Chapter 197 - 79: The Mirror and the Linking Phenomenon

Chapter 197: Chapter 79: The Mirror and the Linking Phenomenon

Yu Xian concisely recounted to Senior Sister Yiyi the dual-safeguard mechanism Wen Xiao had worked out at the mall that afternoon: a combination of "Time Compression" and the establishment of a "Logical Anchor Point."

The other end of the line went silent for a moment, as if she were digesting the massive amount of information.

"I honestly never thought about it that way before..." Her voice held a trace of surprise and admiration.

"But... from a cognitive neuroscience perspective, this approach is very reasonable. And very clever."

Yu Xian and Wen Xiao exchanged a glance, both seeing the delight in the other’s eyes.

"Our lab had always been trying to suppress source memory confusion at the physiological level, but we completely overlooked cognitive-level intervention." She paused for a moment before clarifying:

"Of course, that’s mainly because we haven’t mastered the kind of ’blueprint’ ability that TDI and the Midnight Bus have. We can’t control the content of the dreams, so we were forced to approach it solely from a neuroscience perspective."

She thought for a moment, her voice filled with unconcealable excitement.

"This idea you’ve proposed is to artificially create cognitive dissonance, stripping the dream of its realism and implanting a ’safety valve’ in the brain. It’s a truly viable method. In fact, it might be the safest and most foolproof solution we can think of right now."

Senior Sister Yiyi’s validation put Yu Xian’s mind at ease.

"But, Senior Sister, there’s still one thing we haven’t figured out," Yu Xian said, voicing his earlier concern.

"How exactly should this ’Logical Anchor Point’ be configured? If a simple counter-intuitive phenomenon, like rain falling upward, is enough to serve as an anchor, then shouldn’t all the other bizarre dream scenarios also get flagged as ’fictional’ by the brain?"

"Hmm... From a sleep neuroscience perspective, your concern is valid," Yang Yiyi said thoughtfully.

"When we’re dreaming, during REM sleep, the activity in the brain’s prefrontal cortex is significantly reduced. TDI’s technology activates this very region, which is primarily responsible for reality monitoring, logical thought, and self-awareness."

She paused before continuing her explanation.

"So, the purpose of the anchor we want to set is to work in tandem with the prefrontal cortex, providing an ’error-correction’ function. It has to be a signal that makes you instantly think, ’Something’s not right here.’"

"Aren’t those bizarre dreams ’not right’ enough? Then what should it be, exactly?"

"Quite the opposite. The more mundane, the better," Yang Yiyi said.

"It can’t be some grand phenomenon or scene that’s irrelevant to you. It has to be something you interact with every single day. Something you’ve personally verified countless times, an action that is one hundred percent stable and never, ever fails in the real world."

She then gave an example.

"Take the spinning top, for instance. It has to exist in both the dream and in reality. Only then, when its behavior ’deviates’ in the dream, will it instantly break your subconscious inertia. This creates a powerful sense of discord, which in turn completely stimulates and awakens your prefrontal cortex."

It dawned on Yu Xian. ’So that’s how it works.’

The more commonplace the detail, the stronger the brain’s sense of contrast when it goes wrong.

Both ends of the line fell silent.

’A routine, stable action that can instantly awaken one’s consciousness...’

He understood the principle, but putting it into practice wouldn’t be easy.

The famous "spinning top" worked as an anchor because it was a unique, personal item that the protagonist carried with him at all times.

But for their audio-based "Dream Net," the user base would consist almost entirely of ordinary people.

If they made the spinning top the universal anchor, it would mean telling everyone to go out and buy a top to carry around...

The barrier to entry was too high; it would never gain widespread adoption.

’What else is there?’

’A coin that only lands on heads? No, a coin toss is inherently random, so it’s not a direct enough test.’

’Pinching myself? You could differentiate the sensation in a dream from reality, but you can’t expect people to pinch themselves every day in real life just to stay alert.’

"What on earth is something that everyone has, that’s readily available, that’s tested repeatedly every day, and that has absolutely stable physical properties?" Yu Xian mused aloud.

Just then, Wen Xiao, who had been staring blankly at Senior Sister Yiyi’s profile picture on the voice call screen, suddenly whispered a single word.

"A mirror."

Her voice wasn’t loud, but it was perfectly clear in the silent lounge.

"What?" Yu Xian faltered for a second, turning to look at her.

Wen Xiao looked up at Yu Xian, her eyes sparkling, and repeated herself.

"A mirror. Or rather... anything that creates a mirror image."

On the other end of the line, Yang Yiyi’s voice paused. Her tone carried a clear note of surprise and curiosity.

"And this is...?"

"Ah, right. I forgot to make introductions." Realizing he hadn’t formally introduced her, Yu Xian shot Wen Xiao an apologetic look.

"Senior Sister, this is the friend from the computer science department I mentioned before..."

"Um... Hello, Senior Sister." Wen Xiao suddenly scooted forward, leaning slightly toward the phone on the table. Though her voice was still a bit timid, it was a fraction louder than usual.

"I’m Wen Xiao. I’m... the friend who’s been helping Yu Xian with the audio reverse-engineering and coding for the past few days."

Her hands were clasped tightly together. Her gaze darted to Yu Xian’s face for a split second before she quickly lowered her eyes and added, speaking toward the phone,