Chapter Forty-Nine: Mistaken in Fire, Those Who Misbelieve Thrive
Section One: Before the Quake, People Falter First
Refinery Commune, old water plant outer plaza. Twilight lingered, the air heavy, voices like the faint hum before water boils.
Lin had just finished bandaging a barefoot child worker's wound, rising to pack her medical kit, when an old woman tugged her sleeve.
"Girl, are you… Fire?"
The question was neither accusation nor reverence, only a gentle probe steeped in exhaustion and hope.
Lin froze, about to explain, but caught sight of a man on the other side watching her—a middle-aged father cradling a feverish child, his eyes silent but burning for an answer.
She neither nodded nor shook her head. Lowering her gaze, she handed the woman a medicine pouch, saying softly, "Three times a day, don't forget."
She walked away, but in that moment, it was as if a silent stone dropped into a pond.
—
At the plaza's edge, a TRACE surveillance team, disguised as civilians, monitored environmental meme fluctuations.
"Should we… report this?" one asked, eyeing the TRACE frontend data flickering erratically.
"0.92," another frowned. "Hold off."
—
ARGUS System, outpost backend.
Meme consensus value oscillated:
[Current Meme Resonance Structure: Focused Spontaneous Faith]
[Probability of "Target Becoming Carrier of Others' Self-Identity": 67.2%]
Zhao Mingxuan stood beside Jason, whispering, "Isn't this the 'definition critical point' yet?"
Jason didn't answer, his gaze fixed on the system screen, where an amplified audio clip played:
"She didn't say she's Fire. But what she does feels like it."
"Is that enough?" Zhao Mingxuan asked.
Jason finally spoke, his voice barely audible: "No, it's them wanting to make her Fire."
"Do we stop it?"
He shook his head. "We lure."
—
TRACE Surveillance Hub, semi-underground command post.
The team leader gripped his earpiece silently as the technician's voice crackled three times:
"Meme identity growth curve breached 0.95."
"Trigger the contingency?" the deputy pressed.
The leader's voice was low: "'Silent Flame'—prep activation. But don't strike first."
"Waiting for what?"
"For their emotions to surge, and for us to have a reason."
—
Outside the water plant, night wind stirred the peeling murals on the plaza's edge—children's chalk drawings of suns, hands, and illegible slogans.
A man clapped another's shoulder: "So, is she or isn't she?"
The other replied, "I don't know. But she hasn't hurt us, saved my kid's life. If I were her, I wouldn't admit it. Admit it, and you think the system would let her go?"
The words sparked, igniting a broader pressure wave.
A system prompt flashed:
[Fuxi Prompt]
Hexagram: Zhen Gua (Thunder Unrisen) — The crowd's heart stirs before the quake. Water hides thunder below; before its sound, the enemy's ranks are already disordered.
[Suggestion: Do not intervene, do not clarify; lure their self-destruction, then shape the outcome.]
At the outpost, Jason said nothing, only switched to an ARGUS sub-interface, inputting keywords:
[Dark Fire Rhythm · Segment IV · Bystander Meme Guidance]
[Target Node: Non-Central Self-Ignition × Nameless Faith × Burn-and-Discard Model]
Zhao Mingxuan glanced over: "You're really not going to act?"
Jason replied calmly: "We've never acted. We're just building a structure, letting them ignite it themselves."
The wind grew fiercer.
And this battle never needed swords.
Section Two: Who Strikes First, Loses Control
"Is she Fire or not?"
The question was asked a third time, softly, but like a spark on a pile of hemp, it ignited not just voices but glances, stances, and the rhythm of breaths. The plaza's temperature held steady, yet the air felt starved of oxygen.
Lin stepped back half a pace, her eyes not panicked, only hesitant.
She said nothing, but her silence—became an answer.
"Has she said she's Fire?"
A middle-aged man spoke, his tone not harsh but his gaze sharp.
An old man frowned, his voice dry: "She hasn't. But when she helped us, she didn't ask who we were."
"So what do you think?" the man pressed, staring. "She's not Fire?"
"I—" the old man stammered, "I think… it doesn't matter."
"Exactly!" someone shouted nearby. "She's doing what Fire does—why care what we call her?"
"Whether she's called Fire is her business; whether we recognize her as Fire is ours!"
