Chapter 3 Percy
Because the increasing number of robbery cases, Susan Minter's mother, Catherine, also asked her to match with a gun. Susan puzzled and resisted with her suggestion, but her father, Richard, insists that "a gun will keep you safe in times of crisis". As the daughter of a CUP technician and former police officer, Susan is in a delicate position of neutrality in her family, and her father, Richard, would always miss the time when he had a stable and respectable job as a police officer, and whenever this happened, Catherine would speak out against it:
"What's gone is gone, and it's impossible to bring back something that has become obsolete."
And Richard will not be nestled in her criticism: "The police are not an obsolete thing, and one day you will realize how wrong it is to replace them with electronic systems.”
But today is different, today they abandoned their conflict and shook hands on the topic of their daughter’s gun matching plan. Knowing that it would not end well if she decides to go against both of her parents, Susan went to the nearest CUP gun control facility over the weekend, accompanied by Richard, to get herself matched with a gun. But in the end, the right to use the gun after receiving it is entirely in her hands, even if she chooses never to use it, that is her own business, Katherine and Richard have no control to that.
She sits almost bored on the store’s old leather sofa, the noon sun shines in from outside, Richard is catching up with his old friend George, Susan is also somehow familiar with him. George would invite them to his home for dinner sometimes. He and Richard used to work in the same police station, and Jason is currently working as a clerk in the gun-matching department of CUP gun control facility. He is responsible for confirming that visitors have the qualifications to use guns, and introducing them to guns that might be suitable and leading them to a match.
"I heard there have been some armed robberies recently, and it's actually Susan's school?"
"Yes, four students have been robbed near the campus.”
"Bunch of soft-core eaters, if it was in the days of the police, they would have been shaking before getting out of home!”
"Yes, so it is necessary to deter them. Nowadays, students rarely have guns at home, and some of them don’t even know how to shoot. There is have no way for them to react in case of emergency. Although Catherine and I have often quarreled in the past, we must admit that she did the right thing this time.”
"Right." George nodded "People are armed to keep themselves safe, come on, Susan, try out these guns."
But how could I react when the shooting happened? Even if I had a gun, I wouldn't necessarily have time to draw, load, and aim it. Susan thought, but she didn't say any word. She smiled politely and walked over to the front of the counter, where three handguns were lined up on top, Smith & Wesson 642 Airweight Pink, Ruger LC9s, and Glock 26s. All three guns had been replaced with pink grips, and with their flashing LED displays, they looked more like antique pet game consoles than weapons.
George noticed Susan's furrowed brow.
“Is there anything wrong? Some students from your school were matched with these guns several days ago. I think these guns are also perfect for you, Susan.”
"Uh ...... I don't really like pink."
George's face flashed with a distinct look of displeasure, "But you can try to see if you can unlock the safety, you need to make sure you're qualified to use it first."
"Oh, right." Susan flipped to the gun matching guide, where page five spelled out the detailed actions - even if a person passed the gun use regulations, if they couldn't unlock the safety, then they would still be ineligible to use it. So Susan had to pick up the console-like Ruger LC9s, which was the least pinkish of the three guns. The gun also had a manual safety lock, which she pushed open with a gentle nudge.
"Congratulations, Susan Minter, you've just been recognized as qualified gun holder by the system, so happy for you."
The display of the Ruger LC9s lit up and began to play the system video and voice, Susan had no idea the gun would talk to itself and was so scared she almost threw it to the floor.
"I don't really like these guns, can you help me change them." Susan hurriedly closed the safety and put the gun back.
"I think you should probably try matching them to see, you haven't tried it yet, maybe you'll get a good fit. How can you know if you refuse before even trying?”
“No, no, no, I don't think I will, I mean, I don't like the look of them so I don't want to try. Uncle George, can you get me two of the plainer ones, without any patterns, maybe just the black ones."
George walked back to the warehouse with the three guns in boxes.
"Ugh, you should be a little more careful about what you say to Uncle George and your tone of voice," Richard sighed, "Knowing that we are people who were denied by the system, we don't even get to choose.”
