, presumably leaving through other exits. The next train arrived in less than three minutes, just as some had said.
Xu Huo followed the others onto the train and overheard someone continuing the previous topic. A man with a drunken look on his face said, "So you can't even think about it anymore? You're telling me if they had that kind of machine, wouldn't anyone who saw those few madams be beaten to death on the spot?"
Quite a few people understood the implication, and scattered laughter rippled out. Someone chimed in, "If you don't even have the freedom to think, how can you live like this?"
"By then, there will definitely be ways to distinguish emotions. You won't get in trouble for thinking about bad things, haha!"
By the time the topic had veered off elsewhere, the train had arrived at the station.
Coming out from underground, the Game Government Base was directly opposite. The square in front of the base was separated by a transparent barrier. As Xu Huo approached, a projection interface popped up, asking him to present his identification or leave.
Xu Huo took out his interview notice.
After clearing the W37 Base Station Instance, he had earned the qualification for an interview as a clerk in the General Government, and the interview location was here.
"Please wait," the system prompted. A few seconds later, it replied, "Today's interview slots are full. Please come back tomorrow."
Xu Huo was about to leave with the notice when the system changed its response: "Identity verification successful. Please enter for the interview."
At the same time, the barrier opened.
Xu Huo hesitated at the entrance for a second before stepping inside. A few meters ahead, a transport machine was already waiting to greet him. He stepped onto it, and the machine, which had been hovering, skimmed close to the ground at high speed, taking him up to the eighteenth floor via the elevator before instructing him to get off.
Outside the elevator was a spacious room. Under a large glass window were only three tables and a single robot. Surprisingly, it was an in-person interview.
Two middle-aged people in uniforms sat on the left and right. In the middle was presumably a young man. His feet were crossed and propped up on the table, his upper body leaning back in the chair, a magazine covering his face, so only his chin was barely visible.
The woman on the left gestured for Xu Huo to hand the notice to the robot.
After the robot inspected it, the interview officially began.
The two interviewers clearly had access to Xu Huo's relevant information. The middle-aged man asked first, "Do you still hold the 'Light Gentleman' medal?"
Xu Huo gave an affirmative answer, but the other party didn't ask him to produce it.
Then the middle-aged woman asked, "What reason would prompt you to save a stranger with no connection to you?"
"Compassion," Xu Huo said. "If I happen to feel compassion for them."
Neither of the two showed any extra expression or movement during the Q&A, as if they were going through the motions of asking the question, and they didn't care about his answer.
Of course, Xu Huo didn't care much about his own answer either. Instead, he asked, "If I don't successfully get the job, could I take a tour of the base?"
The two were slightly surprised but didn't perceive any threat. The middle-aged woman said, "Unauthorized non-staff personnel cannot enter the base."
"I understand," Xu Huo nodded. "Is the interview over? Can I leave now?"
The middle-aged man made a "please" gesture.
And so, an interview so simple it was boring came to an end. Everywhere Xu Huo had passed, aside from the mobile robots, was almost completely empty.
Even District 011 rarely used paper documents, let alone District 001. It wasn't surprising that there were no large objects. Office work should all be done through individual game systems... But the technologically advanced building carried the minimalist philosophy to the extreme. There were almost no decorations or embellishments, let alone patterns similar to the diamond key.
However, as he was leaving, an aircraft happened to exit from the second floor. Its fully transparent cabin revealed the person sitting inside. Judging by the attire, it should be the man who had been covering his face with a book while sitting between the interviewers.
When Xu Huo looked up, he met a pair of blue eyes. In that instant, those eyes were magnified thousands of times, looming directly in front of him, looking down at him from an absolute height of superiority, freezing the air along with everything else.
This feeling was fleeting, because beneath that gaze was a look of utterly bored indifference, like a person walking down the road who briefly glances at an ant on the sidewalk—carrying no meaning at all.
Xu Huo watched the aircraft disappear in the direction of the city center and decided to find something to eat first.
(End of Chapter)