"She doesn't say she's Fire, but she is, and we all know it!"
The crowd stirred, its direction no longer vague but converging on a tangible symbol.
—
[ARGUS Meme Curve Alert]
Current cognition shifts from "trust diffusion" to "focused crystallization."
The crowd is about to "self-forge a symbolic core."
[Fuxi Prompt]: Zhen (Thunder) — The crowd moves unshaped, yet the symbol forms itself, unnamed.
At the outpost, Jason watched the data climb. He issued no orders, pressed no commands, only opened a hidden page.
It was a preset task: "Insert Disruptor × Prevent Crowd Self-Defining Divinity × Execute Tactical Misdirection."
—
In the distant crowd, someone noticed a young man approaching, clad in tattered training gear, clutching an unsharpened wooden staff in his left hand.
No one knew him, yet he seemed meant to be there.
"Stop arguing," Chen Lei stood between Lin and the crowd, his voice low but overpowering all others.
"Is that what you think?"
He pointed at the crowd. "She hasn't said who she is, but you approve of her actions."
Some nodded, some stayed silent, but none denied it.
Chen Lei asked again: "Are you debating if she's Fire, or do you want her to be Fire?"
The question was a falling stone, cracking the fragile "self-faith space" they'd built.
Someone bristled: "What's that supposed to mean? Who cares if she wants it—we recognize her, that's enough!"
"If she's not Fire, why save us?"
"Why doesn't she act like TRACE?"
Chen Lei nodded, then said softly:
"You recognize her as Fire—are you willing to die for her?"
The crowd recoiled visibly.
"If you see her as Fire, are you willing to let her die for you?"
The air froze again.
"And if she doesn't claim Fire—will you push her into that role to make things easier for yourselves?"
"Do you want her alive, or as your faith's stand-in?"
A system prompt flashed:
[ARGUS Logical Feedback: Cognitive Intersection Mutating → Meme Outsourcing Tendency Rising]
[Faith Proxy Model Activated]
[Warning: Target risks falling into "Non-Speech is Guilt × Non-Recognition is Rupture" trap]
The crowd murmured, but some murmurs turned angry.
"Who are you? Trying to deny she's Fire?"
Chen Lei looked up: "Who I am doesn't matter. But if you want to name someone Fire, don't make the one you name—reject it themselves."
"Because if she says 'I'm not Fire'—you'll be disappointed."
"If she says 'I am Fire'—you'll be implicated by TRACE."
"If she says nothing—you'll suspect she's afraid."
"If you think she's afraid—you'll look for someone 'more like Fire.'"
"In the end, no one's Fire. Yet you'll feel 'they betrayed Fire.'"
"What is Fire then? What you recognize? What you create? Or a scapegoat—to soothe your cowardice?"
Silence gripped the crowd. No one could retort.
—
[Fuxi Prompt]: I Ching, Xi Ci II: "Names can be named, but not eternal; when symbols are unclear, disputes arise."
→ "If you dare not fight for Fire, don't rush to push others to face it."
At the outpost, Jason watched, slowly closing the ARGUS intervention layer.
He said quietly: "Time to let them realize—recognizing Fire isn't understanding Fire."
Section Three: The Upriser, Faith's Axe
The crowd around Lin, moments ago reflecting on "who is Fire," grew restless as silence lingered too long. Faith's backlash stirred.
The longer the silence, the harder the suppressed emotions pressed.
"I say she's Fire, so she must be!"
A young man roared, as if proving he was the one to set the tone.
Before Lin could respond, he stepped forward, his wrist flicking to reveal a metal-cutting knife.
"She can't leave!"
"If she walks, it means she's guilty!"
"Either she stands here—and admits she's Fire!"
Screams erupted, the crowd splitting into three reactions: those retreating in panic, those standing stunned, those itching to act.
"Enough."
A low voice cut through from behind, piercing the crowd—it was him.
The young man—Chen Lei.
He stepped forward, his gaze free of hostility, yet the air's temperature plummeted.
The knife-wielder turned: "Who are you? You got a say here?"
Chen Lei didn't answer. He raised a hand, shrugging off his outer coat, revealing a body scarred from training, and an arm bearing a faded training code—an obsolete relic of an old militia unit.
"I was once 'one of you,'" he said.