"Oh, I'm sorry." Susan shook her head, "I didn't mean to, but I have to match with my own gun, and this one will probably be with me for a long time. But Uncle George, he seems to treat me like a child, the guns he brought in all look like toys, but isn't this supposed to be serious.”
"He probably does treat you like a kid, you haven't been to his house for dinner with me in four or five years."
"Yeah ...... I got busy after I started high school, and so did his son Andy, I don't even know how he's doing, maybe I should still care more about everyone."
Susan stopps talking about this awkward topic, something else comes up to her mind, and she speaks up to ask Richard, "You just said Mom did the right thing, but Mom herself is supposed to be anti-gun." She keeps rubbing the corner of the manual book until the corner curls upward.
Richard seems to be the one who doesn’t expect his daughter's question to be so pointed: "Susan, I argue with your mother sometimes, but that doesn't mean I think she's doing everything wrong.”
"You're just defending your pride? I know.” Susan's mouth dropps, "But this time you didn't even argue with her."
"Yes, because I can agree with her on this matter, this one in particular. Susan, remember where your mother works."
"CUP, and then what? Did something go wrong with Fishion?”
Richard blinks noncommittally as he gestures for Susan to be quiet. Looking back, Jason is approaching them with two new guns.
"Try these two," George says, "the Glock 19 and the Sig Sauer P226, the guns we used back in the day."
Susan nods, and she takes the two guns, which are able to fill her palms and weigh not like toys, just like what real weapons should be, and what Susan imagined a "gun" should look like.
"I want to try to match with them.”
George breaths a sigh of relief as he lead Susan to a separate room: "This room is the room for matching, you can flip their switch and chat with them, everything is the same as in the manual. When the screen shows green when you do the shooting pose, it means you are successfully matched."
"What if it doesn't work?”
"Either you keep trying with a different gun, or you come back another day. You know, this matching thing is very karmic, and sometimes there will be people who stay here all day and can't find the right gun."
Susan nods again as she watches George leaves the matching room and closes the door behind him. The matching room is not too big, but the walls painted white make the whole space look wider than it actually is. In the center of the room there is a large, streamlined table with a very aesthetically pleasing design. A circle of couches circle around the table - even though there is only one person in each matching event, they still put a circle of couches in the room. After experienced the uncomprehending of George, the weird room and the extra furniture, for all a sudden, Susan felt a pang of annoyance. She just wanted to muddle through the day quickly and come back another day, or just change the place if she couldn't get the gun here. She chose the Glock 19 first and flipped its system switch, but there was no welcoming voice playing.
Was it a broken gun? What a bad day.
Susan holds the gun's screen a little closer, and she sees that the system isn't out of order, the gun had been forgotten to be shut down last time, and there is a cute smiley face on the screen right now.
"Uh, hello." Susan smiled awkwardly.
"Oh! Hello, don't worry about anything, they always forget to turn off my ...... In fact I've had it on that way for over three years.”
"Three years? Don't you run out of power."
"Solar power." The smiley face on the small screen bobbed up and down, like a nod.
"You're funny, are all guns like you?"
"I can't guarantee that, after all, most of the time all the guns are turned off so I don’t have many chances to talk with them."
"Okay, I'm Susan, Susan Minter. It may be a little strange, but do guns like you have names?”
The Glock 19 is just about to open its mouth and say yes my name is Glock 19, but it paused for a moment, it figured the girl wanted to ask not for its production model or serial number, but a name like the humans, an equal code name, a status symbol. It is pretty sure its own kinds don’t have such a codename, didn't even have the idea of giving themselves a different name. This is certainly a good opportunity to match with a human, to leave this hellhole and give itself new possibilities. But its inventory of names was pitifully small, and the only human who didn't make it so annoying was named ......
"Percy, you can call me Percy."
