Skinner's Box (Fang Mu (Eastern Crimes)) (20 page)

A person with type B blood.

Lu Xu's condition had improved greatly and he was now once again deemed fit for duty. In view of his psychological state, however, the Bureau had decided to give him a desk job for the time being.

He had recovered complete control over his motor skills, but he still refused to go to the shooting range. Deciding not to make any excessive demands on him, Yang Jincheng dropped that part of the regimen and initiated Stage III—a replay of the circumstances that had brought about Lu Xu's trauma.

A large number of people would be taking part in this stage of the treatment. Besides Fang Mu's colleagues from the PSB's Criminal Psychology Research Institute, he was surprised to see Constable Duan from SWAT in the conference room.

"Hello." Constable Duan stuck out his hand.

Fang Mu shook it, feeling the firm grip from a palm full of calluses. "So they called you in, too, did they?" he said with mild surprise, remembering that Constable Duan had been a sniper. "I thought you were done with your field duties."

"I am. I came with him." Duan pointed his chin at a capable-looking young man dressed in an Armed Police uniform. "Little Yu, the most capable driver on our team."

Little Yu stood and stuck his hand out. "It's an honor, sir."

Fang Mu shook his hand awkwardly, realizing that he himself had neglected to wear a uniform to the occasion.
Not much of a 'sir,'
he mused.

The treatment was arranged to take place in a large training gymnasium. A video camera was set up on a tripod in one corner so that the entire treatment process could be streamed live and viewed on a monitor in a separate viewing room.

"Officer Lu has had a turn for the better, but he still has not completely recovered," Yang Jincheng said as he leafed through a folder thick with documents. "Ever since he started back on the job, we've been monitoring his behavior. One thing we've noticed is that he refuses to ride or drive in any sort of vehicle; rather, he goes to and from work on foot—and seems to have become the most careful follower of traffic regulations in the city."

He cleared his throat. "Further observations have revealed that Officer Lu still feels an inordinate amount of fear at the sight of trucks and other large vehicles. He leaves home very early in the morning and returns from his precinct very late at night, a fact which leads me to believe that he is endeavoring to avoid peak rush hour traffic, perhaps because the din of noises generated during those times still have the effect of putting him through a significant amount of mental stress. In the workplace, he tends to keep to himself as much as he can, and I have been told that he has declined to answer at least three telephone calls from his parents."

Bian Ping nodded. "He's still floundering around with a head chocked full of shame and guilt. It looks like he feels inadequate compared to all the other cops around him."

"Correct." Yang Jincheng closed the folder and tossed it onto an empty chair next to him. "So he needs our help."

The plan for the day was to complete a re-enactment of the car crash. To this end, the Public Security Bureau had made remarkably thorough arrangements. As Fang Mu entered the gymnasium, what he saw amazed him.

All of the floor mats and punching bags and other training apparatus had been cleared out. An imitation motorcycle stood by itself out in the center of the great wooden floor, and across the wall it faced stretched an enormous projection screen. Upon closer inspection, the imitation motorcycle was actually a large-scale electronic interface unit; a virtual simulation would be projected onto the wall screen.

Everyone involved in the treatment, including Lu Xu himself, took seats in the gym's side office that had been turned into a viewing room. After they all introduced themselves to each other and chatted for a while, Yang Jincheng decided that Lu Xu seemed relaxed enough, so he recommended that he be the one to choose which actor would play what role.

Fang Mu knew this technique was called
mirroring
. It would allow Lu Xu to stand apart from the scene and watch himself, not unlike looking at himself in a mirror. Such a perspective could help him to view and recognize the accident without feeling overanxious.

The roles were actually quite straightforward: a commander, a few emergency medical technicians, and Lu Xu himself. He assigned the role of commander to Constable Duan and the roles of the EMTs to four of Fang Mu's colleagues from the Criminal Psychology Research Institute. As for who should play himself, however, Lu Xu balked. Yang Jincheng suggested that Little Yu be the one to play that role.

"All right, well, I guess I'll be the director then." Yang Jincheng told them all to take their places and then led Lu Xu, Bian Ping, and Fang Mu to the viewing room.

"Why not make him observe the psychodrama directly from inside the gym?" Bian Ping whispered as the actors were putting on their costumes and getting into position.

"That would put him through a lot of unnecessary psychological strain,” Yang Jincheng explained. “We need him to recall the entire progression of events from the perspective of a bystander, so it will be beneficial for him to be in a relatively stress-free environment."

Yang Jincheng walked up to Fang Mu, who was in the middle of helping Little Yu change into a regular police uniform, and clapped him on the shoulder. "Your job is to stand next to Lu Xu; your being there will make him feel more relaxed."

In other words: Next to Fang Mu, Lu Xu would not feel so inadequate.

Fang Mu felt a bit miffed. On the one hand he did not want to accept the truth; on the other, he felt like a tool. But after mulling it over he decided to do as he was told without argument.

The play began.

In his new uniform, Little Yu actually resembled Lu Xu quite a bit, a fact which had amused the latter to no end. Throughout the performance, which was more like a video game in nature, Little Yu remained crouched atop the imitation motorcycle, leaning right or left to match the traffic conditions of the virtual street scene that was being projected onto the screen in front of him.