A second later, a system prompt appeared:
[ARGUS Special Persona Model Observation: Accountability Faith Persona × Self-Restrained Aggression × Stable Mirror Structure]
[Faith Meme Warning: Target unbound to ARGUS, behavioral logic independent of main chain.]
He approached the youth. Before the knife swung, Chen Lei seized his wrist, twisted, and pressed—the knife clattered to the ground, the man knelt, crying out in pain.
He wasn't killing. He stopped the blade, then stepped back.
The crowd gasped. Someone blurted, "You Fire too?"
Chen Lei shook his head.
"Then why interfere?"
He looked at them, each word deliberate:
"I don't believe in the Fire you speak of."
"Your Fire just wants someone to choose your path, so you don't bear the consequences."
"You want her to stay because you're too scared to face an 'uncertain future.'"
"But faith isn't a burden you toss to others to carry."
He bent, picked up the knife, and handed it back to the youth's feet.
"You say she's Fire—prove you're not, with this."
"You don't dare touch her, because deep down, you know she might be your only reason to keep hoping."
The air froze solid.
—
[ARGUS Alert]
[Persona Node Established: Chen Lei · Unbound to System · Action Standards Independent of External Signals]
[Recommended Tag: Potential "Primal Fire Persona" Holder × Non-Coded Awakening Type]
[Added to Observation List]
At the outpost, Jason noted the data shift, saying softly:
"Primal Fire persona? Not bad… but no intervention yet."
He smiled faintly, his voice low in the outpost:
"Those who step onto the battlefield themselves aren't pawns. If we recruit, we take Fires that move on their own."
Zhao Mingxuan frowned slightly: "Think he'll join?"
Jason: "I don't need him to join. I need him to burn—without us."
Section Four: The Mirror of Faith, The System's Error
The youth knelt, trembling as he gripped the knife, eyes bloodshot, as if stripped of all dignity before the crowd.
But he didn't rise. Not from unwillingness, but fear.
He understood. That moment he brandished the knife wasn't to protect anyone—it was to give himself "a direction."
He looked at Lin, lips moving, but no words came. Then, slowly, he bowed his head.
No one mocked him. The crowd quietly, almost imperceptibly, stepped back half a pace, as if collectively realizing:
We all nearly became those who wanted someone else to bear our faith.
—
Within the ARGUS system, the meme data map shifted colors.
[Meme Structure Shifted: From "Projected Identification" to "Implicit Self-Reflection"]
[Public Faith Diffusion Risk Down 31.6%]
[Warning: This dampening is "Self-Control Suppression Type"; without further guidance, it may degrade into apathy/disorder.]
Zhao Mingxuan scanned the layers: "Looks stable, but too quiet?"
Jason watched the green dot matrix flatten, his gaze unwavering.
"People without faith are mere animals. Without a faith they can believe in, they'll keep seeking substitutes."
"Fire dies and reignites, but the fear is—Fire becoming 'no fun anymore.'"
He pressed no buttons.
Instead, he pulled up an old system quote, loading it into the "monitoring-induced meme layer."
[ARGUS · Signal Injection: Philosophical Bias Meme · Quote Type]
"Fire isn't the light you see, but the moment you can't help approaching, asking yourself: 'Am I willing to be like it?'"
The phrase injected silently.
On the plaza, someone looked up, silently tearing; others pulled children close, wordless.
But "Fire" ceased to pass any lips.
—
At the TRACE listening post.
The meme fluctuation map shifted—not rising, but abnormally dropping.
The technician gasped: "The meme curve… it's shrinking?"
The group leader frowned: "A drop isn't good—it means the target zone's consciousness has entered a 'non-expressive faith zone.'"
"What's that mean?"
"It means: they're not spreading Fire anymore—they're silently building it."
The technician gaped: "Then… what do we do?"
The leader's voice was cold: "This is trickier than openly claiming Fire. You don't know who believes, who's organizing, or if the one you trust has already become 'another kind of Fire.'"
He stared at the map, ordering coldly:
"Prepare to execute 'Silent Flame, Plan B.'"