///
第三章 珀西
因为大学附近的抢劫事件频发，苏珊·敏特的母亲凯瑟琳也要求她去匹配一把枪支。苏珊·敏特不解的同时有所抗拒，但她的父亲理查德也如此坚持着“枪可以在危急时保障你的安全”。作为CUP技术人员和前警官的女儿，她在这个家庭里处于一种微妙的中立地位，父亲理查德总是会怀念拥有稳定并受人尊敬的工作的过去，每当这个时候，母亲凯瑟琳都会出言反对：
“消失的东西就是消失了，想要把已经过时的东西带回来是不可能的。”
而理查德也不会窝囊地被批评：“警察不是过时的东西，总有一天你们会意识到用电子系统取代警察是多么错误。”
但是今天，他们居然在匹配枪支的话题上抛弃冲突握手言和。苏珊立刻明白如果自己同时和这两人唱反调一定不会有好下场，于是周末的时候，在理查德的陪同下，苏珊到了最近的CUP枪支管理所，准备和自己的命定之枪匹配。但说到底，领了枪之后她虽然不能完全控制枪支的发射，但是不是要把枪拿出来用完全取决于她自己，就算自己选择永远不用那也是自己的事情，凯瑟琳和理查德管不着。
她近乎百无聊赖地坐在店里有点老旧的的皮沙发上，中午的阳光从外面照进来，理查德在和老朋友乔治叙旧，苏珊也和他很熟悉，乔治过一段时间就会邀请他们去自己家里吃饭。他和理查德以前是同一个警队的，目前在管理所的枪支匹配部门担任店员。负责确认来客拥有用枪的资格，并给来客介绍可能适合的枪支，带领他们进行匹配。
“我听说最近发生了一些持刀抢劫案，居然就是苏珊的学校？”
“对，已经有四名学生被抢了。”
“一帮吃软饭的东西，要是在有警察的年代，那混蛋在出门前都会发抖，想想自己要面对的是什么。”
“对，所以就要震慑住他们，现在的学生家里很少有枪，甚至有些人连开枪都不会，遇到紧急情况都没办法做出反应。虽然以往我和凯瑟琳经常吵架，但必须得承认她这次做得对。”
“对。”乔治点头，他已经非常熟悉最近的业务了，甚至还有对年轻人的话术，“人持有武器能够保证自己的安全，来，苏珊，试一试这几把枪。”
但是枪击发生的时候我怎么反应得过来？就算我带了枪也不一定能来得及拔枪，苏珊心想，但她没有说出来。她礼节性地笑了笑，走到了柜台前面，柜台上面排开了三把手枪，Smith & Wesson 642 Airweight Pink，Ruger LC9s，Glock 26。三把枪都被换上了粉色的握柄，加上闪烁的LED显示屏，看起来更像是古董宠物游戏机而不像是武器。
乔治注意到了苏珊皱起的眉头。
“怎么了，有什么不对的吗，前几天来我这里的大学生也选择了这几把枪。我觉得这几把枪都很适合你，苏珊。”
“呃……我不太喜欢粉色。”
乔治的脸上闪过一丝明显的不悦：“但是你可以试试看能不能解开保险，你要先确保自己有资格使用。”
“哦，对。”苏珊翻开枪支匹配指南，其中的第五页写着详细的动作——就算一个人通过了枪支使用条例的考试，但如果他不能解开保险，那么他依然会被判定为无资格使用。于是苏珊只好拿起那把像游戏机的Ruger LC9s，它是三把枪里最不粉嫩的一把。这把枪还有手动保险锁，她轻轻一推就推开了。
“恭喜你，苏珊·敏特，你刚刚被系统承认了，真替你高兴。”
Ruger LC9s的显示屏亮了起来，开始播放系统视频和语音，苏珊不知道枪会自顾自说起话来，吓得差点把它扔到地上。
“我不是很喜欢这几把枪，可以帮我换一换吗。”苏珊赶紧关上保险把枪放了回去。
“我想你或许应该试试和它们匹配看看，你还没有尝试过，说不定你们会很默契的。”
“不不不我想我不会，我是说我不喜欢它们的外观，所以不想尝试了。乔治叔叔，你可以帮我拿两把普通一点的吗，就是不要花纹，黑色的那种就行。”
