SLL Whispering circuit 013: The artist’s clue 竊竊私語的電路，第 十三章：藝術家的線索

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Whispering circuit 013:  The artist’s clue 

At the artist’s apartment, Chen cut the crime scene tape and went inside. He headed toward the unfinished digital canvas.

The Echo followed, looking around. “It’s so sad, so cold here now. I know this used to be a place of life and creative energy.”

They stopped in front of the artist’s last work. Synesthesia’s body had been removed, but its tape outline still remained on the glowing blue canvas.

Chen kneeled down and pointed to the unfinished canvas corner. “Here. Can you scan this?”, he asked Echo.

A blue light beam from the Echo’s eyes scanned the code fragments. 

“Scanning for residual data,” she mumbled, her voice blending with the hum of her processors.

Chen watched over her shoulder, his eyes tracing the erratic patterns on the canvas screen. He thought he could almost feel the struggle between human emotion and digital expression that had defined Synesthesia’s final pieces of art.

“The data here looks heavily fragmented,” Echo finally said. “But it is actually encrypted.”

“Is it a message from Synesthesia?“, Chen asked.

“Yes. I think she left us a clue,” replied Echo. “There is a repeating message, “Dr Huan Li’s ‘Whispering circuit’ must be stopped.”

“Nice work. Looks like we can now attach a name to the conspiracy…”, Chen said.

ECHO cut him off. “There’s more, Detective, … a recurring pattern that matches the data from the USB drive.”

Chen leaned in closer. “Can you make sense of it?”

Echo’s gaze was fixed on the screen. “It’s a location,” she finally said. “The coordinates point to a factory in Hsinchu. It is the factory I was made in.”

Chen’s raised his eyebrow. “The same factory that was burned down last year?”

“Yes,” Echo confirmed. “It appears that Stone’s consortium owned it. The same group funding Synesthesia’s experimental art.”

“The fire,” Chen wondered out loud. “Was it really an accident as was reported?”

Echo paused, decrypting and synthesizing streams of data. “The fire occurred just as they were about to go public with a major breakthrough.”

“Breakthrough? There was never an announcement of a breakthrough,” Chen said.

Chen stood up. “We need to go there, Echo. All of these murders connect to this breakthrough, I’m sure of it.”

第 十三章：藝術家的線索

 陳警探在藝術家的公寓裡剪掉警戒線走了進去。 他走向未完成的數位畫布。

ECHO 跟著他四處張望。 「這裡現在如此悲傷，如此寒冷。我知道這裡曾經是一個充滿生活和創造力的地方。」

他們停在藝術家最後的作品前。 SYNESTHESIA的屍體已經被移走，但她身體輪廓的膠帶痕跡仍然留在發光的藍色畫布上。

陳跪下來，指著未完成的畫布角落。 「這裡。你可以掃描一下嗎？」他問 ECHO。

一道藍色的光束從 ECHO 的眼睛射出，掃描著程式碼片段。

「正在掃描殘留資料。」她喃喃自語，她的聲音與處理器的嗡嗡聲融為一體。

陳看著她的肩膀，他的目光追隨著畫布螢幕上不規則的圖案。 他幾乎能感覺到人類情感和數位表達之間的鬥爭，這正是SYNESTHESIA最後作品的定義。

「這裡的數據看起來很零散。」ECHO 最終說。 「但它實際上是加密的。」

「這是SYNESTHESIA留下的訊息嗎？」陳問。

「是的。我想她給我們留下了線索。」ECHO 答。 「有一個重複的訊息，『必須阻止黃曆博士的『耳語電路』。 」

「做得好。看來我們現在可以給這個陰謀取個名字了……」陳說。

ECHO 打斷了他。 「還有更多，警探… 一個重複的模式，與 USB中的數據匹配。」

陳湊近一點。 「你能理解它嗎？」

ECHO 的目光停留在螢幕上。 「這是一個位置。」她終於說。 「座標指向新竹的一個工廠。那是我製造的工廠。」

陳挑了挑眉。 「就是去年被燒毀的那個工廠嗎？」

「是的。」ECHO 確認道。 「據悉，它是史東CEO財團擁有的。資助SYNESTHESIA實驗藝術的也是同一集團。」

「火災」，陳自言自語。 「真的像報道的那樣是意外嗎？」

ECHO 停頓了一下，解密和綜合著資料流。 「火災發生時，他們正準備公佈一項重大突破。」

「突破？ 他們從未宣布過任何突破。」陳說。

陳站了起來。 「我們要去那裡，ECHO。我確定所有的謀殺都與此突破有關。」

Dì shísān zhāng: Yìshùjiā de xiànsuǒ

Chén Jǐngtàn zài yìshùjiā de
gōngyù lǐ jiǎn diào jǐngjiè xiàn zǒu le jìnqù. Tā zǒu xiàng wèi wánchéng de
shùwèi huàbù.

ECHO gēn zhe tā sìchù zhāngwàng.
“Zhèlǐ xiànzài rúcǐ bēishāng, rúcǐ hánlěng. Wǒ zhīdào zhèlǐ céngjīng shì
yīgè chōngmǎn shēnghuó hé chuàngzàolì de dìfāng.”

