S.C.I.谜案集 Mystery Special Criminal Investigation Novel [𝕮𝖔𝖒𝖕𝖑𝖊𝖙𝖊𝖉✔]

Murderer 26 Instruction

The moment Zhan Zhao's words left his mouth, Bai Yutang feels his hairs standing up, "Cat... you mean, those researchers are going to commit murder or suicide? When? How..."
"Calm down, I will explain it in a short while." Zhan Zhao says in a hurry, "The important thing now is to gather everyone here, this place needs to to be locked-down."
"Okay..." Bai Yutang rushes out, but stops in his track, "What about you, you alright?"
Zhan Zhao smiled, "I'm fine. I'm just a little tired from concentrating on those things for too long."
"Hm! I can't just leave you here like this." Bai Yutang said, picking Zhan Zhao up in a bridal carry and dashes out.
"Ah!" Zhan Zhao doesn't even know where to place his hands, "White mouse, what are you doing! Put me down!"
When Bai Yutang rushes out with Zhan Zhao in his arms, everyone seated in the hall is alarmed. They have been through a lot this couple of days, having just seen Gongsun being carried out from the incineration room, and now Zhan Zhao. They come up to Bai Yutang anxiously.
Zhan Zhao has gone completely red in his face, he would really like to find a hole in the ground to hide in. But in this situation, the more he struggles, the weirder it would seem to be, so he could only pretend to be an ostrich against Bai Yutang.
Bao Zheng has gotten a fright as well. Bai Yutang puts Zhan Zhao down and reports Zhan Zhao's findings to Bao Zheng.
Everyone on the scene is dumbfounded. Bao Zheng immediately calls the head of the research centre in to question him on the number of staffs in the centre, and about those who were in charge of Zhao Jue's imprisonment and had close contact with Zhao Jue. Arrangements were made quickly to calm the involved parties and locking down the research centre temporarily.
After the entire messy episode, everyone in S.C.I. can finally take a breather.
"Cat, explain to me, what exactly is this suggestion thing?" Bai Yutang lets out a long sigh and settles himself into one of the conference rooms in the research centre. Bao Zheng, Wang Chao, Ma Han and the rest of the team fills the remaining seats and waits for Zhan Zhao's explanations.
Zhan Zhao looks much better after resting, he is quiet for a while as if trying to think of how to organise his words, "Hmm..."
"If we were to talk about crimes committed using psychological suggestions, the most famous one is no doubt the millennium concert stampede that occurred in Ohio, 1999."
Bai Yutang nods, "I have heard of this case, hundreds died in that incident, isn't it?"
"Yes." Zhan Zhao says, "While on a brief glance, it seems like an unfortunate accident that happened due to the fervent fans, but in fact, it is because the singer, Venelson had put a psychological suggestion on everyone."
"How?" Ma Han and the rest look amazed.
Zhan Zhao explains patiently, "The steps to psychological suggestion can be demonstrated with a simple example. If you want to teach a dog to sit, first, you will speak the word 'Sit' to it, to get it used to this command. Then, when it sits down, you give it food as a reward. Repeating this procedure many times, and the dog will subconsciously link 'the command to set – the action of sitting – food' these three things together. Which means that though the dog doesn't understand the word 'Sit', it would still instinctively sit down when it hears the command, because he associates it with the reward of food."
Everyone nods in understanding.
Zhan Zhao then pulls out a piece of paper, and jots down a few numbers in series and says, "In summary, the psychological suggestion has four stages: Issuing the command; Completion of the command; Giving out reward; Familiarisation of the command."
Bao Zheng rubs his chin, "Be more specific, how did the singer complete the suggestion process?"
"First, Venelson issued each audience with a ticket shaped like a foot. This insinuates the impression of 'Foot' into everyone's mind. What separates people from dogs is that people can think associatively from shapes. So what action comes to your mind when speaking of a foot?"