乔治看起来不太高兴又不解，他揣着三把枪走回了仓库。
“唉，你应该注意一点对乔治叔叔说话的内容和语气，”理查德叹了口气，“要知道我们是不被系统承认的人，我们连选择的资格都没有。”
“噢，抱歉。”苏珊摇了摇头，“我不是有意的，但是我要和自己的枪匹配，这把枪可能会伴随我很久。但乔治叔叔他好像把我当小孩一样，他拿来的那几把枪看起来都像玩具，但这事不应该是很严肃的吗。”
“他可能确实把你当小孩了，你有四五年没跟我一起去他家吃饭了吧。”
“对……我上高中之后就忙起来了，他儿子安迪也是，我都不知道他怎么样了，可能我还是应该多关心大家。”
苏珊不再接着说了，这个话题有些尴尬，而且她刚好想到了些其他的事情，于是开口问理查德：“你刚说妈妈做得对，但妈妈本人应该是反持枪的。”她搓着手册的一角，直到那一角往上卷了起来。
理查德似乎是没想到自己的女儿的问题会如此尖锐：“苏珊，我有时和你妈吵架，但也不代表我认为她做的都是错的。”
“你只是在维护你的自尊心？”苏珊嘴角下压，“但这次你都没和她争论。”
“对，因为在这件事上我能和她达成共识，特别是这件事。苏珊，记住你妈妈在哪里工作。”
“CUP，然后呢？Fishion出了什么毛病吗。”
理查德不置可否地眨了眨眼，他示意苏珊安静。往后看，乔治正带着两把新枪走向他们。
“试试这两把，”乔治说，“Glock 19和Sig Sauer P226，我们当年用过的枪。”
苏珊点了点头，她接过两把枪，这两把枪握起来能够占满她的手掌，重量也不像玩具，而是接近真实的武器，也是苏珊想象中“枪”应该有的样子。
“我想试试和它们匹配。”
乔治松了一口气，他带着苏珊来到一个独立的房间：“这个房间就是匹配用的房间，你可以打开它们的开关和它们聊一聊，一切都和手册上一样。当你做射击姿势时屏幕显示为绿色，就意味着你们匹配成功了。”
“要是不成功呢？”
“要么你就继续换枪尝试，要么就改天再来。你知道的，匹配这东西很看缘分，有时候会有人在这呆上一整天也找不到合适的枪。”
苏珊又点了点头，她目送乔治离开匹配室并带上了门。匹配室并不太大，但是漆成白色的墙让整个空间看起来比实际要宽阔。房间的中央摆着一张流线型的大桌子，很有设计的美感。桌子旁边围着一圈沙发——虽然每次匹配都只有一人参加，但依然有一圈沙发。不解人意的乔治、封闭的房间和多余的家具都她感到一阵烦躁，只想赶快把今天糊弄过去，拿不到枪的话就改天再来或直接换个地方。她先选了那把Glock 19，打开它的系统开关，但没有任何欢迎语音播放。
是把坏枪吗？今天可真够倒霉。
苏珊把枪的屏幕拿近了一些，她看到系统并没有失灵，而是这把枪上次忘记关闭电源了，屏幕上有个可爱的笑脸。
“呃，你好。”苏珊尴尬地笑了。
“哦！你好，别担心什么，他们总是忘记关掉我……事实上我已经这么开机三年多了。”
“三年？你不会没电吗。”
“太阳能。”小屏幕上的笑脸上下晃了晃，就像点了点头。
“你可真有意思，枪都是像你这样的吗？”
“这我不保证，毕竟大多数时候所有枪都是关着的。”
“行吧，我是苏珊，苏珊·敏特。可能有点奇怪，但你们枪有名字吗。”
Glock 19刚想要张嘴说对的我叫Glock 19，但它停顿了一下，它想这个女孩想问的并不是它的生产型号或批号，而是和人类一样的名字，一个平等的代号，一个身份的象征。它很确定自己的同胞们没有这样的代号，甚至连给自己取个不一样的名字的想法都没有。这无疑是个良机，和人类匹配，离开这个鬼地方，给自己新的可能性。但是它的姓名库存少得可怜，唯一那个不让它那么讨厌的人类名叫……
“珀西，你可以叫我珀西。”