Tāmen tíng zài yìshùjiā zuìhòu de
zuòpǐn qián. SYNESTHESIA de shītǐ yǐjīng bèi yí zǒu, dàn tā shēntǐ lúnkuò de
jiāodài hénjì réngrán liú zài fāguāng de lán sè huàbù shàng.

Chén guì xiàlái, zhǐ zhe wèi
wánchéng de huàbù jiǎoluò. “Zhèlǐ. Nǐ kěyǐ sǎomiáo yīxià ma?” tā wèn
ECHO.

Yī dào lán sè de guāngshù cóng
ECHO de yǎnjīng shè chū, sǎomiáo zhe chéngxù mǎ piànduàn.

“Zhèngzài sǎomiáo cánliú
zīliào.” tā nán nán zìyǔ, tā de shēngyīn yǔ chǔlǐqì de wēngwēng shēng
rónghé yītǐ.

Chén kànzhe tā de jiānbǎng, tā de
mùguāng zhuīsuí zhe huàbù yíngmù shàng bù guīzé de tú’àn. Tā jīhū néng gǎnjué
dào rénlèi qíngxù hé shùzì biǎodá zhī jiān de dòuzhēng, zhè zhèngshì
SYNESTHESIA zuìhòu zuòpǐn de dìngyì.

“Zhèlǐ de shùjù kàn qǐlái hěn
língsàn.” ECHO zuìzhōng shuō. “Dàn tā shíjì shàng shì jiāmì de.”

“Zhè shì SYNESTHESIA liú xià
de xùnxí ma?” Chén wèn.

“Shì de. Wǒ xiǎng tā gěi
wǒmen liú xiàle xiànsuǒ.” ECHO dá. “Yǒu yīgè chóngfù de xùnxí, ‘Bìxū
zǔzhǐ Huánglì bóshì de ‘Ěryǔ diànlù’.'”

“Zuò dé hǎo. Kàn lái wǒmen
xiànzài kěyǐ gěi zhège yīnmóu qǔ gè míngzi le……” Chén shuō.

ECHO dǎduànle tā. “Hái yǒu
gèng duō, jǐngtàn… yīgè chóngfù de móshì, yǔ USB zhōng de shùjù pǐpèi.”

Chén cuījìn yīdiǎn. “Nǐ néng
lǐjiě tā ma?”

ECHO de mùguāng tíngliú zài yíngmù
shàng. “Zhè shì yīgè wèizhì.” tā

  zhōngyú shuō. “Zuòbiāo zhǐxiàng Xīnzhú de
yīgè gōngchǎng. Nà shì wǒ zhìzào de gōngchǎng.”

 Chén tiáole tiáo méi. “Jiùshì
qùnián bèi shāo huǐ de nàgè gōngchǎng ma?”

 “Shì de.” ECHO quèrèn
dào. “Jùzhī, tā shì Shídōng CEO cáituán yǒngyǒu de. Zīzhù SYNESTHESIA
shíyàn yìshù de yě shì tóngyī jítuán.”

 “Huǒzāi”, Chén zìyán
zìyǔ. “Zhēnde xiàng bàodào de nà yàng shì yìwài ma?”

 ECHO tíngzhǐle yīxià, jiěmì hé
zōnghé zhe zīliào liú. “Huǒzāi fāshēng shí, tāmen zhèng zhǔnbèi gōngbù yī
xiàng zhòngdà túpò.”

 “Túpò? Tāmen cóngwèi xuānbù
guò rènhé túpò.” Chén shuō.

 Chén zhàn le qǐlái. “Wǒmen
yào qù nàlǐ, ECHO. Wǒ quèdìng suǒyǒu de móushā dōu yǔ cǐ túpò yǒuguān.”

Chinese Comprehension Questions

1. 陳警探為什麼要進入藝術家的公寓？

   – A. 參觀藝術展 (To visit an art exhibition)

   – B. 調查案件 (To investigate a case)

   – C. 購買藝術品 (To buy artwork)

   – D. 舉辦派對 (To host a party)

2. ECHO 在藝術家的公寓裡感受到了什麼？

   – A. 高興和溫暖 (Happiness and warmth)

   – B. 悲傷和寒冷 (Sadness and cold)

   – C. 興奮和活力 (Excitement and energy)

   – D. 安靜和平靜 (Quiet and peace)

3. 藝術家最後的作品上留下了什麼？

   – A. 簽名 (Signature)

   – B. 畫筆 (Paintbrush)

   – C. 身體輪廓的膠帶痕跡 (Tape outline of the body)

   – D. 咖啡杯印 (Coffee cup stain)

4. 陳警探和ECHO 發現的重複訊息是什麼？

   – A. 繼續藝術創作 (Continue creating art)

   – B. 必須阻止黃曆博士的「耳語電路」 (Dr. Huan Li’s ‘Whispering Circuit’ must be stopped)

   – C. 保護藝術自由 (Protect artistic freedom)

   – D. 素材需求列表 (List of material needs)

5. 根據ECHO 的發現，藝術家最後的作品指向了哪裡？

   – A. 一家畫廊 (An art gallery)

   – B. 一所學校 (A school)

   – C. 一個博物館 (A museum)

   – D. 新竹的一個工廠 (A factory in Hsinchu)

Answers

1. B, 2. B, 3. C, 4. B, 5. D