The listening crowd exchanges a look with each other, and says in unison, "Step!"
Zhan Zhao nods, "Indeed, which means, the first stage had already been completed. The audience had received the command, in the shape of a foot, and connected it to the action – step!"
"Then, Venelson started his concert. Because his band was a heavy metal hard rock band, their music tends to be very influencing on the audience. Throughout the entire duration of the concert, Nelson keeps making the 'Stepping' action and repeatedly ask the excited crowd to follow his action. He even pushed his bassist onto the ground and stepped on him. In this way, he had completed his second stage, the completion of the command 'Step'."
Everyone listens attentively with a horrified expression.
"The third step is to give a reward. The reward here is not in terms of material, but something more spiritual."
"Spiritual?" Bai Yutang frowns.
"If you like somebody, what would you like to see him do at you?" Zhan Zhao asks Bai Yutang.
"..." Bai Yutang is speechless, his face burning a little, and thinks to himself 'You are one ruthless stupid cat. The person I like is you, and what I want the most is you throwing yourself at me...' But this really isn't something that can be spoken aloud.
"Erm...Smile at me?" Wang Chao answers instead.
Zhan Zhao nods, "Indeed, or more accurately, for him to notice you, and show affection towards you, isn't that right?"
"Yes!" The listeners' nod in unison.
"Those who went to the concert are mostly Venelson's fans. They already like him a lot, and Venelson took that to his advantage by using his smile as a reward." Zhan Zhao continues.
"Smile?" The listening crowd looks confused.
Zhan Zhao suddenly smiles at Ma Han, Wang Chao and the neighbouring officers sweetly.
...!!...
They inhale sharply and eyes widen stupidly, but internally they are screaming, "Sinful! This is too sinful... He is too cute..."
Zhan Zhao asks immediately, "Who do you think I was smiling at just now?"
They look at each other, faces turning red in silence, thinking that they were too mesmerised by Zhan Zhao's smile that they didn't notice who Zhan Zhao was smiling at.
Zhan Zhao doesn't seem to detect the strangeness in the air and continues, "I was just smiling at that general area, rather than a specific person. But, to those watching, it would feel like I am only smiling at you, isn't that right?"
Everyone nods stupidly. In fact, no matter what Zhan Zhao says now, these people would just nod obediently. They have been charmed silly.
Bao Zheng holds back his laughter at the back, while Bai Yutang is grinding his teeth. This ignorant cat has no idea of the effect he has on others. He glares at his subordinates and thinks to himself, "You morons, dare to look at Cat like this? When we get back, get ready for punishments!!"
Everyone is still too dazzled by Zhan Zhao's smile to notice that Bai Yutang's annoyed expression.
Zhan Zhao continues his explanation, "Venelson's concert had huge LED screens, and he would smile frequently at the location where the stomping noise is the loudest. This results in his fans to stomp more and more."
Bao Zheng lights up a cigarette, "Which means, he got those people used to the command, and the suggestion is complete!"
"Yes!" Zhan Zhao nods, "The last stage to his plan was at the end of his concert. The area was already excessively crowded. The screens suddenly showed the foot icon from the concert ticket, and the music was also played at the same time. Some people started to stomp aggressively reflexively — this is how the tragic accident came about."
Everyone lets out a long breath, but the appeal on their face still hasn't worn off.
"Then, Zhao Jue..." Bai Yutang seems to recover first.
Zhan Zhao turns his gaze down and draws a huge bug on his paper. It looks like a beetle. He shows it to the rest, "What is this?"
Everyone examines it carefully. Each person had a different idea, some say it's a beetle or a cockroach, while Bai Yutang claims outrageously that it looks like a mouse riding on a cat...
Zhan Zhao rolls his eyes at him, "This is the famous 'Rorschach Test'. In general, because each person has a different way of looking at things, the same shape would look like different things to different person But, what the shape looks like to one person, is determined by their brain, rather than their subconsciousness."