—
ARGUS flashed a red frame:
[TRACE Activating "Silent Flame B" Model · Auto-Deduction Path: Target Doesn't Claim Fire × Crowd Unclear on Fire × System Unable to Pinpoint Status]
[Entering "Pseudo-Empty Faith Structure" Judgment Mechanism → Recommend: Induce TRACE Error, Cement Its Definition Rights Collapse]
[Fuxi Prompt]: I Ching, Tong Ren: "Unity in the wild brings success, favorable for crossing great rivers, beneficial for the noble to uphold virtue."
At the outpost, Zhao Mingxuan frowned: "How do you 'induce TRACE to err'?"
Jason said faintly:
"They want to judge who's Fire—let them judge."
"They want to act—let them leave a record."
"Fire isn't a word, but a mirror."
"As long as they stare into it long enough, they'll see—they don't know who they're fighting."
He watched the screen, his tone like a reflection in water:
"And that's where we truly win."
Section Five: Who Stays Still, Holds Power
Inside the TRACE surveillance command post, the light shifted from cold blue to warning yellow.
The meme stabilization signal snapped, the curve shattering like a broken porcelain shard, clean and sharp.
The group leader paled: "This isn't suppression—it's severance."
"The crowd's stopped talking, stopped spreading. We're no longer monitors… we're outsiders, completely shut out."
Another deputy's eyes hardened: "That's even more dangerous. They're either planning or solidifying faith."
"Execute Silent Flame."
"Who?"
He pointed at the screen's silent figure at the pharmacy—Lin.
"We have no other target to move on."
—
Iron Valley, South District, old water plant outskirts. Night wind howled through unsealed pipes, keening like a lament.
Lin sat on a scrap crate, stitching an old man's wound. Her movements were practiced, but she spoke to no one.
A crowd surrounded her—some she'd saved, some she'd turned away. They didn't call her "Fire," didn't beg her to stay. They stood, watched, with quiet, heavy, resolute gazes.
They were waiting.
Not for her to declare. But for… the Empire to act.
In the distance, drone searchlights began sweeping.
—
ARGUS Interface:
[TRACE Execution Path Locked: Target Neither Spoke, Incited, nor Organized]
[TRACE Rationale: "Crowd-Defaulted as Symbol," Constituting "Symbolic Faith Crisis Factor"]
[Execution Rating: Symbolic Strike · Non-Lethal Level]
[Filed: Empire Record #004-Symbol-Faith-Suppression-Silent Flame]
At the outpost, Jason saw the execution code, his lips twitching slightly:
"They've even got the code ready… they've been waiting for this strike a long time."
Zhao Mingxuan whispered: "Now?"
Jason: "No, we do nothing now."
"We've done enough. The rest—let them show the people."
—
TRACE's unmanned suppression squad communicated softly in matte mech suits:
"Confirmed: Target has no countermeasures."
"Confirmed: Crowd not forming armed gatherings."
"Execute standard 'non-lethal level.'"
They didn't see, in the rooftop shadows nearby, several pairs of eyes watching.
Starfire members didn't act, only whispered:
"Memorize their codes."
—
At South Alley's end, a strike pulse hit, like low-altitude refracted thunder.
Bang!
The medical kit shattered, Lin fell. The crowd gasped in unison.
Someone lunged forward—pulled back by another.
"What are you doing?" the man roared.
"Now's not our time to act."
"We just watch her get hit?"
"Watching is our last right."
Their anger shifted—not for her, but for the fact "they struck."
—
ARGUS System Interface:
[Meme Definition Rights Transfer Progress: TRACE Actively Strikes Symbolic Innocent → Crowd Consensus Completion +24%]
[Fuxi Zhen Hexagram Node Triggered]
[Reward Generated: "Stillness Amid Thunder" × One System Silence Right × Faith Mirror Sequence Sync × Rhythm Word Feedback]
[Generated Phrase]:
"When they strike, Fire is acknowledged.
When we stay still, Fire begins to hold definition rights."
At the outpost, Jason eyed the new prompt, not opening it, saying faintly:
"Let this phrase spread, but don't say who wrote it."
"Make the people think—they thought of it themselves."
Zhao Mingxuan whispered: "You're not worried?"
Jason replied softly: "Staying still isn't retreat."
"It's not handing definition rights—to the enemy."
—
That night in Iron Valley, five districts simultaneously displayed unclaimed meme slogans:
"Fire isn't in names, nor words. It's in the silence after, in who strikes first."
"You ask if I'm Fire—answer first, do you want to live like Fire?"