As the expression on Lu Xu's face slowly changed from one of hilarity to one of focused concentration, Yang Jincheng continued to observe him. When he decided the motorcycle cop was totally immersed in the psychodrama being played out before him, Yang Jincheng changed the perspective on the monitor.

Suddenly they were looking at a close-up view of the wall screen, and the extremely realistic graphics of the simulation brought every detail of the city streets to life. Little Yu, or Lu Xu under orders from the commander played by Constable Duan, wove back and forth to avoid pedestrians and cars as he sped along the streets, his movements synced to the simulation.

The real Lu Xu was becoming more and more engrossed; his face had paled, his eyes were wide, and his nostrils flared as he took shorter and shorter breaths. As the perspective of the motorcycle rider's view leaned to the right or left, so did Lu Xu's shoulders.

The perspective again switched to a view of the gym, with Little Yu perched on the motorcycle in front of the big wall screen. Lu Xu went rigid at first, but then gradually relaxed. Just then, a truck appeared on the screen and came plowing through the intersection from the right. The motorcycle's view swerved right, but it was too late; the back end of the truck loomed to fill the entire screen as the motorcycle smashed into it.

"Ahh!" Little Yu screamed as he fell from the back of the bike.

Lu Xu instinctively flinched back a step and hugged his head in pain.

No one said a word. The view on the monitor again flicked to the virtual scene being projected onto the wall screen. Fang Mu half expected to see the words "Game Over" appear in the middle in bold letters, but the picture remained centered on the crowded intersection.

"Officer Lu," Yang Jincheng said as he offered him a cup of water. "Are you okay?"

Lu Xu held the cup in both hands, breathing raggedly for a minute. Finally he whispered, "I'm good."

Yang Jincheng led him to a chair and sat next to him. "Officer Lu, the scene you just watched was identical to the view you must have had from your motorcycle during the accident, down to the last detail; the time of day, the speed at which you were riding, the timing of the appearance of the truck in the intersection—everything." He paused. "Little Yu is the most skilled motorcycle operator we have; if I recall correctly, he was recently awarded first prize in the Provincial Police Motor Vehicle Skills Competition. But even so, the conditions in the simulation were such that he was unable to avoid crashing into that truck."

Lu Xu lifted his head and eyed Yang Jincheng sideways.

"It's true." Yang Jincheng nodded emphatically. "The accident was not your fault. The same thing would have happened to anyone. And from where I sit, you did better than many would have; you were able to react fast enough to save your own life."

"You're just trying to make me feel better," Lu Xu croaked, but much of the pain had left his face.

"I knew you would say that," Yang Jincheng said with a chuckle. He leaned over to speak into the microphone. "Little Yu. Ready to go again?"

The monitor flicked over to the gymnasium view again. Little Yu climbed back onto the motorcycle, and the simulation began.

"Watch it again,” Yang Jincheng said to Lu Xu, “and you'll know it's not just me trying to console you; it's the truth."

As if they had jumped back in time, the same scene unfolded once more on the monitor. This time, however, a greater proportion of the video was played from the first-person point of view of the wall screen simulation. Lu Xu's body did not sway along with the movements of the motorcycle this time; he just stood there, his eyes never leaving the monitor. In the instant before the crash, he exhaled gently and gave a barely perceptible nod.

Yang Jincheng changed the view to that of the gymnasium. "See? I wasn't tricking you."

A rare smile lit up Lu Xu's face.

Little Yu lay on the floor curled up in a ball. A police revolver had appeared next to his body, as if it had dropped to the ground when he fell from the motorcycle. The gun drew Lu Xu's attention; he leaned closer to the monitor and watched it, as if hoping to discover who had taken it.

Four EMTs wearing white coats raced over and placed a stretcher on the floor next to Little Yu, who was still "unconscious." As they put him on it and lifted, one of his hands dangled from the side of the stretcher and wobbled forward and backward to the movements of the EMTs as they carried him. Just then someone appeared playing an unexpected role.

It was an elderly man with graying hair and beard. He ran over to the side of the stretcher, reached a hand out to "Lu Xu," and starting shouting.

"Little Xu! Little Xu! Just hang in there…” he cried. “Don't you die on me…!"

Everyone's attention was on the old man. The real Lu Xu's voice cracked. "Dad?"

Lu Xu's father helped the four EMTs carry "Lu Xu" out the gymnasium's side door, and the room was suddenly empty.

Lu Xu was sobbing loudly. Yang Jincheng raised an eyebrow at Fang Mu. Understanding, Fang Mu put a hand on Lu Xu's shoulder and stood with him.

Once Lu Xu had regained some of his composure, Yang Jincheng smiled and pointed at the monitor. "Have another look. Where's the gun?"

Lu Xu, along with everyone else in the room, returned their attention to the monitor.

The pistol was gone.

Lu Xu turned and looked at Yang Jincheng. "Where is it?"

"Who noticed?" Yang Jincheng shrugged, making a show of glancing from face to face. "No one saw what happened to your gun. The fact that you survived is all that matters to your parents and to the men and women of your precinct."

Another voice was heard. "It's true, son. We'll always be proud of you as long as you live..."