"What? Subconscious cognition..."
Zhan Zhao draws three circles on the beetle with a red pen. Taking a closer look, it is three English alphabets "D-A-D"
"Dad?" Everyone looks confused. "Father?"
"Exactly!" Zhan Zhao taps the table steadily with the pen in his hand, "When you are looking at this drawing, your subconsciousness has already accepted the message 'Dad'. At the same time, you hear me tapping on the table. So when I hide this drawing away," Zhan Zhao puts the piece of paper away, and taps the table again, "Do you see that image in your brain when you hear the tapping sound again?"
Everyone considers and nods.
Zhan Zhao puts down his pen, "This means that, upon hearing the tapping, your subconsciousness has already associated it with the concept of "Dad". Only that, I did not give you any specific action to complete, so... you guys only perceived it, but didn't have anything to act on."
Bao Zheng finishes his cigarette, and contemplates in silence for a while, "So what's in Zhao Jue's drawings?"
Zhan Zhao sighs and pulls out a sketch, "This is the drawing that was taken from Zhao Jue's room just now." He makes several circles on the sketch and shows it to the watching crowd. Four alphabets stand out, "K-I-L-L."
"Kill..." Bai Yutang inhales, "Oh my God..."
Zhan Zhao frowns, "I checked all of the sketches. It's on every single one of them, it goes way back, in years."
"That guy is a real nutcase!" Ma Han says in disbelief, "He can still hurt people when he is already in that state?!"
"So... how can we help the research staff with treatment?" Bao Zheng rubs his forehead.
Zhan Zhao shakes his head in distress, "It will be very difficult. It is important to know what command Zhao Jue used! He wanted people to kill, but he didn't give specific instruction on whether to kill others or kill yourself. And Zhao Jue is an expert in psychological suggestion, his work won't be as simplistic as ordering a puppy to sit down."
"How so?" Bai Yutang questions, puzzled.
"The timeline for his suggestion to take effect is too long," Zhan Zhao considers, "Long enough, for those people to seek out the reward by themselves."
"Seek out reward by themselves." Everyone opens their mouth in bewilderment.
"Cat, this is so confusing~" Bai Yutang rubs his brows.
Zhan Zhao looks slightly upset and thinks to himself, "This is a very complicated matter~"
Bai Yutang changes his tone immediately and coaxes, "Continue, continue, it's our fault. We are too dense to understand." — He is so cute!
Zhan Zhao continues, "To put it simply, everyone has something they want, right?"
Everyone nods.
"What a person thinks about almost every day, is what the person wants the most. This means that the suggestion would seep deep into the way those people think, and become a part of the subconsciousness... Which means, in order to get what he wants the most, he will make use of this specific method to get it." Zhan Zhao finishes his explanation, and takes a sip of his tea and blinks at those around him — Did everyone understand??
Everyone nods obediently.
Bai Yutang stands up, "I get it, it means that once the person identifies something he wants, and when he or she received the command, then that person will kill to get what he or she wants."
"Exactly!" Zhan Zhao gives Bai Yutang a praising look as if he is one of his exceptional brilliant students. Bai Yutang swears in his mind, 'What breed is this cat? He is too cute~'
Bao Zheng taps his chin, "Which means, in order to treat everyone, we have to know what command Zhao Jue used first, is that right?"
"Yep!"
"But he can't speak!" Ma Han looks confused, "How did he manage to give a command without speaking?"
Zhan Zhao considers, "I have searched everything just now, there wasn't much to go on, but..."
"But what?" Bai Yutang sees Zhan Zhao's hesitation and asks.
"I think..." Zhan Zhao looks up at Bai Yutang, "Your brother might know..."
"What?" Bai Yutang says in surprise, "You mean that accident back then..."
Zhan Zhao nods, "Command, or rather... the intent... The only lead we have right now is likely to be inside your brother's memory."